Surprise is the fifth element (Breogar)

[Anadwen]

Dust arose beneath a pair of heavy black boots on a narrow road, leading through the forest. Silent rustling of leaves in the warm breeze was one of the few sounds, along with happily singing birds and the silent steps of a lone traveler.

Aldanith pushed the stray wisp of his white hair behind his pointed ear and pulled the black hood, hiding his head from the sun, into his face. He was boiling in his leather armour, but as always, protection was more important than personal comfort, and he kept walking with long steps, passing through the forest. It will be soon dark, the air will cool down, and he will get to Ketra in a matter of few hours, if he will keep up this speed.

The rays of sunlight made their way through the leaves every now and then, giving them a lively green shine, and a sole beam fell upon the ground only every so often, enlightening the air with the warm light of a summer afternoon. The dark elf kept on walking, occasionally wiping the sweat from his skin, when he came upon an unusual sight...

A huge man, stretched beneath a tree. Aldanith, currently with only a few coins in his pouch, stopped to hide in a shadow of a nearby tree, and scanned the figure with his keen eyes. That man may have had some money, and he may not, but he appeared to be fast asleep, and Aldanith wanted to sleep on a better place than a dirty room in a cheap inn. In the end, what could happen? Big men are rarely fast, unlike him, and he could sneak into his pockets without the snoring giant even noticing his nimble hands.

He walked closer, carefully stepping onto the grass without making a sound, and bowed to search the man's bag. There was nothing but a few copper coins... He hissed with bitter disappointment and turned to the giant himself. Maybe he kept his money in his pockets instead of the bag.

A slender hand, covered by a fingerless gauntlet, slipped into the man's pocket and searched it for anything valuable. There was a money bag... Excellent. However, it appeared empty. Another sigh escaped from Aldanith's mouth, and he begun browsing another pocket.

A loud sound, emerging from the trees above, suddenly rang through the air. Aldanith flinched, accidentally poking the sleeping man with his hand, and as he quickly stood up and backed out, looking around himself in horror.

If I woke him up now, I'm in deep shit. For the sake of the gods, I damn hope he's still asleep. he cursed in his mind, staring at the man.

[Breogar]

The cool breeze and soft chirping of birds had soothed the giant to sleep, sending him off to dreamscapes of glorious battle, fat fish, and buxom women. However, his heavy snores came to an abrupt halt as a piercing hawk shriek only slightly disturbed his slumber. It was what followed immediately after that brought the behemoth to full consciousness.

The jab of little fingers prodded his side. In his doldrums of half-sleep he imagined it must have been nothing but a small squirrel, but as some figure darted between the sunbeams, casting a brief shadow over his heavy lids, the giant rose from his slumber.

One eye snapped open beneath its bushy, gray brow as , but Breogar wasted no time observing the man in black. Clad in black leather, the typical garb of sneakthieves, it was an easy assumption that this man was trying to steal from the barbarian.

A low grumble rose in his chest, and the barbarian lifted the heavy hand from his chest, arcing it in a sidelong swipe at the interloper in hopes of backhanding him square in the gut. The motion was hardly fast, but the lazy giant perceived it as little more than swatting away a nuisance.

[Anadwen]

Aldanith ducked beneath the giant's fist, rolling on the ground, and unsheathed an elegant, curved blade of a hunting knife, with ornaments, twisting on its blade, ending in a pointed tip. His lean figure took a defensive stance, shaking the hood off his white hair. The pair of ice-blue eyes was glinting in the shadows like kindling flames.

"If you attack me, I'll gut you!" he snarled, holding the knife before himself. His body was as tense as a bowstring and he was prepared to attack at the slightest hint of movement from the man. Despite him being the robber, he had no intentions to give up his loot, and would rather fight.

He relied on his keen senses, lightning-fast reflexes, nimble body and clever wit to help him win a battle, if it would come to that, but this stranger had a heavy hand. His mind scanned the massive figure before him, searching for a weakness.

The behemoth was slow... And Aldanith was fast. If he will blind him with a fast strike, there wouldn't even be a real fight.

[Breogar]

As Breogar's arm met nothing but air, he opened his second eye and lifted his head from the mossy base of the tree. Another grumble rose from the depths of his broad chest. Both hands planted into the hillside behind him as he pushed up into a seated position. His leathery left hand balled into a fist and rubbed the sleep from his eyes while Breogar's beard parted in a long, bellowing yawn.

Again he appraised the diminutive elf before him, eyeing the fierce little cutpurse warily, sizing him up. Finally running a hand through his thick, coarse mane of gray, the barbarian hopped to his feet in a surprising display of speed, sending slight tremors across the ground. From a stooped posture, he rose to his full, towering height of seven and a half feet. Looking down on the elf, he folded his arms across his wide chest in disappointment.

"I hadn't planned on hunting today, little sneakthief." He then held out his meaty palm upright and beckoned Aldanith with one finger. "Give me the purse before I reconsider smashing you into dust." His brows furrowed threateningly and his eyes darted toward the massive trollbone warmaul still leaning against the tree. It was out of reach, and he knew if he reached for it, the little elf could probably get the first hit in before his fingers even wrapped about the haft.

Nonetheless, Breogar surrendered a low, rumbling sigh, still beckoning the elf as his free hand reached out to the club.

[Anadwen]

"Purse? What purse?" Aldanith asked with a raised brow, pretending surprise. He wasn't willing to give up even those few bronze coins, as they would grant him a better dinner and maybe even a drink this evening. "I don't have any purse of yours." Now this was true - he only had the money, and the mans's actual pouch was still in his pocket.

The blade of the knife was steady in his hands, yet it glinted in the sunlight as Aldanith made a step back, showing the huge man his teeth. He could leap into the air and stab him right now, as his swift body could pass the distance of a mere few meters with ease, but he didn't want to get into yet another fight and risk getting hurt. His body was fragile and he knew it.

He shook his head. "I don't have anything. Just leave me and go back to sleep. You're creeping people out." he growled. His fingers clenched around the handle even tighter. He somehow sensed that the giant could attack him anytime now... And he wasn't planning on feeling any pain today.

[Breogar]

"Mm?" Breogar paused and lowered his beckoning hand to slide into his pocket. The other hand halted its reach toward the hammer, and delved into his other pocket. The behemoth raised his brow and gave a small shrug before freezing. His surprise dropped into a frown, and he dug the empty purse from his pocket before tossing it onto the dirt path.

"Seems a bit lighter than I remember." His gaze narrowed, and he began to dart his eyes about. One hand reached to his side for the ornate and beautifully crafted saberfang dagger, drawing it from its crude, leather sheath. The hilt burrowed into the fang looked to be made of precious metals of some sort.

"Do I frighten you? Do I frighten these people?" The giant was never much of a clever man, and he foolishly turned about to scan the surrounding woods for these supposed people. With his back half-turned, the behemoth's left shoulder now faced the elf, though his head turned away.

"Show yourselves! Only cowards hide in the shadows." Breogar puffed out his chest, still looking away from Aldanith.

[Anadwen]

"There are no people, you idiot." Aldanith snarled. He bent his legs, and the force of his muscles threw him into the air like an arrow, outstretching his arm with the dagger. He leaped high above the ground, landing on the behemoth's back, and his left arm held onto the man's tunic, almost ripping a part of it off.

The blade in his hand was swiftly pressed onto the giant's neck. Aldanith chuckled, pulling it towards himself to make it delve into the man's flesh. He was really much quicker... Now it will only require a single move to cut through his veins and he can walk away with his reward, claiming also his dagger and everything he could find in the bags.

Just one simple move...

[Breogar]

Breogar grunted as the elf leapt onto his back and buried the blade in his neck in one swift action. As the curved steel bit into his flesh, he felt the unbelievably sharp knife cut clean through his veins. The blow actually caused him to stagger and fall to one knee as the hot, bubbling blood spilled down his chest. The arm on the opposite side reached up and back, wearily swiping at the air, not even coming close to the cold-blooded killer on his back.

A gurgle caught in his throat and more blood spilled between his lips, staining his beard in long, dark streaks. "That... hurts." However, at this point the blood seemed to oddly stop flowing. In fact, the original puncture already seemed to start scabbing over, crusting along the thin, bloody line toward the sunken blade. The wound was still there, but if the elf were watching it would definitely look like it was starting to close.

"Get off me, you wretch." Breogar's final swipe brushed against the elf's leg, but if Aldanith noticed it he could move in time. Otherwise he was in for a good toss.

[Anadwen]

Aldanith stared in surprise at how quickly the wound has healed. This was turning rather unpleasant... How can he even kill someone that won't bleed out? He growled and threw himself off the man's back, gracefully landing on the ground in a spin.

He cleaned the blade of his dagger against his armour, and exchanged it for a long scimitar, gripping the shorter knife with his left hand instead. The blade was long and sleek, similar to the dagger, and dangerously sharp. Aldanith hissed at the giant.

"If you want anything, then come and claim me." His voice was silent, but ice-cold and hard. The long strands of his hair gave him a dangerous appearance of a madman, and he started walking in circles around Breogar.

[Breogar]

Another grunt rose from the barbarian's throat as he pushed himself off of the downed knee. Slowly turning about, he wrinkled his nose at Aldanith.

Breogar eyed the crazed elf, following the smaller man's pacing with only his eyes. Finally the giant's stern expression broke, revealing a broad grin. Bloodstained teeth parted to bellow forth a hearty laugh, and the giant patted his wall of abs. After settling down from the short fit of laughter, Breogar placed his palm alongside his head before cracking his neck to the side of the wound. Brushing off the dried blood, the scab came with it, revealing narry a sign that he had even been wounded.

"You have some sport in you after all." The behemoth turned to the still resting hammer and grasped the leatherbound haft in one hand before swinging it up in a wide arc onto his shoulder. It easily rivaled the weight of a full grown man.

"This should be interesting." Breogar flexed his toes, pawing his dirt-caked feet at the uneven path. Rolling his unarmed shoulder, the giant spread himself into a wide stance, much like a wrestler. The warmaul rested atop his shoulder, and with one final grin, he bellowed a roar, charging toward the puny elf.

In only three strides he closed the distance enough to heave the hammer up and over his head in an absurdly obvious vertical strike. In the very likely event that Aldanith dodged the attack, it would absolutely obliterate the already uneven path. This would leave him in a poorly thought out position, overextended in a lunge with his right foot and arm reaching forward.

[Anadwen]

Adanith evaded the head of the hammer, bending down and rolling away beneath it. It was much slower than his own movement, heavy and swinging with power its great weight gave it, but the giant must have had very little idea about what he is doing. Aldanith, on the other side, counted two moves ahead.

His hands, clenched around his blades, were steady, and he straightened his back once again, although the stance with widely spread legs made him seem still shorter than he really was. He growled. "You're slower than an old hag!" he snarled, rushing behind the behemoth's back.

His steps were fleet and silent on the soft grass, and he was just a shadow that suddenly appeared behind the man. Once again, he leaped into the air, pointing his blades down, and their sharp tips skewed into the giant's flesh, blood streaming from the stabs at their edges. His mouth was twisted in a fey grin, revealing the slightly sharp teeth. "And you go down!" he chuckled.