Throughout the night, very few noises rang out. It was the natural order of things. One didn’t announce their presence if they wished to remain among the living. So, when the cry of a newborn announced itself so obviously… it was certainly something difficult to miss. Especially when there were several of those cries. Yet despite that, none would dare to encroach upon such a blatant cry. After all, if something so brazenly dared to call out, what fool would approach those with the strength to allow it?
…
Magic was a... blessing, some would call it. All creatures of the world had, in some way, the ability to use it. Whether that be through physical empowerment, the conjuring of flame, the creation of matter, barriers, or the manipulation of the earth beneath your feet, or perhaps the very laws of reality. No matter what form you took, the gift of magic flowed naturally, no matter the man.
Or, no matter the creature, in the case of one such newly born individual. His early days were a blur, as they were for anything, though it’s not as if he remained that way. Magic developed, magic empowered.
One commonality, no matter the shape or size among all creatures, was that those born more adept, grew faster. Magic was a bolstering force, and for those whom it ran thick in their blood, that held equally true. Within mere days, the litter began to explore the world around themselves. Their previous naivety gave way to one born of curiosity.
And eventually… to one of inexperience. One to be bolstered by their seniors, until eventually they may do the same for their own.
...
...Dead silence, that was a necessity of the hunt. Bearing down on a Prong Rabbit, He silently approached the creature from behind. While it was potentially dangerous should it be given the opportunity, given the very obvious frontal horn, if caught unawares it should be easy to deal with. This one was also rather large, meaning it was likely a younger creature.
Alongside his elder Sister, both stalked the poor creature. Their eyes flicked rapidly betwixt each other, before a loud "CRCK" was heard, exclusively, by the target of their hunt. Its legs smashed into the ground with immense force, its ingrained reflex being to escape immediate danger. Though, unfortunately, it failed to realize the plot against its life. Taking off running in the opposite direction of the sound. Which, was straight into the waiting jaws of the foxes preying upon it.
It almost managed to slip through the gap between the two of them, the speed of one such creature never to be underestimated after all. But while He might’ve been inexperienced enough to fail in catching his target, his Sister was not.
Leaping into the air, the rabbit quickly found itself no more. Its form cleaved cleanly into two, falling to the ground shortly after, having bounded straight into an invisible barrier, sharpened to the point of perfection.
“Wow, you know I don’t know what I was expecting when you said you could distract it, but… Illusion magic? That’s not bad for only a week of practice Arras.”
“Mmm. Thank you.” Arras mumbled, his tail twitching irritably. “Though, we shouldn’t be talking out here Raiga.”
"Eh, we could take anything that could pop up out here! Come on, you know nothing THAT dangerous hangs out around home.”
“Raiga…”
“Oh pleeeease~” Her voice drawled mockingly. Her two tails swaying gently in amusement. “I’m just joking, not like we’re announcing our presence to the entire forest whispering, are we? Now! We split it into two perfectly good pieces, it’s stopped bleeding out too much by now, you take one half I’ll take the other.”
Drooping ever so slightly, Arras huffed quietly at his sister’s aloofness. She was far too carefree when it came to hunting. Even if it was only their second time… mother and father couldn’t stress the importance of safety enough! But… moping around and NOT carrying anything back certainly wouldn’t help. And Raiga wasn’t the type to be swayed with sincerity like some of his siblings as he’d learned. So, he bent.
The trek back through the forest was easy, even in just the short few weeks that Arras had spent exploring and growing used to the territory around his home, he’d gotten quite familiar with it. The undergrowth was practically a haven for him, second only to his home proper. Speaking of which…
Dropping her half of the body for a moment, Raiga straightened up and sniffed "Smells like... Yes! We're the second pair back!"
"Raiga! It doesn’t matter how close to home we are, you need to be quiet!”
"Oops, sorry~.” She not-apologized. At the least she certainly wouldn’t argue the contrary to that line of thought, safety was paramount after all… she just… didn’t exactly have many concerns. A two tailed spirit fox would find little to harm them in this particular patch of the grand forest. Only one predator was worth any mentioning, but they were rare, exceedingly so.
Arras huffed again, but didn’t argue any further… At leeeeast not until they were inside.
Home sweet home. Other than the forest outside, it was all Arras had ever known.
“Okay, now you can celebrate.” Arras huffed once again, in absolute disbelief. His sister was a terrible role model if his parents were to be believed.
…But she knew he wouldn’t tell.
"Not without you, you know~! You certainly shouldn’t be disappointed with your performance, it wasn’t half bad! Not half bad at all! That was really impressive for what little practice you had!”
"Oh please, in your own words, we were second anyway. Darai and Siska made it back first. probably with something that trumps our massive prong rabbit with ease.”
"Yeah, but still, second? Also known as, back before Akala, Marana, Lassa, and Zanza! Second's really good! I mean, I know I’m with you, and I’m soooooort of second to Darai, not to brag, but come on!”
Arras only rolled his eyes in response, her inability to drop her own sense of self for the moment just being funny to him, but before she could retort in any real way Arras turned right around and started down the narrow confines of the hollowed out roots that made up the passageways of their home. Though, he paused in mild shock a moment later.
"Well, I can’t say I didn’t expect you two to be here sooner than the others, but… you really made good time! Excellent work, Arras.”
His previous expression of mild amusement and annoyance melted as his muzzle curved upwards ever so slightly, his paws tapping against the dried wooden floor as he merrily jaunted his way over to his brother.
"Darai!" Arras happily chirped as he passed by his blue coated brother, rubbing against him on the way before turning around to face him again, as did Darai, his two tails lightly whacking Arras in the face on the way, to which he merely sneezed at.
“What, am I just not part of the reunion here?” Raiga asked sarcastically, to no response.
"Welcome back." Darai mirrored the affection, nuzzling against Arras before slyly nipping a burr from behind his ear.
"I take it the… bisected one there is your catch?”
"Mhm! Did I do good?"
"Yes, you did wonderfully! It’s not exactly a powerful creature, it clearly hasn’t grown much or absorbed much magic at all… but that should still be a great addition to meal time!”
Arras, despite the not quite negative but sort of negative comment, still beamed happily.
Raising a paw to her chest, Raiga feigned abject shock and began to stammer. "H-Hey, hey! I try to praise you and I get the cold shoulder but suddenly big brother says you did good and you're eating it out of his paw?!"
"I'd rather be told I'm doing good by the winner than by somebody in second place." He playfully stuck his tongue out at Raiga.
"Wh-you're second place!"
"So?" He smugly responded. He couldn’t help it, Raiga might be suave, self assured, but she was so easy to tease because of it…
"Hmmmgh!"
"Now now, no need to get upset you two. If you keep this pace up I'm sure you'll get first place when I'm not a part of the competition anymore."
"Oh yeah..." Raiga perked up. "You are leaving soon aren't you? Haha! First place here we come!"
"That's the spirit." Darai chuckled. "Now how about I help you out with this? It's a little large for this cramped space, no?"
"Oh, yes please." Arras nodded without hesitation.
With a short moment of focus the food seemingly blinked out of existence as a distortion in the fabric of space erased the body from their plane of existence. Well, erased wasn’t quite correct, just… displaced.
"When we all eat together I'll take it back out. For now however, I'm taking the chance to train my magic as best I can." Darai smiled happily, though his eye twitched ever so slightly. Likely something else on his mind. Doubly likely the spell he was keeping active. Arras hadn’t asked too much about Darai’s particular use of magic, given he’d told him to focus on something… easier for the moment, but he knew it was difficult.
"Mhm!" Both Raiga and Arras agreed. The two nodding as they took the path to their room. Even if the prey was easy, carrying it back was somewhat tiring… at best. Spirit foxes weren’t exactly known for their physical ability.
...
Murmurs rang through the den, Arras woke partially of his own volition, but also due to the conversation right outside of his sleeping quarters.
"I can't believe we were last place..." A somber voice slowly passed by.
"Aw cheer up Akala. We'll do better next time."
"You mean you'll do better next time." The voice that was now decidedly Akala grumpily said. "You did all the work Lassa, I was just along for the ride."
"Don't put yourself down like that! Just because you weren't the one who killed it doesn't mean you didn't do anything..." The pair's voices faded into the distance overtime and all that remained was Raiga's quiet snoozing. A constant that, while usually relaxing, was… sort of louder than usual… in that they shouldn’t be MAKING noise…
Blinking for a few moments, Arras slowly rose to his paws. Looking over at his sister, curled up and rumbling, a constant noise.
Arras slowly stretched out before padding off to wake Raiga as well. Within the moment he debated against himself as to if he should wake her with a spell or not, but quickly decided against it. That'd be mean, and frankly undeserved.
"Raiga..." Arras lightly tapped her flank… but all he got was a shift and some mumbles. "fivvve... five more... minutes..."
"Hmm. Maybe I should wake you with a scare after all." He stared blankly at her sleeping figure.
"Raiga."
taptaptap
"Mmmmghhh... what." Her eyes flickered open a bit.
"Food's soon."
"Eat... without me..." She rolled over and closed her eyes again, to Arras's utter dismay.
…He really couldn’t help it, in that moment, his eye began to twitch. It was involuntary, entirely so, but he just could not help it, and in the very next moment, he casted an illusion that sent Raiga shooting straight up.
"OH GREAT NINE TAILS!"
"Was that really necessary?!" Raiga all but screamed at Arras with hackles raised. "Really?! A Rootland Viper!?"
"Should've got up when I asked nicely." Arras turned on his hindlegs, obscuring the quiet snicker he loosed a moment later.
"Mmmgh! I'll show you asking nicely!"
BOOOOOOOOOM
Arras yipped in surprise and almost jumped straight into the ceiling. The sudden, maybe slightly warranted noise, being one he’d only heard a solemn few times so far in his life. His eyes rapidly scoured every square inch before him, before finally settling on Raiga, snickering just as he had a moment earlier.
"You! You!... Mrggghhh!"
"You always were unreasonably scared of thunder. Should've woken me up nicely." She flicked her tongue out before taking strides to his side.
"Well, you wanted me up so badly! Let's go say hello, shall we?"
"Mrggghhhh..."
"Oh get over it! I just saw my life flash before my eyes and I'm not complaining! You're really far too scared of a little thunder."
He really wanted to argue, but at the same time… she was sort of right. There’d really been no need for him to do that. "Yeah, yeah... alright, lead the way."
"Heh, then, after me Arras."
...
The entire family was back by now, all eight kids who had played the hunting games were back first. With Darai and Siska being first, Arras and Raiga in second, Zanza and Marana in third and Akala and Lassa in last. To their chagrin.
Shortly after the final pair was back, their mother and father showed as well. All in all the hunt wasn't amazing today, being entirely Prong Rabbits. Granted they were common and filling, but they weren't good for actually gaining magic power. At least not any of the actually common ones.
Slowly, everybody gathered at the center of the den where all the kills of the day were kept. Pale moonlight shone through weakly from cracks in the ceiling, fractures that had formed in the dead roots of the great tree above them. It wasn’t as if that was enough to kill the host they’d built their lives upon though, it merely grew further roots.
After the younger foxes had arrived, the four who had actually gone hunting for real approached the hall. Salam, Nakai, Falama and Yasef. All of whom had two tails. And following even after them, were Mother and Father.
Nikia and Rakki, the former of whom had a brilliant blue coat, and the latter had a traditional red coat. Multiple members of the family took after the two of them, Arras himself having a crimson coat, mixed with the pure white that was commonplace amongst every member of the family. Blue, or red. Though, red was certainly far more common. Among every member of the family, they were clearly the most advanced, Nikia having a total of three, and Rakki four, tails respectively.
Murmurs rang throughout the place as siblings conversed, everybody here was family after all. Gradually the chatter and dramatic retellings of admittedly dull hunts quieted down as everybody settled. It didn’t take much longer for the crowd to begin eating, but… there’d been a bit of confusion as to the rather small haul that seemed to present itself.
Somewhat nervously, Darai let go of the spell he'd seemingly been holding all day. And immediately the pile of food, which had been suspiciously small, doubled in size. He got a few odd glances but nobody took any real offense to it. Not that he would've cared, he looked exhausted from the effort of doing… whatever he’d been doing with that much mass.
After a long day everyone was content with the simple prey. Prong Rabbits weren't worth much for advancement, but nobody exactly cared at the moment. At the end of the day, food was food. Once the meal was finished… Rakki's voice called out. At once, everyone, no matter how young or old, snapped to attention.
"Salam and Falama have made the decision to leave two mornings from now!"
Immediately the attention shifted to the two, whom were sitting together. They obviously weren't the first to ever leave, but saying goodbye was never easy. Once a member of the family approached the age of a year old… it was time to go. It wasn’t as if they were forced to leave, but… there was a life to lead outside the safety of their home. They would always be welcomed back, but there were things to do, places to see in this wide world.
A few of the denizens padded up to the pair to give them their well wishes. The mood was somber, yet not dejected either. Arras himself… well… he had nothing to say. He didn’t spend much time with the two. His eldest siblings did not speak to him often. They were always off doing something else, so instead he found his companionship in the younger of his elder siblings. Those who had yet to reach a proper age of maturity. Or at least, a height in their skills. Darai, Raiga, neither of them were six months old. And so instead of joining the eldest, they mentored the even younger. Those like Arras, the newly born.
So… he merely sat to the side. Looking fondly on at the crowd whenever somebody’s eyes happened to pass him over. But, for the most part… his focus in that moment, was magic. While it did feel a little odd, he wasn’t exactly ashamed to admit that he found his own learning to be more important than family that he barely knew. Though, when his mother began to speak, he too listened unquestioningly, abandoning the flame that he’d been nursing to life.
"Due to this, we will be going on one final group hunt with everyone present! Tomorrow will be their final hunt with us, with everyone. Rest well." She finished quaintly, before walking out of the room. The group began to separate, his siblings leaving to do as his mother had suggested, to rest well.
“Well?” Raiga’s voice pierced the crowd as she made her way back to where Arras had laid as they spoke, her eyes staring expectantly at her little brother.
“Mother’s right, it’s right to get some sleep.”
...
"-ss..."
"Arras..."
"Hmgh...?"
"Arras!"
"Wha?"
"Arras!" Raiga barked straight into Arras's ear, startling him awake.
"What! I'm up-I'm up, what's wrong?"
"We're leaving soon silly! C'mon! Marana and Zanza already got up, you don't wanna be the last one showing up to see Salam and Falama off do you?" Raiga said while eyeing Arras.
"What'reyoutalkingabout!?! We're going on a hunting trip, we're not just having them go and leave..."
"Yeah, but we're going in a few MINUTES."
He blinked once, then twice, and immediately afterwards, Arras stood at attention. "I see. Alright, let's get going then, right now." And with that, he was awake. No matter how drowsy he was, or… how much he wanted to just lie back down, he couldn’t leave his entire family disappointed. It was less about his siblings who were leaving, more about everybody else he cared about, and how it would look if he wasn’t there.
Immediately he deftly worked his way around Raiga towards the exit. "Come on!" He called back before stepping out and swiftly making way towards the center of the den.
Distantly he could pick up on Raiga following after him nonchalantly. He certainly found their lack of urgency odd given the time they had left, but he didn't stop to worry about it. After a short trek he came to a stop at his destination, breathing heavily and...
"Where is everyone...? Did they leave already?"
"Arras?" A small voice called out. "You're up early today. Excited to go on your first big hunt?" Nikia asked as she quietly strolled into the same room, a bit confused at her child’s presence.
"Wh-mother? I thought everyone was about to leave?"
"Hm? No. We won't be going for a good while still. Who told you otherwise?"
"...Raigaaaaaaaaaaaa..." He whined, annoyed and tired before falling over on his side, no wonder he was dead on his feet…
...
Over time the rest of the family gathered at the main hall. Arras fell back asleep long before that while he’d been waiting, and once Raiga had arrived she was firmly scolded by Rakki. Though she didn't seem to care too much. Her amusement at Arras's sleeping form clearly shining through her ear lashing.
After she promised she "definitely wouldn't do it ever again." Rakki let her off the hook, if only because there were currently more important things to worry about. Shortly after the scolding, she settled by Arras's unconscious form and waited for everyone else.
Nikia and Rakki met with everyone who entered the main hall. While it was still early in the morning, many of the occupants had shown up early in respect of their siblings. It was an admirable show of faith really. And soon, the two foxes of the hour, Salam and Falama, arrived.
They were met with enthusiasm, and the quick meeting of heads from anybody who cared to do it, given words of encouragement by the especially invested.
At last, Darai and Siska arrived… last. A stark contrast to their usual demeanor, as usually they were some of the most responsible of the family. Though Darai's tired eyes betrayed why they'd been so late. With Siska all but carrying him into the room, he looked exhausted.
"It would seem everyone has arrived!" Rakki called out. "As this is Falama and Salam's final hunt we shall not rest until we hunt down a raigahma. Let's send them off with something big!"
Most, if not everyone straightened up. It was clear they would now soon be leaving, given Nikia and Rakki were walking towards the nearest exit. It was a gradual gait, but nothing if not obvious.
"Arras." Raiga mumbled with a hint of amusement as she battered Arras’s side.
"Hmmmgh...!"
"Sorry, sorry. We're actually leaving now. If you don't believe me just look at everyone else, alright?"
Arras reluctantly cracked an eye open to see everybody gathering at an exit. Slowly, surely, he rose to his paws, glaring at Raiga who still had an intensely shit eating grin plastered across her muzzle. It didn’t take him too long to blink the sleep out of his eyes, and for each one her expression didn’t change in the slightest.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"Fine then. I'm not listening to you again though." He pouted before taking strides to the thinning crowd. Raiga quickly followed behind snickering to herself, much to Arras’s annoyance.
...
Quietly the family skulked through the Grand Forest. The veritable horde of spirit foxes trekking through the undergrowth remarkably silently. Though, their efforts at stealth certainly weren’t in an effort of self defense. It was entirely unnecessary, given that any creature would certainly realize that approaching such an entourage would mean certain death. No, they required stealth for the element of surprise.
While the opportunity of catching other creatures of prey was readily apparent, and was even passed up on numerous times, there was a specific target in mind for this hunt. A rare creature, a raigahma. Traditionally Arras's family would send anybody leaving off with a big hunt. Or more specifically, by hunting something big. He'd never seen this for himself... But he'd been told about it! That counted as far as he was concerned. This was his first real experience, though it hadn't been the first time that his family had hunted down a raigahma.
Despite Arras not actually being aware of this particular part of the tradition until yesterday, everyone was brought along. It was the final hunt that those leaving would be participating in with their family. It was only right that everyone participated, besides, few would challenge an entire pack of Spirit Foxes. Even if you were to catch one off guard you would likely be crushed, shot, throngled, flattened, broiled, waterboarded, burned, sickened, maddened, slashed, electrocuted, impaled, healed all over again to suffer for their impotence, and cut to pieces by the magic of the rest of them.
Arras was beginning to see a pattern however, an odd amount of rare sights littered their hunting path. A… frankly inconceivable amount of them. Multiple creatures that he’d only ever heard mention of, that he’d never seen. And yet… they just passed right by them. But then a few minutes later, yet another one would show up. It felt… wrong, intensely so. Something felt wrong. Making his way through the crowd, Arras quickly slunk towards his mother, leaning in against her, her eyes drifting curiously to his form.
"Mother... Something here feels wrong, I can't put my paw on it. But something about this is giving me a bad feeling. This is… something’s very wrong. Aren’t all of these creatures you’d expect to never see around home? Just a moment ago we passed by a Mihelk…”
Nikia replied in a soothing voice, likely having dealt with such worries in the past, even if they hadn’t come from Arras himself. "Don't worry little one. I understand your concerns, that something may happen because of how many of us are here... But that's exactly why nothing will happen. Nothing would be so foolish as to attack this many of anything in one group, let alone our kind... You need not worry, we will soon claim our quarry and return."
The butterflies fluttering in Arras's stomach steadied somewhat, but did not stop either. Yet what would he do? Have the entire family turn around during their siblings final hunt? No, the best he could do was simply stay obse-
Cutting off his train of thought, Arras’s gaze drifted to the side as an enticing figure caught his eye by the nearby river. Everyone came to a stop, there it was! A raigahma had come into view, the large creature grazing silently, obscured by brush and trees.
Eyes flicked around, a plan was shared through a mix of mind magic and a basic understanding of hunting tactics. While none of that mind magic reached Arras, he still got a general idea of the plan. Nearby was a wide stream that the beast would not be able to cross. After being cornered it would be vulnerable and easy to finish off.
Silently the group formed a half circle around the raigahma. At once, it seemed to sense something and snapped to attention. After a moment's hesitation it began charging in the direction of the half circle, yet before it could trample over the three standing in its direct path, those being Darai, Nikia, and Arras himself, a massive wall of flame formed before the beast.
The bull-like creature reared on its hindlegs and cried out before quickly snapping around to charge ninety degrees the other way, towards a different pair of foxes. The half circle however, continued to advance. Unheeding of the Raigahma’s movements, or more accurately, acutely aware of them.
As it sprinted forward, the air around it quickly began to darken, before an overwhelming force of magic began to press down upon it. Its legs quickly buckled under the force of the assault! Without a single extra spell, it lost all momentum, barely managing to hold itself up straight under the invisible weight placed upon it.
Struggling immensely, the Raigahma snorted in a mix of fury and fear, though before the magic could push it any further, in a sudden burst of power the Raigahma leapt backwards, kicking at the dirt and leaving the darkened field behind. Instead trading the dangerous space for an even more dangerous space, pinned between the river and the wall of spirit foxes slowly approaching it.
On top of that, even if it had wanted to cast itself into the river, the earth itself began to rumble, forming a wall between the Raigahma and the stream as it rose up. It was now fully closed in, with nowhere left to run, the Raigahma turned to face its abundant foes. The dozen or so spirit foxes slowly leaving behind their previous cover, advancing from the underbrush.
Kicking against the dirt the Raigahma prepared itself to make a charge, yet was shortly undercut as various spells pelted it and altered the very terrain it stood on. Quickly the massive thing bloodied, earth fire water lightning gravity wind... An onslaught of spells ranging from pitiful to crushing constantly slammed into it. And before long it was off its legs, unable to defend itself.
Spell after spell pelted into it, clearly, it had been reinforcing itself with strengthening magic, but that could only take it so far. With its mobility destroyed and constant attacks raining down upon it. It wouldn’t last long. Though, given the hunt was more ceremonial than purposeful… the attacks slowed, slowly, but surely.
As the torrent of magic slowed, the Raigahma almost made it to its feet. Though, before it could accomplish anything so monumental, Falama leapt forward, latching onto the beast's throat! There was a short struggle, the Raigahma bucking about back and forth as it attempted to dislodge the creature at its windpipe, but that only served to hasten its inevitable demise. The assistance of gravity only helping to assist in the rrrrrrRRRRripping of its throat.
The magical alterations to the earth crumbled away as the battle wound down, leaving the place worse for wear with less plant life… yet still perfectly normal. If you showed it to someone they probably wouldn't even be able to tell something had happened here... Besides the blood spattered everywhere.
Most of the family came up to congratulate Falama on his kill while Salam took dainty steps to his side. Insisting that he had in fact, done just as much despite not landing the killing blow.
Most… meaning all but two, Arras and Darai. The latter of which, whom was, in Arras’s humble opinion… not looking great.
"Darai, you've looked terrible this entire hunt. Are you alright…?"
"Hm...? I'm... fine, Arras. I'm just very... Tired. Using too much magic for my own good really..." He mumbled out incoherently. “But… that’s what I need to do. In order to keep improving. Practice, practice… more practice, no matter what.”
Arras frowned slightly, before nudging his head into his brother’s slide ever so slightly.
"How did you manage to do that now? Why would you come if that's how you've been doing? What if something happened to you?"
"Are you kidding...? I couldn't miss Salam and Falama's final hunt with us... What kind of... Brother would I be?"
"Still... I mean, nothing happened, but if something did happen..."
"Relax... Like you said nothing happened, we'll go home and il rest till I'm all better... Alright? Now let's go say goodbye to those tw-"
A moment passed, and Arras’s vision went red, literally and figuratively. A loud yip of pain tore itself through Darai's body as an arrow speared itself through his chest before Arras’s very eyes.
"Dar-!"
His body was violently ripped away before Arras even had the chance to utter his name, a few feet into the air into the clutches of a short, bipedal creature. In these short moments, the few split seconds after the attack, the entire family looked on in shock as the same man pulled another weapon aimed at Arras.
All Arras saw was Darai's twitching form. The arrow seemingly having missed its intended fatal mark, given Darai's chest was still rising and falling in rapid succession, even after the next second had passed and Arras had managed to dodge out of the way of the second attack, an odd magical substance interfering in the fringes of Arras’s perception.
He's still breathing.
The world went utterly silent for Arras, without thinking, while the enemy was once again swapping weapons, Arras leapt at the person aiming a bolt straight at his head. While still midair the projectile let loose, both the arrow and Arras flew through the air. As the two met mid-flight the attack scraped through Arras's underside. It drew blood, yet missed anything important and thunked solidly into the ground.
The same could not be said of Arras, they had most definitely hit "something important". Hissing violently the little ball of fur and death latched onto the person's face. While spirit foxes were horrible with physical strengthening to the umpteenth degree, they did still have claws. And Arras made sure this one was well aware of that.
Immediately upon contact he tore into the aggressor's face. Ripping into the soft flesh, blood sprayed across his claws. Almost immediately however he found himself facing much more resistance from the wounded flesh. The familiar feeling of magic present, blocking out his assault. It was to be expected, but in his unfocused rage, he simply couldn’t find it in himself to immediately continue the assault with a more effective means of attack.
Right after the familiar annoyance of strengthening had appeared, he felt a strong hand firmly grasp the back of his neck. Ripping him away from the face he’d just found purchase in, the creature whom he assaulted squeezed tight... Though it hurt, Arras's fury was not any less quelled than it was a moment ago. Still violently clawing at the man's arm, he drew light scratches throughout his wrist before flames began to practically boil around Arras’s form.
Almost immediately, the foe panicked and threw Arras as hard as they could. He went flying through the air yet again, easily going a good ten meters up into the sky... At the end of Arras's arc he looked down at the world below. Barely looking through the thinned tree line, he could see a white flash of light and hear cries of panic. Arras then looked down, he was directly above the stream.
He had a mortal moment of clarity. The world gained color once more, and it slowed.
It slowed far too much, too horribly in that moment. He knew what would come next.
And then he plummeted, straight down.
SPLOOSH
The water was freezing, not to mention the flow was much too powerful to escape for his tiny body. Arras's body floundered in the water struggling to keep his head above the waves. Frantically he called for help, but was already too far out to be helped...
"Hel-! Help-! I ca-!"
Those on the shore cried out his name as he was ripped down the torrent. Their voices faded into the distance as seconds passed, the all too fast waves carrying Arras down their path in moments. He wasn’t sure how long it had been, but he had stopped keeping track of time almost immediately. Every piece of conscious thought that he could work was pushed towards staying afloat.
Arras had stopped calling out at this point, he knew it was pointless. Instead, he put all his effort into two things. Paddling as hard as he could in an attempt to not drown, and also attempting to slow the current with what little mastery of water magic he had. Yet, this was practically an impossible feat, he could barely use water magic before now… and it was an even more difficult task in his current situation.
So all he could do was struggle. For dear life.
...
Arras didn't know how long he'd been trying, but he was getting tired. Too tired to carry on. His head was dipping more and more often under the waves...
How long have I been swimming?
*CRCK*
Really it was a miracle it hadn't happened for so long. Arras bashed his head into a rock near the shoreline. And immediately, his world once again lost color. Though, instead of red, this time to a dull gray. It was… getting difficult to focus.
Arras's head was swimming, just like his body. The lack of oxygen and nigh concussion darkening his vision. Slowly his limbs stopped paddling, floating along with the rapids, a fall became visible in the distance...
Arras's vision began to blank as he inched closer and closer to the gaping maw of the underworld. Inch by inch the tide carried him to the end. And at last, sent him over. As Arras fell over the edge, so too did his consciousness.
...
.....
.......
..........
Soft running water flowed directly beneath the foxes ears. Gently nudging the boy awake, a stark contrast to the raging rapids that had cruelly stolen him away from his family who knows how long ago.
Arras was floating along a gentle river. Though, how long he’d been unconscious? He didn't know. But the waterfall that'd sent him here was nowhere in sight now. The water was gentle now, but still cold. He needed to get out.
With almost no energy to spare, Arras gently paddled himself out of the current. His paws met with wet sand, his weary body carrying him on purely instinct. Despite being awake, any vestiges of his consciousness were fleeting at best.
Arras was breathing heavily, there was something worse than basic wear and tear going on. As he continued to barely keep himself standing he glanced around looking for somewhere anywhere to rest. He wouldn’t manage for much longer at all. Every single part of his body hurt.
A sharp pain flared through Arras's chest with every step he took, something was clearly wrong. He would need somewhere to rest or he was dead meat. He was already lucky to have not been picked out of the river, let alone to have not drowned, he… didn’t want to let that luck go to waste. He didn’t want to die.
If he fell unconscious in the open he could kiss his life goodbye, that was for certain.
But it was so difficult to keep moving... every step, every breath, it all hurt. It would be so easy to just lie down...
Halfheartedly mumbling to himself, Arras begged the very world around him. Uncaring to any chance of something being nearby. "Please... please. Just... some-"
He stopped. Catching an odd sight out of the corner of his eye. He wasn’t sure how he noticed it, impaired as he was, but… he did. Lightly obscured by a bush, was a small entrance just larger then Arras to the underground. Hesitantly, yet hopefully, he all but crawled to the entrance and sniffed it.
Valum burrower... but… extremely stale. It was… abandoned, it was almost too good to be true…!
Inch by inch Arras pulled himself into the burrow. It was cramped, and he would likely grow too large to even fit inside within a few days. But it was a place to stay, a place made by a Valum Burrower no less. Almost nothing would be able to fit inside, and anything that could would likely not be a threat. Or well… usually they wouldn’t be. He couldn’t be sure about that in his current state.
But still… Arras almost couldn't believe his luck, this had to be some kind of trap, right? Carefully he crawled through the cramped space, careful to not somehow collapse the burrow, or the like. But to his shock nothing ever happened. It was truly just an abandoned nest...
Tentatively he let his body relax. And as the minutes passed the soreness of his body came to new light. The broken pieces of his being felt far more clearly with a moment to recognize them... At least two of his ribs were broken, his head was still woozy, maybe a concussion... His body was bruised all over, all over his torso where he had been grabbed earlier also hurt indescribably so... a similar pain to his possibly shattered ribs. And while he wasn't bleeding anymore, there were gashes all over his body.
He huffed quietly, the aching of his body preventing him from breathing in too heavily lest he wish to incense fresh agony. With the last bit of his mental energy, Arras used fire magic to heat up the cold burrow. At the least, he could sleep somewhat comfortably after all that had happened earlier today.
Working through the pain of his aching body Arras slowly drifted to sleep, he was exhausted in mind and body. And he needed the rest. With a final shuddering sigh, his consciousness once more drifted away.
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(Warning, the following segment is boutta be MAD long given it's the first chapter and so many things popped up. Reminder that you're not missing much if you just don't read an entry. You have been warned.)
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Bestiary
Prong Rabbit
A common herbivore within the Grand Forest. It is non sapient. Has a large sharp horn that is surprisingly light on its forehead, and is surprisingly agile, but rather vulnerable from behind. Otherwise, it's simply a normal member of the rabbit species. It does possess an innate physical strengthening prowess of agility, but is not significantly hindered in other basic magic categories. Though, more advanced and difficult forms of magic commonly elude this species.
They usually don't engage in any form of combat with any other creature. Their response to any form of conflict is to get out of dodge by any means necessary. Unless those means happen to mean fighting back. In which case, their only response would be to charge as quickly as they can to pierce their target to hopefully allow their escape. Frankly, ending them to use them as a source of food is a kindness. Their life isn't particularly attractive.
Prong rabbits are generally solitary creatures, they mate frequently, but never stay long to raise their children. However, this is oftentimes not a problem. A prong rabbit only requires a few days to grow to proper maturity, thus leading to their propagation throughout the forest, however, only The Grand Forest and other magic rich locations The ambient magic being crucial to their development.
The more powerful a Prong Rabbit grows, the sharper its horn becomes, and its body shrinks in size. their lives are relatively short. But as with most creatures, they can be extended through gaining power, by a significant margin.
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Spirit Fox
A somewhat common omnivore within the Grand Forest. They are also sapient, rather smart as well, if I may say so. Usually Spirit Foxes have a crimson and white coat, though rare exceptions exist. They're surprisingly agile for their size but are not durable in the slightest. They possess an advanced talent for magic, especially towards flame, transformation and illusion magics. Yet have a nigh inability to use any kind of physical strengthening. Regardless of the total ability of one such individual.
Spirit Foxes mate for life. In addition, they have some of the strongest familial bonds in the Grand Forest. As such, newborns will stay within the family's den for up to a maximum of two years before going out on their own. Despite being a species with a low birthrate, these practices often keep them flourishing. It is not unheard of for larger groups of them to form pseudo colonial societies.
The stronger a Spirit fox is, the more tails they will grow. The average one throughout its full life will grow at most five, with the most ever recorded being nine. This is not to say that every fox will at some point grow to five, but that instead the maximum that is usually reached ends up being five. With exceptions to that rule being few, and very far between.
Each tail is an exponential gap of power. Meaning a Spirit fox with four tails would be equivalent to ten or so with two tails. Once a Spirit fox begins to breach into the territory of six, or more tails, they become terrifying forces of nature, existing in the upper echelons of the worlds individuals. However, a fair few of these individuals find themselves taking up residency in the inner region of The Grand Forest.
Their lives are a bit short, but as with most creatures they can be extended through gaining power. Spirit foxes with more than five tails tend to live extremely long lives, provided they aren't cut short.
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Rootland Viper
A rare carnivore found exclusively within the Grand Forests middle regions. It is also partially sapient. Durable and swift, these predators have innate proficiencies with strengthening and illusion magic. They are however, less proficient in elemental magics, but are still capable of them.
Rootland Vipers are a small sub species of the more common Swampland Vipers that have forfeited their elemental abilities in return for potent illusion and physical strengthening magics. As such they find the most success as deadly ambush predators within the dense woodland of the middle region of the Grand Forest.
Rootland Vipers generally mate for life. However this does not mean they stay with their children for a long time. Usually a Rootland Viper will go off on its own about a month into its life. Though, they have been known to meet again if the parent and offspring both survive.
The stronger a Rootland Viper becomes the more colorless its scales are. A small distinction but meaningful nonetheless. Telling the difference between deep, and light green could be a life saving skill.
Rootland Vipers have a relatively long base lifespan. Yet gain much less extra time from becoming stronger when compared to other creatures.
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Raigahma
A herbivore found rarely in the wild. They are primarily domesticated animals and are mostly non sapient. It is usually, if not always, found in a colonial community.
Raigahmas are bull-like animals, with two horns to boot. They possess extremely powerful physical strengthening as well as an oddly placed mastery over lightning magic... even if they're not exactly conscious of it.
These bulls are often very compassionate. Able to build lifelong bonds with those they spend time with. As such, with their powerful strengthening magic they are frequently used as mounts for intelligent life that's large enough to ride them.
On the off chance that raigahmas actually get into the wild. They form packs with each other and are actually quite the formidable force. Their combined bulk and might easily scaring off any would be attackers. The only issue being that with the amount of food they end up needing to consume in order to live, such herds quickly break down.
Raigahmas do not mate for life, though they do tend to stay close to their past mates, sometimes even pairing again. They raise their children to nigh adulthood as well.
Raigahamas have a surprisingly long lifespan, easily living up to thirty years without growing any stronger. They also gain greatly extended lifespans as well. Some raigahmas even lead longer lives than those of the traditionally longest lived races. Though, such raigahmas are few and far between with great power held by them, but without a proper will to use it. The aforementioned long lived raigahmas are traditionally the steeds of high nobility, as well as kings and queens. Rode into battle or events as a sign of military might or prestige.
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Mihelk
A rare herbivore not found in any particular environment. Mihelks are an interesting off-shoot of felqia, creatures that were massively adapted through the use of contracts after having indoctrinated a felqia from birth. Their aggression was highly diminished, and their aptitude for combat and violence lowered. To that of a far more passive creature.
While they retained most of their magical prowess in physical strengthening, the mihelk variant saw no improvement in the use of other magics. Though conversely, they actually became somewhat more sapient. The level of thought that a mihelk was capable of was about equal to most colonial species.
Unlike felqia’s, mihelks have no undesirable traits related to cruelty. They’re not much for combat at all, actually, instead finding most of their common ground with Lizaka, despite the glaring differences in their form and capabilities.
Due to all of this, mihelk’s usually find their niche in acting as familiars for other individuals, as they maintained most of a felqia’s combat prowess, without the active desire or innate skill to use it. Making them actually fairly good for errand work with their physical capability.
Unfortunately, a mihelk’s base lifespan is far shorter than a felqia’s. Resulting in most of them living in a magic rich location, due to their lifespan gained from growing stronger being somewhat sizable.
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Valum Burrower
A very common omnivore found primarily in wooded areas. Its shape is akin to that of a traditional mole with a greener coat and It is a partially sapient creature. Valum burrowers are very social, but they do not mate for life. They generally split up once the children go out on their own.
They are small and agile while also possessing an above average physical strengthening capability. Though they have poor capabilities in elemental magic besides earth, which is about average for them.
Valum burrowers can be found, practically anywhere really. They're often a pain to deal with due to their proficiency in destroying ground work and crops. As well as their ability to multiply rapidly. As such most nations go to great extents to keep such rodents from becoming a problem.
Valum burrowers used to only be called "burrowers" as they were the first of the mole species to be named by colonial life. However, after a plague of them uprooted and destroyed a blossoming nation by the name of "Valum" the addendum was made to their name so that their threat would never be forgotten.
The stronger a Valum burrower becomes the less bushy its hair becomes. Its claws also become much sharper. One such Valum Burrower is, however, a VERY rare sight.
Valum Burrowers have incredibly short lifespans. Generally around that of eight months. They are also not greatly extended by growing stronger either. However, they have a pregnancy period of about three days, grow to full maturity within a week and can reproduce almost in a day after being born. As such, it is very easy to see how they could become a problem if left unchecked.
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Dictionary
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Lifespan extension
Most creatures in the world have a short lifespan. By growing stronger they can greatly extend this period. Simply absorbing magic will satisfy this condition. One does not need to be skilled in the use of magic to accomplish this, but acquiring higher and higher levels of power generally beckons the training to use it.
Some creatures receive longer lives from acquiring more power, while others receive less. It varies from creature to creature.
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Hunting games
Creatures that tend to have strong familial bonds commonly participate in activities like this together. In order to gain experience with hunting young creatures are paired with their elder siblings and hunt together.
After a few months pass the younger sibling becomes the one teaching a younger sibling and the older sibling generally moves onto hunting larger game. Sometimes with other elder members of the family.
If there is no younger sibling at the time of said switch, then generally both of the participants will move onto bigger hunts, with the younger of the two being primarily relegated to the sidelines.
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Magic
Every creature born naturally in some way can use magic. Some are more or less adept with certain abilities and some can learn it more easily, but everyone and anyone can use magic. Magic can be used in practically any way imaginable, but is generally sorted into categories based on the perceptions of others.
There are two main ways in which creatures can grow in power, which in other words, means magic.
Through understanding how to use and manipulate magic, a creature can use and activate magic faster, more precisely and with less overall magic. This is a more indirect form of growing stronger, yet it still counts. Though, not in any way that would lead to living a longer life. The other way, which leads to more direct power by simply increasing the amount of magic that an individual can use. Is by absorbing magic directly. This can be done in many different ways. With the most conventional of them simply being to eat something with magic in it.
Some creatures that have amassed a large amount of magic throughout their life can emit magical energy by choice. Weaker creatures can absorb this to grow stronger overtime. Alternatively, the same holds true for a creature of the same strength when dead. Oftentimes the death of powerful creatures in the wild leads to sites of competition over the potent source of magic. Similarly, items that are infused with magic can also have their contents drained or emitted. While this probably isn't the best use of an artifact, it is a use.
Finally, existing in magic rich locations leads to a gradual gain in power no matter what actions you take. The very environment itself is positively infused with magic, no matter where you go you’ll be walking into it. There are three prominent magic rich locations, Elara Canyon, Toliama Falls and The Grand Forest. While the first two are firmly under the control of a kingdom and are thus, limited in their use. The Grand Forest is primarily dominated by wildlife and is available to all. While these are the three largest magic rich locations, various smaller ones exist across the world, such as pits or sites of interest.
While these are all ways to grow stronger, if one absorbs the magic of a creature or source far weaker than them. There is likely to be little to no growth. However, on the other hand. If a creature attempted to absorb far too much magic for their level of power it would have no benefit at best due to their inability to proper absorb it, or be life threatening at worst.
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The Grand Forest
An extremely large forest that spans hundreds of miles. Three sections exist in this place. The outer region, the middle region and the inner region. The names are self explanatory. The Grand Forest is one of the three prominent magic rich locations of the world. As such, civilization congregates around it. Specifically, a rather new human kingdom covered in depth at a later point.
The outer regions of the Grand Forest commonly find intelligent races settling them. Land in this area is considered valuable as simply existing here is enough to make a person stronger over time. As such, colonial races have overtaken the outer region. Over time the density of the foliage in this region has decreased, and while still easily considered a forest. It is not enough to blot out the sun like the other two regions. Various creatures used to live here, yet were easily pushed out in favor of the magic denser middle region.
The middle region is easily the most lively region of the Grand Forest. Civilization is however, much less frequent. Only tribes and small settlements inhabit the location. Many forms of wildlife can be found within the middle region, constantly in a life or death struggle by virtue of their chaotic environment. Some people attempt to settle the middle region, but are often times pushed out or killed by the hostile wildlife, specifically by Arrassimas. As such, it is difficult to fully establish any sort of society. Small tribes are perfectly feasible, however, when enough individuals congregate in one place it often draws the attention of less savory creatures.
While the middle region is relatively safe, which allows most wildlife to safely retreat into it... In the case of the outer region... If the same that happened to the outer region were to happen to the middle region, many races would not survive the inner regions. As such it is much more difficult to force the wildlife out, ergo the middle region has yet to be settled, and likely won't be for a long time. Perhaps, not ever, given most creatures of the Grand Forest instinctively avoid the grounds of the inner region in an effort of self preservation.
The inner regions of the Grand Forest host much less life, yet those that remain are a force to be reckoned with. The magic within the Grand Forest pulses from the center. As such the concentration of magic within the inner region is much higher than the outer and middle region. If one was too weak they could simply die from overexposure, though, that’s likely to never be a problem unless something was to be born in the inner region after having developed outside of it. Generally the strongest of creatures congregate within this location in order to grow stronger.
Very few have truly reached the center of the Grand Forest, civilized life and wildlife both included. Yet those that return alive grow exponentially stronger. Presumably being given the opportunity to draw magic straight from the tap. I don’t quite have witness accounts.
Notably, the Grand Forest is the most active of the three prominent magic rich locations of the world. Both in terms of civilization and wildlife. It is the most accessible location and is also the most potent of the three in terms of magic. As such, the struggle of life will likely continue, until either the source runs dry, or the entire forest is stripped of life.