Tales of the Cooper Clan - Rioichi

Chapter 1

A young red-panda child named Rioichi dug his fingers into the palms of his hands as he lay on his futon. He had bangs that hung down a bit in front of his eyes and wore blue pants, a white and blue shirt, and brown boots. His ears twitched as he listened to his mother and father talking. Usually their discussions would be about how his mother was a thief. In fact her entire family line was thieves but they were thieves of honor, only stealing from other thieves. Rioichi's mother Ling came from China. Having stolen from wicked and corrupted army generals, she came to Japan to settle down, feeling she had fulfilled her purpose as a thief. She eventually met and married a red panda raccoon named Daichi. Though Rioichi could tell by the tone of his mother's voice that she wasn't discussing about her past as a thief. He tried to focus on her words she quietly muttered from her mouth, but the only thing he could make out was the word hunted and prey. At that moment he heard footsteps. His brown eyes glanced upward to see a red panda raccoon with white fur, wearing a red Chinese dress with a slit on the side to provide mobility, black pants, blue boots, and a blue mask over her eyes. That was his mother.
Ling kneeled down to Rioichi, gently stroking his head. Even though she was smiling there was sadness in her brown eyes.

"Rioichi, I need you to stay inside and don't let yourself be seen. Don't worry your father will still be here. You may hear scary things but whatever you do, don't reveal yourself. Hide in the shadows like a ninja." she said.

Rioichi said nothing as he nodded his head in agreement. It was then he noticed his mother had her sword which was a silver blade with a brown handle shaped like a C. He knew she had never laid hands on it ever since she quit thieving unless it was an emergency. Though he did not question why she had it, figuring that she wouldn't tell him either way.
Without another word, Ling stood up and left the house.
Remembering what she told him Rioichi crawled in the shadows, listening to the silence of the night. Ling glanced back at her home, letting out a sigh.

"Please let him be alright." she whispered as a dark shadow flew over her.

She glared up at the night sky, seeing a giant mechanical owl fly towards her. She clenched her teeth and pulled out her sword. The owl tried to snatch her up in his deadly talons but she dodged and swung her sword, trying to hit the areas where flesh could be seen. This only enraged the mechanical owl as he snapped his beak at the raccoon. Ling managed to scale up a tree and throw small throwing knives at the mechanical owl, aiming for his weak points. The knives sunk into what little flesh the owl had causing him to shriek in pain. Without warning he swooped toward Ling. The female raccoon tried to dodge, but she found herself snatched up in the mechanical owl's talons. She screamed in pain as the talons squeezed her body tightly, crushing and breaking her bones. She felt warm blood pour down the side of her body. In an attempt to free herself, she began stabbing her sword into the areas of flesh that remained on the owl, watching as her sword was being coated in crimson blood.
The owl narrowed his eyes at the raccoon, digging his talons deeper.
Ling cried at in pain, trying to force her body to continue fighting. Her sword slipped from her grip and fell to the ground. She found herself staring into red glowing eyes full of hate. Without a word she closed her eyes, accepting her fate.
Tears streaked down Rioichi's face as he heard his mother's cries and screams of anguish till finally there was nothing but the silence of the night and the sound of flapping wings.

The next morning Rioichi slowly opened his eyes; holding up his hand in front of his face to prevent being blinded by the morning sun. He barely slept at all that night; he remained in the shadows; the sounds of his mother's screams burned deep into his memory. He slowly stood up from his hiding place, listening for any sounds. He left his room to see his father kneeling on the ground.
Daichi clenched his hands tightly around Ling's sword covered in blood; he was sobbing quietly.

"Okasan?" Rioichi spoke up.

Daichi's ears twitched when he heard his son's voice. He opened his eyes and turned toward Rioichi. Daichi saw the young raccoon's eyes glancing down at the sword that belonged to his mother, but Daichi didn't have the heart to tell his own son why Ling was slain. Silently he stood up and walked up to Rioichi.

"Gather your things. We must leave this place." his father commanded.

Rioichi did not ask why, knowing it was unwise to question his father. He went into his room and swiftly gathered up his things. When he finished he walked outside to see his father waiting for him.
Daichi nodded his head toward his son, but before they left he stabbed his wife's sword into ground in front of their former home.

"Fair well Ling." he muttered under his breath.

Over the days as they traveled, Rioichi and his father barely spoke to each other, neither wanting to bring up the event that happened that fateful night. Rioichi couldn't get his mother's face out of his mind, he remembered the sadness he saw in her eyes before she left to fight the mysterious enemy.

"If only I knew why she was killed and who did it." he thought.

For a while Daichi and Rioichi still barely spoke to each other, until finally one night. They had stopped to rest for the night, both raccoons silently staring at the flames of their camp fire.
Daichi silently prodded the flames with his stick, looking over at his son. He thought about how Rioichi was seven and Ling was planning to actually to start training him as a thief when he turned eight. But now with Ling dead there was no one to teach the young raccoon the thieving ways of the Cooper family. A part of Daichi felt glad that his son wouldn't become a thief, believing he would be safe from the being that took Ling's life. But he also knew that by doing this he's actually dishonoring Ling and her family line. He glanced over to his pack and sighed before he reaching over and grabbing it.

"Rioichi, there was something your mother wanted to give you." Daichi said.

Rioichi watched as his father pulled out a large book that had the symbol of a raccoon face and was titled "Theivius Raccoonus."

"This book in my hands has been passed down in your mother's family." Daichi started, "Your ancestors each wrote a page in this book about the new techniques they developed as a thief. Your mother even has a page in the book. The book was her's and now it's your's."

Rioichi stared in shock as his father handed him the book. He ran his fingers across the cover; he had no idea his mother wanted him to follow in the footsteps of her and his ancestors. His hands tightened slightly around the book as he closed his eyes.

"I'm honored, but I don't think I'm ready yet." Rioichi said.

His eyes snapped open when he felt his father's hand lay on his shoulder.

"I understand, whenever you are ready." Daichi replied.

Rioichi nodded before glancing down at the ancient book again. He was not ready to be a thief but was willing to wait to see what secrets lie in the book.

The next day Rioichi and Daichi arrived in a small village. Daichi figured that village was the best place to live, hoping that the mountains kept his son hidden from certain enemies. As they walked through the village Rioichi studied every single detail of the village, from the mountain tops to the water springs, wanting to be aware of his surroundings. The two raccoons were eventually approached by a yellow marten with brown eyes, wearing a brown kimono and a red coat.

"Ah konnicihwa travelers, I am Nobuo. What brings you two to our village?" he asked with a bow.

Daichi and his son bowed before he replied "I am Daichi and this is my son Rioichi. We have been seeking out a home, do you know if we are able to stay here?"

Nobuo grinned as he began to laugh, confusing the two raccoons.

"Well I am the village the elder so of course I can work something out. Come, we'll continue our discussion in my home. I'll have Madame Geisha send over a couple of geisha." he said.

Both Daichi and Rioichi followed Nobuo to which home which was a shinden-zukuri, a type of house built for the aristocratic society.
Rioichi couldn't help but let his eyes take in the surroundings; he never expected to see a home with long hallways that were surrounded by elegant gardens. At that moment something caught his attention. He stopped in his tracks upon seeing a female red panda raccoon kneeling near the fish pond. Her dark black hair dangled in front of her face as she struggled to keep the sleeves of her teal kimono pulled up so they wouldn't dip in the water.
Rioichi seemed interested in the young raccoon, wondering why a girl at the age of seven would be wearing such elegant clothes.
That was when the female raccoon lifted up her head, making eye contact with Rioichi. The two raccoons stared at each other in curiosity, interested in the other.
Though due to her not paying attention the female raccoon leaned too far forward and fell into the large pond.
Without any second thoughts Rioichi jumped into the water after her. When he reached her he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her out of the water.
The female raccoon coughed up water since her mouth was open when she fell in.
To Rioichi's surprise the female raccoon shoved him away from her. His surprised eyes stared into her brown ones that were glaring at him.

"I can't believe you made me fall in the water!" she yelled as she tried to wring out her hair.

"Well that isn't something very nice to say to the person that helped you." Rioichi replied with a frown as he crossed his arms.

The female raccoon didn't say a word as she rapidly shook her hair to get it dry. When she did this she ended up slinging water at Rioichi's face, earning a glare from him. When the female raccoon saw this glare she couldn't help but giggle. She kept on giggling until she heard a male voice calling out for someone.
Rioichi knew that was the voice of his father calling for him. As he started to walk away the female raccoon grabbed him by his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

"You know it's rude not to at least say your name." she said, placing a hand on her hip.

"Rioichi, and your's?" he asked with a sigh.

The female raccoon smiled as she answered "Asami."

Rioichi's eyes widen for a second. He didn't know why, but hearing her name made him a little happy. After hearing Diachi call out for his son again Asami let go of the male raccoon's arm. She gave him a small wave before running off, leaving a dripping trail of water from her soaking wet kimono behind her. Rioichi stared for a bit in the direction Asami left before running off to find his father.

Rioichi ran as fast as he could, moving swiftly through the long hallways of the shinden-zukuri. He studied every little detail of the home as he continued moving at swift speeds; he almost felt like his mother's spirit was running alongside with him, being as swift as he is. He reached the end of the hallway to see his father and Nobuo. What caught his attention was the seven year-old male skunk wearing a green shirt, yellow pants, and black boots, kneeling in the floor.
Nobuo looked up, thrilled to see Rioichi had entered the room.

"Ah, Rioichi, your father was just telling me about you, glad you could make it. Oh I would like you to meet my nephew Kenta Le Paradox." the old marten said.

The young raccoon bowed before kneeling on the ground next to his father, surprised that Kenta hadn't even glanced at him, as if the small skunk didn't want to look at him.

"My little sister is his mother." Nobuo told, "Of course his father refused to give up his last name. Honestly I don't understand why the old skunk insisted on keeping that French name."

Kenta shot a glare at his uncle with his green eyes before turning away once again, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Ah it seems the geisha have arrived!" Nobuo said in a joyful tone.

Three women wearing long beautiful kimonos with makeup on their faces and their hair tied up into buns entered the room, carrying trays of tea.
Rioichi let out a sigh of boredom, not understanding why the women dressed up so nicely. He had never seen his mother dress up like the geisha so he assumed it wasn't normal. Behind the women entered a young girl that was a maiko. When Rioichi saw the maiko he froze in shock because that maiko was none other than Asami.
The young raccoon changed her appearance from when he last saw her. She now had her face plastered in white makeup with her lips painted red; her long black hair was tied up in a bun with two ivory chopsticks sticking out of it. At first she didn't notice Rioichi as she and the three geisha began to serve tea, but when she turned to serve him she stared with wide eyes.
Rioichi knew she was surprised as much as he was; he hadn't expected to see her again so soon. Though the shock didn't last long. Rioichi didn't have time to see the growing smirk on Asami's face.
She picked up the tea pot and poured the hot tea on his head.
Rioichi yelled in pain as he started shaking the scolding tea from his fur.
Kenta had fallen backwards onto the floor, laughing his head off at the scene before him.

"Oh I'm sorry my grip slipped." she lied.

Asami grabbed a rag and began drying off Rioichi.

"Consider us even now." she giggled quietly as she continued to dry him off.

Kenta was laughing so hard that he could hardly breathe until Nobuo yanked him painfully by the tail. The black skunk yelled out in pain, glaring at his uncle who had his head turned the other direction pretending he didn't do anything.

"If only otasama didn't forbid me from using my stench." Kenta grumbled as he sat back up.

Later that night Daichi and Rioichi had settled down in one of the village homes. Daichi took a job as a black smith, forging swords for the emperor's army. He hoped by throwing himself into his work he could forget about the fate that fell upon his wife Ling. It pained his heart whenever he thought of her; his hatred growing for the being that took Ling's life. He wanted revenge but he knew he would be leaving Rioichi fatherless if he tried to. So he decided he would move on with his life and take care the only thing he had left of Ling.
Rioichi was sitting on his futon, staring down at the Thievius Raccoonus that he held in his hands. Ever since his father gave it to him that night his curiosity about what was inside kept growing, making him more eager to know what was inside.

"Maybe one peek wouldn't hurt." he thought.

He flipped the book on it's side and slowly opened it up. His mouth slowly opened as he flipped through the pages of his family's history. He was in shock to discover he descended from an Egyptian named Slytunkhamen II who developed Shadow Power, a move that granted thieves invisibility but only in the shadows. His interest grew more and more as he continued reading. He read about Salim Al Kupar who was his Arabian ancestor that developed the Cobra Climb and even read about Sir Galleth who was his Medieval British ancestor that developed the Crash Catapult technique. He kept scanning each of the pages, reading about each of the family member's amazing feats as thieves of honor. Finally he came upon the last few pages that were written on before it continued on with blank pages. He fought back his tears as he stared down at the final pages, those pages were written by his mother. His brown eyes focused on the picture of her in her usual clothes, a smirk on her face as she circled around a guard at swift speeds, creating a small tornado.

Rioichi scanned down the page, reading about how his mother's greatest feat was stealing a jade samurai helmet from an army general named Feng Fox who had been trying to capture her for years. During her feat she ended up developing the technique called "Silent Obliteration", an attack that allowed a thief to take out guards swiftly and silently by encircling them until they are trapped in a small whirlwind. Rioichi stared at Ling's picture once more before closing the book with a sigh and laying down to go to sleep. But he failed to see in his mother's picture that there was a dark silhouette of an owl, watching her with his red eyes full of hate.