Flashback Ferocious and Invisible II

[Shausha]

Meet the gang
16 Summer 511
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Continued from (here).

As promised, a dirty looking human appeared before lunchtime the next day. His grubby feet shuffled against the cave’s slate floor. Shausha gave a backwards glance and spun the knife she was using to grooming her claws.

“Yes, um, Goliath says he’s in the courtyard above,” the slave murmured. “Same as yesterday. Time to go.” He gave Shausha, her claws, and her knife a wide berth and was backing away as he spoke. “ I - uh - had trouble finding you, so he has been waiting for - uh - a little while.” He scampered away.

With no time to harass the slave over his shortcomings, she jumped to her feet, and flew as fast as she could. She had been sitting in a back passageway, just a short distance from the main cavern. Ordinarily, she would have walked until there was room to fly, but seeing as she had kept her senior waiting, she flew as fast as possible. As she flew under the low ceiling, she bumped her head, scraped the ends of her wings, and accidentally kicked a few Zith who screeched their displeasure in the form of profanities and threats. Slaves that she passed crouched against the walls with practiced readiness. She would have to find the owner of that inept slave or just spend the day dropping rocks on his head in vengeful pettiness.

The air outside was moist from the rain that passed over the plains during sun-up. A few groups of watchers crouched atop crumbling spires and walls, talking and adjusting their wings as they shifted footing on the precarious ledges. Praying that Akajia was watching over her somewhere in the darkness between the stars, Shausha hoped she had not made Goliath wait long. Her heart beat uncomfortably in her throat as she approached him. He stood with his feet shoulder width apart, arms crossed. She touched down a few yards away and tottered to a halt.

“The human... he got lost...” she explained lamely. Not knowing what else to say, Shausha fidgeted with a dreadlock between her newly sharpened claws.

After a long pause, Goliath spoke, “You are here now.” She could not read his expression, but was anxious to put this awkward start behind her. Putting her hands up, she indicated she was ready to start.

She stood, arms raised slightly and her eyes tense with anticipation. Goliath circled her slowly and she braced herself, tracking his movements carefully. Then, surprisingly, he dropped his fighting stance and walked over to her. “Open your wings towards the ground slightly,” he tapped the peaks of her wings. “Keep your elbows closer to your body. Your sense of balance is just as important as sight.” He pushed elbows in towards her waist and added, “Stay loose.” She bounced on her toes and tucked her arms and wings inwards, centering her weight, but staying nimble. Once she had practiced the pose to Goliath’s satisfaction, he backed away once more and crouched: knees bent, ready to leap forward.

The practice session lasted about a half hour. Shausha had just gotten up for what seemed like the hundredth time when she heard the thumps of several Zith landing nearby. She turned to see four of Goliath’s hunting companions. Seizing the advantage, Goliath cuffed her across the cheek. Without thinking, she had left herself wide open. The force of the blow lifted her off the ground, spinning her a full revolution before she hit the ground. The newcomers clamored with surprise and laughter.

“Hey Driz, Goliath has developed a fetish for hitting our pups!” one man cried, elbowing the woman standing next to him. He was lean; Muscles stretched across his average frame, sinuous and covered fur that was tinted the color of dried blood. His angular wings were notably more pointed than the average set. He flashed a smile at Shausha; She could clearly see an extra set of fangs tucked in next to the natural two, an anomaly he was celebrated for. By now, she had sat up and was rubbing her forehead, trying to make it so that the only stars she was seeing were in the sky.

“It seems so, Four-Fang.” Drizara laughed and struck his arm away without looking away from Shausha. She was watching her with sharp, black eyes. Drizara was Goliath’s current mate and had been the hunting party’s leader until she recently conceived. Her belly was only slightly swollen from the twins inside. She was just shorter than Four-Fang who stood next to her at an six feet, average for a male. Drizara was also less curvy than Shausha; her slender frame made her appear even taller and more formidable. The slaves kept her dark hair smoothed back into a long braid that ended near the small of her back.

“Hey, hey, hey,” a second male spoke up irritably. Shausha, along with everyone else in the nest, knew exactly who this was: Tard. His Zithanese name was a terrible shill that the slaves akined to the sound of metal on glass. Being unable to speak their language, the slaves resorted to calling him Tard. He was elderly and quite a sight to see; He was scrawny, stood in a knurly hunch with bunches of wispy hair floating around his head between bald patches. His wings were pocked with small holes and one of his eyes popped out further than the other. “I saw fourteen crows just fly by. Ya know what that means?” He breathed raggedly, his popeye darting to pin each one of them with an fervent stare. Shausha looked around, unsure what to do when he made a crazy face in her direction. “WRONG!” Tard shouted. “It means rain, ya bunch of yuppie scum!”

“Tard, shut up.” Dizara said, massaging her eyes with forefinger and thumb. “It already rained." By the way her other hand balled up, Shausha knew that Dizara wanted dearly to hit the elder.

“I see you brought Ikbal with you.” Goliath crossed his arms and overlooked the pale Zith that leaned against a wall, slightly behind the others. Ikbal was a recent addition from the Din colony and an excellent tracker. The newcomer stepped into the light. His fur was a pale blue and his long, black hair was slicked back, hanging untied around his shoulders. On his face were two slit-like eyes, a pointed nose, and the smallest of smiles. A shiver ran up her spine when his eyes lingered over her.

“Yeah, we were showing him the nearby grove to see if he could taste the any trace of that group of Akalak’s scent,” Dizara said dismissively and pushed into the air. “Lunch time. Lets go, friends.” The rest of the group lifted with her. Goliath glanced back at Shausha and jerked his head in invitation to follow. Shausha glanced around before jumping into the air. The yard was empty, but her fur prickled, making her feel uneasy. She boosted into the air and followed his lead.

Soon they were back below ground and gathered around a pile of animal and human parts. Shausha seated herself slightly behind Goliath. She did not know how to be shy; she was showing respect. She waited silently as she saw her elders dig into the pile, each picking their favorite part. Dizara hacked a chest open, spilling entrails and retrieving the heart. It was expected that she have the richest part due to the esteem of pregnancy. When every hand had retrieved something at least once, Shausha leaned forward and, using both her arms, cracked a section of ribs off of the corpse that Dizara had torn asunder.

Tard and Four-fang were bantering lively to Shausha’s left. To her right, Drizara was boasting, telling Goliath a story; It had something to do with her fist going straight through someone’s face and out the back of their head. Shausha listened for a while, amused. Sucking on the meaty end of a rib, she looked around for Ikbal. After a moment, she saw that he had separated himself from the group.

He had his back to a cave wall, wings tucked defensively around himself and was eating savagely. She could hear him snarling as he buried his mouth in the thigh of a human leg. Its knee joint wiggled back and forth under the motion of muscle tearing from bone. It was widely known that Din was a wilder place than Xy and she wondered if they all Dinizens ate as fearfully during meals. She was about to turn back to Drizara’s story when Ikbal snapped his head up, meeting her gaze. He licked his lips and waggled a blood-covered tongue at her. Blood was smeared on his face from ear to ear. Shausha nodded in acknowledgement, shifted back to face Drizara and tried to ignore him. For the a while after that, her hackles tingled uncomfortably, a sign that he was still watching her.
.

[Shausha]

Dark Angel
30 Summer 511
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Over the next few weeks, Shausha practiced with Goliath. Her skin and mettle became harder to bruise. Dodging and evading became easier. Her group teased her mercilessly about the cuts and black eyes she would show up to dinner with, but Shausha had her revenge when she dangled the hearts of their prey in front of the group before luxuriously eating the meat.

One morning, she was gently shaken awake by a slave. “Master Goliath would like to see you now.”

Shausha yawned and protested, “My training starts around midnight. It’s too early... What is it? Like the break of sunset?” She rolled back over and buried her face in her bedding.

“He requested you now,” the slave persisted, prodding her back. Shausha emitted a rumbling growl. She swatted the slave’s hand away and stretched, wondering what new method of torture Goliath was going to use on her today.

When she reached the courtyard above, she saw someone perched on a nearby wall like a giant stone gargoyle. It was not Goliath; she could smell as much. Sniffing the air curiously, she approached slowly. When he turned to face her, she saw it was Ikbal. He was smiling at her in a way that made her insides turn.

“Did you --” she began.

“Yes, Goliath says you’ll train with me today.” He answered, jumping down from his roost.

“What happened to him?” she asked deliberately.

“Nothing. ” He said nonchalantly. “He just thinks you could learn something from me. And as your teacher, I assign...a test!” Ikbal stuck his tongue into his cheek, smirking and looked up at the circling Zith who were out celebrating the coming of night. They called down at him, a warning tone in their voice. Something was very wrong. Shausha twitched her ears this way and that, trying to pick up indicators on what was going on. Ikbal’s eyes flashed, displaying a cold spark of malice. “If you can get away, you pass!”

“What do you mean...” Shausha asked slowly.

Ikbal smoothed his hair back and fixated on her. “It’s simple. I’m going to chase you, and if I catch you, I’m going to kill you.”

Shausha froze. His words hung in the air between them as she processed the words. Her heart began to pump faster, her eyes dilated and her ears began to ring. What? Kill... her? This had to be a joke. Shausha could see Ikbal practically transforming before her eyes. His fur stood on end. His muscles were tensed in a slight crouch. This was no joke! Shausha turned, terrified, and pushed into the air. Ikbal caught her ankle and slammed her to the ground. The Zith above screamed their disapproval, but did not intervene. She turned in time to see his hand coming straight for her chest. It was not the normal fist Goliath had used during their training sessions. It was flat and pointed like the head of a spear. She screeched and rolled over, grabbing a handful of gravel at the same time. She aimed a kick at his head with the back of her heel. She missed his head, instead, knocking the next spear-hand strike to the side and leaving his face open. Seizing the opportunity, she threw the sand in his eyes and scrambled towards a partially boarded-up doorway which lead into the castle ruins.

Once inside the ruins, she ran down a decrepit hallway. Part of the ceiling was missing and most rooms were dead ends. Shausha could hear Ikbal crash through the boards she had ducked under. Her heart thumped in her chest as she turned a few more corners and skidded into a wide hallway. Neglect had worn a hole in the floor about halfway down. To her horror, she saw Ikbal appear at the other end of the hallway; He had circled around to cut her off. Shausha obeyed her instincts that willed her forward and did not break pace. Her breath felt like needles as she ran as fast as she could towards Ikbal. Sliding the last few feet, she dove into the hole. She felt his claws scrape her foot as her body disappeared into the dark.

Shausha knew he could hear, smell and see her without any problem. She also knew that he could outrun, out-fly, and out-fight her. If she could not escape, hide, or fight, where was her salvation?

Shausha pulled out of the dive immediately and clung to the ceiling. After she had seen him jump in after her, she darted back out. She sprinted out of the hallway, into a caved-in room, and took flight. She barely had time to flap her wings twice when she heard Ikbal approaching behind her. A moment later, she felt his hand seize the base of her wing. In a panic, Shausha tore herself from his grasp. A hot blood trickle of blood rolled down her back. She pitched forward and tucked her wings in. Diving downwards, gaining speed, and aiming for the sinkhole. Get help, get help, get help. Her instincts whispered desperately.

Her eyes stung as the wind whipped around her face. Shausha was nearly at the sinkhole when Ikbal barreled into her side, knocking her out of the air. She careened sideways and into the very same courtyard in which she trained with Goliath just a sun’s journey ago. She was attempting to sit up when he landed next to her, knocking her over and pinning her wings down with a knee. He panted, flipped his hair out of his face, and smiled down at her. Shausha screamed up into the sky for aid. A few Zith answered with calls of sympathy. Ikbal shrieked a threat at them over his shoulder.

Shausha was in complete overdrive; Her eyes were completely black and fixated in the distance; her fur was soaked with sweat; and she was panting shallowly. When Ikbal reached out to her, she let out a guttural snarl that made him pause.

“Aww! Cute!” He chuckled mockingly. “You failed the test, deary. Remember what happens next?” She growled again, but it was cut short when his hand closed around her throat. Her eyelids fluttered weakly, her hands went numb and she could smell blood.

She heard and felt the rumble of a furious howl as Ikbal released his grip. Coughing and gasping, she crawled away. Hunching against a pile of a fallen stone angel, Shausha tried to make sense of her blurry vision. Four-Fang and Dizara landed next to Goliath who was standing over Ikbal, a foot on his throat. Goliath’s wings were full spread, shaking with fury.

“YOU FOOL.” Goliath roared down at Ikbal.

“You...misunderstand...” He croaked, “This is... how we train our... hunters.” Ikbal gasped and struggled against the leg that held him down, raking feebly at Goliath’s ankle.

Goliath bellowed sub sonically, making Shausha’s chest resonate. “You are not in Din, spineless worm!” He leaned over and tore Ikbal’s wing, leaving a bloody, fist-sized hole; It was Goliath’s preferred way of marking exiles. Ikbal screamed in pain and as Goliath raised the dripping piece of wing membrane aloft. “Outcast!” he roared to the Zith that had gathered above. They howled their approval. Goliath kicked Ikbal who rolled several feet and hunkered against a wall, arching his wings around his body.

Shausha could hardly process what was going on. The world around her hazy; Everything she saw left a blurry trail. Her ears hurt from over-tuning and her instincts were still calling, echoing in her clouded mind. She huddled against the ground and feebly tried to defend herself as Drizara and Four-Fang approached. Four-Fang crouched down next to her, gently holding her flailing hands aside. The world spun slowly as her vision began to fade.

“Dumb shit made her go feral.” she heard Four-Fang mutter as he hoisted her off the ground. The last thing she remembered was seeing Goliath’s ponytail swing gently from side to side as he lead them back into Xy.

oocI'm not sure if I was allowed to introduce that method of "outcasting" a person, so I made it sound like Goliath was the only one who did it. Not sure if I was allowed to introduce all those characters either. They just sort of spilled out of my keyboard...whoops...


Continued (here)
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