Defiance in Blood (Purposeless Wandering)

X3NON-25. A planet long forgotten by even its neighboring solar systems. Contact was lost a long, long while ago, and nobody was able to make it in or out.

Nobody except for Darao.

Years worth of sneaking, fighting, and pick-pocketing proved to develop some useful skills for him. Most Luminites have it quite easy, so he was a notably special case in this aspect. Sneaking past the security was a piece of cake.

Inside, however… The thick smog was suffocating. From dim, flashing lights seen just through the dense fog to the sound of coughing and wheezing from the Luminites on the lower layers of the planet, the feeling of suffering was just as heavy and crushing as the smoke itself.

“Um, sorry for bothering, but-”

Ignored.
“Hello? Could you-”

Pushed aside.
“Sorry, but could I-”

This guy just straight up walked away.

It was clear something was absolutely not right with this place. From the complete lack of interaction, to the intense class divides, to the factorial smog that hung heavy in the air, to the suffering and melancholy of the Luminites abound, he had to get to the bottom of this.

This has to be the place. Wherever the… Ruler, or whatever, of this place resides… It has to be this.

Before Darao was a tall, pristine tower. Mysteriously surrounded by no fog whatsoever and illuminated with the cool-toned glow of the city lights below. It was a breathtaking sight, if not for the sorrow that permeated every other inch of this place, and the clearly hollow display of superiority by whoever was within that tower.

“Who are you?”

Darao approached the guards as they questioned him, head held high.

“Does that particularly matter? I just want to see the guy in charge.”

“I don’t recognize you. Who are you?” Another guard appeared. Darao noticed they were beginning to encircle him, just like sharks to prey.

“Hah… I already answered you, didn’t I?’

“Negative,” Another guard spoke up. “You failed to answer the question properly. Let me ask again; Who are you?”

Darao bit his lip, standing firm. “I won’t repeat myself either.”

“Well, then,” One of the guards cracked their neck. “I suppose we’ll have to get a bit messy.”

Before Darao knew it, he was being swung at with a baton. The amount of force would have surely been enough to crush his skull had he not dove in time.

My stars! What is wrong with these brutes? Haha! I’ll show them a real good time!

Before Darao had knew it, his mind went blank, and he locked into autopilot.

Perhaps this was a way of coping with such senseless violence - something he had long since learned when he was a young child. If he mentally checked out, he didn’t have to deal with the present consequences.

Only the sounds of crunching armor and metal pierced through his mental barrier.

And when he came to, he found himself standing amongst an array of bodies, his fur splattered with the fuel that powered the seemingly robotic soldiers he had just massacred.

“You...”

A voice spoke from behind him. One filled with awe and wonder. One soft, but amazed.

“Who… Who are you?”

Darao looked, meeting face-to-face with a young man - around his age - with long, sleek black fur, and iridescent purple-blue gems spotted along his coat.

“Me? My name… Well…”

He hesitated for a moment.

“You can call me Jiahao.”