Hunted{1v1}

[FaddedFox]

]

Private rp between FaddedFox and stealthpanther. You can read, but please don't post unless you consult us first! Thank you.
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The world fears what it doesn't understand and labels those that are different as monsters. No matter what action they take, it is colored by these darker perceptions. Hunters have risen up around the world to destroy what have become known as demons. But these demons don't come from hell, whatever really exists in the afterlife. They are born and raised among their kind and though some terrorize humans with glee, not all demons are the same. In this world of struggle, who will end up on top? The hunter, or the hunted?

[FaddedFox]

Sylass hung back from the other children, rolling to his toes and back down to his heel in trepidation. He wanted to join the other kids as they played in the beautiful pond just on the outskirts of town. It looked like so much fun! They were splashing and laughing and running around without so much as a care. But Sylass was shy and uncertain. He was still new to the town and no one here really knew much about him. Some of the adults were friendly and they offered him a place to stay at night, or food to fill his belly during the day, but otherwise, he was watched. He knew he was watched and it made him nervous to partake in anything.

The young boy tugged on the collar of his shirt and nibbled on his lip in his yearning. His eyes reminded one of the color of seafoam though they seemed to darken in his concentration of will power. His short blond hair was newly clean; one of the humans had given him a bath earlier which had been nice. Would she get mad at him if he got dirty in the pond? Some of the other children were muddy already. They were sure to throw mud at him at some point, either in play or aggression. He'd found out earlier on that the children his age weren't always very nice either. They called him strange and always asked him where his parents were. He didn't really want to talk about them. They were gone and that is all there was to it.

Sylass's eyes then found a girl that was more familiar to him. Her parents had often welcomed him in and gave him a warm place to stay as if he were part of the family. She was pretty nice too. She always included him in whatever game she was playing. He could tell she did it because she wanted to, not because she was forced. He swallowed hard before he hurried closer. He so badly wanted to be included. He hadn't had other children to play with before he'd come here.

Sylass plopped down on a tree stump, now closer to the water as he watched the others, their laughs making him smile. Some of the other children looked over at him, but none of them invited him to play among them. Some whispered to each other and Sylass wondered what they were saying. The other noises around him made it impossible to hear. He saw the friendly girl come closer and his brightened up with a wave. "Hi!" he called to her.

[stealthpanther]

Dark red hair already dripping with water and mud, Aella was well on her way to a good scolding that would then be followed up with questions regarding her observational skills. If she learned something during play, no one would give her hassle about it later. Fail to do so, and she'd be stuck learning the 'boring' way. It was a fair enough compromise, one the huntress-in-training intended on capitalizing on.

Not like she even wanted to follow her family legacy anyways.

Dark eyes caught a slight movement from the nearby treeline at the forest's edge- the boundary where no child was to dare venture about or cross. The pond was the farthest anyone would desire to wander, but the warnings of adults were reiterated all the same. Aella froze in place despite her reservations of her expected future profession, glancing at the disturbance out of her periphery.

The tension left the ten year old as she caught a familiar glimpse of a certain skittish blonde moving to perch himself upon a tree stump. Sylass was once again keeping away from the other children despite the clear temptation and wistfullness in his teal eyes. For some reason, the orphan seemed intent on depriving himself of what he liked, wanted, or needed.

Well, the young girl was certainly up to remedying this errant and pitiful way of living.

Marching over at the greeting, the redhead ignored the calls of the other children, simply grasping the lowest part of Sylass's left forearm in a pair of unrelenting hands. She tugged him unceremoniously off the stump and back towards the pond.

"You're no fun! Come in if you wanna swim so bad you big baby!" She teased, goading him into following. "I know you can swim, so no excuses!" Despite the bite in her words, Aella was gracing her newest friend with a cheeky and mischievous grin. "What? Afraid to get dirty?"

[FaddedFox]

Sylass grinned at his friend and let her drag him towards the water. "I am not afraid of dirt!" he said then. He hurried to the water's edge and looked at their reflection a moment before he leaped into the waters with Aella's hand still in his own, the two of them jumping together. When they came up for air, he started to splash the girl and the two fell into a water splashing war that led into a game of chase.

Sylass panted as he sat on the edge of the lake, dripping wet and covered in mud. A couple of others had joined them, but most continued to keep their distance from him. He reached up to scratch his forehead where the skin was starting to ache. He remembered his father telling him that would happen when his horns began to grow. Would the other children still want to play when they saw the horns? He hoped so.

One of the other boys called to the others to start a new game of tag and Sylass grinned at Aella. "Let's go," he said excitedly as they hurried to the other children and the game started. After a while however, it was obvious that most stayed away from Sylass. No one touched him even if he was close to the person who was 'it'. When he was finally it, he chased after everyone with a renewed smile. He leaped at one girl and the two fell into the water. The girl shoved at him and as the two came to the surface, the older boy grabbed Sylass's collar and flung him towards the shallow area and he winced as he scraped himself against the rocks there.

"What the hell were you doing? You could have drowned her!" the boy yelled.

Sylass shrunk back. "I just caught her... I was 'it'."

"You dragged her under water. What are you doing here anyway? Go away," he said and shoved Sylass again.

"I was just-"

"We don't want you, just like your parents didn't want you," he sneared.

Sylass frowned at the words. "That's not true.."

"Yes it is. You're alone because no one likes you. They left you."

"They did not leave me!" he yelled back, beginning to get angry at this point.

"They left you alone to the wolves" the boy taunted again.

"Take that back!" Sylass growled and this time he did lunge at the boy and the two started fighting.

[stealthpanther]

Aella giggled, knowing her words would be enough to do the trick and convince the uncertain blonde to join her. It was pretty easy to goad him to action, especially considering the crimson haired girl was known for being gifted in coercion. Of course, it helped that Sylass was fairly easy to decipher (at least, she thought so). All he needed was a little nudge and he'd take her up on any game or entertainment she proposed. This time was no different, the child able to convince Sylass without any resistance.

As Sylass took a break on the shore, Aella wore a smug grin of victory, thinking herself the champion after the splashing battle ended with her still doing short laps in the water. The youngster was perfectly content to swim for an entire afternoon should the chance arrive, people sometimes joking that she was a fish or a mermaid. Silly talk, obviously, but it amused her just the same. What was so weird about loving the water? Aella leisurely swam in the pond, occasionally flicking water at one of the kids, though she was careful to never get caught in the act, feigning innocence and bewilderment when someone's head spun to look for the source of the water assault. She knew she shouldn't, but it was entirely too entertaining for her to quit.

Aella emerged from the water mere minutes before a game of tag was proposed, earning and excited chorus of agreements from her fellow children. Sylass included. Good, he wasn't hiding off by his lonesome any more! The thought made the future huntress smile.

The game was progressing normally enough, though the treatment of her new and slightly unusual friend seemed to be anything but improved throughout the day. It was irritating to see him constantly ignored and whispered about. She honestly couldn't see what the huge deal was. Not like the other kids had never seen an orphan before! Even if orphans were looked upon as 'cursed', 'unwanted', or in some way flawed if they became parentless (regardless of abandonment or death being the cause), surely no one actually believed such hogwash? What was so different about the blonde? He wasn't dirty. He wasn't smelly. He didn't have any physical ailment, speech impediment, or gross disfiguration. So what on earth was it that caused others to recoil from him as though he were some mad animal?

Finally, Aella was 'it', and wasted no time persuing Sylass as her intended target. He avoided her well, but she eventually caught up to him, lightly whacking his shoulder in a tag as she dubbed him the new 'it'. There! Now he was properly in the game and they could break through whatever nonsense was keeping the other kids away from their peer. Grinning, Aella hurried away from her friend, feeling rather satisfied with herself.


Catching her breath behind a tree, the redhead kept a watchful eye out for Sylass, otherwise awaiting another cry of "It!" as the title changed over. So far, everyone was eluding the blonde it seemed. Strange, he wasn't particularly slow by any means. Above average, actually. Perhaps he was just tired from the water fight?

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by a commotion by the pond, prompting her curiousity.
What she saw, however, swiftly turned her expression rather sour.

One of the village girls- Cailyn by the looks of it, had been caught by Sylass. That was all well and good, except said girl had shrieked, toppled into the water, and was making some sort of fuss. Worse, her brash and overbearing brother was accusing Sylass of trying to drown the girl. Pathetic, really. Cailyn was able to stand in the water if she but moved four inches to the left of where she landed. And she wasn't dragged under or otherwise restrained in such a manner that she'd be stuck underwater without air. Anyone with half a brain could see the girl was unharmed. Fussing for some reason, but physically fine.

Aella let out an annoyed huff at the stupidity of it all when things became more heated. The boys' voices grew louder, and seconds later, they were fighting. What the hell was wrong with them?!

Aella ran over, aiming a kick at both of the boys and struggling to separate the two. "Stop it! You buttheads stop it right now!" She shouted, her foot shoving Bryn's chest away from Sylass, her friends next punch landing in the square of her back as consequence. She flinched at the impact, spinning to shove Sylass back by pushing him by the shoulders. "You stop it too!"

[FaddedFox]

Sylass gasped when he accidentally punched his friend. He deserved the push and didn't fight against it as he stumbled. He wiped at his face where the older boy had managed to swipe him. He glared at the older boy. "He started it," Sylass grumbled.

"No I didn't, you did. I was protecting my sister and you attacked first."

The other children nodded their heads in agreement. They'd all seen Sylass lung at the other boy first and discounted the verbal blows. Sylas's hand squeezed into fists in his frustration and hurt. He knew the other wouldn't say sorry and even if he did, he wouldn't mean it. Maybe this was all a mistake. The only child his age who was nice to him was Aella. He didn't like any of the other children and they obviously didn't want him in their game. Fine.

"Sorry for hitting you, Aella. I didn't meant to hit you," he said then before he turned away from them and trudged out of the water. He missed being with his family. The words had affected him deeply. He knew his parents hadn't abandoned him but the words stung. He wiped at his eyes where a few stray tears had fallen.

"Go back to where you came from! We don't want you here!" another boy hollered at him who made no secret that he didn't like him. Sylass sighed and moved away from the water to climb up into a tree instead and sulk there, trying to get a grip on his own emotions. He wished he could go back home but he had n o home left.

[stealthpanther]

"I don't care if he started it! Don't be stupid and start a fight over a buffoon hollering insults!" Aella argued, earning an angry scowl from Bryn and a snicker or two from a few children who were likewise not as fond of the boy. Even so, they still sided with him over Sylass. Sylass wasn't even wanted by his family- surely that meant something was wrong with him!  Why Aella bothered to include or interact with him was an ongoing mystery discussed amongst the youth when they ran out of other interesting topics.

Not that she ever stopped such gossip; she simply rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Aella's frown relaxed slightly upon facing her friend's apologetic expression, the young girl shrugging the errant punch off as she reached behind her to gingerly rub the area.

Before she could assure Sylass that she wasn't holding it against him, the other children decided to spout more insulting and crude remarks. Her head whipped towards the source of the voice, Tomas this time, and she promptly stuck her tongue out and mimicked an exceptionally rude hand gesture she had observed from one of the grownups. His flush of anger was more satisfying that it probably should have been. Unfortunately, she didn't get to enjoy it for more than a moment before Cailyn began her fussing anew.

"He tried to drown me! I've never been so frightened!" She bemoaned, only for Aella to step up in her face with an exasperated expression.

"No he didn't you ninny! It's shallow enough to stand in that part and you're just stupid!" The young huntress shot Cailyn a disgusted look, not caring as the girl in question flinched as though the words had been shouted in her face. The crocodile tears looked ready to come out, and she pouted pathetically.

Aella stormed off after Sylass, this time ignoring Cailyn's indignant rebuttal. She likewise stopped listening to her fellow children, hurrying to catch up to the blonde boy.  "Wait for me dummy!" She called out, scanning her surroundings for his trail.

He hadn't gone much further than the edge of the clearing, his footsteps stopping at the base of a tree. Aella looked up to find Sylass, hands upon her hips as she caught sight of the now disheartened child. Frowning slightly in concern, the redhead called out to him.

"Oy! I'm not mad at you, y'know. Not really. It didn't even hurt like a proper punch, so stop wallowing. Come down Sylass!" Aella began, eyes watching his every move lest he retreat some more.  But then again, she couldn't really blame him for hurrying off like he did. Everyone seemed intent on harassing and taunting the poor sap. Her expression softened after a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. This time when she glanced up, her voice didn't have a bite to it.

"Why don't you come on down...please?"