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Breaking the Sky (M)

Started by Lion, April 22, 2015, 01:00:35 AM

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Lion

[Take 2.  Open by Request!]

Breath came like fire burning in his lungs, but he couldn’t stop.  The air was cold, sharp, painful to breath in and hold, yet already his heart was ill-prepared for its current state of duress.  It cried out in exigency, unable to hold on much longer if his body did not stop.  Feet beat the ground, until it seemed the very soles would tear through the thin fabric of his shoes.  As if that wasn’t enough, the body he lugged in his arms weighed him down.  Every limb threatened collapse.  But then he could see the shape of the village slowly scrolling up in the distance.

Almost there.  Just a few more yards…a few more steps.  He slowed his legs, which quivered like rotten wood.  Feet were blistered, reddened and sore even with his shoes.  He scaled the hill towards the village, the bundle in his arms groaning, stirring, clearly out of his own senses.  “Stay with me now, sir.  Stay awake,” the man said.  The limp body, grunted, fighting hard to follow instruction.

“Make way!  Make way!  Somebody get a healer, please!”  the man called.  His legs immediately collapsed upon arrival, almost knocking the wounded man in his arms to the ground yet again.  A woman rushed to them.

“Gral!  Oh Gral!  What happened?  Who did this!?” she exclaimed as she knelt beside him, catching up the wounded man’s arm with one of her own.  She assisted Gral in pulling him to the side of a shack.  Several people came to attendance, all murmuring to one another.  Gral had no answers for the woman, and replied as such.

“I found him like this, Mina.  I was on my way back from the river when I found him.  He was lucky I did, when I did.  Or he would have died out there.  I don’t know who did this to him…good gods, he can barely remain conscious long enough.  Speak to me, Nadam.  Say something!  Please.”

Nadam groaned in agony.  His face was severely bruised, bloodied and torn from something that appeared to have small but sharpened spikes.  His body fared little better, his arm was limp and useless, mishappen in several places from having been broken like a toothpick.  His nose was also broken, smashed into his face and he had difficulty breathing out of his mouth, where he tried to gather the strength to spit up the blood that accumulated there.  One ear was missing, seeming to have been torn off.  To the surprise of many, he still had both eyes and a functioning mouth.  “Water…  Water…”

Mina rose to get some, returning just as quickly with a waterskin, which she gingerly rose to his swollen and shredded lips.  “What happened, Nadam?  Did you see who did this too you?”

After drinking, Nadam groaned, coughing severely.  “He wouldn’t stop.  I begged him to stop!” he sobbed.  “But he kept beating me…  He asked me where the fortess was…someplace called Rheidyn’s Gate…and kept on beating me until I told him.  But…it was hopeless…that place is a myth.  When I told him that…he only beat me more, tortured me until I acknowledged that it was real…  I thought he was going to kill me… “  Nadam closed his eyes, scrunching his face in pain.  He screamed when he tried to move.

Gral stopped him.  “Stay put.  The healers will come soon.  They will take care of you.  You’ll be all right.  You’ll see!  Who..who did this?”

Nadam leaned his head against the shack wall, closing his eyes.  “A man…with…iron hands,” was all he could say before falling unconscious from the pain.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

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The Red Legion

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"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Draconian

Iron Hands?

Perfect.

Xala watched as the scene went on, slightly disinterested with the state of the man and more about the information that he was babbling. Rheidyn's gate, eh? Beat up over a fairy-tale, she could almost laugh. What a complete nut. There was a buyer for those iron hands of his and she was determined to get them. It was a hefty sum and if some human had them on, surely it couldn't be that difficult. Finishing off the apple she was eating, Xala tossed the core over her shoulder and collected her bag, pulling on the (slightly rediculous) maroon coat in the process.

Popping the collar 'cause she looked good like that she ran her fingers through her hair and tuned out the sobbing broken man. That guy wasn't gonna make her any money. Just one last good sale and she could buy herself a little cottage in Serendipity. Fit right in - she looked ridiculous enough.  Instead she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Yup, that was blood. The tang of metal hung heavy in the air. And she opened her eyes, her pupils dilated, taking up almost the whole iris. 

Yeah.

Good times.

Xala took off, her boots hitting the ground. If that man could hobble here, the Iron Fisty guy couldn't be too far off, right? Occasionally she stopped to sniff the air, catch the scent of blood again. Man, how badass would someone have to be to just punch some guy in the face a bunch of times. A hop to her step and she kept moving, a few sniffs to keep the trail. Blood was always a good trail maker.

Finally the trail stopped and she looked around. Damn.

She'd been following the blood, not the scent of the wounded guy. Where was the Iron Fisty guy? Shouldn't he be here flexing or something? Feeling like a hero? It was always fun to bash in faces.

"Iron Fisty guy! Come out, come out where ever you are!" Xala had cupped her hands around her mouth, taking a moment to breath deeply. There were a few scents, all unfamiliar, a few animals. Her nose wrinkled and she rolled her shoulders, shaking out her hands and getting into a stance. Maybe the guy was still looking for a fight?

"We heard you were looking for Rheidyn's Gate! Guy you beat the shit out of mentioned it and We happened to be in town. Today's your lucky day!" Sorta.

Lion

The scent of blood she was following was that which still lingered on the fingertips of those iron gauntlets, those vices that ground and locked into the very marrow of his hands.  Blood dripped down into the dirt, plopping down in red lazy rings as he crawled through the dirt.  Sweat coated his brow, and blood traced along it where he wiped it away in order to keep it from dripping it into his eyes.

Castor had made it this far, and there was no chance he was gong to turn back.  The villager had proven useful and if he was still alive, Castor wished him well.  Beating his face in had been an necessary consequence for the time.  He had little patience for his own remorse, however, he still had to scale the hill he was currently on.

Boots dug into soft earth where roots sealed trees to the ground, and there they stood stretching upwards as long green fingertips.  His own hands continued digging on, pulling him up a particularly steep mountainside.  He had no fear that his limbs would fail him.  He had strength yet enough to finish the climb.  Somehow, when he reached the top, where the path evened out and was level enough for him to rest, he felt his hackles rise on the back of his neck.

He held his breath. 

An echo.

He was being followed!  Castor turned around and dashed for the nearest tree, throwing himself round one that obscured his position.  He listened intently, trying to hold his breath, but his pounding head demanded air.  Soft breaths then, he growled at himself.  They must've been moving rather quickly to have tracked him so fast.

"We heard you were looking for Rheidyn's Gate..."

He raised his brows at that, then scowled.  They were following him.  Whoever these people were...  And there being more than one didn't help their case either.  Castor turned slowly, keeping himself hidden from view as his fingers dug down into the earth, and with a great heave he pulled the tree up from its roots.  Cynwulfen gave no quarter to the amount of strength available to him at any given time.  And now was no different.

And he moved quickly, even with the base of the tree in his arms and launched savagely at his pursuer.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Draconian

Ah.

There it was.

Blood and sweat. A good mix. Easy to follow. Xala turned towards the scent she caught and blinked owlishly for a moment pondering if trees flew. No. They didn't. It was headed right for her. Luckily her reaction time was better than her logical thinking and she was on the ground, having the tree sail over her before crashing into the ground loudly. Wow. Xala felt her cheeks flush and she licked her lips before she stood up, dusting off her coat.

"Hey!" Cupping her hands again over her mouth, "We just want to talk!" and it wasn't just about those iron gloves of his, oh no.  Xala made a snarling noise not unlike an animal and moved to follow him better. If only this person wasn't so violent! "There's only one of us so before you get your panties in a twist remember not to give it your all!" Or do. Didn't matter to her much.

How had he climbed up here? Or she. Though it smelled like a man. No matter, the bastard threw a tree at her. That was hot. As quietly as she could she climbed, her fingers and grip sure. Well rested and practically part animal the climb was easy and she slinked along the hill trying to get up to him. She just wanted to talk. Really.

Lion

Castor wasn't going to wait around to be caught up with and went about blocking the path behind him. Bark splintered where his fist collided with another tree.  He didn't see her climb up the cliffside but he wasn't going to waste any time looking for her either. With the tree disassembled, Castor strewn the path with debris and as much foliage as he could, felling another tree, and another, until the path was piled on a great mountain of wood, gnarled roots, broken branches and fallen leaves.

The old witch could call all she wanted, he would give her no response and he just ran further up the path, hoping to leave her behind.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Draconian

Xala held onto the side of the cliff, waiting for the tremors from the guy destroying more trees to stop. At least it sounded like more trees, the crackle of wood as it broke. This was a bit much, wasn't it?

In an effort to make him think he'd won she wedged a rock out of the side of the cliff, tossed it over her shoulder and gave a pained scream in time for it to smash into the ground.

Giving her eyes a hearty roll she climbed up to the top once the sounds stopped and just stared for a moment, not impressed at all. "Oh, come on." she sighed quietly. What the hell was this? Equal parts not amused and impressed she climbed over the now dead trees as quietly as she could before making her way to the path.

And there he was again. That mix of blood and sweat.

Before she maybe came on a little too hard. Maybe this guy liked being woo'd into conversation. Step one, jump on his back. Step two, maybe say Hi. Sounded like a good plan to her.

Quietly she followed his scent, going fast enough to keep up but slow enough that he couldn't turn around and look at her. Maybe she'd catch up with him when he stopped running. Did this beast of a man get tired? Xala gave a wolfish grin and licked her sharp teeth before she picked up the pace a little and continued to follow him.

Lion

Gods!  Did she ever give it a rest!

Castor waited around the bend in the path, feeling anger burn against his face...  but he didn't wait for long, as he ran through the trees and up a small stream that passed between them.

"GO AWAY!" he shouted.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Draconian

Xala sighed and let her arms go noodly. This was stupid. And so was the guy.  Not being nearly as sneaky as she had planned on being she laughed audibly at him when she heard water splashing and then a shout.  "C'moooooon."  She groaned, not growing tired but fed up with the situation.

"We can chase after you all day or you can stop running away and talk to us like an adult!" Xala ran through the stream, growling softly at her wet pants and boots.  "You got our pants wet! C'mon iron fisty guy." Her tone took to whineing. "We just wanna talk."

Lion

Just wanna talk...  Like he was going to believe that.  He could tell her intent was something far more malicious.  Not to mention the fact that she was flippin rock crazy.  How was he supposed to trust the word of someone that complained about a little water.

But even he had to pause to take a drink.  He knelt down before the stream and washed tbe blood off his gauntlets, and he could hear her approaching.  He stared down at her from his perch being above, and the stream flowing down toward her.

"Go away," he growled again.  He remained poised, ready to spring at her if necessary, or bolt away.  And his fingers dug into the earth.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Draconian

Xala simply laughed at him and put her hands on her hips, shaking her head indisbelief. This guy had some issues - aside from the beating someone half to death part.  "You really think that would work? You've already tried."  Xala took a few steps closer, still in the stream.  "C'mon. We really only want to talk!"

Maybe she could bargain?

"We'll show you our tits!"

Yeah. That was some good bargaining.

Lion

Castor remained crouched, fingers in the ground.  "Speak then."  He kept his eyes trained on her, not her boobs and was fully prepared to break open the ground beneath her.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Draconian

Xala stayed good to her word and flashed him her boobs, taking tentative steps closer before stopping. With her hands out - an attempt not to see threatening - she smiled widely, showing off her wicked looking fangs. "You're headed somewhere, yeah? We're headed there too, only know some of the way. You seem badass, We are badass. You can help us get there, We can help you..." Xala paused, looking him over, "talk to people."

Lion

Castor never wavered his focus though the closer she got, the more wary he became of her and the fear he feared would show through, did suddenly.  His face was suddenly wet with more than water.

He turned away, ashamed, and began to sob.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Draconian

Ooooh. This was awkward.

Xala stopped suddenly and simply stared at him. Her fingers wiggled. The opportunity was right there. Go up, kick him in the head. Staying quiet she didn't move before she pouted and took a step, "we didn't think our breasts were that disappointing."

Lion

Castor turned to face his stalker, this intruder into his space and he wiped his eyes, or as best he could with the gauntlets over his hands.  He still sobbed - or as best he could since these crocodile tears were only so convincing for so long.  "Who are you?" he asked.  "Why follow me all this way?  Do you even care that this will only lead to death?"




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Draconian

Xala watched, interested, her eyes on the prize - his gauntlets- and winced for him when he tried to wipe off his face. Good gods. How did he masturbate with those things. Probably didn't the poor sod. For a moment she looked down at her hands and wiggled her fingers and then looked back up to realize he was speaking.

Her odd reptilian eyes went wide and she threw back her head and laughed, "lead to death?" She rubbed at her chest while she laughed so hard she started to cough, "Every breath you take leads to death. Every night you sleep leads to death." Xala threw up her arms, "Bring on the death we say, it hasn't gotten us yet" She gave a sweeping bow, never breaking eye contact, "Xala, and you are Oh Sobbing One?" She put her hands on her hips, taking a few steady steps closer.

Lion

Castor crawled away from her the closer she got.  He wasn't quite ready to make contact just yet.  Pfft, this was going nowhere fast, and he was getting more frustrating dancing around these stupid, useless questions.

"It doesn't matter," he said with a sniffle, the tears drying up now.  "It doesn't matter because you're not following me anymore.  Turn around and go back the way you came.  Go.  I mean it...  Witch."




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Draconian

Xala laughed again, grinning now, all sharp teeth and pleased looks. "If it didn't matter you wouldn't have asked who we were!" Crawling away. This was the man that threw a tree at her. This was the guy that punched someones face in? Maybe... Xala eyed the gauntlets for a moment and then studied his face.

"We want to follow you, you're interesting and you threw a tree at us. It was hot." Xala gave a nod, confirming that having a whole tree thrown at her was indeed a turn on. Maybe this wasn't turning into a simple hunt for those gauntlets. The man attached to them. What a weirdo. First anger and trees then sobbing. Xala was waiting for him to just launch at her and try to kick her ass, if he was a real fighter her posture would speak more words than her mouth did - which was honestly a little amazing.

Lion

He asked to get the upper hand.  But unfortunately that wasn't working to his advantage.  And the more nonsense she kept talking the more frustrated he began to get.  Gods, did she ever shut up!?  Castor hated even more that such frustration was showing on his features and soon he raised his fists above his head and struck the ground hard.

At first it seemed nothing happened, but then the ground began to shake and the rocks beneath Xala's feet would rapidly begin to part, opening the ground underneath her, and subsequent cracks would begin to spring forth, trees loosing their footing and beginning to fall all around them.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

Draconian

"Come on!" Xala called out when he threw his hands back. "We knew those tears were fake you little liar!" Taking sure steps towards him, the ground began to shake and her arms went out, her body moved forward and she braced herself.

Only for the ground to part beneath her feet.

Was this guy kidding? This guy had to be kidding. Oh well. Hop to. Xala made a jump, all but running towards the man now, still grinning though it was a feral grin now. If this guy was stupid enough to break the ground under his own feet then they were both done for. Well, no, this guy would probably be fine. He seemed tough.

Tough like a cookie.

Xala curved her hands, displaying her nails shaped like claws. "We're trying to be nice to you and you're being most ungrateful." Her voice took a dark turn as she moved closer. So close. Within arms reach, just... Her hands grabbed his wrists and she held on tight. As tightly as her little inhuman hands could. Which was pretty damn tightly.

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