Chapter Text
Legalities: I don't own Rising of the shield hero. I merely own this take on it and even then it's more I'm playing with the plot. This will have a sometimes dark but not evil Naofumi, sex, slaves of all types, a twist on the original plot, monsters becoming humanized, and more. If any of that bothers you then please don't read. With all of that out of the way, on to Rise of a true hero.
Our story begins with a demihuman girl named Raphtalia. It starts before her life was saved by her master, and even further back than that, before he life was ruined and she became a slave. It starts in a small village of demihumans protected by one of the queen of Melromarcs's allies and confidantes where Raphtalia spent the first few years of her life. It Starts, with the First Wave of Calamity!
Raphtalia was a little girl of nine years old, with long auburn hair, reddish brown eyes, blemish free pale skin, a tanuki's ears and tail, and wearing a red dress. The young demihuman was thought to be a raccoon demihuman, though she didn't look like her cousins of that breed. Raphtalia was sitting in her kitchen eating lunch with her mother who said “So dear, what are your plans for the future?” She smiled and shrugged at her mother. Raphtalia's mother was named Natalie. She looked like an older version of her daughter only with brown eyes, and tan skin from working the fields while her daughter played the day away usually. Natalie, like her daughter had long hair, though where her daughter's reached her waist, hers reached her mid back. They both had long delicate looking arms though Natalie's were more toned than Raphtalia's, and they both wore dresses, leather boots, and gloves. Natalie smirked and said “You sure you don't know my dear Raphtalia?”
Raphtalia nodded and said “No idea mom. I'm still a kid so I need to relax and enjoy life according to Dad. Why are you planning on doing something that makes me choose?” Her mother shook her head and she said “Okie Dokie.” Natalie laughed at that and ruffled her daughter's hair then Raphtalia asked “Can I go out and play now that we're done eating?” Natalie nodded and grabbed her daughter's plate then put it in the sink as Raphtalia ran for the door.
Natalie laughed softly and called after her “You know the rules so I shouldn't have to explain them, but if there's any trouble come back home, and don't go by the sea because Sadina is out of the village right now!” Raphtalia nodded and raised a hand in recognition of the rules then ran out the door to play with her friends. Natalie chuckled and thought about her husband Yatsuhashi. They'd both abandoned their last names and pasts when they ran away together, but they were still in love and their names meant nothing. She smiled and started washing the dishes thinking back on the good times while keeping an eye out for their little angel, Raphtalia.
Raphtalia ran to the town square where she saw her friends, Keel, Joseph, Lucas, Rifana, Kaylee, Amelia, Roran, and Stella. Raphtalia ran up and said “Hey everyone! What do you guys want to do today? I don't think we can go to the sea because Sadina isn't with us.” The other kids all nodded in agreement, other than Keel.
Keel said “That's totally not cool. I mean I tried to convince my pops that we were all able to take care of our selves but he said no Sadina no ocean. It's not fair.” The other boys agreed while the girls just hummed softly looking disappointed.
Raphtalia said “Wasn't it you who almost drown Keel?” He glared at her and she smirked at the husky demihuman child. Raphtalia stuck out her tongue and laughed. He snorted and she said “What's wrong Keel, I thought you'd be used to being proven wrong by girls by now.”
Keel grumbled and said “Whatever. If we can't play in the ocean let's play in the fields.” The other kids cheered in agreement and Keel exclaimed “I bet I'll beat all of you to the fields!” Raphtalia just laughed and the kids took off running. Keel had an early lead but was soon passed by Raphtalia who was just as fast as the young husky.
Raphtalia called out “I'm going to win Keel.” Keel tried to put on a burst of speed but sadly he couldn't pass the tanuki girl. When they stopped in the fields, Raphtalia a little way ahead of everyone she said “Told you I was as fast as you Keel. Also everyone you can run faster if you put your arms ahead of you and put all your might into it. So what should we play?”
Everyone talked amongst themselves until finally they agreed on a game of Tag. Keel said “I'll be it and this time I'll definitely catch you Raphtalia.” Raphtalia merely giggled and they all started running away from the husky demihuman. He chased after Raphtalia more than anyone solely focused on beating her in the game. Eventually everyone took a break. The girls sat down and relaxed. Keel said “If you guys can still play we should definitely do so before we need to get home to help with our chores.”
The boys all agreed while the girls wanted to rest a bit. Keel said “Fine have it your way we boys will keep playing while you girls sit and talk.” Raphtalia giggled and nodded alongside Rifana. The boys ran off to play as the girls gathered in a tighter group and started to talk.
Rifana asked “Hey girls who do you want to marry?” Raphtalia sat and thought about it. They were all getting close to the age when relationships formed and she ended up looking at Keel. He was cute, but he just didn't attract her that much. Rifana said “Let's start with Raphtalia, who do you want to marry when you get older Raphtalia?”
Raphtalia thought long and hard and said “Someone like my dad.”
Rifana said “It's got to be someone closer to us in age you can't base them off your dad!” The other girls giggled and Raphtalia smiled looking at her friend. Rifana was a total girly girl, and was a golden retriever demihuman. She said “I want to marry the shield hero!” The other girls giggled and smiled at that knowing Rifana's belief in the legend of the four cardinal heroes and how the shield hero was the one who looked out for demihumans like them. She said “You guys know he'd be totally cool and it would be like marrying a king or prince!” The other girls nodded in agreement though Rifana said “Although maybe it would be better as he is like a god for us demihumans.”
Kaylee and Stella, who were twin weasel demihuman girls, said, “We'd like a guy who would like us for our brains rather than our looks.” This was an understandable want as the girls were both beautiful with long red hair, blue eyes, and slim figures.
Finally Amelia, a rabbit demihuman with large amethyst eyes, blonde hair, and long ears one of which was crooked said “I'd like a guy who's honest, kind, trustworthy, and cares about me like I'd care about him, you know girls?” They nodded looking at the slightly more developed girl who already had budding breasts that made two indents in her shirt.
Suddenly they all heard the sound of something cracking and turned toward it. In the distance was a large crack in the sky extending all the way to the ground. Raphtalia gasped and said “We have to go home right away!”
Keel shouted, “WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET ANOTHER CHANCE TO SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS????!!!???? COME ON GUSY LET'S GO SEE WHAT IT IS!!!” Raphtalia and the others grabbed Keel dragging him back toward town.
Raphtalia said “My dad said to run to town if there was any sign of danger so that's what we're going to do. This is dangerous Keel!!!!” Keel sighed and tried fighting at first then eventually gave in and the kids all ran back to town. When they got to town they saw the adults milling around. Raphtalia saw her dad and called out “Daddy!!!”
He ran over and scooped her up saying “Raphtalia are you ok?” Raphtalia looked into Yatsuhashi's eyes and nodded. He said “Did you do what I told you too?”
She nodded again and said “As soon as we saw the cracks I had all the kids run back to town.”
Yatsuhashi said “Good girl.” He set her down and said “Stay by me until we begin evacuating.” She nodded and he turned to the villagers shouting out “EVERYONE LISTEN TO ME!!! THE GOVERNOR HAS DECLARED A STATE OF EMERGENCY!!! WE NEED TO EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!! THOSE ABLE TO FIGHT NEED TO BE AT THE BACK TO COVER EVERYONE'S RETREAT FROM THE VILLAGE!” The villagers nodded and a few gathered around Yatsuhashi to cover the retreat. His wife Natalie was one of those who could fight, wielding a hatchet and preparing to take on anything.
However a calm orderly retreat was not to be as the old carpenter, a lion man named Leonidas ran up shouting “YATSUHASHI!!!! SKELETONS ARE INVADING THE TOWN AND ATTACKING THE VILLAGERS!!! WHAT DO WE DO????!!???”
Yatsuhashi swore and Leonidas said “Most of the hunters are out fishing and the weather's turned really stormy! Also Sadina's out on one of her trips!!” Leonidas picked up an old pitch fork and said “That said it won't matter if I die, I'm old. So I'll help fight, we need the children to escape while they can. Women who are unable to fight too.”
Yatsuhashi nodded and said “Our tribe may be strong and have lots of inner power but we have nothing for the undead and as such we need to protect those we can.” However as they prepared to fight a large beast with three heads let out a tremendous howl and came charging into their midst bowling Yatsuhashi over. The dog howled out viciously as it tore into the nearby defenders and the people scattered fleeing in terror. Yatsuhashi called out “Wait don't run away blindly!!!” Sadly no one listened and the only ones who remained were Natalie and Raphtalia. Yatsuhashi climbed to his feet and the three of them raced after the people who were fleeing. Many fled into the ocean only for the dog to eat them. Leonidas got the last laugh against the dog in his own way by stabbing it in the chest with the pitchfork hard enough to draw blood. Sadly among the dead were a few of Yatsuhashi's friends, such as Andrew the carpenter, Laurence a fisherman, and many more. The dog saw Yatsuhashi who blasted it with light magic then chased him, his wife, and daughter up to the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean.
Yatsuhashi and his wife watched the dog approach then turned to each other and whispered back and forth. Raphtalia only caught the occasional word. The conversation went like this from Raphtalia's viewpoint:
Yatsuhashi: “ It's the only way.”
Natalie: “...sure there's no other way?”
Yatsuhashi: “.... I'm.... we can at.... save her.”
Natalie: “....right...at least she'll survive.”
Raphtalia didn't know what her parents were planning but she was worried. Her parents turned to her and said “Raphtalia remember some things for us.” She nodded sadly and Natalie said “Remember to smile. Don't let this get you down.” Yatsuhashi said “When you smile the whole world smiles.” Natalie continued “Live a long happy life.” Yatsuhashi and Natalie finished “And Finally don't forget we love you and will always watch over you.” They pushed Raphtalia over the edge to the waters below.
Raphtalia called out “ NO MOMMY!!!!!! DADDY!!!!” as she fell. Raphtalia landed in the water and saw the dog lunge at her parents then tried to make her way to shore shivering the entire time and hearing fighting on the cliff side. She made it to shore where she saw adventurers and knights killing the skeletons.
She looked for survivors of her village and found an old Antelope demihuman named Elliot. He said “Raphtalia have you seen any other survivors?” She shook her head. He continued “Follow me and we'll see who else we can gather up.” Raphtalia nodded and the two walked along the beach until they came upon the rest of the survivors. Among them were Keel, Rifana, Kaylee, Stella, and Amelia. Several other children had perished, and so had many adults. All told about a quarter of the village was still alive with varying degrees of injuries. Elliot said “I'm glad to see all of you that survived.”
Raphtalia ignored him and ran up the hill to check on her father and mother, or their remains. Raphtalia got to the top of the cliff side and saw her mother covered by her father's body. She ran over and checked them both for a pulse. Finding one in her mother's neck she picked her up and dragged her back to the others. They saw the girl and said “Raphtalia! Is your mother alive?” She nodded and Elliot said “Praise be to the heavens.” The people quickly took the girl's mother from her poor traumatized child and Raphtalia sighed at the loss of weight then followed them to a tent that everyone had set up for the wounded.
Raphtalia laid her mother on the cot at the back of the tent where a doctor from town took a look at her. She turned to the doctor and asked “Will she recover?” The doctor nodded and she sighed in relief then passed out in a cot herself exhausted from the long day. She woke up at dusk and watched the doctors working on people then got up and walked to the meeting of the other villagers. She spoke about how her father would want them to continue living and not give up making everyone cheer. They started to work on rebuilding the village.
Sadly it was not to be. The next day raiders attacked the village, killing the elderly, taking the men, women, and children as slaves and Raphtalia finally gave up. She was taken by the slavers and given a slave crest. She passed from master to master, some were kind, she met friends and family that were slaves to these people but none kept her due to her night terrors.
Finally she ended up under a master who absolutely hated demihumans. This man beat her every day, gave her noxious smelling food, and didn't care if she lived or died. The man laughed at Raphtalia and said “You keep mumbling about some village, right? I have something to show you girl.” She stared as he showed her an orb with the image of her town that was ruins and the flag destroyed. She screamed, that was the last straw. She screamed as he beat her, cried for her loss, and so much more. She couldn't be a good slave like her mother told her to because this man didn't want a slave he wanted to vent his frustrations and kill her. Eventually he sold her again. She coughed as she laid in the cage she'd been sent to.
She heard the slave trader talking. He said “I have a rabbit with a genetic disease, a raccoon with night terrors, and a half breed lizard man. Anything worth less than them well...”
The figure nodded and said “Let me see the girl.” She knew that either this man would buy her and she'd die with him, or she'd die in the tent so she just looked down as the slave trader got her out of the cage. The man said “So what's your name?” She coughed and he said “I'm serious girl, what's your name?”
She coughed out “Raph...Raphtalia.” He nodded humming to himself and watching her carefully. She studied him seeing he was in villager garb but didn't know what to think of him.
The man said “I'll take Raphtalia.” The slave trader nodded and that was the start of her life and her salvation.