Author's Notes: Hey there! This is different from most Wakfu stories I've seen, considering I haven't put in any existing characters from the TV show. Instead, I wanted to do something that followed the adventure-of-the-day formula starring some OCs, and let my imagination write everything out for me. I hope you all enjoy it, and please let me know what you think of it by leaving a comment or review!

New Adventures From The World of Twelve

Chapter 1: The Hidden City

The World of Twelve. A massive, seemingly endless world of potential adventures, always changing, and constantly growing. Despite the biggest nations of the World still being as populated and busy as they ever were, the little towns and even smaller villages kept changing and growing as well. New ones formed and old ones died, as time is a slave to no creature.

Among these places, one city was grown from the top of a mountain, hidden away by numerous trees, large enough to make Sadida himself proud. The mountain peak itself was quite large, if flat. It was fortunate, because this laid out easy ground work for buildings and people to reside. It would take a lot of time, but in the end, the village itself became self sufficient, not requiring the assistance of any other nation or town. Deceptively bigger than it looks, there are not any living souls from any other town that has come to visit in many many years.

To those who live in this isolated place, it is known simply as "The Hidden City". It has become an unspoken rule between all citizens that no one was to leave the premise of the mountain. Not only would it be dangerous, seeing as how the forest was home to many creatures, but if they were to meet anyone else, they would undoubtedly give away the location of the city, therefore sullying the land with outsiders. The ruler of the city was quite xenophobic, and by spreading his own beliefs onto the other citizens, it quickly became a common mindset. Some would call it brainwashing, in a sense, but others would merely call it paranoia.

Thankfully, this mindset wouldn't truly affect everyone, and for the most part, history of the World of Twelve was still taught in the school. The life in the city lived on as peacefully as it could, living on it's own style of economy. Kamas were used, sure, but not always necessary. Sometimes, if two people knew each other, they were bound to do a simple trade, or even receive whatever they were buying for free. Life went on in the city as it always would, with everything else around them doing the same. Nothing special, nothing incredibly new or ground breaking. Just the same old city.

At least, until one day when someone discovered the Hidden City.

Iops are not renowned for their intelligence. That was a common fact. Their bravery and courage is unending, though, always wanting to prove their honor out on the battlefield. While being incredibly skilled in battle, it should definitely be known to not provide one with a map, as more often than not, they will end up lost, unable to even know how to decipher it.

That was how Faetard, a tall, nicely toned, turquoise haired Iop, ended up. As she trudged along the forest ground, her eyes never wandered from the map she held in front of her. Of course, she had no idea that she was holding it upside down, but her peripheral vision kept her from bumping into any rocks or limbs or trees that were in her way. Either that or she was just lucky and oblivious. Faetard was part of a group of Iop patrollers, who were out roaming around the country side to look for any trouble that could be brewing. She was part of of a group of four others, all of whom were as well trained as she was (and as intelligent, given her race).

It wouldn't be until she finally pulled her somewhat vacant gaze away from the map, looking around in confusion. With an exasperated sigh and a shake of her head, she moved her hands to her hips, clucking her tongue in disappointment. "Man, I really can't count on those guys, can I?" She said aloud to herself, lisping her words a bit (getting your front teeth knocked out while fighting will do that) as she continued on her trail, her large chest puffed out in pride. "Not that I should be surprised, I suppose. They always end up lost whenever I take charge," She rambled on, keeping her pace up. Despite the heavy forestation of the area, she could still tell from the small amount of light dwindling away from between the leaves that night would soon fall, and she had to find someplace to rest.

The mountain she was moving up was quite steep, however, and didn't allow even the smallest bit of flat land for her to lay down on. Faetard kept climbing, not wanting to spend another night sleeping on a rock. They weren't comfortable. Not only that, but it tended to make her brushed back, clover styled hair messy. It took a long time to get it to stand straight out like that! Even though she was tall and exceptionally strong, the Iop wasn't a fan of roughing it outdoors when she didn't need to. It didn't help that, despite wearing thin, standard patrolling clothing. She also had to drag around heavy metal boots, as well as metal elbow and shoulder armor. She kept her metal gauntlets on as well, which she was just barely keeping up due to how tired she was beginning to feel. As her fists swung down to her sides, she began to slow, groaning a bit. "The outdoor sucks," She complained, stopping for a little break on the mountain.

Faetard wouldn't give up, though. It wasn't the Iop way to just give up. With a loud rumble from her stomach, she looked down and rubbed it, groaning. "Don't worry, old friend, I know there has to be something to eat around here." She kept climbing, gripping the rocks in front of her with her feet to keep herself from tumbling back down. "If only the rest of my team was here... and if I hadn't eaten all our supplies a few hours ago." Her knees shook with each step she took, almost ready to fall under her own weight, rapidly starting to grow weak from hunger and exhaustion.

The smell of something rather delicious gave her a burst of energy, her eyes quickly darting up the mountain she was climbing. Sure, it was very large, and the trees that often got in her way didn't help with navigating, but she knew the smell of fish! Or was it beef? Maybe even Gobball? Whatever the case, the Iop quickly hurried up the mountain, her stomach gurgling loudly as more thoughts of food entered her mind. Where there's food, there's an inn!

Faetard continued up the mountain until she finally reached the peak. Her hands quickly pulled herself up over the rocky edge, and she gained her footing. Thankfully, she was finally on flat ground, so long as she didn't lose her balance and fall backwards. Her eyes widened upon seeing a large, thriving city hidden away on top of the mountain, surrounded by a thick forest. The sun was starting to set, the dull glow of orange slowly making way for the heavy veil of dark blue, welcoming the stars and the moon in the sky to the city. From what she could see, there were still a few people walking around, although none had taken any notice to her for the time being.

Rather than worry about that, she continued on the trail to find where the heavenly smell of food was coming from. She would need a fully belly before she could find her unit, anyways. That and a good nights' sleep. And then a big breakfast.

"Pair of sevens." Came the voice of the Pandawan tavern keeper, Maxie. For what seemed to be the fifth time this month, he was playing a game of cards to make a certain regular of his finally pay for a meal. The only downside was that said regular was an Ecaflip. Relying solely on their own fate and luck, Ecaflips never turn down an opportunity to gamble. Especially when it lead to getting something for free.

Malucard, while not particularly talented, was exceptionally lucky at games. While not surprising, he had somewhat of a reputation for bringing bad luck to any other opponent that dared to try and best him at gambling. The Ecaflip himself was slender and tall, though his grey, stripped coat was quite long, making him look fluffy. His black hair, while quite long, was kept back in a braided ponytail. The Ecaflip wore simple, if shabby, looking clothing, keeping four pouches around his waist. He also had one of his fangs hanging out in a bit of a snaggletooth on the right side of his mouth. His yellow eyes were bright, visible even through the dim light of the tavern.

With his tail still as a board behind him and his face as neutral as he could keep it, Malucard flipped down his hand. "Two eights. I win." A grunt of annoyance came from the Pandawa as the Ecaflip took a sip from his drink, leaning back in his chair.

"Jeez, I never learn my lesson, huh?" Maxie mused, getting up from his seat after taking a long drink from his own tankard, quickly emptying it. "I swear, though, one of these days I'll beat ya in a game, Malucard."

The cat gave a shrug, using his hands to reshuffle the cards back into the deck. "Maybe. Until then, I'll go ahead and take that free meal, if you please," He replied, flashing a small smirk up at him. With another small grumble of irritation, the tavern keeper walked back to behind the counter looking into the kitchen.

"Hey, get me a fried fish special-" Maxie was cut off suddenly, the entire atmosphere of the tavern quickly becoming quiet and tense. It wouldn't be a surprise that everyone's attention was now on the Amazonian Iop woman who just burst through the door. Numerous eyes were in confused fright of the large woman, who was walking right to an empty spot at the bar, oblivious to the looks she was receiving. From the way they were looking at her, they must've never seen a Iop before!

In fact, the Hidden City was actually exempt from having a few races, Iops being one of them. This one was quite a spectacle, too. While the most common looks she received were unwelcome, wary glances, a couple others looked her over with a look of fascination. Mostly towards her body, since she decided to show off quite a bit of it. Malucard himself was quite wary. This girl was definitely an outsider, and a very strong looking one at that. He himself was tall, standing at around six feet. But this Iop stood at least one head taller than him, around six feet, seven inches, if he had to guess. With those large muscles, she looked like a force to be reckoned with.

A bit of her threatening look was cut down slightly as she placed an order, speaking with a noticeable lisp. "Hey, keeper! I'll take the biggest meal you provide, along with a drink to match!" Faetard ordered eagerly, still quite oblivious to the fact that she had just made the whole atmosphere awkward. Maxie raised an eyebrow to the Iop, a small grimace forming on his face. Money was money, however... if she paid. He turned back to the kitchen, murmuring an order of something called "The Warrior's Platter".

While she waited for her meal, Faetard looked around the whole tavern, a big dopey grin on her face. It certainly was as typical as taverns went, but still, any place she hadn't been to was an adventure to her, no matter how small it was! As Maxie set down a glass of ale in front of her, she quickly took it and drank a big gulp from it.

It wouldn't be long until the Iop received her food, having it delivered to her as Malucard got his. Faetard immediately began to dig into the large platter of meat before her, chewing loudly and even grunting as she pulled off strips of flesh from the bone. "So... who might you be?" Maxie asked bluntly, curious of this large, imposing outsider. The Ecaflip ate his own dinner, keeping an ear shifted towards the conversation. He was quite certain that a few others were doing the same.

Looking up from her dinner, her mouth still full of food, she began talking. "I am Faetard, Head Scout of the Iop Army!" Naturally, food would spray from her mouth, making a bit of a mess on the counter, as well as Maxie's face. With an displeased look, he wiped the mess off of his face. He would tell her off about acting in such crude table manners, but in a Iop's case, this kind of behavior probably was good manners.

"I see..." Maxie murmured, eyeing her over as she continued to chow down. He knew better to hold his tongue and not upset her with too much sarcasm (not that she'd catch it anyways). Still, how she ended up in their city when they've never even seen an outsider before was somewhat suspicious. "You know, we've never had an outsider visit this city before. Not many folks take kindly to them..." He trailed off cryptically.

At this point, Fae managed to stop eating for a second, her mouth still full of food she turned and looked around at the small audience she unknowingly created. Many people were still staring at her in shock and curiosity, though plenty of them had scowls of displeasure on their faces. They figured the faster that this Iop left their city, the better. Malucard wasn't one of these people, though he was still puzzled by her presence.

Faetard swallowed her large mouthful and turned back to Maxie, smiling as big as ever. "Well that's a shame! Must get pretty boring when you don't get to see anything new from time to time," She replied, taking another big bite from a roast leg of Gobball. "Pretty neat city, though, I gotta say. If I could find the rest of my patrol unit, I'd be able to show them, too!" Some of the people started to murmur to themselves. The one thing that they most certainly did not want was this Iop-Brain showing their city off to more outsiders.

What caught Fae's attention, though, was the light scoff of someone who wasn't the tavern keeper. While Maxie did roll his eyes and shake his head in disbelief of the stupidity of this girl, Malucard had taken the opportunity to voice a thought in his mind. "If they're nearby, the wildlife would've gotten to 'em first..." He trailed off, taking a sip from his drink. She had turned his head to him, somehow managing to hear him.

Faetard gave the first semblance of a frown, looking quite prideful as she straightened up (an action that was lessened due to the fact that she had food covering her face). "I'm pretty sure a Iop patrol unit can handle a bit of wild animals," She huffed. "Besides, it's not like I came across anything anyways. It was quite peaceful."

At this, Malucard raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled. 'That's odd,' He'd think to himself. 'Boowolves roam around the woods at night, and lots of them. If she didn't see any, then something must've scared them away. Something big.'

Maxie was also voicing this towards the Iop. "Nothing? No Boowolves, feral Bow-Wows, not even a Piwi?" Faetard scrunched up her face as she began trying to remember her journey. Rocks, trees, more trees, the mountains, the smell of food, the eating of the food...

"Uhhm... nope. Nothing," She said finally with a shrug. "Is that a bad thing or something?"

The large Pandawa crossed his arms, looking quite serious. "Possibly. If you couldn't see anything out there, then something must've scared everything away."

A sudden movement of her chair being pushed back as she stood up, her large height being reaffirmed by everyone nearby as terrifying. With one fist against her hip and the other up in the air, threatening to punch a hole in the ceiling, she began speaking in a very important tone. "Fear not! I, Faetard, will vanquish this beast, wherever it may be! No evil creature will continue living as long as I'm around!" In a haste, the Iop woman turned and ran out of the tavern, her large boots shaking the entire foundation of the tavern.

Malucard stood up out of his own chair, an eyebrow raised as he watched her walk back into the woods. At night. "What th- you'll get eaten alive out there! There's no way you can take on anything that dangerous when you can't see!" A few other patrons looked in his direction now. Maxie did as well, a small grin growing on his face, an eyebrow raised. When Faetard didn't do anything to acknowledge him or even turn around, he groaned and adjusted his pouches, quickly pulling on a cloak that hung on the back of his chair and following after her, against his better judgment.

The Pandawa stayed put, unable to pull his own eyes away from the door. He wanted to find it strange that Malucard was willing to do something like follow a complete stranger out into the woods at night, but he knew better. The Ecaflip was always like that. With a sigh, he poured himself another drink. Right as the drink touched his lips, his eyes shot open, quickly slamming the drink down. This startled a few patrons even more, though this didn't stop him from shouting, "Damned Ogrest, she didn't pay!"

Despite the fact that she was having trouble seeing a lot, Faetard kept walking around, her eyes to the ground below her. While she would indeed run into a few trees from time to time, she truly believed she was onto something! After all, these foot prints she discovered were quite large, most likely from something heavy. Smart too, from the looks of it. After all, these prints went in a circle. Most likely to throw her off it's trail. Clever...

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two bright yellow lights. Eyeballs! This had to be the creature, no doubt about it! With a loud yell that would give away any stealthy advantage she had, she leaped towards the source of the yellow eyes. "Prepare to fight, beast!" She hollered, quickly body slamming the thing into the ground. As she began to wrestle with it, she began to wonder how something so skinny and bony could scare off a bunch of creatures.

It wasn't until she heard the choke of the thing underneath her body that she realized this most certainly wasn't the beast. "Ghhk! Gerroff..!" The dark colored Ecaflip gasped out. He was scrambling and scratching at the ground, trying to pull himself out from underneath this heavy Iop.

"Oh whoops! Uh, sorry about that," Faetard said, quickly stumbling off of him. She then pulled him up with one hand in an effortless manner, which only dazed the already dizzied Malucard more. "Keep on your toes, though! I sense that the beast is somewhere around here."

Once he finally gathered his bearings, the Ecaflip shook his head, pulling away from her, with more success this time. "Look, you're weird, and obviously don't know where you are. But we shouldn't be out and about at night," He began explaining. "If it gets bad enough that whatever is out there attacks our city, the guards will handle it." He began to turn his body back towards the entrance, looking back at her as if encouraging her to follow. "How about you go to the guards and tell them and let them handle it instead?"

A loud laugh came from the Iop, cracking her knuckles. "What, and let them have all the fun?" Before the Ecaflip could voice his incredulous opinion on this matter, the two were interrupted by loud howling. Very loud. Neither one had no idea how big this thing was, but it sounded like it was quite close to the two. The two blinked and looked to each other. "I think it's close by," Faetard said.

"Then we need to go before it finds us!" Malucard whispered harshly, looking frightened and ready to high tail it out. Instead, Faetard gripped the Ecaflip's wrist and ran towards the source of the noise, much to his chagrin.

"I think it's the other way around! Hope you're ready for a fight," She exclaimed, already prepared to face whatever was out there. Malucard stared at her in utter disbelief. What was wrong with this girl?! He stumbled trying to keep up with her, but thankfully managed to stay on his feet for the most part.

It wouldn't be long before the two of them came across a clearing. Faetard figured that she must not have walked through it on her way up the mountain. Despite the fact that they were on a slope, the surrounded trees and plants were stomped down and torn apart, making everything look messy. Unfortunately for the both of them, the culprit of whoever deforested this part of the woods was still there, and it was standing right in front of them. Standing at an intimidating nine feet tall was something like looked like a Boowolf, but stood on it's two hind feet. It's claws were massive, about the size of Malucard's forearm. It's fur was unkempt and dirty, it's eyes glowing a bright red aura. A mixture of drool and blood dripped from it's massive maw, snarling it's large yellowed teeth.

"It's a Boowerewolf!" Malucard screamed out, his whole body shaking in fear. If it weren't for the fact that the Iop had a tight grip on his wrist, he would've ran like Hell. However, Faetard looked as determined as ever, finally letting go of him as she prepared her gauntlet armored fists.

"So, you thought you could terrorize the local wildlife and the city, huh? Time to teach you a lesson, foul creature!" Suddenly, the Iop would do a running leap towards the large creature, using her right fist to throw an incredibly painful looking jab in the Boowere's jaw. It let out a bark of pain, the force of her punch sending it a good couple of yards back. Faetard then latched herself onto the snout of the beast, continuing to beat against it's jaw with both fists. While it definitely hurt the lycan, it wasn't out of the fight just yet. It quickly gripped onto the Iop, making sure to hold her tightly so she couldn't escape. Before she could do anything, he threw her into the closest tree that was still standing, which was a few yards away. She yelled the whole time she flew, slamming directly into the tree. Dazed and knocked out for a little, she slide down to the base, not able to get up.

Malucard watched in awe and fear as the Boowerewolf made it's way over to her, taking it's time to savor cornering it's prey. It hadn't noticed the Ecaflip yet, giving him the perfect opportunity to escape and go get help. However, something was keeping him from doing just that. If he ran to get help, he was leaving this girl to get mauled. Who knew how long it would take for more help to arrive? But what could he do? He didn't even know how to fight, let alone a giant lycanthrope. He had to think of something quickly, though. Malucard gulped and felt around his pockets and pouches for something- anything- that could be of use.

He pulled out a single card from the deck he kept in his pouch. The ace of hearts. With the other hand, he reached to the ground and picked up a stone. Not big enough to do any actual damage to the Boowere, but that wasn't his goal. Giving a silent, small prayer to Ecaflip, Malucard reared his left arm back and threw the stone at the Boowerewolf's head. It smacked right against the back of it's skull, not effecting it in the slightest. The sensation would register, though, as it stopped in place and slowly turned it's head, trying to find out who, or what, just did that.

Before it could do anything about the rock throwing Ecaflip, Malucard threw the card that was in between two fingers in his left hand. With a certain flick of the wrist, and thanks to the wind being just right, the card spun and flew directly into the wolf's eye. The werewolf howled in pain, reaching up to slap a hand over it's pained eye, quickly pulling the card out and clenching it. Clearly it had hurt. Malucard couldn't help but grin a little as he managed to actually do something. His smile quickly turned into an expression of fear, though, since the Boowerewolf was now looking directly at him with it's one good eye, snarling in rage. It was obvious that it did not like that.

Fortunately for the Ecaflip, the Boowolf was distracted long enough for Faetard to regain her bearings and get back on her feet. Seeing the lycan's back turned, she took this as an opportunity to leap up and scream out, "I've got you now!" With both large, muscular legs wrapped around it's thick neck, choking it slightly, she began to bang both fists against it's head. Since she mostly aimed for the eyes, which injured and disoriented the lycan even more. It's only good eye now being punched in, Malucard was given another chance to do something.

The closest thing he had to an actual weapon was a small pocket knife. He flipped it out and hurried towards the beast. Knowing that it's ankles were uncovered and defenseless, he didn't waste time in jamming it straight into the back of his heel. The Boowerewolf roared loudly, immediately crashing down it it's knees. Malucard threw himself out of the way so that he wouldn't be tackled. Faetard kept pounding away at the Boowere's skull. Since she was still keeping it in a choke-hold as well, it was starting to waver in place, about ready to pass out. For a final move, the Iop launched herself up from the lycan's head and slammed herself back down onto him, slamming him down into the ground.

Once she climbed off, the Ecaflip quickly joined her side, looking over the now unconscious body of the lycanthrope. Both eyes were blacked and puffed out, it's heel bleeding out from an open wound, which also looked nasty. Malucard was lucky his knife was silver. The two were breathing heavily, still feeling exhilarated from their battle. Faetard smiled wide at the Ecaflip beside her. "That was awesome!" She began. "I knew that the two of us could do it, though," She giggled a bit, puffing her large chest out in pride again.

Malucard laughed a bit, still in disbelief that the two actually did manage to defeat the beast. "Yeah..! I think you did most of it though, with you and your big..." His eyes lingered over her chest for a second before he realized what he was doing. He brought them back up to her face, blushing quite red. "...fists," He finished dumbly. Faetard didn't notice this and nodded.

"Hey, you did great too!" She looked to the Boowerewolf, which lead Malucard to do the same. "So, what should we do with it now?"

"I say we tie it up. I dunno when it'll wake up, but if it does before the sun comes up, it won't be happy," The Ecaflip answered.

"Ropes aren't needed," Faetard responded, sitting herself on a nearby rock. "We'll just keep guard of it until morning. If it does wake up, we'll just whoop him again!" She smiled expectantly at him, as if waiting for him to say yes.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, too exhausted to argue with the Iop. "Very well," He sighed, sitting right next to her, resting his head in his hands.

"I'm Faetard, by the way," She greeted, extending her hand to him. Malucard raised an eyebrow at this, since he did remember her saying it back at the tavern. Of course, he had not introduced himself just yet. Since the opportunity revealed itself, he decided to go with it.

"Malucard," He replied simply, shaking her hand. He grimaced as she gripped his hand a lot tighter than she probably expected. He swears he could've heard bones crunching.

"A pleasure! What say you join me in my expedition to meet back up with my patrol group? I know that you'd be the perfect partner for me!"

The Ecaflip raised an eyebrow at this, looking into the beaming, expectant face of Faetard. On one hand, he's most likely to get killed by whatever she drags them into. He was lucky to have even survived the fight with the Boowerewolf without so much as a scratch. Not only that, he had plenty of responsibilities to attend to, and being away from the city would deprive him of them...

He sighed and shrugged, leaning forwards into his hands. "We'll see. For now, let's just make sure Fluffy here doesn't wake up anytime soon."

Accepting that as an answer, Faetard turned her attention back to the lycan as well, keeping an eye on it with someone she thought of as her new friend.