Richter let out an agitated sigh as the knight realized that he'd once again passed the same Y-shaped bark-stripped tree that he'd originally seen an hour ago. The roaming swordsman, seeing the futility of trying to find his way through what was likely an enchant forest, slowly eased himself down into a sitting position so that he could take a short break from walking in full plate armor.
He'd thought that the job the townsfolk of Sarova in Ravensway would be fairly straightforward, like they'd told him it would be. There was a bandit encampment somewhere in the Sarovans' not-so-metaphorical neck of the woods who were killing and eating all of the wild game that the Sarovans depended on for both food and trade, and the few times the more combat-inclined Sarovans went off to deal with said bandits, their maimed or mutilated corpses were often found a few hours later after the other Sarivans heard agonized screams.
Needless to say, the Sarovans had abandoned any notion of driving out the bandits themselves after the third dismembered cadaver had been foubd, and instead had started looking for outside help a few days ago.
Because Sarova was largely outside of the jurisdiction of Arca, no official or unofficial support was sent despite the village's numerous requests for assistance. Other relatively nearby settlements likewise did not send aid, though this was less out of negligence and was more because said settlements didn't have the manpower or any combat-trained bodies to lend to Sarova.
Then, when the Sarovans were starting to consider drastic options, Richter stumbled right into their laps.
Almost literally, in this case, since he'd been mule-kicked in the head by a rabid deer while lost in the damned forest surrounding Sarova and had stumbled into the village in a nearly-concussed state. The Sarovans, either seeing him as a man in need or as the gods answering their prayers for help by sending them a knight, had taken him in immediately and given him what medical treatment they could spare. Ingratiated to the people of Sarova once his near-concussion had completely faded away, Richter offered his assistance in anything they needed done.
The Sarovans had explained the bandit situation to him, told him they'd pay him with a week's worth of traveling rations, and then all but tossed him, albeit gently and less physically, in the direction of the bandits once they'd finished informing him of their problem. It was a bit jarring to go from being treated for a concussion to clearing a bandit camp in the span of half an hour, but he accepted the task nonetheless.
After all, if he didn't do it, then he doubted they'd find anyone else willing and/or capable of doing it before they found their livelihoods (or their lives) taken away from them.
Which brought his mind back to the present and to his current state of being utterly lost in a forest that he could swear was toying with him by making him go in circles.
Hell, he thought he could even hear faint mocking giggles coming from all around him yet nowhere at once...but that was more than likely just his mind and a bit of anxiety playing tricks on him.
Richter brought a gauntlet-clad hand up to chin helmet-covered chin and hummed to himself as he pondered what to do next.
Of all the things Belafay was, a masterful navigator was not one of them. She could follow some of the instructions she had been given about finding her way, but when the road vanished she had little else to do than pick a direction and walk until she found something.
And that was precisely where she found herself now. Wandering the woods, alone and without supplies of any kind. And she was perfectly fine with this scenario, since she didn't really need anything. And being alone at least meant no one could order her around and delay her any further.
Up ahead however she saw a man in full armor, also seemingly lost. She felt that familiar twinge, her compulsory need to serve worming its way into her thoughts. He seemed lost, like he needed help. Belafay sighed and smoothed down her plain linen dress, adjusting her rope belt and circling around the trees to meet him.
"Good day," she called out to him, lifting a hand to wave casually. "Are you in need of assistance, sir?" She smiled pleasantly, holding a breath she didn't need. Part of her hoped she could help him. After all what good was a golem who had no task to do?
Beneath his helmet, Richter blinked and looked up at the girl standing before him, then looked around to see if there were bandits using her as bait to ambush him - a tactic he'd heard of bandits using from time to time; either that, or his mind was making him see hallucinations. It certainly made more sense than a young-looking girl suddenly walking up to him when he'd been alone for the past hour or two and asking him if he needed help.
When he saw no signs of an ambush or trap, he returned his attention to the girl before him and slowly rose to his full height. He cautiously nodded in response, still not fully trusting that the girl wasn't misleading him somehow, "Yes, ma'am...I suppose that I do. I need to find a bandit encampment that has been killing all of the wild game that the nearby town of Sarova needs to survive and trade, as well as causing the deaths of three or so Sarovans who tried to stop the bandits. Unfortunately, I've been lost for a while now. If you could lend any aid to me, that would be greatly appreciated."
It was at that point that he remembered the basic tenets of chivalry and knighthood that had been drilled into him over the course of nearly a decade - often through the process of a wooden sword bonking him on the head whenever he forgot to follow the tenets. He then took a bow at the hip with his right arm held across his chest, his elbow on the right side of his chestplate and his hand on the left.
"My name is Richter, a roaming knight. It is a pleasure and an honor to make your acquaintance, madam. May I ask what your name is?"
Belafay's eyes glittered unnaturally as Richter spoke his request. Find bandits. He was a knight, so the implication beyond that was kill the bandits as well. She could manage that. She might not have been a navigator, but Belafay knew a thing or three about people. Like that they liked rivers for some inexplicable reason. Belafay hated rivers. Too much water made her skin and hair sticky. Oh well.
Before she could move, the man bowed to her. A gesture she had come to learn was a sign of greeting. She knew what to do here. Picking up the hem of her dress between her fingers, Belafay returned his bow with a perfectly practiced curtsy. "I am called Belafay. I will serve as you have requested, Ser Richter. I hope my service proves adequate for your needs."
Formalities out of the way, Belafay turned a complete three hundred and sixty degrees around and pointed. "There is a river back that way nine hundred and fifty-four of my steps. Humans like rivers, yes? The bandits might be along it somewhere."
She stopped, considering for a moment. "Give or take one hundred steps, Ser. I will follow your lead, or lead that you may follow. Whichever you desire."
Richter nodded gratefully at Belafay's words, even though his helmet hid his unease and hesitance at her intent to join him, "I see. Well then, Miss Belafay, I suppose that the least I can do in return for your aid is allowing you to accompany me. I can only hope that you'll be able to take care of yourself should you get involved in combat with the bandits. In any case, since you seem to have an idea of
where they are, would you mind leading the way?"
The knight was hesitant to involve a girl who he could only assume was a non-combatant in a life-or-death fight with violent, bloodthirsty killers. He was also still slightly wary of the girl, since her arrival and subsequent offer of help in a huge forest was suspiciously convenient. There was a chance she was one of the bandits, but until she proved otherwise he was going to have to assume and trust that she was being sincere.
"I do not know for certain, I can only speculate," Belafay corrected Richter as she began walking. But she was given to a task now, so she became much less talkative as they made their way back to the river she had seen before. As they approached the water, Belafay looked down at the ground and noticed the indentation in the ground of boots. As she was barefoot and these footprints were much larger than her feet, they certainly did not belong to her.
"I have found something. These footprints move upstream, Ser Richter. A man, perhaps? Perhaps one of your bandits?" Belafay wasted no time in following these tracks, being careful not to get too close to the water. She didn't want to have to deal with the water messing up her skin.
"So when we find your bandits, are you going to attempt to arrest them and put them in those stock things in a town? Or do you intend to kill them? I need to know so I know how to act when we find them."
"They've killed the wild game the people of Sarova depend on for their livelihoods and survivals, and they've also viciously murdered and dismembered three Sarovans who tried to drive them away. There is no fate left for them but death," Richter replied without a moment's hesitation, his voice flat and as cold as ice. "They will receive no mercy, for they deserve none."
Richter kept a close eye out on their surroundings as he followed Belafay, constantly looking for any signs of the bandits or any traps they might have laid around the forest. It wouldn't do to fall into a concealed spike pit or get crushed by a log hoisted above their heads.
"I see," was all Belafay said at first at Richter's insistence that the bandits would indeed be killed. She continued walking, keeping her eyes on the footprints ahead of her while she thought. "Then I will help you kill them," she added in an dispassionate tone.
It was a good hundred feet ahead when Belafay sprang one of the very traps that Richter was being so careful about. A log, wrapped in chains, came tumbling out of the tree tops as her leg pulled a near invisible tripwire in the underbrush. Belafay heard the rumbling and breaking of branches above her and braced herself for impact. She could easily catch this log with minimal damage to herself. Not that she had remembered to tell Sir Richter about that fact beforehand.
The distinct sound and flicker of motion in the canopy above them alerted Richter to what was about to happen even as his body started pumping adrenaline through his veins and as time seemed to slow down around him. The chain-covered log that came hurtling out of the forest canopy and seemingly aimed right for the knight's companion moved as slowly to him as honey trailing down the side of a glass jar, a rather misleading sight that betrayed just how fast it was actually moving and how deadly of a threat it posed to Richter and his companion. His gaze drifted over to said companion as she stood rooted in place, seemingly frozen in fear or shock at the sudden threat before her - a threat that was going to snuff out her life if she didn't move out of the way within the next few crucial seconds.
His heart thumped once - a second had passed and Belafay seemed to have locked up completely out of terror or indecision; he couldn't tell which one it was and he didn't particularly give a damn as to which one it was, either.
The log had closed a quarter of the distance between itself and the woman in its path.
A blisteringly fast mental weighing of his options - push Belafay out of harm's way and risk having his ribcage shattered or driven into his lungs and heart, or do nothing and let her die - took place in the time it took for his heart to beat again and for another second to pass.
The log was halfway to colliding with the girl.
There was no more hesitation on Richter's part as he turned his body to face Belafay and lunged at her with his arms held out to pull her into an embrace. When his gauntlet-clad fingers brushed past her sides, he wrapped his arms as delicately yet firmly around Belafay as his bulky and heavy armor would allow, then let his momentum carry both him and his companion to the ground.
In the time it took to blink, the log finally swung through the air where Belafay had been standing a fraction of a second before, barely missing her and the knight who had all but body-checked her out of harm's way.
Richter landed harshly on his side, flesh and organs compressed against the inside of his armor by the impact as a pained grunt flew past his lips.
Belafay was repositioning her feet to better catch the log when she felt herself get barreled over by something large and metal clad. She landed hard on the ground alongside Richter with a small sound of surprise. It would have knocked her breath out of her if she had breath to knock out. There was a sound of wood slamming against wood with a crack and a shudder that echoed through the forest and sent animals scattering into the air and the underbrush. Turning her head an almost but not quite unnatural degree, Belafay's eyes glittered a bit brighter as she regarded Richter first with confusion.
"Why did you push me out of the way, Ser Richter? I was going to catch the log so that it did not make noise and alert the bandits to our presence. We are certainly going to be outnumbered and so the element of surprise was a key component to our victory."
Her confusion turned to concern as she watched the way he moved. He was injured because of the fall. Frowning hard at him, Belafay easily pushed away Richter's grip and stood up. "You are hurt. Your armor made what would be a relatively simple fall much more traumatic. You will not be able to properly fight if you have broken any bones."
The knight stared incredulously at the woman before him, "What? You were going to catch a log that probably weighs about as much as I do with your bare hands?! Miss Belafay, I fail to see how that makes sense in any conceivable way, considering that log is more than capable of crushing my armor like an insect beneath a boot. So, unless you're some kind of supernatural being in the guise of a human woman, I highly doubt that you are capable of doing what you claim you were trying to accomplish."
Richter pushed himself back onto his feet with a sharp inhale as the bruised flesh of his injured side pressed against the hard metal of his armor, "As for me being injured, you needn't worry. The landing just left some bruising, nothing more."
Belafay blinked once more, looking at Richter impassively for a good long moment. All the while the log continued to bump and sway on it's rope, the chains wrapped around it clattering gently with the movement.
"I see. My intention was not to disguise myself, Ser Richter. I suppose that makes a certain kind of sense though..." she said, nodding once as she remembered times when people had been visibly bewildered by the things that she could do. She didn't understand it herself, having been around magic for so long made it seem almost mundane.
"I am a golem, formed from clay and made to serve, Ser." She spoke in a quiet, matter of fact voice. She felt no need to demonstrate unless he asked, so she stood still and watched for his reaction.
"...That would have been good to know beforehand, but I suppose that hindsight is 20/20, so I can't fault you for that," Richter sighed and shook his head with a slight metallic rattle of his helmet's visor. "From now on, yo-...I would suggest that you be a bit more forthcoming with information like this. That way, we can avoid situations like this in the future."
Richter then paused and looked at her in a way that she could tell was mildly scrutinizing, "Is there anything else about you that I am unaware that would be beneficial for me to know?"
Belafay's eyes flashed slightly when Richter suggested that she be more forthcoming with information about herself. She switched her stance briefly and curtsied, dipping her head low as she spoke. He asked if there was anything else about her that might be beneficial for him to know. As she didn't know him or what his needs were, her programming took that as 'basically everything.'
"As you wish, Ser Richter. I am compelled to follow any human's commands while I am without a master, except to kill or to die. My master, should I have one, may order me to do either. I am currently without a master, but have been seeking one for some time. I am capable of carrying great weight. I am skilled in a number of trades that may prove useful, including basic herbal medicine and giving pleasure to men. I do not require food or sleep or even air. My body is quite durable and easy to repair, but fire is detrimental to me."
When she was finished, Belafay lifted her head to look at Richter once again with that impassive, nearly blank expression. "Is there anything else, Ser Richter?"
Some distance away, a pair of bandits from the encampment were slowly approaching, investigating the noise made by the falling log trap.
Richter was thankful that he wore a face-concealing helmet, as a light dusting of pink had settled over his cheeks at Belafay so bluntly admitting that she was skilled at sexual acts.
He shook his head once he'd regained his composure, "No, that is all, Miss Belafay...though if you need a master - in the 'commanding' sense, not the slavery or sexual sense - then...I suppose that I could be yours, if you would have me. I would not command you to kill yourself nor do anything that you wouldn't want to do if you had the capacity to refuse an order. As for everything else you've told me...I believe you and I will have a very beneficial and mutual working relationship, should we choose to be traveling companio-"
A faint echo of a twig snapping underfoot caught Richter's attention.
"...You were right about the bandits coming to investigate, it seems. If you could, gather as much leaves, debris and other things short of excrement and detritus so that we can conceal ourselves and ambush them," Richter whispered in a lower voice to the golem. "I believe I saw a small ditch to my left - and in your case, your right - that we can hide in. It certainly looked deep enough to hold my entire body plus my armor without any part of me peeking out above the sides."
Belafay canted her head to the side at the idea that a potential master wouldn't ask her to do anything she didn't want to do. She meant to say something else but got swept up in his next set of orders. Bowing her head she went to work in silence.
She gathered a number of branches and leaves, covering Richter quickly with them when he got into the ditch that he mentioned. She also grabbed several of the same for herself, crouching underneath them with her eyes focused on the swinging log. She would talk to him about his proposal later. An ambush meant to stay quiet.
The two bandits moved into the small clear spot where the trap had been sprung, one carrying a spear and the other a mace. As they inspected the trap, one of them mentioned to the other that they should fan out a bit and see if there was any sign of what sprung it.
Richter waited motionlessly as heard the bandits come into the clearing. He waited as they inspected the trap. He waited as one of them moved away from the other and unknowingly approached the general vicinity of his and Belafay's hiding spot.
Instead of continuing to wait as the bandit wielding a mace approached, the knight chose a different course of action. Once the mace-user came into view, Richter subtly twitched his arm, causing a few leaves covering it to audibly move off of the appendage. As he'd hoped and/or planned, the mace-wielder's gaze shot over to the source of the noise and cautiously approached.
Another purposeful shifting of his leaf cover at the same time that a faint chittering sound, reminescent of a squirrel or other similarly-sized rodent, left his lips. Practice in the form of many hours of practice to lure unsuspecting squirrely meals to him when travel rations ran low meant that the squirrel impression was as realistic and convincing as any bird-caller's respective calls would be to those who heard them.
A quick glance at the trap's triggering mechanism before ordering Belafay to hide the two of them showed that the tripwire's advantage of being nearly invisible came at the cost of being rather sensitive to touch. Whether it was due to a person's feet or the careless skittering and foraging of a hungry squirrel, the trap would be triggered.
With any luck, the bandit would put the 'clues' together and assume that it was 'just a dumb squirrel' that had triggered the trap. After all, any footprints left in the debris covering the forest floor could be rationalized as their old footprints or newer ones from one of their own that hadn't said anything about being in the area. Likewise, the impression Richter's body had left from his landing could be dismissed as one of the wild animals they'd hunted in the area.
Then, assuming that the bandit(s) here were hungry, the one closest to Richter and Belafay would try to sneak up on the 'easy little snack' that was hiding so poorly in the leaf cover.
He just had to wait until the bandit came within striking range of his mace - the same range as Richter's ability to reach out with his arm.
If all went well, two would become just one.
Belafay, for her part, was entirely motionless. No breath, no subtle muscle twitch. Still as a statue, as it were. She knew this game well enough. She'd fallen in with some bandits years ago and had learned the art of the ambush. Granted she had never seen someone imitate a squirrel as part of an ambush.
But what Belafay knew more than anything was that as part of an ambush you couldn't let the victims of said ambush call out for help. She found a stone in the ditch, slightly bigger than a person's eye and jagged on one edge. This would do for the task at hand.
She waited patiently for Richter to grab at the bandit who had come closer, pondering briefly to herself why the bandit was bothering to come check on a squirrel. It didn't matter either way. Her eyes were set on the second bandit.
As soon as the conflict between Richter and the first bandit set into motion, Balafay took that as her cue to act. Partially standing up out of her cover, she whipped her arm around and threw the stone with an inhuman amount of strength. The stone whipped through the air and struck the man across the side of his head, dropping him to the forest floor like a sack of potatoes. He was bleeding pretty badly from the wound, but it was uncertain if he was dead or merely unconscious.
Content with her strike, Belafay turned and watched Richter, ready to attack the bandit he was engaged with at a moment's notice.
If the knight was surprised or otherwise caught off-guard by the golem girl's proactive approach in eliminating the spear-wielding bandit the instant he reached out to grab the mace-user, he did not show it. Instead, as she threw the jagged stone at the spearman, he lashed out with a jab to the mace-user's throat that was augmented by the fact that Richter was wearing metal gauntlets.
A muted crunch came from the bandit's throat, and he fell to the ground gurgling and gasping silently for air through his crushed trachea.
His well-deserved suffering was ended with a metal-clad foot that caved in the front of the bandit's face, a small splatter of blood splashing upwards from the impact and covering Richter's greaves in crimson.
With the bandit now deceased, Richter glanced over at Belafay with a raised brow that was invisibke beneath his helmet, but very much audible in his voice, "That wasn't exactly how I'd planned our little ambush to play out, but I suppose that doesn't really matter in the end considering it worked out reasonably well. For the record, try not to assume that any movements I make are signals to attack if we do something like this again; if I give you a signal, I'll have you told what it was beforehand - understood, Miss Belafay?"
If there was any protest or question in Belafay's mind about this new set of orders, of not attacking until Richter gave her s specific signal, she did not show it. She merely bowed to him, her eyes cast to the ground as she replied as she often did: "As you wish, sir."
That formality out of the way, her eyes focused briefly on the man who had wielded the mace. He was clearly dead, or at least she assumed as much. It was hard, sometimes, to remember if humans were incredibly fragile or durable.
Either way, the message was clear. Moving herself over to the bandit with the spear, she retrieved the weapon from his body and plunged the point into his chest. Perhaps he was dead before, but Ser Richter had struck twice to make certain his opponent would not get up.
Belafay decided that she would hold on to the spear for now. It may come in handy later, she justified to herself. Turning back to the knight, significantly less blood soaked than himself, she said, "He is dead. I will follow your lead, Ser Richter."
"To be fair, I was following your lead and the information about the likely location of the bandits' camp, so how's about we just continue moving as we were before...this happened," Richter suggested, gesturing to the two cooling bandit corpses around them for emphasis. "If we move now instead of trying to decide who's following who, we can find the bandit encampment before they send more of their own to investigate why these two haven't come back."
Snark or being berated was not something new for Belafay. She knew better than to talk back when confronted in such a manner. That was how one got punished. So as she had learned long ago, Belafay bowed her head with her eyes closed and responded with a simple, "As you command, sir."
She resumed leading the way in silence. It was much easier going now, as she could just follow the trail of footprints from the bandits as they had walked to the log trap's location. It was maybe another ten minutes at the most, and that was at the slightly slower pace Belafay was taking due to being unfamiliar with the area and not wanting to lose sight of the tracks.
Footprints turned into a well worn path and eventually the sound of people talking could be heard ahead. Belafay stopped and gestured forward, towards a clearing and the smell of stew cooking. Her voice was a whisper as she spoke, "I have brought you to the bandits as requested, Ser Richter. What else do you require of me?"
Richter took a moment to tear his eyes away from the clearing and turn them to look at Belafay.
Of the many things Richter wasn't, 'being completely oblivious' was one of the more important ones. Although barely noticeable due to Belafay's almost perpetually neutral expression, her reaction to his admittedly snarky reply earlier hadn't gone unnoticed.
He'd seen similar reactions in people who'd been physically 'punished' for disobeying or angering a 'superior.'
"Well...if you'd like, you could continue accompanying me as an assistant. Though if you're asking about what else I require right now...I'd say I would appreciate it if you chose to help me eliminate these scum," Richter told the golem in a soft tone. "Also...I want you to know that I appreciate everything you've done for me thus far. I'll be moving into their camp regardless, but I don't want you to feel forced to come with me, so..."
The knight slowly inhaled, then breathed out.
"Miss Belafay...I want you to choose what you want to do - what you feel like the best course of action for you to take is. Whatever course of action you feel is right, I will not think anything less of you for taking," Richter firmly told Belafay before turning his gaze back to the clearing. "Now...I must end this bandit threat."
With that, Richter quietly advanced in the direction of the bandits.
Belafay listened, her lips slowly forming into a thin frown as he fumbled his way through asking her to help him while simultaneously trying to impose her to 'do as she pleased.' He didn't understand in the slightest. But once again, before she could even begin attempting to explain it to him, he was gallivanting off to go fight the bandits. With a sigh Belafay hoisted her spear and followed him. If he died, she surmised, she'd never get the nagging sensation of wanting to explain her predicament to him.
Crouching low as she moved through the underbrush, Belafay kept her eyes on Richter and her ears open to the sound of any approaching danger. Up ahead, she could smell cooking meat now and hear that the voices were laughing and seemingly having a good time. If she hadn't been told that they were bandits and that they had been hurting people, she would have not thought twice about joining this camp and seeking out a master among them.
She kept herself quiet, hidden behind a tree as she watched Richter. Waited for a signal to attack.
((OOC: Sorry it took so long to make another post. College work has been taking up a lot of time.))
Richter slowly, carefully crept along the perimeter of the bandit camp until he came to a halt behind the cover of an assortment of barrels and large wooden boxes, likely their supply storage, haphazardly grouped together beside an A-frame hut or tent.
Taking a deep breath, the knight peered around the side of one of the barrels and examined the opposition.
Five men and what seemed to be three women - all in leather armor and wielding either axes, spears, daggers, or swords - sat around a fire with a spit built over it, watching a skinned boar that was impaled on the spit slowly turn and cook as the flames below bathed it in heat.
One of the women, whose exposed forearms were lightly tanned, suddenly groaned in what might have been exasperation or impatience, "What the hell is taking those two idiots so long?! It isn't that hard to go to the trap, see who or whatever fucking tripped it, and kill any intruders before moving their asses back here! Should've taken only five minutes max, but nooo! They have to take their sweet fucking time and make me question if they got themselves killed!"
"...Does that mean you're actually worried about someone other than yourself, for once?" the lone swordsman among them asked rhetorically, a hint of amusement in his tone as the woman glowered at him.
"Not a fucking chance. Those morons owe me a damn meal after their little 'target practice' shit almost took my head off a week ago, and I can't cash in on that meal if they're dead!" she spat and pointedly turned her head away from the swordsman.
The man shrugged and let out a simple 'hmm' in response, then leaned slightly away from the heat of the flames in front of him, "Eh, whatever. Not my business, anyways. You have to admit, though, they made a great find when they caught and dragged that rabbit-eared freak back here. She looks like she could fetch quite the sum of gold if we sold her to the right people. Slavers love products that have unique little features that make 'em more valuable."
Richter cautiously advanced forward, taking cover behind a tent closer to the bandits and their fire spit and keeping himself out of sight in favor of continuing to listen in. The mention of slavers made the wandering knight's fingers twitch towards his sword, but he stopped himself before he could even come close to drawing it; it wouldn't do to give himself away so soon, not when there was a captive woman at risk of being hurt or killed in the heat of the battle.
"Sell her? Fuck that! With a body like that, I say we keep her around for ourselves whenever we need to, ya know, 'let off some steam' or somethin' like that," another man spoke up, a disgusting chuckle following shortly afterwards. "Besides, if we end up breaking her, we can just have some extra special rabbit stew for a couple weeks."
"Speaking of our little 'guest', it's about time someone goes to feed her. No use in capturing her and locking her up just to oet her starve to death," the swordsman said plainly.
"Oh! I'll do it! Besides, I think that it's about time for me to pay her back for punching me in the face yesterday," the disgusting man eagerly volunteered as Richter heard the sound of grass rustling as someone stood up and walked away from the fire.
Richter followed the sound of the man's footsteps while sidling against the back of the tent, stopping when the man did and listening in.
Saeyov had what he'd like to call, a streak of bad luck. He had really thought that he'd gotten away this time. Broken free of one cage, only to end up in another.
He supposed he was like a dog turned free. He ran off in the first direction he could, but he didn't really know what to do with himself once he
was free. The world seemed too big, too vast, and where he fuck was he to go?
For now, he leaned against the bars of the cramped cage where his slender, scarred ears poked up and out of the top. Just big enough for him to sit in. Thus far, the bandits – his captors – had believed Saeyov was a girl. For those who didn't know or had never ran into a Haevar, it was an easy mistake to make. He had smooth, tanned skin, sharp green eyes, and a smooth jaw line. Never mind that Saeyov's body was slender and supple, wrapped in a tattered dress he'd stolen, as a disguise, so he could flee from his initial captors.
Right into the hands of the bandits. Stumbling into one of their traps, where they'd then hauled him back here. He saw no reason to correct the assumption he was a female. Saeyov never offered anything he wasn't forced to.
His sensitive hearing could pick up all of their yammering conversation. It grated on him but he forced himself to focus, to listen. Anything could be useful, after all. Like the bit about two of them going off, and still being gone. He also liked to know when to expect company or when he thought he heard others creeping about the camp.
Not that Saeyov was going to say anything about
that either. Rather, he remained sitting against the bars. Watching and waiting like good little
rabbit he was. Hoping there'd be an opportunity for him to exploit and get the fuck out.
OOC
I was initially going to make a girl, but my muse decided otherwise. Instead, I have my rebellious and obnoxious Saeyov (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=25973) here. A bit girlish and in a dress, so the mistake would have been easy to make. 8D
Sorry for the delay. :c I was garbage and life was a turd. If i need to adjust anything, lemme know.
@Nova_Eclipse @Kadakism
Richter heard the disgusting man chuckle and bang on the cage with a weapon of some sort, "Hey there, you little shit! Guess who's come to get some payback for yesterday?"
There was the sound of a pained, feminine cry and the sound of softer flesh being yanked against cage bars. The knight's hand twitched toward the hilt of his sword, but nothing more.
"So, here's the deal," the disgusting creature sneered as Richter heard the sound of garments being pulled down. "You suck my cock as an apology for punching me in the face, or I cut your ears off right here and now with my dagger, cunt. You suck me off, and maybe I'll even leave without claiming what's between your legs."
A faint choking or whimpering sound, followed by a vile chuckle, "It ain't that hard to choose, really. I mean...you like having your ears, don't you? Now get to sucking, bitch."
Richter had heard enough. Drawing his blade, the knight ran around the corner and charged at the disgusting man, who'd literally been caught with his pants down and could barely turn to bring his dagger to face the knight before his head was cleaved from his shoulders with a horizontal swing of Richter's longer blade.
Blood sprayed out for a brief moment from the stump of the corpse's neck before it started slumping to the ground. Richter caught the body before it could hit the ground, then slowly lowered it until it was finally flush against the soil. The knight looked around - no saw or heard the commotion...yet.
Then, he turned to face the captive and was taken aback by just how...cute she was, for lack of a better descriptor. He shook the thought out of his head and whispered to the captive rabbit girl, "Are you unharmed? Do you need assistance?"
From her own hiding spot, Belafay's primary thought was to how crude men could be. And how endlessly fascinated they were with fellatio. She didn't really understand, but she also supposed that she couldn't. She shook her head and set her red eyes on what Richter was doing. The task at hand. Free the girl. Kill the bandits. But still he had not given her a signal to act. How annoying.
Ah, wait. She was too focused. He had said if he meant for there to be a signal he would tell her what it was beforehand. He had indicated no such signal, which meant it was left up to Belafay to decide what she should do in this situation. Also annoying. Since Richter was at that time enamored with the captive girl, Belafay figured that it only made sense that she start on the actual reason for their being here.
Moving stealthily over to Richter and Saeyov, surveying the girl. No wait, the boy? Either way, Belafay showed little to no emotion as she looked the freed captive over. She turned more to Richter and stared up at him for a long moment before nodding. "I will get started on the bandits if you like. So you can take care of..." her eyes fell back to Saeyov, "...this."
(OOC: Oh LAWDY, it has been too long since I last posted and I am so sorry! College and managing free time sucks ;w;)
If Richter noticed how the golem woman had addressed the rabbit-eared girl, he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he looked at the rabbit girl for a few moments, then brought his gaze back to Belafay.
"If you can draw their attention away from the fire - and the rest of the camp by extension - then do so. Try to fell a tree or make a loud but natural sound outside of this camp's perimeter; they will most likely think that it's some larger animal moving far too close for comfort. Once you've lured them away, double back around to here and help me get this captive out of the cage. When she's freed from the cage, try to make sure she's hidden and doesn't just run off into the forest and get killed by any of the other traps these bandits have probably placed around the forest. After you've done that, we can properly deal with these scum, treat any of this woman's injuries, and proceed from there."
The knight's helm concealed his face, but the golem girl could feel that he was looking at her sternly.
"Am I understood, Belafay? Our lives and the success of our task hinges upon you, but...even if you can't do everything without a hitch...just do your best, alright?"
Belafay's jaw set tightly as Richter started barking orders at her. He was getting over his reservations about commanding her very quickly. But the magic that still animated her nodded once to affirm that she understood her master-at-present.
Stealing a glance at Saeyov and giving the girl the tiniest of strained smiles, the Golem ducked low into the underbrush and stalked away from the two of them. She wondered why Richter was not simply ordering her to kill the bandits while he freed the girl. She could have easily done so. All they had were arrows and spears and the like. Hardly anything that would do damage to her.
As she moved around the perimeter of the camp, Belafay started looking around at the trees in the area. None were particularly unwieldy, but she was only to cause a distraction. Nothing more. Why did that frustrate her so? There was a part of her that thought that she could end this more efficiently than her master-at-present, but she couldn't say that. Oh well.
Finding a suitable tree, she made sure that she was recalling his orders correctly. Fell a tree, or some other loud, natural sound. Simple enough. Pressing a hand against the trunk of her chosen tree, Belafay pushed until the roots gave way and the entire thing went tumbling to the forest floor. If that didn't get the bandits' attention she didn't know what would.
It was impossible to mistake the sound of a falling tree for anything else, and the subsequent THUMP as it landed was more than sufficient to elicit a series of curses and orders from the bandits in the middle of the encampment. The sound of their weapons being drawn and their footsteps rapidly moving away from him was confirmation to him that they'd taken the bait.
Now, all he had to do was wait for Belafay to come back while the bandits were searching for a nonexistent tree-felling creature, and then they could ensure that the caged rabbit would be put somewhere safe before he and his companion finally dealt with their targets.
...Or, at least, that was the plan.
Alas, luck and fate seemed to be against them at that moment, as evidenced by the dark silhouette of another bandit suddenly rising up from within the largest tent in the encampment.
"What the hells is going on, you fucking incompetent little wretches?! I thought I told you all to-" a gravelly, guttural male's voice boomed just before its owner cut himself off.
The silhouette of the figure cast on the tent wall craned its neck from side to side as the unknown bandit loudly sniffed the air...then turned its head in Richter's and the captive's direction.
"Intruders, hmm? Coming to 'rescue' that little rodent my underlings captured, I suppose? Well, I'm afraid that your little 'rescue mission' is going to end with you as dead as my last meal or sharing that cage with the little bitch," the figure said as he took three long strides that brought him into Richter's field of vision.
Richter's heart stopped at the sight of the massive green Ogre that was staring him down with murderous glee in his coal-black eyes. The hulking brute stood half again as tall as Richter, and was covered from head to toe in thick metal armor lined with a variety of animal furs and hides. Hanging on the Ogre's back was a warhammer as large as Richter was, and its owner was already bringing it around to bear as he walked towards Richter and the rabbit girl with heavy footsteps.
"Oh, it looks like we have a little knight in shining armor come to rescue the distressed damsel, here. Please, do try to put up somewhat of a fight - it's been SO fucking long since I had a decent scrap, and I'd HATE to have you disappoint me after waking me up from my nap," the Ogre gave Richter a savage, toothy grin that showed off the two tusks in either corner of his mouth.
Belafay was on her way back to Richter when she heard the ogre call out his challenge. Of course there was an ogre. Did Richter not do any kind of research into his enemies before he went into battle? Her third master would have, and in fact had, cut her limbs off for such sloppy behavior.
She briefly considered leaving and letting him die. But his orders were clear. Get the girl out of the cage, deal with the bandits, and then treat her injuries.
Subtlety was out the window though. Grabbing a forgotten short sword one of the bandits had left, she cut through the camp, ending up behind the ogre. "Excuse me sir, you are in my way. I have orders to free that girl and hide her somewhere safe while I assist Ser Richter in cutting down your entire camp."
(OOC: I'm getting the distinct feeling that Belafay doesn't really like Richter, or that you aren't exactly all that enthused by this RP.
And that's fine! That's totally fine, I just...eh, nevermind, ignore me! Let's just get back to it.)
The Ogre stops and cranes his head to look at the smaller golem girl, then brings his gaze back to Richter with a low, rumbling chuckle, "A golem? Well, that explains the odd third smell I picked up...and it makes this little situation all the more interesting. I would be tempted to just disable you, bind you and keep you caged until I could sell you off to some fat noble in some other country, but I think you'd be of much more use to me as a punching bag. LIKE SO!"
The Ogre suddenly whirls around and swings the flat head of his warhammer at Belafay's chest with surprising speed.
(Belafay doesn't like a great many people, to be fair. But she also doesn't really dislike people. She's just a pragmatist, and Richter is throwing her off further by simultaneously ordering her around and also telling her to do as she pleases.
I, on the other hand, am having a great time. Just playing into the character.)
"You talk a lot, Ser Ogre," Belafay said as the hammer came swinging at her. She let the hammer blow hit her dead center, which sent her flying hard into one of the bandits' tents.
So he was big and fast. But also really stupid, by the sounds of it. What was it master number five had always said? Monstrous size was no intrinsic merit unless one considered inordinate exsanguination a virtue.
The deformations in her body were already healed, the clay making her up reshaping to be normal again. Belafay stood and hefted the sword in her hand, her fist having had closed around it like a ball so she wouldn't drop it.
"Ser Richter. I ask you. Are you my master?" He wasn't a perfect candidate by any means. Somewhere in the back of her head, Belafay was convinced she would never find a perfect master. But he was kind, if impractical. His heart was in the right place. St least she thought that was how the phrase went. And she would hate to have to kill him if the ogre got the idea to start ordering her around. Just say the words, she thought to herself.
Richter between Belafay and the Ogre that was advancing on her...and let out an inaudible sigh before nodding, "Yes, Belafay, I am your mas-"
The knight was cut off before he could finish when the Ogre abruptly changed course and charged at him with frightening speed, the massive warhammer already swinging towards Richter's head. A faint curse leapt from the man's lips as he was forced to duck and roll out of the way; the warhammer clipped his shoulder rather than his head, but there was still enough force imparted by the impact to knock Richter to the ground.
"Ah ah ah! No talking in the middle of a fight. Especially not when this 'Belafay' over there seems to want you to say the magic phrase that'll make you her master and thus make her stronger somehow. I may be an Ogre, but I'm not a complete idiot, and I find it insulting that you'd think I wouldn't know at least something about how golems work when I explicitly called you out as one, girly," the Ogre mockingly scolded the two intruders as he turned around yet again and hurled himself at Belafay with an outstretched arm aimed at the golem girl's neck.
Belafay didn't hesitate when she saw Richter get hurt. The ogre may have thought that he had stopped something, but Richter had confirmed her question. Yes, Belafay was all she needed. Her mouth moved without her conscious decision to do so as she rushed forward. Her voice was hollow as the magic suffused through her body, making the patterns etched into her skin glow for a brief moment.
"Then I am your sword. Your shield. A cloak in any storm. A beast of burden. Lover. Confidant. I am tireless. I am without hunger. My only needs are yours, my master."
Ducking under the easily visible strike, Belafay released her sword and locked one arm around the ogre's wrist. Her other hand found his elbow and she wrenched hard to bend his arm the wrong way. The back of his gauntlet slammed into his pauldron with a sickening crunch of bone.
"You harmed my master. Surrender your life now and I will take your head cleanly and with no pain."
The Ogre stared at her for a monent before barking out a laugh and grabbing Belafay by the throat, then tossed her into the fire at the middle of the camp just as the ofher bandits come running back into view, "HAHAHAAAA! Oh, I LIKE that fire in you, girly! But if you think I'm going to just GIVE UP, then you are sorely mistaken. In fact, I think that just for breaking my arm, I'll break something of yours"
With that last word snarled out, the Ogre scoops up his dropped warhammer and swiftly smashes it in an overhead strike down on Richter's left leg, the armor caving in as if it were made of butter with the sound of bone crunching, followed by an agonized scream from the knight.
"Oops! I missed his spine. Must'a been because you broke my dominant arm. Oh well...this next strike won't miss," the hulking brute said as he started lifting his warhammer back up.
Through the searing torment of his broken leg and the metal armor compacted unnaturally into it, Richter managed to squeeze out one simple command before the pain became too much, and darkness took him, "B-BE! LA! FAY! KILL! THE! BANDITS!"
Belafay's scream as the flames engulfed the left half of her body was an unsettling, inhuman sound. Far too loud and far too shrill, to the point of breaking glass. But even her volume couldn't stop the command from magically reaching her as she struggled to pull herself away from the fire and keep her skin from cracking further.
Kill the bandits.It was a simple enough order, and one that she obeyed with brutal efficiency. While her master may not have been conscious to bear witness to it, Saeyov absolutely could from his place in the cage. Most of the bandits fell to some manner of blunt force trauma, their bodies broken and twisted like cloth dolls on the ground. The ogre who had harmed Richter however was broken until he couldn't move and left conscious as the petite fury twisted his head off.
When it was all said and done, the camp was a massacre. And Belafay herself was a fright to look at: covered in blood that was not her own, filled with broken arrows, her dress all but shreds from weapon strikes that she had refused to dodge, and her left arm and a significant portion of her face shattered away like broken pottery.
Turning her gaze over to where she assumed the Haevar was still trapped, the golem made her way over with a simple question in mind. "How much do you know about setting broken bones?"
@SanctifiedSavage
When he hadn't said anything about the people creeping up, he had thought it might be some manner of
normal rescue. Ya know, the sort that involved a bit of steel, exchanged sword blows, and some fighting. Granted, the ogre was a bit bigger that most would be able normally handle.
The ensuing slaughter from the odd lady-thing, because there was no way she was some normal creature, was just... Well. Saeyov started to feel bad for the bandits. Not bad enough that he'd wished any of them survived, mind, but at a certain point it just looked like someone smashing rodents. They were clearly out classed and couldn't do much of anything but... well, die.
Thankfully Saeyov was in the cage and clearly not apart of the
bandits.
Not to say he didn't eye the newcomers warily. He didn't exactly want to go from from the pan and into the fire, so to say, but first things first. Out of the cage. He could figure things out from there.
He pressed against the bars a little when the bloody lady-thing come over to him, ears laid back, but he looked at her without otherwise flinching. It was a mess, obviously, but he didn't want her to know that he was afraid. While the haevar didn't think he'd be part of the body count, he didn't exactly feel good about who had 'saved' him, if that's what was really going on.
How much did he know about broken bones? Ah well. "Some." Very little. He could make a passable field medic until something better came along, but he wasn't going to openly admit to being utterly useless either.
@Kadakism @Nova_Eclipse
Belafay could see the brief wariness in the girl's -or boy's??- body language, and her own expression softened somewhat. "I did not mean to frighten you. My orders were clear." She gripped one of the cage's bars with her remaining hand and glanced over at Richter.
"I will free you, but I would ask that you help me tend to my master. I cannot properly care for his wounds with one arm and one eye. I do not think there is enough clay nearby for me to repair myself in a timely manner."
Whether or not Saeyov agreed or even acknowledged her request, Belafay gave the cage a tug and pulled the door open with a snap of the hinges. She cast it aside and took to Richter's side, watching him to see how he was faring.
@SanctifiedSavage @Nova_Eclipse
Saeyov narrowed his eyes a little when the... thing... explained the situation.
Tend their master? From one cage into another, maybe? Only this one had a monster of a lady tagging along. So be it. The Haevar was used to making the best out of a bad situation.
He crawled out of the cage once the door had been
pulled off and reluctantly followed the broken doll. His chipped ears remained down and he was tense, but Saeyov didn't think for a second that bolting would do him any good.
Seeing the mess of the man's leg, though, he frowned and glanced at the doll. "Ah. I'll see what I can do. His armor is going to need to come off and I'll need... water, some sticks for a splint most like, and a lot of cloth." He shook his head again, feeling his stomach flip. He was no healer and this man... really needed one.
@Kadakism @Nova_Eclipse
Consciousness came back to Richter, fleeting and agonized as it was, as voices muddled and barely intelligible through the serrated blades that stabbed through his nerves every time his mutilated leg so much as twitched a muscle.
Belafay...the captive rabbit...healer...
Armor...coming off?
The armor on his injured leg had not only been compacted flush against the muscle and bone, but he could still
feel the bits of metal that had been driven into the bone itself. Removing the armor incorrectly could cripple his leg if they pullsd the armor off and accidentally tore any muscles or nerves.
Despite how every fiber of his being
screamed at him to just let unconsciousness take him once more, the agonized knight reached out with a violently trembling hand to point at his leg.
"Ar...ar...mor...com...pac...ted...ar...ound...bone. So...me...met...al...lo...dged...in...bone," was all Richter managed to squeeze out before his strength left him and his hand fell limp at his side, though he was still very much alive, if in searing pain.
@Kadakism @SanctifiedSavage
Belafay did as Saeyov requested, finding thick branches and taking cloth from tents and dead bandits to make several splints. She had no idea what the Haevar would need to actually set the wound. Water was a bit harder, if only because she didn't want to leave Richter and Saeyov alone for too long. But she returned with it all the same, a bit smaller and carrying the water in an unfired clay pot.
While Saeyov worked, Belafay sat Richter's head in her lap and rested her hand across his eyes to keep the light from shining too brightly into his eyes. Until he woke, crying about the metal stuck into the bone. Belafay didn't panic, but she knew that there was little to do about that without a proper healer.
"I do not know what to do about the armor without damaging his leg further," she admitted to the two before her. Belafay's normally expressionless face twisted into a slight grimace as she was faced with the limit of her own ability. Her eyes set meekly on Saeyov. "I will follow your instructions. Tell me what is best."
@SanctifiedSavage @Nova_Eclipse
There were two thoughts Saeyov had. One, he had absolutely no idea what he was doing and, two, would it really be so bad if this guy lost his leg? The haevar considered such things while the broken doll went around and fetched what base things someone might need to treat a wound.
It'd sounded good.
When she came back, Saeyov crossed his arms before shaking his head. "This is really beyond me. Let's set up his leg as best we can and then... you can drag him off to the nearest town. Hopefully they'll have a healer who knows what to do with all that. He'll likely need the water and cloth to keep any fever down, but..." The haevar shrugged, glancing between the injured man and what appeared to be his servant. "I'm not really sure what more I can offer." He passed a clawed hand along the side of his head, shifting his weight. "Uhm, thanks for saving me though..." It felt like an awkward thing to say, all things considering.
Bandits broken all over the place, her own face shattered, and now this guy's leg... At least the bandits wouldn't be bothering anyone else.
@Nova_Eclipse @Kadakism
(OOC: Uh, Kadakism? The issue with you taking off his helmet is that I was kinda planning on doing a reveal later on of what he looks like/what his species is. This kind of invalidates that, b-b-but it's-it's fine if ya want to keep it in, just...just saying.)
Thiough Richter could not turn his head to look at the rabbit, he was still very much capable of addressing them, "Y...you're...wel...come."
"Sa...rova. Town. As...ked me...to clear...the...ban...dits. I...can...sh...ow...you...the...way. Sup...port...me...as...we...wal...k, and...I'll...lead. Head...w-west."
@Kadakism @SanctifiedSavage
((ooc: It's fine? You are well within your right to ask me not to do something to your character, even something mundane. I already edited my last post to reflect what you want. Communication is key, and I can't know if you don't tell me. Don't be afraid to bring stuff up, my dude.))
Belafay sighed. She had sort of known that this would be the answer, but she still didn't like it. "You cannot walk, Master. You will injure yourself further. You said West. I can follow those orders well enough."
Looking up at Saeyov again, the golem offered a tight, strained smile. "If you do not mind binding his leg in a splint and helping me make a sled to carry him on, I can pull him back to the town. You may accompany me if you wish, I am still under orders to protect you. But I will not force you to stay with me."
@SanctifiedSavage @Nova_Eclipse
Saeyov was impressed the guy was coherent and aware enough to even try speaking, all things considering. The Haevar supposed he could help with the sled, and the splint. While he hadn't asked to be saved by the people, the haevar certainly felt a sense of debt to them because they had. It'd be odd not to.
He nodded at the broken doll before kneeling to do just that. Keep the leg from moving as much as possible, splinting it as best he knew how. Hopefully not making anything worse.
Then it was about gathering materials for a sled. Which, given the bandits were dead, wasn't all that complicated either. As he helped, Saeyov said, "I suppose I'll tag along." Heading to the city was as good a direction as any. It wasn't like he knew where
else to go. Wearing the tattered clothes he was, though....
He eventually pilfered a pair of leather pants and a shirt off of a dead bandit. He had to cut the pants off below the knee for his clawed feet, but it worked.
@Kadakism @Nova_Eclipse
((OOC: I am SO sorry for not replying for so long. I've just...college has been a pain in the ass, and with everything else that's been going on, this thread and the entire site slipped my mind. Again, I am beyond sorry that I've been gone. I hope you can forgive me and haven't abandoned this thread.))
Richter slipped in and out of consciousness as Belafay and the rabbit girl went about making...
something he couldn't identify in his current state, his breathing labored and rasping, but never once losing what strength it'd kept after he'd received his injuries.
For one of the brief periods where he managed to stay conscious for longer than a minute, the knight watched Belafay and the former captive work as fast as they could on what he gradually recognized as a sled.
Perhaps...they were making it to carry him back to Sarova? He
was very heavy in his armor, so it would make sense that they'd need something to make transporting him with his broken leg easier.
Any further thoughts were robbed from him as consciousness left him once again, and a dreamless sleep took him in its cool embrace.
@Kadakism @SanctifiedSavage