Later that morning, once she had returned to the cave she and the elf boy had spent the night in, Aun looked around to make sure she had not been followed.  Satisfied she was alone, the gnoll walked inside, looking over her back at the arrow stuck in her shoulder.  At worst, it would probably only take a cure spell or two to heal up...nothing to worry about, barely even worth the trouble of using magic to heal it.  That is, once she could get some sleep and regain her spells; she had used her last spell of that level of power in running from that elf.  That elf...her hand clenched into a fist again at the thought.  Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to her more pressing problem...well, more piercing problem.  After sliding her backpack off, she walked to one of the cave's walls and reached back to grasp the shaft of the arrow in one hand, resting her free palm on the stone.

Gritting her jaw, she counted out loud, "One...two...HRGH!"

With that, she yanked the arrow out, letting out a pained growl as the arrowhead's barbs cut her again.  Her free hand clenched into a fist and she pounded it on the stone wall as she quickly steadied her breathing.  At least it was just one arrow and was not in very deep; this was not even as bad as when she was a child and learned the hard way why porcupines should be left alone.

Then she looked at the arrow she still held, with her blood on its head.  Her hand clenched so tightly her knuckles cracked, and her breaths turned to hisses through her bared teeth.  She could feel that old enemy of hers, her temper, had been set off not just from the sight of her blood but from remembering [u]why[/u] it was on that arrow.  It was not just another attack because she was a gnoll, or she was hunting and got careless, no, this was worse, this was much more infuriating, this-

Aun could feel the fur on her neck stand up as she flung the arrow away with an angry bellow before covering her head.  They were thankfully rare now, these bouts of anger, but they were no less severe than when she was younger.  In fact, in some ways they were worse, now that she had done so much to overcome those instincts and yet they still came back from time to time.

[b]Go back, Aun,[/b] her instincts said.

"Shut up!" she snapped.

[b]Just for him.  Find him, hunt him down, tear him apart![/b]

"Rrrgh!"

[b]Hunt him like an animal!  Run him down and eat him![/b]

"I'm not like you!  I'm not like gnolls!"  Looking around, she leaned back and shouted, "I DON'T eat people!"  She drove the point home by slamming her forehead on the cave wall.

As she expected, that shut things up.  She knew she was too strong to let her temper get the better of her anymore; she just needed to prove it once in a while, forcibly if need be.  Of course, that shut Aun up too, and she sat down with a thud from the blow.  Maybe now would be a good time to get some sleep, she decided, standing back up to walk deeper into the cave.

"Well now," came a male voice with a Sylvan accent from behind her, "I hope ye don't think of me as a 'people' if ye change yer mind."

The gnoll did not even have to turn around to know who that voice belonged to, especially once the sound of hooves clacking on stone followed it.  "How long've you been here, Rymus?" she asked.

"Long enough to know ye could use some spirits," the voice's owner replied as he walked up to her.

Rolling her eyes, Aun could not help but grin as she turned around.  As she expected, approaching her was Rymus'sylavel, or "Rymus" as he said she could call him, a creature with the upper body of a well-built man and lower body, legs, and curled horns of a goat.  He wore not a scrap of clothing save for a pair of bracers on his wrists as well as a belt and bandoleer on which hung several pouches, a bow and quiver of arrows, the panpipes for which his kind were rightly known, and a bottle of what was more than likely some of the strongest wine in the region.

"I thought satyrs went after thin-bodied, big-breasted young women, not tall, scary, flat-chested gnolls," Aun teased.

"Don't tell me ye forgot the fun we had at last year's concert already, Miss Can't-Hold-Her-Wine," Rymus said, habitually stroking his goatee knowingly, "and we don't just chase comely lasses.  Why, I had quite a time with a nice young man just a month ago...and his wife was-"

Aun cut him off with a laugh, not wanting to hear the rest of that story.  "And don't tell me [u]you[/u] forgot that even when I was drunk enough to forget which way is up, I blackened your eye when you couldn't keep your hands to yourself."

He waved off the statement.  "Lucky shot.  So, would ye be so kind as to introduce me?"

"To?"

"The other voice in yer head.  She sounds a touch mean, but is she cute?"

Aun rolled her eyes again.  "It's not a voice.  It's just me dealing with my temper.  It only happens when someone's really asking for it.  Speaking of which, why don't you be on your way so I can sleep?" she asked, making shooing motions with her hands.

The satyr wagged a finger at her.  "Not yet.  There's still the little matter of what to do about that elf," he reminded her.

"You already know about that?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.  "What, were you watching?"

"Word travels fast among us, especially when the trees have eyes."  Reaching back to slide something out of his bandoleer, he produced the arrow she had thrown away, twirling it in his fingers.  "So, what shall we do to him?"

Aun shrugged, walking further into the cave before sitting down.  "I don't really care.  I spent all night watching that kid, all I want now is some sleep," she said with a yawn.

"Well, don't be late.  We've been expecting ye.  But, c'mon," he said pleadingly, squatting down beside her, "can't we start by hiding this arrowhead in his boot?"

"I said-" she growled before what she took a second to think about his suggestion.  "Y'know, that sounds kinda nice...yeah, do it," she admitted, grinning.

Rymus smiled merrily.  "That's the spirit!  Now, get some precious beauty sleep...but are ye [u]sure[/u] ye don't want a drink?" he asked, sliding the bottle he was carrying out of its holder and offering it to her.

"You keep not taking 'no' for an answer, you're gonna get hurt again," Aun warned, only half-joking.

"Bah, yer fun at a party, but any other time?" he scoffed, taking a drink of his own.  "Would ye believe me if I told ye it was a cure potion?"

Propping her backpack up so she could rest her head on it, Aun lied down.  "You know how the saying goes: 'Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, I break one of your horns off and not one on your head.'"

He nodded, snickering at her joke but nonetheless taking a couple of steps back.  "We'll see about that," he said before turning to trot back outside.

Grinning as she closed her eyes, Aun let out a sigh.  "I hope we don't.  I look forward to this every year too much to let it get ruined."



[u]Stormy Relationship Deleted Scene[/u]
A little something extra.

I was going to put this at the end of the the last story I put up, "Stormy Relationship" ( http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12046251/ ), but it didn't make it in.  The story is centered on Calwyn, not Aun, so it felt too out of place.  Still, the story got such an unexpectedly good reaction that I decided I might as well write it out.  People seem to like Aun more than I thought, too.  Consider it the bonus footage if this were a DVD.

I think this is also the first time I've written and posted material that got cut from a story.  Not quite sure what to make of that, but I'll just assume it means something good, or at least not bad.  Actually, during the part where Aun's having her temper issue, I had to rewrite THAT some four times before I was satisfied (and no, I'm not finishing those, because stuff that gets cut from stuff that gets cut is probably going to suck).

On a semi-related note, to make this story all the more special to me, I'm making it and the last few stories I've put up my celebration of 10 years of Dungeons and Dragons.

"Stormy Relationship Topless Scene" will remain unfinished due to the fact that even when topless Aun could pass for a man.  Don't get me wrong, I'd still hit it, but you gotta know what your audience wants.

Story and characters (c) me.
Dungeons & Dragons (c) Wizards of the Coast.
Thanks to [i]Races of the Wild[/i] for help with Rymus's name.
Aun's name (c) Koji Masunari.

Tags: MF clean gnoll satyr Dungeons Dragons DD DnD fantasy