Found
It had already been 4 hours since Damien began hiding in the the thorny patch of bushes and nearly 12 hours since he killed his father. It was now approaching mid day and even with the vast cover of trees, light still shown through. To make himself less visible he smeared himself with soil and laid completely still. His situation had always been grim, not only was his body incredibly weak, but he had many long lasting injuries that limited both his abilities and options moving forward. Truth be told he had no clue how he'd survive the forest, all he could really do was hope for a miracle. Not only was his knowledge on the forest itself lacking but he didn't have even a smidge of combat skills to speak of. If he were to actually meet any of the terrifying beasts, his only options would be to flee and the outcome would likely result in his death. He had to be extremely careful going forward, of course all of this was assuming that the guards don't find him within the next few hours. At that point, he might as well off himself in advance.
As he pondered and scoured his memories of any bits and pieces of information that could help him, in the distance he heard a low humming sound steadily approach him. He dared not make the slightest movement, perfectly controlling his body to lie completely still. This was quite an easy feat for him, for some reason he was born with a miraculous control over his entire body, even from a young age he was able to avoid the more serious blows of his fathers fists by moving his body in ways that dispersed some of the impact. This was only accentuated more by his sharp mind honed over the many years of abuse. Even as the man approached him he did not panic, he didn't let the nervousness that creeped within the corner of his mind cloud his wits or judgement.
When the man approached the large patch of bushes. He didn't really have a reaction, he knew what these types of bushes were, and anybody would be a fool to actually hide in them. Still he had a job to do, even if he wasn't taking the search too seriously, he still had to do his duty as a guard or least make it seem so. Nearby there was a large boulder with some rocks around its perimeter. The short guard walked over and picked a few large stones and hurled them into the bushes. This was the only thing he could think of doing save for actually going into the bushes themselves. The patch was quite large and any visual scan of the many tangled branches would be completely useless. Almost mechanically, he began to harshly chuck the rocks into the small lake of green. When the first bunch of stones dwindled away he chose some new ones and continued.
Within the bushes, Damien still lied with absolute stillness. Even as the rocks grazed his shoulder or struck his ribs he didn't so much as grunt. Only a few found their mark, but even those couple were extremely painful, every guard trained harshly since childhood, taking on the role of fighting off fierce beasts, a level of physical strength was naturally required. The rain of stone continued for 15 minutes before it ceased and even Damien couldn't help let out a breathe of relief, even though he was entirely capable of enduring for far longer, he worried his body would be too injured to continue. Those rocks would only serve to further ruin is already fatigued and injured body.
In the distance he could hear the low voice of a guard, "Not here it seems. Well as expected, the Prickle Bush would cause even the most veteran guards to yelp in pain. Haha onward, I doubt he could get any farther than this but best be careful." The guard walked off and a quiet calm descended on the forest. Only the songs of nearby birds were audible in the surroundings. Within the bushes, his body finally relaxed a bit, well as much as it could relax, even lying completely still, pain still shot through him in pulses. He desperately wanted to shut his eyes and rest but, he knew that'd be like signing his own death warrant. The guard was still searching for him and if he happened to make noise in his sleep while the guard happened to backtrack, he'd be absolutely defenseless, unable to even kill himself.
Apparently the guard was quite the impatient person because after another hour he came walking back with a familiar hum. He swiftly passed by the bushes and gave it a final glance before turning around again. It was then that the guard abruptly halted, as he turned, his green teeth were illustrating a hideous grin. With a small chuckle he turned and moved towards the edge of the bushes, he bent down and picked up a small piece of clothe stuck to a thorn. It was covered in dirt and barely distinguishable from the branch he found it on. He stood up and carefully scanned the area, this time was different, he was taking it serious now, completely displaying the keen senses of a guard honed over countless years of tracking and battle. It was then that he finally noticed all the clues, a bit further in, the smears of crimson strung along a path leading into the depths of the brush. After seeing that he was certain, that little bastard was in there.
Without hesitation the guard took out a small wooden sphere with a needle sized hole on it, on the opposite side was a similar but bigger hole. He carefully placed the bigger hole between his lips and harshly blew, but not a peep was made. He blew three more times before placing it back into the pack on his waste. In the distance the guards stopped their search and took out a small cube of glass, within was a tiny insect, it's had a large head and a small body with 6 small legs. When they stared into the cube the insect was violently vibrating its head against the walls of the cube, without question this was the signal, the squad leader must've found him. Each of the three other guards swiftly ran in his direction.
After another half hour they arrived on his position, the squad leader was leaning against a boulder and nearby was a small area of green Prickle Bushes that left a hint of fear in their expressions. All of the guards knew how painful those things were and most refused to even stand near them without good reason. As they approached the squad leader, he lifted his hand and pointed. Seeing this, their expressions took a turn for the worst, no one would be willing to dive into a sea of Prickle Bushes for a runaway, they would rather kill him from a distance and be done with it. Even so, they were ordered to capture him alive if possible.
Even the squad leader was quite perplexed on this issue, it'd be extremely difficult to fish him out. Every step would be like walking through a sea of fire, that shot pain through every inch of your skin. This astonished him even more, how was it possible for that slave-like boy to endure such pain without giving away his position. Even with his capabilities, the sight of the bushes made him palpitate, the red tipped thorns sent shivers down his spine.
It was then that he felt fear, a kind of fear he'd never experienced before. In the back of his mind was the image of a skinny boy wading through an ocean of thorns, without so much as a change in expression, the boy waded forward into an endless abyss. Damien scared him. as a squad leader, he'd been in charge of many promising guard candidates and facilitated much of their trainings. Perhaps the most important aspects of that, was his methods in training willpower. He shoved them into dangerous situations, led them to the brink of despair, and pushed them to overcome harsh tribulations. All for the sake of making their hearts stronger. Any hesitation on the battlefield would undoubtedly result in death. There was no room for fear or nervousness in a guards heart, guards needed strength of Will above all else. And yet, this boy willingly dragged his broken body into the prickle bushes. A type of bush were a single thorn would shake the heart of even the most sharpened guards. He wanted to kill Damien, no, he needed to kill him. Such a monster cannot be taken alive, monsters like Damien could shake the entire foundation of the Green Forest Village. A person with nothing to lose was scary, but a person with unshakable resolve was utterly terrifying.
As he considered this he opened the sack at his waist and took at a small grey sphere. On the surface of the sphere were what looked like writhing veins pulsing black blood throughout its structure. This was the core of one of the strongest beasts he had ever faced in the depths of the forest, a Blood Bear. All beasts were strong, but those who possessed cores were the elite among the elite. Core Beasts were born with magical abilities activated by a special organ in their bodies. The more terrifying the ability, the more terrifying the Core Beast. And the Blood Bears were indeed terrifying. Their magical abilities reflected their names, Blood. By ingesting an enemies blood, the ability activates and violently drains away whatever traces are within the range of the ability. True Blood Bears are able to drain away the blood of any wounded organism within a 10ft. radius, making them nearly impossible to fight in close quarters. The squad leader had assaulted a blood bear for an entire night with layers of arrows from afar before the beast finally fell and he obtained this core.
Most core abilities had very stringent activations. For example, the Blood Bear first had to ingest the blood of an enemy in order for the core to begin the absorption. However, if properly activated, Core Beasts were nearly unbeatable under favorable conditions. As the squad leader rolled the core in his palm, he walked to the minute traces Damien left while entering the prickle bush. About a foot into the brush was a thorn dripping with crimson blood. With a look of hesitation, he carefully reached his hand forward and attempted the break off the small thorn. As he did so, the quick motions of his finger tips sent the tip of his thumb flying into one of the surrounding thorns. Fear, then an ugly look was immediately plastered on his face, as the thorn was plunged into his thumb, his scream echoed outwards into the surrounding forest. He tumbled backwards, fiercely clutching his hand as the core fell to the ground and rolled into the Prickle Bush.
——
In the bushes, Damien listened to the surroundings with a heavy heart. He could hear as the other guards approached his location and the long silence that leaked out as they considered their options. As soon, as he heard the guard halt in his tracks he realized his mistake. Although small, the traces he left would have been clearly visibly to an experienced tracker. His only thought was to get as far into the bushes as possible and in doing so failed to erase his tracks. A mistake that may have costed him everything. As he was beginning to accept his fate, he heard a scream rip through the surroundings and mutterings of worry from the other guards. In that moment, a spark of inspiration appeared in his mind.