Flashback: The day Dra-Modus earned Silakrov
Season of Fall, Day 17,509 AV It was early day of the Fall Season... The air was cool, wind blew through the trees of the Western Kalea forest. Vines swayed in the light breeze, leaves rustled, and the air was still humid from a rain the day before. Dra-Modus and his father, Jin, were out on a hunt, as they were normally; a family of three meat-eaters - although two ate in an unorthodox manner - took in a significant amount of the substance. This hunt, however, was special. This was Dra-Modus' stepping stone into adulthood as a Zith; this hunt, Dra-Modus was to kill a beast greater than himself... on his own. His father only there to watch, Dra-Modus' very unrefined skills were put to the test. Barely able to track and only truly skilled in killing what he stumbled upon, this hunt lasted for hours. Jin was expecting of this and patient for his son; he knew that the child wasn't truly a Zith hunter, but he thought this important for his one and only son. It was growing colder and colder as night drew. They had a good half-hour walk back home, but Dra-Modus was determined. His determination would soon be considered either a curse or a blessing. A rustling was first heard, then the full crashes and breakages of tree trunks filled the air as a rampaging bear rushed through the forest. The bear hadn't noticed Dra-Modus or Jin; it was frenzied and seemingly running. That began the chase. The two hunters chased the bear as it continued to rush through the forest, caring nothing of its environment. After minutes of chasing it, they had caught it. However, it was only Dra-Modus whom had the right to take it. Weary of such a strong creature and aware of his own frailty, he kept a distance. He had no formal weapon training, so he was limited to his own claws, speed, and poison, which alone was dangerous. Before Dra-Modus was even granted a chance to fight the poor creature, he would be stopped. Not by his father, but by the shock of a voice he had never heard before... speaking his mother's language. "Boy, that is my prey," exclaimed a Symenesta man, standing atop a tree. The voice would stop and repeat the words in common, but it was unneeded. "How do you have stake on it?" asked Dra-Modus in Symenos. The Symenestran man jumped down from the tree, his dark green hunter's cloak swaying in the light breeze as he looked at Dra-Modus quizzically. "Boy, how do you know my language?" asked the man, now in a tone that was obviously defensive. An outsider knowing Symenos was almost insulting to him. "My mother is Symenestran," replied Dra-Modus. The man simply looked at him, then his father. A look a disgusted crossed his face and he growled. "Your mother mated wth him? A zith? Boy, you are a waste of your mother's womb," said the man with a slight anger. A Symenestran woman mating with anyone not of her race was appalling to him. They were dwindling as it was and she dared pollute the bloodsteam? "I am a child of love, sir. The one and only," answered Dra-Modus. He did not care for the insult, however his father was enraged. His father let out a loud shriek and charged at the Symenestran man. It was an easy dodge for him, but the Zith followed up with a knock-back thrust with his forearm, shoving the Symenestran into a tree, bruising him. This uproar had taken the bear's attention and before Jin could do anything to further attack the Symenestran man, he was tackled into a tree, knocking it over. As the bear would have mauled him to death, it growled in agony and rolled off of him. The jerking motion had made the dissolving flesh on its shoulder obvious. This Symenestran man had bit it. "I'll kill you! You insolent runt!" screamed the Symenestran man. However, he wouldn't have been so confident for long. Dra-Modus was already charging at him in a rage much like his father's; he had fell into his instinctive wrath. He tackled the Symenestran man into the tree trunk with such force that it had cracked his ribs. Dra-Modus stared at the man with intense rage, pressing his claws to the man's throat and panting. At this point, the Symenestran man could see his life flashing before his eyes. "I won't kill you," Dra-Modus said, getting up. He rushed at his father and picked him up, leaving the bruised and broken Symenestran man behind. He rushed through the forest as fast as he could, making the half-hour trek into an eight minute sprint. His mother was waiting outside, worried because they had stayed out late only to see her son carrying his father on his back. "Take him, mom, he's hurt," he told her. And, she did. She took Jin inside and bandaged him up, using whatever medicinal herbs she had to help keep him strong. She succeeded, stabliziing Jin who had taken substantial damage from the bear attack, including both of his wings being broke. After tending to Jin, all there was left to do was get the story. And, she did. ~ "Why didn't you kill him for what he done?!" she asked in in a fury. She was angry, not with him, but with her own kind. "Mom, I was worried about dad... I know he got hurt bad," he told her. He then looked down, then back up. "You have taught me to repent for any creature whose blood I shed. The animals I hunt I must make up for... You have told me about our dying kind and how few children are born... I couldn't take his life knowing that he could still sire one of us. I am just one and he could help many. It's not like I didn't strike out against him, I defended dad; he was left bruised and broken, both his will and body... and most of all, mom, you have taught me to control myself. And I did..." She looked at her son, telling her these things she had not even thought of. She had raised him to fight the instincts he had. She had raised him on the word of Viratas. And, be it right or wrong, he had just acted upon what he believed to be the will of his God and more importantly... saved his dad. She embraced her son, hugging him tightly. She was still angry, but she was proud, and she was happy: of course Jin had been hurt, but he survived, and in his own right, Dra-Modus had just accomplished so much more than the rite of passage the day had been for. |
