Legends of Belariath
Tarin
The story that is going to be told starts even before it's protagonist lived. Before he was born as there were events that should make his life difficult, mark his very being with darkness...
A village was built. Cat people building houses, working eagerly to build themselves a home, nothing out of the ordinary. They had searched for a nice place and had found it, as if it was a gift from Gaea herself. A wide clearing building the base, surrounding forest providing working material, a stream giving them water. All in all a peaceful place, except a dark, small stone cottage not that far away.
The stone structure was emanating something sinister, pure evil, the area around as if cloaked in shadows. The inhabitant was just as dark as his home. He was a necromancer, one that was eaten away from his own powers. Control over them he had lost long ago, the dark weave overtaking and twisting his very self. He chuckled to himself, feeling the newcomers presence. "Foolish cat people."
That the cats were not welcomed was lost to them as they built their village and settled in. A storm brewing at the horizon, was blissfully ignored by them...Till the first thunder stuck, so to speak.
The cats were unprepared, only the usual guards placed to defend the village against the stray bear or boar that would find it's way near to wreak a bit havoc in the streets. That evening it would be something else that would come to the village. A dark mist, light consuming, was seeping from the forest. Hiding the undead beasts within, living corpses of animals and men alike, resurrected and played by the necromancer like puppets. "Get them...kill and slaughter them, my little ones." His voice would be heard through town, chillingly rasped, sending shudders through everyone's bodies, kittens starting to cry.
The battle was clearly in favor of the necromancer, the cats completely overwhelmed by his forces. The dark magician, stood in the middle of the town, watching the morbid play that his creatures were creating for his pleasure. "You shall perish, make me stronger and join my forces." His voice quite, spreading across the land, insisting just a bit more fear. He didn't count on resistance or a sneak attack.
The cats, finally organizing a bit, resisted the forces. They defended themselves as best as they could. Most were rangers and gave deadly shots with their bows, their arrows set aflame to bring harm to the undead. They were effective, as they knew each other with the bond of a family rather than just a mere community. With time, more and more undead fell; defeated. The necromancer, loosing his forces quickly, was now outnumbered as the cats pressed a counterattack.
The necromancer was confused for a moment as the smell of burning, rotten flesh waved over him, followed by collapsing monsters that were set aflame around him. "No…That can not be." His voice barely a whisper, too shocked that his creatures were being defeated with such expertise. "No! That can not happen!" His voice was determined, cold as ice. He turned to unleash his magic, to step into battle himself, just to find several arrows impaling his form. His robes and flesh were set aflame within seconds, making the dark magician scream in pain, as his body was still human after all.
His burning body tumbled to the floor, last words rasped out, magic set free, dark streaks shooting all over the village, hitting almost all of the female cats. A dark chuckle escaped his lips as his last breaths taken. "Foolish cats. I curse you, there will be one born to you, marked by me, darkness residing within him, released the first time he faces dead, growing from then on."
The cats indeed were foolish, not caring about the threat spoken about. Not believing that they were cursed, but happier with the fact that they lived through this attack. They found the cottage, razing it down, just a small ruin leaving sign that it was ever there. Life returned to normal and soon the episode was forgotten as they lived in peace once again.
The curse was forgotten, but never left the small settlement. The threat of the curse lay dormant for many generations, until there is a kitten born. The threat made long ago, would take the innocent body as it's host, just as promised. "Congratulations, you’ve got yourself a boy."
The curse, right to the necromancers words, lay dormant in Tarin for years. The kitten would grow up as a normal boy, or at least as normal he could grow up as one of two males in his generation. As boys of the age of 10 years did, the two best friends caused mischief around the town, both boys loved by everyone around.
That his life should get in danger, that he should face death sooner rather than later was unexpected for everyone.
Tarin and his friend had once again sneaked out of the village, their mothers never allowing them as they were worried, which was normal. The kittens sneaking and exploring the area, running, laughing and just being kids as they go deeper and deeper into the woods. Upon reaching a clearing a strange animal stood in front of them, for the boys at least; a horse.
"Come lets scare it!" They giggled, not a care in the world, not knowing what danger lay ahead for them as they sneaked closer, keeping out of the breeze. They knew so much about hunting and came relatively close to the animal, the horse looking a bit more frightening now as they were near.
"Uhm...lets turn around and just let it be…" A soft whisper between the boys, but the horse had heard them and had turned to look at the kittens, both being rooted to the spot. That was when the wind turned, the horse getting nose full of the cats scent, that called predator. The horse panicked, the scent telling him it was in danger, doing the only thing it could, defend itself through charging its 'attackers'.
Two sets of eyes going wide, as the horse stood up onto his hind legs, front set lifted into the air, nostrils flaring, air snorted. Tarin's friend was lucky, ripping himself from the paralysis that had befallen their bodies, he would jump to the side as the animal charged. Tarin was not, his body lifted into the air upon impact, sailing a bit, just to be hit again by the horse before the animal would flee into the forest.
The clearing was silent for moment, Tarin's body lying limply on the ground, his friend wide eyed and again, rooted. "Tarin?" His voice hesitated, as he approached his friend and knelt down, shaking the lifeless body softly. "Shit..." The kitten finally realized that help would be needed. "Hold on!" He spoke his last words before the boy ran.
Tarin faced death that day. The curse awakening, a dark part nestling in him, bonding with him, altering him in some ways, abusing the fact that his body was so weak. He pulled through, was brought and nursed back to health and to grow up, the beast in him waiting, bidding its tie to strike and surface, to overtake the cats body, to influence him.
Tarin got trained in the arts of the ranger as he grew older. He learned how to survive on his own in nature, how to properly shot a bow, seek shelter and track animals and other footprints and the like. It was the day of his first real hunt that the curse strikes, the beast surfaces in the gentle young cat...
Tarin was crouching lightly, bowstring pulled, arrow placed against it, tip into the direction of a small buck they had tracked down. His breath was even as in his innermost self, the darkness, emerged. His concentrated face with lips in a thin line, crunched up a bit, smile turning into a twisted grin, slightly mad features shown. Power rushed through him, darkness clouded his mind, he was now, the bringer of death. A mad giggle emanated from him as the first arrow is let loose, a second already pulled back against the string as the first hits it’s target.
His teacher looked a bit dumbfounded as his pupil lets loose arrow after arrow, even resuming after the animal is dead. "Hey, boy, snap out of it." A hand was placed onto Tarin's shoulder, the cat turning around with madness shown in his eyes. A light gasp from his teacher, as this sight was so alien on the kittens face before the boy suddenly slumped over.
Healers and magicians were called to help the boy that was unconscious for three days and nights. They couldn't help much, just dampen the beast effect on him. It was impossible to remove the darkness, as it was intertwined with his soul and being, never to be separated from him, ever again.