Chapter 4: The Hunted.
Celestyn had set up a camp in the forest, made of sticks and leaves. He sat by his fire pit, a circle of rocks, with dry leaves and sticks, lit aflame. He stared into the fire, thinking on what he had just experienced, and where to go now that he knew the shrine was unsafe. Hm. He could go north, to the Mierce-Gemynd Glade, but the Silvakin aren't too friendly with the Vistakin.. He could go south-west, to the Duskin, but they're also pretty unfriendly. He could go south-east to the mountain of Zerda, the Solkin are allowing in Vistakin, but.. they're allowing them on the guise of experimenting on them and the sickness, that wouldnt work... He could go to Vogelstead, but they're knee-deep in a war... He could go further south-east, to Hundestadt, the Canikin are a very friendly folk, all he'd have to do is blend in... hmm.. Just a few months, and his antlers will come off for the start of Winter, perhaps he could merely wait the 2 and half months, "yeah, that's a good idea" he thinks to himself. Satisfied with this plan, he gets up and goes over to the makeshift shelter— made from leaning branches on a tree, using a vine to tie them to the tree, and covering them with leaves— and sets his sword down on the ground inside, curling up next to it to sleep.
Celestyn is jolted to consciousness in the middle of the night, to the sound of leaves crushing. He sits up quickly, placing his hand on his blade, gently tugging it closer to him, as he listens for the sound. Surely it's just an animal right..? Celestyn sits for a few moments more, not hearing anything, before he hears it, closer. Right outside the shelter. He barely has any time to react though, as he sees a hand grab the vine keeping the shelter up, and rip it, the sticks falling down ontop of Celestyn. Celestyn quickly pushes the sticks off of him, picking up his weapon, and running a few feet away, before turning around, to see who it is, but he's stunned to silence as he sees it to be the same hooded figure from the Catacombs. They were tall, wide, and most definitely not somebody Celestyn would draw a sword at in any other scenario. Celestyn drew his sword, pointing it toward the figure, shakily, "Wh-who are you!? wh-why are you following me..!?" he blurts out, voice shaking and trembling. The figure offers him no consolation with a response, simply taking another step forward. "D-don't come any closer! y-you saw what i did to that Sk-skeleton thing..! i'll do the same to you!!" he yells, voice nearly cracking, the sword wobbling gently as he trembles in fear. The figure doesnt give him the courtesy of fear, taking another step forward, roughly 5 feet off from the tip of Celestyn's sword now. Celestyn looked behind him for a moment, then looked back, the figure even closer now, about 3 feet away. Celestyn is frightened immediately, squeaking, and taking a clumsy step back, nearly rolling his ankle on a rock, but keeps himself on his feet "A-answer me, damnit..!!!" he squeaks out, voice cracking. He gets no response. The figure takes another step toward him. Celestyn quickly drops his arms, dashing next to the figure to grab his bag, the figure reacting, trying to grab his antlers, but Celestyn smacks them with the blunt side of his sword, staggering them for a moment, then he wastes no time before sprinting off, fleeing the figure without a second thought, sliding the sword back into its sheath on his hip, breathing heavily, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
After a good 15 minutes of running, Celestyn quickly scrambled up another tree— taking a moment to make sure it wasnt slick, learning from his last fall— and sits on a big thick branch, a good 19 feet above the ground, panting, trying to get his breath after such a sprint. He sits back, leaning his head against the tree, relieved to be alive. But the relief is only momentary, as he hears the sound of leaves crunching underfoot, and he quickly looks toward the sound, to spot the guy again. He runs up, looking around, at the ground, seemingly trying to track Celestyn's tracks through the small bouts of wet ground. Celestyn looks around, and sees a loose bit of bark, quietly ripping it off the tree, then he stands up, and flings the piece of bark at another tree in the distance. The man's head snaps in that direction, giving Celestyn a good look of his front lit up... Huh, odd, he had an amulet similar to the one his father had given him. The man doesnt linger long, quickly sprinting off after the noise. Celestyn waits a moment, then climbs down the tree, and runs off in the opposite direction, to the south-west.
Celestyn stopped after another 15 minutes of running, panting, and looks around, ensuring nobody was following him again. Seeing nothing, Celestyn climbs another tree— making sure it's not slick first— then sits on a large branch, panting quietly. After a few minutes to get his breath, he climbs down, and continues walking south-west, toward Hundestadt.
A few hours later, Celestyn heard something, leaves crunching underfoot of something, and hid. The sound grew closer, Celestyn paying close attention... It sounded smaller, and like there were 4 feet, rather than only two. after a few moments, Celestyn peeked out, and saw a wolf. A large wolf, sniffing around... "Hey," Celestyn thought "That's the first animal i've seen that isnt a rabbit!", hungry, Celestyn slowly rises when it looks away, sneaking up, pulling out his sword. He made sure his feet didnt crush any leaves, slowly approaching. He gets in range, raises his sword and... The wolf turns around. Locking eyes with Celestyn, but Celestyn doesnt give it time to react, and slashes downward with a ravenous hunger, eager to eat something.
Celestyn pauses for a moment, before looking down at the severed wolf head on the ground, the crimson water trickling forth, staining the purple grass, flowing inbetween blades that tangle between eachother, pooling near Celestyn's feet. Celestyn sighs, then looks around for rocks and sticks to make a fire. He finds a few large rocks, and makes a small circle with them, then places a few dry leaves in it, a few dry sticks, then he tears off a piece of bark, grabs a stick, cuts a small notch in the bark, puts the bark on the ground, places some dry grass on it, and starts spinning the stick on the bark and dry grass, creating friction, and from friction, heat. After a few moments, the wood had started an ember. Celestyn lifted the bark carefully, and placed it in the dry grass and leaves in the middle of the rocks, leaning down, cupping his hands around it, and blowing softly, feeding the ember, until it started to turn into a fire. As the fire started, Celestyn fed it more dry grass leaves and sticks, letting it grow, then turns back to the wolf, picking up his sword and starting to cut it up, slicing skin, muscle, and tissues. He even keeps the skin as a coat or blanket, it is gonna start getting cold soon. After a few moments, he turned back to his fire, which was now decently large, so he impaled the bits of meat he had harvested from the wolf on his sword, and held it over the flame, turning it gently, watching hungrily as it slowly turned dark and hot, juices dripping down into the fire every now and then, Celestyn's stomach growling softly.
After a few moments, Celestyn pulled it off the fire and smelled it, eager to start eating, but, of course, he sets the word down, leaning against a tree. He sits next to the fire, relaxing, enjoying the heat. After a few moments, Celestyn reached over and poked the meat with his ring finger, testing its heat. It's still hot, but definitely alot better. Celestyn, seeing this, immediately grabs the sword, and starts digging in, devouring the wolf meat, chewing and swallow, over and over. After finishing the wolf meat, he looked up to the sky, figuring out the weather to come: Clear skies. Seeing this, he lays down, and goes to sleep.