Citizen 825 Terror

Alexia stood in her office, gazing out the window, deep in thought, when a knock disturbed the silence that draped her surroundings. She knew what it meant, and he turned to the navy captain who entered shortly after, her eyes hard and cold as deep thoughts swirled in her mind. 

"Admiral. He is here, as you requested." The captain spoke, one of their hands covering the left side of their chest as they bowed with respect. 
"Good, bring him in." She nodded as she placed her hands on the table, her eyes scanning the several pieces of paper that she had collected about this case. It was a planned mutiny against her that naturally failed. Only a handful of navy members rose against her, all loyal to their captain, who orchestrated the act. She found no joy in discovering it, but it did not hit her as a surprise either. She saw the signs but could only hope they would not devolve to this point. Unfortunately, she was mistaken. 

When Terror entered the office, he looked like a madman. The once collected, refined, and always calm captain walked in with eyes wide with rage, his mouth already curling in a snarl as the other officers led him in, his hands tied together at the front. He stood in front of the grand admiral's table in defiance, his chest puffed up as he stared at her as if she were the worst creation of the ancients. 

"Untie him." She ordered, gesturing at his hands. 
"Are you certain, Admiral?" One of the captains spoke, their eyes darting between Terror and Alexia in uncertainty. 
"I am certain," she nodded, her voice cold. She knew he would not try to harm her. Sure, he was a raging beast, but she knew he would control his impulses and would not attack. She was merely the sufferer of his anger, not the target. 

The rope was cut loose, and Terror began to rub his wrists as blood finally returned to his fingers after his circulation was slightly cut off from how tight the ropes were. 
"You may leave now," the admiral gestured at the captains, who reluctantly left as requested, leaving the two of them to face off, as if in an old fashioned duel. 

The silence was deafening. They could almost hear each other's heartbeat and thoughts, the calm before the storm. It was Alexia who first spoke up, her voice thick with authority as she knew precisely what to say.

"Care to explain what this is, Captain?" She gestured at the papers, expecting some kind of explanation. 
"I think you know exactly what they are," Terror hissed, any hint of obedience and respect to the chain of command now long gone. 

"I understand your anger..." she began, but was immediately cut off by the roar erupting from Terror's throat as he suddenly rushed to the table and slammed his fists down, pushing his face into Alexia's. 
"Oh, Admiral. Angry is an understatement", he hissed, his words coated with poison. He continued to gritted teeth. "I believe there are no words in our vocabulary to describe or even compare to the rage I feel. And you", he pointed his finger at her, "are one of the reasons for it." 

Alexia raised an eyebrow and watched as Terror pulled his hand back slowly before placing it back on the table. 
"You lost your wife, and I lost a friend. We both lost her, Terror. But she would be horrified to see your behavior. This is not worthy of a captain of your caliber." 

"Well, she is not here to see it now, is she?" He barked, his voice heavy with mourning and disbelief as if he still did not want to believe that she was gone. "And don't you dare compare my loss to yours." 

Alexia quickly realized that she could not reason with him anymore. All she could do was get as much information from him as possible, before casting the inevitable judgement. 
"You disobeyed orders and went after several pirate ships. You left your post, leaving your assigned island vulnerable." She switched topics. "You know that I do not take kindly to this level of insubordination, especially when my navy members' lives are at stake." 
"What would you have me do? Wait until the pirates attack and spill more blood? Fuck your orders. They were close, and we went for their throat. They won't have the chance to hurt anyone anymore." Terror answered while straightening his back, his face overtaken by deadly conviction. "I do not regret the decision I made. Nor do I regret letting others know that there are other options than following orders and staying behind." He gestured at the papers. 

Alexia sighed. She was conflicted; she knew he was in pain and that it blinded him more than he would ever admit. But, she had obligations and the entirety of the Navy to look after. One rotten apple, if left unchecked, could poison the rest. The planned mutiny was already a sign bad enough. Her decision was swift. 

"Hand over your coat, Captain. You are hereby dismissed from the Navy," she said firmly as she extended her open palms toward him. "And be glad that I am leaving it at this. Not for your sake, but hers." 
"Gladly," Terror took off his coat and practically threw it at Alexia. "But it won't end here. Others will follow, " he threatened with eyes clouded by , his teeth flashing as he snarled the words out.
"Then they shall leave as well, just like you. But be warned; you are not above the law or consequences. Do not lose yourself to a war of hatred and bloodthirst. Violence won't bring her back." This was a warning, more so than advice from her, as she placed the coat down on the table. "You are dismissed." 

Terror stood still for a few moments, his eyes glistening with conflicted feelings, before his gaze would finally harden. He did not say anything else but turned around and walked out the door, slamming it behind him with enough force to make the sound travel across the corridor. 

Alexia let out a sigh before walking to her window once more, her hands behind her back. 
"If only you knew what beast your death would give birth to..." She mused with sadness as she watched the waves of the ocean. "Look out for him, will you? I don't wish for more trouble; ancients know there is plenty already."

ForgottenCerberus

The thunder above Deimos roared with its lightning-shaped teeth, trying to convince the barely adult rexal to forfeit his mission and to return home to safety. However, the ocim rexal did not yield.

He held strong against the thousands of cold, tear-shaped needles of the rain as he walked deeper into the forest, his eyes following a hidden path left by a stag. Its weight had crushed the tall grass as it walked, and its hoof trampled over flowers and branches with no care to them, leaving noticeable hoof prints behind to make tracking all the easier.

Deimos was after this particular beast from defiance. Now that his throat armour had hardened, he needed to prove that it was not only his body but his mind as well that matured with time - and a hunt was a worthy way to prove this. His father, however, believed him to be too weak and inexperienced to tackle the stag of terrors that had been rampaging through the land. He thought it to be too dangerous for his son, telling him explicitly not to go after him. It was an unspoken challenge - one that Deimos was eager to beat.

In all truth, his hunt started several days ago. It was not his first time stalking this deer beast, for he had been going after it for days now. Lurking from a distance, he followed its footprints wherever they led, and once he had found the stag, he laid low as he observed its daily routine. All animals, just like rexals themselves, lived by them. At dawn, they would retreat back to amongst the trees to find sleep in a place that was hidden from the few apex predators that were around, and with dusk, they would leave them, beginning their grazing in open fields and meadows before the cycle would begin again.

This stag, however, worked differently. Deimos observed it break its species's unspoken laws of laying low during the day and instead opted to be out and and about during it. And it had the weight to support this odd behaviour. Deimos studied the beast with keen eyes from the bushes, holding his breath often as he watched the deer battle against its kin with ruthlessness, crushing all opposition with ease. It struck not fear but respect into the rexal's heart as he witnessed the events, but thanks to his keen eyes, he also noticed something else - a weakness that he wanted to weaponize for when the time came.

The stag was old, and its eyes were slowly but surely failing him. Perhaps this was the reason why it would charge at everything that it perceived as a threat - it could not discern anymore what it should run from and what it should destroy.

After noticing this, Deimos began carefully placing traps all around the forest along the path that he had observed the stag take. They were quite big, hastily made, and a deer with keen eyes would have probably noticed them - but Deimos was willing to bet some sum of money on the fact that his target would not. He would check these traps day after day, hoping that the deer would walk into them, but faith brought no such easy luck to the young rexal. And so the only other option remained - to chase the stag into one of them, which takes us back to the present day, as Deimos struggled against the weather.

One would wonder why he chose this time of day to try and see this hunt through - with the storm brewing above him, it surely made it more difficult than it needed to be, but it was just another tool for the young rexal. The darkness of the storm hid his bright coat well in the environment, as well as the traps - another important detail that he planned to use. However, it hid the deer just as well.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." Deimos said to himself as he persistently followed the muddy hoof prints, carefully stepping between them so as not to destroy them. If he were to get lost or lose sight of it, he would still have somewhere to pick up from, after all.

He followed the track for hours, having to turn back many times as he was misled into the weeds and brushes with no actual results. While his patience was running thin now, his persistence had only gotten stronger. He would slay the beats just for wasting his time for this long, that was for sure.

And then he heard it - the loud, deep and then high-pitched call of the stag piercing through the night and thunder.

"I have you now..." Deimos chuckled to himself as he quickened his steps towards the source of the sound, unwilling to stop now.

Soon enough, he spotted the stag as it called loudly, shaking his head and beautiful crown towards the sky, almost as if it was cursing the Elders for daring to allow for such weather in its presence. Its bloodshot eyes spoke of panic and anger, and Deimos knew that if he was to show himself, he would earn the creature's ire - a perfect plan for him.

As he laid low in the bushes and watched the stag, he quickly recalled from the depths of his mind the twists and turns of the forest and his current position. If he was not careful, he would fall victim to his own traps, or his prey could potentially cause a great deal of pain to him. Neither was an option. After carefully considering where he was, he came up with a simple plan of showing himself and then running. If his memory serves right - which he was sure it did - one of his traps was just near. He would only need to outrun the deer for a minute, at most, and then avoid the trap himself. It sounded easy in theory, but it was to be seen if it worked in technicality.

"Oi! Old man!" he barked towards the stag after bracing himself, barring his teeth at the beats with malicious intent. "You don't like strangers in your territory, aye? Chase me out then!" he added, stomping his feet on the soft, tall grass, mimicking the behaviour of other challenger deers of the region to get the stag to chase after him even more forcefully. He was not sure if his acting or his voice was the one that tilted the stag, but after a roar of anger, it charged at him with ill intent, which Deimos used to his advantage. He began to run towards his trap; behind him, the stag pursued with heavy hooves, stomping behind him.

Deimos cursed under his breath as he underestimated his prey's speed. The deer had almost caught up to him before; thanks to lighting, he caught a glimpse of the iron trap reflection in the distance. With a few jumps, he avoided it, but his pursuer didn't. He heard as a rope snapped and as rusted iron suddenly bit into the bones of the herbivore, capturing its leg with bloodlust.

The stag cursed in his own tongue as it suddenly stumbled, a loud crack of bones breaking, echoing through the night as it flopped to the ground. Despite the pain and blood, it did not give up and continued to struggle. It was as if it was some kind of demon haunting Deimos, wanting to rip into him for his trickery, but the rex did not hesitate.

He quickly turned around to then jump onto the stag, holding it down with all his might as he sank his teeth into its neck with primal hunger and need for survival. He could feel the blood filling his mouth as his teeth sank into the flesh of the stag, and he held onto it like his life was dependent on it until the beast below him ceased all movement. He only released his tension then, gasping for air as he looked down upon his hunt's reward, a beast that would surely please even the Elders themselves.

ForgottenCerberus