Young Hunter (flashback/solo)

[Massacre]

Young Hunter Timestamp: Sring 15, 490 AV Location: Sea of Grass, Northern Section along the coast Massacre followed his brother and the female who was teaching them. It was another hunting lesson, one of many he had been on throughout his childhood. They were not allowed to hunt alone, not yet, and always the mothers had to accompany the children. The previous day they had come across a set of human footprints. Massacre and his twin brother Saber, along with one of the mothers, had followed the prints all the way to the human campsite. They had not been allowed to attack the humans though, the mother had forbidden it, but Massacre hoped today they would get lucky and find someone who wandered off from the group. Finally they reached the campsite which had been abandoned that morning. It meant the humans had a full day's start ahead of them. "I knew we should have taken them when we had he chance," Massacre muttered angrily in the Zith tongue. His brother nodded in agreement, but the mother gave them both an angry glare. "They would have slaughtered us," the mother said. "Did you see the weapons they carried? These were no common merchants. Sometimes it is best to leave things to the warriors, understand?" Both children nodded their understanding, but in his mind's eye Massacre saw himself taking on the lot of them, killing every last one with his sharp claws. "I could have taken them," Saber declared proudly. "You can't even take me," Massacre retorted. "Oh yeah?" The young Zith tackled his twin brother then, balling his hand into a fist, he punched Massacre in the face. Or at least he tried, but Massacre brought up an arm at the last minute and just barely managed to deflect the blow. With his other hand he raked at his brother's arm, cutting through fur and flesh and leaving behind bloody claw marks. "Oh, you'll pay for that," Saber shouted and slashed at his brother's face, but Massacre was the better fighter of the two and flipped his brother off him before any damage could be done. Both boys jumped to their feet, squaring off against each other warily.

[Massacre]

Massacre watched his brother closely. He was more skilled than his twin, he always had been. It was something he was proud of, being the younger of the two by a few chimes. But that didn't mean he could relax. His brother was no weakling like some of the other children, and either of them could easily get injured in the fight. Not that either were worried about getting hurt, it was all part of being a Zith. Saber lunged for his brother, trying to rake him across the chest. Massacre was quick and ducked under the blow, but Saber was also quick. Balling his fist he reversed it's momentum and brought it back and down onto Massacre's back, knocking him to the ground. Stunned, Massacre fought to recollect himself, receiving several harsh kicks in the process. Saber jumped on his back and tried to grab his brother by the throat, but Massacre kicked off the ground with his legs and bucked Saber off his back. The twin collided with the ground a few feet away and Massacre scrambled over to him, slashing his arm when he raised it to defend himself. "Think you can ride me like a human horse!? You'll pay for that, Saber!" Massacre slashed again, drawing bloody red lines across his brother's forearms. Saber turned to flee, running several feet before spreading his wings and leaping into the air. Massacre watched him go, and watched as he circled back around. Nothing was a match against an airborne Zith, but he did not take to the sky just yet. Massacre waited for his brother to come back around, waited for him to dive and swoop towards him. That's exactly what Saber did, flying towards Massacre ready to rake him with his claws as he swept past. Massacre waited until it was almost too late before he moved. His brother swooped past and Massacre dove to the side, then quickly turned around and ran at his brother who was trying to compensate and come out of the dive. Leaping on his brother's back he knocked him from the sky and pinned him to the ground.

[Massacre]

Massacre dug in to his brother's shoulders and back with all four sets of claws, getting as good of a grip as possible, and then with all his might began flapping his wings. Slowly they ascended and picked up speed, all the while Saber was trying to wriggle free of his brother's painful grasp. Even if he did break free he would still crash to the ground. There was no way he would be able to level out his fall enough to fly before he hit, but it was still preferable to the dagger like claws gripping his back. All the while the mother watched this with slight amusement, unaware of the figure that was coming up behind them. Normally her keen senses would have heard the sound of the dagger sliding out of it's sheath, but the boys were being loud. She didn't realize until it was too late that there was a threat, and turned around just in time to have a dagger plunged into her heart. The boys didn't notice anything either, so caught up as they were in their game and only when the arrow burst through his brother's back, poking Massacre in the belly, and his brother went lifeless in his arms, did Massacre realize something was wrong. He looked just in time to see another arrow heading straight for him. Massacre turned just in time, taking the arrow in the shoulder instead of the heart. It made flying next to impossible and it was all he could do to keep himself from breaking his legs when he hit the ground. The young Zith landed with a thud and quickly scrambled to get behind cover. A third arrow imbedded itself in a tree right behind him and Massacre could feel it cutting through the air as it whisked passed him. Frantic the Zith dove behind a boulder. He heard the man drop his bow and pull out a bladed weapon, then slowly he began to approach.

[Massacre]

The man was trying to be silent, and had Massacre been anything other than a Zith he might have gone unheard, but Zith were notorious for their keen sense of hearing. Massacre closed his eyes and focused on the sounds of the man's footfalls. He could hear the earth shift as each footstep pressed into the ground. He could hear the man's shallow breath, and just barely make out the slightly elevated beating of the man's heart. Where had he come from? Was he one of the people who camped here earlier, or some other traveler? Was it a human, or an akalak? In the distance Massacre heard the whinnying of a horse, and realized he was probably facing one of the humans from the horse-tribes that roamed the plains. Drykas as they called themselves. They were skilled warriors, according to the elders, but Massacre was not about to die at the hands of a filthy land crawling human. Massacre waited until the human drew near then slowly began to creep around the opposite side of the boulder, flexing his claws in anticipation. It was his first time ever fighting a human. In fact, it was the only close up contact he had ever had with a human that wasn't a slave. Massacre couldn't wait to taste the man's sweet flesh. When he heard the human's footstep on the other side of the boulder he jumped out and raked the man across the back. Or at least he tried to, but somehow the man was prepared for him and dove forward out of range spinning to face the Zith as he came back to his feet. "Prepare to die, monster."

[Massacre]

Massacre understood the human's words, but they made little sense to him. Did the man really think he could defeat the Zith? His arrows may have claimed two of his kin, but in a fair fight there was no way Massacre could loose. The human approached, and Massacre noted the tattoos on his arms confirming the Zith's suspicious that it was a drykas he was facing. He would kill this man and feast on his body, and when he was done he would bring the foolish drykas precious horse back to his tribe to be slaughtered and eaten for dinner. Massacre grew impatient with the man's cautious way of fighting and lunged at him, raking his claws across at a diagonal. Instead of dodging or trying to block, the human sliced down at Massacre's hand catching the Zith off guard. It took all his skill to stop the hand and pull it back before it was sliced clean off. Suddenly the Zith realized a fatal flaw in his own weaponry. Now matter how sharp his claws were, he could do nothing to stop a bladed weapon if it actually landed a blow. He would have to be faster and more agile than the human if he wanted to win. Massacre slashed again, expecting the drykas to use the same tactic, but instead the man dodged back and then countered with a horizontal slice of his own. His sword had more reach than Massacre's claws and the blade sliced a shallow line across his chest. Suddenly all his bravado was gone. Massacre realized he was in over his head. As skilled as he was for his age, he was defenseless against a trained warrior. Massacre spread his wings to try to fly, but the warrior slashed again causing the Zith to dodge instead of take off. Each time Massacre tried to get away he was prevented, and things were looking bad.

[Massacre]

Massacre knew he was going to die. He couldn't beat the tall drykas before him, who was so skilled with his sword and his bow. Massacre had never really understood why the older Zith seemed to almost respect the warriors they spoke of, but now he understood. Even though they were trapped on the ground, the humans could be just as dangerous as a Zith. The drykas slashed again and Massacre dodged, getting nicked in the arm but avoiding major damage. His only hope was to tire the human enough for him to escape, but the man didn't seem anywhere near to tiring and each swing of his sword was getting closer and closer. And then a shadow passed overhead. Both combatants looked up just in time to see a large male Zith swooping down to land next to Massacre. It was Cairn, one of the tribe's best warriors. Cairn regarded the scene before him calmly, gently moving Massacre behind him with one clawed hand. "Run away, human," Cairn offered, but that only enraged the drykas who charged at the larger Zith. Cairn shoved Massacre back and quickly spun away from the human's sword. Continuing his spin he came back around and slashed the drykas across the back, drawing a cry of pain and surprise from the warrior. The battle went on for a little while and Massacre watched in awe as the warrior did battle with the warrior. It was clear now that, while far superior in skill to himself, the drykas was no match for Cairn. It was over before Massacre had even fully caught his breath, the human falling to the ground in a bloody heap. Cairn eyed the corpse for a moment, but both Zith knew the man was dead, and then he went to examine the other two fallen Zith. They were also dead, and after that was confirmed Cairn attended to Massacre. "You are lucky to be alive," he commented as he casually broke off the end of the arrow before pushing it the rest of the way through Massacre's shoulder. After his wound was tended to the pair returned to the tribe and others were sent to collect the bodies and the horse. It had been Massacre's first up and close encounter with a human, and he truly was lucky to be alive. END

[Cayenne]

I hereby award the following: Unarmed Combat: 3 XP Tracking: 1 XP Intimidation: 1 XP Wrestling: 1 XP Observation: 1 XP Tactics: 1 XP Lore: Losing a Brother Lore: Resourcefulness of Drykas Warriors Lore: When to Throw In the Towel