The First Battle

Warhorns of water buffalo make bellowed and squealed in the heavy and humid jungle air as the warriors marched forward in a line, weapons in hand. Followed by a various choir of hooting and whistling while the warriors who had head trophies held them aloft in their hands to frighten and mock their enemies. The enemy war party, men of tan skin, long black hair, and several linear tattoos that marked from their face to down past their bodies and limbs, responded in turn with their own war horn bellows melodic in nature emanating from conch shell horns. Before their warriors shouted and hooted in turn as they themselves pulled out their own head trophies, though their head trophies had the skull removed with the heads shrunken and sewed up at the eyes and mouth. Tagunban marched forward at his half brother Bongao’s side, Bongao held both the signature Axe Clan axe in one hand and his head trophy in the other, while Tagunban was equipped with a short bow and a quiver of arrows. Tagunban’s heart raced as the excitement and energy made him feel as if his blood were about to boil out his veins. Though what had Tagunban’s heart racing were what he learned about war in his past life as Kagetora, total warfare in which each side doesn’t relent until their enemy is destroyed outright even as their own face mounting casualties. However when the two forces met within arrow range Tagunban would learn tribal warfare was more a matter of individual will and bravery then formations and guaranteed carnage. The battle lines were not rigid; instead they undulated as warriors charged forward throwing spears or sending out waves of mystic attacks such as fireballs with their channeling mana before retreating a safe distance where an arrow, even if it stuck was unlikely to kill. Tagunban and Bongao watched from the sidelines as the forward assault line ebb and flowed for what seemed like an hour before the chieftain supervising from the back of the war party in his old age began to shout. “Flanks forward, assault fall back!” screamed the warchief before bellowing his warhorn in a specific rhythm as to further signal his order to all who couldn't hear his shouting. The assault line then stepped forward and let loose a mighty rain of arrows emptying their quivers, as to cover their retreat before they ran backwards. As the assault line fell back Bongao nodded to his brother before the pair sprinted forward to reinforce the assault line while the first wave of soldiers retreated to the flanks and vanguard to rest and deal with arrow wounds. Soon Tagunban found himself in the same back and forth rhythm he observed from the flank, charge forward let loose a couple arrows, then retreat. In the mess and confusion of battle Tagunban wasn’t sure if any of his arrows actually hit their mark or not. Meanwhile Bongau with the use of his head trophy who was clearly once a member of this tribe themself was sending his own volleys of wooden stakes careening towards the enemy. So this rhythm of battle continued, soon after their own war party had to switch battle lines and reinforce the enemy war party attempted the same. “Headhunters press the advantage, use your mana!” screamed the warchief before he bellowed another set rhythm with his warhorn. Bongao then raised a great wooden wall in front of the pair to block a volley of incoming arrows before splintering the wall and sending it shooting back at the enemy. The pair charged forward along with at least two dozen other sets of warriors and their initiates firing waves of arrows, spears, and mana based attacks into the retreating enemies, some visibly falling in battle immediately. Yet before the enemy may be routed their vanguard flooded into place ferociously unleashing a mighty volley of revenge arrows forcing the headhunters to retreat back to the battle line. This was when Tagunban realized that tribal warfare wasn't so much a battle of individual prowess but one of endurance as muscles began to ache and bones started to feel heavy with the continued back and forth skirmishing. That is until he realized he was out of arrows either his own or non-broken enemy arrows he could fire back, he looked around and saw something similar with many of the other initiates under their own warriors. In fact arrows from the enemy assault line had begun to thin out as well. Then the chieftain's war horn bellowed in a new rhythm and the original assault line warriors including Katas, Katsu, and Ta Da all charged forward as the current assault line split to accommodate them. Soon the enemy line began a hasty retreat into the jungle as their war party chased them, their forces routing. Screams and warhorns once again rose to a deafening level as they echoed off the dense canopy as the chase continued. Soon the target village was in sight looking as if a messenger had already warned the populace to evacuate. As the war party entered the outskirts of the village of stick longhouses and woven leaf huts; they would be faced by a line of three warriors standing proud in the village center. The warriors spread apart, bashing their spears against their round shields of wood and hide demanding duels of the war party's headhunters. Katas, Katsu, and Ta Da all stepped forward without hesitation rhythmically slamming the butts of their axe handles on the ground in acceptance.

Tagunban would focus his attention on the duel between his father Katas and a warrior who had the black skin and curly hair of an Ancient Tribesman yet had the lip plate, tattoos, and long stripped cloth skirt of a Jungle Tribesmen. The man held his shield out in front of him, his spear facing outward to keep Katas at distance as they circled each other. It was then Tagunban got to see the shrunken heads on the man’s belt of fur holding his skirt up; it was obvious one of the heads was that of a highland tribesman. Katas made the first move, a spray of jetting fire propelling his axe forward at breakneck speeds. The enemy warrior with a shifting of his forward facing foot spun the very ground Katas was standing on making the axe swing go wide as he thrusted his spear in turn. In response the flame jet dulled before shooting out the other side of the axe, sending it rocketing once again in the other direction and sinking into the wooden haft of his opponent's spear. The spear thrust went wide and in response before a gust of pressurized smoke jetted out the cut in the spear and jettisoned the axe from it. Lunging backwards the warrior rhythmically tapped the haft of his spear against the ground three times to make the ground around Katas shake and quake. Katas then knelt down in a lunging form one hand to the ground as a series of roots sprouted and stabilized the ground around him. Tagunban, mesmerized by his father's fight, got to see the powers of his father's second head trophy for the first time. Then pouncing like a leopard Katas went low to avoid another spear thrust meant for his neck; before with a dramatic upwards swing reinforced by the same flame jet ability he used on his axe before swung the axe towards the warrior's hip aiming for the Highland Treibeman’s shrunken head. The warrior set his heel down to the ground and a wall of rock shot up between his hip and Katas's axe blocking the strike before creating a massive plume of smoke and disappearing in it. Katas’s axe bit deeply into the rock spraying shards everywhere; then hearing the rumbling of earth and the muffled snapping of roots Katas abandoned his axe and lunged backwards avoiding a massive stone spike jutting up from the ground. Yet the spikes then kept shooting up in a row aimed straight at Katas, with pantherine grace and agility Katas kept lunging backwards as the spikes followed him. The circle of warriors broke as Katas and the still up shooting spikes passed before Katas summoned two great jets of flame from his hands and the souls of feet , making him fly into the air. Then Katas pressed his palms together, the two jets of flame fighting his arms and burning his hands in spite of his stoned face until he successfully pressed them together. Then with a flick of his wrist what appeared to be a small ember fluttered wildly to the cloud of smoke the warrior hid inside of. When the brilliant white ember hit its mark the entire smoke cloud exploded in a ball of fire so hot It instantly evaporated the moisture out of the mouths and faces of those watching several meters away. The explosion instantly banished all the smoke and what remained were two structures. A charred ball of roots surrounding Katas’s axe and the rock wall it bit into, as well as a stone tipi surrounding the warrior, the outermost layers of stone beginning to melt into lava from the heat. Katas then allowed himself to fall to the earth again landing gracefully on his feet before giving a quick wave motion to the charred ball of roots which then split open as only half charred roots from the center threw Katas's axe to him where he would catch it in one hand. The stone tipi then dramatically fractures apart to reveal the badly burnt but still very alive and angry warrior underneath. Holding his spear and shield together vertically in front of him as he creates a humanoid construct of stone and lava out of the remains of the stone tipi. Katas then with one leg forward and the blade of his axe behind him over his shoulder begins to concentrate. “Dad's really going all out for this if he's using the Firebird.” observed Bongao alongside Tagunban and the rest of the war party from a safe distance. As the stone and lava man began to stride forward ready to strike, Katas’s axe would become coated in flames; then the flames began to concentrate and intensify-before the jet of the flames began to whistle the cry of an eagle and the flames going from orange to white form the shape of an eagle around his axe head. The stone construct swung a lava coated hand at Katas but Katas ducked the blow and swinging his mighty axe along the ground shot forth a burst of flames that scorched and cracked the very earth as it passed through it. The burning slash aimed at the warrior, not his construct, seemed to cut the man down the middle as it passed before reaching a hut and exploding upwards in a burst of flame that resembled an erupting volcano as it engulfed the hut in its entirety. The canopy burst into flames as the construct appeared to crumble into dust and Katas held his axe down in front of him in victory. Yet as the war party began to cheer a spearhead burst through the dust of the crumbling construct and gored Katas in the side. Though Katas heard the wind of the spear thrust he was not fast enough to dodge it outright, only keep it from piercing a truly vital area. Katas turned and swung his axe for the warrior's head yet the swing was met by a shield first. With the spearhead having been dislodged by the spin now free, the warrior pulls it back again and thrusts again for Katas's neck. Katas not having the time to move properly pulled on his axe which lurched the warrior’s uneasy stance moving the spear thrust’s trajectory to where Katas bit down on it to immobilize it. Before the warrior could free his spear or shield Katas sent a heel kick into his knee causing his stance to crumble as he cried out in pain. Katas pulled back on his axe wrenching the shield out of the warrior’s hand before spinning the axe around so the strike would be with the fresher blade; Katas then sent his axe deep into the warrior’s hip and the former Highland Tribesman’s head. The axe sunk in deep with a meaty thud as blood sprayed out, then Katas engulfed his blade in a jetting flame again as to burn away the belt and all the warrior's shrunken heads with it. Katas pulled the axe out of his opponent's newly cauterized wound and walked away this time sure of his victory. The crowd roared in cheer at the victory as both Katsu and Ta Da had finished their duels long ago in much less extravagant fashion as Katas.

Katsu, Bongao, Ta Da, and the chieftain all rushed to Katas after his battle to see Katas biting down on the handle of his axe as he channeled his mana through his palm again cauterized his spear wound with a burst of jetting flame. “Your showboating and overconfidence will get you killed some day initiate.” Barked the chieftain as he caned Katas about the head with his war horn. “Not like you would have done as well you old bastard.” Katas chided to the chieftain in return. “That was amazing dad, I've never seen you go all out before!” shouted Tagunban in wonderment as he approached. Katas just laughed a hearty laugh in return and smiled at his three sons. “Keep coming with us on raids then, when you get your own head I'll teach you the Axe Bird technique.” happily responded Katas to Tagunban. “Axe Bird? I heard Bongao call it the Firebird while you were fighting.” questioned Tagunban in return. “Well he's not wrong, but my version is only the Firebird because my head trophy channels fire aligned mana. Meanwhile Katsu’s version uses ice because of his head trophy’s water mana alignment and it's called the Icebird. I can explain that when we get home though, let's get our share of the loot.” elaborated Katas before using his axe to stand himself back up. The war party then began to loot the huts and storehouses of the Jungle Tribe village, setting them ablaze once they're looted. “Why do we burn the huts down after? Won't that just mean we can't raid them again?” asked Tagunban to Katas. “Simple, if they're busy rebuilding their homes they can't take a revenge raid against us later. Most people tend to prioritize having a roof over their head to getting revenge.” answered Katas as he helped load food and goods onto the water buffalo brought down after the battle ended. With the village and jungle ablaze the war party marches its way back home, its warrior full of the glee of victory and spoils of war.