4 Ta'ro - Whisper in the Wind
With tragedy comes grief. Ta'ro and her father hardly spoke a word to anyone in the village after the terrible event. They consoled each other every night for their loss and grieved. Everyday became more painful than the last. Ta'ro felt lost and for once in her life could not find the courage or enthusiasm she was known for to train and become stronger. Her father Torrel, as well as Ta'ro still did their daily rounds guarding the village, but their demeanor was changed drastically. The family was well loved and everyone felt the sadness of losing such loved ones that day.
Some would consider the fact that a powerful beast being stopped was still a victory since it could've very easily killed or destroyed much more before possibly getting stopped, if at all. For Ta'ro it was truly devastating to think that she was just entrusted into protecting the village, and having suffered such great tragedy so soon.
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A few days turned into weeks. Torrel surely still felt the effects of losing his partner but has finally gotten back into the rhythm of a daily routine that he took in hopes to cope with his loss. He had to be stronger and grieve less for the sake of his daughter as well as the village's well-being. It was becoming hard to see his daughter so grieve-stricken that there needed to be a change of pace. Without fail he would make time out of the day to visit his partner's grave and pay respects, but still completed his duties to the village and his daughter.
For Ta'ro, this was hard to watch as there was no solace in seeing her father visit her mother's grave. Even Folia tried her best to console Ta'ro to the extent of her ability by snuggling with her when they were home, and being used as a pillow when she started to cry. Gilvyre, her mother was always one of her biggest supporters and a big motivator in improvement. Then there came a day when things changed almost immediately. Something occurred that took all who witnessed Ta'ro's change, especially her father, by surprise.
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Ta'ro was on her regular post where she was sitting on a vantage point in a large tree branch high in a tree. When she took notice of a flock of birds fly away in the distance. Something or someone was there. Ta'ro felt uneasy, and started to breathe faster small breaths. Folia tried to get her companion's attention to snap her out of it. They heard a roar in the distance. It wasn't too loud this far away, but definitely sounded vicious.
Ta'ro's heart started racing and her eyes dilated in panic. She knew she was supposed to sound a warning to let the village know there was a beast nearby in order to deal with it before it got out of hand or hurt someone, but she was frozen still. Folia, who was next to her, jumped up to make sure to get in Ta'ro's field of view. For a split second she heard a voice. "Folia?... D-did you speak?.. You can talk?! Wh-what is happening?!" Folia responded with a few squeaks and patted Ta'ro's face while giving her a confused and worried look.
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"No. I know that voice I could've sworn j-just now. I-it... what was that?" Ta'ro wondered out loud while trying to make sense of what was happening in her panicked state.
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"You. Have. Purpose.... Be. Brave.... It's. Destiny....." The familiar voiced whispered out to her.
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As if imbued a magical blessing from beyond to comfort her in a panicked state of mind, Ta'ro's breath began to slow down. She regained her senses as she heard another roar in the distance. Her thoughts became clear, and almost without thinking it, her body began to move. She did not send a warning for the village and instead leapt from branch to branch making her way to where the roar had come from previously.
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Ta'ro could feel the presence nearby, so she stopped and waited in a vantage point to survey her surroundings and track the disturbance. From below a corrupted creature growled and roared. She spotted it and looked to make sure it was alone. It seems to be an overgrown spotted feline creature, that was emanating a dark aura just like the beast that killed her mother. This creature was dragging a boar that seemed to be it's kill. It was no longer fighting but the aura was present nonetheless.
She was overwhelmed at the sight of the smokey corrupted aura. Her blood began to boil and almost without thought , sprung into action. She summoned and used her grimoire to create and equip her nature battle gear, using very hard wood and roots to make armor and a wooden mask. She readied her staff by using her grimoire to shift it into a lance by molding the green stone at the end into a sharp emerald blade. Then her book flipped to a blank page where new words emerged.
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"Vengeance of the Spectral Spriggan"
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She had no idea what the new spell was but she knew, a new spell during desperate times like these meant it was a powerful spell, and these beasts were no pushovers. Ta'ro used the spell and with it began emanating an emerald green flame like aura and suddenly it turned cyan in color. She was then enveloped in a spectral cloak resembling a spriggan's body over hers. "Must be an augmentation of sorts. Lets put it to the test. Folia, stay back, it's going to get ugly."
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With a newfound confidence, Ta'ro leapt onto the floor behind the feline creature immediately garnering it's attention. The eyes of the beast glowed red and stared at Ta'ro and dropped the boar it had slain, as it was looking at it's new prey. Ta'ro felt powerful in a way she couldn't explain. Bursting into a sprint she took the beast head on.
The beast reacted and jumped towards with it's claws ready to slash at her. Ta'ro did a slide and slipped under the beast using her lance-like staff to stab it as the beast was about to land on her. SHRRRK! The staff went into the beast that let out a cry on impact. Then after almost immediately ignoring it's new injury. Bounced backwards with the staff still impaled in it's body.
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Jumping quick to her feet, she had predicted the creature would react that way, leaving it open for a strike. Something in her gut told her that this spectral spriggan was meant to punish these corrupt creatures. As she thought of her mother's passing at the hands of one of these cursed beings, she seethed with rage. The flames of the spectral body grew with her fury as she bolted towards the beast with such speed and delivered a mighty punch. As her fist collided with the beast, it was sent flying into a tree behind it where it became stuck on impact with it's back submerged in the tree.
Luckily this made it so the staff partially pushed out of the creature's body a bit from where it was impaled, as the beast was wedged from its back onto the side of the tree. Ta'ro walked towards the corrupted creature, pulled out the staff causing the creature more pain. The creature was on death's door but Ta'ro was not done. She had a newly gained blood lust. A need to kill these vile creatures that have been corrupted by some sort of malice in Sprigladel, creatures with no remorse or reason to be other than to wreak havoc and spread their corruption. This infection had to be eradicated, and she was going to avenge her mother by removing every single bit of malice, even if it means looking for and ending the source of it all. No matter the cost.
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" I will no longer grieve. I am all out of tears. I will slay and destroy every last one of you scum and whatever made you. You heathens took something important from me, I will assure you all suffer the same fate a hundred fold." If not for the mask, surely Ta'ro would have had a scornful look when she said those words. She reached out to the monster, and left no room for escape, pushing her hands on the beasts arms that were still lodged into the tree in case it desperately tried to escape. There would never be anymore mistakes, she'll never let her guard down until the corrupted beast disintegrate.
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"Die!"
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As Ta'ro yelled those words as her spectral spriggan's ability triggered, bursting a stream of cyan colored flames from her mouth to the beast in front of her that made it disintegrate into the depths of the underworld. Leaving nothing, not even a single trace behind of it's existence. As she poured her flames, she saw what looked to be the original beast's spirit before the feline beast was corrupted float away. Ta'ro was stunned at the site. The spirit was tranquil, innocent, and perhaps thankful. "Was it suffering in that form that I fought it in just now? Did I just free a tortured soul? This spirit.... was it because of the new spell? " she wondered out loud as she de-powered into her normal state.
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"Folia, its safe now, sorry if you saw that... Lets head back and report the beast, afterwards we can have a very long talk with our father, there's a lot we need to discuss with him. As well as explain my new purpose. It was like an epiphany. I know what I must do. Want to head out on a journey Folia?" as she grinned to her companion. Folia squeaked and hugged her friend, who was finally getting some relief of the grieving and emotional anguish she'd been through for weeks on end, as well as had a renewed reason for living. She couldn't be more glad to have her companion back.
The duo made their way back to the village at a leisurely pace. Reported the location of where the beast was spotted and slain and any other details the guardsmen may need to keep on the lookout and any patterns of change in the ecosystem to be better prepared for the next and better predict an encounter. Ta'ro made her way to her father's post and explained what happened. It was unexpected, but her father scolded her for being so reckless and not getting assistance first. After a bit of discussion, he pondered on all the information including her new magic spell. It was unusual for a being to take on a new magical attribute or property or evolve into having a hybrid type but it wasn't unheard of, just rare. He knew this wasn't a coincidence either.
He knew that Ta'ro was powerful even before receiving her grimoire. Gilvyre knew too. When Ta'ro received her grimoire, it was very apparent that their daughter was going to become very powerful. Perhaps this is why. There was something she was meant to do. The thing that bothered him the most was the voice that called out to Ta'ro that snapped her out of the fear and panicked induced state she was in before her battle. This was all overwhelming. He told his daughter that he'd have an answer in the morning, there's many things he needs to consider and proper discussion in the morning, but for now he wanted his daughter to get some rest for a change. Just one night without her crying herself from sleep. He couldn't handle the thought of hearing the heartbreak again tonight.
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