Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair/Identity Story

Overview

Voicelines

Identity Story

Speaker	Dialogue
Hongyuan Terrified Civilian	B-but did Daguanyuan not declare the end of the Family Hierarch war?
Hongyuan Anxious Civilian	… As far as I know.
Hongyuan Terrified Civilian	Then… what are they doing, marching down the main street in broad daylight…?
	Red-crested gamefowls march grimly under the sun, at the hour when shadows are short.
	There weren't any stomping of hooves or beating of drums, but anyone who'd been living in Hongyuan couldn't help but shrink with terror at the sight of this flock.
Hongyuan Terrified Civilian	They… they seem to be marching toward Daguanyuan…
Hongyuan Anxious Civilian	C-could it be treason?
Hongyuan Terrified Civilian	Impossible… Ishmael of the Jia family may have had a relatively weak force, but… we've all seen it, haven't we?
Hongyuan Anxious Civilian	… Yes, the victory was… uncontestable. She was bold, ambitious, and more importantly… legitimate.
Hongyuan Terrified Civilian	Then just what in the world are they—? N-no, let's not linger on it. We best head back and lock ourselves inside. We do not want to get caught outside when those violent beasts do their thing…!
	Merchants who were getting ready to open their stalls closed back up and locked themselves inside, while children who were about to leave were quickly ushered indoors by their parents.
	The Heishou may indeed wield terrifying power, but it almost seems as though they are somewhat overreacting.
	It need not be mentioned that the roosters were hardly the most powerful nor the most fear-inducing beasts of the Heishou Packs.
	But no resident of Hongyuan found this behavior odd.
	… Everyone in Hongyuan knew that, if roosters walk the streets, an all-out war must've broken out somewhere in Hongyuan.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	By the time we get to Shi Xiaoling's room, they'll probably start turning the lights off in Hongyuan…
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	… so why'd the lord choose us for this mission, I wonder? Nighttime's usually for snakes and hares, isn't it?
Heishou Pack - You Branch Gamefowl	No reason to hide and be all covert, that's why. I'm not complaining. Haven't you been getting tired of fighting amongst ourselves, sinking our claws into our own?
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	That's… I guess that's true.
	Roosters have very little to do in times of peace.
	At most they'd be summoned as guards, but even then, no one would really aim to give them an excuse to actually go all out.
	But… not this master.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Gamefowl	Xiaoling of the Shi family, huh… isn't he a member of the H Corp. board? The other board members won't be happy to hear this, I'm sure…
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	Maybe our lord's planning something big.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	I wouldn't mind being used and discarded as pawns as long as I get discarded in a battlefield… but I'm pretty sure our current lord wouldn't waste us like that.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Gamefowl	I guess so… he sure is something, I'll give him that. The way he wields the other branches is certainly a sight to behold.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	Still… I hope the board of directors fights back.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	If they do, they'll be sending soldiers of their own, right? Ah, it's so exciting! I've always wanted to be in fight after fight after fight…
	Befitting the station of a member of the board, the room we walked into was awe-inspiringly wide…
	… and impossibly tall, to the point where they could hardly gauge the distance between ground level and the top.
	But none of it deterred the child; he giddily grabbed his weapon and marched on.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	The lord commanded that this was to be an extermination, so let's sweep from floor to floor.
	Toward the absolute joy of battling that awaited him.
??? Young Master of a House	T-this should be more than enough defenses, right?
Hongyuan Architectural Engineer	Sir, your room is filled from top to bottom with all kinds of deadly traps. Not even serpents or hares would find it easy to infiltrate.
Hongyuan Architectural Engineer	You only have to survive until the motion of no confidence is put to vote, and flee through the secret exit—
??? Attendant	S-sir, it's an emergency! It's the roosters! The gamefowls are rising to this floor!
Hongyuan Architectural Engineer	… What?
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	Oh look, everyone's here.
	Indeed, it seemed that they triggered every trap on their way up here.
	The flock of roosters standing by the door were practically torn to shreds, their skin and flesh cut to ribbons and hanging loose, their feathers broken and bloodied…
	… But their bloodshot eyes only burned with mad ferocity.
	The pain and struggle only seemed to invigorate them, as their every move seemed to be practically vibrating with excitement.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	…….
??? Soldier	Those mad roosters can't be negotiated with, sir! You have to run!
	The soldiers moved to attack, but they were no match for the battle-high roosters.
	Even when they were somehow able to lodge a battle axe in their shoulders, their thrashing only grew wilder…
	And when their legs were broken, they would drag themselves across the floor with their arms just to get another hit in.
	The mad dance of roosters finally met their match… only after most of the soldiers were wiped out.
??? Honored Guest	So they're the fabled roosters, eh?
	A sizable, rather expensive-looking workshop gear swept the room…
	… and in a blitz, turned two overzealous roosters to mush.
	Perhaps they saw a glimmer of hope…
	The survivors all ran to hide behind the honored guest of the house.
??? Honored Guest	I thought the Family Hierarch war was over. Or am I a little behind on news?
??? Young Master of a House	J-just protect us! Save us, and we will make it worth your while… Please…
??? Honored Guest	Haah… looks like I'll be pulling some emergency contract fees tonight.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	…….
??? Honored Guest	Alright! Come get m—uh? Huh?!
	He confidently stepped forward… only to be flabbergasted.
	None of the roosters were going after him.
	He swings his weapon, crushes a rooster's leg, but none of them even bat an eye in his direction.
	The roosters weren't going after him… they were obsessively going after the family and their soldiers.
??? Honored Guest	Y-you damn chickenshits, come here! Fight me!
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	I'm sorry, we roosters don't want a good fight.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	We're just looking for more fights, that's all.
	The guest, despite his efforts, was only able to protect just one or two major members of the family… but he could not stop the massacre that took place.
	In a chaotic storm of blades, dozens of lives were lost; and the flaming swords of the roosters burned up any hiding places to ash.
	Indeed, the roosters weren't looking for a good fight.
	They were looking to get into as many as they could. And to drench themselves in the hottest clashes, the fighting roosters would turn away from the mighty, and instead go off to seek different battlefields.
	But one of them, the child, was staring quietly into the guest's eyes with an indiscernible look… before slowly walking up to him.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	You…
	By this point, the guest was hyperventilating, his arms tired and hanging by his side. The trembling in his legs seemed to suggest that he was barely standing.
	And he realized that the look in the child's eye had changed to that of a hunter's, eyeing his prey.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	If you really were strong… so strong that you would prove too much for the roosters… then you wouldn't have been staring at our flock. You would've been met by a tiger.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	Our new lord's… particularly good with wielding the Heishou.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	… Let's spark the Bloodflame blade.
	The guest barely manages to parry the child's strike away, but that single clash was enough for him to realize that he was spent, that he couldn't handle even a single rooster.
	He turned tail, abandoning those he agreed to protect, but one of the roosters on the ground, whom he had thrashed to mulch earlier, suddenly came to and grabbed his ankle.
??? Honored Guest	Let go, dammit! Let go!
	As for the rest… the child barely had to do anything.
	The roosters, high on blood and battle, were dancing in an endless party of death.
??? Honored Guest	Hold on, I… I surrender! Feed me an Anamnaworm, make me write a contract… whatever your lord wants!
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	Oh, but we can't do that. Once the Bloodflame blade begins to burn… I can hardly let it go out.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	Wanna know something? The sword keeps itself burning via the friction of blood against oil.
Heishou Pack - You Branch Sinclair	Which means… we can't stop the bloodshed.
	Perhaps the child's master would've taken the guest under his wing. He was rather capable, after all.
	But unfortunately for him, the child and his flock of roosters weren't thinking about something so grand as 'the future of Hongyuan'.
??? Honored Guest	Knngh…
	… They were just happy to kill.

World of H Corp. Identity Stories