War... Won?

Almost immediately after Luca had begun poisoning traps in the Sua'jiki territory the conflict between them and the Karaskir seemed to have ended. Raids weren't a problem anymore and the slow encroachment into their land had stopped.

Many in the tribe were confused at this, while some of the more experienced members were suspicious. Not only because the change was so sudden, but because of the strangely coloured corpses stuck on their traps.

Sarr'vuln was furious when he heard about this, it was obvious that someone had poisoned their traps and killed many Karaskir with the. He ordered the tribe to find whoever was responsible and bring them to him, many did as they were told, but a good portion only did so halfheartedly... They considered the perpetrator a boon for the tribe after all, where was the honour in laying down and letting you and your loved ones be killed?

Luca had to limit how many traps he poisoned due to his fellow tribe members watching for the "villain" responsible. It wasn't all that bad as the Karaskir didn't dare try to enter their territory anymore.

With the new free time he had he trained with Sarr'ina, he was shit at archery but was slowly getting better. He had no talent, but with enough hard work he'd become proficient eventually. It felt morel like a holiday if he were honest, just hanging out with Sarr'ina, Das'ju, Gil'ga, and occasionally Zul'meshi... Though, the latter only grunted at him so he wasn't much fun to talk to.

A couple months had passed and everyone in the tribe was becoming confused. The poisoned traps had slowly been disappearing, and for a couple weeks there hadn't be any at all. Luca had stopped applying poison due to the Karaskir not coming close any longer... He hadn't even seen their scouts on the outskirts of their territory.

Sarr'vuln ordered some hunters to check out what'd happened, and the news they brought back was shocking to say the least.

Flashback :

Gil'ga gestures behind him for the other hunters to follow him as he stealthily snuck through the forest towards the Karaskir main camp. At this point you'd usually run into a wolf or two, but that hadn't been the case this time... Instead they saw more wildlife than should be possible.

The wolves usually just killed everything off, so this didn't bode well for the tribe itself... Eventually they reached the treeline that gave way into the Karaskir tribe...

Gil'ga stuck his head through a bush and gaped at what he saw... Blackened huts that'd clearly been destroyed by fire, the large Kennel where the Karaskir supposedly tortured his fellow tribesman was almost entirely ash... No doubt the bones of their wolves would be under it.

There weren't all that many corpses though, it as strange. With this much devastation, there should be bodies littering the footpaths. Instead, it was just a few wolf and warrior bodies, wounds that he couldn't identify covering them.

"What happened here." one of his hunters muttered from behind him.

Gil'ga shook his head, "I do not know... Our war with the Karaskir has ended though." he states.

Flashback end.

The news that the Karaskir had been wiped out by an unidentified enemy was met with mixed reactions. Most were happy that the war was over, but a great many people were fearful of whoever could done such a thing.

The only living Karaskir member they'd ended up finding was a young starving wolf. Gil'ga brought it back as a gift for Sarr'ina, thinking that she'd appreciate it.

Its fur was covered in mud and ash, and it was heavily bruised when they found it, barely able to move without assistance.

Sarr'ina looked down at it with sorrowful eyes. No creature should be subjected to this, it may have belonged to their former enemy but the least they could do is raise it as one of their own. As a mark of respect for the tribe that'd suddenly disappeared.

"What're you going to call it?" Luca asked as he stroked its back, the wolf shivered under his touch but wasn't strong enough to attempt to stop him. In all honesty, he was pretty wary of it... Being torn apart by its friends would do that to a person... But, as long as he thinks of it as just a pet dog his nerves are relatively calm.

Sarr'ina smiles at him, "I do not know... What do you think I should call him?"

Luca raised a brow at her knowing its gender but shook those thoughts away. Of course she'd know. "Hmm, how abut Fluffy?"

...

"Mmh.." she sounds uncomfortably, "Try again?" she asks, the name clearly not to her tastes.

"You want something fierce then? How about Kujo?" he says, thinking back to the story made by Stephan King.

Sarr'ina gives him a dull look, "Kujo? That is the name of a kind of spider... No that will no do... Sarr'bal?" she mutters.

Luca smirks, "He's part of the family now, huh?"

She slaps him on the arm, "I just thought it matches him... Bal is an old word that means the strongest claw of an animal.

...

"That's oddly specific." he says more to himself than Sarr'ina.

She nods at him, "We used to make clubs covered in animal claws so Bal's were important to specify." she states, causing Luca to nod in understanding.

The duo takes the young wolf to the river and washes all the ash and dirt from its body. Revealing the almost luminescent white fur hidden under it. Even Luca had to admit it was rather handsome, its fur combined with its bright hazel eyes made him want to grab a camera and start an Instagram account for it.

They'd need to get it eating again soon though, it was almost all skin and bones... Sarr'ina tried a few times to heal it with her magic, but it wasn't useful at stopping starvation. She only managed to heal the heavy bruising, other than that it was a slow recovery from here on.

The new member of their make-shift "family" was a welcome addition, but Luca couldn't help but feel worried about the future. The Karaskir were apparently a powerful tribe, but some group had literally walked in, killed a few people and burned it down, presumably taking the rest as prisoners.

He'd step up his training from here onward, if shit hit the fan, it might be up to him to fix it... His immortality allowed him to be a one-man army if he was skilled enough, so that's what he'd aim towards for the time being.