[center][h2]Barayi Yara[/h2] [h3]Somewhere on Li's Island[/h3][/center] [hr] “Shush!” “This was my hiding spot!” “I said be quiet, Tak’Takk!” “B-but, I was here first!” The two children glared at each other before they heard the running of feet and the whipping of shrubs, bringing a silence to their bickering. Tak’Takk, a boy just of ten years, peeked his head out to glare between the leaves of the shrubs that he and his sister were hiding in. His head was a full red, but his eyes were as gray as could be, making him the only Valthumir in his family. Meanwhile, his sister, his senior by perhaps a few minutes, clasped his shoulders as she too tried to gaze out of the shrubs. They saw nothing. Their game of hide and seek had grown tense, as another child had grown closer and closer only for the sounds of running and shrubs breaking to come to a sudden halt. They again tried to see where their friend had gone, this time seeing his feet and a knee against the ground as he inspected the shallow tracks had. The two knew then and there that they had been found, and as they saw their friend stand up and take a single step towards their shrub, a shadowed mass blurred past and suddenly their friend was gone. The keen eyes of the kids had barely been able to register what had happened. “What was that?” the sister had whispered. “I don’t know, Tek,” the boy answered, leaning closer to see what had happened before deciding to move back, “I think it’s a trick.” “He doesn’t play tricks, Tak,” the sister hissed in a silence, shoving him to the side ever so slightly. “What do you mean? He played a trick on me the other day!” Tak’Takk argued, pushing back and digging his fingers into the ground before a noise to their left caught their attention. It must have been their friend, so the two pressed themselves closer to the ground, nearly pushing the other out of the hiding spot. Eventually, the steps got softer and softer as the sounds originated farther and farther before, making the children giggle in the cleverness to hide from their friend. Tak’Takk poked his head out of the shrub, laughing as silently as he could. He would eventually crawl out of his hiding space before confusion wracked his face as he looked where his friend had been. The boy did not see any footprints of his friend, in fact, he could barely see tracks to what had moved past their hiding spot in general. He leaned down to see further, only to see barely noticeable indentation of what looked like bird feet, though he was no hunter, he could only guess that some large bird had come by. Tak’Takk’s first thought was perhaps a hawk, but it must have been one large hawk to have been making a track like this. “Tek! Look at this bird track! “ he urged his sister, almost jumping up and down in excitement at discovering something so big. His excitement grew into impatience as he went to drag his sister out of the bush, his sister who slapped his hand in annoyance. She looked at the track and immediately her look of annoyance morphed into excitement. “Wow!” she exclaimed as she looked even closer, “How big do you think that bird is?!” “Like this~ big!” Tak’Takk said, holding his hands out to show a possible wingspan of the bird before his sister stood up. “Nu uh! It’s this big!” Tek laughed making her arms stretch out even more, attempting to make a bird bigger than her brother. Before the two could start another competition they heard the voice of their father in the nearby , “Tak’takk! Tek!” The two could only glare at each other before racing each other through the trees only to meet their father at the treeline. He stood over them, arms crossed, with his red hair tied back into a ponytail. “Tak’takk, weren’t you supposed to help your mother earlier? Tek, are you not meant to help gather firewood for the evening?” the father asked, the two children only looking down knowing how they had gotten distracted by their game. “W-we were playing San’Kek,” Tak’Takk explained timidly, only hearing the father sigh before going down onto his knee. He felt his father’s touch on his shoulder, his father raising Tak’Takk’s chin so that he may look his son in his eyes. “I know the allure of play, Tak’Takk, but we all must work to keep our people alive, you know this,” he said, shoving aside emotion to make sure the child knew the priorities of the people came before play. Tak’Takk could only silently nod as his father stood back up, raising his spear as he stepped past the children. “Go on, go do your duties,” the father said before walking off. The two children looked at each other before running back to the people so that the people may thrive. [hr] Hours had passed, day twisting into the sick night as a full moon echoed over the land and bathed the land in a dark light. The people were quick to settle into their huts in order to escape the terrors that lived during the night, eager to to hunt for their next meal. However, one family was less than eager to settle in and it was the father that went to the family of Tak’Takk, at their door with worry and spear in hand. The boy could hear the talk from his bed, picking up the worried voice, “San’Kek has yet to come home! We don’t know what to do.” “”Do you know where he might be?” Tak’Takk’s father asked in a hushed tone in an attempt to not worry his children, or wake them up for that matter. “He disappeared during the day, but-,” the other paused for a moment as he collected himself, “Other families are having their children going missing, all of them from today.” Tak’Takk could hear the gasp from his father, then some shuffling about before his father spoke again, “We will not lose anymore children, come we need to search for them.” Their voices faded into the distance, Takk’Takk could hear his mother shuffling about as she checked both of her children, laying a hand on each. The worry should have left the child, but there was no calm knowing that his friends had been going missing. Had he and his sister been lucky? Perhaps they were just playing a big trick that he was not invited into. Whatever was the case, Tak’Takk knew not what to make of the situation and he would have focused far more on the well being of his friends had he not heard something outside the walls of his hut. At first he thought it was his father, but then he heard the sound of claws scraping against wood, and a light giggle of a girl. His head shot up as he looked out, seeing his mother exit the hut to investigate the sound before quickly returning to go for a club. “Mother, what’s going on?” Tak’Takk asked worriedly, his sister waking up from her sleep Isaiah a more than confused look on her face. The mother stepped towards her children and went to speak, “Be quiet, there is-“ Something jumped on her back, knocking her forward and as she went to scream, her sound became gargling and gasping for air. Tak’Takk could not believe that sight in front of him, for what he saw was far from natural. He saw, standing over his mother’s corpse, the frame of a bird, lacking feathers and flesh and even anything that belonged on the inside of the body. Blood travelled down its hand, it’s talons, as it dropped whatever had come out of his mother’s throat. The boy was too terrified to scream as its glowing green eyes focused on the boy. “Wrath will be so happy with me!~” It said in a sing song voice as it stepped towards the frightened children, reaching out to them.”Come my children~ We must leave this place,” she said, grabbing Tek’s hand, causing the child to scream in true terror. The skeleton recoiled in surprise for a moment before putting her bloody hand to the child’s mouth before a swift movement caused the girl to fall unconscious. “Welp. Guess that could’ve gone better,” she said with a laugh before its green eyes looked to see the boy who was terrified beyond reasonable belief. He pressed his back against the wall as the skeleton took a step towards the child before leaping forwards. [hr] “These things are smart,” a voice whispered, watching a line of Vallamir move in front of them, its glowing eyes watched them take note of the strange tracks from where the first child had been abducted. They were a distance away, hidden in the branches of a tree as it looked over to the other Aroiox. “They might find where we put them,” it growled, before the other put out an affirming hand. While unable to show expression, Wrath knew what Vigilance meant, knowing that they had a duty to their people. “We just need Ecstasy and Terror to get back with the last two. Loathing and Grief will be able to keep the children hidden, all we have to do is make sure they stay confused,” Vigilance stated, keeping his eyes firmly placed upon the living things that grew nearer and nearer. Then a shrill scream pierced the air, bringing the attention of the two undead back to the village, as well as the attention of the search party. “Ecstasy has been found,” he commented. “Then let’s get to it,” Wrath growled before swiftly moving from the tree branches, shortly followed by Vigilance as the two began to create inhuman screeches as they moved after the trackers. The skeletons were surprisingly adept at moving between the tree limbs, their taloned feet grasping each limb as they ran and swung. Their movements were quick and decided, their undead minds keeping them from second guessing themselves as they quickly caught up with the trackers, still moving as fast as they could. Their screeches were directly overhead the people before Wrath’s head snapped up as a spear got caught between his ribs, causing him to lose his pace and fall to the ground. A long fall was followed by a snap as well as the continued inhuman screeches of Wrath. He ripped the spearhead free of his chest, unable to feel the pain as he attempted to get to his feet, only to crumble back onto the ground. He saw that a few of the trackers split from the group to double back. Wrath growled to himself before spotting the lower half of his left leg, grasping it and holding it to where it had severed before the green magic that his god had taught him to use, forcing the bone to reattach, albeit sloppily. Then the living were upon him, only stopped at the sight of the magic and then as terrored confusion made its claim across their faces as they saw what abomination was in front of them. Wrath’s wings spread as he let out a snarling noise at the people, clearly keeping their distance despite having clubs and spears which would make short work of the hollowed bones of the Aroiox. The Undead and the Living have met for the first time, one more clearly frightened and cautious while the other was fearless and determined. Vigilance was motionless above them, slowly moving his body to be able to pounce when the need arose. Being sure to not make a sound lest he wind up in a situation like Wrath had managed to in his overeagerness for the plan. However, he heard the sound of shouting from the group that had continued back to the village, then more shouting, it grew closer. This was not a part of the plan. Everyone turned their heads in the direction of the noise, to see another two undead bird running through a field with two unconscious children, followed by the less than pleased populace of the village. One of the birds were screaming with terror. Wrath and the group of trackers looked to each other, back to the two running undead and back to each other. Wrath looked to Vigilance, the group followed the gaze and saw Vigilance, the initial terror had grown to confusion. Vigilance looked at Wrath, the group looked at Wrath and everyone looked back to the mass of people running through the field. After a moment of contemplation, the small group began to quickly begin running through the woods as well, Vigilance pouncing off his perch and rolling along the ground before springing into a run alongside Wrath. “Was this a part of your idea?!” Wrath roared. “Not in the slightest!” Vigilance responded, looking back at the group chasing them and pushing Wrath’s head down as another spear soared to him, only missing with Vigilance’s intervention. The two groups eventually merged into one as both parties sprinted through the tree line, the living unable to throw spears out of fear of hitting the children. At least, that is what Vigilance thought as he looked back at them, seeing that soon enough, the limitations of blood and flesh were taking their toll on the Vallamir. They grew tired, even in their determination to get their children back, it slowed them to a point where rather than gaining on the undead, they were falling farther and farther behind. As the Undead continued their sprint, Vigilance turned his head toward Ecstasy, “What happened to my plan?” “Didn’t like it. Thought it would be funny to have them chase us,” Ecstasy laughed before continuing, “And it very much was, my friend.” “I hated it,” Wrath commented. “You hate everything,”Ecstasy countered. “You single handedly undermined this entire operation,” Vigilance said, looking back at the now tired people, only the trackers who were smart enough to conserve their energy in a prolonged chase were able to somewhat keep up. However, the Undead now had time, at least enough to retreat back to their home. “Weeks of scouting and planning were ruined,” he continued as they ran. “But it was funny!” “It was stupid!” “Shut up, Wrath!” Vigilance sighed before looking over at Terror, who had at least stopped screaming. She was carrying the boy, the boy who seemed to be stirring.They had little time before resistance began, resistance that they could not afford, but at the very least, they were close to the place where they had been hiding. A small outcrop in the side of a hill, the previous occupant had acquiesced to their request of using as their camp. As they neared, Terror felt the boy struggle and push against the undead’s head, causing the Aroiox to become frightened and drop the precious cargo against the ground. Almost immediately, the boy began running in the opposite direction. Wrath went to turn to give chase, but quickly saw the trackers still on their heel, their forms coming through the mist. “Leave the boy! We don’t have anymore time thanks to Ecstasy!” Vigilance shouted, earning a grunt from Wrath before he too turned tail. When the hunters managed to retrieve the boy and enter the outcropping, all they found was the corpse of a movle, it’s skeleton protruding from its body and contorted into something almost unrecognizable. However, it was clear that wherever the Undead had gone, the children were also with them, though Tak’Takk remained. [Hider=Summary] The post starts out following two Vallamir children, Tak’Takk and Tek, who were in a game of hide and seek with their friend. The two bicker before they spot their friend searching for them, but something quickly happens and yada yada yada. They come out of their hiding place to see that their friend was gone but they found some really sick bird tracks. [i]Winks into camera[/i] Their father calls them back to do stuff like the boring parent that he is. These kids just want to play man, why couldn’t they just play? Like sure they had chores, but I want to see you do stuff because you were forced to because someone told you to, without anything in return. I believe that is called slavery, which is outlawed in many countries around the world, but appently not in Galbar becuase screw me I guess? But really, why does this guy have to ruin the sanctity of play time?! Sure there are cannibals, droughts, and other monsters that live on the hell that is Li’s Island, but come on man. Stop being a parent and be a friend to your kids, you idiot. Ugh where was I? Right, the narrative shifts to the birds and they steal the kids. Apparently they planned a heist and kidnapped a bunch of kids in the same day. Like fourteen of them, wow. Anyways, they kill a mom, some of the Undead chase hunters to distract them, it fails. Then best gorls Ecstasy and Terror (I swear it doesn’t mean anything) . Pirates of the Carribbean stuff. Tak’Takk gets away. Post end. I am the best summary writer. [b]Prestige[/b] 1 + 2 = 3 Prestige [/hider]