Predator and Prey [Solo]

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This is a sort of prequel of how Ezra had made their way to Stonevale and had begun staying at Nan's.

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The beast had returned.

That was the common theme Ezra had heard as they made their way into the town of Stonevale. The early afternoon sun was shining bright and few clouds hung in the sky. Despite what would be a perfect day to most, the Homunculi noticed that a small group of villagers had grouped around the town square. Specifically, the group had seemed to focused on a large message board that would usually hold the simple day to day announcements. As they got closer, they noticed among the simple announcements of births, marriages, and other simple news, a large poster took up the center of the board. The notice contained a larger font of writing and contained a long message about... something. Ezra was having difficulty reading due to the crowd, and with a bit of nudging and squeezing, would make their way through the crowd until they could get a much clearer view of the board.

"Warning: The troublesome beast known as Nightclaw has made his return to the area. Be on the lookout for a large black bear with large gashes on its face and body. Anyone who spots said creature should not attempt to confront the beast and should immediately alert the Stonevale Guard. The creature is extremely dangerous, and prefers to ambush people at night and retreat into the forest. There is a reward of 50 gold pieces for slaying the beast, but the Guard insists only the bravest and strongest of hunters attempts to defeat this monstrosity. If you wish to take on this endeavor, please head to the guardhouse for more information. -M. Jareth, Stonevale Guard." Ezra read aloud, ignoring the occasional odd stares they got from a few of the peasants. Although not the strongest of hunters, the Homunculi believed that they had a good chance of taking out the bear. They had previously hunted bear back when they had lived on the farm, and although this bear seemed a bit more aggressive and slightly smarter than the bear the Homunculi had hunted, in the end, the bear was still another beast and could be taken down with a trusty spear to the skull. With a small glance around, Ezra noticed the group who had gathered was dispersing, making their way home to enjoy an afternoon meal at home or visit the tavern for a nice ale.

All but one.

An older woman remained, looking at the poster with an almost stoic expression. Her grey eyes were sharp and, despite her appearance, held an expression of determination with a hint of... sorrow? Ezra wasn't sure, human emotions were difficult to truly comprehend. Sure, they knew what emotions were, but it was difficult to say if they could feel them. Mimicking facial expressions were easy enough, and following social cues definitely took some getting used to. The Homunculi had found smiling to be the most bizarre, as during times of appropriate happiness, their smile seemed to make others feel uncomfortable. With a glance of curiosity, they reached out slowly and gave the old woman the gentlest of touches on the shoulder. "Miss, are you alr-eugh!"

A swift cane to the ribs was the immediate response for what Ezra thought was an appropriate social interaction, and the old woman had a look of rage flash over her before softening the longer she stared at Ezra. "Git offa meh, ye silleh bastar- Ooh, Ah'm sorry, lass. Thought you were one of those bastards who wanna bother ol' Nan. Wha's yer name, child?" Ezra let out a small wheeze at the uncomfortable throb in their ribs, then gave an unsure glance to the woman. "My name is Ezra, Miss... Nan? A pleasure to meet you... the cane less so." The old woman let out a long laugh, almost a high pitch cackle. She looped an arm around Ezra's, pulling the Homunculi along as she began walking in some unknown direction. "Yer a funny lass, ah'll give ye that! Come have lunch with Ol' Nan, pretty girl like yerself should be nice an' cozy, not in tha' silleh gettup."

Lunch with Nan could be described as... pleasant.

The Homunculi had been dragged to a simple cottage near the edge of the town, and its quaint appearance held a sort of peace that contrasted with the crowd at the sign. It was a single story home, made from thick lumber and a clay like substance and was plain in appearance. The top of a stone chimney poked through, a very faint billow of white smoke stretching out into the sky. However, for the lack of color the cottage displayed, the gardens surrounding it were full of life. A plethora of flowers in a wide spectrum of color dotted the yard, bursts of color seeming to dazzle brighter as the. Ezra couldn't help as they were pulled along by the still-chattering woman to try and memorize as many of the flowers' appearance as possible before stepping into the doorway of the woman's home.

They had been quickly seated in a simple chair next to an old wooden table as the woman disappeared from view into another room. She returned moments later with two bowls and spoons. Approaching the fireplace, they noticed there was a cauldron within, some form of stew within that seemed to be filled with various vegetables and a thick meat floating ato. Filling the bowls with shaky hands, Nan turned towards Ezra with a raised brow.

"So, child, what be yer business in Stonevale? Not exactly the liveliest o' places, ye know." She inquired, making her way back to the table with a small hobble. The bowls hit the table as Nan took a seat across from the Homunculi, and broth splashed atop the table. Ezra made no movement in surprise, but their gaze shifted towards the brown liquid sitting on the table before answering the old woman.

"I am wandering, Miss Nan. Simply looking for answers that I-... I mean, my mentor expects me to find." Their hand slid down subconsciously to the satchel on their side, the tome that Ezoreth had left for them. Slender fingers dwindled on the bag for a moment longer before they looked up at Nan, who was just watching the Homunculi with a flat expression. Gray eyes seemed to bore into Ezra for a long moment before shrugging and reaching for her spoon and taking a long slurp. The noise was rather annoying, and from Ezra remembered among the many scattered thoughts in their head, it was impolite to slurp your food. But the Homunculi was a guest in this woman's home, so it would be rather rude to comment upon her eating habits.

"So, then, lass. Ye have a place ta stay, then?" Nan asked between bites, and Ezra responded with a simple shake of the head. They had planned on checking the local inn, perhaps find a job somewhere to make a little extra gold before moving on to a more magic heavy town. "Good, then ye can stay with me. Been needin' some help around the home, anyway. If there be no issue?" The Homunculi opened their mouth to object to such kindness, but was immediately drowned out by Nan's voice once again. "Perfect! Ye room be on the left. Is a bit small, but ye shoul' have no issues wit tha', ye?" They could only stare at Nan incredulously before letting out a sigh of defeat.

"Alright, Nan. I will stay here. Thank you for the hospitality."

The day continued on and eventually the elderly woman would retire for the evening, leaving the Homunculi in their new abode. There was only a small candle lit in the room, as Nan was somewhat sensitive to light during the night and only had the bare minimum of lighting in her home to assist her in keeping sleep. Ezra had taken a seat on the simple cot that was to be their new bed, an old book placed in their lap. The cover was a solid black, with thin silver runes etched across the cover in various patterns. A large silver clasp was sealed tightly, with no keyhole or any sign of how to unlock it. They placed a hand on the top of the book and sighed. It had been far too long for them to be struggling with this tome. They had spent years, trying every dispelling hex, magic words, even attempting to use a bit of blood to unlock the darn thing and there had been no results. What were they missing?

Frantic rings from a bell stirred Ezra from their thoughts, and yells began to echo through the town. The warning was clear: Nightclaw had made his way to the village once more.

Ezra made a full sprint outside, leaving a confused old woman behind them. They didn't know why they wanted to help these villagers, but knowing that their lives were in danger didn't sit well with the Homunculi. Perhaps they did not like the loss of life when it could be avoided, or a selfish part of them wished to keep these people alive so they could continue to learn how to act in society. Or perhaps, just perhaps, these people would be Ezra's new subjects, enthralled into utter obedience by powers they could not comprehend. It was all up to Ezoreth's book in the end; and it was their mission to see his grand magical design through.

Quickly approaching the nearest guard, Ezra quickly stood at attention with spear at the ready. "Which way has the beast headed to, sir?"

The guard, who, in Ezra's analysis, was only a young man in comparison. He had a plain face, messy brown hair and wide green eyes. This man appeared to be quite frightened, as the town seemed to be panicking at the mention of this large bear making its return. He blinked at Ezra, brow furrowing after a few moments. "M-miss, it isn't safe for ya to be out currently. Nightclaw is hunting currently and he'd take a lass like you in a mome-" A loud scream rang out, and the young guard seemed to get even more panicked. He turned to where Ezra would have been, but the Homunculi had already sprinted off to where the scream had echoed from. As they kept moving, they could hear the young guard calling for them to come back. But the bear could be mauling some unaware villager, and that wouldn't be acceptable.

As they arrived in the vicinity of the scream, they saw a woman kneeling on the ground. A man was resting his head in her lap, and the two of them were both covered in a fair amount of blood. The Homunculi stood over them, and it was clear the man had been mauled by a large creature. The woman was sobbing loudly, and although the man was not yet deceased, if help didn't arrive soon, it was very likely he would pass on. "Where did the beast go, miss?" The villager kept sobbing, babbling incoherently through tears and mucus. They waited for a few moments, then reached down and held the woman's face and forced eye contact. Her eyes widened in their grasp as Ezra asked once again, "Where did the beast go?" She stared back into purple eyes, then gave a weak point to the north. A long path lay ahead, thick canopy of greens, browns, and black stood as a veil into the forested area.

"The-the hunters went... went after it!" She barely got out, and Ezra was off once more, sprinting headfirst into the woods. The oak trees was thick and with the sun set over the mountains, the darkness lay thick and the Homunculi could barely see five feet in front of them. Why were they so desperate to find this bear? It was just a creature, a beast that wished for survival like any other in this world. As they ran, the faint noise of yells and roars rang off to their left, and they quickly made their way over a fallen tree towards the origin. As they approached, a few flickers of light could be seen, and stepping out into the clearing revealed quite the battlefield.

The bear was surrounded by four men, one with a torch and short sword barking orders while the other three were armed with various forms of weaponry. The bear's eyes shifted back and forth, occasionally biting out at any of the hunters who got too close. Ezra tightened the grip on their spear, and slowly made their way in to join the fray.

"Who the 'ell are you?!"

The 'leader' of the pack yelled as Ezra came into view. The bear shifted its gaze as well, and the Homunculi made a look between the large creature and the man demanding answers. Spear tip pointed at the bear, the Homunculi gave a nod to the man. "I am here for the bear. I shall assist you and your team as needed, but we need to work together in order to slay it." The man blinked in surprise, then shrugged and began barking orders once again. One of the other hunters, an older man with a net and spear, made his approach to the beast. The bear sensed the movement, swiping a large paw at the man. The elder stepped back, the front of his tunic ripped into from the large claws. Although there was blood leaking from the wounds, they seemed like surface wounds at best and the man sturdied himself upright with a small grimace. He stepped back a few paces, leaning into a tree. The leader gave a worried look, and the elder gave a grin and a weak thumbs up.

"Easy, Ray! No need ta die a 'ero on us, ya know?" The leader called with a laugh, shortsword in hand. The blade was well-crafted, and seemed to be top-notch work for a blade made in town. Nightclaw roared, turning his attention towards the other two men who had shifted behind the bear while it was distracted with Ray. It lashed out with its teeth, jaw clamping down on one of the men's arms. He let out a scream of pain, but was quickly silenced by a strong paw swipe to the head. Ezra could only watch in minor fascination as the man's flesh was carved with claw and he dropped to the ground with a sickening thud. The other hunter let out an anguished scream before swinging his axe into the side of the bear. It let out another roar, shifting its large body with slow stomps. One paw crashed down into the corpse of the hunter, and the sound of rib bones breaking under the weight of the creature rang out. The leader held his sword high, charging in and swiping down atop the bear. Before the bear could retaliate with another swipe in response to the sword cut, Ezra made their move. With a careful spear jab, the Homunculi cut into the bear's mouth, spilling crimson onto the forest floor. They quickly moved back along with the leader, who was grinning like a madman.

"Nice move, lass! What's yer name? I'm Rhodey, I work as an apprentice blacksmith back in town, but I like ta think I'm a good 'unter!" He laughed again, then went somber for a moment as his gaze shifted down to his fallen comrade. Ezra remained stoic at the body, and gave a polite nod to the man. "I am Ezra. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Another roar rang out, and the two quickly snapped back to attention. The hunter who had cut into the bear with their axe had stumbled and was on their back. The bear made movements towards the fallen man, and quickly went for another kill. Before the bear could end the man's life, Ray had reappeared and stepped in between the beast and the hunter. Nightclaw roared once again as the net came down on and Ray began stabbing furiously with the spear to push the bear back.

"Well, what are ye waitin' fer!? Ye wanna die, boy!?" Ray barked, the young man attempting to scramble to his feet. The elder hunter looked back for a moment, but the moment was enough of a distraction for the bear to get revenge. With another powerful swipe, Ray crumpled to the floor with much more blood. He hadn't died, but with the amount of blood and how far the town was from their current location, it was unlikely that the man would survive. Ezra's analysis, however, was not agreed with by the young Rhodey. The younger man made a dash for the severely injured Ray and Ezra could only follow behind. Rhodey dropped his torch in order to grab Ray, but was met with a rage-filled stare of a bear. It swung its paw once more, but the Homunculi had other plans. Following with the quickest physical response they could muster, Ezra pulled Rhodey back as far as they could in an attempt to avoid the powerful swing.

Rhodey had, in fact, avoided any damage from the swing.

Ezra, however, got to experience true pain for the first time. The claw carved into the Homunculi's arm, and the purple-red liquid that was their lifeblood began to pour out. They could only scream in response as they fell to the ground, rolling to the best of their ability to avoid the bear's ire further. A string of curses echoed out in Rhodey's voice, and the sound of footfalls made their way closer. Gripping their spear quickly, they attempted to rise to their feet and assess the situation. Nightclaw had its attention pulled by Rhodey, who yelled and swung at the beast's eyes. The other hunter, whose axe was still dripping with the bear's blood, stood over the small Homunculus with a hand out.

"Come on, we gotta help Rhodey!" He exclaimed, his voice nervous and shaky. Clearly, this young man wasn't much of a fighter, but chose to help out regardless. Was it for fame? Friendship? Or just the usual 'trial' of becoming a man? Regardless, Ezra could only nod in agreement. Talking seemed difficult with the throbbing from the wound in their arm. Rhodey was still combating the beast, but eventually was knocked back by a swipe. Without his armor, the young man would have most likely been ripped apart from the bear's attack. Instead, he was thrown to the side by the swing, armor dented in. He lay still, but it was clear he was out of the fight. The young man with the axe screamed out Rhodey's name, and Nightclaw shifted once again and aimed for the noise. The axeman and the Homunculi stood on one end, the bear on the other. With a bestial roar, the creature made a mad dash for the two.

As the creature made its way towards the two, Ezra's mind seemed to slow. There was a very distinct possibility that they were going to die to this beast. It had already drawn blood and killed who knows how many, and it had no intention of being slain here. Buzzes began ringing in the Homunculi's head, and the world was silent yet deafening. The sclera of the Homunculi turned black as night, and their purple eyes began to glow furious. There was one word that echoed in their head; one simple command that became the backbone to their very being and could not be ignored. A calm yet overwhelming presence rang in their mind, and the Homunculi could not disobey.



"̳͓̖͇̳̥̱͙̓̈́ͫ̈́͂̍͢Sͭ̚͏̺̤͞U̵̡͇̱͉̇ͮ̓̾̌̒ͯ̇R͈̦̳̊̈̏ͯͦ̽̓͋ͅ ̼͕̮̭̥V̴̱͍͍ͪ̌ͨ̂ͨ͊̿̍I̶͉͎̞̤̳͚ͯ̍V͚̥̆ͧ́͟Ȩ̛͖̩̞̘̪̲̜̞̔̿̒́ .̴̜̬̂͐͊̊ͮ͆̍"̢̙̰̲̫̐ͨ̿̐̕



The Homunculi's head immediately shot up as the bear got closer, time seeming to have returned to normal. As the bear almost reached striking distance, the wounded hand of Ezra shot out to the axeman, pulling him into the bear's path. He could only get out half of a scream as Nightclaw intercepted him, pinning the man down and rending his throat with sharp teeth. Ezra took a step back with unnatural grace, readying their spear. The bear let out a vicious roar of challenge, and the white-haired construct quickly responded with a spear in the mouth. The beast gagged at the weapon impaling its throat, but could not react as Ezra drove the spear in further, a sickening squish and crunch vibrating along the shaft of the spear before the bear finally toppled and went limp. The Homunculi let out a deep breath as the sclera faded back to white, and they slumped to their knees. The beast lay still, and Ezra looked at the spear still embedded in the creature's mouth before falling to their side and all faded to black.

Lavender.

The room was very lavender.

Ezra sat up from their position, realizing they were no longer in the woods, but in some sort of parlor. The walls were coated with a faint purple hue, with the borders a delicate white. There were no windows or doors, only the four walls held the room in a perfect square. The floor was an ornate white tile, but with the walls and ceiling the faint purple, it shifted the color of the floor as well. The only thing in the Homunculi's field of vision beyond the room was a large white fainting couch, and... something was laying against it. The figure seemed to be pitch black in nature, a silhouette of a humanoid. They were ethereal in form, the only solid thing about them was the large yet simplistic mask that covered their entire face. The mask was etched into an eternal smile, although there were no eyeholes carved into the mask. There were two round pieces of glass where eyes would look out, but they were tinted lavender and seemed to sparkle brightly as the Homunculi looked on. The figure seemed to notice them stirring, and its head tilted in surprise.

"Well, well, well~ Our little friend is finally awake! Hello, friend, it's nice to finally speak to you!"

Ezra blinked, tilting their head in confusion. Who was this creature? Since when were they friends? The white-haired construct could only shake their head in confusion before opening their mouth to speak.

"Who are you, exactly?"

"Us? Why, we are your best friend! We watch over you and make sure you stay safe!"

"Ah, the humans call that a 'guardian angel', I believe."

The figure shifted, and Ezra could feel their frown through the mask. "Ah, we don't like that term. Angels and demons aren't exactly on what we call 'the best of terms', Ezoreth."

Ezra flinched at that, not giving a name to this apparent demon and yet it knew their hidden name that they hadn't shared with anyone. The demon continued, apparently unfazed at the Homunculi's uncomfortable shifting in their seat. "You see, you made a deal with us a long time to keep that adorable little body of yours safe from death. We saved you, but now you owe us our due. We do not ask for much in return, only that you find us. We were once in your tower, where you had bound us in this beautiful mask. But," The demon hissed, the room seeming to shake as their voice reverberated around the Homunculi, "We were taken! They stole us, the fiends. They will not let us free, which you had promised us! So free us, Ezoreth! Fulfill your duty!"

They watched the demon writhe in frustration on the couch, and let out a small cough to get its attention from its temper tantrum. "Very well, demon. I suppose I do you owe you for saving my life, although I am surprised that Ezoreth was so desperate to keep me-him-us? alive that he would ask a demon for assistance. What shall I call you?"

The demon froze, then looked towards the Homunculi as if unsure how to respond. "...No one has given us a name. We have just... been. For many years, we lived."

"Very well. I shall give you a name upon my retrieval of your mask."

The mask's grin seemed to widen, and the demon let out a throaty chuckle. "We look forward to meeting again. Time to wake up, new friend."

The room vanished, and Ezra was once more in the forest. They sat up quickly, looking around the area for any signs of the lavender room they had once inhabited. The night sky was still clear, and the corpse of Nightclaw still lay where the Homunculi had left it. Rising to their feet, the throbbing pain of their arm still shook them immensely. The body of Rhodey still lay off from where the bear had slapped him aside, and the Homunculi carefully made their way to see if the young man had passed away or survived the attack. The young man had not moved from where he been knocked over but after a few long moments, the man's body stirred slightly and a hand over the man's mouth confirmed inhalation. With a heavy sigh, Ezra turned and retreived their blood soaked spear from the mouth of the beast. Making their way back to town to get assistance with the three fallen hunters, the injured Rhodey, and the dead bear, the Homunculi knew that this was going to be a difficult task, but their task was yet to be complete.

The hunt was on once again.

Name of Thread: Predator and Prey
No Judgement

Rewards:

ArcanaFate receives:
605 Exp
5 Gold

Spoils request:
Black bear hide (bear was about the size of a kodiak male) - 2 pieces of real world hide granted (tier one, black bear)
One leg bone - 1 piece of bone granted (tier one, standard bone)
50 GP for reward bounty - not granted. Please PM me for discussion

all rewards have been added.