A man with long grey hair and pointy mustache was seen in a bathtub. The bathup was made of wood and filled nearly to the brim with warm water, the interior smooth and comfortable. The man had a folded towel on his eyes.
KNOCK!
KNOCK!
"Chief!" a voice rang out from a door nearby after a couple of knocks.
"Come in." the man said with a slight frown.
"He is here again. The hunt he brought is quite much. None of our hunters will be able to get that much in a short while. Should we accept it and pity him for tonight." a person opened the door, bowed and began speaking. He wore plain linen tunic, belted at the waist. He looked like a servant or messenger of the man.
The man in the bath tub removed the towel from his face. He contemplated for a while.
"Okay. There has been a bit of famine here. This can help alleviate the people worries. Maybe we should consider his offer for the first time. Call him into my chambers while I freshen up here, then we can have a conversation on the matter…" the man waved for the the messenger to leave.
The messenger bowed and tookmp his leave.
…
The man made an expression that suggests he was disgusted. He folded his hand and hit it on the edge of the bathtub in annoyance, his face darkening.
"I can believe I will have to stoop so low to accept something from him. If not for the times we are in. If I am not careful, he may become our major source of food." he thisked annoyed. "How I wish it was like forty years ago, before that stupid law was put in place. My father and I would gang up on him at any time we wanted. No consequences, no consideration, no mercy. Even after the law came, we still attacked with full force and never gave in to his requests…" the man stared up with a sad look in his eyes.
"But due to that stupid rule, he could fight back. My father tried to take him out for good with a weapon the sword smith had prepared and the mage had enchanted. It only worked if he used it in the day, and that's what he did. The weapon was said to kill an immortal embodiment when they are struck in the heart." tears began to trickle down his face.
"My father challenged him to a duel abiding to the rules by not charging headfirst. My father… my father… my father died in his hands. The embodiment was strong, he was fast and well calculated. He moved unusually, like a beast. My father couldn't even strike him once with the sword. He took it away to."
"On his dying bed, he mad me promise him something, he said 'Son, I fought a good fight. The rest is on your hands. Just make sure that you never ever give in to him, keep fighting. Keep moving. For power, for freedom, for evolution.' I could only whisper those words back to him as I watched my father die in my hands." he squeezed his hands tightly, his nails digging into his skin, nearly drawing blood.
"I guess I failed to do it. I guess I failed. If not for those Council b*stards. If not for those pesky Cropgores. If not for my impotency. If not for my fathers loss…" he burst into more tears, flowing like waterworks. He repeatedly slammed his head with his fist over and over again.
***
Inno was invited into the residence. He walked in the direction of the village head chambers with his head lowered, the giant hunt strapped to his back. He was blasted with glares and look of disgust from the onlookers and residents.
He ignored them though. He was overjoyed inside. They finally agreed to his proposal. He would have skipped the way there if possible. He was being escorted there by some heavy guards and wouldn't want to make a bad impression.
THUD!!
A child collided into him while playing. He stared down and looked at him. He was rubbing his head because of the pain. He smiled, patted the boy and kept walking.
Looking back, he saw the child mother taking him away while dusting his head as if an infection was on it. She gave him a stern warning and took him away.
Seeing this, he became sad. Not because of what she did but because of he had never experienced it. "I wonder who my mom is?" he whispered under his breath.
Shaking his head, he continued walking. After a while he came face to face with a large door, the guards escorting spat on him in disgust then pushed the door opened. Inno ignored it and walked in to see the village head on a well crafted chair surrounded by beautiful flowers and women.
Inno bowed slightly, presenting the hunt to him. He dropped it by his side and took few step back.
One of the women looked him up and down and frowned. She then whispered to the ears of the other women. This led to them giggling and whispering to themselves.
"Silence!" the man on the seat raised his hand for show of decorum. He then stood up and inspected the kill Inno had brought.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
The kill was nearly perfect. Every attack was precised and executed well. It seemed like Inno had become more skillful. This wasn't a good thing.
The Village Head took a deep breath and looked to Inno side, looking straight into his eyes.
He was about to say something when one of the women, walked over to his side to whisper something in his ear.
After hearing what she had to say, his face went dark. The atmosphere around him changed. The wind moved more violently and pure unhinged animosity was being poured out of him.