[The Underground Forest] Hunting the Hunter (Complete)

[Alron]

Aria was on Alron before he knew it, and he could hear a loud pop as his left shoulder slammed into the ground first, a sharp pain telling him it was broken. the pain scurried away however, as adrenaline flooded his body, as the kelvic brought her jaws ever closer, that low growl more terrifying than the first roar that had sent him running. And just as he was sure he was seconds from death, she stopped and changed back, the weight of the cat changing to that of the girl. His terror seemed to leave at the sight of her face, that deep regretful sorrow that told him she hadn't meant what she had done.

At the mention of murderers, he was puzzled, although it obviously wasn't a pleasent memory. The apology only severed to vocalize what he already knew. He winced at the sound of bones cracking as she slammed into the pillar. He slowly got up, trying to play down his own injury, he wasn't the one who needed help at this point. He examined his arm a little closer, and it turned out to be dislocated, and though it was painful, was still nothing serious. "It's alright." He said softly, placing his good hand on her shoulder. "Whatever you went through, with those murderers. I'm sorry I brought it up and if you don't want to talk, it's ok, but if you do, I'm here". He knew how much it hurt to look back at old memories, but he couldn't shake the feeling that whatever had set this off was much worse than anything he could imagine. But he couldn't allow himself to leave now.

[Aria]

Aria tensed slightly as Alron walked up to her. She could hear the slight grinding of cartilage as he examined his shoulder. She had dislocated it. He placed a hand gently on Aria's shoulder. Apparently he was willing to listen to her whine, not something she did often. "I dislocated your shoulder." She said simply in reply. With catlike reflexes she spun round to face Alron and grabbed his left arm. She gave it a hard, sharp tug that was accompanied by a slight pop as the protesting joint slid back into place. That done she let go of his arm and leaned against a pillar, slowly sliding down to a seated position. "If you are going to hear my story, you might want to take a seat. It's not pleasant."

[Alron]

Alron was shocked when Aria spun around to face him, even more so when she popped his arm back into place. It felt like she had lit the joint on fire for a few moments, then almost as quickly the pain had started, it faded away. "Thanks." He said weakly before taking a seat across from her. He doubted he could have stood for much longer anyway. He was vaguely aware of a dull pain in his chest, likely from when he was pounced, but at the moment, he turned his attention to the story about to unfold before him.

[Aria]

Aria watched as Alron sat down after he thanked her for relocation his shoulder. I don't know if I can do this Aria thought to herself as she tried to mentally prepare herself for telling the tale that she so vehemently tried to hide. Until almost a year ago, The murders, along with the survivor had been the talk of the city, but people had finally started to forget and by now, nobody ever really mentioned it. Nobody ever talked about the young, orphan Kelvic who refused to speak to anyone. Aria had come a long way since then. "Get comfortable, I might be talking for a while." Aria said, not as snappishly as she would have liked. She was steadily getting control of her outer self, but her mind was still rolling with memories. "My story starts a short two years ago. Kelvic age rather quickly, So while I may look like a teenager, I'm actually barely a child, even by human standards. I was born to a Kelvic mother and father whose names I don't really remember. People don't really talk when a servant is killed, they usually worry more about the served, So I never really heard their names." She said bitterly before she could get off on a rant about her parents she reocused her thoughts and continued. "I lived happily with them, for six months. They trained me to hunt. We helped to earn extra money for our master, an Inartian hunter by the name of Alorien. He had a tendency to use the extra money we earned for him to gamble, but he took good care of us, so we didn't mind feeding his bad habits. One night, he got drunk while he was playing cards, and borrowed alot of money from the wrong person, and lost it all in a game of dice. The man he borrowed the money from wasn't over-enthused at the turn of events, and got even more angered when Alorien refused to pay him back, because he didn't remember borrowing the money in the first place." Aria took a deep, slow breath before continuing... This is where it might get difficult She stammered slightly as she began again "Th-That night, the night after they had argued, the man he had borrowed the money from came into the commons, into our room. It was a large one, pretty far out of the way, and they ransacked the place. My mother and father, both normal sized wolves, morphed and attempted to stop them, but there were too many. They had sword and crossbows, where my parents had teeth. My master heard the commotion and woke. I ran at one of the attackers to stop then as they raised their crossbow, and I was knocked unconscious. It hadn't occurred to me to morph, I probably could have taken them all out. My parents and Alorien might have survived. have stood a chance." Aria managed to contian herself, to keep from breaking down again. It helped that she had taken most of her feelings out on Alron already. "When I woke up, everything was wrecked. almost everything was gone from the house, including our clothes. I happened to have landed near my father's bed. I morphed, took his Tamo daggers in my mouth and ran. I didn't talk for almost a year after that, as much as people would question me. I didn't say a word. I just sat in a cave down near the garden and cried most of the time. I hunted to feed myself. Most of the time I stayed as a cat, letting the beast take over. I slowly came to my senses and began venturing out into public about six or seven months ago." Aria heaved a sigh of relief as she finished her story. It felt good to have all of that off of her chest. Alron was the first person she had ever told the whole story."I never learned who killed them, but If I were ever to find out, I would kill him" Aria said coldly, before lapsing into silence.

[Alron]

Alron couldn't think of anything to say. He had always been trying to hide an embarrasing moment in his life he had refused to live down, but it all paled in comparison to what the girl before him had been through, what she had lost. It wasn't like him, who never knew his parents, never feeling the emptiness of their absence. She had known what parents had been like, then lost it all in the blink of an eye. The fact that she had managed to fight through it all with her sanity blew him away. He was unsure how to continue, allowing the silence to envelop them both for a moment. After a chime he finally worked up the nerve to speak.

"I didn't... I'm sorry I brought that up. What you went through, I'm amazed you are still here to talk about it." He began, wringing his hands together, his eyes unable to hold hers. "I don't know that I could have made it through that myself. But here you are, still trying to find those who did this. That has got to take heroic strength." He swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. "People like that, like him, they can't be human, no human could do something so..." His words trailed off, sounding hollow in his ears. He looked up, back at Aria. "I don't know what I have to offer, but I can't sit idly by while that, thing, is still out there. I want to help you, in any way I can." He said in an eerily serious tone, aside from the venom that emphasized the word thing.

[Aria]

Aria sat there for what felt like hours, Alron's words filtering slowly through to her brain. He wanted to... help? He wanted to help the Kelvic that no one had cared about? the thought was so foreign to her. She almost didn't know how to respond. She struggled to find words to reply with "I almost don't know how to reply to that." She said hesitantly. "I don't even know how you could help, I've been searching for months and I've found nothing, there are no scents left to follow, and everyone I talk to in the upper castes pretends to know nothing about it."Aria lapsed back into silence. She had no idea how Alron could help her, But she couldn't say no.

[Alron]

At the mention of the upper castes, a candle flickered on in Alron's head. "I have an idea, I know it's a long shot, but if one of us can get into the upper caste, maybe they might be a little more talkative." He said, still working it out in his head. "I'm pretty good at falconry, although I still have a way to go before I could become an avora. And I'm a pretty good hunter". He offered, trying set the idea in stone, when he suddenly becme aware of the pain that was working it's way towards the forefront of his mind. That was when he remembered the crack from when Aria had punched the pillar. "How's your hand doing? Unless that was the pillar that cracked, which, having been on the reciving end of your bad side, actually doesn't sound so crazy." He smiled, once again trying to inject humor into a situation he felt desperately needed it.

[Aria]

Aria snickered at his attempt at pulling humor in. "My hand will be fine. I think I only fractured it." She flexed her fingers slowly, experimentally, and winced slightly. They hurt, but everything was still in place. "I will wrap them when I retrieve my clothes, I hope you can wait a little longer, I'm sure it's tortue for you to see a your girl naked." She stated simply, trying to bring her own brand of humor back into the conversation. "As for getting into an upper caste, I hunt as well. Being a giant cat has it's advantages, but getting in through sheer skill or a trade takes time. You have to get recognized." And then Aria had an idea. Will he go or it though? she thought to herself. She had to present it carefully. "there's only one way to do it with any kind of expedience, and I know you know where I'm going. Keep in mind that I'm not trying to instigate anything here, but would you.... .be willing to try and bond an eagle again?"

[Alron]

"Oh, of course, I have to struggle to look at you for more than a few moments." He fired back, glad that the conversation had livened up. At least until she brought up the possibility of bonding with an eagle. "I don't know, I mean, who knows when the next eagle fledgling will be ready for bonding, and even thrn, I'm a little old for..." He froze mid sentence. Who are you kidding? You are just scared to try again. She had her family killed in front of her, and you are too scared to try and connect with an eagle?! He had to face his fears sooner or later. "There's no guarantee that it will work." He began, with a kind of cautious optimism in his voice, "But it's worth a shot." The new found confidence felt good. "Now go get some clothes on, before I wind up throwing myself at you." He teased, for the first time since as far back as he could remember, he wasn't entirely sure if he was joking or not.

[Aria]

Aria could smell Alron's fear in response to her idea, and for a moment she was afraid he wouldn't buy it, but then the scent disappeared and he spoke with confidence "Thank you for being open to it" She said sincerely "And I hid my clothes on the other side of that pillar I punched. I can smell them" Aria stood slowly to acquiesce to Alron's request that she clothe herself. She turned, Purposefully flaunting what feminine characteristics she had briefly in Alron's face, then walked around the pillar or a moment. When she returned She was clothed again. She wore her black leather vinati that was stitched up the side and her pants that were stitched in the same fashion. Her midriff was bare, and she carried her cloak under her arm. A strip of black fabric was wrapped around her hand, and she had snapped her brush into three long splints for her fingers, from her right Index to her ring finger. "So, after a conversation like that, what do you talk about? what do you even do?" She said sarcastically.