Homeward Bound (Closed)

[Tundris]

Aren and Sam’s analysis of the glassbeak’s behaviour was accurate, they weren’t hungry in the least. They were down right terrified. The first glassbeak screeched while trying to avoid Sam’s blade. Unaware of its positioning it backed up in a panic and stepped out to the mouth of the rocky shelter. The wind immediately picked up the light glassbeak’s body, sucking it out into the jaws of the storm. Startled by Aiken’s snarling and Sama’el’s movements, the second glassbeak half ran half stumbled towards the only open space in the cave - a patch of dirt where the pups barked and yelped in fright. It careened towards the litter, tripping over its own feet as it fled in fear of the strange enemies. With its companion gone the glassbeak was desperate and erratic with terror as it tore across the cave floor. Fast thinking might save the pups, but getting close enough to the glassbeak to subdue it meant crossing a barrier of sharp claws and a thrashing glassbeak bill.

[Aiken]

With one enemy down, two if the wolf mother was being counted, Aiken's demeanor quickly evolved from a snarling, defensive wolf to a cunning, observant one. In a split second, he saw the glassbeak hurtling toward the wolf pups, and preservation of his native specie kicked in.

Instead of charging, which would have been pure suicide, Aiken chose to run full force to the cave wall nearest to the glassbeak, staying clear of its attack range. He turned and jumped just before the wall, twisting his body midair so his feet would impact the wall and give him an instance of wall-running before he launched off with his back legs.

His teeth were shining with lust as he opened his maw, seeming to slow down in time as he got close to the shrieking intruder. Aiken's aim had been true, the base of the beasts neck was clear, and the agile maneuver had only done to further confuse his next victim. The proverbial tunnel-vision took over then; sounds didn't exist, smell was irrelevant. All he could see was the bird's exposed neck, all he could feel was the relaxing of his legs from after the jump. He could already taste the fresh, sweet blood from the avian (Aiken loved how birds tasted, he just hated how much work for so little product there was).

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

When Zulrav dealt with one of their opponents, Sam had to look over his shoulder to make sure the Strider was safe. She seemed to be rather too serene for standing in the middle of a storm that took off the glassbeak like that, but she walked into the cave, regal as you please. In the meantime, Aiken moved to engage the remaining glassbeak, who was fleeing further into the cave where the pups were. He barely had time to curse before he did the only thing he could: he brandished his scimitar and gave chase. His strategy would involve defense and care, but in the past, whenever he had fought alongside Aiken, they provided distraction one for the other, so all he really had to do was give Aiken a proper opening. Or, if chance would happen otherwise, Aiken's maneuvering might pull the glassbeak's attention far enough that Sam could land a telling blow. In the closer quarters of the cave, he couldn't move as fluidly as he had been taught, so he maintained his defensive stance and, when the chance appeared, he shot a thrust of the curved blade at the monster, careful not to overextend himself and lose a limb or other important body part to counter-counterattack.

[Tundris]

The glassbeak screeched and ear piercing cry at the appearance of Aiken launching himself through the air at it. It slowed its pace in reaction to the new threat but then twisted its spine and spun towards Aiken, not seeing Sam or his shining scimitar as it came down in an arch to slash the glassbeak across the back. Scales thicker than some leather armour protected the spine but revealed that they could be hacked off to expose the delicate flesh beneath. Aiken's bite found the glassbeak's neck and collar bone and he sunk his teeth in, applying a hundred pounds of pressure into the strength of his jaw's clamp. The glassbeak sqwaked in pain and thrashed its head to and fro, slicing and eviscerating Aiken's back with the sharp beak edge. Blood erupted from new wounds and Aiken went down, still clamped but whimpering loudly as the glassbeak tumbled to the ground on top of the tiny pups. Three of the five pups who had been in the way of the falling glassbeak got crushed under its weight, but two survivors yelped and cried in alarm, crawling with their little legs to escape the glassbeak's flailing claws.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Seeing Aiken's blood, hearing his whimper and the frightened cries of the pups over the howling of the wind, all Sam could do was keep up with the hacking and slashing, being mindful as possible of the flailing claws, wings, and beak of the injured beast. His scimitar was growing a skin of glassbeak blood with each score against their enemy. Horse managed to maneuver away, shying closer to the Strider mare as if there were strength in equine numbers. She looked on as if watching a practice fight in order to give feedback after the fact. Sam was glad that he and Aiken seemed to always fight well in tandem, because Aren certainly wasn't helping. So much for Akalak ferocity in battle.

[Aiken]

Aiken felt the thrash of claws on his back, forcing his teeth deeper into the fleshy neck as he clinched against the pain. His eyes shut tightly against what was sure to be a torrent of blood from his back.

But something struck him then. The pups were being crushed and only two were left to whimper for safety. Something inside Aiken broke. He didn't care how much blood he lost, how injured he got, or even if he died. Sam was in danger now, too close to the still thrashing claws and vain pecking, and the closest things to a relative he had were about to be crushed before they even knew what was happening. Aiken closed his jaw as tightly as possible before ripped upward, the torrent of blood to follow meaning nothing to him. He jumped forward, towards the glassbeak's head.

With a midair shift, sending a blinding light through the cave. Still suspended in the air, Aiken's now human form cocked back his right arm, a massive energy building up in his fist. The wolfish snarl never left his face, nor the look of the purest of angers, not even as he fell towards the bird's head. His left arm extended before him, grasping with a choking force the already traumatized neck. As his knees hit the rocky ground, he let his fist fire right at the thing's skull. He straddled it's neck, repeatedly pulling back and striking, fully prepared to continue until there was nothing left but rocks under his fist, or he passed out from blood loss.

[Tundris]

A look of shock crossed Sam’s face as he watched his furred companion beat the glassbeak’s skull into a pulp, splashing blood and tissue onto the front of his body. Aiken’s fists ached from being held tight but he barely felt anything as he wailed away at the glassbeak’s neck and head. It wasn’t long before he collapsed its skull and crushed the vertebrae along its neck, a finalized ‘snap’ echoing out in the tiny cave that marked the bird’s death. His arms trembled as he let himself fall back to the ground, leaning his back against the rock wall to catch his breath. The large bird had several items that could be seen as valuable; its beak, claws, an organ in its abdomen that was considered a medicinal delicacy, and the larger feathers on its body. Even the mother wolf had some salvageable parts, and it was up to the group to determine how they would divide the spoils. The mare who joined the team in the cave began neighing as they were recovering from the traumatic events of the day; and as they looked up to turn their attention to the strider they noticed that the storm had died down. Blue sky slayed the dark clouds that collected around their cave and sunshine broke free from its confinements, shining down on the now impossibly serene landscape. Everything that had been there before fled, and it left the grasslands bone bare, with no animal seen in sight except for the group of travelers. The mare then took off, spreading its wings and bounding across the fields of grass like a playful colt. It had been agitated and suffocated in the cave and she took the first opportunity to exercise her freedom. A rustle in the cave drew everyones attention; the two remaining pups that cowered against the far wall of the cave. Aiken, who should have been in excruciating pain with his back had yet to feel anything and even dove down to the cave floor in front of the pups, instinctively turning back into his wolf form. As he bent his face to sniff at them, one of the pups crawled forward and pawed the end of Aiken’s snout. Without their mother, the pups’ lives were now in Aiken’s hands.

Artist Credit:
kikariz.deviantart.com

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sam might have chased the Strider out into the open, but his friend was bleeding. He shoved his scimitar into the glassbeak for good measure, then ran to Horse, calming him with a few murmured words of Pavi and his hands on the handsome gray hide before he dug around in his packs for something with which to treat the wound on his back. He hadn't even give himself time to gauge the wound properly, but soon enough he was rushing to Aiken's side with clean rags to serve as bandages. It was all somehow worse seeing a wounded man when he had grown accustomed to mostly seeing Aiken in his lupine body, and the surviving pups seemed to have adopted him already, poor things. Their mother certainly couldn't do much for them now. "Hold on, Aiken. I've got to bind up the wounds on your back, all right? You have to live, though. It looks like you're a father now. All right?" The worry was obvious in his voice. Already they had lost Kegan, Arnett, Wystern, and their horses. Sam's first attempt at leadership wasn't going very well at all. He sighed and started putting pressure on Aiken's wounds to staunch the flow of blood. Since Aren seemed stupefied by the speed with which everything had happened, Sam was left binding the wounds as best he could. Aiken was beefy, a muscular man when he wasn't a wolf, and Sam was strong for his wiry frame, but it was still quite an effort to tie things all the way around his torso with him weak and attempting to bleed out on the floor. There was no time for herbs, and he didn't really have anything to help with something like this. The most important thing was to stop the bleeding. He could worry about clean healing later. Once Aiken's wounds were bound as well as he could manage, he brushed back his hair with his hand. "You did good, Aiken. Now you just have to stay alive for these kids of yours." He grinned, though it was brittle and worried. Once Aiken was settled, the pups curling up next to him, Sam moved to the remaining glassbeak. He pulled out his hunting knife and knelt down next to the dead beast. Though the storm had cleared, he was trying to be a Drykas again, plucking feathers which could be used for fletching arrows, cutting into the flesh to bolster their provisions. Who knew how much they had left after losing people and mounts, after all. He fed morsels to the wolf pups, who didn't seem entirely comfortable with solid food, but unless this Strider mare was randomly lactating, they were going to have to get used to it. Sam couldn't really remember the taste of glassbeak, but he figured they weren't going anywhere today, calm weather or not, so soon enough he could cook up some glassbeak steaks. There was little fat upon that frame, mostly muscle. Some he salted or otherwise preserved with his kit, while the rest was left as it was for cooking. He only hoped the smell of dinner led Kegan and Wystern back to camp.

[Aiken]

Aiken gave a half smile. It worked, it actually worked. Such joy came over him, possibly a side-effect of losing so much blood, that he struggled to a sitting position. He was shaking in his arms, barely able to hold his body up. He cocked his head back, and gave one loud howl. A long, victorious song which meant the downfall of a pack's enemy, over-proud and full of violent delight, and a challenge to the other packs to best this kill.

When his song was over, Aiken gave what seemed a little chuckle and laid his head down, letting the fast approaching darkness take over. He wouldn't dream now, only live in a serene state until he either died or awoke.

[Tundris]

By the time the glassbeak’s body was fully scavenged, the front of Sam’s shirt was covered in blood and he changed himself into dry clothes. A fire was built in the cave right at the entrance to discourage animals from approaching. The alcove they nested became a place where they felt secure and even if dark had not been approaching they may have stayed there longer just to digest the events in their minds. The wolf pups were agitated though mostly docile, barely able to run let alone walk or crawl. After being fed rather unappetizing bits of meat, they howled but then sat quietly and eventually fell asleep. If they wanted the pups to live, they needed to travel towards Endrykas as soon as possible. Twilight became pitch black outside the cave and the tiny lights of the stars over head twinkled, watching over the group protectively. The white mare hadn’t made her return to the cave yet and Sam looked out past the cave entrance wondering when she would show her face again. It wasn’t until much later in the night when the fire was dying that they heard familiar sounds of horses trotting in their direction. The white mare appeared then, entering the cave and avoiding the fire pit gracefully. Behind her, to everyone’s surprise was Wystern’s horse. The horse was worried and scared from being alone but had successfully avoided the storm. Now the question of where Wystern was dawned on them all at the camp. Chances were he didn’t make it, especially if his own horse deserted him. In the company of each other, the surviving group laid down to sleep with one eye open. More fuel had been added to the fire and it burned bright, illuminating the interior of the cave. Their surroundings smelled of blood and fear but they grew accustomed to it quickly, eventually not even acknowledging the violent acts that took place before. It wasn’t long before they all collapsed from exhaustion, letting the night slip over them like a warm blanket. ----- They awoke the next morning to the sound of hooves thundering the ground around them. At first it was a distant rumble, and the travelers bolted out of bed in a near panic, wondering whether the storm had returned or an earthquake was beginning. The thundering grew louder until it died down and mingled with the sounds of clashing swords and yves buckles. Before they knew it, the light from the sun outside the cave was blocked off by the bodies of great Drykas warriors mounted on horses, staring down at them in cautious curiosity. “You’re treading on Drykas territory. Why are you off the path that runs through here? What is your business in this land?” The booming man who spoke looked down at the injured man and the wolf pups by his body, and then scanned the rest of the cave to find the dead wolf mother and mangled glassbeak corpse. “What transpired here? Explain yourselves!” Spears and bows were cocked in their direction. There was blood shed to be found and it put the Storm Watch on alert. Who were these people and what were they doing in Cyphrus?