[THAT NIGHT]
Regis squirms on his straw mattress, sweating buckets while in a dream.
"No… Mother!" He cries out as he wakes up from his horrific nightmare. His pupils are dilated, hair ruffled, clothes sticking to his body because of sweat. His usually gleeful face is filled with desperation and tensed up muscles, accompanied by his shallow breathing.
"HuffHuff So it was… Huff just a dream…" Regis sighs, his body now relaxed.
"Groan Aagh… what is up with you?" Barahir says, rubbing his eyes, sitting up properly.
"Nothing. Go back to sleep." Regis says, his voice still shaky, face pale, still sweating.
What's up with this guy? Why is he suddenly hyperventilating? Barahir thinks to himself before raising his voice to ask: "Hey, you sure everything's okay?"
"..Yeah. I'm alright. Now go back to sleep." Regis says, flicking his wrist dismissively.
"...If you say so… I guess." Barahir folds, and lays back down.
...Am I really fine..? Of course not. But why would I tell anybody that? I would rather battle my problems alone than show weakness to others… Yes… this is the right thing to do… Regis thinks, rubbing his temples with his fingers.
[AT SUNRISE]
"HEY, CHILDREN! WAKE UP! IT'S TIME TO TRAIN!" Elebor shouts, shaking Regis and Barahir's shoulders.
"Groan… just 5 more minutes…" Regis says, before getting drenched in cold water by Elebor.
"HEY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" Regis shouts, now completely awake, which wakes Barahir up as well.
"Ugh… can you shut up for once!?" Barahir says in annoyance, before getting slapped by Elebor, which wakes him up well.
"AGH! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, GRAND-UNCLE!?" Barahir screams, which makes Elebor clench his jaw in irritation.
"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU! STARTING TODAY, YOU TWO ARE GOING TO TRAIN AND SPAR AGAINST EACH OTHER EVERY SINGLE DAY WITHOUT A SINGLE DAY OFF FOR 5 YEARS!" Elebor commands, his voice loud enough to shake the entrance door of the hut.
"Ugh… fine. You'd better teach us something really effective…" Barahir mutters under his breath, and Regis nods, agreeing with his sentiment.
"You kids are going to learn from me after you've gotten used to sparring with each other and hunting for food in the wilderness." Elebor says in a flat tone, which leaves both Regis and Barahir speechless.
"... Seriously?" They both say in sync.
"Seriously." Says Elebor.
"... Fine." They both say in a low, defeated tone.
Regis grabs a spear from the weapons storage, while Barahir grabs a sword.
"Elebor… are we seriously supposed to spar with real weapons? Isn't this dangerous?" Regis asks skeptically.
"Well… if you get your arm chopped off then… It's too bad." Elebor says bluntly and expressionlessly.
"---What..?" Regis and Barahir both ask in sync, stunned.
"You heard me. Now get to sparring!" Elebor commands, with Regis and Barahir reluctantly complying.
They start swinging their weapons aimlessly and clumsily at one another. No sense of pattern or footwork. Just aimless swinging. They don't even try parrying the other's attacks, too busy attacking.
"Sigh… this is so painful to look at…" Elebor mumbles.
Regis and Barahir keep swinging at each other aimlessly, and before long, it's lunch time.
"Okay, children. Lunch time now. Go hunt food for yourselves." Elebor says flatly.
Regis and Barahir, already exhausted from the sparring, nod weakly and venture out into Elahim in order to hunt for food.
"Barahir… are you sure we won't die at this rate..?" Regis asks, breathing heavily.
"Regis… I think we might just die in 2 days, let alone endure for 5 whole years…" Barahir answers, also out of breath.
Regis and Barahir lean on each other, putting their arm over the other's shoulder, sweating heavily.
"RustleRustle Wait, do you hear that rustling in the bushes?" Regis asks Barahir, and Barahir nods.
"I'll throw my spear at it so that it shows itself, and you slice it with your sword, alright?" Regis orders Barahir, and Barahir agrees.
"WHOOSH" Regis throws his spear at the bushes, and a deer comes running out. It gets beheaded with one slash of Barahir's sword.
"YES! We have food!" Regis exclaims excitedly, dragging the deer's carcass to Elebor's hut, while Barahir follows, hands shaking.
Is this what killing something feels like..? It's… unnerving… Barahir thinks to himself, but follows after Regis.
No… this is something fundamental to survival… I must not falter. Barahir steels his resolve.
"Oh, good job, you two. Now it's your job to cook your food outside." Elebor says with a smirk, clearly impressed.
Regis and Barahir sit on a rock.
"Barahir, you wait here. I'll go and get some firewood." Regis says. Not even waiting for Barahir's answer, he goes and starts gathering firewood.
"Way to be such a dick, Regis!" Barahir shouts at Regis with a small, amused smirk.
"Fuck you too!" Regis shouts, walking back with tons of dry firewood.
Regis places some firewood down on the ground, along with a black rock, and a silver one.
"What're these rocks for?" Barahir asks, amused.
"To start a fire. This is how me and my family used to do at our cottage in Shadowveil." Regis answers, picking up the two rocks, slamming and rubbing them against each other, and thus creating sparks which light the firewood up, turning into a fire.
"You lived in Shadowveil? That barren place?" Barahir asks.
"Yeah, it's quite a good place. It has a city as well." Regis answers.
"Huh… I didn't know… but you said you had a family? How are they doing? Won't they be confused as to where you've gone?" Barahir asks, now interested in Regis's family matters.
"My family, huh?" Regis mutters under his breath, his lips bending down to turn into a slight frown.
"Well, they're not here anymore. Let's just say that." Regis answers reluctantly.
"... Sorry, I didn't know… but how..? What happened?" Barahir asks again, his expression grim.
"Well… I… I did it with my own hands… I just… got really angry, and then I just found them bleeding… I did it… with my own hands… and I buried them with my own hands…" Regis answers, tears threatening to spill over from his eyes.
"So… you killed… your own family? So you lose all sense of reasoning when you're angry? Is that it? Or do you lose consciousness and only gain it after your anger has subsided? What is it?" Barahir asks, the hairs on his arms standing up.
"Well… it's more like I have no control over my emotions… and so when I'm angry I don't know what's going on around me…" Regis answers in a weak voice.
"Hm… that's a problem, then." Elebor appears behind them.
"I suppose you should add something to your training then, Regis child. You shall start trying to understand yourself and take control of your emotions. It matters not how you do it, but you must start doing it." Elebor suggests.
"Yes, Elebor. I shall start after lunch." Regis answers, knowing the importance of controlling emotions.