Custom Concern

There are times in which I can wake up from sleep, and be perfectly functional right away. Most times, though, not a single thing can wipe away the haze that lingers on. And tonight, was one of those second times.

While I am able to function, it is only to a limited extent. The muscles, all over my body, lack the energy to move in a fluid extent, that I am used to. And my thought processes, they have not cleared up enough for me to be able properly consider what is going on, at this moment.

Struggling to find my bow in the cart, where it is currently stored, I regret that I have unstrung it. The draw weight of the bow is not that heavy, but at this time, trying to bend the bow enough, just to attach the string to both sides, is a task in itself. I still need to be able to notch the arrow to the string, why fingers currently lacking dexterity.

Throughout this whole time, I had been hearing what Vezena declared. The inconsistency of the noise is what was the most poignant part of it. Without out any set amount of time, rustling of leaves and branches alarmed me that an attack of some sort was imminent.

"If you aren't able to help, get behind me. I'll do something." (Rehor)

There was no insult intended towards what I said to my guest. I remembered from earlier, that I saw no weapon on her person. As I had no idea of what was actually going on, I do not wish to have anything any my way, where it would be a distraction.

"Thank you." (Vezena)

At last, my brain was starting to work. The sound is coming from nearly the same location each time that I hear it. I started to send out pulses of power attached with the essence of motion. This was something that was taught during my training.

Like radar, or sonar, I sent out waves of power, and sense where any motion occurs. Unlike using powers more associated with the mental essence attached, this skill was meant for a wide area. Mental powers needed to be more focused, which as I did not know where the attacker was, it was not something that would be fruitful.

"Fuck…" (Rehor)

"What was that?" (Vezena)

"Nothing. It was nothing." (Rehor)

I exclaimed out my frustration with the situation as soon I realized I was facing another Unleashed. The power the I sent out, was blocked around the target, preventing me from finding out what was being aggressive towards the two of us. Only another Unleashed could do this, negating my power.

With my powers, I have confidence that, will I might not win, I will definitely not lose. Creative use of the power, in a fight, has the ability to turn the tides of most battles. In a one on one fight, against someone who is not an Unleashed, I can distract them enough.

Take a trained warrior for example. A simple halt of their steps, will unbalance them, with nearly no effort used on my part. Or, using more power, I could heat up or cool off an area of there body, hindering their movements. That is excluding the ability to just read their surface thoughts on what they were going to do. There are also more advanced skills, which I have no idea if they would work, which could be even more detrimental to their efforts.

Against another Unleashed, I have no clue on if I could even survive this encounter. Wild un-Collared Unleashed, while not common, do exist. Depending on how long they have survived, even without any systemic training, I have no idea of what they could do.

Fuck!!!

Ignoring all lethargy that I was still feeling, I need to do something. Being reactive to an attack, in this situation, is a bad choice. I need to attack, and I need to attack before my enemy attacks me. I just hope that this works.

*BOOM*

I created a loud explosion of sound, nothing other than sound. My thinking is that this will startle my attacked, causing them to attack me before they are truly ready to make their move. That, or it will scare them away.

Waiting for a few moments, I saw the underbrush start to move out of the way, showing me from where my attacker is coming from. Before I can let them do anything else, I need to attack again. Letting my attacker regain their proper cognition can not be granted.

I sent a wave of cold out from my body, slowly starting to freeze the surrounding area. This attack, I know, is not going to do anything to harm my attacker, but it should allow me some time, when they appear, to attack properly. And with a clear night, allowing the area to be illuminated, I finally see who is wanting to attack me.

If it was a human, I would not have any hesitation. I do not think that if it was some predatory animal, that had become Unleashed, and was attacking, I would have been as surprised as I was. No, it was neither of those two things. Instead, what was approaching me, with anger in its eyes, was a rodent.

There was a decent amount of light in the area, so that I could see. Yet, how could I not be shocked to be attacked by a tiny, diminutive, unassuming, brown mouse. If what I am seeing is real, the thing attacking all the traders, is probably this mouse. A mouse, that has been Unleashed. What?

To say what I am thinking, I am shocked. While I have heard of animals becoming Unleashed, it had never occurred to me, that even those animals, that are not aggressive, could have the chance of becoming one, and then start to attack humans. How could such a situation occur, where an Unleashed rodent, attacks humans?

I am sure that it is this creature that is an Unleashed. Now that I can see it clearly, I can see that it is trying to use its power to try and attack me. Though unskilled in its use, it is continuously trying to kill me. With its wild attacks, I am only able to defend myself, to the best of my ability. The only thing to me, right now, is me and the mouse.