[Flashback] Bloody Trial

[Aren]

For a second, Aren thought he saw one of the group out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t have time to look, as he and the glassbeak rushed to meet each other. It was only after something originating from that position struck into the side of the beast that his eyes momentarily shifted to identify the shooter. “Lar...” Aren thought he would have been far away from here by now, but tt seemed he, too, had refused to run from these overgrow parrots. Still, Larenth’s shot didn’t seem to altogether stop the glassbeak, and the animal remained determined to take yet another Akalak life. Of course, Aren felt he had something to say about that, “Come on, let’s finish this you flightless freak!” The young boy continued his charge without a moment’s hesitation. In was only in the last instant, in the final moment, that Aren side stepped to his right, turning to his left as he did so. He let his scythe slip down his hand till he got to the bottom of the staff, then brung the weapon down on the glassbeak’s neck with an overhand swing. A one handed swing might not have been powerful enough to kill such a creature, even one as wounded as this one was, but Aren’s aim was not to outright kill it. He merely wanted to bring it down. And, if he succeeded, he planned to sit on it’s neck, pry it’s beak open, and force a ball of soon to be burning Res down it’s damnable throat.

[Puck]

The reaction given by the glassbeak was not one of a creature dying, it was of a creature dead. A scream did not erupt from its beak, nor did its eyes ever refocus. Aren could feel the force of its charge go into is scythe, viciously digging the butt of it into his staff. The glassbeak did not continue its charge though. Instead it slid limply off the tip of the scythe and collapsed on the grass, arrow sticking straight into the air. The gash on its neck was deep, but not lethal . Aren knew there was no chance he had ended the creature. The last remaining glassbeak had moved around to the side of the charging olidosapux, and spotted its dying companion. Sensing its solitude and danger, the predator now broke off from the herd and backtracked. It came to Neri's corpse, away from apparent danger, and began to rip into him. It was a poor haul for a pack of glassbeaks, but for a single creature it was enough. Though it eyed its fallen comrades; patience would pay off greatly. The stampede of olidosapux did not slow immediately, still running from a now nonexistant threat. They would stop soon, but not near the glassbeak. Aren could see clearly that the Olidosapux's course had drifted slightly, and that they were not headed directly for him anymore. However, he was still in the danger zone. Perhaps if he could make some sort of drama- That was when the first ornate arrow pierced his thigh, quivering dangerously.

[Aren]

Aren saw the wounds on the creature, but knew they were not enough to kill it. Perhaps it would eventually die from them, given enough time, but that would have been a cruel death. It was one the young Akalak actually considered, for a moment, given the personal hatred he now had for the beasts, but he didn't have time for crap like that. There were others of it's ilk around, and he could still hear the rampaging of the herd. No, it was time to end this. As Aren approached the fallen glassbeak, cautious not to get careless simply because the animal was wounded, he had a ball of Res in one hand and his scythe in the other. "Let's do this the easy way now," He knew that a wounded creature was often more dangerous than a healthy one, and took to whispering to the animal so that it wouldn't be startled, which might cause it to lash out. For a moment, Aren actually thought the events of this day might finally be coming to a close. Until he felt the pain in his leg, that is. Looking down, the boy saw a familiar looking arrow conspicuously lodged in his thigh. As he shifted his gaze to his friend, Larenth, he fell back in a mixture of shock and pain. "Wha-" Landing on his ass, too close to the glassbeak for comfort, he still had no idea what the hell had happened. "Damn, he beat me to it. I guess this means you're dead. Well, we're dead." That voice again. Aren was looking right at Larenth, and his lips weren't moving, so who was talking to him? "Who-" These eloquent sounds were the only the poor boy could manage in between gasps of breath. "Me? I'm you. Not that it matters much now, seeing as we're both about to die."

[Puck]

One labored breath after another, the glassbeak slowly died. Aren could see its chest rise and fall rapidly, the razor tipped arrow cutting away at its innards. Blood soaked the grass beside it, and life would soon flee its body. However, the small thud of Aren's ass beside it roused the last remnants of life. Prey was near. Lashing out blindly, the predator's neck snaked around and snapped at the air near Aren. The boy barely had time to react before the next bite came. Aren had thought the arrow was painful. Aren had firmly believed he was in pain after the arrow lodged itself in his leg. However, the small itch that came from the projectile faltered before the immense pain caused by the glassbeak clamping down on his forearm. The bird clamped down, shaking its head to and fro in an attempt to yank off Aren's arm. Though its strength was waning, and it only managed to shake the boy around on the ground. The force of the beak was ten thousand arrows riddling his arm, it was cut flesh and severed sinew, it was a broken bone and the kiss of oblivion. Lareth, off to the side, was fighting his own battle. His free hand was pressed on his temple, and he struggled to hold his bow. The darker half of Lareth, Maleuri, was threatening to fully take over. He had already flared once, and possibly cost his friend his life. The boy would never forgive himself if Aren died now. Slowly, wearily, Lareth reached for another arrow. The ground continued to weakly buck beneath Aren. Soon the earthquake would become a storm of trunk like legs. He had to get away soon.

[Aren]

"Put the beast out of it's misery and use it's corpse for cover!" The voice in Aren's head advised him as to what could have been his only chance for survival. "Who are you?" It still hadn't dawned on the young boy just what that voice was, exactly. He hadn't made the connection yet, between it and his friend's homicidal behavior. "Just do it!" The voice demanded, anxiously. Aren figured it couldn't have been a worse idea than staying put, waiting for another arrow to be flung in his direction. Just as he was about to enact the plan, however, the animal reared it's long neck, snapping it's beak at the young Akalak. Confused, startled, and in pain, Aren didn't really have time to do much of anything before the massive beak came around for another pass. This time, however, it wasn't simply a near miss, as the glassbeak's avian maw pincered the boy's arm. Releasing a howl of pain, Aren barely had enough presence of mind to grip firm his scythe, and attempt to bring it down on his attacker's head. Unfortunately, the beast was intent on removing his arm in a frenzy of head movement, making a one-handed downswing difficult to aim. He'd simply have to try, try, and keep trying until he succeeded, or until his arm was torn off. In the state he was in, he simply didn't have too many other options.

[Puck]

Yet another arrow whistled through the air, except this time its shaft did not lodge into Aren. In fact it flew high over him to pierce the head of the leading Olidosapux. The beast keenly felt the sting of shrapnel as the arrowhead shattered against its jaw, and shook its head to dislodge the object. Its efforts were to no avail, and it begin banking away from the source of the arrow to escape further attack. Pain lay behind them, pain lay to their left, and if the Olidosapux knew one thing it was escape. The entire herd followed the leading animal, veering away from both Aren and the dying glassbeak. Lareth had won out over Maleuri in this instance, and the boy began to nock another arrow. His eyes were set on the glassbeak feeding in the distance, the one last chance for a kill this day. Drawing back the bowstring, Lareth aimed and loosed the projectile. Again, the arrow arced gracefully over Aren, but this time to hit the glassbeak. The predatory bird faltered for a second as the missile hit its shoulders, before abandoning its meal and charging toward the boys. Aren's struggle with the glassbeak had gone better than expected. The creature had grown weaker and weaker, clearly having lost the capacity to tear the boy's arm off a while ago. The bird held fast to Aren in its waning strength, digging and grinding its beak into his flesh. Its neck had ceased the violent jerking, and one of Aren's wild, unwiedly swings connected solidly with the creature's neck. Almost instantly the glassbeak released him and fell limp, as did Aren's arm- he might need to see a healer about that.

[Aren]

As Aren repeatedly brought his scythe down on the glassbeak, he uttered expletive after expletive in his frenzy. Eventually, however, he got tired of that and simply begged the animal a question, "Why... don't... you... die?!" The beast promptly responded by proceeding to do so, after being caught in the neck by one of the young Akalak's blows. Finally, the glassbeak had let go of it's ill-gotten limb, although it might have been a little too late. Aren found that he could no longer move his arm, and it didn't look too pretty either, but at least he was alive. For the time being, anyway, as day wasn't over yet. "Take cover you idiot, or did you forget the other guy?" Again, that damn voice, which was starting to get irritating now. And again, it told him that his life was in danger from his own friend. "But..." Shifting his gaze to Lar, Aren noticed that the boy was no longer even pointing his bow at him. "...I think he could have killed me while the glassbeak had hold of my arm. He didn't." Though he questioned what was going on, Lar had definitively wounded him, and he still had the arrow in his thigh to prove it. Had it been an accident? The voice inside Aren simply couldn't take his clueless-ness anymore. "It's because he's fighting his Other, you moron!" Now, finally, it struck the young Akalak: Lar's darker side had picked this particular time to manifest. "But then, doesn't that mean..." Of course, with this revelation, Aren's own thoughts couldn't help but turn to his own annoying companion, "...that you're my other?" The voice had nothing to say. The dark personality of not one, but two boys manifesting at the same time, in the same Trial; it was a recipe for disaster. "You haven't taken me over." Aren stated, with a sigh of relief. At the same time, however, he felt something inside him, like a smile concealed in darkness, "Not yet." Unfortunately, the boy didn't have time to even worry about this particular turn of events, as he noticed a charging glassbeak (with a peculiar arrow sticking out of it) heading in his direction. Now all too familiar with the running speed of the animal, Aren knew he didn't have too much time before the beast was upon him. Breaking off the back end of the shaft lodged in his leg, the wounded Akalak then pulled the front out by the arrowhead. After a bit of unmanly screaming, the projectile was completely clear of the hole it had left behind. Quickly ripping off a bit of fabric from his pant leg, Aren fastened it just above the wound as tight as he could. Though it wasn't easy, considering the fact that he had to use one arm and his teeth, he had managed to do it surprisingly quickly. Now he had just to get the hell away from an incredibly fast animal... with a messed up leg... and a useless arm. No big deal. "Use what your mother taught you." Once more the voice, now identified as Aren's other personality, chimed in. "How-" But, before the boy could even ask the question, he realized he already knew the answer. Glassbeaks were top predators, fearing very few things, but they might be instinctively inclined to run what naturally kept their numbers in check: fire. Assuming a familiar stance, Aren once again began to emit Res from the tips of his five working fingers. This time, however, it was a much greater quantity than previously. He wasn't planning on starting a wildfire or anything like that, but he knew a little spark wasn't going to cut it. Unfortunately, as he produced more and more Res, and the glassbeak got closer and closer, the Akalak's fear and exhaustion were coming to a head. Soon, he reached what he felt was just about all he could stand and finally sparked his Res as he pushed it onto the tall grass ahead of him.

[Puck]

Bright orange fire leaped from the earth like a hellish stallion rearing its head, sparks tossed themselves everywhere as the tall grass ignited. In a flash of lightning the glassbeak had redirected itself, dashing off through the tall grass as if the flames continued to lick at its heels. Another it its hoarse screams erupted, except this time overtones of terror dominated the sound The bird retreated into the plains, away from the curtain of fire and Aren both. The boy's chance for this kill had just evaporated; though he had already secured his Rite kill, and slaying a second glassbeak would simply have been more prestigious. An arrow whizzed by Aren, thudding quietly into the ground where the glassbeak had been a fraction of a second ago. Footsteps were heard as Lareth pulled up beside Aren, he must have moved closer as Aren prepared to face the beast, and bent over the fallen glassbeak. A ripping sound could be heard as barbs tore off, but Lareth yanked the arrow from the wounded creature's side in one piece. Quickly nocking the arrow and drawing the cord, the boy took aim and released. A twang could be heard this near the shooter, and the arrow flew into the air like a fish darting through water. The tension tugged at the boys as all way silent excepting the crackle of the fire, Lareth watched his missile soar. Down, down, down it went, and a smile broke out across the archer's face as his arrow pierced the glassbeak. Not a sound was to be had from the creature as it collapsed, the Sea of Grass swallowed everything but light from this distance. Lareth dashed off to confirm his kill, and possibly end its life if it still drew breath.

[Aren]

"By Wysar's blue balls... it worked!" Aren could hardly believe it. Good thing too, though, because if it hadn't, he didn't know what he was going to do. Exhausted, limping, and mauled, the young Akalak's options for survival would have been rather limited. But, what the hell was Lareth doing? Hadn't he had enough death for a single day? "I guess he really wants that kill. A man after my own heart." Aren wanted to help him, but in the state he was in, he wasn't going to be much good. He wouldn't even be able to keep up. Looking down at his arm, the boy was struck by how destroyed it seemed. He needed help, and soon, or he was going to lose it, probably right along with his life. Aren decided it was time to head back; Lareth could take care of himself seemingly better than he could, anyways. Besides, he didn't know when his friend might once again turn into his enemy. Messed up like he was, the young Akalak knew he wouldn't stand a chance against him. Aren momentarily glanced at the burning sphere of light in the sky, in an attempt to gain his bearings. "If the sun is on this side, than Riverfall is... this way." That's what he had been taught, in preparation for the Trial. Now, the boy just hoped he was remembering correctly.

[Puck]

Impending Award! Aren Anazasz_______ Skills Reimancy - 2 (The times you used it on the glassbeaks) Weapon: Scythe - 2 (Physically fighting the glassbeaks) Detection - 1 (Finding the Glassbeaks) Lore Rite of Trial Completed Welcome to the World, Seros Health Hazards Posed by Glassbeaks Notes_______ You don't have to roleplay seeing a healer since this is a flashback and it is assumed you healed for the most part, though you may have some nasty scar tissue. Also, I thought it best to end the thread at this scene rather than have you anticlimactically tromp back to Riverfall. Anyway, props on the fun thread!