Endless Beginnings Pt. 3

Terra stood there as Luxa stopped to tell him all about the arena they now stood before. He could feel and even see some of the people heading in staring at him with jealousy, anger, and killing intent. A chuckle escaped his lips as Luxa was talking about his opponent with disgust clear in her voice. "Mind if I teach him a lesson? It'd be similar to the one I taught those apes who tried to kill me for merely defending myself and my prey." His kind smile made his offer all the more dangerous and desirable to her as she shivered.

"Yes, but don't kill him. After all, once I am gone the pack needs a capable hunter to lead them and hunt down food for the cubs and the adults." Luxa smiled brightly which stunned all who saw it since this was the first time she had smiled in a very long time. "Now, let's get you to the prep room so you can be prepared for your fight in a few minutes." She then guided him to said room and made sure he knew where the few weapons were and the light armor that the arena provided before going to her seat with reserved spots for her family.

Almost as soon as Luxa had left, the arrogant brat entered from another door. "How can you hunt, let alone fight, if you are blind?" His voice was dripping with arrogance, pride, and strangely a hint of worry. "I saw you make her smile. How did you do that? Even I can't do that and I've been trying for years, almost as long as she has been the top hunter." He frowned in thoughtful anger before he continued speaking. "You, a mere stranger, comes in being carried by her when she doesn't let anyone outside her family within her kill zone. In just the hour you've been here, she has opened up to you more than any other member of the pack in years." He stared at Terra for a moment. He opened his mouth but closed it for a bit before opening it again. "If you beat me, I'll tell you about your people and get out of your way if you decide to pursue Luxa. However, I win and you have to leave and never look at or talk to Luxa ever again. Do you understand, little freak?"

Terra just stretched and lazily created a pale blue flame in his left hand and grabbed a set of thin leather armor in his right before turning to face his opponent. "Why should I care about what you say in this pitiful room? You can tell me all about it when we face each other in the arena. Or are you too scared to say that where the crowd can hear you and hold you to it?" He slowly put the armor on before walking out with measured steps that spoke volumes of his strength and a firm belief in himself. Even the crowd loved his calm steady steps that spoke of quiet strength and more resolve than they had ever seen in those who went up against the 'bully of the ring' as they called him behind his back.

He frowned and picked up the only set of medium class armor, a chainmail shirt with plate greaves, a pair of gauntlets with claws forged at the tips of each fingers, and a circlet engraved with runes. He wore the suit and tried to imitate the stride of Terra, but it felt hollow, like a joke, and devoid of what made it so inspiring to the audience. He could feel it and the audience could see it for what it was. A hollow and cheap imitation of what they had just seen. "Alright. Like I said in the prep room, I win and you stay away from Luxa. You win, I'll tell you all we know about your kind and get out of your way if you pursue her. Let the audience serve as my witness." He looked at the stands to see Luxa was sitting at the front and her family was sitting around her. He flashed a smile at her that made the women behind her swoon in joy, but Luxa narrowed her eyes and flashed her teeth aggressively in disdain.

"Just so we are clear on this, if you break your promise, what will the punishment be?" Terra's voice echoed gently off the tall wooden walls of the stands and it made more than a few of the older generation look at him with respect and some of the young women to straighten and take another look at him. They received a growl from Luxa as she knew what they were like, but a couple of them didn't seem to notice. They were the other two that had been chased after before her but had been given up on since they were so stubborn. "I think being chased out of the village and then hunted down like a wild animal of prey would be a fitting punishment, but that is to be decided by the elders. If I lose, I will willingly leave the village and not seek out any member of the pack, even if they would be the only ones who could save me. You have my solemn oath."

The arrogant fool just scoffed at his words. "Alright then. Now that we have gotten the pleasantries over with, you may fight me, Lupus Sharpclaw, to the death if you so wish."

"Lupus, why would I deprive the pack of one of its future hunters before they have need of him? That would harm the pack more than it would help it. However, do not blame me if you crave death after this battle since you said it is a battle to the death. Just know that there is no shame in submitting to the stronger when their strength is absolute."

"Wise words to live by. I hope you adhere to them yourself, for your sake of course." Lupus lunged forward and started the fight by flinging a handful of loose dirt into Terra's eyes. He paused for a moment when he noticed that his opponent did nothing about the dirt that now clogged his eyes, but still pressed on to attack him. Suddenly, he felt a pain in his left shoulder which was more forward so he could tackle Terra to the ground. The girls in his fan club gasped as blood was seen darkening his snow white fur, but then they screamed when they saw a blade of condensed pale blue fire pierce clean through his right knee in a way that made him immediately collapse in pain.

"Is this truly the best warrior of the pack? The pride and joy of the guards and elders?" Terra shook his head in disbelief. "What a disappointment. It's no wonder Luxa won't give you a chance. You are weak, sloppy, and slow. If this were the wilds, you would have already died to an orangutan who was feeling just a little peckish. Tsk. Go train up to better serve your pack, little cub." He turned and started to walk to the exit, but it was only to hide a grin that would have otherwise chilled the audience. Only three steps were taken before he felt Lupus force himself up and charged at his open back. Luxa held a breath and grabbed her mother's hand in panic, which concerned her but she let her daughter have the comfort. Terra turned sideways just as the short sword's blade touched his back to give his young opponent some false hope. "My, my, it seems you might be a true warrior after all." He said in mock surprise.

"You! No one has dared to talk to me like you just did, and you will suffer for it!" Lupus had madness in his eyes as he swung his blade viscously, but none of his blows seemed to do any damage to even the armor his opponent wore. He swung a hundred times, and yet he was no closer to cutting the armor even a little bit. After a thousand swings, his arm started to grow numb. He switched hands and stepped up his game for the first time in years. Not even Luxa knew what he could do if he got serious as he'd never felt the need to be serious about anything before. Now? Now he had to step up his game or he risked looking like a fool before his pack, his father, but more importantly, the object of his obsession, Luxa, was watching as well. He hazard a glance back at her, but what he saw made him hesitate. She was staring at him, but it wasn't in love or admiration like he had hoped. Instead it was… Pity? 'Why is she pitying me?' That was the last coherent thought he had for a long while after a sentence that would haunt him for the rest of his miserable life.

"Are you ready for me to get serious now?" The dumb look Terra got seemed to say 'go ahead. What could you possibly do?' so he complied and got serious. The once cheerful crowd that had cheered once in a while now watched in horror as Lupus was smacked around like a pup who had done something unforgivable. He was cut apart again and again by thorny vines, razor winds, and cooked by raging fires that burnt away much of his prized fur coat. Lupus could pass as a human, but he kept his fur coat in his human form as he loved the stares of the women as he passed them by when he left the house. Now, he watched, felt, and smelled his lovely fur coat be ravaged by the starving flames crawling all over him. His wounds were cauterized as soon as they were made, but that didn't stop him from feeling the pain. The pain was excruciating to feel, but he couldn't do anything but howl his pain to the harsh sun above and the ever present green planet above that their small planet orbited as a moon. His howls were like a plea to the gods, but it seemed that even the gods had ordained this punishment for his laziness and shameful deeds against his elders and pack. It was this particular feeling that finally broke his pride, his spirit, and his will. He only whimpered in pain as he accepted the beating he was receiving, but never tried to avoid his due punishment that his father had sadly never given him. The pain almost made him pass out, but then there was a sudden pause. He looked up, only to see the smile of a true demon on the face of the punisher. A greenish golden flame that they all recognized flickered in his outstretched palm before it leapt onto him and started to heal him. He bowed his head to thank the demon who had spared him, but was met with the punishment starting up again. Only this time, it was worse. So much worse than before. If he thought he wanted to die before, that was nothing compared to what he felt now. He wanted to be killed, to be buried in the earth below his feet to stop the hail of fists, magic, and healing that he was subjected to. The arena was silent like a grave except for the sound of flesh hitting flesh, breaking bones, and the sound of fire and fierce winds. After an hour of being beaten and healed simultaneously, it finally stopped.

"This is what I did to the first orangutan that tried to steal my prey. I healed it just enough so it could call over more of it's kind before I slit its throat and waited for the challengers to come to me. This pup before my feet wouldn't last a minute of that, let alone the couple hours I survived their onslaught. If he is your best, you will die within five years." Everyone stared in horror at the person who was acting as if this was normal, as if there was no thick smell of blood, charred flesh, and smoldering fur. Terra just looked at the audience before seeming to focus on the elders with his emotionless orbs of dim jade green light. "If he is your best, then I suggest finding somewhere else to live where your lives are easier than they are now. I expect the information I was promised and the ability to choose a helper from among you to help me stay safe on my travels to discover my origins and why I am the way I am. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to wash the blood of a coward off of myself." With that sentence still ringing in their ears, the figure walked out of the arena with the same steps as before. The audience couldn't help but have respect for him well up inside them, even if it was buried behind resentment that he nearly killed the pride of the elders in a one sided beat down.

One elder was visibly trembling in barely repressed rage, but he did nothing to the stranger as he knew the stranger was correct. He had watched his son be beaten like he should have, and yet he couldn't bring himself to hurt his son. The boy's mother had died shortly after giving birth, and he looked so much like her that his son had become spoiled and thought he was free to do whatever he wanted when he really couldn't. "Show him to the hall." He said as he suddenly felt calm, even grateful towards the young man who had done what he couldn't have done. It must have shown that he let go of his anger because the other elders were puzzled and had looks of confusion clearly written on their faces. "I said, show the hero of our village to the hall. I will talk to my son and then I will pay my respects to the one who has shown us the path to survival." He stood and gently jumped to the arena floor and carried his still curled up son back to the prep room with steps that reflected Terra's, but held a clear hint of danger in them that couldn't be seen in the others.

As Terra was walking away from the wooden arena, a young werewolf caught up to him. This cub had emerald green fur with a sapphire blue patch over his left eye and a red patch that resembled blood in a loose sense around his right. His left eye was like a ruby in torchlight, while his right was like a sapphire reflecting the moonlight.

"Mr. Hero! Wait up." The cub was almost sprinting to catch up to him, but he didn't need to. "The elder's wish to speak with you at the Hall of Elders. Come, I will show you to the hall and we can even spar or talk while we wait for the elders to arrive since they need to take care of Lupus after the beating you gave him." His voice was attempting to sound grave, but it was ruined by his appreciation and excitement that shone through.

"Alright. Lead the way then." Terra bowed his head a bit in respect to the guide chosen by the elders.

The young wolf smiled and his ears and tail perked up at the treatment he was receiving. He bounded forward like a puppy and always came scrambling back when he got too far ahead. It only took a few times of this to reach the Hall of Elders, which was the only stone building in the village. It looked a lot like a spear of stone pushing up through the ground, but there were signs of life around one side of the triangular spearhead.

"We're here! I'm Discipuli by the way, what is your name?" The little wolf shifted into his humanoid form as they neared the entrance to the strange obelisk. His almost shoulder length hair faded from the emerald green of his fur to the color of the patch on each side of his nose. His eyes only seemed to grow sharper once he was fully human, but what stood out the most for Terra was that he could faintly sense that this werewolf had a natural affinity to raw magic, making him able to use and learn any element.

"I am called Terra. It's nice to meet you Discipuli." Terra gave another small bow before he continued on. "I'd like to spar with you if I could. It may prove useful to see if this pack is worth helping, especially if you can make me go serious during the spar."

Discipuli lightly shivered at the thought of the young warrior going serious on him, but nodded his head in agreement anyway. "Alright, we can spar for a little bit. The elders will be here soon so I hope to keep the spar short." Immediately after he said this, he had to defend himself from a sudden kick at his side. He punched the leg and knocked it away thinking, 'Strong!' as he felt the power the kick had contained. A firm kick landed on his shoulder and knocked him off balance before a simple push made him fall on his rear. He looked up with shock to see that Terra hadn't seemed to have moved, and yet here he was on the ground. "You're really strong. I'd be dead already if it were a wild beast with that speed and strength. Let's continue!" A fire had appeared in his eyes when he said this, and he leaped up from the ground. Before he had landed from his little hop, he had to deflect a kick directed to his center of mass that would have knocked him down again. He kept his eyes on his opponent and the surroundings as they spared for a little while longer.

The spar kept getting more serious as time went on, but neither of them cared. They both wanted to see their opponent get serious. Finally, after a half hour where neither could gain the advantage to win the spar, Discipuli revealed his secret to Terra. Raw mana seemed to bubble out of his skin and surrounded him in an aura of power that frightened off the last few members of the orangutan family that had come for revenge on Terra. Of course no one paid attention to the fleeing apes as they were too busy trying to process that they had a mighty warlock among them and they had never known until now. After exchanging a few more blows where Terra had to get a bit serious to cope with the change, the spar was stopped by Terra patting his partner's shoulder to convey his pride in him and merely said. "Thanks for letting go of your fear. I'll ask the elders if they will let me train you as I travel to find my origins." He then went inside and left Discipuli to think about the fight and see how he could improve himself further and what Terra had meant.