Vieraslayer

Strength of the Wood

Alvyne had found a lead at last. A pair of Viera had mentioned seeing Carraka lately and had told the team where the Reena was heading. They were afraid of Alvyne but Fran and Rael assured them that she was no threat. It wasn't much of a lead, but at least it was something.

Back in Eruyt Village, Myko had been spending a lot of time with Mjrn. The kit knew that her aunt loved Janzyn, but she didn't think anything of it when Janzyn had left for a while. There was nothing wrong with the male Viera being around, after all.

Kira hadn't left yet either and she did like the fact that Janzyn was hanging around. She did like him and was carrying his kit after all. She was trying her best to locate Jote, and she agreed with the theory that the Reena had found some kind of magick that could block the Wood. That was the only reason Kira could come up with as to why she couldn't find anything.

"Myko, get down from there please. Your mother will not appreciate it if she finds out you did nothing but caused issues here while she and many of the other Viera are trying to retrieve Jote!" Mjrn yelled. Myko had climbed up one of the walls and was just sitting there happily. None of the other Viera wanted to get her down. It wasn't easy to get up there, not to mention incredibly dangerous. A fall could be deadly.

"C'mon Myko. Please come down. We aren't mad; it's just that it's not safe up there." Nera pleaded. She was holding her new kit, but she was also taking care of Vinka. The three-year-old was holding on to the older Viera's leg.

"Are you sure none of you want to go up and get her?"

"Mjrn, if you want somebody to climb up there, do it yourself. She's light. A bigger Viera wouldn't be able to get up there easily. And I can't do it. It's not safe and I'm not as flexible as usual. I am carrying twins after all." Arla said. She and Nera were half-sisters through their father. Arla was Hala's first daughter. Hala was getting kind of old, but just like all adult Viera she looked young. Arla had been born when Hala was an adolescent.

Krjn had managed to get into the Wood without trouble. She remembered the way to Tarva Village almost instinctively, even though it had been about a hundred years since she had left. The Tarvans wouldn't have a problem. Many of them, such as Janzyn, would go outside the Wood all of the time. Janzyn had even promised to take Mjrn and their kits traveling all over Ivalice someday. The Viera of Tarva Village didn't follow the rules as closely as the other tribes.

Krjn was alone. Ktjn wanted to come with her, but Krjn had told her younger sister to stay home with Tomaj and Tjla, at least until the Reena threat was over. She was specifically after Atlas for what he did to her. She was determined to take him down. Montblanc didn't want the Viera to go alone, but she left before he could send somebody with her. She wanted to be alone. It was personal for her.

The Viera sniffed the air. She wanted to make sure it was safe to open the path to Tarva. If the Reena got in, it would be terrible. Krjn found no trace of anything. She suspected all animals, knowing Reena could transform. There wasn't even a dreamhare around, so Krjn opened the path and entered Tarva Village.

The Viera of Tarva were surprised to see Krjn. Those who knew her were shocked since she hadn't made any contact for over a hundred years. Many of them didn't even know she was still alive.

"Hello Lita. Where is Kara? I need to see her." Krjn asked her cousin, who seemed a bit unhappy to see her. Lita was a wood-warder, and she had been involved in the Janzyn incident. She was one of three Viera, all wood-warders, who Janzyn had impregnated right before the incident.

"Why would you need to see Kara? IT'S BEEN ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN YEARS KRJN! You just left Ktjn and the rest of us and never contacted us again. Ktjn left to find you!" Lita yelled.

"Ktjn is safe. And she has a family of her own now."

"She always did love the kits. That doesn't answer my question though, Krjnie."

"Good Wood, don't call me Krjnie. That was fine when we were kits, but not anymore. I need to see if Kara can assist me. I wish to hunt down and slay a Reena-Kaana who has been killing Viera here. He nearly killed me some time ago. I am a professional hunter and this hunt is personal."

"Kara has business to attend to in Eruyt Village. Their leader was kidnapped by the Reena and she and about twelve of our people are assisting with the rescue attempt. Kara and Jote get along so well."

"Eruyt Village? I know a Viera who once lived there. I don't know exactly where that is. I suppose I will hunt the Reena on my own. I am perfectly capable of taking down Reena. I have done so before."

Jote was ready. Atlas had left her cage door unlocked, but not open. She could still get out easily. The lock had been her only problem before. Atlas and Taji had run off to the back room together. Carraka would return from her hunt shortly, probably carrying a dead Viera or two. The puppy was sleeping. Jote hoped she didn't wake him up while she was killing Carraka.

Carraka burst in with a pair of dead Viera. Naturally, they seemed pretty young. Carraka would just tear apart young Viera. Mjrn had been extremely lucky she had seen the big Reena before she had been attacked or she would've been killed in seconds, even if Carraka didn't administer the lethal bite.

"You! Jote the filthy Reena-killer! I have recovered! Our game resumes now!" Carraka yelled as she threw the dead Viera to the ground and went into the cage.

"Are you not going to eat your lunch beforehand? You call me a filthy Reena-killer, and I only killed thirteen of your kin. You've killed probably thrice that many Viera these past few months alone." Jote remarked. Carraka roared at her. Jote had to wait for exactly the right second to strike.

"You be quiet! You Viera are nothing but meat! Just consider yourself lucky I'm keeping you alive for the time being, but you are wearing out your welcome! Atlas is falling in love with you! Don't think I don't know it! He called out your name during sex last night!"

"You just had a puppy, Carraka. Surely you do not need to have another so soon?"

"I don't intend on it, but I still have to teach Atlas who is boss around here!" The Reena roared. Jote lunged at her and knocked her onto her back.

"YOU WILL FALL, YOU VILE REENA-KAANA BITCH!" The Viera raged, pinning Carraka down.

Carraka threw Jote off of her and howled. "ATLAS! TAJIANDA! GET IN HERE AND HELP ME KILL THIS LITTLE MONSTER!!" The big Reena screamed. Nobody came to her aid, and she got a bit worried that Jote was going to succeed in killing her.

Jote got back up on her feet and shook herself off. Carraka tried to charge her but she leapt out of the way.

"Your resilience amuses me, Viera. Any other Viera would've been injured from the throw. And my charge attack would've killed you easily if you had been any other Viera. You're agile too. But you're hurt; you will fall by my claws!" Carraka growled. Jote leapt at Carraka and kicked her hard. The Reena whimpered and tried to grab the Viera. She swiped with her claws and hit the Viera slightly. Jote was bleeding, but she seemed unfazed. The pain from her previous injuries was not slowing her down very much. Carraka managed to swat Jote down. The Viera pretended to be mortally wounded. The evil dog pounced at Jote, who kicked her underneath and sent her backwards, hurting the big Reena badly.

The rescue team burst in. Alvyne and the Viera had heard Carraka's howl and rushed to the scene. Carraka was hurt and Alvyne wanted to kill her herself.

"You can soften her up, Alvyne, but she is mine and mine alone to slay." Jote growled, baring her teeth menacingly.

"Crystal clear." Alvyne said, nodding. Alvyne jumped on Carraka's back and began biting her. She knew better than to even attempt the lethal bite.

"I am so glad you are well." Fran told her sister.

"No. I most certainly am not well. I spent my time here being raped repeatedly by both Reena. And that Tajianda too. I am not well in the slightest. I require healing desperately. And Carraka's magicks prevent all magickal healing." Jote whimpered. She was hurt severely, but she was still capable of fighting. The damage was getting to her. She was weakening.

"My poor, poor girl. Come on, we need to get you out of here." Marl said, hugging his mate.

"No! I must destroy Carraka before she causes any more suffering!" Jote yelled.

"You're overexerting yourself. Carraka has taken a lot of damage. Let somebody else handle her or you may well kill yourself along with her." Balthier stated. Jote snarled at him and shoved Alvyne out of the way and began trying to tear Carraka apart herself. The Reena got back on her feet and threw the Viera against a wall, but she was near death herself. Jote called upon the strength of the Wood to aid her. With that extra burst of energy, she ripped into Carraka with one final blow and the Reena fell. The Viera then collapsed right on top of the dead Reena.

"She did it. I cannot believe she would do that, even though it could've easily killed her too." Fran whispered.

"Is Jote alive?" Kara asked.

Rael rushed over to her friend and put her ear to Jote's chest.

"Rael, there are other ways to check for a pulse." Marl said angrily.

"Well, her heart is beating, but she's barely breathing. She needs to get back to the village and under the healers care, or we're gonna lose her. And we cannot lose her!" The wood-warder exclaimed.

"Alvyne, you're a healer. Can you and Rael work on her? Just make sure she doesn't die. The internal damage will be looked at later. Zara will deal with that."

"Alvyne will see what can be done." The Reena pup stated.

"Marl, I'm not a healer!" Rael complained.

"No Rael, but you do love Jote, and you can assist Alvyne." Marl said.

There were suddenly horrible cries coming from the back room. The team, minus Rael and Alvyne, rushed to the scene. There was Atlas, held down by Krjn, who looked ready to kill him. Vaan and Penelo were holding Taji still so she couldn't assist. Taji was enraged and wanted nothing more than to break free and attack Krjn.

"However in the world did you guys find out about this?" Fran wondered.

"Jarl, Alja's miniature coeurl, sniffed these guys out. Alja can still hear the Wood to a point. We left her back in Rabanastre with Ktjn's family. We had to promise to have somebody give us seeds for her herb garden. She wanted to come along, but I wouldn't let her. She can't be put in this kind of danger in her condition. She heard from the Wood that Jote was in trouble and asked us to help." Vaan explained.

"Stupid Humes! Let me go! Atlas is no danger to you! Let me help him!" Taji screamed.

"I need revenge." Krjn said. "And this Reena is a Rank Seven mark. It's my job to kill him. I just need you to be out of the way."

"Jote! Is she okay? Is Carraka dead?" Atlas asked Fran, struggling to get the Viera huntress off of him. Krjn pulled out a blade. Marl grabbed Krjn and pulled her off the injured Reena while Fran and Kara restrained him.

"Why do you not allow me to kill him?" Krjn wondered angrily.

"He's still able to be tamed by Balthier or these two. And he seems to be concerned about Jote. He may be of use to us." Kara explained.

"I love her. I hope she is okay. Kill me if you must, but know this: there is a puppy sleeping nearby. He is Carraka's and mine. He needs somebody to take care of him, and Jote seems to like him." Atlas explained.

"I don't think we need to kill you, despite Krjn's intentions. Listen to me Reena. Jote is hurt very badly, but she did kill Carraka. We are going to have our healers work on her when we get back to Eruyt Village. You are never, under any circumstance to hurt another Viera again. Never. If Jote wants you out of the Wood, you listen. Next time, you will die." Balthier told Atlas. The big Reena nodded.

"Krjn was it? Are you Tarvan, like Janzyn?" Pheytah asked. He was part of the team because of his strength. And because Janzyn told him maybe the Reena had an enemy skills materia

"I was. That was over a hundred years ago though. I am a hunter for Clan Centurio now."

"A hunter? That sounds lovely. I think I might join a clan once Janzyn gets me that enemy skills materia. I want Blue Magick, and that's the only way for me to get it."

Taji roared with laughter. "You loser! I'm a natural Blue Mage! The big strong male Viera isn't as tough as he looks!" She yelled happily. Pheytah walked over and punched the annoying Viera right in the face as hard as he could, knocking her out. Vaan and Penelo dropped her.

"You rule!" Vaan exclaimed.

"I think you broke her nose, Mr. Pheytah." Penelo remarked.

"She deserved it for what she called me. She's just lucky that's the only thing I broke! That Viera needed to shut up. I've heard of her from Janzyn. That idiot watches the news and stuff all the time. The Moogles made that for me, but Jan insists he needs to watch the news and not the Fighting Channel just because he thinks Meredith the Viera is hot! Maybe he wouldn't be so weak if he'd practice with me! I love fighting." Pheytah said.

"I wonder if my sister knew Janzyn…" Krjn muttered.

"Atlas, come along. We are returning to Eruyt Village. We'll make sure the Viera don't kill you, but Jote is really hurt. I hope Alvyne and Rael were able to help."

Atlas went and got the puppy, and then the group went and got Alvyne and Rael. Jote still wasn't conscious, but she did look a bit better.

"Atlas, give Alvyne the puppy. Don't worry. She won't hurt him. He's most likely gonna end up being her mate someday. You need to carry Jote. Alvyne would, but I don't know if she can without hurting her. You know where she's injured." Marl ordered. He was a fine leader himself.

The group went back to Eruyt Village (minus Vaan and Penelo), Jote in Atlas's arms. The Viera eyed the male Reena suspiciously, but they didn't dare make a move to hurt him when they saw he was carrying Jote. He managed to get into the Viera's home and laid her down on her bed. Zara immediately followed him in, Alvyne at her side. The Reena puppy had gone and told her as soon as the team had gotten back.