[Flashback] Little Warriors [Closed]

[Eldon Sunkiss]

Timestamp: Day 23rd of Summer, AV 497

As far as the eye could see, there were soldiers. Never before had the Sea of Grass seen such a terrible army of monster like this. Never before had the whole of Mizahar known such a terrible, horrible wave of darkness ready to engulf the land. Nobody expected the Valterrien to happen twice, and certainly nobody thought something even worse could ever occur. Ivak's wrath was mighty indeed, but this was, without a doubt, utter destruction. Eldon stood tall though, facing the thousands upon thousands of dark beasts that were marching over the horizon towards him, towards his home, towards Endrykas. His father, his friends, his home, it was all in danger, and only he could stop this terrible plague of chaos from engulfing the landsof Cyphrus. Eldon stepped forward, one step, then two, then he was running. His spear in his hands gripped tightly within his sweaty palms, the bladed tip glinting in the merciless gaze of the Sun Goddess, and when the two forces collided, the destruction was great. Eldon thrust the weapon forwards, taking out two, no THREE enemies with a single strike. His weapon, blessed by the Gods themselves (because they knew without Eldon, all was lost) burned, making the impaled bodies burst into flame and fall to the ground in smoldering ash. Another wave attacked, blade went flying, screams exploded into the air, but none was as mighty as Eldon's warcry. His own voice so loud, so strong, toppled over everything within twenty yards, and he went to work executing each fallen enemy, one at a time. Spear through the chest, spear through the face, spear through the arm, pinning the beast for a kick that would crush his head into powder. Eldon stood tall again, the shimmering spear refusing to be stained by blood, where its wielder was quite the opposite. His face was smeared, his clothing badly stained, but it was the sign of victory. Then, there it was. A beast, larger, more fierce than the others. It was surely the leader of these rampaging monstrosities, and it needed to be slain. The fight was epic, claws flying about in every which way, a tail that whipped out and nearly struck Eldon several times, and it started to run! Eldon had won the battle, but was not yet satisfied, he needed to slay the monster to ensure everyone would be safe forever. Eldon chased the beast for a minute or two before it sat down, tired, panting and waiting to be slain. Eldon thrust his spear forward, one last time and... Eldon, a mere child of nine years, blinked as the dog yelped and scurried off. Eldon pulled his wooden spear back to him, looking for the shimmer he once saw, but it was not there. It was just the toy his father carved for him. Not even sharp, but it resembled a spear. Eldon grinned lightly as he watched the dog dart away and into a nearby pavilion. The beast had been slain, and the city of Endrykas was safe once again.

[Kashik]

"Hey!"

An imperious voice echoed across his battlefield, and when the boy turned he'd see a girl about his own age, hands on her hips and her face scrunched up in fury. She wore the same common boy's trousers as he instead of a dress, and black curls were braided out of her face in the traditional Drykas knots. "Why are you poking my dog, you?" she yelled. "Nibbles never did anything to you! You're lucky I don't have my father come over here and horsewhip you!"

[Eldon Sunkiss]

"Huh?" Eldon turned around to face the conflict of the day. If he were still in his dream world, he might have seen a legendary Dhani woman or an enchantress (whatever that means) trying to steal his soul, or even worse, his strider (because he totally has one at this age). Eldon's face turned lightly red at the moment of conflict. "Shut up! He growled at me so I made him stop!" He lied out of frustration and indignation. Eldon growled back at Kashik as he turned and began to storm away from her, making sure to stomp his feet as loud as he could, which wasn't very loud at all. "Stupid name for a dog anyway." Eldon muttered out loud, perhaps a little louder than intended, but never the less said it. As he moved, he kept looking back over his shoulder to see if she was actually going to get her father or not. If so, he would run faster than any Drykas Strider ever could just to get out and hide. If he was lucky, they wouldn't know which clan he was from.

[Kashik]

Her mouth popped open at that last comment, indignation clear in every miniaturized line of her, and then her face settled in a scowl of fierce determination that said quite clearly that this wasn't over. Far from it.

"He was playing with you!" she howled, stomping right after him and shoving her sleeves up and out of the way like she'd seen her mother do when she was very angry. "You don't play with other peoples' dogs and then hurt them when you've decided you don't wanna play anymore! You wanna bully someone, bully me," she growled, advancing on him. Then she grabbed the silly stick out of his hand and, before he could snatch it back, she poked him in the ribs as hard as he'd poked her dog. "And his name isn't stupid!" she yelled, throwing the stick on the ground and crossing her arms over her chest as if daring him to do something.

[Eldon Sunkiss]

"Ow! Hey! You-you wouldn't know the difference between being attacked or played with if it hit you in the face!" It was a truly weak comment, but to a nine-year-old child with a temper, that's about as good as it came on the spot. He reached out for the spear as she tossed it to the ground, his teeth bit down on his bottom lip, a habit that would last his entire life, as he hissed lightly under his breath. He couldn't fight a girl, his father always always taught him fighting was bad, and being mean to a girl was almost the Cardinal Sin in the Sunkiss pavilion. "I didn't even want to play with your dog. He's a baby anyway. My papa's dog is a killer." Perhaps not yet, but his father dog was trained well, not quite full grown, but already showing promising signs of being vicious. Eldon picked up his fake spear and pointed it towards Kashik in an almost threatening manner. "You don't know who you're messing with girl." Eldon said the word 'girl' as if it was a terrible thing to be, which was the case when you were a nine year old boy raised by a widower father and never had any contact with the fairer sex. Not to mention, his game was pretty terrible at that early stage of life. "I'm going to kill Glassbeaks one day." Eldon bragged as if what he said was not only true, but already happened. He nodded firmly to himself as he awaited her hasty retreat, certain it was about to come at any moment.

[Kashik]

"Girl?" she repeated, spitting the word right back at him. "If you knew anything about the spear, then you'd know that the new Champion is a girl," she said haughtily, as if he were an imbecile in need of a lesson. "And she's Diamond clan too, just like me. We're known for being fierce warriors, so you'd better watch yourself," she said, sticking her nose just a smidge higher in the air.

"So if you want to ever kill glassbeaks, you'd better be ready to listen to what a girl has to tell you or you'll get eaten like any other nimrod that wanders into the Sea. And I bet your father doesn't even have a dog, you big fat liar," she finished in a huff.

[Eldon Sunkiss]

Eldon blushed at this. It was true, the Diamond clan were typically the warriors of the city. The Sapphire clan, well they were incredibly important for sure, but Eldon didn't see much value or pride in it, not yet. He would have to tell his dad when he got home that he wants to join another clan. Not hers of course, but maybe the Emerald. He heard they were the true hunters. "Yeah right. A girl couldn't hit the broad side of an Olido if she were giving three strikes with a bow, sword, or spear! Besides, you can't be that well known if I don't even know your name." Eldon returned the 'matter-of-fact' tone right back at her. "And I'm not a liar! My Dad does to have a dog! A petching killer! And my dad is a better fighter than anyone in your stupid clan!" Eldon's face scrunched up. His skin had turned a bright red by now, both from embarrassment and his unrestrained childish rage. He wanted to push her, but he was more afraid of her father (or more importantly his own) to even tempt fate like that. He may have been terrible with insults, but a complete fool he was not.

[Kashik]

Her nostrils flared at all his bluster, but she finally managed to reign in her temper - but only by telling herself that it made her better than him.

"My name," she said slowly, "is Kashik of the Brightsmile Pavilion. And if your dad has some killer dog, then prove it," she said, staring him down and once more putting her hands on her hips. "Prove it," she said once more, and smirked at him as if completely expecting him not to be able to pony up.

[Eldon Sunkiss]

Eldon gave a short 'Hmph' as he turned his head, looking away from Kashik for a moment. "Brightsmile, not living up to that name are you." Eldon hesitated a moment, wondering if his father would be mad about bringing someone to the Sunkiss Pavilion. His father wasn't cruel, but he was strict. Still, he couldn't be proven as a liar, especially when he wasn't one, at least not in this case. "Fine, but we live a ways this way. I don't want to hear you complain when you get tired. I'm not gonna carry you back home." Eldon turned and headed for the Sunkiss Pavilion, leading his new acquaintance (he wouldn't even consider her worthy of being called a rival) to his own home, his father's Pavilion. It was most likely that his father was busy at the Watering Hole. He was always busy, always working. Eldon spent few days in his father's care. At nights, Eldon was required to be at the pavilion, no excuses. The days, he was pretty much allowed to roam Endrykas as he pleased. Once the reached the pavilion, Eldon sighed, feeling more awkward than infuriated now that they had, at least momentarily, stopped spewing insults at each other. "Yakn! Follow!" Eldon called out and listened. If the dog was inside, or nearby, it would have come to them. Good old Deerstalker it was, yet to prove its worth, but it would be his father's companion for many years. Live to a very old age even. Eldon listened still, there seemed to be no sign of the dog. A knot began to twist in his stomach, knowing he would be scolded by the girl for this. "He must be... There he is!" Yakn, the brown and black coated Deerstalker came trotting slowly up to Eldon. It didn't particularly seem enthused by the child. He was his father's dog after all. Wherever the dog had been, it took its sweet time coming home. "Told you so."

[Kashik]

Kashik followed behind him as he took off, still muttering things. "I won't get tired," she sneered, sticking her tongue out at his back.

As his temper fled and left him awkward, though, she simply got distracted - by stopping to pick a particularly engaging flower, or to turn over a stick that might have some interesting bug under it, and always skipped her way back to his side. His side, now - temper gone, she seemed no more antagonistic than any child, and her smile would come out occasionally as she found some little thing that held her attention.

When they finally arrived, she waited quietly as he called the dog the first time. When he didn't come immediately, she felt a little bad for him. It was a silly thing to lie about, especially when she called him out on it, but boys were known for being proud and stupid. "Um. I like your pavilion," she said, taking a moment's pity on him.

Then the dog appeared, and her mouth fell open in surprise. "Oh!" she breathed, as if a little shocked that the dog actually existed. Then a grin of delight transfixed her face, and she held a hand out to the dog. "Oh, he's beautiful!" she said - and without another thought to the whole killer reputation, she flung her arms around the dog's neck and hugged him. "Who's a handsome boy? You are!" she cooed, scratching him under the jaw just where Nibbles best liked to be scratched.

Girl, indeed.