Embers from the previous night's fires were still burning in their pits and Etoah was watching them as he waited for his group to assemble. Akihito was sitting on a bench across the pit from him. The angellic demon ocassionally glanced at the deputy, only to find Etoah continuously lost in thought. The clan bustled like it usually did as its members awoke, but there was a mutual feeling of shock and grief that blanketed everyone. Etoah had stayed by the fires for nearly the whole night, thinking to himself. Insignious had fallen asleep sitting upright in a chair outside the children's room.
As the remainder of his patrol finally gathered, Etoah stood. His ghostly silver eyes remained glazed for just a moment before he blinked it away and looked at his soldiers. "Right." He said, "We're going to Maelstromclan. While on our way, please speak up if you see anything out of the ordinary. And when we arrive, be prepared to find...the worst. But let's hope we find some survivors." He gave them all a firm, determined smile before turning and heading out through the front archways.
Whispers, gossip, and chatter filled the night air with a commotion that only settled with the first sunrays. Kazumi herself had only lightly napped in her dwelling, as hypnic jerks continuously woke her from what would have spiraled into nightmares.
Thus, the warrior arrived before sunrise and waited, leaned against a tree trunk. With Etoah's announcement to the patrol, the shadow-master blinked the grogginess away and stood at attention. If the night dragged on, surely the day's heat would make it all the worse.
"Yes, sir."
She answered upon the Deputy's command, setting off with the rest of the sizable patrol unit. Raspberry colored daggers stared into the back of Akihito’s head until about halfway through Tempestclan territory, although she unsuccessfully attempted to avoid making herself too obvious.
Keeping to the upper side of the group, she scanned the familiar forestry. She could hear birds beginning to chirp, as would be the start to any ordinary day. It was supposed to be ordinary. It should have been. If only.
Upon reaching the border, Kazumi held her breath. Nothing yet seemed out of place. Of course. If there was, Akihito wouldn’t have been the one to break the news.
While she wanted to split up to better cover the area, she hesitated. Soon enough, she wouldn’t have to. Black arrows were spread out evenly in waves, dug into the ground every few feet, if that.
“There’s no way...”
Analyzing the environment for signs of life or perhaps a trap, she inched forward. Snatching an arrow’s shadow, she yanked it into her hands, flipping it over and struggling to identify its origin. A mystery to solve before gazing upon the many bodies sure to be leftover from the slaughter.
“Why bother fully painting them?”
Scratching at the material, it revealed a wooden undercoat, although the type itself remained unknown.
As the group of eight entered the other clan's territory, Etoah turned and watched Kazumi silently as he walked. He mentally noted her comment before looking away. The soldiers stopped in place as their deputy did. He gazed about to take in what was before them. Arrows. Countless, identical, and ragged black arrows strewn across the forest.
Akihito was keeping his eyes down, for none of this was a surprise to him.
"We'll stay together. I don't want to lose sight of any of you." Etoah said firmly. They continued on, the soldiers occasionally kicking and snapping arrows out of their way. Following a well worn pathway, they came across their first body. A young woman. A spilled basket of rotting fruit lay beside her and her decomposing body was riddled with arrows. A few of the warriors covered their mouths, some of them groaned and looked away. Etoah stared down at her silently before walking onwards.
As the sun broiled them in their armor, the dirt path became stone and lead them to the main entrance. The smell as they approached was overwhelming. Dried blood and rotting bodily fluids covered the ground before them. Corpses were scattered amongst the village-like set up, maggots in their eyes and mouths. One of the patrol warriors, a woman named Tadi, fell to her knees in horror and began sobbing. Akihito shuddered at the vile remains of his old family, leaning over and trying not to throw up.
Etoah walked through the wreckage and came to a halt over two children who had died while running for safety. They were hardly recognizeable. "Holy hell." He whispered to himself, his voice shaking slightly.
A sharp snap resounded as warrior inadvertently stepped on one of the arrows. She held her breath, a wave of buried memories washing over her. Bones cracking, snapping, burning...
The scene before the patrol was horrific in every sense. There was no humanity in the way they'd been slaughtered-- there was no struggle against an attacker that could be identified. While few had swords drawn and bows in hand, the ends had not invoked blood, yet had their own seep unto them as they fell.
Clearly, the struggle was one-sided.
After using an arm to rub her eyes, she took in a shaky breath.
Bad idea.
As she held a hand to her mouth and clamped her eyes shut, she imagined the screams of entire families, shrouded in darkness. Finding no solace in total black, she regained her composure quickly and proceeded to the immediate structure nearby, seemingly untouched by most arrows.
Whoever hid inside had the best chance...
Slamming her side against the door proved ineffective, as the entranceway proved reinforced by barricades. She'd tried the handle a moment before, but obviously had gotten nowhere with it.
"Are all the other buildings locked?"
She raised her voice slightly, however it was still quite low for how spread out the group had become in their investigation.
It took a few moments for Tadi's mind to stop spinning in grief. When it finally had, she'd stood and urgently approached one of the houses as Kazumi asked her question aloud.
"This one isn't..!" She glanced over her shoulder at Etoah who'd been watching them. At his nod of approval, Tadi swung the wooden door open and hurried inside.
There was barely any footroom in the house, for the floor was covered with arrows. A young, pregnant women lay rotting in the small kitchen where once golden light had flooded in through the windows. A dead man was sprawled along the stone staircase- surely he'd been on his way down to protect his wife.
"Oh god...Oh god, oh fuck!" Tadi cried, "How did they shoot them in the house?!" An enormous swarm of disturbed flies came towards her and she backed out of the home. In the silence of everyone's shock, the entire territory was vibrating. Buzzing with flies. Squirming with maggots. A few of the bodies were moving occasionally as rats would travel to and fro.
"Here is where I found Apollo," Akihito was saying to Etoah, crouching down and gesturing to a small open space on the ground. "He was on his hands and knees, shielding the children. Somehow they managed to stay safe under him. His entire body was riddled with arrows." Looking to the side, Aki picked up the broken end of one. "I remember having to break this one out of his hand to free him from the ground."
Stepping away from Aki, Etoah looked to his patrol. "We need to look for survivors as quickly as possible. Everyone pair up, stay in eachother's sight. Meet back here when you're done. Akihito, you'll stay with me. Let's go."
As everyone obediently dispearsed, Tadi hurried up to Kazumi. "Be with me?" She asked.
The warrior couldn't help but shudder upon her clanmate's findings. Worse was it, still, than anything she could have imagined.
Right as she looked up at the tops of some other buildings, she noticed a pair of two buzzards, fighting over what was almost certainly rotten meat. They cawed at each other, refusing to give in until the sloppy flesh fell apart into a pile of mush.
Before she found the strength to look away from the scene, Tadi hastened to her side, causing her to jolt slightly.
"Y-Yeah. Maybe we'll find something or see more if we're on higher ground, like the roof. Might clear the air of any pesky flies, too."
Backing away from the entranceway after posing her suggestion, she sought out a good line to scale the structure.
Raising the shadow the building cast off, she turned it into physical stairs for Tadi and herself to climb upon. Holding out a hand, she took the first step onto the thick, spiral shadow.
Tadi gratefully took Kazumi's hand as she stepped up, holding it tightly all the way up the stairs. Amongst the vile remains, she was feeling a desperate attachment to everyone around her. When it came time to release hands, she hesitated for a second before doing so, as if afraid to let go of her friend.
"I'm...I'm so glad Insignious did not come." She said sadly, stepping away and gazing about to see what they could find.
Kazumi nodded, dropping the stairs as they morphed back into shadows. Viewing the morbid scene from above, the warrior looked for any patterns-- other than slaughter with extreme prejudice.
"But even if we clear the place of bodies... He'll be hurt no matter what."
Raspberry irises soon rested on what looked to be bloodied, sunken-in fur.
Not even the wolves were spared of the carnage.
"Shit, even the wolves are... What does anyone have to gain from this?"
Her voice cracked as she used an arm to wipe off the cold sweat on her forehead. Nerves, most likely.
Tadi's breathing shook beneath her mask. She quickly scaled back and forth on the roof, scanning the bodies below desperately. Beyond them, she could hear her clanmates forcing their way into nearby houses and calling out for survivors.
"I can't see anyone that looks even slightly alive." She said in momentary defeat.
"This must have happened so quick- look, most of them couldn't even get inside." She gestured to the many bodies actually pinned to closed doors. "Not that it would have made a difference if they could..." She shook her head in sorrowful disbelief.
Kazumi's eyes landed on Tadi's observation, becoming witness. No less ruthless than everything else they'd seen, unfortunately.
"Alright."
Conjuring up the spiral staircase again, it seemed just a tad thinner than before, but still as sturdy. Just in case, Kazumi reached out for the other's hand again, walking a step ahead.
Intricate details expended more energy than it was worth, so to create a railing out of the shadow of a building was unnecessary. In case anything seized the opportunity to attack the last signs of life at the camp.
"Shit, the smell."
She shook her head, releasing Tadi's hand as she went to cover her face. The momentary relief above only served to worsen the symptoms from the stench.
Mai knelt at the right side of a member of their party sitting against a tree at the perimeter of camp. One of the newer warriors, a young man, just graduated from apprenticeship. He had done so good-- toughed it out for the better part of fifteen minutes before vomiting into a corner and then taking off away from the carnage. He now sat there, hyperventilating. She took his hand into hers.
"Easy! Hey. You're alright." She said, comforting, yet firm. "Alright kiddo, here's what we're going to do: I'm going to sit here with you, and we're just going to breathe together. Look. In for four, hold for four, out for four, hold for four, repeat. Okay? Make sense? Follow me. Here we go." Mai took a deep, exaggerated gasp with her eyes comically wide, and sat cross legged to his side. She breathed with him for a long time, guiding him through his episode.
The boy calmed, eventually, closed his eyes, and leaned his head back against the tree. He hurriedly wiped his eyes and turned his head away from her in shame, pulled his hand from hers. She remembered he had been one of the first to volunteer to go scouting. He probably wanted to prove himself.
She breathed out a quiet laugh, not at him, but to the world.
"Listen carefully. You're not weak. Seeing death is something that takes us years to grow accustomed to and to cope with. That was a lot of death, and it will get easier. Hey, look at me." She lightly places a hand under his chin and turns his head towards her.
"It takes time."
She instructed the boy to go and wait under a tree next to the path they would be taking to leave, patting him on the back, and turned to re join the rest of the group. She walked into the center of their camp, walking around bodies but never over them. She would check on the next person she crossed.
It was a little bit of a fib, what she told him. Seeing carnage like this was definitely something you got used to, but something that never truly would leave your brain.
Tadi grabbed Kazumi's shoulder to keep her friend from falling as they made their way down the steps. Rounding the house's corner, she noticed Mai.
"Mai!" She exclaimed as she gestured with an arm for Mai to come over. "You shouldn't be without a partner, Etoah said so, be with us if you need someone!" Just as Kazumi's presence had comforted Tadi, so did the reminder that Mai was alright as well.
While the pair rounded the stone housing, Kazumi's attention was only brought to Mai after Tadi called out to her. She'd been staring at an oval of arrows, all of which had missed hitting anything. Turning her attention to the other warrior, however, she nodded and waited for Mai to catch up to them.
"Doesn't look hopeful from our angle. You holding up alright?"
"No need to worry about me. But I mean, if Etoah says so? C'mon man, I'll do whatever he says." She laughs for a moment, a sound cutting through the atmosphere that seems inappropriate for the situation. But Mai is nothing if not unapologetic.
"I'm okay. I've just been checking up on whoever needs it." She says to Kazumi. "Sorta lagging behind. But I'll tag along with you two for now."
"Hey listen, I've been wrong before, but this is just a ridiculous amount of arrows." She kicks one, and it rolls across stone with a wooden skidding sound before stopping just short of a white wolf, laying on its side. "Either some kinda magic is involved, or there was a lot of attackers."
Tadi did manage to laugh with Mai, if only with a fraction of her usual energy.
"I would definitely believe it was magic...Otherwise you'd think there'd be dead strangers here too. But it's only Maelstromclan.." She said. Together, the girls continued their search for survivors.
The sun slowly drifted across the sky as the afternoon came and stretched. Bodies, both living and dead, roasted beneath it. Gradually, the exhausted Tempestclan patrol gathered one by one in the place Etoah told them to meet. Etoah was standing in the middle, glad to see everyone returning even though they were empty handed. "Nothing..?" He asked quietly to the warrior that had just joined them. The warrior shook his head, to which the deputy nodded and looked down for a moment before returning his gaze to everyone.
As Tadi, Kazumi and Mai approached, Etoah asked again, "Anything?"
