The Failure and the Brat... What Could Go Wrong? (Zozee)

[TheHighwayman]

Thriv heard the woman's complaints, but instead of stopping he just switched to a tune he knew somewhat better. He also made a mental note to suggest she buy some riding pants. Not only would they help if they ever had to... he didn't know, escape from something, but they'd also make her look less a rich girl traveling with a solitary bodyguard, and much less of a target. Hrm... on second thought, she'd probably pitch a fit at the idea, best stick with the chance of robbers.

Spire, meanwhile, seemed disturbed by something. The horse's footsteps slowed slightly, becoming more cautious. His ears twitched, and his eyes flicked rapidly between either side of the road. Unlike one might expect from most spooked horses, however, the charger didn't look panicked. In fact, he pawed at the ground and bit harder on his bridle, as if he were itching for a fight.

None of this went unnoticed by Thriv, who put one hand on the hilt of his sword and guided the warhorse closer to Snow and Elizabeth. "Something's spooked the big guy, stay close and keep an eye out. I've never known him to be paranoid."

[zozee9]

Elizabeth glared at Thrivaok as he merely changed the song he was humming. While it may have sounded a tidbit better, it was just as annoying and rude to her as the previous song had been. In fact, she was just about to comment on this, when the man stopped humming.

She was completely oblivious of the horse's cautiousness and didn't sense the urgency in Thrivaok's voice.  But she wasn't going to take any risks with dragons, so she stayed silent anyway. Of course, dragons didn't live in these regions, but Elizabeth didn't know that.

But when a squirrel came jumping out of a bush on the left, Elizabeth burst out laughing. All he was scared of was a squirrel? As long as it didn't touch her, she didn't mind the tree rodents too much. The squirrel scurried away quickly.

Elizabeth's laughter grew silent, however, when she heard a giant roar of some kind come from the same direction the squirrel had come from. It was definitely not the roar of some kind, gentle beast. While her mind told her it was a dragon, Elizabeth was smarter than that. While this unknown beast may not be as scary as a dragon, it sure wasn't something she'd ever want to see. Snow immediately went to the right of Spire, hoping that the beast would take Thrivaok and his horse as its meal instead of herself and Elizabeth.

[TheHighwayman]

The young knight ignored the squirrel- he knew Spire well enough not to dismiss it as a false alarm so easily. He kept a hand on his hilt and did his best to ignore the lady's laughter. When the roar came, Thriv tightened his grip on the reins and barked, "Start running!" He was no coward, but even he knew that it was better to avoid a fight like this. The knight gave Spire's flanks a kick, leaned forward, and the two darted off down the road, careful not to get too far ahead of Snow and Elizabeth.

Another roar came, much closer this time, and it was soon followed by the sound of something big crashing through the foliage near the road. Thriv looked to see how well Elizabeth was holding on with her incorrect riding, looked back towards their pursuer, and offered a silent prayer to Angsar. Whatever was out there, it was fast... maybe faster than a horse. If that were the case, he wouldn't have much choice to fight, and he highly doubted he could handle anything big enough to make that sound.

[zozee9]

Snow immediately sped up as Spire did, not waiting for Elizabeth to tell her to do anything. Nothing ever got done if she waited for Elizabeth to tell her to do it.

Elizabeth, barely managing to stay on her horse with its faster pace, hugged herself tight when another roar came. She could hear it moving, and it did not sound pleasant. Turning her head towards Thrivaok, Elizabeth shouted, "Why don't you do something about that?! Isn't that your job?" He said he would protect her, and so far he was doing an awful job.

The beast roared again, the sound being much closer than the previous time, and Elizabeth screamed. She couldn't even see it yet but she bet it was much more horrifying than the centipede that had been on her earlier. Now imagining a giant centipede, her eyes got wide and she screamed again.

[TheHighwayman]

"I'm still between you and it, aren't I? A good bodyguard should live long enough to actually do some guarding!" Thriv looked back at a third roar and realized they weren't going to outrun whatever was after them. With a growl and yet another prayer, he wheeled Spire about and drew his sword. "That thing's faster than us, I'll see if I can hold it off. Keep moving!" The young man didn't really have any illusions that she wouldn't, but it seemed like the appropriate thing to say at the time.

Sword in hand, horse rearing up to kick whatever came at them, and releasing the reins to grab his shield, Thriv might have made a pretty heroic sight... if he hadn't looked absolutely terrified. The young man was shaking from his boots to his shoulder-guards, and he might very well have dropped his sword if he hadn't had a death-grip on it. "C-come and get me, monster!" He half shouted, half stammered. At that, Spire lunged forward, charging back down the road the way they'd come.

[zozee9]

Elizabeth didn't even look back as Thrivaok turned around and headed towards the beast. She did, however, think about his safety. But that wasn't because she cared about him, it was because she'd have no bodyguard if he died. Snow kept running fast and Elizabeth barely heard the man speak to the monster. With a sigh, she knew she was right when she had first assumed he was weak. The stammering implied that much.

But there wasn't anything she could do to help him. So she decided she better make his sacrifice worth it and looked down at Snow while demanding, "Run faster!" She'd have to get a new bodyguard at the next town they hit. Perhaps somebody who could actually defeat dragons.

[TheHighwayman]

Thriv heard a crashing off the road, and another roar- closer to him than to Elizabeth. It looked like the plan was working. Now he just had to keep moving and hope Spire could keep up the pace, and just maybe they could get out of this alive. There was a thud in the road behind him, and he looked back to see some sort of massive feline, larger than the average horse (though perhaps about the same size as Spire), charging after him. Thriv was able to make out razor sharp claws, cruel yellow eyes, black fur, and teeth the size of daggers before looking back ahead and reaffirming his earlier plan of running as far and fast as Spire could carry him. Whatever that was, it was too big and too mean looking to be any sort of normal cat. Besides, normally felines weren't built to be able to maintain speeds like this for that long. Perhaps it was some sort of wizard's experiment gone wrong? Whatever it was, it looked far too hungry for Thriv's liking.

Unfortunately for the young knight, his assessment of the creature being faster than a horse was correct. Soon it was within range to lunge and took full advantage of the chance. Thriv twisted in the saddle, swinging his blade to force the creature's claws away from Spire. Steel dug into flesh, and the cat let out a howl of pain, but it struck with enough force that the contact ripped Thriv from the saddle and hurled him from Spire's back.

The breath flew from Thriv's chest as he crashed into the ground, barely managing to keep his grip on his blade. The knight scrambled to his feet and raised his shield in preparation as the beast spun about for another lunge. Gulping, Thriv offered a prayer to Angsar and figured he'd had a relatively nice life.

[zozee9]

Snow kept running forward, and Elizabeth kept letting her. She may have been too far to see the giant feline when it came out, but she wasn't too far to hear it howl in pain. Maybe Thrivaok did have some talent, after all.

The feline glared at its victim with its yellow eyes. The man might not be the biggest, fatty meal, but he would do. And he didn't seem as if he'd be too hard to kill, unlike the last people she had eaten. She lunged for the man. Unfortunately, she didn't calculate the limp in her right paw when she jumped. This caused her to fly a little bit lopsided, more to the right than in the middle. Nonetheless, she stretched out her left paw, preparing to claw his arm and make him drop that shield.

[TheHighwayman]

Thriv knew he couldn't beat the creature in a contest of strength, the only way to beat it would be to get in one good hit while he had the chance and hope it fled or that he could ward it off long enough for it to weaken. Stepping forward and to the right (the cat's left), he managed to ward off the animal's swiping claw- which was still, however, strong enough that Thriv had to release the shield or be pulled right into reach of the creature's powerful jaws. That gave him his chance. While the cat was off balance and recovering for another attack, Thriv drove his longsword into its flank. "Raah! Take that!"

As the cat spun 'round again, Thriv stumbled backwards, bloody sword in hand. The young man barely managed to keep his footing, but he was certainly off balance- not exactly a good position for dodging. Spire, meanwhile, had doubled back and was rapidly charging the distracted cat from behind. If Thriv could just hold out for a few more seconds, the horse might have the chance to get in a good kick to the head...

[zozee9]

The cat, now infuriated, crouched down on its legs, prepared to lunge faster and more powerfully than before. And with the prey running towards her... it would be surely be a battle won.

Just as she was ready to release the tension and shoot towards the man, she was kicked in the head. And it wasn't a gentle kick. While it might not be enough to knock her unconscious, it was enough to make her decide the scrawny man and muscular horse wasn't worth her attention.

She growled at the man, then at his horse, showing off her fangs. Then, quickly turning around, she ran off towards an easier prey: the girl and her horse.

[TheHighwayman]

Thriv was ready- when the cat lunged, he'd thrust his sword up into its chest and use the leverage to keep it from doing too much damage. Oh- Spire was early? And the cat was running away? The knight gave a sigh of relief before he realized that the creature wasn't just running away from him... it was headed down the road after Elizabeth. Hurriedly picking up his shield and hopping on Spire, Thriv gave the horse's sides a kick and barked, "Come on, we can't let that cat keep preying on people!" He didn't think the creature would be able to catch the girl, with the lead she had and the cat's wound, but if she'd slowed or stopped for some reason...

The warhorse flew down the road, only now showing the first signs of fatigue. Thriv's family knew how to raise horses well- endurance was more important than pure speed or strength on a battlefield; if your horse was slow, you just had to be careful. If your horse tired before the battle ended, you'd be better off as infantry. Thanks Dad, I owe you one, Thriv thought, and quickly added, "And you too, Spire. Good work back there."

[zozee9]

Elizabeth had made it a far distance away from her worthless body guard and whatever creature had been attacking them. Seeing the sun through the trees and thinking she should be safe at her distance, she decided it was about time to get Snow, who was quickly slowing down anyway, a break. And it was tea time.

Finding an area that wasn't infested with trees (and therefore hopefully had less bugs), Elizabeth told Snow to stop. She got off her horse, grabbed one of the bags that was slung over her, and started rummaging through it. She found her teapot and porcelain glasses (which miraculously hadn't broken) and grabbed a green tea teabag. It was at this time that she realized she would need some heat. But, being the spoiled brat she was, Elizabeth had no experience starting fires. And she didn't want to touch bug covered wood. So she just stood there, teapot in one hand and teacup with a teabag in it in her other, next to Snow, waiting for somebody to come along and help her with her horrible predicament.

[TheHighwayman]

Thriv and Spire continued to thunder down the road, the cat still in sight. He was beginning to hope the girl had made it to a village or some other sort of safety when he spotted her ahead. In the middle of the road. Off. Her. Horse. Did she not understand the concept of buying time? Had he seriously risked his neck for nothing? "Run!" he shouted, pushing Spire as hard as the charger would go. There would be time to tell her about how to deal with man-eating, horse-sized cats later. For now, he just needed to make sure she didn't get eaten.

The pair was gaining on the cat, and quick... but perhaps not quickly enough. No, the cat would get there before they caught up. "Terrible idea. Terrible, terrible idea... but I've not got much choice." Thriv hefted the longsword overhead, wound up, and threw the blade once he deemed them close enough. Let it be known that throwing a sword, especially a longsword, is a terrible idea, and Thriv would never have done so under normal circumstances. To hit anything, let alone something moving at the speed of a charging horse, would require either immense talent or immense luck. Fortunately for both Thriv and Elizabeth, it seemed that the young man had plenty of the latter today, as the blade sliced into the cat's back leg.

That ought to slow it down... though Thriv now had to deal with the other aspect of throwing one's weapon- not having that weapon anymore. Which was unfortunate, as he'd just done something that would likely irritate a very large cat-monster. He gulped.

[zozee9]

Elizabeth screamed when she saw the gigantic cat creature. Then, seeing Thrivaok, she silently cursed him. Wasn't he supposed to protect her? Risk his own life for her? But the cat was going towards her, and he was still alive. Elizabeth, of course, didn't care about the fact that the cat was injured in a couple of places.

She started carefully putting her teapot and teacup away—no way she was letting those break—and then climbed onto the antsy Snow. When Thivaok's longsword embedded itself into the cat's leg, Elizabeth's eyes widened and Snow immediately started running. He almost got blood on her pure white horse.

She was on the run yet again, but Snow's endurance was quickly wearing out.

[TheHighwayman]

It seemed all parties were beginning to tire by now, but with all the cat's wounds, Spire was able to rapidly close the distance. Thriv didn't have any other weapons to strike at the cat with, so he jumped from Spire's back and wrapped his arms around the creature's throat. The man and the cat tumbled to the ground, the cat furiously trying to bite Thriv's face off and Thriv hanging onto its back for dear life.

Thriv grunted and gripped tighter, figuring he just had to hold on long enough for the monster to bleed out. What he hadn't counted on was the creature rolling over him and crushing his chest with its immense weight. Thriv lost both his breath and his grip, and in a flash the cat had spun around and was digging its fangs into the young man's shoulder. Thriv howled, desperately trying to keep in from closing down any further.

Spire, luckily, was there to save Thriv's hide. Rearing up on hind legs, the horse gave the cat one, two, three kicks to the head. Reeling in pain and completely disoriented, the cat released Thriv and staggered backwards.

[zozee9]

This time Elizabeth wasn't too far to see what was happening. The second Thrivaok shouted, her head instinctively turned around and she saw the cat biting him. And she saw the blood gushing out of the wound.

While she might be able to ignore screams of pain and imagine people dying, seeing somebody get hurt was a whole other deal. She couldn't just pretend she didn't know better. There wasn't anything she herself could do (except attack it with a bag or something in one of her bags), so Elizabeth actually stopped and dismounted the horse. Then she told Snow turn around and start heading back towards Thrivaok. She looked towards him just in time to see Spire to kick the cat.

As the cat staggered backwards, Snow was prepared. She kicked the cat with her hind legs. She might not be as strong as the warhorse, but she was stronger than any average horse. After all, she was trained meticulously to do shows. The cat, now having a very thorough head beating, growled loudly before starting to head off to the woods. It couldn't walk straight and therefore couldn't move very fast, but Snow and Elizabeth just watched it move away.

[TheHighwayman]

Clutching his shoulder, retrieving his longsword (which had been dislodged in the struggle), and gingerly making his way back to Spire, Thriv began rummaging in his saddlebags. He shot a quick back at Elizabeth and asked, "Are you alright?" ...Which might have been a stupid question, given the bleeding fang-wound in his own shoulder, but it didn't hurt to make sure. Seeing that she wasn't seriously hurt, Thriv pulled off his chainmail shirt and the undershirt beneath it to get a closer look at his shoulder.

All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. The wound was bleeding heavily, but a quick look revealed the cat's fangs hadn't gotten too deep, nor punctured anything important. Taking a rag and a flask of ale from his pack, Thriv grit his teeth, soaked the rag in ale, and began rubbing the surface of the wound clean. "Argh- looks like I'll live, and it shouldn't impair my ability to fight much or for long. That's a brave horse you've got, miss. By the way, why did you stop earlier?"

[zozee9]

Elizabeth walked to Snow, purposefully leaving a constant two foot distance between herself and Thrivaok. No way she wanted to get any of his blood on her nice dress. Looking down at the dress, she realized, with horror, that it was covered in dirt. With a exasperated sigh, Elizabeth responded, "I'm not alright, but it looks like you have it worse." After all, even Elizabeth knew having blood on your clothes was worse than dirt. And bleeding was painful, anyway.

Now by Snow, Elizabeth reached into the same bag she had been using earlier. First, she pulled out a flask full of purple liquid. Holding it out for Thrivaok to come and get, she explained, "My dad sold potions. This one should help heal your wound... then you'll have a better chance of protecting me against the bandits. And of course Snow is brave, she's my horse."

Looking back at her bag for a second before returning her gaze to her bodyguard, she finished, "And I was going to make tea. Which, seeing as I was interrupted before, I should do now. Make a fire for me." As an afterthought, she added, "Please."

[TheHighwayman]

Make tea? She'd just run away from a monstrous cat and her priority was getting some tea? Thriv sighed and shook his head. Quickly he finished wrapping up his wound, waving her off when she offered the potion. "Save it, we might need it for something worse later on. As for the fire, we might as well make camp for the night if we're going to stop now. Now, I'll see what firewood I can find."  Thriv left Elizabeth, Snow, and Spire standing by the road and trudged off into the foliage to the side of the road- the opposite side from the way the creature had fled.

His shoulder felt like- well, it felt like something big had taken a bite out of it. Thriv tried not to focus on the pain... largely unsuccessfully. The young man was plenty used to bruises and a fractured bone or two from his training, but he'd never had anything actually pierce his armor before. He winced and made a mental note not to let it happen again. "Urgh... ah, here's some kindling. Not a bad spot to set up camp, either." The man gathered up the bunch of dead branches he'd stumbled across and called out, "Oye! Elizabeth! Come here!"

The spot he'd found was, indeed, not a bad spot to set up camp. It was screened from the road, but open enough in any direction that nothing could really sneak up on them. Plus it was dry- a fact that, while the young man doubted Elizabeth would appreciated, she couldn't complain about.

Thriv began snapping the branches in half and arranging them into the base for a fire. He'd need more fuel later, but this could get them started, at the very least. When Spire came through the bushes after him, he grabbed flint and tinder from his saddlebags and soon had a small blaze going.

[zozee9]

Elizabeth glared at Thrivaok when he rejected her help. Why couldn't he just be appreciative? He was so ungrateful. Well, at least that meant she could use it for herself if he failed at his job and let her get hurt. She watched as he walked away to go get firewood.

At first she was happy he was being silent, not humming, and doing as she asked. But then she realized that if he wasn't by her, maybe the cat would come back again. Or somebody might rob her. Or kidnap her. She was just about to demand he come back when he told her to go to him. Elizabeth wasn't keen on walking through the forest, but decided against arguing.

She walked (and Snow followed her) to Thrivaok. Looking around, it didn't seem like a bad spot to camp. Of course, she would have preferred an inn, but even Elizabeth knew she wouldn't be finding one in the middle of the woods. So the fact that the surrounding area wasn't just trees and bugs made her satisfied. Elizabeth watched as he started the fire, but didn't help at all. Once he got it going, she merely handed him her teapot before asking, "Will you make me tea?"