Brutalise

After they had killed the man and wolf duo the younger men celebrated briefly but Cuth'lu was already doing something that confused Luca, he had pulled some thicker plant fibre rope from his waist and began to tie to around the wolf's body. Once done he tossed the rope over a tree branch and hefted it up before making a knot and making sure the body stayed mid-air. There was one thing that bothered Luca about this however, "Should we not, well you know... Bury the Karaskir tribesman?" he asks, knowing full well that human corpses carry nasty diseases if left alone.

Cuth'lu shakes his head, "His body will fertilise the land they tried to steal, the damage they caused to the animal populations in the area will be aided with his flesh." he states, making Luca feel slightly sick at the situation as a whole...

"And the wolf? Should we not carry it with us?" he asks as he looks around, knowing full well that there are animals capable of obtaining the carcass hanging from the tree.

Cuth'lu again shakes his head, "We are not done with our task, we will trail back and collect the corpses once we are done." he says with Luca nodding his head.

And thus the ambush had begun, with one pair of hunter and companion already eliminated they continued through the outskirts of their territory, Cuth'lu constantly low to the ground checking broken twig, tracks and even scents left by those passing by. Luca was impressed at the man's abilities as being able to tell the difference between a wolf and other predators in the forest by scent alone is incredibly difficult, let alone doing it hours after they'd left it.

The group walked for a while, the young men mostly staying behind Luca as they had more confidence in his aim than their own due to his first showing. It wasn't long before Cuth'lu stopped them and pointed towards two men talking to one another rather loudly, they didn't seem to even consider that the Sua'jiki would form a counter attack at their efforts to destabilise them.

"Why are we still doing this?" one asks.

"Because the chief ordered it, do not question him or you will end up like the others." the other replies in a low voice, as if the leader was listening to them.

"Feimrir is old, I doubt his abilities will remain for long."

"SHH!" he places a finger to his lips, "Do not speak of something like that or you will be thrown in the kennel!" he says quickly but quietly.

Luca can barely overhear their conversation but picks up the name Feimrir, he could also hear them talk about some sort of "Kennel"... If it's anything like what he thinks it is then the Wolves would be kept in it, being thrown inside would essentially mean you'd be eaten alive... Something that he'd experienced before and funnily enough, didn't want to feel again.

Cuth'lu draws his bow back with an arrow already in place, neither he nor Luca could see the wolf companions and assumed they'd be off hunting while these two did nothing. Cuth'lu was about to attack when he noticed Luca's hand shaking. "What is it?" he mutters quickly, not wishing to lose the element of surprise.

Luca looks up at him in confusion before actually noticing he is in-fact trembling, "I-I'm not sure..."

Cuth'lu shakes his head, "Do not think about anything and throw your weapon, we must do this for the tribe." he says sternly, returning to aiming at his target and waiting for Luca to make the first move.

Luca didn't know what was wrong with him, he'd killed countless animals before this but now he was shaking at the thought of killing a human? He tries to stifle the shaking in his hand but doesn't manage it, finding it stupid to continue holding Cuth'lu back he throws the spear, closing his eyes as he's about to release the spear.

*Twang! Thump!*

*Duk*

Two distinctly different sounds echo through the forest, one of an arrow hitting bone while the other a spear hitting wood. Luca opens his eyes and sees one dead Karaskir tribesman and another looking in shock at a spear that'd just missed his head sticking out of a nearby tree.

The man panics and looks towards where the projectiles had come from while whistling, Cuth'lu quickly retrieves another arrow but a rock wheezes through the air at a fast speed past them. Luca looks over and sees the man holding some kind of strange rope? He's shoving another stone into the end of it and starting to swing it over his head, he doesn't manage to release another stone as an arrow hits him in the shoulder and forces him to the ground.

A roar is shouted from the group as a couple people charge at the downed man with spears in-hand. Le'du is looking around rapidly with his bow drawn, waiting for the wolve's that'd undoubtedly make themselves known soon enough.

Luca's eyes are still on the downed Karaskir as the young men charge over and start viciously stabbing him in various places with their spears.

"AHHHHHHHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!" He screams in utter agony as more and more stab wounds appear on his body, however the Sua'jiki men don't relent and continue their assault. Their movements crude but effective as they brutally murder him. They almost seem to foam at the mouth as they butcher the man.

Luca drops to his knees and vomits as he sees this, not expecting these people around his age to act like this. They are savages, mindless beasts... The only difference in his mind is that they didn't eat him afterwards.

While Luca is on all fours the bushes beside them rustle, Cuth'lu is alert and fires an arrow into it, receiving a whine from a wolf. Immediately after two wolves leap from the undergrowth, one with an arrow in it's shoulder but still moving. They run at them, one at first going for Luca but for some reason changing it's target to Cuth'lu.

Le'du releases an arrow that skims past a wolf as it charges at him, he pulls out a flint knife from his belt and crouches low in preparation to receive the wolf. It jumps at him, his knife slipping into it's belly as it bites him on the shoulder. Luca tries to pull the animal off of him but only succeeds in worsening Le'du's wound as it's teeth lacerates his flesh. Le'du continues to rapidly stab the animals stomach, letting blood flow on to himself and the floor. Eventually the wolves grip weakens and it falls to the ground weakly, Le'du immediately pouncing on it and stabbing it in the neck many times for good measure.

Cuth'lu had just finished off his wolf, his flint axe sticking from it's skull at an awkward angle. The only injury he seems to have sustained in a bite mark on his shin, though it only seems to be superficial. "Are you okay?" he asks as he walks over to Le'du and examining the wound on his shoulder.

He nods through heavy breathes, "Yes but... " he looks at his injury, "I am not sure how bad it is."

Luca takes a closer look and sees that the flesh is mangled and muscle is clearly visible, Le'du flinches as Cuth'lu tries to examine it. "This is bad, you need to see the Shaman or you might lose your arm." he says gravely.

Le'du has a determined expression, "I can still fight." he states, however his moist eyes and trembling body tell a different story.

Cuth'lu shakes his head, "No, you are family and I will not risk your life for something so stupid." he turns to Luca, "Take him back, you fear staining your hands but you should be fine keeping animals away from him... Take back the prey we left earlier and tell Sarr'vuln our progress." he states, leaving no chance for the duo to question his orders.

Luca can only nod and retrieve his spear as Cuth'lu wraps Le'du's wounds with a few large leaves. They start heading back but Le'du accidentally drops something that Luca picks up... It's the bag of white powder... Huh, he'd forgotten to take it as he'd been told. It seems that Le'du hadn't either as the string keeping it closed is still untouched... Shaking his head, he focuses on getting his injured companion back to the village.