Tales of Salisonia :: Reboot :: [Inactive]

¶ Mordaedel eyed Arenam skeptically with a stony expression, standing her ground. Had the man gone mad? A moment ago he had indescriminately assailed her, then had his walking wall haul her around like impedimenta. Now, he was making introductions and offering the frivolous comfort of having most likely minor wounds tended to. She was more than capable than taking care of herself. Her knuckles turned white as she clenched them tighter.


¶ The hooded figure replied only with a contempt sneer. Who did they think they were? The thought of this orginization of misfits being bandits was almost ludicrous. Bounty hunters? It was dubious anyone cared that much to dispose of her, even in the slim chance they were acquainted with her infamous reputation. Then what did they want?


It doesn't matter. They will only be a hinderance to me. The gods must be trying my patience, she grunted inwardly with a bregrudging scowl.


¶ Out of the corner of her eye, she pinpointed the silent man with an air of suspicion, observing obliquely as he tore the cobblestone from the earth. What was he trying at? Mordaedel wasn't going to stay around to find out.


¶ As Mordadel took a step back, a spontaneous tendril of ebony electricity struck at the human's feet like a snake, but only subtle enough to put him into momentary shock. At the same time, the elementalist side-stepped the lizard Kahao, darting straight towards Elvsyr.
 
Kaolin was a strategic being and as such she took great pride in being able to weave together plausible scenarios so that she was rarely ever taken by surprise in situations when she had had enough time to puzzle them through. As the situation pertained to her sisters wellbeing she took the task more serious than usual. She calculated distance versus the bad luck her sibling had with ending up in certain circumstances, she measured the minutes that passed against the amount of adversaries one could gain in the amount of time. It was a never ending shuffle of what ifs ad how she would handle them as she rushed after the foolish pup she was bound by blood too. Even so, what she came across after tracking her sister down was not at all what she had expected.


'Poke, poke, poke'


The stick made a small, practically indistinguishable sound every time it connected with the sopping material it was being thrust at. To a human it might've been soundless but to a Kahao there was a soft, twangy thrum that occurred whenever the tip bent and sprung back. And it was curiously amusing.


Keyin, in all her puppy-like glory, stood crouched over the damp earth; tail at attention, and fangs exposed cutely from the slight part in her lips. Her curiosity had gotten the best of her, and she had faced the bone deep fear of the water that lapped at the bank nearby, partially. The peculiar sight had coaxed her onto the bank area close enough to reach them with the stick she had salvaged but far enough away from the water so that even if she fell forward and rolled she wouldn't touch it. That didn't mean she was in anyway relaxed of course. The hair near the back of her neck was bristled stiff and a low whine kept building in the back of her throat with every glance she threw at the rippling liquid. It was a good exchange though, in her mind.


Letting those thoughts bolster her, she leaned forward some more and proceeded with her 'investigation'


'Poke, poke, poke.'


"And what do you think you are doing?" A dangerously silky voice asked.


A yelp escaped her and she whirled around to find her sister standing not a few feet away, arms crossed and the slight twitch from beneath her cloak giving away her irritation. "Uh- Kaolin!" her eyes darted frantically around as if a good excuse for her actions could be found within the underbrush if she looked hard enough. "I was just....uhm..." the stick caught her eye and she quickly pushed it behind her. "Looking for food!"


The elder girl did not even need to speak, her unblinking stare said it all.


"Alright... that was stupid." Keyin admitted.


Taking that as all she was going to get for an explanation Kaolin turned on her heal and began walking back the way they had come.


"WAIT!" Keyin exclaimed. Her sister twisted to eye her and she shifted uncomfortably. "What about them?" she demanded, making it clear who 'them' was when the toe of her boot scuffed the ground in the two prone forms direction. "They look like they're not doing very well."


Kaolin flicked her attention from the girl to the males near her feet and then towards the water. A faint rumbling sound tingled in her inner ears. "They most likely were foolishly caught in a current, Keyin." she explained, attempting to grasp at some semblance of patience. Her eyes narrowed on the forms, her nostrils flaring and she caught the scents she need from them. 'Dwarves.' she mused pensively. She did not know much about the race, in fact the only reason she recognized the scent was due to a commotion one had caused in a market the sisters had traveled through a few months back and she had dutifully stored the smell in her mind for later reference. She wondered if they had any abilities or if they were just smaller forms of humans. Neither option appealed to her as she believed humans to be, for the most part defenseless and dull and if they had abilities they could be potentially dangerous to her and Keyin.


The amount of variables adding up did not sit well with her.


"Come, Keyin. They will be fine, we must return back to the King and the herbivore." She stated, eyes fixed on the men.


"But Kao-"


"No."


"What if--"


"No."


"BUT WHAT IF THEY KNOW THE CAVERNS."


That made Kaolin pause. It would be beneficial to the group if they were to get help in navigating the caves. But who was to say they knew their way around them. Her lips pursed, faintly resembling her sister in that moment. She could wake them, and then ask them what they knew of them.


"Keyin, go see if you can fetch some herbs from around here. Anything plants useful that you recognize." She ordered, striding purposely over to where her sibling stood. Her eyes skimmed over the slumped beings. It was hard to tell if they had open wounds from their positioning but she dare not move them until she assessed the situation more. From the corner of her eye she caught sight of her sibling loitering and she bared her teeth at her in a silent 'Do I need to repeat myself?' warning that sent the eight year old scampering off. Leaving the teenaged feline to observe the males.


'Decisions, decisions.' she mentally hummed. She settled into a comfortable crouch, forearms resting on her thighs and hands dangling between her legs. Relaxed but poised; ready for one of the unknown variables to pop up even though she had distanced herself from them enough to easily avoid one such happening. Besides, since she was positioned near their heads she had a fair chance of kicking them back into the water if they did so; her natural enemy helping her rid herself of another enemy. Irony.
 
Naomán woke up, sputtering water like an out of control fountain. After he was done, he opened his eyes, which were still a bit blurry, and sat up. He saw a humanoid figure in front of him, sitting in a crouch.


There are three things that this could be: that fairy from before, something coming to kill me, or something wanting to help me. All three ways aren't as great as I'd like.


He wiped his eyes with his hands, one of the only parts of his body that weren't extremely wet, and was able to clear his vision a little. A human girl who looked to be in her teenage years, maybe older; he couldn't tell with them. He hadn't spent enough time around humans, though from the few times he had, he liked them.


"What a pleasant sight to wake up to," he murmured to himself. Human or not, it was still unnerving to suddenly become conscious to someone with which you were at mercy. Half of him hoped she would hear, and not think he was crazy and talking to himself. The other half hoped she wouldn't so that there was no chance of being offended. He coughed again, and then suddenly remembered his companion.


"Njáll Adamu Tybalt Niklasson!"


He swung his head around wildly, throwing droplets everywhere, until he fixed his gaze upon the body next to his. The combination of relief, heavy waterlogged clothes and tired limbs forced him to lie back down. The human that he had thrust to the confines of his mind were brought back into vision again, whilst he lay in the puddle of dirty water, and he mustered all of his creative juices as to make a good and clever impression so that she might be a customer at a later time, possibly when Njáll awoke.


"Who are you?" he coughed out, unimpressed by the pinnacle of his imagination. He closed his eyes again, and hoped she would respond so he wouldn't have to tire himself out again and ask.
 
'Herbs, herbs....' Keyin flitted about, looking for something familiar, using her nose to aid her in her search. She was more interested in who those people were so her mind was only half on the task at hand but she knew if she returned empty handed Kaolin would more than likely seek retribution.


So she continued her little adventure, every so often bending down to collected something, sniff it, and depending on the scent put it down or tuck it into her pocket.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Less than a handful of minutes had passed when the larger figure moved and it was to be expected that he erupted into a coughing fit that sent water flying from his mouth. Kaolin watched it all impassively, her eyes taking in every twitch his form made. He had seen her, she knew he had what with the way he had narrowed his eyes and that "muttered" comment of his. Not having much experience in the ways of social exchanges she did not react to his words, and stayed still as any statue she had seen in their travels. The main focus she had was that he had not attacked her at first chance. That would bode well for her and perhaps her cause, or rather the kings since it was His will that they go into the mountain.


He seemed to have some sort of attachment to his companion from the way he shouted. It wasn't a cry of anger nor was it one of disgust so she supposed she could safely assume that they were on relatively good terms which was another good sign for her. She stored the words he had sputtered away within her mind for later and scrutinized the other form. He looked as if he wouldn't be waking soon, at least not at the moment so it would be safe to speak with the conscious Dwarf and not chance a distraction.


"Help." she vaguely answered the mans query. It was too soon to tell if the respect of an introduction would be granted. "Tell me, are you wounded from what you can feel?"
 
"None that I can feel," he replied. "Of course, I might have bumped my head on a rock, and tore my head open. I can't really tell at the moment." He sighed, and sat up again, using the effort it would take him to run a marathon. He was too tired to manipulate this girl as to set her up for a deal.


"Njáll Adamu Tybalt Niklasson is my companion, and I am Naomhán Máel Coluim Lister, his bodyguard of sorts. Since you are a human, and they are notorious for not being able to remember things, you may call him Tybalt, and me, Coluim. 'Tis our mother's maiden names, as per our Dwarven traditions."


He sighed, turned to his right, and shook Njáll's limp body, in an attempt to rouse him.


"So," as he continued to lazily move his partner. "What are you called?"
 
~Some place outside of Bran~


Elvsyr watched the lady who had escaped from (...)'s grasp as Arenam spoke to her. She unsheathed her scythe and held it with both of her hands. Not sure whether-or-not the female would attack, she eyed her. Noticing the hooded figure clenching her fists tightly, Elvsyr got into a defensive stance, which was only reinforced when the figure sneered. Within a blink of the eye, dark electricity flew from the figure's hands at (gianttallguy)'s feet, and she ran towards Elvsyr, side-stepping Arenam.


Knowing being on the defense probably wouldn't help too much anymore, Elvsyr shifted her feet around to keep her balance. Concentrating, the world seemed to slow down around Elvsyr as she took three deep breaths, building her form with each breath. Swinging her scythe along and around body, she twirled it along the left side of her body. As it twisted foward from behind her, she brough it down with all her strength. If contact was met, it would surely cause a large gash. If not, she could easily recover into a fighting position.


Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
 
Her eyes flashed at the mention of her supposed humanity before she subdued herself. She wished to show this 'Naomhán Máel Coluim Lister' just how inhuman she could truly be but she knew better than that. In the game of survival it was best to keep ones hand played close to ones chest. Revealing her species would merely give away an advantage she held and that would be a careless misstep.


Still, though the reasoning was sound and she accepted it the urge to bare her fangs just to jolt a reaction from the Dwarf was not quelled.


She forced herself to focus on the information he was giving.


"My name is Kaolin," she relented. "And," her eyes roved over his forehead, spying a heavily bleeding gash but chose not to judge it based on appearance as head wounds often bled easily. "I believe you are correct in saying that you are wounded." Her attention flickered towards where her sister had disappeared to a mere ten minutes ago. No doubt the girl was still looking through every scraggly plant in the area. She flicked her tail covertly from under her cloak so that the material didn't even ripple and returned to observing the Dwarf how was now...rocking his fellow man? Perhaps it was a Dwarf thing; each species tended towards habits and rituals of great variations.


The crunch of dirt under boots reached her. So it seemed her sister could gather herbs in a timely manner when the occasion called for it.


"My sister is returning with herbs," she notified Coluim, not wanting to startle the being who, in her eyes was a wild-card. "I know basic healing methods and if you allow me to I will tend that cut."
 
"Hmm. Kaolin's an unusual name. Of course, I haven't been around many humans, so I wouldn't know. Nj -"


He stopped himself there. He was about to reveal that his friend was a merchant, and traveled Salisonia, but realized it would be wiser to let his cleverer companion decide whether or not to trust her. He noticed a drop of blood drip down his forehead as the girl spoke to her again. He noticed her voice wasn't as choppy as a fellow Dwarf's. It was interesting to note each racial accent; even so some were from different regions (A Dwarf in the Mountains, and another in the Elven place) they still had slightly similar tones, more similar than compared to another species altogether.


"I will allow you to treat any wounds I have, 'cept the ones near places I'd rather not allow you to enquire about. I assume most of the damage is to my head, judging by this drop of me own blood that's taking for ever to pass." He had been watching it slowly slide down the side of his eye, almost like a red tear.


Wanting to keep the conversation going and the information flowing, he asked her, "Where did you and your sister learn these said healing methods?"


Knowing things was important, and could be vital if he had to attack her in self-defense. He never liked to attack in greed: a toy of some sort or maybe some money being the objective. It was a dirty and uncalled for trick.
 
Arenam knew that this woman wouldn't accept his attempt at kindness or a civilized conversation as she sneered at his comments which Arenam wasn't surprised at, he just wanted to avoid battle if possible but that plan had fallen flat on it's face but Arenam wasn't surprised he was no diplomat. Arenam had been readying himself to draw his bow if she decided to attack someone which she was doing. Arenam grabbed his bow and fumbled for an arrow. By the time he had grabbed one out of his quiver and aimed it at the women she was halfway towards Elvsyr so Arenam needed to act quickly.


Arenam drew the arrow back and fired as quickly as possible but at the same time trying to give the arrow enough power to reach the woman. Arenam had aimed at the woman's arm which the electricity was coming from, hoping to stop her attack however Arenam was't confident that would hit so he fired a second arrow at the same arm.
 
"Survival." Kaolin remarked absently. The stumbling snap of foliage beneath feet signaled Keyins' arrival and she turned her head slightly in her direction , keeping the Dwarf in her view the entire time. "Were you successful?"


The young pup grunted. "Somewhat." she said holding up a handful of straggly plants. She made her way over to the group, her steps slightly too fast and uncoordinated to be considered graceful to drop down on her knees a few feet away from her sister. "Here" she spread them out on the damp dirt to show her sister.


The elder Kahao cast the Dwarf a glance. He seemed predictable enough, at least to take some of the attention she had on him away to scour the plants. She leaned over the catch, fingers trailing over each one thoughtfully. "Desert Sage, Honeysuckle, Thyme and yarrow." She muttered, thinking through each option. She didn't have the time or resource of making a fire, to boil water for a long period of time so she'd have to stick with a simple poultice. The sage would work well as an antiseptic and disinfectant and then she could use the yarrow to help close over the wound. Her head bobbed minutely. "Good job Keyin. I'll need a makeshift pestle and mortar, find me a large flat rock and another that I may use it to grind up the herbs." The pup obeyed and within a few minutes the first aid was well on its way.


"Why were you in the water?"


"Is your friend okay?"


"Why are you so small?"


"Do you live around here?"


"Do you know if any of the plants around here can be eaten?"


Amusement curved the felines lips slightly as sat cross legged over the two rocks, steadily working the sage into a paste. The young one always had a spout of questions at the ready. It was something that Kaolin would usually put a stop to but at the moment she saw no need to. It would distract the Dwarf and allow her to observe their interactions. She wondered how he would handle the sudden onslaught of inquiries; if prior interactions could be trusted the words would not cease flowing for a while, if at all.
 
Mordaedel faltered, trying to propel herself backwards in the air as she sensed the imminent danger. In a moment, the blow would have left her open for further attack, and it wouldn't have taken much for the next strike to be fatal. But after all she'd been through, she knew better than to leave her guard down. The gods wouldn't be rid of her so easily.


There wasn't enough time to block the strike properly. She thrusted her hand towards the advancing scythe, warding off the blade with her palm. With her feet forced back onto the ground by the immediate pressure, the cloaked figure winced, gritting her teeth as the edge pierced into her hand, splattering blotches of red. Before the assail could do any further damage to her hand, she blocked the weapon with the cuff of her other arm, recoiling her injured palm at the sound of metal on metal. But what she hadn't expected were the arrows.


The half-Elf had neglected Arenam, who was of course, still armed, observing from the sidelines. The first flash of silver sprouted from her shoulder, spreading a dark stain over her sleeve. The Kahao turned toward the shooter with a sense of consternation in her eyes as her arm went limp, throwing her block off. She had just enough time to redirect the scythe's course to the ground before she stumbled backwards, her field of vision split between Arenam and Elvysr in attempt the stay alert of the two. But when the next arrow whizzed by, she was ready. Her arm snaked out and snatched the arrow out of the air, and with an anguished cry of fury, she hurled it right back in the direction it came from.


The woman took several steps backwards, dislodging the arrow from her arm then tossing it away. A disquieting, sardonic chuckle crept out of her mouth, like audible, acrimonious darkness as electricity sparked from her hands once more. "What is it you want from me?" she growled iritablly, cupping a hand over her new wound.
 
Arenam watched the heated battle between the two, hoping his arrow wouldn't strike Elvsyr and thankfully it hit it's target and he second looked like it was going in the right direction too. That was until the arrow was caught and sent right back to Arenam. The deflection was so quick and flawless Arenam barely had time to get away and Arenam would have if his tail hadn't trailed behind the rest of his body causing the arrow to hit the base of his tail. Arenam cursed at the half elf before yanking out the arrow, causing blood to splatter everywhere and even some small amount of cartilage. "The only thing I want from you is to co-operate with us in helping at the cantilla mountains unless you want us both to got to prison!" Arenam shouted. I probably should have started of with that Arenam thought to himself. Arenam was slightly annoyed at the rest of the of the group as they seemed to have 'forced' the leader role onto him (although one of them couldn't talk).
 
Sanz grit his teeth slightly as spots flashed across his vision. He had been ready for a full-blown strike by the mage, but not something small like that. Lessons learned. Cobblestones broke off the pavement as Sanz pushed his blade forward, breaking through the surface of the pavement beneath him. Kill her? No, she had not shown any indication of fully lethal force yet. There was simply a loud crash as the blade struck the ground directly beside the young woman, leaving a small crater in its wake. He let his eyes bore into her own.
 
I see... the odds are in the favour that they know nothing of it, after all. I should have tried an easier way out of the inn unnoticed besides threatening the woman... apparently it drew attention to that Kahao, and he took the opportunity for an attempt to turn me in. But what makes no sense, is why he would do that if it risked his own arrest. What is this man's story, anyway?





¶ The half-Elf opened her mouth to speak, but was cut short when the cobblestone beside her collapsed, making a dull shattering sound. The blade of a sword glinted in the sunlight out of the corner of her eye, and she calmly followed the weapon with her gaze to the wielder, who was looming over her, staring her down. Pursing her lips, she shot back the same imposing look, then straightened, securing her hood but leaving a red handprint on it. Without moving so much as a finger, she kept her gaze locked with narrowed eyes as she spake.


¶ "Then would you explain why I have not the right to move without one of your companions looking to murder me, warden?" Her voice was steady and composed, but with a bitterness like hatred, and a slight mocking lift to it. She clenched and unclenched her injured hand as if to test it's durability, drops of red raining down on the pathway.
 
Arenam gently moved his tail about, testing to see how bad the injury was. Arenam flinched at the pain as he slowly moved his tail from side to side and watched blood drip out of the wound. He looked up to see Mordaedel and Sanz staring each other down after Sanz broke the pavement with his sword. "Then would you explain why I have not the right to move without one of your companions looking to murder me, warden?" the woman asked Arenam in a mocking tone. Warden? Best not ask why she came up with that just now. "Please don't attack her" Arenam asked Sanz with a sigh "we realty don't need this petty fighting to continue and you may move as long as you don't try to kill us...again."
 
A dull scraping echoed across the pavement as Sanz pulled his blade back. He set the blade against his back, but pointed to his own eyes, and then briefly at the young woman before him. He would keep his eyes on her, whether she liked it or not. He backed up slightly to give her space, but his senses were peeled for another spell.
 
Naomhán listened to this girl as she spoke about these different plants. He was impressed. Not a lot of Dwarves knew a lot about medicine, and even when they did, they usually worked for the King. Of course, she could just be making all of this up, and she actually had no idea what she was doing. In that case, she would probably kill the Dwarf with the mixture of all these, what could be poisons for all he knew, but it wasn't worse than dying of blood loss, so really, the chance was worth it.


"And after you treat me, wake my lazy friend here, please," he requested to the older girl, just as the younger girl started to open her mouth. He recoiled at the sudden stream of messages, not used to being around children in such an age like his.


Is this what children these days are like? I chose the right decision by not finding a wife and starting a family, unless they started out as mature adults.





He began to try to respond.


"I was in the water because -" And then the second question finally made sense in his brain, moments after she had asked it.


"I can't tell if he's -" The third had taken place.


"I can't -" The fourth leaped to the forefront of his memory.


"I don't really -" He finally put his foot down, figuratively, of course.


"Stop, stop, stop, little girl. I don't know why you're so ..." He looked her up and down before continuing. "Excited, but I can't answer all these questions as once. Give me a minute."


He thought for a few moments before replying slowly to every question.


"First of all, I was in the water because of a long story." He pointed up to the little opening in the cliff above them. "Do you see that opening? I was in a tunnel there, and then water suddenly started pouring out, and I ended up here, soaked and dirty. Next, I don't know if Njáll Adamu Tybalt Niklasson is fine and well. Perhaps he just needs a barrel of burning mead, I don't know. Maybe you can ask him when," he put strong emphasis on the word 'when', "he wakes. Thirdly. I'll have you know, human, that I'm quite tall for my race." His opinion of these girls was lessening and lessening. "We Dwarven folk are smaller, physically, not menta ... mental ... brain-wise than many of the other races. Understand? And yes," continuing with the charade Njáll had created before when they had met the fairy, "we do live here. In these mountains, actually. We're here to help adventurers, trying to create a map of the tunnels for the Dwarves. We sell food, goods, weapons, a lot of things. And I haven't been out enough of the mountain to try tasting any of these plants." And as he mentioned it, he looked around warily in case a dragon had decided to sneak up on him. "So I don't know. You are welcome to taste and report back, I'm sure that would be helpful in case another annoying girl comes around and asks me if any of the plants are edible." He took a deep breath. "Are you done or do you have more to say?"
 
A prisoner of conscious, now a prisoner of the law. Deliberately ignoring the man with no voice, Mordaedel grunted and seated herself on the ground with her back to them, not being much help to get the group going. Ripping off the hem of her cloak, she managed enough fabric to bandage her shoulder and wipe off her hand. "I'll consider it." The Kahao sat for a while, squinting at the horizon. Just when it seemed like she was going to say no more, she spoke up again. "In the meantime, it would be wise of you to return my staff. And if you are trying to get to the Cantilla Mountains, you're headed the wrong way if you want to get there before the dusk. I know a shorter path."


((Happy birthday.))
 
Nyx hummed jauntily, bouyantly fluttering among the sparse grass that grew among the rocks as she made a game out of balancing a mushroom on her head, which she brought for food. She was in the mountain region, searching again for something that would never be found.


"I hate the mountains, I do. It's only a bunch of rock and snow and more rock. There needs to be a good amount of berry bushes and oaks and streams... and if there weren't any of those large rocky hill things I might even like the mountains," the pixie murmered, cutting short her tuneless hum. She would often talk to herself, admiring her own thoughts. "But I suppose it's alright in a way. There's fresh air, which I've heard must be a good thing, and plenty flying space. You can see everything down below, too. I love the mountains. I always have." Nyx wasn't the brightest creature. She had a habit of changing her mind every couple seconds, and could prove to be quite bi-polar.


"I'm sure I'll find my family here. I don't know why they'd enjoy living among these dreadful mountains, but there's scarcely a place left to look in all of Salisonia."


The fairy stopped short as she heard a noise coming from around the side of a boulder. What was happening, she couldn't be sure. It sounded like there was fighting going on in an echoing chamber. And then there were voices. And then silence. Dropping the fungus from her head into her arms, she hugged the mushroom, quailing in terror as she alighted on the ground and crept around the edge of the stone.


In the mouth of the cave she saw the outline of six figures. Four appeared to be some sort of wolf-sized creatures, eager to eat little fairies, no doubt. The other two were more human-like. None of them were moving. I see. Those fiends are waiting to ambush poor little pixies like me. Perhaps they've found my family, and taken them away? Enraged by the idea that someone would look to harm her, she dropped her food supply and rushed at them with her bramble thorn, her face almost exploding with fury. "Die die die!" She stabbed one of the large animal-like figures with her tiny weapon, until she realized it wasn't attacking back. It was dead.


Huh? Wasn't it already like that, or did I kill it? Yes, it must of been me, she reassured herself, suddenly feeling very proud and powerful. "Ha! Fight me! I'm not afraid lf you mushbrains!" she yelled in a tiny voice, brandishing her thorn. But nothing moved an inch towards her. They must have been so scared of me they all just dropped dead, she thought as she inspected the carcases, realizing there was no one left to fight. Yes, that's what happened. I've done it. If anyone was here to see, I'm sure they would rewarded me greatly! Suddenly, she was very disappointed there were no witnesses to crown her a hero.


But then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a faint movement from one of the figures.... slowly, and barely, like it was very hard for him. Now I might get around to having some questions answered. He's lucky I didn't kill him.





Kicking the man, for he turned out to be one, the old wrinkly looking sort, she banged on his back with her fists, shouting loudly. "Get up you bag of bones! Tell me where they are or— or I'll kill you like I killed all your friends! That's right, you better listen to me—start talking. I'm warning you, I'm armed!"


((Surprise, @MrLlama ))
 
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Once the women had sat down Arenam decided to do the same as he swung his bag of his shoulders and rummaged in it for some more bandages, he gently wrapped them around his tail and then stood back up and listened to what the women had to say. We were going the wrong way! You've got to be kidding me... Arenam tried to hide his anger now knowing that they had been walking the wrong way. "I understand, what is a warrior without his sword" Arenam said quoting his village elder as he passed the staff to the women. "Well I'm ready to go when everyone else is" Arenam said as he began to count the amount of arrows in his quiver, he still had plenty although there was a couple missing, one of them being the one that hit the women in the shoulder.
 
Aquila sighed. Walking through a forest was great for his soul, sure but that wasn't always a good thing. Having such a darkened soul was a reminder of the old days ... the days when his father was still alive. He shook himself, suddenly conscious of his absent thoughts. He went to rehabilitation for 17 years so he didn't have those kind of thoughts.


And besides, the government probably has some kind of way to read your mind now. They always have some way to watch you," he thought darkly.


He absentmindedly kicked a leaf that had fallen off a nearby oak tree. It was such a deep green. Trees meant so much to the Elves: they basically lived in them. And even though this tree was so far away from home, it still reminded him, again, of his past. So much of this self-loathing wasn't healthy. He crushed the leaf with his boot and moved on. On his left were a series of tunnels and caves, some going to dead ends and others going into the towering Dwarven mountains. He didn't know the actual name of them, since he hadn't been near here enough times to catch it from some human in Bran talking about it. All he knew was that the system was massive, and that small men lived there.


His musing was interrupted by a quiet whimpering. He would have missed it if his Elven ears weren't so superior to other races', and he wasn't by himself, completely silent. It was coming from one of the dark holes on his left. And that's all he regarded them as. Dark holes that led to nothing impressive or worthy of his time. But this was an odd sound. Nothing short of a beast could make that sound, unless they were in terrible pain. He could do some good on this leave he was taking from the military. He reached both hands to his back, over his head, and grasped the crossbow by the handle. He then used his right hand to grab a bolt, placed it in the string, pulled back, and sat it there, and then locked it in. All he had to do now was push on the trigger, and the force of a fully strung bow would fire, shooting a much larger version of an arrow. And he could quickly reload. It was the perfect weapon, much better than any bow they could create. Not even Elven bows could match up to this human invention. Now that he thought about it, that was worrying. If they were to go to war, they would have ranged superiority, unless there were more Elven crossbowmen like him. He sneaked up on the cave it seemed like the noise was coming from, and peered inside. He found nothing but a few cobwebs and spiders to match them. That was odd. Didn't he just hear something? The whimper sounded off again. It was actually coming from somewhere on his right. Since the two openings were so close to each other, he just had to shift his body to the right to look into this one.


It was a lot more well-lit in this one. At least he could see here, whereas in the last one he could only see about 5 feet in. Apparently the sunlight didn't favor the Dwarves. Surprised, he saw four cat-like creatures on the ground, and a beast near an old man lying on the wall. The man wasn't moving. He could see another being further back, but he couldn't really make out any discriminating features. One of the big cats on the ground opened its mouth again, letting out another pitiful sound.


It's odd seeing such animals in a cave like this. Although I haven't seen anything like this before. Perhaps it's some new beast that lives in caves and preys on whatever wanders in? Or maybe the two men are hunters, and they trapped them in here. It does seem like the animals got the worse end of the stick.





He put his weapon down on the ground, next to the creature. It seemed like this one was the only one that was alive. No doubt the men were alive, just tired or unconscious. It was rare when the hunters became the hunted. He didn't know any first air whatsoever, but he could ease the pain. But the only way to do that would be to kill it ... and killing things is bad, isn't it? His lessons came back to him. Killing, unless it was for the greater good, is and always will be a bad thing. But ending its misery was for the greater good, wasn't it? If he didn't do this, it would die painfully and miserably. There wasn't any people he could contact quickly enough. He estimated it had a few hours to live. It had multiple scratch marks all over its body, blood tainted its fur, and there was bruises all over its upper body and face. His face shriveled up, an expression of anger. He would get revenge on whomever did this. He lived with so many animals in harmony, why couldn't others do the same? These hunters didn't even have the decency to end its misery. Well, he wouldn't do it. He would give the beast the satisfaction of watching him kill its tormentors. He picked up his crossbow in his right hand, holding it in a passive stance. Nearest to him was an old man. He walked closer, and then kicked him in the chest with his boot.


"Wake up!" he yelled. He wanted him to be awake to see his death coming.


In a cave with @MrLlama's character


Aquila Renatus Ásbjörn


 
Kaolin nodded her agreement to his rather gruff demand. Waking the other dwarf would be a wise decision, even if it doubled the chances of being attacked. When weighing the potential benefits against the potential dangers the benefits was the side that outweighed the other side so, though she'd rather have the chance of peril significantly decreased she was going to do as she was asked.


She paused to check on the consistency of the paste she was making only to frown as she found lumps still stubbornly ruining her remedy. Her tail twitched minutely beneath its' cover but she continued her work.


Nearby the younger sister was avidly absorbing all of the information given to her. A dwarf, and a tall one at that! She had never thought she'd meet a being of that race let alone two of them! Her gaze flicked to the second, still laying prostrate across the mud. Well... sort of two. After the man was done answering what she asked-- a feat she actually admired him slightly for, none of the other people they'd met answered her questions so readily. Accept the king candy man. Attention swerving towards him she was drawn to the candy still safely packed away in a pocket-- she shuffled around her pocket for a while before popping a candy into her mouth and crunching on it loudly even as her eyes flicked from him, to the water, to the mountain, to his companion and back.


Just because he answered them didn't mean she didn't have more!


"What is "Burning Mead"?" she asked curiously, "And why would it wake him up? It sounds like al-co-h0-l but I thought that that sort of drink put adults to sleep more often than not, not waking them? Does that effect you Dwarve's differently? I don't know why you wouldn't need to know plants besides helping girls but Lynn always says that it's best to know as much as you can to survive. And the water? Does that mean that there's water inside the caverns? Why wou--"


Kaolin decided to rescue the male from the onslaught and stood up, nudging her sister away from the spot she was sitting with a boot before crouching so she could view the wound better. "Hn," she hummed. Her left hand went to the flat rock she was cradling and scooped some of the paste to smear it on the cut, making sure to move slowly as to not appear a threat. "My sister is too prone to chatter than is good for her. I apologize." she stated, careful to keep her fangs concealed at such a close proximity to the man. "But I must confess that water being inside the caverns is a problem. Since you live here, I would assume you know if the flooding of the caverns is a frequent event?"
 
Arzur slowly began to stir, a loud ringing sound filling his ears. It felt as if something, or someone, was banging on his back. Moaning, he slowly opened his eyes, the bright light from his fallen torch blinding him. Putting his hand on the back of his head, he felt the warm, sticky blood covering it. He closed his eyes again, not bothering to feel around for the creature. It was probably a small rat. Arzur slowly began to fall back to the darkness, only to be kicked in the chest with a boot moments later. Scrunching up, he let out a shout of pain. With a cough, the irony taste of blood filled his mouth. Rolling over as much as he could, Arzur looked up to the man that kicked him. He could faintly hear the man's words. Slowly picking himself up into a sitting position Arzur looked at the man with a blank expression. "Wh-Where's Odde...?" The words were faint. Odde's companion, and mount, was dead on the ground, blood covering it's fur. "Oh my... He..." Saying no more, Arzur turned back to the Elven man.


Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
 
Nyx buzzed her wings angrily and clambered up onto Arzur's chest, using his shirt for a foothold. Once she had righted herself, she crossed her arms, stomping her foot impatiently. "I was talking to you, dimwit. And you—" she pointed at Aquila as she said this, twisting her brows. "I was here first. You wait your turn. Then you may kill him." Recovering the mushroom he had dropped, she flung it at the Elf with all her strength, and it bounced off his face harmlessly. Giving a satisfied nod, she fell backwards and sat down.


((Sorry. It's short. But my Nook isn't working well. I'll post as Mordy later.))
 
Naomhán sighed when the young girl opened her mouth again.


Njáll Adamu Tybalt Niklasson better wake up soon, else I'm going to run out of breath and fall dead.


He felt so relived when the older girl took her place.


"Thank you for saving me," he whispered just under his breath, hoping that only she would hear. He wasn't accustomed to human hearing. He speaks to Dwarves almost everyday. Usually Njáll did all the talking. He just had to worry about how he was presenting himself.


He winced when he was touched by the older girl. Today was a bad day for his comfort zone. People almost never touched him. After he realized how he reacted he stiffened his arms, and extended his elbows, locking them on the ground. He would try not to do that again.


Don't act that way, he silently berated himself.


When she asked him about the water, he sat there for a moment, reaching back into his memory.


"Well, recounting all the stories the miners told," he said slowly. "They sometimes dig into a lake somewhere in between the mountains. Whenever they do, the tunnel is long enough for them to have a lack of panic. The water simply balances itself out, leaving only about ankle-height by the time they patch it up. Underground caves are also a problem, if I recall. They're much harder to spot, since they can't be detected from above ground. They only found one of those a few years ago, if my memory serves me correctly."
 
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