Skill Learnings - Ketucari

Spring rains came down in refreshing sheets. Ferrugo and Crepe decided it was time to move on from the village they'd been staying in over the winter. The decision was partially stirred by the meeting of a friendly stranger. The other part was that Ferrugo had made a promise to Crepe that if they earned enough gold, that they could visit Zolkanis. Ferrugo was nothing, if not true to his word. So, for the past week they'd been obtaining supplies. Ferrugo could forage for the both of them, but they'd still need things such as herbs, and tools.

Ahead of Ferrugo Crepe trotted along the thinning road. The air was alive with the rain, despite the faintest hint of winter's chill. To Ferrugo it only added to the refreshing aspects. Crepe's coat shimmered with a darker vibrancy in the rain, making it easy to keep an eye on him. Puddles were forming along the ruts in the road, and trailing off down hill on the other side. Now a good ways away, Ferrugo could see Crepe dodging around the puddles. Crepe looked back and grinned at Ferrugo, all toothy joy. A distant rumbling could be heard as they traveled, but Ferrugo paid it no mind. Thunder was common in spring storms, and the mountains had a way of warping sounds.

Thick wet cracking sounds followed more rumbling, electrifying his body with fear. Ahead of him a high whining pierced the air as he broke into a run.

With a desperate bellow, he tried to warn his friend, "CREPE, WATCH OUT!"

The crashing grew louder and he could see large chunks of earth and rock tumbling down the slope and over the road.Great shrubs and small trees clung to soil as they slid down the mountainside. Crepe turned around to run back towards Ferrugo. The unfortunate trees and shrubs quickly giving way to the falling behemoth. Ferrugo had nearly reached Crepe when the giant tree broke through the tree line, right on top of Crepe.

Roaring in anger and fear, Ferrugo leaped towards the tree where it had fallen on his friend, the road slowing it's fall enough to keep it from continuing down the slope, taking Crepe with it. He threw aside his bags and rushed to locate Crepe, praying to whatever gods would listen to spare his friend.

He heard muffled whining, as he approached, snapping branches with each step. There! He spotted glittering feathers.

"Rusty, are you there?" he heard Crepe cry through the branches.

Relief filled his soul as he answered "yes I am, are you hurt?"

"No, but I'm stuck, big branch over my legs and back. Very very stuck. Cold," Crepe said, whimpering.

"I'm going to get you out, just be patient, and stay calm. Can you do that for me?" said Ferrugo.

With powerful strikes of his claws, Ferrugo got to work removing branches. The tree was an old fir, which wouldn't have mattered otherwise if it wasn't for the sticky pitch clinging to his claws. He didn't let it slow him down as he tore limbs and branches apart. Judging from the sounds of Crepe's whimpering, he still had several layers of branches to get through before he could free his friend. The ache in his claws and arms was firmly ignored. His first and only priority was to get Crepe out from under the tree. Anything else could be dealt with afterwards.

He started to get to thicker branches that took most of his strength to shred enough to  break. They were also heavy enough that he could let them fall away, and instead had to take precious time to fling them down the slope where they'd be out of his way. In an hour he was at the trunk, and below he could see where Crepe was trapped beneath a large forking branch. The jagged edges where it dug into the mud only missing his friend by a few inches. Ferrugo's entire body was on fire as he turned the branch into soggy kindling. Pitch clung to his feathers, now, too, dripping from shredded stumps above him.

With a final blow of his claws, he broke the branch. He carefully grabbed Crepe's scruff and hauled him out of the hole he made and back onto the road. Crepe was panting, bruised, but otherwise unharmed. Ferrugo didn't even smell blood that wasn't his own. With a hiss he stood back up to check on his friend. After he made sure he was fine, he grabbed the bags that had fallen off of Crepe as the tree fell. Their supplies weren't mangled, only knocked around some. With a groan he hefted himself back out of the hole in the branches and onto the trunk.

Ferrugo perched on the the great trunk. An overwhelming rage over the entire incident compelled him to lash out. He snarled and growled as he marked the trunk of the great tree with his claws. Great gashes that went deep, well past the thick bark, and quickly started to weep with pitch. As he took his rage and fear out on the tree, the feelings left, leaving him aching, and numb. Soon, shame crept in, letting his emotions get the better of him in such a violent manner. With a pained sigh, he made his way back down to where crepe was resting against a rock.

Before he could speak, Crepe did.

His voice a cracked whisper, "thank you Rusty..."

Warmth drowned out his shame, "You're welcome Crepe. Let's go find a safe place to get cleaned up and rest. Can you walk?"

Crepe nodded his head and stood up with a hiss. Ferrugo helped the amoux walk until he became more steady with his balance and footing. There was flatter ground on the other side of the tree, so they both reluctantly agreed that they needed to climb over to find a safer place. As Crepe reached the top of the trunk, he saw the deep rending marks Ferrugo left in the trunk. With a snarl, he left his own with the sickle claws on his feet. Satisfied, he let out a triumphant chuff, before finishing climbing to the other side.

As they walked, Ferrugo could feel how much his claws ached. But, a growing sense of awe in himself filled him. He'd always attributed the ability to rend things to other, stronger ketucari than he. Now, he realized that he too was truly capable of such damage. An ignored knot of worry deep inside him began to slowly unravel.