Completed The Serpent Winds

[Xen]

A deep coldness seeps from him, permeating the surrounding air.

He walks lifelessly through the forest, sliding his feet across the earth, pushing leaves and twigs too stubborn to move on their own aside as he traverses the unfamiliar forest. At this point, he was unsure of his next course of action. He was simply following his instincts into the unknown called The Syliras Region. His couldn't think of anything; it was like all coherent thought had been snatched away. Sadly, leaving only hatred, anxiety, and emptiness behind.

Xen blamed his predicament on those who chose to have him cast out of Zinrah. He had done nothing wrong, nothing to offend his people…. and yet. Xen closed his eyes in dejection. Everything he had was there in Falyndar and now he had to start over.
“ I don't deserve this! I don't need this privation! All I ever wanted was power and sense of unity with you all. Siku, is this how you repay your creations!? ” Xen vents his rage on the constrictors and Siku, whom he called his divine mother. He spoke as though they were with him in the forest.

“ Is it because I´m not like the others? Is it because I did not torture, deceive, or steal?
I was told that the gods smiled upon the honest efforts of their children… was that a lie? Do you actually laugh at the efforts of your children or just mine, Siku!? ” Hate began surge through him. Xen hated how terribly silent the world became once he started shouting. Before birds chirped and animals grazed, but now there was no sign of life, only him in this seemingly desolate world. Xen hated this silence; it seemed fuel the negative emotions within him.

“ Liars—all of you! ” Xen starts to gnash his teeth and his eyes bulged with clear signs of craziness within them. “ I cannot believe I trusted those oppressive serpents all this time... unforgivable.... They exploited my love for Zinrah...for the jungle.” He felt an insurmountable wave of pain and misery washing over him. The memories of all his past failures, images of eyes harboring pity and disdain, began to drown him in regret.
“ Everything was meaningless—my honest efforts—all invalidated. ”

[Xen]

Xen never realized how strong his love for the jungle was. He did not ponder the depth of his attachment. The thought of him being forcefully separated from his home never occurred to him. However, now that he faced it—the unthinkable situation—he couldn´t handle it. He wanted to go back, but was unable to return due to harsh circumstances.
“ ....” And the more he recognized the unfairness of his situation the more the misery he felt grew.

“ What do we have here? ” A strangers voice breaches the silence of the forest, breaking the depressing atmosphere. Xen turns and faces the stranger, who chose to disturb him, with eyes filled with hostility and hatred. He immediately recognized the mischievous and sneaky tone of this man´s voice and glared, showing that he was not in a good mood or state of mind. “ Oooh, how scarwie, ” The stranger responds to Xen´s aggression with faux fear and mockery.

Xen narrows his eyes at the awfully suspicious stranger. To be this nonchalant and unwary of him only meant that the person in front of him was either confident in his fighting skill or was waiting for him to fall into some trap. He decides not to engage the suspicious stranger and flees by turning tail and running.

“ Petch! No, come back here!!! ” The Bandit gives chase; his plan would fail should Xen escape.

He pulls out his knife as he gives chase. His heart rate quickened with every step—he was really worried about his potential loss. So, he sped-up and enters a mad dash toward his success! Xen was running when he heard the sound of quick moving feet approaching behind him. He didn´t need to guess the identity of his pursuer, he knew who it was, and he needed to get rid of him. Xen quickly turns left and runs into the thick trees. He picks up his pace and rushes forward at an accelerated rate.

“ Is he a cat kelvic? Petch! I should have called the others first! ” The Bandit cursed his own incompetence, but continues the chase. He wanted victory at all costs! Even though Xen was moving faster than him, and the distance kept growing between them, he presses on. While running Xen notices a fallen tree in the path ahead. He couldn´t go around the tree since it was too large. Instead, he runs up to the fallen tree with his goal to jump over it clear. Xen, after concentrating strength into his legs, propels his body over the obstacle! He glides through the air for a few seconds, then lands on the ground with a solid thud. Xen bends his legs to lessen the impact on his knees and then sprints forward to continue running.

[Xen]

Xen moves briskly through the forest!

He remembers to place his entire foot onto the ground before kicking and propelling himself forward. The countless days he spent practicing in the training gallery were truly helpful in the end. Xen runs on his feet and not on his toes as he remembers feeling that this was the proper thing to do. But, no matter how good his running posture seemingly was, he couldn´t shake off his pursuer. The bandit was hellbent on capturing him.

Xen rushes through the trees, crushing twigs and brown leaf bits beneath his feet. So, he did not realize how eerily quiet the forest had become. Escape was the only thing he wanted to do at the moment, which made him overlook environmental details around him. He didn´t want a confrontation with anyone, he just wanted to be alone. A peace of mind is all he desired. Clearly, fate was in opposition of his wish as he was being chased by someone he never met before and further tormented by the world.

Xen couldn´t understand his life at all. He couldn't resist asking “ What have I done to deserve this misfortune? ” It was like some force had invaded his quiet life and turned it into something dark and unbalanced. Xen runs, bends his knees, and jumps between the gap of the trees, but it was at that moment Xen realized he messed up. He did not notice the small branches sticking out of the lower areas of the trees. The fallen leaves of fall concealed the low lying branches perfectly from him, creating the perfect formula for a mishap.

A branch catches a part of Xen's pants and snags onto him, making him lose balance. Xen did not want to find out how the cool soil and thick twigs tasted like. So, he twists his body to the left before he hits the ground! His left shoulder blade plows through a stack of leaves, scattering them everywhere, before he enters a short roll and stops ticks afterwards. Xen gets up quickly, though a albeit ungracefully, to his feet and unsheathes his katana.

Although he wanted to avoid a conflict, circumstances appeared to be not in his favor. Xen could hear the sound of someone rushing towards him. A battle was definitely about to begin!

[Xen]

—
The sound of snapping twigs was what Xen heard before the bandit bursts through the gaps of the trees and lands on the ground a few meters away from him. His opponent was surprised to see him standing his ground with his katana drawn. In those seconds of observing Xen, he did not pause. The Bandit simply corrects his posture as he slowly crept towards Xen; eyes glowing with greed and anxiety, his knife trembling in hand. Before him was the object of his obsession—the object which would resolve his current sorrowful situation.

Now somewhat at ease, knowing that Xen wouldn't be running away, The Bandit began to imagine a life of luxury inside the walls of Syliras, away from the wolves, and other bandits scouring the harsh wilderness. He would be free from this life, his family would be free too, so as long as he could obtain what he was after. While maintaining his stance, Xen aims the tip of his weapon at the eyes of his opposer. He then lunges, sending the point of his katana forward!

The Bandit leans his head to the left, dodging and allowing the blade to pass mere inches away from his ear. Xen responds by swinging his katana to the left now that his opponent's neck was vulnerable. He figures the stroke wouldn't be a killing one, but enough to slice his opponents neck and weaken him. However, The Bandit avoids the strike by lean further to the left. He finishes up with a crouch and then a quick jump to add distance between him and Xen.

But the Bandit finds himself being chased further and more viciously afterwards. Xen was now wildly swinging his katana, preventing him from retaliating. However, he notices how each sword stroke varied in speed and power, including how simplistic and unpolished they were. It was these details that allowed him to both see and sense Xen's unfamiliarity with the sword. The same details boosts The Bandit confidence as well.
“ I'll be free of this place soon. Just wait for me, my darling!”

Xen adds more strength to his right arm and hand as he performs another horizontal stroke; his katana seemingly oozing with malice as it slices through air in a huge arc. The sword misses it's target, who expertly dodges the blade and moves further away from Xen. “ At this rate I won't be able to hit this guy. I'll need to make use of my shield as well or it'll become a liability later on, ” A series of crude and shameful tactics began to bubble within his mind. However, Xen did not see certain victory coming out of his made-on-the-fly schemes.

“ ”

[Xen]

—
The Bandit and Xen were so deeply engrossed in combat that they did not pay attention to their surroundings. They had forgotten about the particular silence that had occupied the forest during their run through the Bronze Woods, and so, did not notice to the significance it held. The silence from before returns, but it is unnoticed by the combatants, even as it goes on to consume them and the forest they battled within. Xen swung his katana viciously as he pursues The Bandit; he was finally abandoning finesse and poise so that he could make use of his natural speed and cut down his foe like he wanted to.

But before his blade could reach his foe, he felt an object move past his neck! Xen immediately jumps to the side and flattens his body on the ground as much as possible afterwards, as he was now aware of a new threat within his surroundings. It did not take for long for him to realize what the object was because it was now lodged in his opponents shoulder. The Bandit was like Xen, but disbelief seemed to mix with the pain and confusion in his eyes. It was as though he was familiar with the arrow that impaled him.

“ Wha...t....is.... this? ” The Bandit's question was answered quickly by two other arrows. Xen could only watch as one arrow pierces The Bandits right eye and the other strikes his chest. At that moment, Xen knew his opponent was dead. If the first arrow failed to puncture his brain, and kill him, then the second arrow definitely succeeded in doing so. Xen crawls along the ground and takes a knife from The Bandits hands “ You won't be needing this anymore, ”.

Once Xen grips the weapon, he immediately felt the warmth of his deceased foe lingering upon its handle. A normal person would feel either disgust or sadness afterwards, which was a normal response to something so morbid. But, for some reason, Xen found it slightly comical. He avoids laughing out loud, though, to avoid instant karma. “ Best to escape while the enemy thinks I'm dead,” Xen sneakily crawls into the bushes and then runs through the forest as quickly as possible, taking The Bandits knife and a premature victory with him.

[Dove Brown]

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Xen

Skills

• Rhetoric 1
• Intimidation 1
• Running 1
• Acrobatics 1
• Weapon: Katana 1

Lores

• Shouting turns the world silent
• Chased by a bandit in the Bronze Woods

Comments: Enjoy your grades