Author Games Compilation [Cycle 1]

Task 4 ☀ Cupid's Arrow [AP]

BLOODBOUND - 4

Of ancient lore, Helios was the titan of the sun; Auda had always kept the presence of this one at the back of his head, for though he knew him to be right above his head, he also knew him as a brother, and would only regard the name as such. However, he'd often fallen into tangents of thought where he went to wondering if the two were equivalent, synonymous, the same. Helios shone, Helios shone. Helios, whichever, whoever, gave him the means to see, the means to stay warm.

Helios (the brother) gave him plenty of ideas. Helios (the titan) gave him light by which he hunted.

And it was an arduous hunt, too. Squirrels were no walk in the park to catch, not at all, and anyone who said otherwise must've been lying. Why anyone would do such a thing, Auda didn't know. There seemed no point in lying.

The inconvenience proved minimal. He'd already caught sight of one such furry creature, perched precariously upon a high rock as it took a moment to scratch itself. He reworked his fingers around his spear, and thought perhaps it was far too thick to snatch something so small up by the skin; he leaned the spear against a tree and took the steady steps that were necessary in such a hunt.

The squirrel cocked a beady black eye towards him. Auda merely cocked a grin, an uneasy one, as he placed his hands out before him as a means to bring false comfort to the creature. Wyld had taught him that trick. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm not a threat. I'm only going to eat you. I promise."

As reiterated, he saw no point in lying.

The little paws nestled close to its chest pounced against the rock, launching the little thing from stone to dirt in one, two, three bounds. Auda felt a flicker of something in his chest - a split second of panic, perhaps, for he recalled how Quill'd teased him over not knowing his head from his toes, and he certainly didn't want that playing out again. It made sense, surely, to follow after the squirrel until he could trap it in his hands. Like the goldfish in the narrow streams back in One.

As much as he appreciated how tasty those fish were all sizzled up and slapped between slabs of bread, he knew not of any streams winding anywhere close, so he made it a mission to crash through the vegetation and never let the spasmodic shadows disappear for long. One step, two steps: a waltz. Momma loved to dance.

Somewhere between his thoughts, he'd forgotten to keep track of the squirrel, but nonetheless he saw and felt the vegetation come to an end with the instant beating of heat on his forehead. That bastard of a squirrel had likely gotten him lost, and it didn't even care with the way it pranced its way through the weeds away from him. Auda thought it rather arrogant of the thing to hop upon a log and skimper its way across, and he was fully prepared to head over and start barking manners at the thing. He even imagined himself with arms in the air as he preached and preached like-

On second thought, the squirrel was an arbitrary thing. There was much more to things once it hopped from one knee to another before disappearing through the surrounding brush.

Auda stood upright - his eyes brimmed.

A figure sitting upon the log straightened himself out, too, casting a lightened glance his way. Even from where Auda stood, he could see the bloodshot nature of his eyes, he could see the tired circles overlapping bags. He could see the strain in a youthful man's smile as he looked up, exhaled, and said, "Hey, Auda."

"Helios," Auda said, stiff at first, and then breathy, relieved. "Helios!" For a brief moment, there was hesitation behind the stumble in his first few steps, but then nothing was barred away, and he took off at a run towards his brother. Confused, yes, he was confused, but he saw no reason to question the visitation. Quill's teases meant nothing to him then, nor did Florentina's eventual disappointment at not being able to munch a miniscule leg. They weren't family; Helios was family, and Helios stood, and though Helios didn't respond to Auda's act of throwing thick arms around his neck and nearly knocking him down with the ferocity of his hug, he let it happen, because that's what family did.