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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2013 22:29:02 GMT -6
It was just one thing after another, it seemed. Why couldn't he get a break?
Or rather the young man was just too cautious now that he's a freakin' wanted man and could spot anything he finds as "suspicious" from a mile away to protect himself. Well, his ability to seek things out like a hawk or heighten his awareness and sense was a survival skill inherited from his training as a child, as well as the experiences he's endured over the course of time and his nearly a decade long journey alone. But could Veigue really say he went as far as starting to get a little paranoid? He isn't particularly afraid of anything, even of death...more so that he's afraid of someone else getting hurt because of him, and his bounty was what worried him the most. It's not a normal everyday thing to have someone hate you so badly that they want you dead no matter the cost. From sending either normal killers who only want the money, to straight up psychopathic individuals who takes the job just because they want to freely kill someone...why was he so popular with murderers? If it's not a bounty on his head, it's just something else entirely.
All of this raced through his mind as he purposely separated himself from the others after realizing someone was stalking them from afar within the village he was just exiting. They were technically still within Ilian territory, though were out of the heavily snow-coated areas...so they were in a sorta-normal environment, though it was still pretty chilly out. It seemed like this strange premonition he had still persisting as if he really was being watched. Someone was obviously following him within the shadows...and he was good at snuffing people out, so it was a matter of time before he could lure them out. But taking this outside of the village was what Veigue wanted the most. He didn't want another incident burning down yet another innocent village...that's if bandits were even involved this time. those guys aren't exactly good at sneaking around. If they were after him, then only he needed to go down and no one else.
He needed to keep his companions out of danger as much as possible as well. As much as Nayru and Elly seem to prefer helping out, the risk was just too great for him to bare. He knows how nasty a bounty could grow over time...while it still may be small now, over time he'll have a whole horde of hired swords chasing him down if he were to continue surviving at this point! He had thoughts of covering his entire face in robes and changing his name to Eugiev. Try spelling that backwards.
However, Jaquio's going to get very serious over the course of trying to kill him. He knows how bounties go down...either he'll raise the offered price, attracting more takers...or he'll literally hire genuine professionals that Veigue knows he's nowhere near as skilled enough to handle. He didn't have to potentially risk bringing his friends down with him when it gets too dicey. And if he ever confronts Jaquio himself...well, Veigue would rather none of them to be around based on how he plans to handle the guy. It'll definitely show how much more of a "beast" a certain someone claimed him to be...and since he's caused nothing but trouble and disappointment to all those around him from past to present day, he didn't want to bring that misfortune upon others who have much more meaningful lives than he.
But that was enough of torturing his mind with recurring thoughts. As he headed out the village, he remembered that he was gone for a pretty long time from when he said he'll "be right back", so most likely one of them were going to come looking for him soon, so he had to hurry this up before anything bad could happen.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Feb 11, 2014 5:54:17 GMT -6
"Be right back," he'd said. "It'll just be a minute," he said. She was half tempted to throttle him when she found him, as much as that would defeat the point of going looking to see what sort of trouble he'd gotten himself into this time, but dammit trying to keep Elly from starting a world war was hard enough without worrying that Veigue was going to do something noble and selfless and stupid even by her standards. Which he seemed to be dead set on doing. Alone.
Or maybe she was wrong, and he was just buying eggs for a lovely omelett-dammit there he was why couldn't she have been wrong? Half proud of herself for guessing correctly, half frustrated that she had guessed correctly, Nayru cleared her throat loudly as soon as she was in range of the (hopefully) so-far unsuspecting Veigue, crossing her arms in a manner that suggested she was expecting something more out of him. "Not leaving to do something stupid without taking me along, I hope?"
Maybe it was irrational to be frustrated by his attempt, she didn't know, but it hurt a little bit that he still didn't trust her enough to let her help him. Nayru was all too aware of her countless failings, but she wanted to help the little group of... friends she had somehow accumulated all the more for it, to make up for the danger she put them in simply by existing. Even if they weren't really her friends, even if they would be fools to not flee the moment the sordid truth of her existence came out, she wanted to do something for them.
If all she could do was fight for them, then she would be a weapon.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2014 13:37:11 GMT -6
Well, he should have seen this coming. The moment he recognized the voice, his shoulders hunched and his head sunk low a bit out of surprise. "...God damn it."
If he hadn't wasted time to recall the thought, maybe he could have been gone already, but that doesn't matter anymore. Relaxing now as he stood back normally, he tilted his head far enough to see the lofty woman from the corner of his eye. "...Guess I lost track of time." Indeed he did. It usually didn't take long to just dice up a petty bounty hunter and come riiight back, but he didn't expect to end up playing hide 'n seek with who was targeting him. It's how he usually does it. Lately, nothing but lone chumps had been following him...but now today finally had to be different...and Nayru didn't seem to be too happy about it. At this point, it was likely too late to try and duck off now the sneaky way. He just didn't feel right about this one and if some trap was waiting on him, he wanted to punch his way out of it on his own. Really, he shouldn't be worried about Nayru in particular since he could defend herself more than well enough, but who knows exactly what he was dealing with here.
Finally turning his entire body around now, it was best to just come out with it. He was incapable of lies anyway. "It's not anything too severe to worry about. We were being stalked from the shadows, but that's only because I'm the target." He couldn't help but glance around the different corners of the town entrance for a couple of seconds out of mere instinct, since they were pretty much right next to village gate. "I'm just taking this outside the village. Will just have to risk falling into a trap to make sure this one doesn't get caught in the cross fire too." He tightened the grip on his sheath as he turned back around, but didn't start walking yet. The mere thought of seeing this village harmed grated on him already, as there was no need to repeat history. He had to learn from the past mistake. "...I'll be fine. You should go back before Elly gets worried and starts searching for both of us--"
"...Wait! The sounds are faint, but I hear movement nearby..."
He cut off his sentence as he turned back around, trying to see which direction he heard the footsteps coming from. Eventually they became loud enough to hear effortlessly as a lone man eventually emerged from the shadows between two homes. As he walked casually, he passed Nayru, though didn't seem hostile. He was quite the person though...despite wearing just a normal winter coat, he had a really funny-looking mask over his face. A circus performer, perhaps? Eventually the man kept strolling on through calmly and without a word as he finally approached Veigue's side...but just as he was going to pass him too, the man stopped completely parallel to him, but faced towards the outskirts of the village. He didn't...seem to look at Veigue directly, so the Sacaean just settled for staring at him from the corner of his eye.
...Okaaaaay? Awkward silence. But then the man inched a little closer to Veigue as his voice lowered to levels loud enough only for the both of them to hear.
"...Been a while, old friend. How about we have some fun instead of playing around...for old time's sake?" He followed up with a silent giggle under the mask. This caused Veigue to frown aggressively for a bit, but he cooled his jets for now. Well, he didn't particularly have any friends in the past, so that was obviously easily spotted sarcasm. But who the hell was he? He could have sworn he recalled hearing someone with the same voice and bearing before. However, the man laughed silently once more before walking off and beyond the village gates. Veigue turned around as he watched the man all the way until he vanished to the side where the nearby building blocked his view.
...Well, it could still be a trap. Something he had to heavily consider. However, his main priority was everyone else's safety, so he had no choice but to risk it. And if he's prepared for an ambush, he'd at least be on guard for it for a counter attack. He was beginning to get warmer on who the person might have been, but the only way to truly find out was to accept his little challenge. Seriously, he needs to go on a personal journey to tear down every wanted poster he could possibly find with his badly drawn face on it. Maybe this crap would be delayed before more could be posted. No one but maniacs are probably the only ones that pay attention to the damn things.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Feb 11, 2014 19:22:55 GMT -6
Nayru had to hold back the urge to facepalm when the mysterious man appeared - if she had learned anything in the past five centuries, it was that only lunatics and clowns wore masks, and she wasn't laughing. On the bright side, as shallow and heartless as it was to say, the man didn't seem in the least bit interested in her - it wasn't really much better than he was apparently after Veigue instead, but sometimes it was nice to just be a cog in the machine rather than the leading lady. And getting outed as a dragon and forced to leave Veigue and Elly behind would be rather unfortunate. So there was that. Still, that just meant she was going to have to make sure Veigue got out of this safely. The enemy would have a certain element of surprise of their own, likely an ambush of some sort, but so too would their side given her unique abilities. Didn't have to turn into a raging murderbeast to punch out a few bandits or bounty hunters.
She missed whatever the mysterious man said to Veigue, but it didn't take a mind reader to gather from Veigue's reaction that it had not been an invitation for tea and crumpets. Nayru sighed in resignation, then watched silently as the man walked out of sight, not seeing any need to draw unnecessary attention to herself just yet. There would be plenty of time for the punching and the murdering and the general brutality soon enough, going by the situation so far; going by Veigue's face as she walked up to him after the other man had disappeared, he knew that all too well. Her heart went out to him, but there was little she could think of to say that would mitigate the situation - she knew damn well that Veigue was not about to back away, and empty words would do little to make the upcoming excitement any more pleasant.
On the bright side, at least Elly wasn't anywhere nearby - off stuffing her face with some sort of confectionary that had smelled absolutely divine. Nayru made the mental note to offer to treat Veigue to some after they finished their busineses here, but they had a job to do first. She chuckled mirthlessly. "That settles it, then." She fixed him with a neutral stare for a moment. "You don't have to be alone anymore, you know. ...And I'm coming along whether you like it or not, so don't bother trying to argue."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2014 22:28:53 GMT -6
He stood there for a moment as he examined his options on how to proceed since he was apparently not being rushed for time. The fight was guaranteed to be outside and away from others, so it was perfect. However, he had a feeling Nayru was going to say that, though surprisingly gave in easily instead of convincing her to go back. He pretty much believed her 100% that she was going to follow, so there really was no point. Placing a small smirk on his face after releasing a silent sigh, he glanced back at her for the moment before nodding. He still felt uneasy about it, but at least the situation wasn't grim...and as much as he wanted to have less involvement from the others, Nayru being dead-set on helping was at least comforting enough. "...Heh. Stubborn. I like that. All right, I won't fight it anymore...let's go then." Without pause after his response, the swordsman walked in a quick, yet careful pace outside the gates, trying to follow the direction of the masked man.
Both of them now traveling alongside the path to the left of the village, there was a large tree visible from a distance. The more they closed in on it, the more the entire field was visible. The area seemed...too wide for an ambush. Either they knew how to dig excellent holes in the ground and cover them perfectly, or this was truly another one-man show from these bounty hunters. Speaking of the freak, he was standing in front of the tree with his arms crossed...as if he expected the challenge to be accepted. Still needing to be cautious, Veigue stepped forth to confront the man, but kept his distance.
"Heeeey! You've finally made it! And I see you've brought your little...big friend. I've never struck you as the teamwork type, Veigue!" The masked man stretched his arms out in excitement, but also speaking in a cheerful manner. "I didn't think I needed to prepare some nice games for two instead of one. However, that's not a problem. The more players, the more fun! So, are you two eager for the excitement? Because I sure am!"
"...I don't give a damn about your little games. Who are you?" Veigue rested his thumb on the guard of his sword, but not brandishing the iron just yet. It's just what he needed, another psychopath. What does this guy make now? The third he's encountered so far? And now this lunatic was talking about games. First guy was killing for a sport...what's this one going to do? Play ring around the death? Despite the tenseness of the situation, the thought of that was a bit amusing coming from this crazy person, as he expected much so far. Ah, but he'd have time to laugh to himself about it later.
"Awwww...you were never any fun, Veigue. I liked it better when you used to eat dirt! Ah, phooey..." He let out a momentary laughter before pointing at Nayru. "Don't tell me you're as boring as he is too? There's plenty of fun 'activities' we all can participate in and enjoy, you know. And you kinda look like a fun gal! However, since you aren't really the one I'm after for some entertainment, I'll give you a chance to back out of the games now. Otherwise..." After letting his arm down, his voice and tone changed to that of a much darker and serious one as he pulled two sheathed short swords from the inside of his coat. "...You'll be in for one hell of a bloodbath when we're done playing."
Veigue couldn't exactly say anything in response...especially after what he commented on about dirt. Father Sky, he was getting SO close to figuring the guy out. If only he had one more clue, he could expose him without dealing with this nonsense anymore. But he was forced to once again wait. The more and more the guy talked though, the more he wanted to run the guy's head through the tree bark. But he had more control over his temper than that, so...maybe whenever the time comes to rip that silly mask off?
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Feb 12, 2014 1:36:08 GMT -6
Nayru was getting the distinct impression that she was not going to like this individual.
She couldn't quite place why - the obnoxious manner of speaking, how uncomfortable he was clearly making Veigue, his eagerness for a bloodbath, how easily he dismissed her, the implications he leveled at her - but she was pretty sure that if she thought about it for a while, she could come up with something. Worse, it appeared that he knew Veigue and didn't seem in the least bit intimidated or worried by the prospect of fighting two people at once. So he was either crazy or very self-assured, or maybe both since one did not entirely exclude the other. That was a fantastic thought. Because the one thing more evil people needed was more crazy.
Not that she was really in any position to judge the mysterious man when her crimes were far worse.
Half annoyed at herself, and all annoyed at their talkative new friend, Nayru opted to respond to his taunts by slipping into a familiar martial arts stance, taking momentary solace in its familiarity. In the end, he could talk all he wanted, but that would not save him. She speared the man with a glare, more to satiate her own emotions than in a doubtless-futile attempt to intimidate him. "...Even a desert rose has its thorns." Her voice was confident, but hard as diamond and half as merciful.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2014 12:52:08 GMT -6
"I'll take that as...your entry into the games! I knew you wouldn't back away. You don't look like a quitter, lady!" As he responded to Nayru, he still didn't unsheathe his short swords despite Nayru and Veigue just about ready to gut him at any moment. The Sacaean had to arch an eyebrow for a second as the masked psycho started laughing...really, REALLY hard and loudly as it was gradually increasing in volume with every second. He didn't stop either, as his back hit the tree bark and he slid on down until his bum hit the ground. It was almost as if he was being killed by his own excitement.
"...Seriously. I have no idea who's crazier! Walter Slasher, or this guy...and the former was a special case. Ugh..."
His little laughing episode was really ticking him off, but at the same time, Veigue couldn't seem to take him seriously anymore. Was he going to fight or just laugh all day? He clenched his fist tightly as he he'd it up in front of him showing an obvious gesture of being annoyed. "...Either he's completely drowned within his insanity or he's doing this on purpose to throw us off." Wanting to take the latter seriously in case it was true, Veigue had to calm himself down. He didn't know why this guy was getting under his skin so easily, as he's always able to maintain his composure. Guess there would always be times where the bad temper slipped, as he was so anxious to send his foot straight through that mask and into his mouth to shut him up.
"Hah hah hah! You wound me! I was merely letting out all the laughs I've been holding for this very moment...ahh, but enough is enough. How about we start the first game?" As the crazed dual wielder stood back on his feet, he pointed right at Veigue, apparently ready to start his 'fun'. "Let's play the guessing game~! What's really tall and enormous, has stuff hanging from it, veeeerry bushy...and probably have monkeys playing in it?"
As much as Veigue wanted to dismiss this little stupid game and confront the maniac, he was...forced to listen. If there was one thing he learned about fighting complete sadists is that while they goof around, there's some strong meaning behind their clowning...and shouldn't be brushed aside. But as he ran the stupid little description through his head, only one thing came to mind, as he immediately clenched his sheath tighter and stared upwards. "...Nayru, above us!" It wasn't long before shadowy figures peaked their heads through the leaves of the trees, as they were standing on the larger tree branches closer to the bark, where they were likely hiding. Veigue assumed he couldn't see them in there from a distance since the tree really was quite bushy. He was so focused on that maniac that he didn't bother to look upwards into the tree. The masked man could have pulled the little sneak attack way more efficiently if he didn't hint it at all. Guess it was just a part of his little game and didn't care if they were taken off guard by the hidden assassins.
They all dropped from the tree and surrounded the duo from all corners, numbering in four of them. They all seemed like normal mercenaries, but had the eyes of blood lust. The whole pack seemed to have some variety between their weapons instead of them all holding the same type. The masked man went on another laughing episode, though this was at least shorter as he leaned back on the tree. "I have a special game for the both of you if you win the first round, featuring me personally. Buuut for now, I guess you can play with Jaquio's own personally hired goons...in the game of 'Death Tag'!
Well, four on one would have been really grim if he did come alone...and even if he did manage kill them all, that lunatic over there would have just finished him off from his possible fatigue. Unlike dumb bandits, battling skilled fighters in a group was MUCH more difficult. Guess Jaquio stepped up his game quicker than Veigue thought he would...one of those scenarios he pictured his chances of walking out alive being slim. He was just glad he wasn't alone for once.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Feb 14, 2014 4:11:42 GMT -6
As she seemed to be doing a lot of today, Nayru mostly just watched the proceedings with a combination of silent annoyance and flabbergasted confusion as the psychotic clown turned out to be a murderous psychotic clown - which wasn't actually surprising at all, but she wasn't really used to meeting people with even less remaining of their sanity than she retained of hers. It was all very exhausting and liable to drive her to murder, which made the newcomers almost welcome as an excuse to slake her bloodlust. Not that being surrounded by murderous lunatics was exactly how she had planned on spending her day, but it seemed to be pretty common when Veigue was involved.
At least she could make herself useful in helping him deal with these thugs. And she supposed it could be considered good group combat training. She hadn't really had an opportunity to fight alongside Veigue since the whole kerfluffle in that village back in Sacae, just a few sparring matches against him. If only Elly was actually useful for training. It occurred to her that maybe it would be normal to worry more about the situation at hand, but she was more worried about Veigue, who looked very emotionally involved in all of this; while he seemed lost enough that she didn't think he knew a whole lot more than she did right now, it was clear that the masked man knew a lot about Veigue, and that was just not healthy by any stretch of the imagination.
But for now, they would fight. Nayru rolled her shoulders, bleeding tension from her body as she had been trained in preparation for the storm to come. "...This isn't my story, Veigue, it's yours." She smiled, allowing herself a moment of feral confidence as she stared at the nearest assassin. "I'm just here to make sure it ends like it should."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2014 14:12:51 GMT -6
They seemed pretty eager to tear it down, it seemed. One of the assassins couldn't help but take his blade and pull off one of the more disgusting things you could do with it, licking it like a bloodthirsty maniac. "Ugh, come on...why do they always have to do that?" Veigue at least did well enough not to react outwardly to it at all. While he remained in a battle ready stance, what Nayru said didn't go over his shoulder though. Looking to her from the corner of his eye while maintaining focus on the enemy, he didn't know how to respond to her exactly. His mind was too occupied on their battle, their safety...and the identity of the man, who was just over by the tree sitting in the grass like he was enjoying himself. Hell, the lunatic WAS enjoying this, so that was a pretty dumb reason to question him now.
One of the hunters wielding a mace patted the weapon constantly before he was about to lash out due to his impatient nature, and Veigue was ready for him. They weren't going to give them both a chance to think strategy from the looks of it. As such, they'd have to plan as they fought. He cracked a small smile before clenching his right fist and getting ready to move. "Well, we all have a story...and you should see yours to the end, too. Don't go dying on me just for the sake of mine." ...And unfortunately for them, their stories are forced to end right now.
Just as he thought, the mace wielder couldn't wait any longer, charging Veigue head-first before approaching. It wasn't long after he began that his buddies charged a few seconds later. He brought the mighty weapon overhead when Veigue confronted his charge, adding more to it's crushing force as he let it fall down on his target. Taking advantage of the rather slow attack, the nimble swordsman brushed himself to his assailant's side and swung his sheath upwards and sideways, smacking the enemy directly onto the side of his skull with the hard sheath that was basically a blunt weapon of it's own. Seemed to be quite effective, as Veigue imagined from the look on the man's face that he was probably seeing stars right now. With the other three coming at them in hot pursuit, he choose to send a rather strong punch in the middle of the man's face to knock him out of the way. He lacked time to draw the sword and finish him immediately without leaving himself open for the others to take advantage of.
When one of the sadist fighters with the sword locked onto Nayru, Veigue was in a fix himself when an axeman tried to gut him, unable to go over and counter the enemy swordsman from attacking his ally. It was a low-aimed attack from the axeman though, so he was able to leap high enough to evade the horizontal attack, but just barely. The Sacaean had to take advantage of his momentary opening while on the ground, as he was wide open for punishment too if he chose to stand back up. When he fell to the ground after the fall, he planted his hand into the ground before clipping the axeman off his feet with a hook of his own leg sweep. He needed to get up fast though now, as the scythe user; the final Jaquio assassin, was about to attack Nayru too until he witnessed Veigue recovering from the fall and was about to bring his weapon down to the Sacean's current disadvantage.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Feb 19, 2014 3:44:59 GMT -6
So much for that easy out, Nayru half-smiled to herself out of Veigue's eyesight in response to his words. He really ought to spend more time worrying about himself, rather than others - but then it seemed that no one in their group could actually manage that, herself included, so they all just kept an eye out for each other. A pack of idiots who spent more time worrying about each other than themselves; was that amusing or pathetic, she wondered? Certainly they should all be dead by this point, whether through Elly's incompetence and delusions, or her own crimes coming back to haunt her, and yet they still spent their time keeping each other safe. Like an impressively dysfunctional family. One she did not deserve to judge, much less be a part of.
There was little time to belittle herself as the fight broke out, the hired cutthroats apparently not eager to wait for their targets to make the first move. She saw the mace wielder rush Veigue out of the corner of her eye, but most of her attention was on the sword-wielding murderer who came for her. Something about his stance was different than the others, a hesitation that she could not quite understand - whether it was a reticence to kill an unarmed women or prudent caution about what sort of tricks could leave an unarmed women so confident when unarmed and outnumbered, Nayru didn't know, but she definitely did care, because it gave her an advantage. Humans were sometimes their own worst enemies, and if she could use it to her own advantage, she might be able to give herself and Veigue an advantage early.
To the man's credit - or not, considering he was murdering an 'unarmed' 'woman' - he picked up steam as he moved, feinting to the right as she took a step backwards to unbalance him, then launching himself into an attack in a flickering line of glinting steel, a lunging jab to her neck. She had the distinct sense that his earlier hesitation had not been out of any sense of concern for her well-being, which in return removed any concern she had in dipping low and to the side, grabbing his hand as it passed where her neck had been with her right hand hand, his still-oncoming body with the left, and forcing him down bodily into a waiting knee as she twisted and tore the arm that had not yet relinquished his grip on the blade. Whatever gasp he might have uttered at the pain was muffled by the sudden and complete exhalation of air in his lungs as her hip rotation completed, bringing her right knee driving into his chest with enough force to pulverize bone.
He fell like a leaden lump, and she deliberately stepped on his neck, allowing herself to relish the crunching of bone as she ensured he would not get back up. A trick that would likely only work once on a group, and fewer times than that on a more alert Veigue, but sometimes it was nice looking helpless when you were anything but.
Focusing back in on the fight, Nayru realized she had missed a fracas on its own, Veigue struggling to hold off multiple attackers, as the scythe user nigh-instantly gauged the situation and darted in towards a fallen Veigue. "Not so fast," she rumbled, spinning in place to roundhouse over her fallen companion and block the flickering blade with her outstretched leg; the amount of momentum the assassin had marshalled blunted her strike from doing serious damage to him, but it was enough to send him flying a few meters bodily as she struggled to retain his grip on his weapon from the sudden shock to his hand.
Utilizing the momentum borrowed from the man's attack, the dragon pirouetted in reverse of her movement of a moment ago, giving Veigue the space to get up as she regained her own balance. They had underestimated her and paid the price, but the real threat was still ahead. Breathing out in a single sinuous movement, practiced deep breathing to control and retain her breath, Nayru grinned down at her momentarily discomfited comrade with the excitement of the moment. "Up and at 'em, Veigue - bad time for a dirt nap."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2014 18:25:17 GMT -6
"Yikes!"
A second earlier, and Nayru would have actually kicked his head clean off. He was going to attempt striking the scythe as it locked onto him, but his ally blocked the hit for him. Just as he'd risen, he fell right back down when her leg swooped over him. Well, at least that saved him from a potentially grievous and life-threatening wound, as he had his doubts about being able to avoid it while down. The attacker wasn't likely to rise for a little while after a counter like that, so he was able to rise without too much caution. Despite the jokingly remark she made, he allowed only a small moment of laughter before regaining complete balance. "...Thanks."
He glanced over to the masked man, who was still sitting down, but waved his hand followed by another insane, yet annoying giggle. The Sacaean quickly shifted his attention away, as he wasn't in the mood to deal with the idiot just yet. Besides, he left himself open once, and he wasn't going to do that again. Especially now, as the axe wielder he dropped moments ago tried the same trick Veigue used him: knock him down from below. However, the swordsman wasn't going to fall for his own little trick, so when the assassin tried this, he used the back of his weapon. When he jumped over the first weave of the weapon, he was able to drop without falling, since it was like playing jump rope, the man wouldn't stop trying to clip his feet.
Veigue was tired of playing around, so when he leaped over the last attack, he brought his blade down, the long iron grazed through his flesh and Veigue placing a bit of force into his attack to cleave through the area from the side of his neck all the way down to the chest. With no further need to inflict lethal pain, he delivered a final kick to the face that sent his assailant backwards to his fall, the fighter actually hearing the bones crack in both his skull and neck by how much force he placed into the kick. If the injury wouldn't kill him over time, then the fall after the kick would finish him first.
It appeared that the first one with the mace finally woke up from his temporary daze, shaking his head to make sure all of his senses were still intact. Swiping his sword fiercely to his side to allow the blade to clean itself from most of the blood, Veigue sheathed his sword for the moment. The other one Nayru kicked away was regaining his footing quickly and the other was just about ready for some more action, both of the maniacs passing off a nod to each other from their separated distance. "Both will likely try to attack us individually again..." He spoke in a low tone after backing himself way until he was closer to Nayru again. He was able to tell by the look in mace man's eyes that he desired revenge for the swordfighter knocking him out, the scythe man probably felt the same towards Nayru. Veigue kept his thumb on the guard of his sword while having an idea that could take them both out in a single instance with some help, backing himself way until he was closer to Nayru again. "How about we switch it up on them when they get near?" Hopefully she'd catch onto what he meant.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Apr 9, 2014 6:44:37 GMT -6
"Haaaa." Deep breath. She could feel the fire in her veins, the the familiar warmth and crimson tinge to the world around her that signaled a rush of adrenaline and the resurgence of her nature, but controlling it was simple so long as she could keep her surface emotions quelled and focused on her body's movement and state. Not that she was likely to explain it in so many words to Veigue, but it was part of the reason she tended to act in bursts of motion rather than constant activity - giving herself regular chances to reign herself in and retain control. A necessary evil if she were to use any degree of her power without... well, that went without saying.
Veigue took advantage of the offered opening, taking down another sellsword with impressive dexterity. They had sparred more than once, but it never ceased to be a frustrating exercise in futility to deal with his speed, and once again the dragon was rather happy he was on her side than otherwise. "Well done." Aaaand that was as much as he was going to get out of her. Gods but it felt good to have a fight where she wasn't one bad moment from losing herself. Veigue was pleasantly reliable and didn't mind fighting at her side, both fantastic qualities for an undercover dragon. A "cover" which would have been broken pretty much immediately if they knew anything about dragons. The thought killed her good mood immediately as Nayru remembered that this was all naught but a pleasant dream, one that would dissipate like so much gossamer webbing in the wind when they found out what she truly was.
Unfortunately, what might be obvious to Veigue was somewhat less so to a dragon who was not entirely used to relying on anyone other than herself, and she was momentarily caught between admitting she didn't know what he was talking about and trying to fake it, possibly getting him killed. Huh. When put like that, it actually wasn't too hard of a decision. Swallowing what remained of the tattered shreds of her pride, and quite cognizant of the fact that they didn't have long to talk, Nayru managed to mumble "What's the plan?" as a tacit admission she wasn't sure what he was talking about.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2014 21:16:22 GMT -6
He didn't exactly have a lot of time to think of a fully-calculated battle tactic against the two assailants...not like he was the carefully calculating type to begin with. To keep himself in constant movement, he was forced to come up with quick strategies by default...otherwise, a lot of what happened earlier would occur more often. But he wasn't too surprised when Nayru didn't understand what he meant. Sometimes his subtlety could drive himself up the wall. Once he thought back on how he phrased that, he resisted the urge to choke himself and focused on the matter at hand instead. The two attackers were beginning their move and the Sacaean prepared for the charge as he bent his knees a bit to get into a stance strong enough to be prepared for any sort of attacks for a counter.
He was right to assume the duo was going specifically for the ones who inflicted blows to them...the mace man began rushing for Veigue obviously and the scythe user for Nayru. "...These assassins seem to be pretty single-minded." He slid his foot in the grass in preparation for some swift movement. "We can hold our ground here and when they're within close enough range, you can attack the mace user after I shift around you quickly to confuse them...and I'll take out the one with the scythe during. They shouldn't expect a switch."
It was a daring move at best, but if successful, it could take them both down for good with more rapidity than to confront the duo's charge head on. It never did hurt to resort to trickery to throw the opponent off balance, and he was very fortunate to pick up some "tricks" while fighting on his own for the past nine years. Even if the plan failed, he still had some other crazy stuff under his sleeve that he could resort to instead...though he'd rather save it for later instead of playing all his cards at once. For all he knew, that psycho over there was probably smarter than he appeared and might be observing how he and Nayru fought for his own benefit. It almost caused a twitch in his left eye at the thought of giving the maniac more credit if it was his plan, but nothing he could do about that now. Wouldn't be long enough before he can punch a hole through that mask to end their troubles anyway.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Apr 12, 2014 6:42:46 GMT -6
Eh. She would've just punched a hole in them, but Nayru... supposed that it wasn't entirely unreasonable to take a more tactical approach to things, especially given that these assassins were a cut above common bandits. Her encounter with the throwing axe-wielding fighter in the burning ruins of that village a while back had reminded her that competent fighters could still wound her, or worse, and given how much trouble Veigue had landed himself in by now, it wouldn't be a surprise if these assassins, or especially the masked man, would have some tricks up their sleeves.
So... subtlety. And relying on someone else to do their part in a battle plan. The very concept rankled at her sensibilities a bit - while Nayru was far removed from the ego most dragons possessed, she did have a certain degree of self-confidence in her fighting abilities - but they didn't have time to argue, and to be perfectly frank, she couldn't think of a good reason to disagree with his plan. Not like it would kill her to try relying on someone else once in a while, or Mother Earth forbid she learn to fight as part of a team when traveling with a group of combatants.
Twin fists slammed together like a thunderclap, blueish-silver crackling along her golden armbands for a brief instant in time as she switched to a more defensive pose, bringing her hands up to better parry whatever the scythe-wielding assassin might try. Already halfway to her, he silently accepted the challenge, speeding up dramatically as he brought his hand scythe in for a quick horizontal slash. Exactly the same as he had tried on Veigue; no switch in tactics, just moving a bit faster. Business as usual.
Instinctively she knew something was wrong, but in the heat of the moment she was already reaching to parry the blade when she realized it was no longer there, having somehow switched nigh-instantaneously from what she had assumed was his dominant hand to a scything arc upwards towards her midsection from the hand that had been empty a moment ago. Ambidextrous? The thought occurred unconsciously to Nayru as she belatedly reacted, hurling herself backwards as she struggled to react quickly enough to avoid serious damage. The silvery blade cut through the length of silk hanging from her shoulder as it fluttered before her in the brief instant before an awkward elbow caught the blade, a burst of sparks erupting as metal met flesh harder than steel and she pushed outwards to unbalance him in hopes of a followup from Veigue.
(OOC just for clarity: haven't attacked the mace guy yet, figured I'd set up the scythe guy so you have a chance to react to mace guy, who's presumably a little slower and would get there shortly after hand scythe guy?)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2014 19:22:30 GMT -6
Well, that happened a little faster than he expected. Though the mace user likely had his weapon weighing him down considerably that hindered mobility, which was precisely why he himself didn't wield anything he knew he couldn't swing around rapidly. Honestly, if they didn't do strategy, they could have taken these two out by default...but Veigue had the feeling that he was required to conserve as much energy as possible for the upcoming battle against the inevitable. By the time the mace man was a few feet away from striking a move, Veigue went along with the tactic he said he'd do, hitting a single twist to the side before rotating completely around Nayru in a swift motion, forcing his opponent to stop in his tracks...to the point of almost causing himself to trip over his own legs. The confusion trick worked and would give Nayru plenty of time to react to this if she took the opening.
While he was worried if Nayru was hurt from the clash with the scythe, he had to focus on his target so he wouldn't blow the chance he was given. When the man was thrown off balance by Nayru's parry, he dashed towards him as quickly as a starving wolf, swing his sheath in an arc as the end of it struck the man's wrist, which the pain from impact forced the man's grip to loosen entirely and completely disarmed from his weapon. As much as Veigue didn't want to go further, he knew leaving it at that wasn't going to stop the assassin, settling on his original intention of showing no mercy. Before the disarmed assassin could react, the swordsman slid his blade out of the sheath and in a quick, clean motion, his sword swung rapidly with the wind, striking the man at least three times, all aimed at vital points before ending it with spinning the blade in reverse grip and thrusting backwards, aimed at the stomach. The iron pierced through the flesh and eventually came out from the back.
By that time by the silence of the assassin fell upon him, he could tell the man already blacked out from the pain and yanked his weapon free immediately to grant him a swift demise. With the swipe of the sword to remove the blood, Veigue's sights rested upon the masked man for a moment, realizing the guy wasn't up to his usual goofy antics and was just staring at the swordsman, as if he was in a trance. Did he finally lose his mind within his own excitement and blanked out under the mask? Either he really was staring, or he may have passed out from laughter and it was hard to tell because...well, the mask.
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