The Day The Music Died

Chapter 3

Fhwip. The sound of the bow releasing was too quiet for the animals to hear, followed by a sigh as Ivon let out the breath that he hadn't realised he'd been holding. The arrow flew through the air silently, heading straight for the hippocampi. With all the splashing and thrashing about, even if the arrow missed any vital points on the animal, it was almost certain to hit either, one of the of the other creatures or injured it enough to slow it down so they could catch it. An ear-splitting screech filled the air as the steel tipped shaft pierced the hippocampus' side and blood spread into the water like a rose of death sprouting from the ground. Ivon couldn't help but smile, as his year and a half of hard training showed its worth. It flailed around for a few seconds, before slowly disappearing below the surface of the water.

"Well done, Ivon." Ellisar praised the smiling man as he started towards the lake to retrieve their catch. Ivon looked over to his friend and saw that his skin had turn pale as satin and he was staring at the spot where the hippocampus had sunk beneath the water's surface with a soft splash. 
"What's wrong? Zeph are you ok? You look as if you've just seen a ghost" Ivon asked, concerned.
"You just shot that hippocampus.".
"Yes. Yes I did. That's kinda the whole point of being a hunter. You kill things and get paid for it. Just like what just happened." Ivon said, slightly amused. 

As they crept up to the water's edge, Ivon finally got a good look at the water, and his stomach dropped. It was revolting. Seeing the scarlet red blood float on top of the water without mixing, akin to the sight of oil, made Zephyr gulp next to him. They'd never seen that much blood before, though despite the new hunter's disgust, Ellisar seemed unbothered. Though, it was expected, considering his experience in the field.
"Zephyr," Ellisar turned to the blonde "Since Ivon made the shot, you have to finish it off. It seems only fair." Ivon looked over to Zephyr and saw the horror on his face.
"If he doesn't want to-" He was about to say, but Ellisar cut him off.
"No. Zephyr has to do this; you injured the thing, so he has to kill it."
Zephyr stared into the water and his hand twitched towards the pouch on his waist, containing his simple, yet elegant stainless-steel dagger. Ivon knew that Zephyr would always have trouble making the final slice to kill anything, the guy was purely too sympathetic. Zephyr always described it as 'feeling someone's pain as if it is my own' and 'I don't like hurting others because it hurts me as well'. Seeing Zephyr make the inclination of going to kill something saddened Ivon's heart, as his friend would've never even thought to harm any living creature before they joined Shvatar's hunting corp. Years of rigorous training and hard work hardened his moral, yet he still managed to keep his bubbly personally and goddess-awful jokes, remaining friendly in such a tough and cruel world is truly a commendable feat. Ivon, on the other hand, was not so fortunate. Where he once used to be just as zestful and lively, but as they spent more time around dangerous creatures and learnt about them more and more, Ivon lost his spark. By this time, Ellisar had already dragged the thrashing creature up to the shore, he had to wade out into the lake to retrieve the animal and grab it by its tail. Ivon had never truly seen the hunter in all his glory. His clothes were saturated, clinging to his skin and revealing his toned body and muscular physique. 
"Come on Zephyr Madlock, don't keep us waiting... Kill it." Ellisar prompted. The hippocampus was thrashing about despite its injury, throwing sand up in the air and making an ear-splitting sound, like a hell-sent symphony. Zephyr's hand shakily moved to his waist and unclasped the pouch containing his dagger. Ivon watched warily as his friend stepped up to the creature, knelt down and raised the weapon above his head. Ivon heard him whisper something to the hippocampus before he brought his dagger down:
"I'm sorry."

"Well done, all three of you." The captain praised as they entered back into the camp. "You did marvelously for your first hunt. Ivon and Zephyr, go get cleaned up and Ellisar come with me." He motioned for the senior hunter to walk with him, and they wandered over to the far side of the camp. As soon as they were out of earshot Zephyr turned to Ivon.
"I don't like this. The captain is being too nice. He never acts like this." The blonde fretted.
"Don't worry Zeph, he'll probably go back to his stone-cold demeanor in no time." Ivon chuckled and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Besides, are you ok? You kind of muttered something just after you finished off the hippocampus. I thought it was a bit weird."
"Oh uh, I was just, you know, giving my thanks." Zephyr shrugged nervously, rubbing the nape of his neck. At Ivon's confused expression he quickly added, "For the kill, for the hippocampus, we wouldn't have a job if there wasn't anything for us to hunt."
"Who were you thanking? The animal? Or... what?" Ivon couldn't think of anything else he could've been thanking.
"Ah it doesn't matter." Zephyr waved off Ivon's sharp comment and skipped (yes skipped, that's something his friend did) off to help one of their fellow hunters with sharpening swords and arrow tips.
Strange. Ivon thought. Zephyr's been acting strange recently, ever since that night with the singing. He's probably just shaken up; anyone would be after today. Yeah, that's it, he's just scared, that's why he's acting weird. He nodded, satisfied with his answer. Although, as Ivon attempted to shake the thought of his friend's behaviour, for some reason, no matter how hard he tried to take his mind off of it, he couldn't stop thinking about it. Something was definitely wrong.