4 The Hunted Becomes The Hunter
Venator picked up the fruit that his family has been guarding for centuries, and bite off half of it.
Instantly, he felt a europhic rush of power; he felt as if he was invincible.
The feeling disappeared as quickly as it came, though now, Venator felt a lingering sensation deep within his body, as if he could call on it at anytime.
He took a deep breath and drew upon it.
Wisps of blue energy emanated from his body, and he willed them to move around.
The blue energy shined in the darkness of the cavern; like fireflies within the night.
He touched them and they provided a cooling and relaxing sensation for him.
"What is this...", Venator mumbled.
He knew about the devil fruits' existence, as his family had books about them.
But, he didn't know what this specific one did.
It could literally be anything. From creating earthquakes, manipulating the elements, or even transforming into an animal.
*AWWOOOOO*
The wolves' howlings echoed throughout the cave, and with each seconds, they were coming closer.
Venator used his experience as a hunter to calm himself down, and he tried to manipulate the mysterious energy to form an object.
One that he was very familiar with.
One that grew up by his side.
An arrow.
Venator willed the energy to come together and form an arrow.
He was unsuccessful the first few tries, but eventually, he got the energy to form a crude arrow.
That was also when he heard the wolves stepping in puddles.
He turned around and picked up the folded bow, unfolding it and nocking an arrow on it.
The wolves entered the cavern that he was in, expecting to devour the prey they've been chasing for the night.
The only thing they found was a hunter.
Venator calmly drew the strings back and fired his arrow, his blue eyes glowing in the dark.
The hunted has became the hunter.
...
Venator calmly took the lives of his prey with every arrow he fired.
No matter what his preys tried, the arrows found their targets every time without fail.
At one point, an arrow curved to pierce a wolf hiding for an ambush behind a rock.
Venator chuckled as he recalled that memory. It was nice to know more about the applications of your power.
So far, he knew a few things about his power.
1. It can be manipulated to form different shapes.
2. It can be used to plug up wounds that are bleeding, although he would have to wait for them to heal normally.
3. He can manipulate it even after it has been fired. That was also the reason why his arrow curved.
Venator was evidently lost in thought as he tried to find more applications of his power, while walking back to his house.
'By now, Erobus probably already have left.'
At the thought of his traitorous brother, fury surged in his chest.
He was in a bad condition because of Erobus.
Clothes tattered, wounds healing.
'Speaking of clothes... I need to find new ones.'
Venator didn't have a lot of clothes, and most of them were ripped in some way or another.
A bright idea suddenly came into his mind; 'Why don't I skin the snake and use it as clothes?'
He changed his destination.
Venator scoured through the forest, trying to find the snake's remnants, and that wasn't very hard when the snake is ginormous.
He walked to the head of the snake, and found his tattered satchel.
He fished out a hunting knife from what was left of his satchel, and began skinning the snake.
The process took quite a while, and it would take even longer to cure it, but that's fine.
The coat will be a trophy. Proof that he surpassed his ancestors.
...
(2 weeks later)
Venator's wounds fully healed during that time, and the snake skin was also cured by then.
He made the skin into a coat, and it felt surprisingly comfortable.
His house was still intact by the time he got back, and as he expected, Erobus already left by then.
He found the notebook on the living room, flipped to near the end, and instructions to get to the reward from his father was on the page.
'You need the Snake of Mercury's eyeball as the final component to the lock in the basement, and in there, you will find our ancestor's bow.'
Venator read this with a somber look in his eyes, and he walked to the basement, where he saw the doors opened.
He entered the basement and was instantly hit with shock.
There was 2 rewards for completing the hunt.
1. Sova's bow
The second reward was... a locket of his mother.
The matriarch of the Sova family died when Venator and his siblings were young, and there were little to nothing left of her because... she tried to hunt the Snake of Mercury.
Whatever little left of her was monopolized by their father, who grieved over her everyday.
The hunt could've been a way to get revenge for her.
As expected, Erobus took Sova's bow, but he left their mother's locket.
Venator gladly took it and wore it around his neck.
That was also when he was hit with a realization.
He was one of the two members of his family left. And he was also the oldest one.
Now, he is the patriarch of the Sova family.
...
Patriarchs of the Sova family had the rights to decide the prey for a hunt.
"I, the patriarch of the Sova family, use my rights to declare a hunt. The prey shall be...", Venator Sova said the words with a face boiling with fury.
"Erobus Sova."
With that declaration, Venator has decided his prey.
His own sibling.
Venator put on the mercury coat and folded his bow, before heading for the docks on their island.
There was originally 6 boats, 1 for each members of the family.
Now, only 3 were left. Venator's, his father's, and his mother's.
Venator got onto his boat, careful to not touch the sea water, and rather than using the oars, he created a sail for his boat.
As the boat sailed into the ocean, and Venator took one last look at his home.
He unfolded the bow on his back and created two arrows. One for each of the boat there.
He calmly nocked the arrows on his bow and released them both at once.
As the arrows sailed through the air with a sharp whistle, he turned around.
"Goodbye."
