《Safe Haven No More》Pursue
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Atrimeaus awoke the following morning to the sounds of arguing outside of the cave. Coming slowly to his feet, Atri noticed some of the people's crude clothing lay before him. He decided it best to put them on before venturing outside to the commotion, sliding everything on remarkably quickly as he ran towards the sound. Although, the speed at which he put on the outfit was probably due to the lack of items. A small piece of animal hide covered his lover half, a strap of vine goes from it looping over Atri's shoulder.
Before Atri even reached the exit of the cave, he could already see what was happening outside. His eyes were already well adjusted to the sunlight thanks to the well-lit cave. Atri could see the red-haired spear wielder from yesterday, fighting with another man with light blonde hair. The red-haired man seemed to be defending himself from the blond man, who brandished a small sharp stone as if it were a knife. Wildly the blonde attempted to hack away at the red-haired man. Each blow sent off in another direction with ease.
They became surrounded by others who all seemed to be yelling the same words, though the meaning of these words is still entirely lost to Atri. Deciding this is a matter for their people alone, Atri caught sight of the Elder. He was standing behind the crowd gathered around the altercation. Seeing as the geezer is the only way to understand what is happening, Atri made his way around the others.
"Well, I see your people enjoy eventful mornings old man!" Atrimeaus lightly chuckled as he neared the Elder.
"It would seem so, and my name is Grunhilde, not old man!" his eyebrow twitching as he stood their arms crossed.
"Ah my apologies, I didn't mean to offend you. But please, what is all-" Atri vaguely gestured towards the fight occurring before them "-this about?"
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"The blonde-haired lad, Licanthrus, I believe, had an issue with your being here and challenged me for my right to lead." Grunhilde sighed deeply, rubbing his forehead as he continued. "However, Neiraus had other plans and stepped in on my behalf." Not even a moment after Grunhilde had said this to Atri, a fierce crunch sounded over the shouting crowd. The two men who were conversing with each other both darted their gaze over just in time to see Licanthrus fall to the ground. Crimson steadily flowed from the nose of the fallen, pooling on the ground in a small puddle. Neiraus began shaking his right fist back and forth, each of his knuckles turning a slight rose color.
* " kj Licanthrus, hn lsh hsdcn?" Neiraus spoke loudly towards the man on the ground before him.
* "yhg...lqi mws" Licanthrus spat blood on the dirt near Neiraus after whispering the last part, hardly audible to Atri.
"What did he say to him Grunhilde? All I understood of that was the blonde one's name." Atri whispered to the elder man standing next to him.
"Neiraus just asked if Licanthrus yields to him, and as expected after a blow like that, he did." Grunhilde whispered back to Atri.
Atrimeaus's gaze drifted from Neiraus, who was now moving past the crowd, to Licanthrus, who was getting up now. As he almost got to his full height, the blonde-haired man flicked his arm out towards Neiraus. The stone dagger flew full speed at its target, which at the time seemed to be Neiraus as it whizzed past his head. However, the blade did indeed hit its mark, finding purchase in the right bicep of Grunhilde. The old man clutched the spot around the dagger, being careful not to pull out the serrated blade and cause more damage. A plume of dust left behind Atri as he was already on his way to Lycanthrus. He was knocking over people as he went for the man who was now fleeing for his life. Joining Atri were several of the nomads, one of which was Neiraus.
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Even with the chasing party running at full speed, they could not catch up to Licanthrus. The blonde man ran unnaturally fast across the clearing, seeming to glide over every hole in the ground along the way. A decent distance away, Atrimeaus, Neiraus, and the other Nomads were still in pursuit. Suddenly Atri came to a sudden stop as they grew closer to the forest, seeing the corpse of the Venu that had almost ended his life.
"Venu!" Atri shouted towards Licanthrus, hoping he would come to a halt when he laid eyes upon the corpse of that creature. He did not, instead, he ran straight into the sea of luscious green past the Venu corpse. But the rest of the nomads did stop not long after Atri had shouted the words, standing there a moment to catch their breath. Atrimeaus was severely exhausted, running on nothing but water since he awoke. It took all of his strength to walk back to the cave where they took shelter with the other nomads. Someone was shouting from the camp as they returned as they drew near, it was apparent that the elder was the one shouting.
"Well, at least the old man is okay enough to yell at such high volume." Atri thought to himself as the other nomads greeting the ones behind him.
Grunhilde was yelling at the young man bandaging his arm as Atri approached him but stopped once he caught sight of the white-haired man returning.
"I see that Licanthrus did not return with you. What happened?" Grunhilde held a puzzled look on his face as he asked.
"We spotted the Venu corpse. Where I was attacked by a hoard of creatures. Licanthrus continued, completely disregarding my brief warning." Atrimeaus shook his head from left to right gently, a twinge of sadness in his voice.
"I see..." Grunhilde trailed off for a minute as if he became lost in his thoughts. "Then he is either dead or has a plan... but there is nothing to flee to in that direction but a river and-" His eyes shot wide, fear quite apparent in the dark down orbs.
"NO!" The elder man shouted as loud as thunder. "I have to gather everyone. We must get to him NOW!"
"What is-" Atri began to speak but was cut short by Grunhilde abruptly shouting at all the nomads in their strange language. Shortly after the elder shouting at a majority of them, the nomads all began to quickly gather their scarce belongings. Atri caught up to the elder once more, no longer wanting to ask any other question but one.
"Grunhilde, cant I please have some food?" A low grumble came from Atri's stomach just as he spoke the words.
After all the belongings were picked up, they made their way to the edge of the clearing where Licanthrus disappeared. Atrimeaus was not far behind them, stuffing his face as fast as possible with some berries gathered earlier by the others. Cautiously the party moved their way into the dense green of the lush forest, taking care not to disturb any of the branches lying loose on the ground. The footprints they followed into the forest were few and far between, an unnatural spacing to them noted by Atri. Another thing Atri noticed, was the missing corpse of the Venu along the way.
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