Chapter 92: Welcome Home

92- Welcome Home

The scent of his prey lingered in the air. The rabbit's adrenaline stunk the surrounding area and the beastman had tracked it very well. The stench jumped from trunk to trunk and bush to bush. His nose followed the scent over the thornbush at the end of the pond.

The beastman crouched under a dead tree trunk at the top of a slope and spotted the rabbit's den. He slowly picked up a rock and threw it exactly at the hole. He heard a slight sounding thud and then silence. He slowly slid down the slope and crawled towards the den.

The beastman reached out for the carcass inside the hole. He slowly grabbed the freshly dead rabbit out when suddenly another bunny came running out from his arm and into the light of day. Surprised, the beastman jolted and released the warm carcass in his arms. He ran for the live prey and chased it until they reached the foothill.

He grabbed the rabbit by the neck as he tumbled on the bed of fallen leaves and broke its neck, killing the prey instantly. The beastman stood up from the messy pile of leaves, disappointed with his current tracking skills.

He was getting clumsy and he hated it. The learnings he had from the hunt was slowly fading away from him. His reflexes were no longer as sharp as it was before. The claws that once could tear tree barks as if it was nothing more than a thin sheath of grass was no longer there.

He went back to the den and took out the other dead rabbit inside the den. The sun shone bright as it finally rose on the great blue sky, but the canopy of greens made it hard for the rays to penetrate. The ground was still cold and dim, a perfect time for hunting as he thought.

The beastman sat by the rock at the edge of the pond as he cleansed the rabbits. Fishes gathered at a rock not far from where he was. He thought of catching it with his bare hands, but he wanted to try something new. He wanted to try what the humans and dwarves called to be "fishing".

He had that in mind for a couple of days now. He asked the dwarf about it and the dwarf happily explained how it goes. He took a string he made out from the tree bark fiber he dried out days prior. He tied it at the base of his toe while he attached its other end with a thin bone hook, he made from a rabbit's rib.

He took some of the rabbit entrails and used it as bait. He threw the bait over the far end of the pond and laid down the soft cold cushion of leaves on the ground. He looked pass the dome of leaves that covered the rays of the sun and set his eyes to the beautiful haze of the ocean sky.

It took him back to the unencumbered skies of the lush Vridian forest. It reminded him again of home. It reminded him of his sweet siblings that would annoyingly disturb him from his nice afternoon nap. It reminded him of his sweet mother, the food and the warm hugs she often gave to them.

His friends started to pop out from his memory. Their laughter and shouts as they ran across the forest training for the hunt made him remember of the good times…the good times that crumbled right in front of him.

He recalled it again. The thing he never wanted to remember. The great fire, the pool of blood and his father's head being raised by an armor-clad knight. He slapped the ground as he recalled it. His weakness made him loss everything he had. His family, his friends, and his home but even then, he could never bring himself to hate the knights who invaded them. He tried to, but his loathing focused more on himself than of anyone else.

Could he have prevented the invasion if he killed that titanauroch? It was far too late to know. All this time, he looked desperately for an answer, but the answer was far from his grasp. Maybe, he should quit thinking about it already and just move on?

The dwarf often tell him to cheer up everytime he would sulk at his bedside. That cheery friend of his had always brought a little bit of light in his dark and lonely existence. The dwarf would just pat his back and say, "Tis awright, lad. Nay burdens go on forever!"

The beastman also thought about it. Maybe it should be time for him to let go of the past. He could never bring it back anyway, and he has a new family now. A family of different races brought together by that damned giant centipede.

It made him smile remembering the good times they had on the camp. The laughter and cheers they do every night. The stories the dwarf would go in lengths to act out. The reaction the elf would get about it and their banter towards each other.

132-X's child-like curiosity about their world and lore was also something he couldn't forget. He would listen to their stories like a child that saw marvel in the lore of the gods of old and the ages prior to that of which they lived.

The beastman wished for those moments to comeback again. The four of them sitting in the campfire sharing food and company. It got him out of the misery he drowned himself in, but it could be just a far-fetched dream right now. 132-X was nowhere to be found and he feared that fate might have not been kind to his friend.

The line suddenly moved, and it seemed to be a feisty one! His toe felt like being ripped from his foot. The fish seemed to be big and angry. He slowly bent his knee and reach out for the line. He tugged the line gently as he was instructed to. The fish grew angrier as he slowly pulled it towards the shallow waters. After a few more struggles and almost breaking his line, the beastman finally caught the large silver-scaled trout that was almost about two footlings in size.

He quickly killed the fish by breaking its thick neck and gutted the fish. As he gutted it, he noticed that it was full of eggs. The beastman smiled even wider. It was a good omen to catch a silver-scaled trout full of eggs. He felt good about it and hoped for the day to be auspicious as what the omen foretold. He kept the egg sac in a small pouch. He was excited to cook it for the faerfolk since it was said to have medicinal properties.

After cleaning everything in the pond, the beastman set his way back to the camp with his bounties from the land and pond! He whistled happily as he passed along the tall red trees, singing along the tune of the songbirds that perched above it.

He happily skipped at a stump of a fallen tree and even glanced at the sky again to look at the endless blue sky. He went merrily on his way, when suddenly his ears caught a sound of rustling leaves from a distance.

He stopped in the middle of the forest and looked around and listened very carefully to the sound. The last thing the beastman wanted was to be ambushed by a cathus or maybe bogmire hounds. Both were survivable encounters, but it would be another shame to his race if he ever gets ambushed by these beasts since they were trained on how to avoid them.

He heard soft rustling of the leaves once again. The beastman quickly hid behind a redwood, he dropped his bounty to the ground and slowly crouched waiting for the mysterious creature's next move. The beastman was more than ready for a fight but a familiar scent filled the air.

He immediately cleared the ground of leaves and debris and placed his ear on it. He closed his eyes and listened to the gentle footsteps that seemed to be heading his way. It was walking in two's! It was a humanoid for sure.

He stood up, took his bounty up on his shoulders, closed his eyes, and took a whiff of the scent once more.

"That's not possible!" He exclaimed. He couldn't believe what he was smelling! Was it just a dream? Or is it the auspicious fish doing its magic? He really can't tell at this point, but he remained calm and tried another whiff.

"By the gods!" He couldn't keep his emotions any longer!

He ran towards the direction of the scent, passing every redwood stumps and fallen trees like it was nothing. He jumped over the thornberry bushes and slid through the slope until he finally caught up with the scent.

"I-is that really you?" He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Adaloun looked over to him surprised as well. "Ohh…it's you." He sighed in relief. "Finally. I'm home."