บท 91: The first Venex rider

In the vast lands of the Jackrixis, which was home to many different clans and tribes was a clan we know well, which is, of course, the Wild Wings clan. They mostly kept to themselves except for when the gods asked for aid, such as when the blizzard quest was unfolding or when the first wave happened.

The clan's main focus was on befriending and, if possible, taming the wild bird creatures called venexs, which were colourful and very intelligent. You could say they had the brain of an 8-year-old human, and they got wiser as they aged. Which of course was another thing about them as the Wild Wings still hadn't seen any of the elders even when the wave happened.

So they decided to study them by watching and hearing and just seeing how they acted and they found that they had 4 stages of color in their life cycle they went from red and then orange followed by yellow then green. With each colour change, they would get bigger and smarter, with the red being the size of a human hand.

They would get larger and smart as they changed and for older considered adults when their feathers turned yellow. But the venxes also had a final form for when they become an elder and at their most powerful which is when all the colors get combined they also became the size of a small plane which showed how good their skill was in the jungle since they hadn't been spotted by the Jackrixis.

They also lived long lives having a lifespan of 140 years, which was something unbelievable for the Jackrixis who wouldn't know of this information for a long time.

When it came to sightings, the red and orange venxes were quite normal to see and easy to find, while the yellow was much harder, and only a few had seen some green venxes.

So how was it possible for some jackrixis to ride one and become the first to ever do so well it was quite simple he didn't try to tame or dominate it.

Many in the tribe thought this was the correct way to do things, but a young and ambitious female rixis by the name of black blood disagreed. She got her name because of her skin colour bus also because she was much messier when it came to fighting.

However, she still used her clan's unique fighting style, which included using vines to engage or strike an enemy from a distance.

At first, she was like her clan in their thoughts that they had to dominate the creatures, but she realized quickly how flawed that idea was.

These birds were intelligent and kind but also strong both in numbers and strength they were a dangerous force to fight, and black blood saw this firsthand.

If the red was the side of a hand while the orange would be the size of a large owl then the yellow would be the size of a deer and finally the green would be the size of a horse.

Black blood while hunting for some dinner, hear one rustling and sounds of struggle while growls and snaps shook the foliage nearby. Black blood quickly lowered herself to the ground and made sure to stay as quiet as possible as she stalked toward the noise.

Once she managed to sneak through the vines and step past the twigs on the floor is when some light shone through and revealed to her a bloody corpse.

She quickly looked around to see if the predator that had killed this large creature was still around, but she couldn't see anything. She made sure to listen out, but all she could hear were the cries and shouts of the venxes throughout the jungle.

She moves forward slowly, vines wrapped around her arms, and twisted around her shoulders, ready to be let loose on any who tried to attack her.

The creature killed was like a large fox but was the size of a tiger and had a bright orange coat and fluffy ears to listen to the jungle and a powerful nose to smell for prey.

It may take 2 or 3 rixis to take down such a creature as they were known to be convening and tricky to fight, but now it lay there dead without putting up much of a fight.

"What could do this?"-Black blood

She searched the body and found large claw marks on the body's neck and stomach, but from the way they were cut, it wasn't two separate markings.

The rixis and especially the wild wings prided themselves on knowing all the creatures and wildlife in their territory, but black blood didn't recognize these markings.

"These slashes are similar to what orange venxes do to small critters but on a much larger scale than what they can do"-Black blood

"The larger of them is the green beasts and only a few have seen them let alone see them hunting or killing any type of prey"-Black blood

She continued to search the body, but as she did, she heard rustling being her and quickly turned around, releasing the vines on her arms. And they flew off and whipped towards the source of the noise, which turned out to be red venxes that shocked black blood.

"Har!"-Black blood

Seeing what it was, she quickly redirected the vines to hit a nearby tree, and the views soon did and slammed into the tree, managing to break the hard and dense bark.

When you add a jack rixis and strong durable jungle vines and mix a bit of energy into it, they quickly turn into a deadly weapon.

The young bird didn't seem to mind being so close to being killed as it chirped at Black blood and flew above her and landed on a branch, which caused her to look up.

"What!?"-Black blood

All around the dead body and Black Blood were dozens of red, orange, and yellow, all staring down at her and watching without making a single sound.

She didn't know why, but she started to feel some fear at these seemingly harmless birds until she looked further up after a drop of blood fell at her feet.

Looking up, she saw the bloodied claws of a green venxe who stared at her without any emotion as she looked back.

She was stunned and could barely move as she knew if that creature wanted to, it could kill her, possibly with the help of its smaller brethren.

The green bird made a deep noise, and soon, the bird started to fly in a colourful circle before dropping onto the body to feast.

Black blood had seen enough and took the chance to run without looking back, and she managed to make it back to her clan soon. And then made her way to the elders and clan leader and told them what she had discovered about the venxes.

After being rewarded with some forged fruits that rarely grew, she went back to her small tent made of leaves and moss.

She felt there was more to this than she knew, such as how carnivorous the venxes were as they knew they were bugs and rodents but not large kills.

She also finally got to see what the adults looked like, and they were quite a scary thing to stumble upon in the jungle. So after getting a good night's rest, she decides to go and find the nearest venxe, which wasn't hard, and tries to befriend it.

Even though she had success with the red and orange venxes, they were more playful and silly than what she was looking for, so she knew there was only one she could go to.

In the coming week, she searched through the jungle while trying to find the elusive green venxe while being watched by the creature and its kin.

She swung through the jungle using the vines and trekked through the jungle floor while fighting off different prey that came to try and defeat her.

It was a long trip, but eventually, she managed to find a green venxe lying on the ground, which was very unusual, especially for a large bird in the jungle.

"You must be very confident"-Black blood

The venxe heard her and opened its gaze, showing its bright blue eyes at her and watching every move she made as she moved towards it slowly and carefully.

She soon kneeled and presented to the large brid a multitude of fruits and roots but also bodies of rodents and mushrooms.

She tried to get a large variety as she didn't know what the birds may or might not like as from what she could see the different colours ate different things but shared some.

For example how she never saw yellow venxes eating bugs, but the red venxes would still eat bodies like the yellow.

The green adult looked at her offerings and smelt or prodded at a few but soon focused on the rodents and small jungle deer she had laid down.

Her meat-filled offerings were quickly swallowed down whole, and she stood there with her teeth field mouth wide open in shock.

She quickly closed her mouth, however, remembering how some creatures saw this as a sign of threat or dominance.

The green venxe looked at her and stilted its larger head before chirping deeply and then going back to sleep.

This didn't deter Black blood, however, so for the next month, she would have the same thing, and eventually, after multiple meetings, the venxe trusted her.

The venxes were very curious creatures even when they got older, so this adult couldn't figure out why the strange walking thing was doing this.

Black blood's attempt at communication failed multiple times, but when a monster was dumb enough to try and ambush the adult venxe, she got into action.

She fought off the large snake creature that had multiple tails and eyes until the adult venxe crushed its head with its sharp talons.

This was a very good look for Black blood and after pointing at the sky and making her arms flap like wings, which she was very embarrassed about and hoped no one knew about. The adult venxe clocked on and quickly picked her up and turned to put her on its wide back.

You could fit 2 possibly 3 rixis on here if they were smaller side, but 2 seemed the right amount, and the venxe quickly took to the air.

Black blood screamed and shouted while holding onto its feathers for dear life, and the jungle got further and further away.

As the adult venxe glided through the sky, she looked down in awe at how large her home was but also how small she felt when compared to it.

She felt a great amount of adrenaline on the way up but soon claimed down and appreciated the sights that she saw.

But even though it was an experience of a lifetime and what she wanted all along, she knew she couldn't stay up here forever.

Eventually, after some tapping and signs, the adult venxe came back to its original spot and dropped off Black blood.

Now, this may not have been as sophisticated as future riders, but Black blood was the first to fly on a venxe and the first jack rixis to fly ever.

Black blood patted down her wild hair and waited for her legs to stop shaking after such an insane ride on the venxe.

"Thank you"-Black blood

She waved to the venxe and then walked back to her tribe with a large grin on her face and a glint in her eye as she found what she wanted to do in life.

(Jacks space)

"Hey jack"-Minerva

"Yea?"-Jack

"Oh, sorry to wake you up, but one of the rixis managed to ride a venxes, though you should know bye"-Minerva

"....wait what?"-Jack