by Aaron Oster
He only partially succeeded, and the antlers skewered his right arm, tearing bloody furrows in the skin and muscle. Roy whirled, lashing out with a kick as the deer passed. An explosion threw the Beast off-balance, slamming into a nearby spire and lodging its antlers deep in the stone.
Roy landed hard on his back, the air exploding from his lungs, and pain wracking his entire body. He’d forgotten what pain like this felt like, as the last fight he’d had ended fairly quickly. Groaning, he rolled onto his feet. His mind was in shock, so he hadn’t yet registered the gruesome injuries.
“It’s stuck. Now’s your chance to run!”
Geon’s voice broke through the haze of pain and brought Roy back to reality. He spun, noting the deer struggling to pull itself free, then turned to the spire. It was about a hundred yards away, his fight with the deer having brought him further away than intended. But luckily for him, his legs hadn’t been injured.
He stumbled forward, running for the shelter that would be his salvation. He kept throwing fearful glances over his shoulder, so it was only once again because of Geon, that he managed to survive.
“Stop!”
Roy skidded to a halt, and a massive chunk of stone seemed to fall from the sky, slamming into the ground not two feet from him, effectively cutting him off from escape. He whirled, seeing the Beast ripping its antlers free of the stone. So, resignedly, Roy turned back to face the monstrous deer, raising his left arm up in a defensive posture.
“What are you doing?! You need to run!” Geon yelled when he saw that Roy was planning on fighting.
“Can’t get around the stone in time,” Roy panted.
His vision was getting hazy from the pain and blood loss, but he knew that his best chance of success – meaning staying alive – was using his Void Sphere.
“You can. All you need to do is use a Movement technique,” Geon said.
“I don’t know how,” Roy replied, even as the deer bent its front legs in preparation to lunge at him once more.
“Don’t think about it, then! Just do it!”
Then several things seemed to happen all at once. The deer roared, then exploded forward, there was a massive boom followed by a rushing sensation. And then, Roy was staring at the deer from over thirty feet away as it struggled to remove its antlers from the stone it had used to block him.
“Um. What just happened?”
“You did it! Now do it again quickly!”
The deer ripped its head free of the stone, turning to glare at him. Its glowing eyes fixed on him and it bared its teeth, letting out an earth-shaking roar. Its body glowed brown once again, and the ground around its feet began to tremble. Then, it shot forward. Roy turned to run but was nearly skewered by a spire of stone that shot out of the ground, forcing him to stop.
He whirled, watching as the deer approached as though in slow motion. He knew he wouldn’t be able to replicate whatever he’d just done in the few seconds he had left. So, he did the only thing he could. Squaring his shoulders, Roy pumped himself full of Essence, enforcing his body as best he could without the use of a technique, then raised his one good hand.
If he was going out, he would damn well make sure to take the Beast out with him!
***
Aika rode on Ferry’s back, the ferret’s sleek body practically flying over the blasted stone of The Crater. A small brown pack was slung on her back, containing four Orange level Beast Cores packed with Power Essence, as well as a small bag containing a few Mending Pills. She’d obtained these by raiding a Tonde storehouse near the border of the Kyofu clan.
She’d managed to avoid detection and, if she was lucky, they would blame it on the other clan. Not that the Tonde clan would need any reason to attack a clan that had joined with the Beast clan and declared war on them. It was extremely convenient, though it had taken her longer than she would have liked to find the supplies she wanted.
Traveling without a supply of Mending Pills would be tantamount to suicide, especially in hostile terrain. The Beast Cores had just been a lucky find. Now she was making her way back to Roy as quickly as she could. She was feeling distinctly uneasy. She hadn’t wanted to leave him alone for so long, especially with the threat of her grandfather still sending someone after him, but it been necessary for their long-term survival.
And now that she had what she needed, they could begin planning how to make it through the Beast clan territory. She really hoped that he’d figured out how to use a Movement technique in their time apart. Though it would no longer be necessary for him to know one for their escape due to Ferry’s advancement, it would still do him some good to learn one.
She didn’t know a single 3rd Dan Yellow who didn’t know at least four techniques, and not a single one didn’t know at least how to use an Armorer and Movement technique. The fact that he’d made it so far on only two techniques was astonishing at the very least.
Ferry hissed as they began their final approach to their current hideout, her nose twitching as she scented something on the air.
“What is it?” Aika asked, suddenly feeling her unease turn to worry.
She couldn’t sense anything yet, but the Ferret’s sense of smell was keener than anything she could feel, especially at a distance.
In answer, the ferret’s body glowed black as she was cloaked in Darkness Essence, and her speed nearly tripled. Aika’s reactions were quick, so she managed to retain her seat. But she mentally prepared herself for the worst. If Ferry smelled something, then Roy could be in danger. She had no idea what they were running into, but whatever it was, she knew she would have to stand up for her friend, no matter the price. She just hoped they would make it back in time.
8
The deer shot forward, but instead of skewering him with its antlers as he’d expected, it stopped just a few feet from him.
“Why did it stop?”
Roy had no idea. Perhaps the deer was afraid of what he’d do?
That hope was immediately dashed as the deer started moving in slowly, its eyes locked firmly on his. Roy tried to use the opportunity to form his Void Sphere, but he found his Essence slow and uncooperative. It seemed that his mind was too hazy from the pain to pull it together.
The deer slowly closed in, hungry eyes never leaving him. The rank stench of rotting meat reached him then, causing him to gag as the Beast’s hot breath washed over him. It seemed that, once again, he was facing down death with no way out, and this time, there was no magnanimous Dungeon Core to allow him to live.
“Well, Geon, it’s been fun,” he said, as his vision began to darken.
“Why does this keep happening to us? You’d think that, eventually, you’d run out of bad luck. Guess it’s been…wait, what’s that!?”
A light suddenly glimmered in Roy’s vision as something seemed to come flying down from the sky. Then, his eyes widened as that light resolved itself into the form of Aika, somehow flying through the air, straight for the Beast’s head.
The deer, seeming to sense something, looked up, just in time to catch Aika’s glowing staff with its face. And, just like that, the Beast that had pushed him to the brink of death was killed in a single blow.
Aika whirled in place, her eyes wide as they landed on him. He guessed he must look pretty gruesome, what with all the injuries he’d acquired fighting this monster. He gave her a bloody grin, glad that she was back. Then he abruptly pitched forward as all strength seemed to leave him at once.
“Roy!” she exclaimed, moving forward in a flash and catching him just before he slammed into the ground.
“Glad you made it back,” he said, coughing weakly. “Thought I was a goner for sure this time.”
“Don’t speak. Just take this.”
Roy felt something shoved against his lips. It felt like a pill of some sort, though oddly squishy. He obliged, in too much pain to do much else. The pill was quite large, and since he was lying down, it nearly went down the wrong pipe. But, in the end, he managed to swallow it.
>
“Good. Now I need you to…” Aika’s voice came to him, hazy and indistinct before fading out completely.
Was he dying?
“You’re not dying, you idiot,” Geon’s voice sounded in his head just a second later. “Not if you cycle that Pill.”
It took him a few moments to understand what Geon was saying. But then he felt it. A small light sitting in his stomach, like a miniature sun. Warm and soothing, it called out to him.
Reaching for the light with his fading consciousness, Roy pulled at it for all he was worth. The Pill was surprisingly responsive and moved immediately to follow his direction. Warmth flooded his body, making him realize just how cold he’d been up until now. Then, Aika’s voice came back, sounding panicked and afraid. He also felt something cold and wet poking at his cheek.
“Wha’s goin’ on?” he asked, his voice sounding slurred and indistinct.
“Oh, you’re awake! Thought we’d lost you there for a second,” Aika said, sounding both worried and relieved. “Now listen very carefully. What you swallowed is called a Mending Pill. It’ll heal you up good as new. All you need to do is cycle it. Your broken bones will take a few days to heal fully, but the blood loss should be mitigated within an hour.”
Roy got most of what she was saying and was glad that he’d started cycling the pill. He could feel the pain from all his wounds becoming oddly numb. This was followed by an extremely uncomfortable feeling of something crawling all over his skin. Thankfully, he was still too out of it to freak out.
The wet, cold thing poked him in the cheek another time, then he felt a warm, wet something slide over his cheek.
“Ferry, I know you’re worried, but you need to give him some space,” he heard Aika say.
There was a loud squeak of annoyance, then he felt something warm and furry press up against him.
“Wow, she's overly protective for some reason. Don’t know why, though…Ah, she’s angry that she left, and you got hurt because she wasn’t here.”
Roy was finally beginning to come out of his fuzzy state. The pill was working remarkably well, flooding his body with healing energy and restoring his lost blood. The puncture wounds left by the deer were almost completely closed, though the torn muscle continued to squirm and writhe within his arm.
His eyes finally flickered open, and he found himself staring up at two familiar faces. He was lying on his back, his head propped up on a folded-up robe. They were inside the hideout somehow, though he couldn’t remember being moved. He tried to move, then winced as fresh pain lanced from his broken right arm. He was also pretty sure one of his ribs was broken.
“Don’t move just yet,” Aika admonished, seeing his wince of pain. “You were beaten up pretty badly by that Beast. It’s going to take at least a day before you’re going to be back on your feet.”
Roy felt Ferry nudge his face with her own, and he turned to meet her eyes. The ferret’s eyes shone with intelligence unlike she’d had before, and when she tilted her head to one side and widened them, it was almost as though he could understand what she was trying to say.
“She’s asking how you’re feeling. I don’t know why she’s asking again. I already told her you were fine,” Geon grumped.
Roy cracked a smile, then reached up with his uninjured arm and stroked the fur on top of her head.
“Don’t worry about me, girl. I’m a little beat up, but I’ll be fine.”
Ferry’s eyes shone, and her expression seemed…sad? It was then that Roy remembered what Geon had said about her feeling guilty.
“It’s not your fault that I got hurt,” he said, moving his hand to scratch under her chin like he knew she liked.
Her eyes slitted in pleasure as he continued scratching.
“The only one I can blame for my weakness is myself. I should have been stronger, and had I not failed that test, I would have been.”
“You can’t blame yourself,” Aika said soothingly. “You weren’t ready for that test. And besides, there was no way you could have won against a 3rd Dan Orange-level Savage Buck. They get very crafty after the advance to Orange and are very good at masking their presence.”
They were called Savage Bucks. At least he now had a name to put to the horror that had nearly ended his life.
“I’m sorry for being so down. I guess I should be grateful I survived and that you managed to get those Pills. I’m guessing that that’s why you left?”
“Well, that and another reason…” Aika hedged, looking a bit embarrassed.
From the look, Roy guessed that the reason must be a personal one, so he decided not to pry.
“I finally used a Movement technique,” he said, changing the subject.
“Really? You figured it out?” Aika asked, sounding excited.
“Kind of,” Roy said with a shrug. “I used it during the fight with the deer without really thinking. I’ll have to do a bit of training to get it down pat, but I think I understand how I managed it.”
“Well, at least something good came out of this,” she said with some false cheer.
Roy simply nodded, then yawned widely as a wave of fatigue seemed to hit him.
“The Pill uses a lot of the body’s natural resources for the healing process. You’re going to need a lot of sleep and food over the next few days.”
Roy nodded, feeling Ferry push up even closer to him, nuzzling her face into his. He yawned once more and then decided that he should probably try and cycle the Pill a bit more before falling asleep. That was the last thought that crossed his mind before his exhausted body gave in to the inevitable deep sleep he so desperately needed.
***
Tonde Kaeru, leader of the Tonde clan and Supreme on the Path of Torrential Storms, lounged back in an overstuffed armchair. Despite the ongoing war between his clan and those of the Beast, Kyofu, and whatever remained of the Moramor clan, he wasn’t too worried. The day was nice for The Crater, and he was feeling particularly lazy. And, after all, what was the point of being the clan leader if one couldn’t goof off every once in a while?
“Go away,” he said without bothering to open his eyes.
He knew who it was and wasn’t interested in being bothered.
“You can’t just lie there all day. You have a clan to run,” his sister admonished, waving the stack of scrolls before him.
“Why can’t you just take care of it?” he asked, covering up a wide yawn. “Isn’t that your job?”
He felt the light smack as the stack of scrolls hit him in the face, falling to rest on his bare chest.
“The clan elders will be gathering in an hour. All five Grandmasters will be in attendance. Best you be up to date when they do.”
Kaeru finally cracked open a single eye as his sister turned to leave the room.
“Oh, and one more thing,” she said, turning back to glare at him. “Put on a damn shirt!”
Kaeru simply yawned in response, then waved his sister on.
Her cheeks flushed in annoyance, then she turned her nose up and marched out of the room, slamming the sliding door closed with enough force to shatter the delicate frame.
Kaeru sighed as the splintered remains of his door fell to the ground. He really should get a sturdier door put in. This way, he didn’t have to replace them every time Hato came for a visit. And seeing as she came to admonish him at least once a day, it was becoming rather expensive.
He looked down to the stack of scrolls sitting on his chest and, with a sigh, pushed himself up from his comfortable chair. Dropping the scrolls into the chair, he stretched out his back, scratching at his messy gray hair. Although he only appeared to be in his late twenties, he liked to keep his hair this color, as it gave him a semblance of aging that was visible to others.
The aging process had slowed as he’d advanced throughout the years, and when he’d broken through to Red-Belt and attained his Perfect Body, forged in Chakra, nearly fifty years ago, the aging process had slowed to a crawl. In fact, he barely looked as though
he’d aged a day since his advancement.
He wasn’t a particularly tall man, only around five feet nine inches. His body was slim and well-muscled, his face youthful and sharp, and his skin was a light tan. His eyes were dark brown and his nose and lips were in perfect proportion to the rest of him.
Kaeru reached out, snatching a black and white robe from the back of a chair as he moved to his desk. It wasn’t that he didn’t like wearing it, but the thing just felt too stifling sometimes. It was unlike the simple robes that the rest of his clan wore. As the clan’s head, his attire simply had to be embroidered with the most expensive silks, wool, and rare Beast hair. The thing was so expensive that should he sell it, he could afford to buy a hundred Blue level Beast Cores. Seeing as they ranged from seven to ten thousand gold Kinka a piece, that was saying a lot.
His casual lack of care for the expensive garments was another source of constant annoyance for Hato. Though she was his sister by blood, she was several hundred years younger than him. His mother had lived a surprisingly long life before finally succumbing to old age nearly eighty years ago. Despite that, she’d only had two children. One each with two different men.
Kaeru’s own father had passed not long after he’d been born, leaving him to be raised by his mother. It was obvious, even from a very young age, that he was exceptionally talented. So much so, that the previous clan leader had named him her successor at the ripe young age of twenty-four when he’d obtained his Blue-Belt.
Hato was quite talented as well. At just over ninety, she was already pushing at the bounds of Blue-Belt. She’d reached 6th Dan about four years prior, though he suspected she would have reached it sooner, had she not decided to dedicate all her time to running the clan. He’d told her multiple times that he could handle it. But she’d said that if she left him to ‘handle it,’ the clan would fall apart within the year.