Few! Thought I'd never get this done!

Now, I was a little reluctant about writing this story, mostly because of…well…you know.

But still, had to get it off my chest eventually.

Keep in mind that I may get a few details wrong here and there, but that's mostly thanks to a lack of information. You'd think that you'd be able to find more than just brief summaries everywhere, right?!

Also, sorry to disappoint but no lemons. Sorry, not sorry.

So, without further ado, let's get it started!

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own Transformers or Kuroinu.

Chapter One: Transform and Transcend.

"I'm...sorry...Celestine, I failed...Eostia. I failed…you."

Those were the last words of one Rexxus Grimmborne, right before he died.

To elaborate, Rexxus Grimmborne was adventurer by profession, having left his home in the city of Ken and travelled all over his homeland, the kingdom of Eostia, facing many challenges over the years.

He'd faced Orcs, Imps, Werewolves, Minotaurs, Cyclops' and many other beasts. All with nothing but the armour on his back and his trusty Warhammer.

It wasn't long before tales of his exploits reached his home, and a few years later Rexxus was called back home to attend an audience with Ken's, and by extension Eostia's, ruler.

Lady Celestine Lucullus: high elf queen, reincarnation of an ancient goddess, and (in Grimmborne's opinion) the most beautiful woman in the lands. After completing an insanely difficult task to prove himself to the elf queen, she offered him the chance to become the first male knight in the Seven Shield Alliance, a group of warrior maidens led by Celestine herself.

But while most men would have jumped at the chance to be surrounded by beautiful women, Rexxus had actually refused!

Unlike most of the men in Eostia, Rexxus had little to no interest in pleasure, particularly in sexual pleasure. There were only three things that mattered to Rexxus; defending and upholding his honour to the bitter end, seeking glory wherever it may be and above all else, exploring every inch of Eostia and experiencing as much adventure as possible.

If he were to become a member of the Alliance, he would barely ever, if not never again, get to explore any more.

Celestine, understanding and admiring his reasoning, instead offered herself as a personal client to the adventurer, providing him with a constant stream of jobs and missions, in exchange for his service and loyalty.

With an offer like that, not even Grimmborne could refuse.

As the years went by, the name Rexxus Grimmborne became a symbol of pride and protection.

Until one fateful day, when the Kuroinu mercenary guild turned on Eostia.

(Unknown time and place)

Rexxus released a deep groan as he slowly regained his senses.

His head was pounding, like a stampede of bulls had charged over his skull. His entire body screamed in fatigue, and for some reason there was a sharp pain in his back. Pushing through the pain, Rexxus slowly raised himself up from where he lay.

Rexxus possessed a muscular physique; not overly bulky like an Orc or Ogre, but pure muscle nonetheless. He wore a full suite of knight armour (minus the helmet) that was a shining silver in colour, the exceptions being his blood-red left shoulder and his chest plate, which was painted with the head of a snarling, sharp-toothed beast, seemingly in blood. (1)

As for his face, it was quite rugged and scarred thanks to many years of adventure. Two scars in particular were prominent; an X shaped scar on his left cheek, and three jagged claw marks over his right eye.

However, that didn't mean Rexxus was ugly. If anything, the ruggedness only enhanced his good looks. With mid-length messy brown hair, bright ruby-red eyes and a still fairly youthful face despite being in his thirties, it made some in Thorn wonder if part of the reason Celestine was so interested in Rexxus was because of his looks.

Rexxus shook his head with another groan, trying to get his bearings together.

"Argh! My head! What happened?!" he puzzled to himself. "Last thing I remember is coming back from my journey to the borders, only to find the city panicking." His headache subsiding a little, Rexxus' face slowly softened as his memories came back to him.

"Let's see, after seeing the state Ken was in, I headed straight to the palace to get some answers. Celestine said something about…" he trailed off, eyes widening as he remembered.

"Kuroinu turning traitor…!"

Rexxus was silent for a moment, processing the fact. "I-I-I remember, running for my chambers, putting on my gear, getting ready to meet the enemy and…"

He trailed off again, this time with his eyebrows furrowing.

"… I don't remember what happened next!"

The adventurer knight sat in silence, trying desperately to coax out any other memories. But despite his best efforts, Rexxus' head dipped in worry and desperation. He was drawing naught but a blank.

Rexxus gripped his forehead and released an irritated sigh. "I'll just have to try again later, right now there's other things to worry about."

He peeked through his fingers, vision still a little bleary. "For instance, where in hell's name am I?"

After a while, his vision cleared a little and the knight had a better view of his new surroundings. At first, all he could discern was that he was in a dimly lit circular chamber, the only source of light being a small ball of light hovering in the middle of the room.

But as his eyes adjusted to the light, more details became visible.

The chambers walls were steely grey, and looked like they were made of jagged, yet oddly organised metal components. Some of said components were styled to look like strange glyphs that Rexxus couldn't even recognise, let alone read. The light he'd seen earlier was suspended in some sort of glass tube, moving up and down periodically.

A glance down revealed he was lying on a metal altar or table, which was identical to six others that circled the tube of light. In fact, those others had more people lying on them!

Rexxus pulled himself to his feet and was about to call out, but a sudden groan to his left cut him off. Turning in the direction of it, his eyes widened in shock.

"Klaus!"

Lying on the alter to Rexxus' left, was an elder man by the name of Klaus Curtis. Klaus was the husband of Lady Claudia Levantine; one of Celestine's fellow Princess Knights who ruled the city of Geofu, a close neighbour of Ken.

Thanks to her fierce loyalty and friendship with Celestine, Claudia would often visit Ken and act as a bodyguard for the elf queen. It was thanks to this habit of hers that Rexxus and Klaus had met.

Klaus Curtis was middle-aged man with silver hair neatly parted, grey eyes hidden behind oval-rimmed glasses, and a thin moustache. (AN: think something like Hitler's) As for his clothes, he wore a green tunic with baggy beige pants tucked into knee high boots, along with a red scarf and a brown flat cap.

"Klaus, wake up! Are you alright?!" Rexxus cried, shaking his friends shoulder.

Klaus only stirred a little at first, but soon his eyes blinked open

Rexxus watched in a mixture of relief and worry, as his old sat up and rubbed his head groaning, not even noticing Rexxus' presence.

"Ooooh, my head. What in the Goddess' name happened?" Klaus moaned.

"I wish I could give you a good answer, but I'm just as confused as you are, old friend." Rexxus said.

Klaus jumped as he finally noticed Rexxus, but his surprise quickly turned into recognition and then confusion.

"Rexxus? Is that you?" He asked, getting an affirmative nod from the knight. "What in the name of the Goddess are you doing in Geofu? Shouldn't you be over in Ken, watching over Celestine?"

Rexxus cocked a bemused eyebrow. "I think you might want to take a look around you Klaus, cause last time I checked there was nowhere like this in Geofu or Ken." He gestured around, drawing Klaus' attention to the chamber they currently occupied.

"What th-Where in the world are we?!" Klaus exclaimed.

Rexxus simply shrugged. "Like I said, I haven't a clue." He then drew Klaus' attention to the strange markings on the walls. "But perhaps those weird symbols can yield something. You wouldn't to know what they mean, would you?"

Standing up from the altar, Klaus walked over to the nearest wall, adjusting his glasses to see better.

For several minutes Klaus simply stared at the symbols, trying to make at least some sense of them. But eventually…

"Hmm. No, can't say I do, I'm afraid." Klaus finally said, leaning back from the wall and rubbing his chin in confusion. "I've studied over thirty different languages and dialects from numerous civilisations, and yet, I've never seen symbols like these anywhere before."

The sound of multiple groans from around the room interrupted what he was going to say next. Klaus and Rexxus turned round to face the pedestals, and promptly remembered that they weren't alone.

Five other people lay on the remaining alters, and four of them were familiar faces.

The first of them appeared to be a young boy (seemingly eleven years old, but actually much older) but his small scars and attire however, said differently. The 'boy' had short cyan coloured hair with a single lock that was neon green, his clothes consisting of a wolf pelt cloak, fur boots and pants and a leather belt. For the final touch, two jagged yet sharp hatchets hung from either side of his belt.

The next figure was a giant of a man, dwarfing even Rexxus! He wore simple baggy pants and a robe shirt with a grey outer robe wrapped around his shoulders, concealing his muscular physique. His skin was deeply tanned and his head was completely bald, but his face had gentle look to it despite its ruggedness.

Next was a man whose physique and height matched Rexxus' perfectly, but his appearance was a lot more, feral. A wild mane of crimson hair grew from his head and his face was much more angular than the knights, complete with a pointed nose and chin.

As for his clothes, he wore leather pants and an open jacket with multiple spikes, revealed his chiselled 8 pack. Over that were armoured boots and shin guards, his right arm covered in armour while his left was bare, and wrapped around his torso was a deadly looking whip.

As for the final figure, he was around twenty years old with neatly trimmed blonde hair, a handsome aristocratic face, and lightweight armour complete with blue capes trailing from either shoulder. Lying on the altar beside him was an ornate, yet powerful looking crossbow.

"Lupus! Oxmuth! Drake! Alaerth! By the Goddess!" Klaus cried as he ran over to wake them.

That's right! These four were fellow followers of the Seven Shields Alliance, and also acquaintances of Rexxus and Klaus.

Lupus Swift, a rare male Half-Link and childhood friend of Princess Ruu Ruu, the blacksmith of the Princess Knights.

Oxmuth, a former barbarian who had found redemption and become a priest, under the guidance of the eastern priestess, Lady Kaguya.

Drake, an ex-mercenary who was now the lieutenant of another former merc: the mercenary princess, Maia.

And finally, Alaerth Arcturus, elder brother of Princess Alicia Arcturus and by extension, cousin of Princess Prim Fiorire.

But while Klaus was focused on awakening their friends, Rexxus was more concerned about the fifth and final individual.

…so concerned that he was reaching for his trusty war-hammer (which was propped up against the altar he'd been lying on).

The fifth figure had dark skin like Oxmuth, but unlike the reformed barbarian this was his actual skin colour instead of a tan. That coupled with his spiky purple hair and pointed ears, gave away exactly what he was: a Dark Elf, whose race had been enemies of Eostia ever since their leader, the Dark Queen Olga Discordia, had declared war against the rest of the kingdom.

Needless to say, Rexxus had a good reason to be cautious.

The Elf was wearing purple armour with silver trims on his arms, legs and back but for some reason his chest was bare, showing off some tribal tattoos. Probably because Elves and Dark Elves alike preferred to wear less clothing, to remain close to nature.

Celestine was a fine example; one reason why Rexxus had trouble looking at the Elf Queen sometimes, was because the robe she wore left practically nothing to the imagination!

Anyway, Rexxus cautiously approached the now stirring Dark Elf, war-hammer gripped in both hands and ready for anything.

"Gaaagghhh!" Rasped the elf as he pulled himself upright, revealing two swords strapped to his back. A couple of seconds later, his purple eyes opened and darted about the chamber.

"Where…am I?!"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing, Dark Elf." Rexxus answered in a guarded tone.

The elf whirled to face the adventurer in surprise, but Rexxus wasn't too surprised himself when the elf's eyes narrowed in hate. "HUMAN!" He growled before grabbing the swords on his back, unsheathing them in a split-second and lunging for the knight. "DIE!"

The swords swung straight for Rexxus' head!

'CLANG!'

...only to be stopped dead in their tracks by the shaft of his war-hammer! The elf dropped to the ground and went for a left swipe, but was once again blocked by the war-hammer.

The elf persisted, but no matter what he tried it never worked…

A double stab? Rexxus leaned away to the right. A scissor manoeuvre? The knight ducked under it. An overhead strike? Again, blocked by the hammer.

Eventually, the repeated failures caused the elf to get sloppy, and that's when Rexxus struck!

When the elf attempted a right stab to his head, Rexxus grabbed the sword with his left hand and, before the elf could react, shoved the war-hammers head into the elf's chest, knocking him back and taking the wind out of him.

The elf dropped to his knees trying to get the air back into his lungs, while Rexxus lowered his hammer and gave his opponent a condescending glare.

"Simmer down already, Dark Elf." Said Rexxus. "There's more important things to worry about right now, capital of which is finding out where we are and how we got here, and your aggression and temper aren't helping inn the least."

The elf was silent for a moment, his head hung and his eyes hidden. But soon, he raised his head to reveal his still snarling face.

"Shut your mouth, you damn human! I don't give a fuck about your problems! Now die already!" With that, he lunged again.

But Rexxus didn't even need to lift a finger this time; right as the elf raised his arm for a right slant, a whip came out of nowhere and wrapped itself round his arm. The elf had a second to blink, before he was pulled off his feet and flung across the room, landing with a loud thud.

Groaning, the elf opened his eyes and found himself staring into the scarred face of a wide-awake Drake, who was giving the elf a red eyed, sharp toothed snarl.

"If you want to stay alive elf, then STAY DOWN!" He growled, literally thanks to his gravelly voice.

The elf looked ready to retort, but a quick glance around himself made him rethink his next words; while he'd been preoccupied with Rexxus, Klaus had managed to awaken not only Drake, but the others as well. Now, as he locked eyes with a miffed Oxmuth cracking his knuckles, the crossbow-toting Alaerth who was currently aiming said crossbow at him, a wide-grinning Lupus with his hatchets twirling in each hand, and the feral mercenary who still was restraining him, there was only one thing to say.

"...I... I yield."

(A few minutes later)

The elf sat on the altar he'd been lying on, still wrapped in Drake's whip and surrounded by everyone else besides Lupus, who'd quickly gotten bored and decided to go explore the room.

"Alright." Said Alaerth. "I'd say it's time to get some answers, eh?"

He and the others had been filled in by Klaus and Rexxus, and now they were trying to get answers out of the elf.

"Let's start with this one…" Alaerth continued, "Who the hell are you?"

The elf only sneered. "Go ahead and waste your breath, you damn apes! My lips are sealed! Even on the pain of death, you won't get a thing out of me!"

Alaerth raised a challenging eyebrow, but backed off with a wistful smile.

"Oh, is that so? Alright then, I know when I'm wasting my time." He lamented as he turned around. Once he had however, his smile became a devious smirk. "After all, I really doubt we'd be able to get any decent information out of a stupid, common, worthless excuse of an Elf!"

A vein popped on the elf's head, his mouth frothing in rage. "You dare...YOU DARE INSULT ME! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW HUMAN, I'M FAR FROM ANY OF THOSE THINGS! NO-ONE CALLS GENERAL TERCOS REKEGATH, BODYGUARD AND TOP SOLDIER OF QUEEN DISCORDIA'S ARMY ANY OF THOSE THINGS! ESPECIALLY NOT SOME STUPID MONKEY LIKE YOU!"

There was a beat of silence, marred only by the panting of the elf now known as Tercos.

Then Alaerth turned back around, bearing a bright sunny grin.

"Thanks for the info, Tercy!"

Tercos' eyes bugged and his jaw dropped as he realised his blunder. A couple of seconds though and he was back to glaring daggers, only this time even harder.

Rexxus stepped forward and pushed Alaerth's face away. "Okay, okay, enough antagonising the elf." He then turned to said elf. "Look, Tercos was it? After your actions earlier, it's clear as day that you'd rather kill us and watch us rot, than say a word to us."

Tercos gave a small smirk, but schooled himself before anyone could notice.

"But like it or not, we need you to cooperate with us." Rexxus finished.

Everyone stared at the warrior, dumbfounded. Seeing these looks, he elaborated.

"None of us have any idea where the hell we are or what happened to us, something which I suspect you have in common with us, right?" He asked the elf, who was defiant for a moment but begrudgingly nodded. "Right, well, the last thing that any of us remember is amassing to arms to defend our respective homes against Kuroinu. Is that the same case with you?"

Tercos gave Rexxus an ugly look, but complied. "More or less. I was with my comrade in arms Chloe. The two of us had just finished arming ourselves and were about to tear those dogs a new asshole! But..." Now, he looked worried. "After that, nothing. I can't remember a thing past that."

The others looked on, unable to not feel just a tiny bit of pity for the Dark Elf. Rexxus simply watched Tercos stew in anger and worry for a few minutes, before exchanging glances with the others. They all nodded in agreement after a moment and Rexxus turned to Drake, who was still holding onto the whip that restrained Tercos, and said... "Let him go, Drake."

A few seconds later, Drake sighed. "Fine, but if he tries anything, it's on your head Grimmborne."

With that, he untied the whip and in one swift movement, wrapped it around his torso like a bandoleer.

Now freed, Tercos slowly rose to his feet and craned his head up, staring hard into the eyes of the others. If his swords hadn't been confiscated earlier, he probably would have attacked again. But seeing as they had been, not to mention everyone had a hand on their respective weapons, Tercos decided to at least hear them out.

"Here's our proposition, Tercos Rekegath." Said Klaus. "If you agree to help us find out what happened to us, along with finding out where in Eostia we are and any other question that may arrise, then I swear on my honour as a knight, that we will help you find out what happened to your friend and queen.

"But!" Oxmuth interjected, drawing Tercos' attention. "If at any point you attempt to betray us, abandon us or stab us in the back, then…"

"Drake here gets to be creative, if you know what I mean~" interrupted Alaerth. He gestured towards Drake, who was fingering his whip with a savage grin.

Tercos considered his options carefully; on one hand, he could just decline the request and not do anything at all, but likely end up as a captive again and learn nothing of his mistress and friend's fate. On another hand, he could ignore the offer altogether and attempt another attack, and then get killed on the spot like a rabid beast. That only left option three.

Tercos struggled with himself for a bit, but eventually spat out… "I…I accept your offer."

The others nodded or smiled in acknowledgment and Rexxus held out his hand. Tercos looked at it in disgust at first, but then sighed and took it, shaking it firmly.

There was a tense silence after the handshake, when Rexxus presented Tercos with his swords. Tercos took them and looked over them, before dropping them back in their sheaths.

Say what you will about Dark Elves, but Tercos was a man of his word.

Once the moment passed, Oxmuth decided to speak up. " Now that that's out of the way, I can't help but bring up something that just occurred to me."

The others gave him questioning looks and Alaerth asked, "Yeah, and what would that be, big guy?"

"Where's Lupus?"

That caught them short. Come to think of it, no one had seen the male Half-Link ever since he'd helped subdue Tercos.

Everyone looked around them and Alaerth quickly spotted Lupus, who seemed to be mesmerised by something on the glass pillar in the middle of the room.

"Hey Runt!" Alaerth called. "Whatcha looking at over there?"

Lupus whirled around. "Huh? Oh, nothing Alaerth, just this weird button thing over here!" He responded, pointing to something beside him.

Around the bottom of the pillar was a waist high console, and on said console sat a hand-size hexagonal blue button, which Lupus was pointing at.

"I think we should press it." Lupus continued, and without a single shred of concern, reached out to push the button.

Klaus, who'd been attracted by the sound of shouting, paled when he saw what Lupus was doing. "Wait! Lupus No! We don't know what it cou…!" But he was too late.

The second Lupus pushed the button, the light in the pillar intensified with a loud thrum and the walls around them started to shake. Soon after, the walls began to shift and retract, the pattern seemingly random yet in some way organised.

Soon, the walls were completely gone, revealing a much larger room in their wake.

The group of seven took in the mountains of shelves that surrounded them, each one packed to the brim with various books and grimoires.

Klaus was instantly awestruck. "Amazing! It would appear that we've stumbled upon an ancient library, likely over several thousand years old! Oh, who knows what kind of advanced knowledge those pages could contain!"

Alearth whistled. "That's a loooooot of books!" Even when he craned his head all the way, he still couldn't see the tops of the shelves!

"Indeed…" Oxmuth's deep voice sounded behind him. Alearth turned around, to find the gentle giant perusing through a thick grimoire with an eastern symbol on the cover. "Very diverse in topics too. This one describes how the ancient eastern people would perform prayers and rituals."

Most wouldn't be able to tell, but Oxmuth was definitely exited to learn more about his priestess' culture.

"LOOK OUT BELOW!" A loud cry echoed through the library as Lupus dropped from above, landing perfectly on Oxmuth's shoulders.

"Hey guys, check it out!" He yelled with a grin, waving a purple book in the air. "I found a book on Half-Link biology! This place has books on EVERYTHING!"

"I agree! I could spend months in here and not even manage to read HALF the books in this place!" Klaus was beside himself with excitement.

But as he reached to take a tome from one of the shelves, he noticed Rexxus walking along one of the isles, peering intently at the book titles.

"Uh, Rexxus?" Klaus called. "Might I inquire as to what exactly you're looking for?"

"A book on how to get the hell out of here!" Rexxus called back over his shoulder. "Or a map at least; this place could be built like a labyrinth, for all we know!"

Klaus just stared at his friend, dumbfounded. Only Rexxus would think of something like that.

"Oi!" Tercos yelled from the other side of the chamber. All eyes turned to him.

"If you humans are done gawking like a bunch of Orcs..." He stepped aside and pressed his hand on a pedestal behind him. In response, a section of the wall beside him folded away, revealing a doorway.

"...I think I found a way out!"

(The Bridge)

The group had traveled through numerous metallic hallways, trying to figure out where they were. They'd passed a few signs, but they were all written in those same confusing symbols.

Finally, after a little trial and error, they found themselves in an area that looked important.

A large, spherical room with five different levels, each one consisting of a walkway that spanned the circumference of the room, accessible by (unknown to them at that time) elevator. The only exception was the third floor (the one they were on), which also had a circular platform in the dead centre of the room suspended by a pillar from the bottom.

But the room wasn't what caught their attention, oh no. Most of the rooms walls were made of thick, transparent glass, and dominating most of the view through that glass, was a black empty void dotted with distant lights.

And there, right in front of them, was a large blue sphere with multiple green and brown shapes dotted about it. One of which, looked very familiar.

Alaerth was the first to speak. "U-uh, guys?" He stuttered, pointing at the sight before them. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that look like…?"

"Eostia!" Finished Rexxus.

Everyone stared in shock, words escaping them. But then…

"INCREDIBLE! We're actually aboard some form of, of…SPACESHIP! This is unbelievable!"

…Klaus couldn't contain his excitement any longer.

"I mean, after reading so many books from ancient civilisations based on such subjects, I had theorised that it was possible. But, to actually be standing inside a functional spacecraft, let alone one that's already in orbit! I, I, I…!"

"Whoa KC!" Lupus shouted as he hopped onto Klaus' shoulders and slammed paper bag (that he'd pulled from who knows where) over his mouth. "Tone down the excitement buddy! I know it's pretty freakin' awesome, but we got other stuff we should be worried about!"

Still a little excited, it took a minute or two for Klaus to calm down.

"'Pant, Pant', O-oh Goddess, terribly sorry about that." Klaus shrugged sheepishly. "You know how I can be at times; when something unbelievable or amazing like this catches my eye, I just can't help but get overexcited."

Those familiar with Klaus and his habits just shook their heads with exasperated smiles. Tercos, on the other hand, gave the researcher a wary look.

"AHEM! Anyway…" Klaus examined the room before his landed on the platform ahead of them. "…I'd say that platform over there looks like it holds some significance. What say we give it a once over?"

Together, the group of seven walked over to the platform. But just as Oxmuth stepped from the walkway onto the platform, a low thrumming sounded out, freezing everyone in their tracks.

The walkway started to retract and fold away into the wall behind them, while at the same time the pillar beneath the platform started to open up.

From within, several large pieces emerged and started to slot together, until they had formed a large ring half as big as the room itself, and suspended by several spires that connected to the rooms walls.

As for the platform itself, the centre floor dropped away and a small series of steps rose up.

And for the coup de grace, the ring hummed with energy before the space within itself was occupied by a glowing bright light, which the platforms new steps lead up into.

Everyone stared in awe, not sure what to make of the site before them. They weren't given much time to speculate before the bright light faded, leaving an image in its place.

Chapter End.

(1) Think Blood Dragon armour from Dragon Age.

Aaaaaannnnndddd, cliffhanger!

Honestly, I was hoping to fit the whole thing in one chapter, but it was starting to get a bit too long for my liking, not to mention it was taking forever to get down.

So, whatcha think?

Whatever your opinion is, let it be known in the reviews: does this story have potential, or am I just wasting my (and by extension your) time?

Either way, send in your comments, and I should have the other half, which includes some insight into the knights origins as well as the actual reformatting, finished soon.

Oh! And a quick shout out to SoulEmbrace2010 and Omegas Prime, without whom I wouldn't have been able to put this together.

Thanks a bunch guys!

Until next time, Cheerio!