The Lands of Ralosia & Ranuulo- Short Story Collection

~Fight or Flight Chapter 7~

~Chapter 7- Fight~

Everyone grieved in different ways following the attack. Some cried. Others immersed themselves in other things to take their minds off it. Edi ran away. For Gweneva, she bottled up all her grief.

She didn't speak unless spoken to, doing as she was told and what was expected of the children in their clan. She did her best not to give the adults more to worry about. But everyday she re-lived that encounter repeatedly. Every time she thought it through, she came to one conclusion.

One of us was going to die.

It could've been any of them. Valr did his absolute best on his own, but he would've died if they hadn't intervened. And each time she or Mills stepped in, they nearly lost their own lives. Mills did his best, but it wasn't enough.

Gweneva couldn't help but wonder if Mills knew that. Maybe, he knew there was no chance, but he couldn't help but at least try. She would've liked to have asked him.

At first, Gweneva thought that maybe if the three of them had trained more, developed their skills and became better warriors, then maybe they could've fought off the scorpion and won.

But Gweneva knew better than that. The three of them could've devoted themselves to getting stronger every day, and they still wouldn't have been strong enough.

Maybe in a few years they'd be able to. But not that day.

Gweneva quietly mourned for Mills, but it felt as if she had lost Valr as well. She'd grown used to the three of them playing in the forest, but now it was difficult for her to even find him. Valr was always off on his own, doing something. Grieving in his own way.

She decided to try to find him. She swung through the woods, hoping to find him. She had avoided the area where Mills had died, but today she went straight there. And there Valr was.

Gweneva quietly maneuvered through the trees and saw him standing in a clearing alone with his eyes closed. She watched as he took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and jumped into the air.

He flew through the air at great speed. He was going towards something dangling from a tree branch, a sort of target. He wound back his fist and punched through it as he flew past.

He flew around, punching and kicking through several targets that he must've placed around the forest. When he missed one, he let out a frustrated grunt. His flight was fierce and wild. He didn't seem to have complete control over his trajectory, but he didn't seem to care.

He flew directly at a small tree in the forest, and his hand started to glow purple as he reached it. With a chop of his hand, he cut cleanly through the tree.

He began making strange movements, as if he was dodging an invisible opponent. After a dodge, he pointed his finger, and a purple Focus Beam struck a spot on the ground.

It didn't take Gweneva long to realize what he was doing. Valr was re-enacting the encounter with the pale scorpion, pretending to dodge the attacks from its tail and pincers while countering with his own attacks.

But Gweneva recognized that he was still too slow. He continued to move as if he would've successfully dodged it, but the scorpion would've gotten him almost every time.

Valr shouted and released an intense Focus Burst from his hand that struck the ground where his opponent would've been. The boy sat down, breathless from using Focus so many times.

Gweneva was honestly scared to approach him. The look in his green eyes was completely different. She had never seen him so serious.

After Valr caught his breath, he floated off the ground and flew through the woods back towards their settlement. Gweneva followed quietly.

She found Valr speaking with Petri and many other Arachna warriors as they were about to leave for another hunt.

"You're not ready." Petri said firmly to Valr.

"I'll never be ready if I don't go with you!" Valr shouted, raising his voice at their clan leader.

Petri squinted his eyes at the boy, "If you die early, then you'll never be ready. The best thing you can do now is live and grow. When you're older, you'll be able to do more than just help out. Alright?"

Valr sneered at Petri and flew away, furious at being denied. Gweneva didn't speak to him, but she kept a close eye on him for the rest of the day.

That night, she caught Valr sneaking out of his home, flying into the forest. Gweneva followed him, hoping he was just doing some late-night training. But he went to the western edge of the forest.

Outside of their forest, night made the world appear pitch black. Nothing could be seen, but the roars and cries of the many beasts that traveled the Lands of Ranuulo could be heard in the distance.

Valr stopped at the edge of the forest. Before he had a chance to make a terrible decision, Gweneva swung over him.

"What're you doing?" Gweneva asked sternly. As she spoke, she realized it was the first time she'd spoken to him since Mills died.

Valr winced at the sight of her. He coarsely said, "I'm going to the scorpion's nest to kill the creature that killed Mills."

Gweneva feared he'd try that. She softly spoke, "There's no way..."

"Come with me!" Valr said, "We can kill it together!"

"We'd die. You know that. We'd probably be killed before we even reach the scorpion's nest." Gweneva calmly replied.

Valr clenched his bruised fists, "I-I... have to do something. I'm going alone."

The brown-haired boy walked past Gweneva. But she pivoted back, flourished her hands, and fired a strand of webbing at Valr, stopping him.

"What're you doing?" Valr snapped at her.

"I'm not losing another friend."

Gweneva fired strand after strand of web at Valr. He tried to fly away, but she managed to keep him tethered. She yanked on the strands and threw him back into the forest. When he tried to stand, she had already jumped on top of him. She quickly webbed his hands together behind him as he tried to wriggle away.

"You-You have to let me go!"

"I'm sorry, Valr," She said as she gripped him firmly, hugging him.

He tried to break out of her embrace, but it was no good. When he stopped struggling, she could hear stifled sobs from him.

"It's all my fault..." Valr cried.

"No, it's not..." Gweneva said, unable to keep back her own tears.

Valr broke free from the webbing restraints around his hands and hugged her back.

"We'll be able to go after that scorpion one day... right now, we just need to keep living."