Many of those present had already stopped dancing but it still isn’t too late to start, as Alunya takes up position in front of Antares and grins at him widely. Though he might not have been as old as any of the other dancers, he is able to keep up just fine as he spins around Antares, his hair whipping about his face as he smiles ear to ear.
Even Antares, surprisingly, is able to keep up; Unlike just a half hour ago, he finds himself moving more fluidly, some manner of gut instinct taking over. There is little complexity to the dance, mostly just being composed of Alunya spinning and twirling around him, ducking under Antares’s arms and generally making him look significantly more competent than he actually was; Though, even in his inebriated state, Antares began to jive with the rhythm as well, prancing from leg to leg in synchronization with his brother, a random mismash of different moves which, somehow, came out alright.
Alunya blinks up at him, happily, as he had finally gotten a chance to spend time with his older brother, captivated by the silvery shine of Antares’s eyes matching his own. So captivated, in fact, that he doesn’t even pay any heed to the numerous weird looks and muttered insults that were now surrounding them.
“What a disgrace. Reia’s son dancing with his own brother.” One of the men shakes his head.
“What do you expect of one of Reia’s kids? If his mother would just get married again, then maybe he’d have someone show him how to be a man.” One of the man’s friends replies, dismissively.
“Dumb bitch, doesn’t know a good thing when she sees it. Probably wanted a girl so she tried to raise one of her boys as one.” The first retorts, sullenly. “Maybe she’s alone because no man wants a lying whore like her.”
Antares, thankfully, was too out of it to even pay attention- The background noises of the festival had completely faded to just a dull, meaningless commotion in his mind. But the same did not extend to the sneering, ugly face of Kuzir, as the older adolescent stood directly in front of him, arms crossed in a judgemental pose.
“What the fuck do you Whiteheads think you’re doing? I knew you were pathetic, but I didn’t think you were this sick in the head.” Kuzir shakes his head in false sincerity. “I guess being a mother-fucker wasn’t good enough for you, huh? Needed to add brother-fucker to the list too?”
“...Huh?” Is all Antares manages to get out, his brain still not moving very quickly.
“You know, fucking your brother won’t make you a man no matter how many times you do it. Assuming he really is a boy at all, that is. With how effeminate you are, I guess it wouldn’t surprise me if you had a pussy hiding in your trousers.” Kuzir spits out with vitriol, shoving Antares back a couple steps, where Alunya catches him, holding Antares around the shoulders protectively while glaring fiercely at Kuzir.
“What are you even talking about?” Alunya demands. It was always kind of hard to tell what Kuzir meant by anything, with how many obscenities he fit into every sentence; Alunya still isn’t sure what half of them even mean.
“I’m saying…” Kuzir presses his finger into Alunya’s forehead. “That letting your brother fuck you in the ass won’t make him a real man, shit-for-brains. What, was jerking eachother off under the sheets not enough for you anymore?”
Alunya grimaces, at least a vague understanding of what Kuzir was accusing him of finally clicking, and growls out of a mixture of resentment and repulsion. “Take it back. Ari would never hurt me like that.” Alunya stares down Kuzir, every muscle in his body tensed.
“We can all see you wanna, why don’t you just go somewhere we don’t have to see it, you disgusting pigs?” Kuzir retorts. “I’d tell you to shack up in one of the tents, but I don’t think I’d want you tainting the ground I became a man on.”
“I said,” Alunya repeats, his voice cold as ice. “Take. It. Back.”
“Why don’t ya make me, bitchboy?” Kuzir taunts.
Gritting his teeth, Alunya had just about heard enough. “Gladly.” An animalistic snarl that he wouldn’t have thought he could make issues from his throat, and he lunges forward with all the speed and strength his body could muster, if for no other reason than to make the older boy- Man, whatever- just shut up.
His head collides with Kuzir’s abdomen before he can react, knocking the wind from his sails and staggering him momentarily, leaving Alunya free to follow up by striking with his knee directly into Kuzir’s groin with all of his might, taking a certain sense of satisfaction in the nausea and pain apparent on Kuzir’s face as he struggles to catch his breath.
Alunya’s respite doesn’t last long, as Kuzir comes out swinging even before he’s managed to gulp down a breath. His right fist comes out first, flying with exaggerated swagger from the drunk adolescent, and Alunya darts left, then right to avoid Kuzir’s left fist as it follows up. Alunya is only dimly aware that everyone around the fight is watching- Some in shock, some in horror, some- particularly Kuzir’s friends, but also Vekt and Risa- jeering on the fighting.
Alunya growls like a rabid wolf. None of them matter right now; All he wants to do is rip that smug grin off Kuzir’s face. In the brief space where Kuzir was overbalanced from his drunken onslaught, Alunya bends his knees then launches himself full-bodied forwards at the older adolescent, like a pouncing cat.
He collides with Kuzir, but though he had thrown himself with all his strength, the older boy, substantially stouter in frame, was quite a bit heavier, and absorbs the impact with little more than an ‘oof’. Kuzir grapples at Alunya’s shoulders and shoves him towards the ground, lining him up for a perfect strike- As strong as Alunya is for his age, he still couldn’t compete with an adolescent half a decade past him.
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But Alunya is slippery and fast, and as Kuzir tries to bring his knee up to hammer Alunya in the face, Alunya releases all resistance, dropping all the way to the ground and allowing Kuzir’s leg to flail, simply striking blank space, while Alunya grabs his other ankle and yanks with all his might. The already precariously balanced drunk’s legs fly up in front of him as he lands on his back, hard.
Alunya is all over him before he can recover, jumping on top of Kuzir and pinning him with his knees. Dimly, he is aware of one of Kuzir’s friends coming to help him, but by the time he glances over at them, Antares has intercepted him, tackling him to the ground from the side. Alunya’s attention is brought back to Kuzir just in time to see Kuzir seize his arms and shove him to the side. The two struggle against each other, rolling in the mud, as Alunya twists and coils around trying to break free from the older male’s vice-like grip. Kuzir climbs up on top of him and pins Alunya, raising up his other arm to strike at Alunya.
Before he gets the chance, Alunya wriggles free of Kuzir’s grasp and then chomps down onto his forearm with all his might, drawing blood. Kuzir screeches in pain and shoves Alunya away, desperate just to get rid of the boy. Alunya rolls backwards, getting to his feet nearly instantly while Kuzir is still trying to recover, holding his injured arm.
Alunya licks his chops. …Tastes metallic. Like copper. He is right next to the tables now… The cutlery is within reach, the handle of one of the copper knives poking off the edge of the table nearby. He could reach it before Kuzir could catch up, if he tried.
For a moment, Alunya imagines it- It would be so easy, to grab that blade and push it in through Kuzir’s throat, leave the drunk to choke on his own blood. He can almost hear it in his head, the bloody gasps as he would struggle to breath; He wouldn’t even be able to scream like the guanaco’s did when slaughtered, his face would contort in a death grimace, and Alunya would never have to see that ugly sneer of self-superiority ever again. It would all be over, so easily…
But even through the bloodlust coursing through his veins, Alunya knew he couldn’t do that. If he killed someone in broad daylight… Surely they’d take him away from Antares, maybe kill him. He couldn’t leave his brother alone, no matter how much he might want to put the miserable wretch in front of him six feet in the dirt. So instead, he pulls back his leg and plants a kick directly on Kuzir’s face.
There is a visceral crack as Alunya’s foot meets with Kuzir’s nose; Alunya can’t feel the pain through the haze of adrenaline. Kuzir flops over onto his back from the force of the impact, and Alunya leaps on top of him, digging his knees into the drunk’s shoulders. Face twisted into a mask of rage, Alunya lets out a howl of bloodlust before slamming his left fist down into Kuzir’s face, hard enough to hurt himself.
Kuzir coughs blood and opens his eyes dimly just in time to see Alunya’s other fist raised to strike. Another blow hammers Kuzir’s head into the ground, and then another, and another, alternating each fist blow after blow, staining Alunya’s hands red with Kuzir’s hot blood until at long last he finds himself being pulled away by strong, muscular arms.
Alunya snarls and looks around, teeth bared in a primal grimace, as two of the village men are dragging him off of his victim. Kuzir moans and rolls over, bleeding from the nostrils and mouth, his nose twisted sideways at an unnatural angle. “Let me go!” Alunya screeches out, gnashing his teeth and struggling in vain. He can see Antares, and even Kuzir’s companions, are also being restrained.
Finally, as one of the men adjuststheir grip, Alunya weasels his way out of it, ducking and yanking his way free of the other one, retreating over to near the table where he surveys his surroundings like a cornered animal, feeling the still-warm blood dripping down his fingers.Voices echo from all around; Most quiet, worried murmuring, but Alunya can detect Risa and Vekt cheering him on as well.
Coming through the crowd, the wizened old priest of the village, Rallic, enters the clearing.
“What is this commotion? Why is there fighting on this sacred day? Are we not all children of Malay?” Rallic asks rhetorically. “Please, calm down. I am sure our mother and father will forgive you if you repent now and make amends.”
Alunya narrows his eyes suspiciously. As if he was going to ‘repent’ for attacking that degenerate. If anything, Kuzir got off easy… Glancing over at the youth whimpering in the mud, Alunya can’t feel the barest hint of remorse in his heart… Only satisfaction at a job well done.
But… He was surrounded by village men who seemed quite eager to do something about the unstable child, if Rallic would just give the word, and Alunya did not like the looks on their faces as they looked at him like a dangerous animal. And they still had Antares restrained- His brother certainly hadn’t gotten the worst of it, but he still had a nosebleed, suggesting his opponent had at least gotten one good hit in. Perhaps it would be best to play along for now, even if it went against all of his instincts.
And so, with great difficulty, Alunya forces his tense muscles to relax, and he lowers his head, trying his best to feign regret. “I-I’m sorry, please forgive me.” Alunya wasn’t sure what else to say; Surely that performance was laughably obvious to those watching, but what else could he say?
Thankfully- or not, depending on your perspective- Reia burst through the crowd just then, together with Yuvia, who had gone to fetch her.
“I-I’m so sorry for my son's actions. I will be sure they are disciplined properly.” Reia was frantically promising to the priest.
“See that you do. I expect you to make a suitable contribution to the town's sacrifices to seek forgiveness from Hylicia.” Rallic speaks in a grave, serious tone. Reia’s face is fiercely flushed with shame as she grabs Alunya’s shoulder.
“You, home, now.” Reia demands in a tone that brooks no argument.
The journey home passed by in a blur, as the crowd parts to let Reia and her sons through, eliciting a multitude of stares. Alunya can hear muttered insults directed at the ‘savage whiteheads’ as he leaves. When they got home, Reia just pointed at their bedroom.
“To bed. Now. We’ll talk in the morning.” She demands in the most authoritative tone she can manage, her voice wobbling slightly.
Alunya glares at her. Kuzir had it coming. None of these adults understand anything. For a moment, he was tempted to run off into the forest, right then and there- He could catch fish and forage for plants, did he even need this stupid village?
But it was late, and even Reia didn’t want to have this conversation right now. All he can do is glumly return to bed, lay down, and sulk until he eventually falls asleep.