//------------------------------// // Bloodied Capture // Story: A New Culture with Old Ideas // by Xvern //------------------------------// “By the Gods, does this thing not require rest?” Zoticus grumbled as he brought up the rear of the group. Nearly two hours had past since encountering Silvia and they hadn't spotted hide nor hair of the creature. It's prints were steady but they changed direction often and, when they came across a stream, had disappeared until Pantera had found more farther upstream. Whatever this thing is, it's not stupid, Marius concluded as he watched Pantera studiously follow the tracks. Marius and his party were moving at a brisk pace, yet even this pace seemed to be slower than the creature's. “Marius, we are nearing Minotaur territory. I suggest ending the search here,” Silvia informed, “The local village can be very territorial.” Marius glanced back at the Gryphoness. Her eyes, though they had sparkled with a playfulness when they first met, were now cold and serious. Her stature was wide and her wings looked ready to snap open. Though he didn't know the Gryphoness, he respected her viewpoint as a sort of local guide. “Very well,” Marius replied, “We'll stop here for now.” On those five words, the Gryphons following him came to a tired halt. “Drink water and relax your muscles, we take wing for Leafwing in five,” he ordered. Getting nods in reply, his party sat in a loose cluster as they produced canteens from their pouches. Marius sat down next to a tree and pulled out his own canteen. Unstopping the top, he took a drink, relishing the feeling of the water sliding down his throat. “It's nearby,” Pantera commented, sitting down beside Marius, “I can feel it. It might even be watching us right now.” Marius looked at Pantera with a raised brow before looking out at the surrounding forest with squinted eyes, struggling to pick out even the smallest sign of the creature. “I doubt it. It's been moving at our pace or faster and has no reason to stop. With the lead it had on us, I assume it's deep into Minotaur territory now,” Silvia argued as she also sat down beside Marius. Pantera's throat rumbled in a growl. “Leave us Pantera,” Marius ordered. “Gladly.” The tracker stood and walked away from the two, glaring at Silvia as he did. Silvia glared back while Marius took another drink from his canteen. When Pantera finally broke his glare to sit with the others of the party, Marius sealed his canteen and returned it to it's pouch. “We Gryphons of Winterpeak are proud folk. You're lucky he didn't challenge you there and then,” Marius explained, unnerved as Silvia's glare was now focused on him. “Hurt pride? From hearing the opinion of another?” “He is the proudest of the proud.” Silvia raised a brow, “That pride seems to falter for you, however.” “Does it now?” Marius chuckled. “It does,” Silvia confirmed, “So, Marius of Winterpeak, how does a Gryphon from the mountains find himself chasing a creature in the forests?” The Gryphon looked at her with a smirk on his beak, a glint of playfulness in his eyes. A roar echoing off the trees killed that glint and left whatever response he had to wilt on his tongue. “What was that?” Zoticus asked, startled. Another roar echoed off the trees, causing the bones in Marius's wings to rattle. “Minotaurs,” Silvia growled, “we should leave.” “They must have found the creature, Marius,” Pantera theorized, “They aren't far from here. We can take wing, swoop in and-” “Are you mad?” Silvia shouted, “Minotaurs don't just carry axes and warhammers! If they're in these woods, they are likely to be carrying crossbows!” Pantera closed the distance between himself and the Leafwing Gryphoness, murderous intent in his eyes. “Then it'll be a sad sacrifice for Silvia of Leafwing to take a bolt, won't it?” he growled, a claw on the handle of his blade. With a flap of wings and creaking of wood, Pantera instead found himself going cross-eyed to focus on an arrowhead. Having pushed Silvia back, Zoticus now stood between the Gryphoness and Pantera, his wings out and helping him balance as he held a bow in his claws. Pulled taut, he had aimed the arrow at Pantera. “You will not harm her,” he muttered darkly, his eyes burning with rage. Shock stunned Pantera for only a moment, “Following the whim of your libido is dangerous, cub. Your uncle will hear of this, I assure you of that.” “Enough!” Marius roared at the same time that another Minotaur roar came echoing from the trees, “Both of you will quit bickering like cubs! Zoticus,” the young adult glanced at him, “you will lower your bow and return that arrow to your quiver.” A second's hesitation, “Of course.” As Zoticus followed the order, Marius turned on Pantera, “And you will fly back to Leafwing and notify Pratius of our imminent return.” “Surely you jest, Marius,” Pantera laughed, “Let us use this Leafwing wench to-” Whatever Pantera would've said was lost in the pained grunt that escaped his beak after Marius's fist had crashed into his face. Spitting blood onto the ground, Pantera looked into Marius's fiery eyes with his own shocked ones. “Take wing,” Marius growled, “before I offer you to the Minotaurs as a coat!” Pantera said nothing as his eyes hardened into a glare. A glare that flickered between Marius and Silvia. Spreading his wings, he propelled himself straight up, out of the forest before flying in the direction of Leafwing. “Let's go,” Marius ordered when Pantera was gone from sight. “You still want to head toward the Minotaur?” Silvia asked incredulously. “We won't 'swoop in',” he explained, “We'll asses the situation before we act. Though we may have to act fast.” Silvia nodded after a second thought, “Very well.” Without further speaking, the group of Gryphons took off through the forest in the direction of the roars. We haven't heard one in a while, Marius realized, Either the creature is dead or it has fled again. Weaving through the trees, Marius's eyes narrowed, Without the roars to warn us, we could be right on top of them before we realize it. As if the world heard his thought, the next tree he passed brought him in view of the Minotaur. Skidding to a halt, he ducked behind a tree while motioning for his companions to do the same. The other four Gryphons slammed against trees in sudden stops, peeking around at the Minotaur. Marius studied the Minotaur, raising a brow at it's kneeling posture. Kneeling on the ground, unmoving, it looked serene amidst the flora of the forest. Serene. Exactly what a Minotaur isn't, Marius thought. The Gryphon spotted what looked to be a crossbow laying in the dirt a couple feet from the kneeling Minotaur, confusing him even further. No hunter, let alone a Minotaur, would allow such distance between themselves and their weapon. Looking at his companions, Marius motioned for Silvia to follow him while the others kept watch. He saw the hesitation flicker across her face before she nodded. Her curiosity has gotten the better of her, he thought as he moved from the behind the tree. With Silvia moving in line with him, they approached the Minotaur, wary of sudden movements. Stepping on branches in his path, Marius was sure that the Minotaur knew of his presence. Even so, “Excuse me, honorable Minotaur, we wish to speak with you,” he said as politely as possible, disgusted with himself at calling such a savage creature honorable. Still, there was no response from the Minotaur. It neither stirred nor twitched at the noises and voice behind it. It just knelt, arms hanging at it's side and head...hung...low. Realization began to dawn on Marius as he picked up his pace. Surely I'm wrong, he thought as his jog turned to a sprint. Silvia, now a couple steps behind, sped up to match his pace and, within a second they were upon the Minotaur. Even the increased pace didn't stir the beast and, rounding to it's front, they found out why. An axe, the Minotaur's own if the ring on his, as it was a male, hip was any indication, was imbedded in the middle of it's face. It was at such a angle that had not allowed them to spot it from behind the deceased Minotaur. Looking closer, Marius saw many smaller cuts across it's body and a single stab wound on it's right forearm. Would explain it losing it's axe. That stab would have caused it to drop it in pain, he pieced together, And this Minotaur looks to have been early in his adolescence ages. Though powerful and unpredictable, he would have still been lacking skills in battle. “Uh, M-Marius?” Silvia called to him, her voice breaking and sounding scared. Marius looked for her to find her standing by the crossbow. The weapon wasn't what she called him for however, as she was pointing into the forest, in the direction that the dead Minotaur faced. Turning his body to look, his eyes widened in shock, “By the Winds.” There stood the creature, covered in blood, it's breathing ragged and labored. It's clothes were ripped in places, revealing the bloodied skin underneath. Blood ran from it's nose and mouth like rivers and Marius spotted the feathered bolt from the crossbow sticking out of it's left upper leg. Standing between two trees, it leaned on neither. Instead, it stood in the slightly bent posture of a fighting stance with a small knife in it's right claw. “H-how is it standing?” Silvia stammered, examining the creature as Marius was. Her voice drew the creature's sight to her and, in it's tiny eyes, Marius thought he saw something akin to recognition. “Silvia,” Marius began. Instantly, the creature looked at him and raised it's knife slightly, readying to fight. He stayed quiet, worried that it might try to attack him if he said any more. Though he was certain that he could take it in it's current state, he was shocked that it was still able to even be ready to fight in it's state. “Shhh,” Silvia cooed, holding a shaking claw out toward the creature as if offering it assistance, “I-it's okay.” It's eyes darted to Silvia, before resting on her shaking claw. Licking it's lips, it readjusted it's grip on the knife. Marius tensed his legs, ready to jump between Silvia and the creature. Instead, Marius was shocked when the creature suddenly threw the bloodied weapon on the ground before the Leafwing Gryphoness, falling to his knees shortly thereafter. Marius locked eyes with the wounded creature and saw the fear, hurt, and anger swirling in those small orbs. It's mouth moved, but no sound came out before the creature tipped backwards. Silvia moved as quick as the wind, catching the creature before it fell too far. Carefully, she moved it's legs so they were straight out before gently laying the being onto it's back. She then looked at Marius, allowing the Gryphon to see the stern look in her eyes. “Don't just stand there!” she hissed, “We have to help it!” Marius didn't try to argue. Instead, with a final glance at the Minotaur, he moved to assist Silvia. He must be highly skilled, Marius thought, Or incredibly lucky. -_-_-_-_- Hazel eyes fluttered open to a wooden ceiling. Orange light flickered across the grains of the boards. He raised his right hand... to have it stopped barely an inch off the ground the sound of clanking chain echoing in the room. Looking at the hand, he spotted a metal bracelet with the offending chain hanging from it. Again, he tried to raise his hand, watching as the chain went taut and stopped his hand once more. Looking left, Odom spotted another metal bracelet. His tired mind dragging the name 'shackle' from the depths in regard to the bracelet. He raised his feet one at a time to find that they were also shackled to what the posts of the bed he realized he was in. Odom sighed as he stared at the candle on the nightstand, the flame dancing atop the wax. “Where the hell am I?” he muttered under his breath. He thought that it was a good guess that he was still not back at Fort Carson, nor anywhere near there. In fact, he was fairly certain that he had been captured by the Gryphons. How though? What happened before I passed out? His leg ached, as if in response to his question. Raising his head and upper body as far as the chains allowed, Odom hissed as pain flared across his body. Ignoring the pain, he looked upon himself to see that his uniform, torn as it was, had been removed from his beaten body. Only a small blanket covered his crotch. Most the rest of his body was also covered, though by bandages instead of clothes or a blanket. “Right.” I remember the Minotaur bursting from the trees, roaring. Sighing, yet resigned to a fate yet unknown, Odom laid back down. As he awaited the arrival of his captors, he uttered but a single word. “Fuck.”