Outskirts of Mirefield, day two.
"He's a monster! Did you see how he handled those bloodwolves?"
"I don't care if he's a monster! He's a monster who saved our fucking lives!"
"He's not S.A.F.E!" You saw him! He fucking ENJOYED killing them!
"If we can't have a knight in shining armor to protect us, I'll rather have a monster drenched in blood to keep me-US safe."
"..."
I awake to the sound of a heated argument, falling right back to the ground due to the sheer pain of my injuries. "Ouch" I murmur, my voice raspy. "Water please" I rasp, managing to get in a sitting position. I don't know or frankly care who gave me a canteen but I sallow the liquid blessing as if I was a dirty fucking whore. I murmur my thanks to whoever gave me the water as I blink my eyes, trying to clear my swimming vision. Once I have some semblance of vision I find myself in the gaze of two others, One male and the other female. Judging by their clothing and the quality of this carriage, this is the carriage housing the peasants. "I presume you two saved me" I break the silence with a raised eyebrow. "Yes! My brother and I did" The female chimed, her demeanor changed in an instant. " Begrudgingly" the brother added, earning a sharp elbow in the side, causing him to grunt in pain. I ignore the comment, observing the siblings in front of me.
The girl has bright blond hair in a stereotype princess style, her eyes a vibrant green, full of defiance and determination. She wears a dirty, tattered dress, giving me a rather amazing view of her robust chest. Her brother has short black hair, his brown eyes and glasses clue me in that he's more of a logical, stick to the facts type of guy, something I could respect in a person. "How many dead?" I ask, Oliver's decapitated head clear as day in my mind. Rage lurks in me, below all the other emotions I hide, waiting patiently like the apex predator it is. People who or what is really the apex predator? The one to rule us all?
Most people say it's us humans, our unparalleled intellect rivals no other.
Some say the calamities slumbering deep beneath us, rumored to hold powers no one can begin to ponder.
The wise say it's the sins we harbor, the desires we so desperately hide, the ones that cause the wars, the ones that cause humanity as a whole to be forever stained with blood.
Me? I say it's rage. Rage waits patiently, watching your every move, noting every trigger, Rage can cause your downfall in one impulsive action, or withering you down over decades.
Rage rules us all.
"Too many" The sister whispers, trauma gripping her in its loving embrace.
I only nod in reply, shoving the memories and rage within.
"Call me Ruak" I introduce myself, trying to steer us away from what haunts us.
"I'm Annalise" The sister introduces herself, her friendly demeanor from before back.
"I'm Theodore" The brother grumbles.
"Thank you for patching me up. What's the status of the expedition?" I ask, I need to get a status of what's happening right now.
The sibling's glance at one another, silently asking each other who wants to lead the conversation. After a pregnant silence of sibling rivalry, Theodore readjusts his glasses and sighs in defeat. "Alanus has suffered several losses and is even injured himself, we are at least two days away from the nearest town and our supplies are fucked. We are rolling at a slow burn right now, after all, we all thought last night would be our last. You though, you-" He pauses, pure disgust filling his eyes and voice like acid, "After what I saw you did, I wish those bloodwolves fucking offed me." Tension filled silence follows, Theodore staring at me in a cocktail of disgust and fear. "W-W-What did you do to your body?" Annalise whispers in horror, finally getting an eyeful of my body, scars and unethically inscribed runes collaging over my body. I silently put my shirt on, not intending on having a carriage pity party. "Listen, I'm grateful for not leaving me for dead, but I'll get out of your hair." I address the sibling duo as I painfully put my arms through my coat sleeves. I sheathe Slums Vengeance and put my tomahawk in its belt loop, opening the carriage door.
The smell of blood, shit, and piss hit me in waves, I put my bandanna on and head to my right into the treeline, disappearing like a ghost. "Why can't I fucking remember!" I growl, desperately trying to remember what happened last night against the blood wolves. All I can recall is fleeting moments.
I was covered in blood, mine? The bloodwolves? I remember someone begging, no.. something begging me to stop, to kill them.
I didn't.
I had not just killed them, I mutilated them. Ah, I remember something chucking, something inhuman.
It was me, wasn't it? The power to be in control, to be the one kicking instead of kicked, it's intoxicating. I bury these moral dilemmas for another day, instead of focusing on the hunt. I kneel and study the large paw prints on the rich soil, a bear no doubt, a massive one. I follow the tracks quietly, my feet not making any noise on the dirt beneath me, completely aware of whoever is following me. Judging by his/her speed it's probably from the knight company, either to observe what I'm doing or a little "accident" in the forest.
"This kid gotta fucking die" I murmur, stalking my prey as he expertly finds his way though the forest, almost making me lose him multiple times, almost as if he knows I'm following him. No way though, I'm an A rank assassin! There is absolutely no way he knows I'm following him right?
Now, where did he go?