Feral: Days of Darkness

Chapter 2: Descending Darkness

The sun rose over the vast horizon of Feral, and a new day was born. Emerald greeted the day with happiness and breathed in the fresh air. He didn't have a schedule today, so he'd thought he'll go and enjoy his time at the City.
Much to his frustration, just like yesterday, the travel gates all over Feral were still down. It didn't matter to him, the city wasn't far, and he needed the exercise anyway. The city wasn't as beautiful in the day as it was at night, but still, a joy to see anyway. Emerald stopped by Fera Fashions to see what they had today. Nothing of interest to him, though. After a long day, he decided to stop and take a break at Centuria, the popular club in the city.
Centuria was crowded, but that wasn't a surprise. Immediately upon entering, Emerald saw a familiar blue werewolf waving to him.
"Hey, E!"
Emerald ran up to Azure and gave him fist-bump with his paw. "Hey, Az. What's going on with you?"
"Eh, you know, same old, same old. Not much today. Saved you a spot at the bar."
"Thanks Az. You're the best wolf I know." Emerald clicked his tongue and walked off to his seat on the bar.
The bar had a sign on it. "On break. Back in five." Emerald was patient. But it was kind of boring sitting there with no one around. Emerald began to doze off somewhat, until..
"Hey, Emerald. Good to see you." A soft, familiar voice said. Emerald woke up out of his trance and found the kind Senri Ruby sitting next to him.
"Oh! Uh. H-hey, Ruby." He was caught off guard. The kitsune didn't expect her to come this moment. "What are you doing here?"
"Centuria is one of my favorite places in Feral. I love the calm music they play here."
Emerald didn't know what else to say, he always prepared, but didn't prepare for this moment. He had to do something. He wanted to be closer to Ruby. But how?
"Ruby? I'll be right back."
"Okay. I'll be here." She said, moving her body to the music. Emerald walked away towards Azure.
"Az, I need your help. Ruby's here, and I gotta do something."
"Okay, I gotcha, Emmy. What do you suppose we do?" The werewolf asked before they both thought intensely. Emerald was quickly struck by a train of thought.
"Hold on! Ruby she loves the nice, calm music here." Emerald then proceeded to whisper to the werewolf. Azure then realized what the cunning kitsune was planning, and winked.
Azure moved to the music player, a jukebox connected to the speakers of Centuria. Azure messed with it, and played the club's most peaceful song: Centuria Lights.
Emerald walked back to Ruby. "Oh, I love this song the most!" Said the pink Senri. Then, the bartender came back from break and asked the two what they wanted to drink.
"Hey, Ruby."
"Yeah?"
"Let's sit elsewhere." They two grabbed their drinks, took them to one of the pillow tents, and sat down in it.
The two sat with each other in silence, watching the other Sparks play around. Slowly, they moved close to each other, until Ruby's head was resting on Emerald's body. The two began blushing and continued to sit.
Azure nodded triumphantly. He succeeded as a friend to Emerald, and guided him to a treasure he himself could not get. He gave himself a pat. "Good job, Azure. You're a good pal." He then pulled out a list and pencil and muttered to himself, "Let's see, should we hire mariachis or jazz bands at the wedding?"
However, something caught his eye, outside the doors of Centuria. He walked outside.
Ruby was still cuddling with Emerald, and she was about to doze off. Emerald looked at her, away, then exhaled.
"Ruby?"
"Yes, Emerald?"
His heart started racing. "I have something I need to... get off my chest. To tell you."
Ruby paused. "Actually, I have something to tell you too."
"Me first, then." Emerald took a deep breath. Here it comes...
"Ruby, I-I..."
"..."
"..."
"I love you, Ruby." Emerald meant it more than anything. For the first time, words came from the very bottom of his heart. Ruby was shocked by how sudden it was. But she was ready for it.
"I love you too, Emerald!"
The two snuggled their heads closely and tightly. They had finally admitted their feelings for each other. They closed their eyes tightly and embraced each other lovingly.
After a bit, Emerald opened an eye and looked out the tent. All the Sparks has gathered at the entrance, talking about something happening outside.
Ruby opened her eyes and noticed it too. Not only that, the lights coming through the windows of Centuria turned from a calming blue to a bloody red.
The two now-true lovers got up and walked towards what was happening. They scooted through the crowd of Sparks and went outside to something... horrifying.
The sky was a crimson dark red. Purple clouds filled the sky, with a massive red glow in the center of the sky. A single piece of this red mass chipped off and landed in the city square. The strange glow then turned into a sinister looking kitsune.
While most kitsunes were white with patches of purple, this one was pitch black, with patches of red all around. It's antlers, instead of looking magical, were now akin to goat horns. A menacing creature overall.
One kitsune in the crowd walked up to the mysterious visitor. "Um... hello, dear Spark! You seem to be a newcomer around here, so please, let me help you around. Welcome to City Fera, and my name is-"
The dark kitsune spoke in a harsh voice. "Shut it, star. The smell of light... it is all around. It is..." the dark kitsune sniffed around. "...intoxicating."
The poor, unsuspecting kitsune asked in a worried tone, "Sir? Are you okay? And, if you could answer as to why that big red mass is here? ...please?"
The dark kitsune laughed. "Don't worry, palsy. I've just come for a little souvenir."
"O-oh, really? What?"
Suddenly, a dark energy claw emerged from the dark kitsune's forehead gem. It then violently grabbed the forehead gem of the poor kitsune. The kitsune screamed in agony. Then, the dark one violently ripped the gem, the Spark, the soul, out of the kitsune's head. The poor victim was left sparkless; their once colorful body turned a sickly gray. The kitsune fell limp, and their eyes a lifeless gray.
Screams rang throughout the city and the people who saw this began to run.
"Don't worry, folks." The dark kitsune said. "I didn't forget about you all!" He then roared loudly. Suddenly, a bunch of more red lights fells from the red mass, forming more dark creatures. Dark Senris, dark werewolves, and dark dragons.
The people began screaming and running in a frenzy, but more of them were getting their Sparks stolen from them. It was becoming a massacre!
"E-Emerald! What do we do?!" Ruby panicked.
"RUN!!"
Emerald and Ruby began sprinting as hard as they could through the city. The tried running through the northern street, but a dark dragon blocked their way. The immediately turned around and tried to run through Kino's back alley.
Kino immediately disappeared upon being spotted, but that didn't matter to them. That way was blocked too. They kept trying to get in whatever way possible, but it was all blocked.
With no choice the two ran back into Centuria. If they couldn't escape, they had to hide. Emerald ran into the green pillow tent and hid beneath the pillows. Ruby followed him and hid with him. They couldn't see what was happening, but they heard more sparks run inside. They then heard the sound of windows breaking followed by screaming. The people were having their sparks ripped from their head. Emerald and Ruby couldn't see the carnage, but hearing their scream was horrifying enough.
After all the sparks were seemingly stolen, the dark creatures roamed around Centuria, looking for any more prey. A dark werewolf sniffed around. It sniffed and edged closer to the tent where Emerald and Ruby were hiding. Emerald and Ruby silently panted, their eyes closed and hearts racing. The dark werewolf heard one of its brethren make a low, alien, noise. The werewolf noticed and followed its comrades outside.
After a few minutes of respite, Emerald peeked out from the pillows. There were none of those things around. All that could be seen were the grey, lifeless bodies of the people that had their sparks stolen from them.
"The coast looks clear." Emerald said quietly, peeping his head out. Ruby peeked as well. The two, albeit reluctantly, got out their hiding place and looked around. The once serene club was now a bloodbath. Emerald and Ruby took the teleport gateway to the upper floor of the club. They looked through the window, and found even more sparkless bodies outside, all across the city. Not only that, majority of it had been damaged or outright destroyed. City Fera was no longer the heart of beauty. The skies remained a bloody red, but the big red mass had left.
"By the queens..." Emerald said to himself.
"Emerald? What do we do?" Ruby asked, mortified by pure fear.
"I... I don't know. This... I don't think we can do anything." Emerald said in a defeated tone.
"This... is it how it's going to end? Are we next? I... we...no." Ruby's voice started to break down, and tears starting to drip.
As Emerald laid down to think about what to do, Ruby fell onto him gently. Ruby then began crying to herself out of fear.
To two only had each other, but what could they do now? Nothing seemed like the only answer. These two sparks, they may be the only ones in the City alive. What can they do now, if anything...?
No one knows at the moment...

Author's note: Chapter 2 is finished. Personally, I like what I made. Sure, it's not going to be as popular as any other Feral fanfictions, but I still try my best. To be honest, I'll admit that the whole Emerald and Ruby romance scenes were a little corny and cheesy (especially because I wrote them) but the two are basically perfect for each other in my opinion. Furthermore, this is were the story starts to get interesting. What will to Feral? What of Azure? Will the two escape and survive? Will Azure decided on wether he should hire mariachis or a jazz band for the wedding?
Stay tuned and stay feral for chapter 3, me lads.