I've got 99 problems and a god ain't one. [Blue!]

Rhindeer · January 12, 2014, 07:07:46 PM

Kota stared blankly for a moment, and then grimaced when he'd finished mentally translating the word. Lich. An undead bird. Those things had a different name, but some in Thanatos dabbled in such things, and that...couldn't be good. Not to mention the kinds of undead gunk it must have had on its claws!

He shifted uncomfortably and kept an even closer eye on the beast. "Uh, with all due respect, you're like...bleedin' a lot, and that can't be safe, so er...look, you need anything to tend to it? And like, I'm not saying that to pester. That's a thing called concern."

Blue · January 12, 2014, 07:22:57 PM

As if sensing Kota's reaction, the bird screeched terribly at him. Its hulking form then awkwardly turned about before taking off with a few large wing beats. It landed heavily onto a low hanging branch, where it stayed, as if keeping watch on the forest nearby.
Despite their interactions, the bird was much...easier company than his wolves. They were ever eager to kill and maim. The bird was more content to watch, though it showed undue interest in anybody and anything weak or sickly. Honestly, there was always a certain amount of background noise whenever he had one of these 'summoned' creatures out - something with the dark god allowed him to understand them.
He purposefully shut it out, however.
He wasn't interested in whatever terrible things they had to say.

With an irritable snort, Nagendra glared at the young man across from him. Without saying anything, he whipped his hand out in front of Kota's face. His fingers, though previously torn and bleeding, were already healed. A bit of pink scar tissue stood out here and there, but even that seemed to be fading back into his muted brown skin tone.
"Clearly, I do not need your concern."

Rhindeer · January 13, 2014, 01:08:55 PM

Kota flinched at the screech, and he wasn't sure if he felt better or more anxious with the thing up in the trees. On the one hand, it was no longer at pecking level. On the other hand, it was now at swooping level, and he trusted that creature no farther than he could throw it.

He turned his body a little so he could keep its tree in his peripheral, and when he turned back to look at the man, he jumped, because he had a hand in his face.

"Whoa! Jeez! What are you--huh?"

Where once there had been torn wounds, now there was...nothing. Just healed over skin. Blinking in surprise, Kota glanced down at the man's leg, then back at his hand.

"How did...? But you--! What?" he finally managed, and grabbed the guy's hand so he could examine it for himself. "How did you do that?"

Blue · January 13, 2014, 01:18:56 PM

Nagendra went stiff as a board as that idiot actually grabbed him. Nobody ever touched him! Well, unless they were trying to kill or maim him or some such. What sort of fool just grabbed at something so obviously unnatural?? After today, he was seriously beginning to think this man had NO natural survival instincts at all!
After the momentary shock wore off, Nagendra hissed irritably and yanked his hand away, shifting awkwardly on the ground as he glared at his unwanted guest.
"What sort of great idiot are you?? By now it should be apparent that I am not a normal person! This sort of healing is one of my abilities."
By now, both on his hand and thigh, there was no longer even a trace of scar tissue. It was back to it's smooth, pre-wound form.

Rhindeer · January 13, 2014, 01:44:00 PM

Kota smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "Oh, it's obvious you're different," he said, waving at Nagendra in a gesture that encompassed the whole of him. "No one's got eyes like you, or travels with undead birds they let claw them, or has wolf things, or like...heals without trying. And most people aren't nearly as anti-people as you seem to be."

Sitting back on his hands, he tilted his head curiously. "Or is the question you're trying to ask more along the lines of whether or not I'm scared of you?"

Blue · January 13, 2014, 02:02:49 PM

It was somewhat...unpleasant having to listen to himself be described. Still glowering, he shifted slightly again, knees again pulled up closer to his body.
But once again, this odd man managed to say something that momentarily breeched his usual prickly façade. Genuinely surprised, Nagendra blinked at Kota, his expression alarmingly defenseless.
Wha...?
He shook his head somewhat violently, as if shaking free of that stunned look, and then rubbed at his face with a grumble.
"You ought to be...maybe you really are an idiot..."

Rhindeer · January 13, 2014, 02:15:31 PM

Kota arched an eyebrow.

"I'll bite. Why is it I should be scared of ya, again? You come in, rescue me, and then...we just sit around having one of the most awkward conversations I've ever had. Not exactly the handywork of a scary monster, man."

Glancing up toward the tree, Kota motioned toward the bird. "Now that? That I'm afraid of. That and those wolves of yours. But you? Nah."

Blue · January 13, 2014, 02:40:37 PM

This was not something he wanted to try and explain to someone. Anyone else would take one look at him, and cross to the other side of the road. Anyone seeing his beasts or the way he controlled them would flat out turn and run. Nobody had ever not shown some degree of fear or discomfort around him.
It was easier that way. For everyone involved.
He didn't exactly want to be alone, but it was safer if he was.

A silent snarl was cast at Kota, and Nagendra hunched up even more.
"If you must know, I am brimming with vile black magic. Nothing good can come of being near me."
He shifted then, glancing away.
"The creatures I summon are nothing by comparison."

Rhindeer · January 13, 2014, 02:51:17 PM

Kota gave the man a pointed look, then looked down at the small space between them, and then looked back at the man.

"I dunno, mate. We've been sittin' here a while, pretty close together, and so far nothing bad's come from it. Well, you got mauled by your hellbeast, but if you're worried about me, so far I seem to be doing okay."

He smiled crookedly. "I even touched you, and look. Still alive."

Blue · January 13, 2014, 03:15:10 PM

A snap of frustration overcame him. With an irritable cry, Nagendra slammed his fist down on the small path of earth between their seated forms. The soil itself abruptly dried, as if everything had been leeched from it, cracking and groaning as the grass withered and blackened. As his trembling fist remained, the crackling wound in the earth spread slowly, everything turning a sickly dark shade of bluish grey even as it was sapped of life.
Whirling to face Kota, Nagendra was equal parts furious and desperate.
"Just what do you want from me!?"
He finally lifted his fist, stopping the slow rot.
"Is this enough!? What do you want to see?? I'm warning you for your own good!"

Rhindeer · January 13, 2014, 03:41:11 PM

When the man raised his fist, for one startling second Kota thought he was about to get belted.

Instead, the man slammed his first down onto the earth, and what happened then was perhaps even more startling.

Wide-eyed, Kota watched as the earth just...just died. Shriveled up, turned the color of a bruise--or a corpse--and spread. With a jolt of realization, Kota scrambled backwards on his hands to put some space between it and him, because he didn't want to know what would happen if it touched him.

But then it stopped and the man whirled on him, and Kota could only stare at him for a moment, heart thumping in his chest in surprise and, for the first time since they had spent this time together, a touch of fear. He didn't want to admit it; it betrayed everything he had been trying to prove here. But it was definitely there.

"I, uh...I...nothing...?" he answered weakly, and gestured lamely at the dead ground. "I didn't exactly want to see anything...? I didn't want to see that, certainly! But, uh, I guess...see, the point here was that nothin' bad happened until ya went and made it happen just now. Like, that was you trying to scare me, and that doesn't actually count?"

Blue · January 13, 2014, 04:44:37 PM

The flash of fear in Kota was somehow satisfying. That was the reaction he expected.
The reaction he deserved.
People needed to fear him. It was the only way to keep them away, which was the only way to keep them safe. Hopefully this fool here had learned his les-

...what.
Nagendra gritted his teeth in frustration. This man...truly saw things the way he wanted to, didn't he??
"The point is that is exactly the sort of being I am. I will cause destruction and death. If you have any natural instincts at all, you will stay away from me!"
Finally he stood, hunching almost immediately, and began to make his way further into the woods. The great bird screeched and took flight with massive wing beats, disappearing somewhere above the canopy even as Nagendra's darkly clad body threatened to disappear completely into the shadows between the trees.

Rhindeer · January 22, 2014, 08:52:32 PM

Kota frowned at the man's outburst and watched him as he rose to his feet and stalked further into the woods, his mouth slightly open as though to say something, but not quite sure what. With a sigh, he propped his elbow on his knee and watched him go. What a strange day. Getting rescued by a cranky guy that felt he was cursed, repay him a little, and then...it all ends when he tries to scare him away, fails, and decides to get all angsty about it.

What a strange guy!

Of course, he had no doubt that there was something deeply wrong with him, given his behavior, hints of self-destructiveness, and...uh...the company he was keeping. But he didn't seem as bad as he thought he was, if he had the capacity to rescue him.

Oh well. He wasn't going to go after him, for he had already overstayed his welcome and...that would just be weird! Go off and stalk the moody man with the lich things? Inima, no! So instead he rose to his feet, dusted himself off, and prepared to peacefully part ways. He stopped to stretch his legs, and then he was off, heading in the opposite direction toward the village.

That was when he heard the voices.

"They went this way!" a gruff voice said from up ahead. "Damned thief and his unholy friend! Had some fuckin' demon dogs with him, so be careful, boys. There's no tellin' what that fucker can do."

"Will ya stop worryin' already? Goddamn, I toldja we can handle it."

"Yeah, well, ya didn't see what I did."

"No. But I've seen worse than what you're describin'. Killed worse, too."

Oh, Inima. Kota froze in his tracks, heart leaping into his throat. He could hear their footsteps now, crunching closer through the woods. They weren't far from him now.

And they sure had murder on the brain.

Turning on his heel, Kota ran, sprinting in the direction he'd seen his former rescuer go. It wasn't long before he caught up to him. He was kind of hard to miss.

"Hey! You! Yeah, you, I swear I'm not purposely stalking you! There's some people coming and they wanna kill us!"

Blue · May 19, 2014, 12:53:37 AM

The dappled light lit his path through the forest, his shoulders slowly relaxing from their usually hunched position. He couldn't completely relax, but being away from others was somewhat less stressful. Today had been unpleasant, to say the least, and he was almost looking forward to another night curled up in the elements.
At least he'd had some real food for once.
But that made him think of the would-be thief, which made his jaw twitch.

And then said twitch-inducing person was hollering at him, and his spine snapped into an irritable hunch almost instantly. He whirled around, about ready to give this lump of flesh a good walloping, when it finally sank in what he was saying.
"Kill us?"
At first, ironically, Nagendra couldn't fathom why they would be after HIM. The guy who tried to steal? Sure.
But then he remembered he'd sort of threatened people with the dire wolves, and he sighed. It was a sound of tired frustration, not unlike 'here we go again'.

Snorting, he waved off Kota's frantic demeanor.
"If you're so worried, then stand behind me. Stay out of the way, and maybe you'll come out unscathed."
Nagendra simply turned toward the direction Kota had ran, and waited. He had long grown weary of manhunts through forests, and had found it was far easier to simply take care of things at the onset. He could either scare them away, or he'd kill them. Despite his loathing for the Dark God's bloodthirst, he'd long ago lost the energy to fight off every urge. Self-defense was a good enough excuse to let loose now and again.

@Rhi-Rhi

Rhindeer · March 31, 2015, 11:01:01 AM

"Uh, well, I'm not exactly worried, I mean like...I could take a guy, you know! I can fight! It's just there's a few of 'em. And they didn't sound at all worried about your wolves. If they're not worried about your wolves, they've got to have something nasty up their sleeve," Kota said as he slipped behind the guy, and already his eyes were roaming for sources of water he could pull from.

His options weren't exactly plentiful, but he could draw from the plants around them.

Not that he had much time to think and assess, because no sooner had he stepped behind the strange giant of a man when their pursuers came crashing through the undergrowth and into the open.

There were five of them, as it turned out, each one of them meaner and nastier and bigger than the last, with the leader among them looking built from a tree. He was broad, tall, and gnarled with scars and muscle, his head shaved clean to reveal a tattooed scalp, his face sharply asymmetric with a nose that was crooked from being broken too many times. He smiled when he saw them, a smile that revealed he was missing his front teeth.

Stopping several yards away, he slapped the shaft of the heavy mace he carried against the palm of his hand. It was a wickedly spiked thing, and his other men were carrying equally cruel weapons: spiked clubs and axes and flails.

"Well, looky here. It almost looks like you boys were expecting us!" the big man said with a laugh, before spitting to the side. Looking to his men, he gave a casual jerk of his thumb. "Get 'em, boys."

And then all five of them were rushing them, weapons streaking through the air--

Along with the crackle of magic as two of the men proved to be mages with command over fire and electricity.

Blue · April 02, 2015, 06:24:23 PM

He'd have liked to make a sharp comment and perhaps get this group of rather burly (and, unfortunately, unintelligent) men to hold of their attack. He didn't WANT to kill them. But he would, if they attacked him. Trying to belay them and get them to reconsider was about the best he could, for once the blood quickened, there was little resistance to the power that boiled and flowed out of him.

Sadly for them, the men attacked a breath later, and Nagendra could only clench his jaw in frustration. There was nothing he could do now. This was not a situation to take lightly, especially with his unwanted companion standing behind him.
Both arms lifted skyward even as he barked an order that he hoped Kota would obey.
"Do not step in front of me!!"

Pain lanced through his face, radiating from his right eye, but he was already accustomed to it. His muscles coiled and bunched, as if alive of their own will beneath his skin. There was a screech somewhere above even as a reddish miasma sprung up in front of him, and then the huge lich bird dove into the closest attacker to buy Nagendra just enough time to complete the spell.

The miasma rippled, and then bubbled and boiled larger and larger still, forming tendrils and ropes of red smoke. And then with a hiss it took a form - that of a dragon, blood red, with eyes nothing more than glowing pits of white-hot flame. It screamed with such otherworldly rage that any animal within range bolted away, from bird to deer to insect.

And then it fell upon the group of men in a fit of fury, and being little more than a wraith, their weapons and attacks were futile. It's cries blended in with their own screams of pain and death.
Soon enough, each man had been relieved of his various limbs and organs, leaving a swath of red carnage.

Nagendra trembled as he brought his spell to a close, dispelling the apparition despite the bubbling lust for blood and destruction. How easy it would be to tear apart this forest, to set it ablaze! To go and memorize the fear in the faces of those villagers-
He growled and dropped his hands, the dragon evaporating into reddish smoke. His body remained a tense, livid thing for a moment longer, before he finally began to relax and take in deep breaths. It was done. There was no need for any more, despite the throbbing in his eye.

@Rhi-Rhi

Rhindeer · May 06, 2015, 12:04:25 PM

Kota didn't actually see much of what happened.

And he certainly didn't get in the guy's way.

The reason he didn't see much of what happened was because shortly after the huge bird dove into one of those men ans ripped him asunder, Kota lost his meal.

He was still where Nagrenda left him, on his knees on the ground, doubled over and dry-heaving, because he had nothing more to throw up, but couldn't get the screams, gore, or smell of blood out of his mind or out of his nose. He was shaking, too startled and weak to rise yet, and didn't dare look over to the place where Nagrenda still was.