Fantasy Kaizoic: Earth Reborn

[Chai_T3a]

A small grin graced Kairo’s face as he looked at the crossbow hidden behind the counter. It wasn’t a gun, but it would definitely do. Grabbing the crossbow, he quickly began to load the thing. He’d never worked with anything like this before, but it seemed intuitive enough. Just stick the bolt in right?

With himself now armed, he took a bit of time to analyze the situation. He had a limited number of bolts, so going trigger happy wouldn’t work. He’d have to expose himself for a bit longer in order to make meaningful shots. That wasn’t something he’d really like to do, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He closed his eyes, welling up the courage, before getting up From the safety of the counter. After a moment that seemed like an eternity, he made a calculated shot at Victor. He didn’t expect it to hit.

 

[Da Doofus]

The crossbow firing mechanism made a rattling click, and the steel-tipped bolt zipped through the air to graze Victor across the cheek, cutting through skin and certainly leaving a scar across his handsome face.

The young man was clearly caught by surprise by the attack, and fell backwards in a pained yelp.
Whatever satisfaction from his wound was short lived since Bazin made his move at last.
Tearing out from his cover with a large, black-iron firearm strapped to his hand through leather straps, the orange Irokai had a look of bloodlust in his eyes.
The double-barreled pistol he wielded had an axe-blade bayonet that was wired to a heating coil. This made the blade glow red hot, and possibly made the bullets near molten as well.

The former Rithian soldier took aim at Darrek, who was occupied with trying to get a shot on the other human by Victor.

Bazin grinned with gapped serrated teeth as he lined up the shot.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo heard the yelp that Victor gave out. Could it be that his shot had actually stayed true? There was no way. He looked down at the weapon, maybe crossbow’s really were his thing.

His little realization was cut painstakingly short as something in his peripherals caught his attention. Facing Bazin, he quickly noticed that things looked horribly wrong. Lining up the aim of the irokai’s threatening rifle, he could clearly see what Bazin was trying to hit.

Darrek.

The man was right in his line of fire, a shot that looked potentially fatal. It hit him. This guy was going to die if he didn’t do anything about it, and he wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Darrek!” He yelled. There was no time to think. Kairo dashed over to the young Irokai, getting out of cover in order to try and force the young Irokai back to the safety of the floor.

 

[Da Doofus]

Kairo landed on Darrek's shoulder, forcing him behind the bar in the moment Bazin fired. A ball of red-hot metal the size of an apple was blasted through the air and destroyed the spot Darrek was previously in, and shot out the opposite wall.
A smoldering hole in the bar left Darrek and Kairo's former cover with a breach in it.

Cursing in Rithian, Bazin drew a second blade from his belt with his left hand. This one was cracked from past use and not wired to a heating coil.
He let out a challenging roar, and charged at the two with both blades prepped to strike, his heavy strides making the wooden floor rumble.

Rufus was taking fire from Seyth and the Syndroid to provide support.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Upon realizing none of them had been injured, Kairo’s sighed in relief. That was way to close for comfort, and as he got off the ground to a crouch, he could still feel his arms shaking from Adrenaline.

He wasn’t given much time to recover. The rumbling of the ground as footsteps approached them caught Kairo’s attention. Locating the noise, he was panicked to find Bazin charging at the two of them. Even though he’d stated he wanted him and Rufus, it looked as if his intent here was to kill. Kairo froze for a moment, hoping someone would get him out of this situation.

No. No. He wasn’t going to just sit around and wait for someone to save him. He’d done that one too many times and frankly he’d grown tired of it. He took a deep breathe. Whatever the outcome was, at least he could know that he tried.

Shakily raising the crossbow, he aimed it at Bazin. With the bolt already loaded, he didn’t hesitate to shoot.

 

[Da Doofus]

Bazin lowered his head in his charge, the crossbow bolt bouncing off one of his horn-like crests. The bloodthirtsy Irokai snarled, and went straight for Kairo who was directly exposed in the bar counter's breach.

Kairo would see Bazin jerk his head upward to open his jaws in a bellowing roar, intent on sinking his teeth into him.
Once he passed through the breach and mere feet from Kairo, Darrek leapt at him from behind Kairo. The silver youngster drove his head downward, slamming into Bazin's crest in a loud clacking sound of armored skulls. Bazin's growls were deeper and guttural than Darrek's, another sign of the orange one's age and doubly meaning his experience.

"This didn't involve you, boy." Bazin snarled to Darrek.
"It does now." He shoved the younger male against the shelves of liquors, their contents spilling over Darrek along with broken shelves of wood and shards of glass.
Bazin snorted, and turned to Kairo with his right blade glowing intensely. His yellow eyes tracked him predatorily, and his curled lip was almost like a wicked grin.

Darrek was stunned, and struggling to get back on his feet with the glass and mixed liquids surrounding him.
Rufus was still pinned by Seyth and the Syndroid to assist.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo stood there, stunned. How did he manage to avoid that shot! He was firing from almost point blank range, aiming straight at Bazin, and yet just a quick duck for the bolt to clink harmlessly off his head.

He thought he’d be dead. Closing his eyes to face the end, he waited for the inevitable to happen.

It never did.

After a few quick moments, Kairo reopened his eyes to find that he had again, not been harmed. Darrek had kept him safe, but only for so long. Bazin was again heading back towards him. The blade aimed at him getting progressively closer and closer. His heart pumped as he quickly loaded another bolt.

“Stay back.” Kairo commanded as he slowly backed away, though it sounded more frightened than intimidating.

 

[Da Doofus]

Bazin's breathing turned into ragged laughs as he knelt down with confidence. He sheathed the blade in his left hand and thrust the empty palm over Kairo's head, slamming him into the wooden shelves of the bar counter.

His claws dug into his scalp and cut painfully into his skin, Kairo's visioned shrouded by his scaly palm.
****************

Rufus made a brief glance at the bar as the Syndroid kept a continuous barrage of bullets against the wall he was taking cover behind.
He only saw the bar's liquor shelves destroyed and the hunched over form of Bazin.

The rain outside coupled with the gunfire muted whatever sounds could come from inside, but he knew that something was wrong. His peek was cut short by Seyth attempting to flank him from the left to get a shot on him from the window.
He cut that short with a risky trio of shots to damage the floor in front of her, discouraging movement.
******************

Bazin lifted Kairo off the ground, completely ignoring the shooting further away, and made another laugh that was more of a growl in spurting breaths.

"I think the one with the Archaic weapon is enough." He snarled, aiming his weapon at Kairo's gut, the blade's heat felt even under the clothing he wore.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Bazin had made contact before Kairo could even react. Bazin’s palm grabbing onto his head, Kairo could feel the sharp pain of Irokai claws digging into his scalp. Immediately after, he was slammed right into the countertop with force strong enough to break his neck. It hurt like hell, Kairo wasn’t sure if he’d hurt this much in his life. His vision was off, but he was too dazed to understand why.

Now he was being lifted up. He couldn’t help but notice the crossbow wasn’t in his hands anymore. Then again, he couldn’t use it in a situation like this. From the sounds of it, there wasn’t going to be any help coming from Rufus or Darrek. The deep, guttural voice of Bazin made him nauseous. The heat radiating off the blade making him more so. It was so clear to him now that this would be his deathbed. But even with the odds stacked against him, he couldn’t accept that.

At that moment, he felt every bit of hesitation leave his body. The only goal he had was to survive. It was as if his body was on autopilot as it blindly grabbed for the knife sheathed on his belt. Aiming for the head was a bad idea, so he’d go for Bazin’s chest. Without the aid of vision, his goal became much more difficult But he committed anyway, attempting a stab at Bazin’s torso.

 

[Da Doofus]

The knife pierced the softer skin of Bazin's underbelly, specifically in his torso; the blade sinking
It was more surprise than pain that made Bazin drop Kairo and step away to pull out the weapon now stuck in his chest.

"Kraaz-imko!" He snarled in Rithian, yanking out the knife and leaving a bleeding wound in his chest. "Tula varpek humak gök!"
Now a few steps closer to the wall, the rogue Archo was now close to where Darrek lay.

"Sheek'al, Bazin." Darrek smirked, now regaining his wits and taking the opportunity to lash out and stab Bazin's foot with a shard of glass.
The older Irokai roared in pain, and tried to reposition himself, but slipped on the pooling puddle of alcohols at his feet. As he fell, Darrek clampered back to a standing position beside Kairo.
"You ok?" He asked as he began reloading his rifle.

 

[Chai_T3a]

As soon as the knife was hit his mark, Kairo could feel the grip loosen on his face. He fell to the ground, landing with a thud on the floor. His breathing remained heavy for a few more moments as he tried to regain control of his body.

A few moments later, he shakily got up from the floor, grabbing the crossbow he had dropped in the meantime. The throbbing pain in his head definitely wasn’t going to go away anytime soon.

“Honestly? Not really.” he groaned, clearly still shaken by his close call with death. He reloaded his crossbow. “I can keep watch over him.” He gestured at Bazin, pointing his crossbow at said Irokai.

 

[Da Doofus]

Bazin snarled and rolled to glare at Kairo.
"Dreik!" He growled, aiming his weapon at Kairo, the red-hot blade hovering close to the alcohol.

Darrek was aiming his weapon at the Syndroid to assist Rufus to notice what was about to happen.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo noticed the situation that Bazin was in. With his weapon so dangerously close to the floor, one well aimed shot at the Irokai’s arm would have been enough to kill him. But Kairo didn’t have the nerves to do it.

His crossbow remained aimed at Bazin, his finger shakily hovering over the trigger.
“You lost.” He said “Move another inch, and I’ll burn you to a crisp.” A threat he found he probably couldn’t deliver.

 

[Da Doofus]

Bazin's face tightened at Kairo's threat. The growling Irokai began to stand now that he saw Darrek was occupied further behind the human. The alcohol dripped off of his body.

"I won't be threatened . . . By an obsolete species." He aimed his weapon directly at Kairo's face, and a droplet of liquid ran down his arm and sparked on his blade.
Before Kairo's eyes, the tiny spark flew to the wet ground below and ignited the soaked wood and the drenched reptilian standing in it.
Bazin's entire body was engulfed in flame and he shrieked and clawed wildly in panic.
Instinct taking over, he charged ans knocked over Kairo, and burst from behind the bar straight toward his companions pinning down Rufus.
They could not react in time when Bazin crashed into the Syndroid, and shattered the table they were ducking behind.
Seyth rolled away from the chaos, and saw the fire spreading to the rest of the bar.

Rufus caught a glimpse as well and looked to Kairo and Darrek.

"LET'S GO!" He shouted, pointing to the storm-shrouded road outside.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo could only watch as Bazin’s body almost instantaneously burst into flames. He barely even reacted when the Irokai had knocked him over, to horrified with what had occurred to move out of the way.

He felt horrible. Burning to death like that was something he wouldn’t wish upon anyone, even someone like Bazin. The fact that he played his little part to make that a reality only added to how unbearable the Irokai’s screams were. In his guilt, he barely noticed the flames that were engulfing the bar. Everything was muffled, blurred, except for the grotesque scene of Bazin’s burning body, desperately searching for relief.

Kairo snapped out of his trance at the sound of Rufus’s voice. Everything hit him all at once, and he quickly realized that they would need to get out of this place. He pushed his guilt to the back of his mind, now was not the time to get emotional.

With his crossbow in hand, Kairo made a run for the exit.

 

[Da Doofus]

Darrek slung his musket back over his shoulder and sprinted after the humans.
Bazin kicked away the Syndroid and aimed upward with his gun, blasting a hole in the roof and let rainwater drench his burning body as the trio escaped.

Victor groaned and stood back up to prop his body with an arm on the counter and aimed at the fleeing humans and Irokai with his pistol. He fired twice and the first bullet zipped between Rufus and Kairo, the second made contact in Darrek's left shoulder. The silver-scaled Archo snarled in pain, but kept running
The three would have been lost in the neverending veil of intense rainfall and thunder if not for Rufus's helmet visor providing a clear sight of their route.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo ran forward as far as his legs could take him, only stopping when he was sure that they were safe. His hands on his knees, he tried to catch his breathe. He was still visibly shaken from everything that had happened.

Kairo looked over at Rufus and Darrek. His eyes widened once he realized that Darrek had been shot. “Fuck.” He blurted out, looking at the wound on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

 

[Da Doofus]

They were now on the forest's edge, the rainfall was nearly deafening and the mist only barely hid the fire in the buildinv behind them.
Darrek panted and shook his head of water like a dog would when wet.

"I'll be ok . . . Let's just . . . Get somewhere dry." He panted.

Rufus checked his bag.
"I may still have a portable tent in here." He muttered. "But we need to keep moving."

 

[Chai_T3a]

"Yeah. Just give me a sec." Kairo mumbled, taking off his hood in the meantime. He didn't know anything about medicine, but he'd seen enough to know that Darrek's wound needed to be wrapped tight. He didn't want the guy to die from blood loss after all.

With the piece of fabric in his hand, he walked behind Darrek. "Hold still for me." He said, tying the fabric around his shoulder tightly.

 

[Da Doofus]

"Hey hey hey!" Darrek curled his lip. "Hands off, pal. It can wait until we make some distance."

Rufus looked at him. "I think a gunshot needs to be taken care of-"

"Victor wasn't expecting a gunfight today so he went with the gun that has crap ammo." He rolled his eyes and pointed at his shoulder. "The damn thing is in my hide. Think of it like a lead splinter."

Rufus was silent.

"Irokai have thick skin on their backs." Darrek shrugged, and winced from the twinge resulting from his joints squeezing against the small bullet.

 

[Chai_T3a]

"Oh." Kairo said, clearly surprised by what Darrek said. A wave of relief hit him after that, at least the wound wouldn't be as big of a deal as he originally imagined.

"Let's go then. I don't want to be out here with those guys still around." He wore his hood, pulling it up to protect himself from the rain that pelted mercilessly.

 

[Da Doofus]

"I say we head in the jungle and double back to the trail we came in on. We can get back to Drafisl from there." Rufus suggested, directing a metaphorical route with his finger.
"Darrek, do they know where it is?"

"Drafisl? No they're from up North." The Irokai shook his head and started walking.
"I know a place we can hold up. It's a Kendian hunting den."

Rufus wiped his visor and followed. "It occupied?"

"Not now. It's only used in the Spring when the Takrel migrate South."
******************

Victor was cleaning his cut face with a rag when Bazin stomped to the bar, his face and back still giving off small traces of smoke.
Victor and Seyth knew not to approach the Irokai right now.
The new recruit, Markus, a human they picked up before coming down here, unknowingly looked to Bazin.

"Hey boss, you ok?" He asked.

"This isn't over." The smoldering Archo growled, his claws digging into the bartop.

"Yeah, don't worry. We'll get them Archaic back. Just give the order and-"

"You stopped shooting them."

"Well . . . Yeah, I thought we was taking em alive? Plus, it looked like you had it handled-"

In a reflex motion, Bazin's hand gripped around Markus's throat, his growls became fiercer and agitated.
Markus gasped and struck the orange arm halting his breathing and lifting him from the ground.

Victor, Seyth, and TB watched with plain faces before Markus's neck snapped and his corpse was dropped to the floor.

"Feel better?" Seyth cocked her hip and inspected one of her sharpened claws. She kept the ones on her left hand longer and filed them into a curve shape. A habit that had been effecient at times when guns weren't a solution.

"A bit." Bazin sighed, kicking away Markus's body. "Where's Gnakib?"

"Probably to get his brother and tell the boys that we found Archaic." Victor shrugged, finding one bottle of liquor intact and sliding it across the bar to the blackened Archo.

Bazin snatched it and broke off the neck only to start guzzling down the beverage.
"Good." He nodded, licking his scaly lips of the taste. "Soon as he gets back I want both of them tracking those three."

"The rain, Bazin . . ." Victor mentioned apologetically. "Washes away tracks."

"It has to stop sometime." Bazin growled. "Just figure it out. This is the best lead we've had yet."

"What was that town they were from? Drafisl?" Victor looked at Seyth.

"Yeah . . . Karl mentioned it. Want me to have a talk with him," The dark-colored female grinned and looked to the back room the owner was clearly hiding in. "I don't think he's very chatty."

"Then start cutting off pieces until he talks." Bazin snarled, taking another drink.
"We're hunting them down."

 

[Chai_T3a]

“That’s perfect.” Kairo huffed, still tired from the run. He followed Darrek’s lead, each step he took being with extreme fatigue. It definitely wasn’t helping that the ground had become muddied and absolutely terrible to walk. He wasn’t in the mood to really do anything but follow along. Especially after everything that had just happened.

 

[Da Doofus]

The jungle's canopy provided some shelter from the storm, but not enough to provide comfort.
What was a brutal shower of near stinging rain in the open areas was now condensed streams of water running down leaves.
The skies were beginning to darken as a sign of dusk when the three would notice the rain beginning to lighten.

 

[Chai_T3a]

The journey was a long one, and Kairo was beginning to grow sick of the constant downpour that accompanied it. So he was beyond relieved when he felt the rain begin to diminish. It didn’t matter much at that point though, as his entire body had already been soaked to the brim.

He tried to ignore the discomfort, but it was tough when he was left with nothing to distract himself. It’d been a while since anyone had said anything, so might as well start some kind of conversation.
“Hey Darrek.” He called out in front of him. “What did Bazin say back at that right?”