Six years later:

Vath crept through the underbrush, stalking his prey. He’d been unnoticed by the boar for a long while, but if there was one thing he had learned over the years, it was that patiently waiting for the perfect moment saved you much, much more time than rushing. It often saved you from injuries or hunger too. He moved slowly to prevent the spear on his back from rattling around, he watched his surroundings and his footing to avoid snapping branches, and he held his bow loosely in his hand. Early on, he’d gripped it tightly, but it tended to creak if you squeezed too hard, which both spooked the animal, and spoiled his shots. Well, spoiled them more than normal. He certainly hadn’t been a very good shot back then. He’d lost more than one meal to an arrow flying wide of an unsuspecting dinner. Over the years, his aim and his weapons had improved. Practice made perfect, they said. Well, they’d never had to practice with no proper training, materials, or tools. He and his bow were… serviceable. He and Kaser could feed themselves. That was good enough. It was almost time for a signal. The brothers had come up with a system long ago. Neither could be sure of a kill shot with one go, so they would both aim to disable a leg. If they could prevent the prey of the day from running, they would manage a kill with their spears. It was almost rote, by this point. The boar stopped in a clearing to sniff at something, and Vath raised his bow, an arrow ready to be pulled. He pulled in a large breath, let out just enough air to make the standard bird call, and with the rest of his breath held, quickly pulled the string taut, aimed, and released in one smooth motion.

It flew mostly true, hitting a bit above the back leg he was aiming for, and at the same time, another arrow streaked into the front leg on the opposite side. Perfect. Escaping would be impossible for it now. The two brothers pulled their spears and rushed the boar, angling for its hindquarters, and staying opposite, so that one would always have an unprotected flank to attack. Vath was focused and he was sure his face reflected that, but a glance at Kaser’s wide grin told him he was enjoying himself thoroughly. It had been quite a shot, he had a right to feel a bit proud. It took a few minutes of the brothers baiting it one direction and then the other to give the other an opening, but soon it was covered in bleeding wounds, and fell to the ground, spent. Vath stepped forward carefully and stabbed it once, deeply in the throat to finish it. They stood there panting, both happy with their catch. The boar was a good size. Even for two growing boys, and with no way to preserve the meat, this would feed them for days.

“The usual routine?” Kaser asked. Vath just nodded, and moved to retrieve the crude sled they’d left nearby, then maneuver the boar carcass onto it. He picked up the handles and began to drag it in the direction of their cave. Kaser would be out scouting, as stealthily as he could. They had both kept up the training, both physical and cultivating, that Vath had learned back in the village, as well as consistent practice of the skills they’d been forced to learn out here. Neither was a slouch when it came to any part of it. They knew weaknesses like those got you killed. But both did naturally lean in different directions. While both were near the same height, just under six foot, Vath was stocky and broad. He could run both fast and long, and move quietly when needed, but strength was his forte. Kaser, on the other hand, was lean and quick. Not weak by any means, but his top speed outstripped Vath by a rather large margin. His aim with a bow was better, and his movement through the forest was immaculate. Smooth, fast, and completely silent. Vath struggled to see him often on shared hunts, even knowing he was there. Hence why Vath was pulling the boar back, and Kaser was keeping an eye out for wandering Beasts. You only made the mistake of not watching for those once, and Vath had the scar on his thigh to prove it.

It didn’t take long to return home, and shortly thereafter they had the boar dressed as well as they could, and cooking over their meager fire. They began eating with far more red still in the meat than was maybe wise, but they were hungry, and besides, it’s not like they had spices. They had to preserve some flavor. It hadn’t hurt them yet, so Vath figured it was fine. When they finished, they cooked the rest more, doing what they could to preserve it for longer even if the taste suffered; then they moved into the back of the cave and started their daily cultivation. They hadn’t missed a day since they’d been here. Sure, it was a beginner’s technique from a provincial village, but every little bit helped.

They continued their routine, training in between meals until the meat began to run low, signaling a need to hunt again. They’d long ago decided the plan was to continue until they were both sixteen, and then head to the closest town to find an army recruiter. They still wanted nothing to do with their village, and living out here was better than begging on the streets of a town. They didn’t have any real skills beyond hunting, so earning money there would be hard. Even with hunting, there were bound to be plenty there with higher cultivation, more trained skills, and certainly better crafted tools and weapons. No, their best shot was the army. They took anyone, and would train and feed you themselves. It wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as a sect, or anywhere with real training, unless they rose far up the ranks, but it was still far better than what they had. The only rule was that you had to be at least sixteen, and Kaser was so close, less than a year away.

They set out again, wondering what they’d find this time. They’d had two boars in a row, so Vath was hoping they’d at least get some variety this time. And, a few hours later, it seemed like his hopes came true. But there was something off. He used the call to bring his brother to him.

“Do you see the size of that thing?” Kaser whispered excitedly.

“That’s exactly the problem, brother.” Vath responded, “Normal deer don’t get that big. And that pure white coat? That has to be a Beast.”

“A Beast, Vath? It’s big, but it’s not that big. And there’s no elemental signs. If it is a Beast, it’s a weak one. We can take it, and it looks so delicious. Please, brother?” Kaser looked at Vath with pleading eyes.

Vath sighed, but acquiesced. “Fine, Kaser. Fine. We’ll do it like usual. But if we die, I’m blaming you.” he finished with a finger pointed at his brother. Kaser quietly chuckled, but nodded, and moved off to his position, as they began to stalk the majestic deer. They took their time, even more than normal, not wanting to spook something so precious and perhaps dangerous. It took hours, but eventually, it stopped in a clearing with enough room for good sightlines and room to use their spears. Like all the times before, they crept closer on opposing sides, bows out and arrows nocked. Vath drew in a breath, made the call, and aimed his shot. At the last moment, he decided to aim for the deer’s neck instead of a leg. It might make it slightly more likely to get away, but the bleed from a neck wound was more likely to bring it down faster if it stuck around, and it wasn’t exactly easy to run with an arrow in your neck anyway. That decision saved Kaser’s life. He had been closer to the deer, so his arrow hit the leg he had been aiming for first, and the instant it did, the deer, no, the Beast, spun towards Kaser at a speed that surprised both boys. Sparks crackled up its antlers, and a tiny bolt of what looked like lightning burst towards Kaser’s chest. The arrow that hit it’s neck right before the release threw off the Beast’s aim, and instead of probable death, Kaser got off with a yelp and a scramble sideways. Several more bolts followed, Kaser dodging them all, but only barely.

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Vath thought about yelling out instructions or some kind of battle plan, but what good would it do? Kaser knew what he was doing in a fight as much as Vath did, and neither of them knew how to fight a Beast. So he dropped his bow, drew his spear, and charged, determined either to finish this as fast as possible, or to at least draw attention from Kaser. He succeeded with the second goal almost too well. He stabbed as hard as he could towards the deer’s heart, but the hide and muscle of the Beast were tougher than he expected. He did damage, but he either missed the heart, or didn’t make it deep enough. He did manage to make the Beast angry. It whipped around, and Vath’s duck to avoid being brained by the antlers is the only thing that let him dodge the follow up lightning bolt. He scurried backwards, and then realized he had ended up square in front of the antlers that had been spitting out death every few moments. He froze for a moment. He couldn’t dodge what was coming. Kaser had only just managed it a few times, and he was slower than his brother. He stared death in the face, and, while terrified, found he was oddly at peace. He didn’t want to die, but he had done his best, and his Kaser should live if he had the sense to run after this.

But, of course, Kaser didn’t have the sense. Vath had always been the more sensible of the two. He supposed he should be grateful for that, in that moment, since it saved his life, but it quickly transformed to anger and worry. Kaser had rushed in, burying his spear in the neck of the Beast, opposite to the initial arrow, and much deeper. With a bellow of pain, fear, and rage, the Beast spun and launched more lightning at its latest attacker. Kaser dived out of the way, but wasn’t fast enough to completely avoid it. It struck his leg, and Kaser screamed as he fell. The deer faced him, and looked ready to finish him off. Vath screamed, “Kaser! No!” and charged forward. He had to stop it. Had to make it miss at least. He couldn’t believe it was even still standing, with how much blood it had lost, it should long have collapsed. Time seemed to slow. He saw his brother crawling away as fast as he could, but with one leg, there was no way to escape the Beast’s attention. A heat began to grow in Vath’s gut. One he recognized. It had been six years since the last time he felt it, and his brother had been in danger then too. Strength surged through his limbs, and his speed increased. He rammed his shoulder into the side of the giant deer with enough force that it rattled his whole body, but it fell, and he landed on top of it. His spear had been dropped, but it was too unwieldy for this situation even if he’d still had it. He pulled his stone knife, useful for food and crude skinning, but never before used in combat, and wildly flailed at their supposed prey. He stabbed and stabbed and stabbed, until he realized the Beast had stopped moving. He didn’t know how long he’d savaged a corpse. His breathing was ragged.

He dropped his knife and rushed to Kaser’s side. “Kaser. Don’t move. It’s dead. Let me take a look.” His brother nodded, his face twisted in pain. Vath went back for his knife, and then used it to cut at the furs they used for pants. Kaser hissed when they were peeled back from his skin. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t as bad as Vath had feared. “It’s definitely burnt, but most of it is a glancing wound off the side it looks like. It will scar, but if we clean it and you cultivate it should heal.”

“Well. Thank the ancestors for small miracles. Shit, we just survived a lightning Beast. Large miracles. Large, large miracles.” Kaser tried smiling through the pain, but it looked more like a grimace. “How are we gonna get this back to the cave? I don’t think I can scout. I’ll be lucky if I can walk.”

Vath thought for a moment and then nodded sharply. “I’ll carry you both on the sled. It’ll be heavy, but I can manage. We can make do without a scout just this once. With this thing having this territory, there shouldn’t be any Beast’s too close. It’s a risk, but our only other option is to leave Beast meat behind and still not have a scout. We’ll just have to take the chance.” Kaser just nodded, in too much pain to waste the energy talking. Vath retrieved the sled, moved the Beast onto it, and then moved his brother, doing his best to make him comfortable. Vath took it slow to avoid bumping Kaser more than he had too, and that, along with the extra weight, made the trip back take far longer than normal. Thankfully, luck was with them, and they encountered no other Beasts. Even the regular animals were nowhere to be seen, although that could be because they smelled the dead Beast and stayed far away from anything that could kill one.

When they arrived back at the cave, Vath had to rouse his brother from where he’d apparently fallen asleep on the sled, and help him move to the mouth of the cave. He made him comfortable, and Kaser promptly fell back asleep. Vath grabbed the few herbs they had that might help a wound. One kind that kept them clean, and another that seemed to assist them in closing faster. Cultivating would help far more than these, but his brother was asleep, and every little bit counted with a burn that bad. When he was done wrapping his wound as best he could, he pulled a blanket over him, and left him to sleep while he dealt with the carcass.

He took his time preparing the meat and saving as much skin as he could. He was not good at this, and his knife was barely up for the task, but with patience, he was able to get a good number of meals out of the meat, and enough hide for at least a much warmer set of blankets. Maybe they could even make new clothes out of it. They would be much sturdier than what they were wearing now. He set the hide aside, and began cooking a portion of the meat. Essence infused Beast meat. He could hardly wait. It would strengthen the body, taste delicious, and might even help with Kaser’s healing. He wasn’t sure of the last bit, but he’d heard stories in the village.

Kaser woke up to the smell of cooked Beast meat just as it was finishing. Their mouths watered at the aroma, and both devoured the first cuts that were done. The second cuts were nearly finished, and they had no intention of stopping. That is, until suddenly there was just a man in their clearing. He looked to be in his early twenties, and was dressed in sect robes of black, with gold thread trimmings, and slight hints of people inside the gold. One moment there was no one, and the next, he was less than ten feet away. Before either brother could react, he spoke, “Well. What have we here?”