Polon slowly lifted his head and started looking around drowsily. He is head still hadn't fully recovered from the impact before and he was confused towards what was going on.
However, the first thing that entered his mind shook him down to the core of his being. His immediately came to his senses and tried to speak, but he felt like there was something stuck in his throat and he couldn't get his voice out.
Suddenly, he felt an impact on his head.
"Its been so long, yet you still haven't learned how to listen when people are speaking!?" a familiar-sounding voice with that all so nostalgic tone entered his ears.
The next thing he felt was a tight hug, as the childhood friend from his memories held him tightly in his arms.
"A-Alz? R-Really? I'm not dreaming?" Polon asked with some hesitation in his voice. He was still thinking that this couldn't have been possible, yet the sensation he felt were so real.
"Do you need me to smack your head again? " Alz said jokingly in a playful tone while gently ruffling Polon's hair
After which, he looked directly into Polon's eyes and continued slowly, "It's really me...I'm back, Polon" he was in a good mood right now, as he had just found out that two of the people he really cared for were alive. In addition, one of them was one of his closest friends from the past, Polon.
Polon began to break into tears, sobbing loudly and finally releasing some of the pent-up emotions he held from that incident in the past. Alz slowly pat on Polon's back, soothing him as he cried. However, no tears flowed from his eyes, all of his tears had already died out from before.
Suddenly, Polon's body jolted as he started to remember the scenes from his mad charge before.
"A-A-Alz... So just now... that was really you?" Polon panicked slightly and carefully asked in a guilt laden voice.
Alz began to strongly smack on Polon's back multiple times when he heard this, releasing a voice that was filled with anger from his lips, "Oh! So you finally remember! Very good!"
It was because he understood his friend, that this was the only way to help him at times like this. Letting him reflect on things himself was a recipe for disaster, something the three, no... four of them had learnt in the past as they grew up together.
Polon did not like thinking, but he wasn't dumb either. He quickly understood Alz's intentions and smiled at him, showing that he was fine. Although, a large part of why he was able to recover from the guilt this quickly was due to the fact that Alz wasn't injured.
Just then, a thought went through his mind as he recalled the last scenes before he passed out.
"Alz, how did you beat me just now? I don't mean to brag, but I think I'm pretty strong?" Polon asked Alz in a voice that contained confusion and belated shock.
The surrounding elves mutually exchanged looks of surprise and directed curious gazes towards Alz, observing him. Meanwhile, Blain's ears perked up as he tried to focus on the conversation between the two.
This time, Alz didn't give an answer that was as vague as the one he told Blain, replying, "You might have fought with many wolves, but remember that fighting against peo-elves is different."
Alz spaced out slightly as he replied, correcting his words once mid-sentence as his mind returned to the many hours he had spent practising his techniques on the wooden dummies he had personally carved.
Back at the archives, Alz was looking out for information which would benefit his tribe, but more importantly, he focused on acquiring information that would potentially benefit him on his journey. Hence, when he saw that there was a section on this in the catalog, he immediately went to read up on it.
In the section, he had found many different fighting techniques documented in the books, Furthermore, most of these were specifically designed towards handing other humans. It was then that a thought came into his mind, that he might probably come across other hostile creatures that were not wolves in his journey.
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The tribe had taught them a fighting style that he had long gotten used to and had served him well even during his stay here, but would it always be useful?
After all, everything they had been learnt and been taught were made to handle wolves which was would suffice in this part of the forest, but it would greatly lose its effectiveness beyond these woods.
Alz quickly started flipping through the fighting techniques of the past his eyes shined when he found a few which seemed suitable for him, martial arts that allowed a weaker user to take on opponents who possessed greater strength than him.
His race inherently lacked strength, this was a well known and documented fact. There were exceptions to the rule every now and then, but he was not one of them. Hence, he could only make up for it up with technique, something these arts were made for. This was the start of his days of training.
Polon slowly observed Alz's with his eyes, trying to figure out how he was taken out so quickly. It was only then that he finally realised the huge changes in Alz. His appearances were among the least that changed, growing to resemble Tia more over the years while his height was now half a head shorter than himself.
These changes were still normal, but everything else after were not. Alz was wearing clothes with a distinctly different design from the ones he was used to seeing in the village, with many pockets on the front and sides of his shirt.
His pants were similar the ones they had in the village and did not go beyond the knees, but also had deep seated pockets on them. There were also three thick pieces of leather that were strapped around his body.
The bottom-most strap was horizontal and went around his waist, holding two quivers up at his side. The other two straps on the other hand, crossed each other diagonally above his waist.
Alz's crossbow holsters were on the lower end of both sides while his dagger sheathes were on the higher side. Finally, the bag Alz carried behind his back also clearly appeared to be more complicated than the ones they used in the village.
However, these were not the most defining change of Alz. Polon somehow felt a sense of distance from his friend which had never been there before, something which went beyond what time alone could do. Something had clearly changed about his friend, something which scared him.
Polon silently at Alz before asking with uncertainty in his voice, "Your still Alz... right?"
Alz looked at the fearful expression on Polon's face while hesitating. He eventually flashed a bright smile and nodded towards Polon while inwardly sighing as he helplessly thought, "his instincts are sharp as always."
Polon had always been the most sensitive to emotional cues since way back, something which worked against Alz now. Alz was still struggling towards thinking up a solution to Polon's current problem and he didn't want to make it worse by breaking the news of his departure so suddenly.
Polon didn't look convinced but he didn't choose to press on, instead changing the topic and showing Alz the brightest smile he made since the incident as he said, "Welcome back Alz!" after this, he stood up and gave Alz a tight hug again as tears trailed across his face.
His mind was simple, Alz was back now and that was all that mattered. No matter how much he changed, he was still Alz, his best friend.
Blain and Lein looked at this scene with warm eyes while the other elves had a mixture or surprise and wonder on their faces, as this was a side of Polon they had never seen since their return.
Also, many of them also noticed Alz's unique getup and also understood that he was another survivor from the fourth from the earlier conversations, prompting many curious gazes towards him mixed in with sighs of respect and admiration.
"This is great! With Alz here, I'm sure we can rebuild this village much faster!" Polon exclaimed excitedly after he separated from Alz about five minutes later. The cloud of negativity in his mind had faded off considerably and the will to live began to light in him again, at this encounter that he had never thought possible.
However, his happiness did not last long and was quickly interrupted by a sigh, a sigh filled with helplessness that came from his front.
Alz looked up at towards the sky and steeled his heart, before turning a resolute gaze to Polon. Since it came to this, he decided to tell the truth. He did not want to lie to his best friend and it was something he needed to deal with in the near future.
"I'm sorry Polon... I'm really happy you're alive and that we managed to meet again, but I can't stay in the village, I'll be leaving the tribe soon. Sorry." Alz's voice was determined, there was some loneliness in his voice, but it spoke of a conclusion that would not waver.
Polon's expression immediately froze. He made a forced smile and asked again, "What do you mean you're leaving? You just came back... We can go talk and go hunting together like the old times again." his voice was tearful and breaking across as he gazed at Alz, hoping to some change in his attitude, but he was disappointed.
"AAAAAaaaaaa" Polon's face slowly crumbled and he ran off with a loud scream that echoed throughout the village with tears in the corner of his eye.
Alz reflexively tried to chase but stopped after reaching his limbs out slightly as he realised that he didn't know what to say. He silently walked over to the glass shards he scattered earlier and started keeping them while he collected his thoughts.