Despite the thorns flying over his head, Aven did not regret going into the forest. In fact, as he raised the worn out shield he'd grabbed from his village earlier and ran behind a tree for cover, he had to admit, this was pretty exhilarating. Still, he couldn't stay in one place, or else he'd quickly find himself overwhelmed by his pursuers: Aven peeked his head out from behind to see the source of his worry, a swarm of unnaturally large wasps. Insects were annoying at the best of times, but these glowbeasts were a danger all on their own, monstrous creatures with magical abilities that could kill the average person… Aven found himself raising his shield to block the sickly green thorns they had fired his way, and devoted his efforts to weave through the foliage as the frigid air bit at his face. As he passed through the greenery, he felt the sharp point of one of the fired thorns graze his arm, leaving a bloody mark, but without stopping to check the wound, continued on at top speed.
After a while, when he was certain that he had gotten far enough away from the pursuing insects and was near the safety of his village, Aven inspected the bag he had been carrying to make sure it's contents hadn't been damaged in any way by the chase, and breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that it was still - more or less - fully intact. Thrillseeker though he was, even he wouldn't go in the Northern Forest without a good reason - in fact, he would have never gone in at all if it wasn't for a special occasion. Specifically, today, many of the hunters would be cooking a large kill, the fruits of a recent effort to hunt more game to make up for the deficits in farming and foraging as of late. Aven had heard from his father once that the scent of burning flesh repelled the wasps in the Northern Forest, and though he wasn't sure of the exact mechanics of why, it did mean he was fairly safe, at least as he approached the village. Now on his way back, Aven felt pretty confident he was safe from the wasps. The hard part would be dealing with his dad.
Aven quickly made his way back home, slipping into the boundaries of his village. It was nice to feel the air get slightly warmer as he approached, in large part due to all the fires for both cooking and warmth. Unfortunately, the young hunter didn't have time to waste: he wanted to get home before his dad realized he was gone. Creeping behind houses and through otherwise unused paths, eventually Aven made his way to the front of the house and crept in slowly. Unfortunately, just as he was about to make his way in, a hand reached out to stop him, holding the door open. Aven sighed in resignation, before turning towards his dad.
"Before you say anything, I had everything under control."
"And that's why you're bleeding and covered in dirt?"
Aven held back a scowl, but his father's face was unreadable as always, his sharp, blue eyes betraying nothing but an inquisitive look of curiosity Aven knew that that was only a front for his father's cold judgment though.
"Listen, I know you said not to go in there, but this was a golden opportunity to get some fruit. You know the village needs it… Here, look."
Aven revealed the contents of his bag, which was visibly filled with various fruits. Despite their rough transit, the fruit seemed more or less intact, but his fathers expression was unchanged.
"Aven, I appreciate that you went out of your way to get this, but you went against my orders. When I give those orders, it's not on a whim, it's protection."
Aven had to fight the urge to roll his eyes: he knew his father was only trying to keep him safe, but he still felt it was hardly the time to worry about his own safety considering the state of the village.
"Really? Cause I seemed to be doing fine on my own, and I got through wasps without getting seriously injured. I think you're worried over nothing."
"It's not just the wasps you have to worry about! They're one part of-"
The argument was suddenly cut short by the sound of a horn, which caused his father to suddenly jerk towards the direction of the noise. Taking a moment to process the situation, he began jogging towards the origin of the noise.
"Ok, something's come up. I trust you enough to take care of your own wound, but stay here for now."
With that, his father ran off to go and deal with whatever situation had come up, Aven sighed and began to look for the materials he needed to treat his cut. While he had no intention of listening to his father's orders and staying put, he also didn't want to lose an arm because of an infection, and so began to take care of the wound.
As Aven bandaged the injury and stemmed the bleeding however, something strange began to grab his attention, namely, some commotion which could be vaguely heard from inside. Aven tried to ignore it for a bit, but eventually, the racket began to grow loud enough to catch his interest. Finishing up his task, Aven went to see what was going on outside. Opening up the door, Aven found himself in the midst of a surprising amount of people: it seemed almost everyone who had gone inside earlier had come outside because of something. More alarmingly, many of the people seemed to be holding bags or other items, as if they were going to need to evacuate with them. Now somewhat worried, Aven went up to one of the people with bags, a woman who looked completely terrified, though she was trying to hide it.
"Hey, why is everyone outside right now?"
The woman seemed to almost jump at his words, but quickly collected her composure. Oddly, seemed to have an almost hopeful expression and seemed less perturbed when she saw Aven.
"Oh, Aven! Didn't your father tell you? The Kasmoda is wandering around the edge of the village… people are worried it's going to attack.."
Aven suddenly understood why everyone looked so on edge. The Kasmoda, the Thunderer, was a massive bear which had lived in the Northern Forest for as long as he could remember. He'd heard stories that it's presence alone could kill, that it's eyes could kill with a glance, and that the Great Bear Lord could breathe fire, but no matter who you asked, everyone agreed that it was generally a peaceful creature unless provoked first. A tingling feeling extended throughout Aven's spine, as he began to worry about what role he may have played in the matter, but he quickly put those thoughts aside. Assuming the worst wouldn't help anyone, and he'd be better off trying to help.
"Any idea where he was spotted?"
The woman shook her head, evidently a bit unsure of the details of the situation herself, and pointed to the northwest.
"No, but I know where the people who saw him are. Your dad is there with them actually, everyone with hunting skills is meeting at the watchtower so they can figure out a way to drive him off if things go…. Wrong…"
Aven nodded in understanding, before starting to run towards the watchtower. If he could make it in time, he could potentially help avert disaster, but he had to get there in time first.
"Thank you so much! I need to go see my father, just stay put for now and if things go badly, start running."
And with that, Avan made his way towards the building, ignoring the sense of foreboding and guilt that latched on to him like insects to blood.