A creature formed in the bones of the dead, a fractured reminder of a being that once lived, captured by a Pencari and found useless. If the Pencari captures you, be grateful if your family ever found your bones: An old saying that Ronan had heard repeatedly growing up. It was genuinely unknown how such monsters could create their own using just the bones & ashes of the person they killed, but it was easy to figure out it was of the utilization of dark magic they were known for. The monsters could not be reasoned with; they were driven only by instinct and a never-ending hunger.

They had a name for monsters like that: Rakshasa.

Huon narrowed his eyes, teeth gnawing against one another as the creature slowly entered the building, searching for its prey. The three men kept their weapons ready in case they were spotted. While the Rakshasa were known climbers, speedy menaces, and had endless stamina, they still had one weakness: their sight. Not entirely blind, they could not see far into the horizon like Ronan and his people could. They can maybe see what is directly in front of them, the extent of their vision. Huon eyed the other two, noticing that Kyle had clasped the dog's muzzle shut while the arm went underneath its belly. When his eyes met Ronan's, he mouthed out: what do they do?

Ronan observed the Rakshasa, which slithered to the other room. He nodded to the two and slowly pointed to their exit, giving them his order. Huon nodded and stood still as Kyle, the quietest of everyone, was urged to go first. The slender man picked up the pup with both arms as he stayed low on the ground; no sound came from each step as he stealthily reached the exit, his sight not leaving the Rakshasa as he did so. However, his foot leaned on a creaky floorboard when he reached the entrance. The sound punctured the silence, and Ronan felt his heart drop. Huon darted out of the room with his battle-axe; a flourish of raw strength collided with a fleeting monster stretching for the kill. The Rakshasa was swooped onto the wall, splashing its black blood onto it as Huon overexerted himself to make another swing. But the Rakshasa whipped its prolonged neck up to notice and crawled onto the floor before the axe could strike its target.

Ronan fired a bolt, trying to stop it, aiming for the eyes. "Over here, cretin!" He mocked the beast while grabbing another bolt. The mockery worked as the Rakshasa turned its attention to Huon and Ronan. With Huon being the closest, its claws attempted to swipe at the burly man with its oozing substance. Before it could find the purchase, a thrown dagger stabbed through the skull, allowing more black blood to pour onto the ground. With the momentum, the creature fell forward while Huon leaped out of the way. When the unmoving Rakshasa lay on the floor, they exhaled in relief. Huon whipped his head at Kyle, his face reddened with rage. "Out of all the times you had to step onto a squeaky board, it had to be now?! Really?!"

"Hey, hey!" Ronan snapped, coming forward. "No reason to blame him, and you damn know it! The Rakshasa was attracted to the noise here." He stared at each of them; Huon's face was still red, but it had eased, while Kyle's facial expression was that of an abused puppy. With a sigh, Ronan continued, "We would've been found by the damned things sooner or later. Better here than closer to our home." He stood firm as he looked outside. "And if I remember correctly, most Rakshasa do not wander alone. And it's rare for them to wander alone; most likely, there is a Pencari around here. We need to prepare for more to come."

Kyle nodded, slowly setting the strange dog down. "You better go before more of them come." He told the pup, " And try not to get closer to traps again." He gently pushed the dog away so it could run. Instead, the dog gazed at Kyle and then at the two men as if studying them. Then, slowly, the dog backed away and scampered away from the scene. With the dog now on its own, Kyle trotted to the dagger embedded in the dead Rakshasa's skull. Pulling it out, he flicked the blood off the blade and got himself ready. Huon grumbled, "I swear, you and the damn animals." He twirled the handle of his battle-axe with both hands as he went forward and searched for any enemies. "Alright fuckers, come out wherever you are. That lone one was just a warm-up." He yelled out, words echoing throughout the ruins, traveling to the far beyond. As seconds passed, Huon mumbled, "Question; we heard multiple of them coming to the building, right?"

"Yeah..." Ronan mused, suspicions growing as well.

"So...where the fuck are they?" Huon questioned, tilting his weapon to prepare a swing. "I can't imagine they found something more interesting than the noise that dog made."

With that confusion in mind, Ronan got down on one knee and investigated the ground beneath them. He wiped his hand around, trying to find any source of tracks. Of course, he saw the one the dead Rakshasa left behind at the house, but there was nothing else. Then he ventured around the impoverished building, with Kyle and Huon following behind. They kept an eye out for any hidden enemies while Ronan continued searching. As they circled the building, they found pawprints, which most likely came from the dog they rescued, but it didn't solve the mystery. But when Ronan decided to go to the pavement, he found multiple footprints and handprints: clear signs of Rakshasa. "So?" Huon inquired, "You know where they went?"

Ronan rose from the ground and leered at the prints left behind, trying to figure out where they could have gone. Something caught his eye, though, and he held two fingers together. "Well, you got one thing right, Huon: They found something more interesting than us." He then pointed to an overgrown tree whose roots grew over the pathway, a single arrow etched onto its thick bark. Kyle blinked, "Someone else was here?"

"No, that arrow mossied over the tree bark and decided to rest there."

"Huon, fucking cut it," Ronan grumbled, his impatience with Huon growing thinner with time. "But yes, someone else was there. And it led them far away from here, it seems." He went back to probing for tracks. He shadowed over the trail and found his quarry once he got closer to the tree: humanoid footprints. Studying them, he could tell that the shoes belonged, evident by their shape. And they were never on the ground for long, almost as if the individual was leaping as soon as his foot touched the ground. But why would it hunt a bunch of Rakshasa? Or even lead it away?

Going through his memory bank, he didn't recall any other team going to the surface. They had already hunted yesterday, got enough food for a few days, and had water underground. There was no other reason besides scouting, but even then, a scout wouldn't want to be seen by a Rakshasa. And there were no reports of Rakshasa recently: just a lone Pencari—a singular individual. Either the scouts were terrible at scouting for anything unordinary, or something else was in play. But he wouldn't know until they were done investigating. "Well, the search continues. Look out for any Rakshasa; something tells me this might lead to the lone individual."

"A'right," Huon sighed, staying behind so Ronan could keep tracking. Kyle remained in the back, more to keep an ear out for anything that might approach from behind. Walking through the ruins again, they pursued what they believed to be the lone person and the many Rakshasa chasing after them. They maintained their speed and trek until they got to a broader area of the ruins, where there was more pavement than buildings, with a lone overturned metal contraption with four wheels. It was immense and might've fitted around five to seven people. Ronan stared at it for a bit and would've kept going if he hadn't spotted movement in the distance. Doing a double-take, he spotted a giant black horse tied to an even larger wooden carriage. Ronan could only imagine their size was double what he was used to seeing. And alongside them was an individual, a lone individual with a hooded cloak.

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They found him.

Ronan held out a hand and pointed with two fingers at what he had discovered. Once the other two noticed, Huon gave a low chuckle. "There you are, bastard." He gripped his weapon and went forward. Kyle gulped and mentioned to Ronan, "Is that a Pencari? I don't remember them being that tall..." The two stared at the figure for a bit longer as Huon slowly snuck up to the figure. Ronan couldn't deny Kyle's concern; this one was very tall. He was taller than six feet, maybe close to seven feet if he had to guess. The figure seemed distracted by the wooden carriage as Huon got closer and closer. Typically, the man with metal armor was not the sneaky type, but this time, he might just be able to jump before being discovered.

Ronan and Kyle caught up to Huon, staying sneaky and going behind the bushes spread among the rubble. They separated to get more angles on this person who remained blissfully ignorant. The hooded figure appeared to investigate various items on his person and throw them onto the cart. One by one, items of different sizes, shapes, and lost purposes were in the wooden carriage, going somewhere. Huon narrowed his eyes and turned his weapon to have the blade facing the hooded individual. With a lean forward, he pushed his body forward like a charging bull. The hooded figure turned, hearing someone approaching, but it was too late. Huon swung at the individual and hit him in the stomach, its blade slicing and pushing the individual back ten feet. The horse started neighing and going on his back legs as its master bounced on the pavement. The man then rolled on the ground until he stopped, lying on his stomach. Blood leaked onto the ground, slowly creating a puddle underneath. With a shaky groan, he tried to get himself up as Huon approached, blood coating his weapon. "Well, ain't this our day. A weak shithead was knocked down in one swing. I must say; either I am getting better, or your kind are getting lazier." He mocked, eyes jeering onto the other, who scrambled desperately.

Noticing all this, Kyle and Ronan came out of hiding and jogged towards Huon, who was ready to make a downward swing. As Kyle tried to calm the horse down, Ronan peered at the figure as if trying to find something. The hooded figure turned to face the two that stood over him, and with a shaky groan, he whispered something incomprehensible. A language Ronan didn't understand, but the tone of it...he could tell it was not how a normal Pencari sounded.

It was a plea—an appeal for mercy.

When it spoke, Huon got ready to take another swing. Ronan tried to intercept it, but he overestimated his strength and instead got in the way. Realizing this, Ronan shirked while Huon tried to maneuver his blade at the last minute. Instead, his grip loosened, and the battle-axe flew like a runaway carriage wheel until it severed a nearby tree in its pathway. "W-What the hell, Ronan?! Have you lost your mind?" Huon snapped as Ronan tried to catch his breath, realizing he was that close to being sliced up instead of the downed man behind him. Meanwhile, Kyle got the horse to slowly calm down, enough to where it wasn't hurting itself or damaging the carriage it was strapped to. His attention went to Huon and Ronan when he heard shouting.

Ronan whirled back to face the downed man, taking out the shackles and applying them to his wrist. "Remember what I said, Huon? We were using these things on the Pencari," he said confidently. "You did enough damage anyway."

"I don't care about that!" Huon barked, "Did you realize how close you were to getting hit? I built this axe to try to slice even the densest of bones!" He continued lecturing as Ronan grabbed the hood and yanked it off the head. "Hey, are you even lis--....tening..." Huon paused, seeing the face of the man he had just recently knocked down. Kyle and Ronan were speechless as their expectations were thwarted at the sight of the man.

They expected a humanoid monster with pale facial features, ears extended outward, and pointed like a blade. Their most notable feature was blood-colored eyes that lacked soul and empathy when they were face to face with their target. But that was not what they saw, and Ronan's face contorted to confusion. This was not a Pencari in front of them, but it was not a human.

A man over six feet tall whose face looked soft and doe-eyed. He had blue eyes that were as crystal clear as the shimmering water. And while it did have pointed ears, bisque-colored horns accompanied next to them. Horns that protruded from behind the ears and extended forward like its own set of eyes. And there on the face were scales, or what Ronan could only describe as such: one on the bridge of the man's nose and some that appeared on the neck and went down further, hidden within the clothes. Ronan stepped back, perplexed by what he was seeing as the cloaked individual seemed to be teary-eyed, most likely believing death was imminent.

The other two men were bewildered, unsure how to respond to the whole thing. All they could do was stare as the doe-eyed man wrapped one arm around the stomach, where he was bleeding profusely. "Mercy....Mercy..." He pleaded, his voice cracking as his body swayed; he was losing a lot of blood, and it was showing. Watching this unfold, Ronan's memories flashed back to images from the past; how many people have begged for mercy? How many people pleaded for their pain and anguish to be taken away? How many have prayed for their life?

How many?

"Kyle, you got your med kit?" He exclaimed, his voice causing a sudden jolt to the other. "This is not a Pencari; get him treated!"

"But--!" Huon tried to protest, but Ronan whipped his head with an intimidating glare. "Huon, this is not a Pencari!"

"But he's not human!" Huon said brusquely, "Doesn't make him innocent!"

Ronan didn't respond to the argument but continued his glare as Kyle came forward to give the med kit. Ronan snatched it and went to the doe-eyed man and started the treatment. "Doesn't mean it's a monster either," he mumbled and opened the kit. "Just sit still. We'll get you tended to. We have many questions for you once we're done. Sorry..." He started administering a treatment, with Kyle looking on uneasily while Huon beamed with fiery hot hostility. Despite the gazes boring onto his back, Ronan continued to help the man, cleaning the wound on the chest adorned with the same shimmering scales. Once the wound was cleaned, he rubbed the medicinal lotions the man winced from the appliance. Once done, he wrapped the bandages around the man, ensuring they were good and stuck. Once finished, he stepped away. "With that out of the way, what are you? You're...not a Pencari...but you are not human either, as he said," He moved his head toward Huon, his eyes never leaving the scaled man. "But maybe I should ask if you're ok or not. Sorry about the initial attack...we heard there was a lone hooded individual and the Pencari...-"

"You're right about two things," the scaled man interrupted, having the courage to speak. "I am not a Pencari, and I am not human. Now that my life is not in danger anymore, I...I...I am in awe! I thought humans were extinct!"

"Come again?" Huon uttered, his face warped in dismay as the scaled man slowly stood up. The man continued, "It's an honor to meet you all--or some of you," He stared at Huon when he said, "I have always admired your people's work! Your history! Please, please! If you have the time, and maybe want me to forgive you for almost killing me! You must answer my questions too, as well as answer yours!" He begged, his doe-eyes slowly becoming puppy-like.

Ronan stared at his men, who stared back, too. And they all simultaneously turned to the scaled man. Blinking rapidly, they had no idea how to react to the situation. After a moment, Ronan mustered a response. "Uuuh....sure? I guess? But...I need to know your name at the least?" The scaled man jumped a bit, realizing this. "Oh! Where are my manners? I'm sorry! I'm Raygnar! It is a pleasure to meet you humans! Please, please! Come to my cart! We should see where you live! Oh, nobody is going to believe this!" He dashed back to his horse and cart, leaving the three stunned. Huon was the first to react, "We're...We're not doing this, right? Ronan? We're not doing this, right?!"

But there was no response to Ronan. His first thought was, how would I explain this to everyone and my father?