Cup of Blood

Chapter 5: Peter and Hyphelion Paradoias

"I've heard we will be headed at House Blacksmith to watch the first day of training for the aspiring Royal Guard trainees," Peter would say to his brother, Hyphelion, as they sat under an oak tree in the forest, eating their packed lunches, resting.

"Yes. We will be headed there later on. Maybe around five o'clock in the afternoon will we go," Hyphelion as he takes a bite off his packed sandwich.

"Alright. Wait, why? I thought we will be watching them?" Peter as he halts taking another bite from his food, looking at his brother with a surprised look.

"We will just delay them and their training. We will arrive when they are busy eating dinner," Hyphelion expressionlessly, biting off from the sandwich again.The two brothers are currently inside a large forest, hunting for fun. The two youngest in the Paradoias brood usually do these sort of things during spring and winter, where game movement is quite slow and easy to hunt. In front of them, under another oak tree, lay the corpses of the deer, rabbits, and other animals they have hunted the entire morning. Of course, winter is cold, so the two brothers both wore thick clothes from head to toe. They wear these long brown leather jackets going from shoulder to toe, thick boots and gloves for warmth, and a coverlet for their heads. The food they have brought with them is already cold and have hardened, but soft enough to remain edible. Their breaths have already condensed, creating these clouds every time they exhale. They were there, eating about their lunch when suddenly, they heard sounds of steps getting louder and louder, presumably getting closer to them. The brothers stopped whatever they were doing, looked at each other, dropped their food, and took their weaponry. Peter took his bow and arrow laid down beside him, as Hyphelion took his musket and loaded it with gunpowder, shaking it to warm the barrel as he loads it with a metal-coated lead ball. They slowly creep away from the oak tree, covered in snow, and walk around their surroundings slowly, carefully looking at every possible detail in the distance.

"You heard that?" Hyphelion.

"Obviously," Peter. "But get your butt warm, it could be danger."

Hyphelion nod as the two continued to watch out for any possible danger. Eventually they'd realize that there isn't much of a potential threat, for nothing is visible enough; everything is white. The two looked at each other, let out a mutual gesture, and Hyphelion came walking towards Peter, as the other starts lowering down his bow. It's winter, but a calm day it is. The chilly breeze hasn't made its way yet to England, maybe wind currents have changed in some other place affecting the movement of air in English territory. As Hyphelion walked towards Peter, the elder one suddenly took a step back, much to the surprise of the other. Peter raised his bow, cocked up an arrow, and aimed towards Hyphelion. The other almost fired his musket when Peter fired the bow, causing the arrow to head towards the cranium of Hyphelion. Hyphelion was left in shock, but was left him more in shock was the fact that Peter's arrow missed his head. There was silence in the brothers' air, with Hyphelion's position half-ready to fire and Peter in post-release position. They were still as ice.

"You know, I am not angry with you that you attempted to kill me, but what bothers me most is how you could possibly miss that arrow when you're so near to me," Hyphelion started, still motionless.

"I wasn't aiming for you, moron. I was aiming for the wolf behind you," Peter as he lowers his bow and Hyphelion lowering his musket. At the words of his brother, Hyphelion immediately looked backwards and saw a dead wolf covered in snow, with an arrow pierced through his head in the middle of his eyes, where the snowy ground become stained in its blood. "I never lost my touch, brother," Peter to Hyphelion as he walks towards their things. "Prepare yourself. We will leave immediately, but first...," Peter halted, scanning his surroundings, with his hands on his waist. "...we have to find a way out of this bloody forest."