I Hey guys! This is my fourth chapter of Veran and Catina.
I haven't got that much to say other than thanks for the reviews.
I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Veran once again followed Catina through the rainforest as he wondered where she was taking him to.
"So where are we heading off to, might I ask?" he asked.
"We are going to the Pit of Doom." Catina replied.
Veran tilted his head to one side. "Doesn't that sound kind of dangerous?"
He then felt concerned by what Catina said as she silenced him with her wing.
"Not really, but you'll see." she said.
They landed near a naturally carved rock stadium in a roughly elliptical shape, with a small lake in the middle, in which piranhas live in. The rock walls around the pit are used by the macaws as seating areas, and Veran could see some of the macaws sitting on the opposite side of him and Catina. He then looked around and admired the vegetation growing around the rocks.
"So what happens here, Catina?" he asked.
"A soccer match happens," Catina said. "You see, two tribes, usually the Spix's macaw tribe and the Scarlet macaw tribe would battle for pride as they would often try to best each other by scoring more goals than their opponents, but, now, they usually play for fun."
"Why were the two tribes feuding with each other before?" Veran asked.
"Well, they both were very wary of each other and they had borders on the edge of their respective territory, which meant, if any bird, whether it be a Spix's macaw or a Scarlet macaw, crosses that border into the other tribe's territory is seen as a declaration of war between them, which would end up being a game of soccer in the Pit of Doom." Catina replied.
"That wouldn't happen in my homeland." Veran said.
The raven sighed as he looked and Catina, and felt like he had to tell her something.
"Catina, since we're now... friends, you have gained my trust. I don't want anyone to know about this, but I shall tell you my story of how I really got here."
They went to sit on a rock wall as Catina smiled and put her wing on his back.
"Your secret is safe with me, I'm listening." she said.
"It all started when I was training with my uncle..." Veran said as he closed his eyes, thinking about those days.
Backstory
Veran was trying to shoot some arrows, but failed to do so as he kept missing the target. He saw his uncle and decided to ask him for help.
"Uncle Alban, can you help me with this?" he asked, looking at his bow and arrows.
"Yes, Veran." Alban replied.
Alban spent the whole day helping Veran hit the target. While his nephew was close to hitting the bullseye, that did not stop him to be encouraged by his uncle.
"You can do it, Veran." Alban said with encouragement. "Aim, and take a deep breath before firing."
Veran lifted up his wing, put the arrow through the bow with his other wing and aimed it at the target. He breathed in and out slowly, and then he fired. The arrow hit the bullseye as Veran smiled and ran over to his uncle.
"I did it, uncle Alban!" he cheered.
"Well done, Veran." Alban smiled. "I knew you could do it!"
That night, at the castle, Alban went to Veran's room and told him something important before he went to sleep.
"Veran, I have something to show you." he said.
Veran followed his uncle through the castle and up the steps.
"So what are you about to show me, uncle?" Veran asked.
"Something very special, Veran." Alban replied.
Alban let Veran into his room and pointed his wing to a gothic-coloured staff laying on the bed as they approached it.
"Is this your magical staff?" Veran asked.
"Yes, this staff was given to me by my father." Alban said. "He knew that I was destined to protect the innocent from the cold-blooded enemies, who try to kill them, this staff became an important memento for me, when my father was brutally cut down, but, now, I pass this on to you, Veran, for it is now yours to use in your quest to defend the innocent from your cold-blooded enemies."
Alban gave his staff to Veran. The young raven then hugged him.
"Thank you, uncle." Veran said.
"Your welcome, Veran." Alban smiled.
A few weeks later...
Alban was reminded by one of his kind that the foes are on their way to invade their homeland as he went over to Veran, who was holding his staff his uncle gave him, and held his shoulders with his wings.
"What's going on?" Veran asked.
"A bunch of rooks are invading our homeland, Veran." Alban replied. "If I had to guess, I suspect that Draven is behind this."
"Draven?" Veran said, tilting his head. "Is he the leader of the rooks?"
"Draven is an enemy of mine and yes, he is the leader of the rooks." Alban sighed. "He used to be my best friend, we were like brothers, we got along together and we even thought of plans on how to protect each other's families, until, he committed the ultimate betrayal by murdering my father in cold-blood because of the fact that he believed my father is the reason why there is tension between the rooks and the ravens."
"What do you want me to do?" Veran said.
"I want you to keep training yourself, for any threats that might come to harm the innocent." Alban said. "Can you do that for me?"
Veran sighed before looking at his uncle.
"I will." he answered.
Alban left with his raven army. Instead of going back to his room, Veran followed them outside the castle with his staff and hid behind a tree over a huge hill, so he cannot be seen by both sides. He then saw the battle unfold between the ravens and the rooks and couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"This must be the battle of the highlands. I don't like this very much." He whispered to himself.
Soon enough, he sees his uncle fighting off some rooks before he comes face-to-face with Draven, who smiles evilly as the two circled each other while waiting for the other to make the first move.
"I see, that you're back again, Draven. Long time, no see." Alban said.
"Yes, but now, I have a powerful army. There is always room for one more, though." Draven said.
"No thanks." Alban replied. "I know how you treat your partners."
"Fine, so be it. You had no chance!" Draven bellowed.
He and Alban started fighting each other with their swords. They fought back and forth for a few minutes when all of a sudden, Draven dodge one of Alban's attacks and leaped over him before brutally stabbing him in the back. Veran covered his beak with his wings as tears poured down his face.
"You see, Alban." Draven chuckled. "This is why you are weak."
As soon as he said that, the rest of the rooks went ahead and killed off the rest of the raven army.
"Now rooks, on to the castle!" Draven ordered as the rooks approached the castle.
Veran came out of his hiding spot and flew over the lifeless bodies of ravens. He then heard a cough as he saw Alban laying there on the ground, coughing up blood. He landed near his uncle and held his head while tears were streaming down his face.
"Uncle Alban, are you okay!?" Veran cried out.
"No... Veran." Alban replied while coughing some more. "I'm dying... but... I can rest in peace... knowing that... you will... defeat Draven. Farewell... Veran. See... the... light... from... your... darkness... nep-nephew."
Alban inhaled his last breath before his body became lifeless as Veran screamed his lungs out and burst into tears, holding the body of his dead uncle. Veran realised that he's the only survivor of the ravens.
Reality
"I was then caught by one of the rooks who heard my screams of pain and took me to the castle." Veran said. "I was then staring up at Draven who said that instead of killing me, he would rather banish me from my homeland, so I can die a slow, and painful death. I retaliated by defending myself with my staff before the rooks tackled me to the ground and threw me out the castle. I then left and never returned."
A tear then fell from Veran's eye, thinking about his uncle's demise. Catina felt sorry for Veran as she knew that the death of a loved one at the wings of your enemy's bound to be traumatising, which caused her to wrap a wing around Veran in order to give him the comfort, that he desperately needed.
"I'm so sorry to hear that," Catina said as she hugged him. "It must have been traumatising."
Veran felt Catina's wings with his own as for the first time ever, he blushed. However, he decided to continue his story of how he got to the Amazon rainforest.
"While I was exiled, I looked at my staff to see if I could do something with it after trying to defend myself from the rooks." Veran said. "As soon as the sun shone on my staff, it unleashed a ball of light and hit a bark of a tree, creating a gateway to another world, which looked like this rainforest. I then stepped in there and I didn't really know what happened in there, until I woke up in your hollow and you told me everything."
Veran hugged Catina back as another tear glided down his face.
"Thank you, Catina, for listening." he said. "You are one, true friend."
"You are welcome, Veran." Catina smiled.
Veran wiped his tears away with a talon and looked at Catina. He felt a sigh of relief that he told his whole story to his newly-found friend. The thing that matters to Veran now, is that he is not alone and he will always have someone by his side.
That might have to be the saddest chapter that I have ever done. I felt like it was more sadder here than in Veran: Origins.
Veran is really lucky to have a friend that by his side that listens to him.
Anyways, comment down in the reviews on what you think of this chapter and I'll see you all soon.
