A Warriors Resolve
"REN!?" Lydia gasps in horror seeing the little girls arm torn through and hanging limply shattered and torn.
"Why aren't you running please run, you can't win this. Take this chance and flee please!" Lydia begs desperately.
'I need to get out of here. This is too much we're all gonna die, if I manage to get some help at least we might have a chance to survive but not like this.' Ella thinks to herself as she manages to distance herself away from the bear hiding in nearby shrubbery.
"Yeah you like that you filthy animal. You really thought you were going to get a free meal not while I'm here." Ren's mouth perks up as more and more of a smile begins to form from the adrenaline pouring through his body, his warrior mind finally able to burn some steam after 6 agonising years.
"Your arm Ren please just go just run please!" Lydia screams out in complete shock seeing Ren continue to challenge the beast with barely a shred of fear in his eyes.
"My arm can heal. I doubt you can come back from the dead though." Ren says sending a burning glare towards Lydia showing that hes taking this fully seriously.
"You're gonna let go or just keep your fangs in me. Fine by me, I can bite down just as hard." Ren says forcing the arrow deeper into the bear's eye socket and twisting finally making the bear recoil away in absolute agony releasing Ren's shredded arm.
"I'm not losing anyone else." Ren says with a burning confidence as the flashes of his clan burn through his mind like phoenix fire.
'Else?' Lydia thoughts flood through rapidly at such an odd phrasing.
"Lydia, give me your bow now!" Ren says as he extends his good hand watching the beast closely as it tries to recover from the intense pain in its eye socket.
"Why!? You've never used a bow before!" Lydia questions still in utter shock from their current crisis.
"JUST TRUST ME DON'T ARGUE!" Ren's normal formal demeanour melts away as the warrior side of his mind takes over not taking any chances with doubt or hesitation.
"But. How are you going to even use it!" Lydia screams out as she struggles to sit up from the immense pain she's in.
"Watch and find out." Ren says not letting his glare waver.
Biting down on her bottom lip Lydia finally relents and throws her bow and quivers. As if his very soul reacts his right arm reaches out pulling the bow and quiver right out of the air.
"That's much better, try to hold together with me now even if you're an old bow." Ren says as he confidently wields the bow in his right hand as if nothing has schanged taking a respectful stance as he keeps his left side further back as he takes an old stance.
"Finally I felt naked without a bow." The torn clothes wave in the wind as Rens silhouette would lead others to think a seasoned warrior was with them the whole time.
"ARRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHH" The bear roars out, finally recovering the immense pain in its eye smelling the blood of its prey not far from it and confirming it by the sound of Ren mocking it.
"Quit the noise you're making, come on it doesn't hurt that bad just look at my arm. Oh wait, you're blind my bad." Ren says holding up his mangled left arm before laughing at the bear.
"Least my fingers still work." Ren says as he manages to move a few of his fingers on his left hand.
'Artemis style, it's been too long. I can finally use you again. The footwork is already coming back to me. It's not the same without a bow. The style needs a bow for it to be complete.' Ren thoughts floor through him as he lets out a calming deep exhale, his feet already raising up slightly as he shifts most of his weight to the tips of his toes and the balls of his feet.
In a dazzling display of dexterity Ren begins to weave in and out of the grass, roots and stones cleanly and deftly avoiding gnarled claw swipes aimed for his heart. The bear only being able to go off sound loses most of its precision flailing around desperately in hopes of striking its prey. The bear swipes slowly becoming more staggered and agitated as its shoulder grinds against the arrow lodged deep in.
"Gonna have to do better than that If you want to gut me. How does your eye feel, you little cub." Ren mocks as he continues to grin brightly, deftly moving through the brush now.
'What is going on? I've never seen Ren like this. Is this another side of her? It's like I'm watching a warrior in battle right now, not a 6 year old. This isn't normal, what is she?' Lydia's thoughts bombarded her as her sense of normality flew out of the window along with her common sense seeing the dazzling display from a child.
'More more, I said more you damn beast make this damn body dance.' Ren says to himself as more and more of a craving blossoms for adrenaline and combat despite the tiny frame he's been put in.
'Odd my arm is broken and i don't feel any pain, this cant be just adrenaline right? I was torn limb from limb. I guess it's not surprising this is a cakewalk in comparison.' Ren says curiously noticing how his left arm can swing without any pain even being slightly out of the socket.
Another huge red paw cleaves through the air backed by the intense anger of the beast, it strikes another tree down with ease roaring out louder and louder as its anger continues to build up.
"That's it you fool, follow me!" Ren says as his red eyes stay locked onto the beast as he deftly back steps deeper into the forest before turning around and bolting to the grid line Lanos saw earlier.
Launching off the balls of his feet his calf explodes with desperation and adrenaline sending Ren bounding rapidly through the forest approaching the grid line set up earlier by Lanos. His breath becomes eerily calm and controlled despite the onslaught of adrenaline pouring through him. The archery training his father put him through guiding him through some of the harshest battles in his life the one thing he can truly rely on more than just a bow it's the stance and the footwork of an Artemis Archer that truly shines brighter than most.
Finally passing the grid line, on his way Ren notices one of the spikes halfway in the ground almost fully thanks to Lanos, with what little time he has he manages to grab a nearby rock and shatter it over the spike, getting it finally deep enough into the earth to be effective.
Ren slings the bow over his shoulder as he scrambles and climbs his way up one of the dense tree trunks near the grid line. In a rapid fury the Red bear crashes and tears through the dense brush with ease as it lets out another spine chilling roar.
"Thats it RIGHT OVER HERE YOU OVERGROWN PIG!" Ren shouts out at the top of his lungs to bait the beast's hearing.
Cocking its ears the bear drifts its nose over to the smell of blood coming from the tree in front of it. Nothing but blinding rage guides the beast as it rushes forward in a blinded fury.
'Come on just a little bit closer, you oaf. That's it, now let's hope your spikes actually prove useful now.' Ren thinks to himself as he watches the beast in front of him crash through the forest without any care apart from its desire to kill.
"ROAAAR"
*BOOM* A bright flash of light explodes throughout the forest with a deafening crash of sound following it. A discharge of static erupts out of the bear as it struggles to recover from the trap's voltage.
Seeing an unmissable opportunity Ren forces his body to move as he brings the bow down into his right arm, not having his left arm working he decides to get creative.
"An archer is nothing if they don't have the skills to back it up." Ren chuckles through the adrenaline.
Putting the shaft of the bow in front of his feet Ren notches an arrow in the bowstring with his working right arm. Aiming the bow horizontally he manages to get a decent line of sight aiming directly between the bear's eyes.
With as much force and strength he can muster, Ren's right arm strains as veins begin to pop out of his nascent biceps. His bones and joints creak as he continues to draw back the arrow making sure his feet are firmly holding the bow in place. Once he feels the right amount of resistance in his bowstring. Taking a deep solemn breath Ren lets the arrow fly, his red eyes watching the arrow intently.
*Crack* The sound of bone splitting echoes through the forest as the arrow finds its home in between the bear's eyes.
The uncontrollable anger and fury of the beast slowly starts to subside and quieten down as its large frame crashes against the forest floor staining the grass with the crimson as more and more blood bubbles out of its pierced skull.
"You're my prey, you foul beast as is anyone who decides to hurt my people!" Ren roars out standing tall, grateful he was able to make a change this time.
[Mission Completed]