A Cynical Shadow's Return

Chapter 6

     A yowl of pain echoed throughout the forest. The sound came from Rai. He was leaning against a tree, while Sitha was rash on his leg that he had received from coming into contact with poison ivy. They sat in front of the lake that wasn’t too far from home. Sitha had a rag and was attempting to wipe the rash, but was unsuccessful due to Rai constantly squirming.
        “Ugh! Stand still, Rai!” Sitha yelled at him authoritatively, but it was no use as Rai continued trying to dodge the rag.
        “It burns!” Rai screamed. “I know that I made a RASH decision and all, but--” Rai screamed again as Sitha scratched his leg because of how terrible his joke was going to be.
        “YOU’RE EVIL, WOMAN!!!”
        “And you’re acting stupider than Agnus. Your point?”
        “Agnus! Sitha called you--” Sitha quickly shoved the rag in Rai’s megaphone of a mouth before the boy could finish his sentence, then frantically looked around to see if Agnus was anywhere around. Lucky for her, Agnus was nowhere in sight, but she clearly remembered that Agnus was just nearby a moment ago. She got up and looked around the tree, but Agnus was still nowhere to be seen.
        “Speaking of Agnus,” she said softly, “where’d he go?”
        “Somewhere not with you, obviously,” Rai mumbled as he scratched at his rash, but Sitha did not hear him.
        “The last time Agnus wandered off, he proved that leopards can fly...Where can he be?”
        “Is he all you think about? Geez, just tell him how you feel and let it be over with.”
        “Rai, it’s not as simple as that. It’s more than that. When you love someone, they always stay on your mind no matter what you’re doing. Then, when I look at him, it’s like nothing else exists but him. He’s just so adorable and--”
        “It’s funny how you fantasize over a guy that only recognizes you when you’re the only person around. I should know because I know what funny is.”
        “Oh, hush! I know he’s crazy about me deep down. I felt a spark last night when he and I were cuddled up with each other. It’s meant to be! I can feel it!”
        “That’s such a RASH conclusion you came too, Sitha!” Rai began laughing at his own pun, which earned him a punch in the head from Sitha.
        “Yow!” He cried.
        “There’s a lot more where that came from if you keep joking around!”
     While Sitha and Rai were having their discussion, Agnus was somewhere not too far from them, but a great enough distance as to not hear them completely. He had a concentrated look on his face as he was doing something on a tree with a dagger that he carried with him. Red sat down behind him, watching and tilting his head in curiosity. When Agnus was done, he took a step back and put on a proud smile for he had carved a bear’s paw print, similar to the one on the back of his vest, in the tree. Red was finally able to fully see what his father had made and seeing it made the cub happy since he’s been dying to see what it was.
        “It looks great, Papa,” Red said ecstatically.
        “Aww, thanks, Red. I think it looks great too.” Agnus looked at his art one last time before walking away from the tree with Red. There he was again; aimlessly wandering through the wilderness with his cub happily following behind him. Though unintentional, Agnus would spend his entire day in the forest unless he was doing something important, or if he noticed that he or his son needed anything. This is an average, normal day for the two bears, but this day would not be as normal as they would believe it to be.
     While Agnus and Red were walking in the forest, they came across Elias, who was now carrying Kinsa on his back. Elias was walking down a trail in the forest when Agnus saw him, and at that moment, Agnus came out of his mindless zone because he knew that something wasn’t right. As Agnus and Red were walking, 
        “Hey,” Agnus called out to Elias, catching the Tasoolian Wolf by surprise, “is that Kinsa on your back? What happened to him, and where’s my brother?” Elias slowly turned to face Agnus, slightly worried of what to say to the large man. He knows only about the scary side of Agnus, which is what other Tasoolian Wolves discussed the most while he was in training. Once you’re on his bad side, they would say, he’s gonna be your worst nightmare. Elias gulped and took a deep breath as he formulated all of his words.
        “A-Agnus, sir. Kinsa was...attacked by a…”
        “By a what,” Agnus asked impatiently and walked over to Elias, not at all amused. Elias backed away slowly, now quivering with fear.
        “I-I’m not sure, sir! All I know is that he was badly injured after Captain Reko saved me from some sort of possession! M-My orders were to bring Kinsa back home and to let Captain Reko know when I brought him back safely! I promise you I know nothing else! Please don’t hurt me!”
        “Wait, if you’re here, then where’s Reko?”
        “C-Captain Reko journeyed off on his own. He mentioned something about his son’s life being in danger. It looked like he was heading towards the mountains.”
        “Oh no, I told him I had a bad feeling about this. I knew that something bad was going to happen. Maybe I should call him first.” Agnus brought his communicator up to the front of his face and then pushed a button on it. “Reko? Reko, is everything alright?” There was no answer from Reko, which worried Agnus greatly.
        “I-I don’t understand,” Elias said worriedly, “wouldn’t Captain Reko have responded by now?”
        “H-He can’t be...It...can’t be. Reko would never--...” As much Agnus wanted to shed tears, his own anger overcame him as he started angrily growling and clenching his fists because he knew exactly who could have been the cause of Reko being unresponsive. Chordon’s image was painted all over his mind, and his maniacal laughter echoed throughout the depths of Agnus’ mind which drew out his anger more. When he would think of how much Reko, his best friend and sworn brother, could have suffered, it would only make Agnus feel much worse and his urge to kill Chordon would rise tremendously. Elias noticed a slight change in Agnus’ eyes, even though it was only for a split second; his eyes changed from a lively black to a furious red, then his eyes changed back to normal as quickly as they had first altered. Elias watched in terror as Agnus hauled off, out of spite, and punched the nearest tree hard enough to cause it to immediately send it crashing down to the ground, making the ground tremble slightly upon impact. Red rushed over to Agnus and nudged at his leg, hoping to calm his father down.
        “Papa! Papa!” Red called up to Agnus, still nudging at his leg. “Papa! Down here!” Agnus looked down at his cub, who was standing on his hind legs and looking up at Agnus with an innocent yet concerned look, breathing heavily and furiously.
        “Papa,” Red said in a whiny tone, “it’s still morning. Uncle Reko is probably still sleeping, or taking a bath.” Agnus’ boiling rage quickly simmered down and picked Red up, holding the cub closely.
        “Maybe you’re right, Red,” Agnus agreed. “Him being out there all on his own worries me a lot. Oh! I almost forgot to check on Igneous! Let’s hurry back!” Elias, utterly dumbfounded, watched as Agnus sat Red down, then transformed into his bear form. Seeing Agnus act as himself rather than being scary, as the rumors led him to believe, astounds him. Agnus helped Red get on his back, and then rushed off back home.
        “D-Did he just forget that I was here,” Elias asked himself. “For a guy his size, his attention span is shorter than a second. However, I get why everyone doesn’t want to get him angry. His strength is definitely terrifying. I don’t think even Captain Reko could break down a tree that big in just one punch. I can only imagine what one punch from Agnus could do to an average Tasoolian. His crazy strength must come from whatever was happening with him when his eyes changed for that one moment. I’ll keep an eye on him, for now. I want to know more about him.” Elias continued further down the trail with Kinsa still on his back. Watching from above was Chordon, who stared down upon the group with his malicious red eyes, though his attention was more focused on Agnus as he observed every intricate detail that took place during the conversation. He knew that if Red had not have interfered, the Gift inside of Agnus would have been unleashed with all of its fury, and this helped him understand why Red was considered a target in the first place. Knowing this, Chordon knew exactly what to do in order to make this endeavor a successful one, and it will include a lot of bloodshed.