Rogue

Two decades ago.

The hot, afternoon sun bathed this baked human commune with lively light. It accentuated the city's red bricked roads, baked mud and clay houses, and the reddish mountains that surround the place. 

Inhabitants of this city rarely, if it ever comes at all, see rain over their lifetimes. 

But on this random, ordinary day, rains have come to nourish their scorched earth. 

The entire city rejoiced, as they placed their water containers outside of their homes to collect precious rainwater. It's notable that almost every single one of the citizens were outside, some of the younger kids experiencing the first rain of their lives.

To most of them, this had become a day to celebrate life. They can't remember when was the last time the sky has poured down its blessings on their land. 

As the city's inhabitants rejoiced, another improbable phenomenon was occurring at the outskirts of town, away from their thankful eyes. 

An Ascension flower had spawned. 

Ascension flowers almost never spawn outside the reach of the World Tree. But on a handful of occasions like this one, it spawned on the human territories. The World Tree always worked in mystery.

An owl was watching the advancing troop of armed humans from a roof. The white fur of the owl stuck out of its reddish surroundings, but it didn't matter. It was ready to swoop in and steal a flower from under their noses anyway. 

Three stalwart figures hid on a decrepit brick house that was a single strong gust away from an imminent collapse. 

"Fuck, I'm a duke now, why do I still need to do grunt work?" The one on the left most tactlessly cried. 

"Don't be a crybaby, it's not like this is hard with the three of us here." The guy in the middle punched the other on the left. "We'll just do it like the old days, yeah?"

"We won't attack unless we're provoked, do you copy?" The last one was only focused on the task at hand. "The World Tree always works mysteriously."

"Damn don't start prattling on about that, you dumbo!" 

A few more minutes passed for the idle trio, when the owl at the top entered the brick house through a broken glass window, transforming into a human before even touching the ground. He even stuck the landing with a flourish.

"Three groups of twenty five are our opponents. Just do whatever you want." Erikson's middle aged face was screaming his total disinterest. "You three, don't play around too much, and finish this quickly. Once I've taken the flower, we'll meet up downtown, and get you all some cookies and beer. I'm not paying, of course."

The four shifters heard the thundering booms of the soldiers' boots, but none of them batted an eyelid. Instead, all of them did exactly whatever the fuck they wanted to. 

The owl fled, to who knows where. Although none of the three believed he wouldn't be there when the time came.

"Let's smash some grunt brains, and get this over with!" 

"Unless they attack, Uhuru, we won't engage. We'll just hold them off." The man on the right disappeared into thin air, at least until Uhuru caught him and held him up, waving him in the air even.

It was a beetle.

"Shut it, you two. All we need is the flower." Two bright blue sabers appeared on the last one's hands, showing off his battle edge. "We don't need to fight humans. All we need is the owl taking it without the need for bloodshed."

"The reaper had really lost its edge! What a hypocrite!" Uhuru exited through the broken back door with a playful cackle. "Damn this rain…"

"Our enemies aren't just humans." Harambe threw the beetle with the maximum amount of force he could muster in the southeast direction. "Say what you want. If they attack me, I'll separate their heads from the mortal coil anyway."

During that day, the pure humans of the world received a grim reminder. Instead of seventy five, eighteen hundred were slaughtered for a single flower by the three legendary shifters. 

***

"You don't even know what your father fought for." The owl perched itself on the shoulders of Harambe. His voice hit him like a thunderbolt, but his face remained still with little to no inconsistencies.

So what if he doesn't know what elder Harambe fought for? The original Harambe, and he himself, hated the bastard to their bones!

"I'm gonna fight the humans, even if like my royal father, it costs me my life." 

"You don't understand, do you?" Even if he can't see Erikson clearly, Harambe saw that the owl's head was upside down. "This war is not just black and white."

A cool, refreshing breeze blew directly into their faces, reminding Harambe that they were in a pocket world.

"Why are you out here by yourself?" The old owl returned to the tree branch, maintaining eye contact with the gorilla on the ground.

"Why are you out here by yourself?" The gorilla returned the favor and smiled at him.

There was no tension between the two at first, but after Harambe repeated his question, Erikson's tone and mood took a turn for the worse. 

To Harambe's surprise, the owl became human. A fearless, young adult version of Erikson gave Harambe shivers. The long wound on his face was fresh, and dripping with blood. His hair was the color of black snow. His face was ferocious, untethered, and filled with hate.

"Heh. Where did that moron go wrong about your parenting? I'd gouge out his eyes, sever his tongue, slit his throat, burn his massive bulk, and offer it to the World Tree in atonement for his sins." His tone was borderline confrontational while he cracked his knuckles like he's itching for a fight. "You don't even know what you're supposed to do, you trash!"

The aggressive movements of the young Erikson didn't faze him this time. He saw the man's mood swing coming, however he was unable to do anything since he's pretty much a hostage with no way out.

"If I kill you, can I get out?"

"Wrong question." Erikson showed a savage smile. "Can you even kill me?" 

These two combustible characters' face off was imminent at this point. The clear skies had taken on a reddish, bloodred hue. The winds howled, its intensity increasing by the second. 

Harambe tried infusing azure mana to his bracer, but failed. Meanwhile, the young man's wooden staff flared bright blue, much to the puzzlement of Harambe.

"You see, now? I'm a rogue, and this is my turf." Erikson played with his staff, like a master showing off tricks to a kid. "You think I'm a Seeker? If I'm being honest, I don't think you're Harambe at all."

Harambe maintained his composure, but inwardly, he's stumped.

'How did it turn out like this?'