• Mature • Hunger, Why Fight It? (Graded)

[Rakvald]

18th of Saun 721

An overgrown cockroach skittered beneath the rocks that Ashflaw had overturned, leaving a veritable feast for his brother, Rakvald. He only had to reach out to grab the little skittering bugs and make them his meal. Rakvald looked at the little beings, so full of vitality, their legs wiggling as they scurried about with aimless purpose. Just keep moving, and you wouldn't die, was the instinctual imperative. However, little did the roaches realize that such exposed them to beings higher on the food chain.

Rakvald grabbed as many as he could, using his claws to skewer one, grabbing others and eating them alive. He was so hungry, he'd had to tighten his belt several times on the journey to the swamps of Lowgarden. Yet for that hunger, the Swine King's Buckle gave him strength. The strength he barely needed for the purposes of picking up bugs. But then, there was larger prey about. He needed to gouge on the bottom feeders before he could think to take on the larger quarry.

He could feel the vitality that surrounded him. His etheric connection to the grafting rigors made them difficult to ignore now. He was on the cusp of something greater, he could feel it, yet there was still a ways to go until he ascended. He would need to forge ahead of this rough patch, this recent overexertion of his grafting spark in order to find himself in the state that his spark promised him.

In short, he would have to eat some bugs before he could have a steak dinner.

Yet for all their nutritional value, and it was a considerable source of protein, Rakvald felt a hunger gnawing at him. One of the traps that Ash-Flaw and he had set up had gotten a few rodents caught in a pit. To be fair, the work was mostly Ash-Flaw's doing, but with Rakvald using his hunting skills to shore up his brother's craft, Ash-Flaw had strength, where Rakvald had been weak as a kitten the last three trials. He could do things that Rakvald could not, as they made a poorly constructed camp in the wilds.

Ash-Flaw brought one of these creatures, half-alive to Rakvald. The mage took its life in his hands, grasping it, and brought it to his mouth. He could feel its life force weeping from its very body, and at that moment, he discovered a hidden aspect of his becoming spark. The need to Feed upon a soulless specimen. To Flay, yet not quite the same as Flaying. Still, the principles were similar.

Rakvald sank his fangs into the neck of the rodent, and with his Sparks egging him on, he began to draw out the lifeforce from the creature. In its blood, the rigors and life that dwelt within it began leaking out, filling him with not only needed nutrients but also replenishing and repairing the strain upon his soul. The damage done by over-spending his ether began to convalesce with each ounce of lifeforce he drained from the rodent until at last, he felt satisfied when it was reduced to ash in his hands.

Ash-Flaw watched as his brother turned the rodent to ash in his hands, shocked, and seemingly a little appalled. But he knew the mage had abilities that had yet to be discovered. Still, this seemed almost... wrong. Rakvald could sense the trepidation on his face, his raised brow, and his fanged mouth agape.

But at the moment that he fed upon the rodent, he felt an old Thirst reemerging. It'd been an arc or so since he last Flayed a soul. Seeing Ash-Flaw there, so flat-footed and taken aback, almost prompted Rakvald to try his brother's strength against his own. He could easily have overpowered his brother then and there, but he still needed him. And they'd formed a kinship over the cycles they'd been together. No, he would find someone else or something else to feed upon. He could not do that to Ash-Flaw.

Rakvald's brother finally spoke after the ash fell through the mage's claws. "Rakvald, I will go scouring the bottom of the river, for fish, worms, anything. Just stay here?"

Rakvald thought he could sense something that resembled fear on the Ithecal's voice, but he nodded, allowing his brother to depart for the shores of the river.

[Rakvald]

The rodents skittered and screeched as they lay in the pit, there were several more of them for Rakvald to enjoy. Whether it be for Feeding, or just plain nourishment, they'd done well to set the pit trap, and this snack would keep him going at least enough for another trial. So one by one, he took the rats out, and began feeding upon their lifeforce, the Sovereign substance that animated life. It was his. But these rodents, they were small, Rakvald was strong and large, and needed more. They did not satisfy him the way he needed. Like attracted like, and his thoughts drifted toward Ash-Flaw, as he considered where his brother might've gotten off to.

It'd been a few breaks since he left to go scouring the river for signs of edible life. But in truth, what Rakvald needed more than anything was their Lifeforce. He was hungry, yes, but in part the cause for that was arcane, originating from the spark's overexertion of ether. Ether and the Lifeforce of any living thing could replenish it. That, or the soul energy itself, through flaying...

For a moment, Rakvald thought he heard a breaching noise of a large aquatic creature, from a ways off. They weren't far from the river, in their camp, and so Rakvald stood shakily to his feet, and went to investigate the source of that sound. There, he saw a large Royal Crocodile Matriarch... It was the one he'd trained so many seasons ago... and now living on its own power. How had it grown so large, so fast?...

Then he remembered, Ash-Flaw wouldn't be far from here. He must find him and fetch him from his hunt, before the Ithecal became the prey for a much greater reptile!

Despite his lessened energy reserves, he'd recovered from his achiness of the past few days, and was able to make speed along the land and shore of the river, as he tracked or tried to track the Crocodile's movements beneath the water. He could see the displacement on the surface of the water, and followed that, trying to keep pace as the great creature swam beneath the surface.

Before long, he arrived at the bend in the River, just before it came to a straight shot to Lowgarden, to the Northwest. There, he saw Ash-flaw triumphantly rise from beneath the waters, holding a huge catfish. Ash-Flaw saw Rakvald from where he swam, and waved the fish around in the air. Rakvald tried to scream at him, bellowed as loudly as he could. But the sound was drowned out by the crash of the crocodile matriarch breaching the waters, opening its massive maw, and then snapping it shut on Ash-Flaw's arm. The poor Ithecal couldn't even get a yelp off before he was pulled under for a death roll.

Not thinking, not even caring about his sapped energy reserves, Rakvald dove into the water. He began swimming for the bottom of the river, searching with his reptilian eyes for the sight of that great reptile, as it spun deeper and into the depths, Ash-Flaw caught in its mouth. The mage used every limb to make purchase with the water, as his natural water breathing (A permanent echo and gift from one of his totems) sustained him. The water was muddy, however, but Rakvald could find his way through the streams of blood, coiling in the crocodile's wake.

Rakvald swam with every limb, including his wings, until he collided withi something scaley and cold in the water. It was the crocodile's tail!... no, it was Ash-Flaw, his arm gnawed off, and bleeding out. Rakvald grabbed him with all his strength, and began kicking his way to the surface, back to the banks of the river. He didn't see any sign of the Crocodile, but as he gathered his friend from the river, after emerging, he dragged him out away from striking distance of the amphibious terror.

There, he saw that Ash-Flaw still drew breath. And Rakvald knelt beside him. "I can fix this!" He shouted at Ash-Flaw. "I can fix you!"

So saying, he laid his tentacle arm on the Ithecal's wounded arm socket, from which the entire limb had been torn. There was more damage besides, that he could detect. Crushed ribs and torso, and shoulder. Too much damage, in too many places. Yet Rakvald frantically tried to channel ether into the wounds. As he did so, he felt the call of a Thirst. Something deeper than the Feeding that had occurred earlier on the rats and rodents of the pit trap. His Spark was calling to him, prompting him to feed upon the soul of his friend. To flay, to sacrifice his life that he might reclaim the lost ether.

He felt the tentacle swerving, from the wounded arm socket, to Ash-Flaw's mouth. He didn't struggle at first, it almost felt right. To repurpose what already belonged to him. Such was his due as an evolved being. He would claim his Inheritance...

"No.... NO!" Rakvald wrenched his blackened arm from his friend's mouth in an instant before he would've started flaying him. And as he sat there, Ash-Flaw breathed shallow breaths. Then, he spoke.

"Rakvald, brother. You... You should take whatever you need of me, when I'm gone. Take my scales, my blood, my claw. Let me live as I am within you. This is.... my last..." And then Ash-Flaw coughed a gout of blood. He shuddered, and then breathed no more.

Rakvald screamed his grief, though he could barely hear over the rush of adrenaline pouring through his brain, drowning out the sound and light and all the sensation from him.



When he awoke, he found Ash-Flaw next to him, still very much dead. Then, Rakvald went about the work, to fulfill his friend and brother's last wish. That he make another unaltered totem of him, to remember him, and take him with him. Rakvald's reptilian eyes poured with tears, as in a moment of fury toward himself, he unleashed in a momentary transformation. The wings he'd formed so lovingly and with such care were drawn into his body, his scales gave way to gray flesh, and he turned from the Ithecal totem he'd enjoyed for the better part of a few seasons, into what remained of the Rakvald he knew, a Gestalt of Lotharro and Mer.

He sighed, and took the camp knife that was dropped nearby, and began prying off Ash-Flaw's claw, which had scarred so many a creature and foe. Then he took the scale of his brow, which had lifted in such wonder to see the miracles that magic could perform. Finally, the blood was taken from the wound that had ended Ash-Flaw's life, and this he used to more or less glue Ash-Flaw's claw and brow scale into one totem. Then he took some cordage of scrap leather that he had, and began winding it around the totem, to make it hold until he could dedicate it.

He gathered Ash-Flaw up in his arms, and though his body screamed for hunger, he ignored it, and carried him back to their campsite, alone.

Continued Here

[Doran]

Rakvald:

Knowledge:
[*]Becoming: Feed: Smaller animals can be fed upon, even cockroaches.
[*]Becoming: Feed: The lifeforce from smaller animals is not as satisfying as those more substantial.
[*]Discipline: Resisting the urge to flay a friend, when you're trying to heal them.
[*]Discipline: Stopping yourself before you give into temptation.
[*]Hunting: Tracking an aquatic predator through its displacement of the water.
[*]Hunting: Noting the sound of a large aquatic animal breaching.

Loot: Three sovereign substances of Ash-Flaw: Claw, blood, and scale.
Lost: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Magic XP: Yes, for Becoming.
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 10

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Comments: First of all, I appreciate that you wrote a thread about the consequence that Jackalope gave you in a previous review. You described the hunger that Rakvald felt very well in my opinion. I wonder what the “cusp of something greater” that he thought of his though. Is that the Revelation that he is getting very close to? I wonder if he will reveal sometime!

Ash-Flaw’s reaction upon seeing Rakvald feed upon the rodent was very relatable in my opinion. I wonder if that was why he decided to go fishing and such rather than staying with his “brother” – and why he decided to leave for a couple of breaks rather than returning soon.

Rakvald's panic and his attempt to warn Ash-Flaw and save him from the crocodile were described very well in my opinion. Unfortunately, everything was in vain!

Maybe, a part of Ash-Flaw will continue to live inside of Rakvald if he makes a totem of him though?

All in all, this was quite an exciting and dramatic thread!

The ability to breathe underwater definitely came in handy when Rakvald tried to find Ash-Flaw in the river (It also reminded me of the fact that Becoming is about more than just shapeshifting!).

I can’t help but wonder how much you can really see in a muddy river with Competent Detection though.

It seems to me as if Rakvald mostly found Ash-Flaw by accident though, so it works in my opinion!

I also wonder where the crocodile went after attacking Ash-Flaw and biting his arm off. Do crocodiles normally just disappear after attacking someone rather than trying to eat them?

In any case, it would have helped if you had mentioned that the crocodile is a King Crocodile from the Point Bank in the review request. Please do so the next time you use such an animal!

That being said, I look forward to reading the sequel. Enjoy your rewards, and let me know if you have any questions, please!

P.S.: I would have added “Detection” to the list of skills used. Rakvald heard the noise of the crocodile and tried to find Ash-Flaw in the muddy river, among other things.