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Silence slowly broke by gently rolling waves as they washed their white foams across the pale sands of the rocky shoreline. Numbness gave way to small sensations, first the coolness of the ocean wind, then the slowly returning pain throughout his body as Kaille stirred from unconsciousness, his muzzle half buried into the white sands. His vision was vague, cloudy, only able to fully open one eye the other swelled shut and throbbing to the touch with a pain that shot through his face. Unaware of where he was or able to immediately discern his own condition, the Sen forced a paw under him, then two and pushed upwards. Stumbling clumsily like a blind man drunk, it took an uncertain amount of time for Kaille to regain his composure, though he still hunched slightly from the pain that racked his length and form when made to exert itself too harshly. Still clouded, he turned about, looking around through his one good eye to see where he was. Planks of charred and swollen wood lifted and settled as the water moved under them at the edge of the shoreline, the waves reflecting the fiery red sunset that captured the essence of what had come before. Gazing out at the endless ember colored sea before him, Kaille's mind flashed erratically with scenes from his last conscious moments, the sight of his mother being torn from his view in a violent portrayal of piracy at work amid choking black smoke and screams. Standing there, in realization to the horrible precision and cruelty of such an act, Kaille fell to his knees and let out a long, morose howl, hot tears pouring down his matted fur in rage and sorrow. There he stay for a long while, uncaring to anything else and all sensations around him. Crying until he felt no more tears were within him, Kaille watched out on the open water and behind his silvery gold eyes, a powerful spark burst forth in his mind, birthing an intense flame that burned white with his loss and anger. There, upon that barren spot that had borne witness to tragedy, Kaille rose and clenched his fist, speaking under his breath with an uncharacteristically dark tone.

"Marscella... Mother... I promise you... I will not stop until I find the ones responsible for taking you from me... I will hunt them down, and when I find them, upon this day I swear... I will watch them bleed as I slit their throats and bid the Hollows claim their souls! I vow to you, I will NOT die until I see them cut down and the last breath of air escape their mouths as they beg for mercy!"

Kaille looked up into the burnt orange and red skyline and shut his eyes tight, feeling the wind on his fur and turning around on his heel to move on. For a brief moment, just a split second he thought he heard Marscella faintly, crying... Dismissing this as just his mind being overtired, Kaille took a single step before he was down again, a terrible pain shooting through one leg and up his back. Wincing in agony and letting out a sharp cry of pain, he looked down to see the culprit of his current torment. Several splinters of wood had lodged themselves into his right leg. One by one, he went through the process of taking a steady hold on the shards and swiftly pulling them out from his leg, dark blue stains tipping their jagged points. One particular shard was larger than the others, and so caused a great deal of pain when removed from his limb, leaving a small trickle of blood in its wake. Stumbling around a bit and tearing a strip from his already tarnished and ruined shirt, Kaille tied a firm knot around the wound to slow the bleeding, his hands shaky and uneasy from blood loss already. Fumbling to steady himself, Kaille looked on into the shadows of the forest across from him and with a deep sigh of resignation and shaky determination set off slowly into the depths of the wood, pushing past the underbrush and swatting the insects that seemed to enjoy annoying him with their buzzing and biting. His progress through the underbrush was hardly stealthy, tripping over roots, cursing whenever he stepped into mud and had to yank his paw free with a loud "plop", grunting when his wounds caused him considerable pain... all the while leaving a dark, bloody trail across the leaves and ground as his wound continued to leak the precious substance from his body.

To those who are native to Retsana and its forest, they all know well that the key to survival alone is to stay quiet and swift, lest the beasts that stalked canopies and floors catch wind of their presence, and their scent. Kaille, to his dire misfortune, was neither. Born and raised in and around port cities and small villages along the coastline of Ravviin, he was in no way aware of the dangers that sought easy prey. Leaning wearily against one of the colossal trunks, Kaille hunched over to catch his breath and rest for a moment, the wincing, stinging pain of his wound making him flinch and cringe, forcing him to sit beside the tree and stay where he was for the moment. Darkness had fallen, and the only lights visible were the ethereal glowing bulbs that lured the night time insects to their early dooms and the slim shafts of moonlight that penetrated the treetops and made it to the ground. An unsettling place to be sure, yet strangely serene. As Kaille sat there and panted lightly, sweat slowly rolling down through his fur, he put his hand to his chest and gripped a small protrusion tightly, pulling out from under his shirt a silver locket, an etching of his mother cased in glass contained within. Though the image was too vague in the slight light to make out, Kaille could still see it clearly in his mind. Staring into the shadowed picture, his respite was broken when a loud cacophony of tiny wings flapping rolled by him suddenly, the frantic chattering of the small creatures desperately rushed to get somewhere setting off a mental alarm in Kaille's mind as he pulled himself clumsily to his feet and looked on in the direction the small living cloud had flown. His eyes attained a certain translucent glow to them as he veered his head around and began to rapidly scan the area from all angles, seeing through the darkness and viewing bodies of cool heat. All people of Kaille's species possessed this ability, letting them see soft, pale blue auras that represented warmth. The brighter an aura was, the more likely the object was in fact a living creature, or had recently been in contact with one. Looking around, he could see the quickly fading heat trail left by the swarm that had passed him a moment ago, the residual warmth upon the higher branches and leaves, the warm spot from where he sat on the ground... His nerves began to ease until he spotted, for just a moment, a bright aura that moved against the breeze...

There was no thought, no hesitation... just the instinct to run. Climbing hastily over roots and running through streams, Kaille only ever looked anywhere but forward to view how close his pursuer was to him, the large mass becoming more visible as it came lower down the trees, the sound of the thick bark being pierced and punched into by something powerful driving the lone Sen forward in terror, no longer mere desperation. It was when taking his eyes off of what was ahead of him and viewing heat shapes, not light and shadow, that Kaille's flight met its end. While looking back and up, Kaille could not see the large, lifted root that caught his bad leg and tripped him, sending him falling and then rolling down the proceeding hillside uncontrollably. Kaille smashed and flew hard into all manner of foliage and debris, stopping only when he smacked hard against a large, ruined stone that jutted outward from the earth unnaturally. Out of breath and in writhing agony, Kaille found himself paralyzed from equal parts pain and sheer terror, able only to look through his translucent eyes and watch the approaching hunter close in. Before him, a great beast climbed through the trees, it's powerful legs spreading between nearer trunks and slicing into them, supporting its agile frame that loomed overhead. A triangular head, large and brazen with fangs that gleamed in the dim light like the souls of the dead attached to a slender, segmented neck. Eyes that glowed venomous green with bloodlust and hunger, fixed solely on a wounded Sen that was cornered and unable to defend itself. Backing up against the stone and fidgeting terribly, Kaille could only watch as the praeta lumbered over to him and raised its great head to strike, only to watch in silence as the behemoth's plated neck was pierced by the shadows themselves, the creatures bellowing and shrieking in pain as it turned its attention towards the direction the arrows had come from, more soon piercing its underbelly and head in rapid succession, dropping the monster dead a mere arm's length from a now unconscious Kaille.

As the Sen lay there beside his fallen predator, four bodies emerged from the trees, concealed in dark cloth and wielding razors that reflected the moonlight streams, glinting with precision. As three of the shrouded party set to work on sinking their blades into the praeta and carving its maw and body apart, the fourth knelt over Kaille, analyzing him silently and shaking their head in pity. Looking over to the others who'd stopped their work to view the wounded Sen as well, the fourth nodded to them and hefted Kaille onto their back, taking leave of the others who soon followed into the once again quiet darkness of Retsana's forest, only the carcass of the beast and a pool of it's blood spilling out onto the soft earth remaining to confirm their presence...