Hokuto no Ken {Kat/Jalid}

[Deleted]

Well, here she was again. Kat's little pit stop in Bulgar had been more interesting than she would have expected, but she was still sure as crap glad to be out of there. Just being NEAR Sacae brought up...unpleasant thoughts and emotion. Which only pissed her off more. Why did the place still bother her so much. Hell she ought to be happy. After all: she was free! Free to go anywhere she wanted and do whatever, heh or hell, WHOever she wanted. The latter wasn't bloody likely, given the only man to catch her eye was...a mostly stoic Sacaen asshat.

Didn't that just scream "issues?"

Ugh, she thought she might have needed a drink, but the only tavern in the village she had stumbled upon was so pitiful that she didn't even want to drink their water, let alone their booze. Really she wasn't as much of a drinker as even she cared to admit. Preferred to keep her wits about her more often than not, ESPECIALLY in a tavern. Bastards that drank there were right sleazy more often than not.

So, alcohol wasn't the answer, instead she found herself wandering just outside the village limits. She still had enough coin from her job with Asura the Asshot...er, damn it. Asura the Asshat. Yeah. She still had enough coin from that endeavor to actually spend a few nights at an inn, but she didn't mind having to rough it if it meant saving on some gold until she really needed it. After all she wasn't sure when her next job would come around...

"Help! Help! Miss, oh please miss!" Wait, what the hell? Kat's arms were crossed behind her head as she strolled, some stout man bolting down the dirt road towards her. She quirked an eyebrow up as the man forced himself to a halt, skidding across the dirt on his heels, before he hunched over, panting from the supposed olympic-level sprinting he had been doing. "P-p-please...you have a sword. You must be a sellsword, yes?"

"...What the f**k?" Kat smirked in utter amusement at the man's assumption. "The hell kind of logic is that? I have a sword so I MUST be a mercenary? Dumbass. For all you know I'm a-"

"You ARE a mercenary!? Oh thank Elimine!" The man, so overwhelmed with joy and relief, collapsed onto his knees before Katsumi He clasped his hands together and looked up at her with puppy dog eyes. Er, well, the best attempt at that he could manage. A for effort, F for fat bastard.

"..thief, here to gut you and steal whatever coin you've got on you, you fat, dumb ba-" Kat tried to keep going, to point out just how flawed this stupid idiot was, but he seemed to completely ignore the rest of what she had to say.

"T-t-the undead! I was walking by with my two boys, leading our wagon back to Tuscana proper for business, when the undead attacked!"

"Waaaaait a minute. Hold the f**k up." Kat held a hand out before the man's face. At least this time he let her talk, so she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose before she continued. "You're telling me you hauled your fatass all the way out here, leaving your children behind for these monsters? Wow, gunning for Dad of the Year, huh?"

"They're armed! My boys are tough! They asked me to find help! I was going to tell the town guards but please, I'll pay you anything you want! Just sa-"

"Okay okay, for the love of Cloud Dad, just get up from down there and tell me where they are." Kat really wasn't in the mood to deal with a grown ass man bursting into tears while on his knees in front of her. Typically the positions were supposed to be reve...yeah, she wasn't going to finish that thought. Not just because it was depraved to the point where even she had to question it, but because the fatass actually wrapped his arms around her legs. Immediately her instincts flared up and she clenched both of her fists, ready to absolutely pummel the bastard for laying a hand on her.

"Oh thank you! Thank you thank you thank you thank you..." Ad nauseum. He uh...he was a bit too pathetic to actually punch. Instead she shuffled her legs out of his bear hug and rolled her eyes.

"Dirt Mom take me...for the love of all that is blue and apparently god-like, would you just tell me where I have to go to punch things?" After all, one thing good DID come out of her trip to Bulgar had been good for one thing: the shiny metal gauntlets, designed not for protection, but for hand-to-hand combat, that she currently wore over her hands. The covered about halfway up to her forearm and maaaaaaaan was she ready to put them through the ringer.

What better way than to bust some skulls? Probably literally if the whole undead thing turned out to be true. She just...needed the idiot on the ground to let go of her legs. She had worked her right leg out of his grasp, but not her left.

[Jalid Al-Qabbad]

The concept of "Lycia" was still strange to him. Each territory was like a miniature country but had rulers within rulers. As if they were all vying for true power and squirmed about above and beneath one another just for that very thing. The tan-skinned Dragon was quietly striding through verdite fields along the road while he scratched at the thick black stubble lining his jawline. His fingers golden plated cups letting him hit juuuuuust the right spot. Bright glacial hued eyes scanning the road ahead of him while his idle hand propped palm fist against his hip. Just like in Bern, part of him lamented the inability to actually try and take in some of what he saw before him. Human cultural advancement had become so different that he almost sympathized with his fathers attempt to understand them. He couldn't help but feel like he made the right choice by going himself.

Though he did not question his father's love for the two missing younger brothers, he knew that even the most reserved of saints felt temptation even if they won the fight against it. That did not indefinitely alleviate it though. Jalid's gaze drifted, scanning the road ahead. Well, that was interesting.

Two humans. One very large human. One not so large human. The no so large human was far louder but sounded more composed. The other was almost as loud but far less composed. 


Right then! He was now curious. If they wern't on the path he'd been traveling he likely would've dismissed the notion entirely because well...he did have little brothers to locate. However he was also searching an entire continent for two people Which was...well..like trying to find a single bone buried in sand "Somewhere in Nabata"

So...that was going to take a while.

Jalid's heavy foot-falls against the dirt path barely audible as toughened skin directly contacted soft dry malleable brown road, he strode in longer strides  towards them. Those long strides usually made up for his slower pace. Then again, sometimes he was just slow as hell and there was no excuse. What could he say? Life moved at his pace. No alternatives there. If it disagreed and threw problems at him, he'd just deck them in the schnoz. Assuming one could...punch life's problems in the face? If not he'd have to hit something but he'd definitely try to hit his problems first. Punching them generally solved the issue.

After all, as his mother was fond of saying.

If a hard punch didn't solve the problem, you didn't hit hard enough.

Good ol' mom. Great for a laugh, and better for a wise one liner on the practical application of kinetic force via medium of fist to an obstacles general important bits.

Shame he couldn't apply that to his brothers. ...The process of helping them by punching their problems. Punching them wouldn't help him at all. Probably would've earned the scorn of aforementioned warrior mother as well.

Jalid walked up as the man now began to cling to the womans legs. Was he er...worshiping her? Was she a priestess or a soothsayer? Perhaps a noble? crap. What did humans call their nobles now? They'd had so many words..


Jalid flashed a half-grin either way and dismissed it, hoping that he wasn't insulting some human god (did they still have those even?) by speaking so casually.


"Is there something amiss here that erm...the large...man..is on the ground?"

Once more he had to avoid just calling them humans. He imagined that was like a dragon walking up and saying "Hello dragon, how are you and how is this other dragon doing?" Well. So far he was off to great encounters. 10/10.

[Deleted]

“The only thing a-missing here is this fat ass' br-ooooh sweet dirt mom's tits!” Really, could someone blame Kat for trailing off like that. The source of the voice had been a freaking statuesque god. He wasn't INSANELY tall, but he was still pretty damn tall, and he was built with all the muscle Kat had always dreamed of having for herself. Not that she wasn't happy with her own body, she really was. Kick ass and hot to trot. Multi-purposed physique indeed! But to actually see someone who looked like...like this guy here, reminded her just how freaking badass she'd be!

Granted she wasn't exactly proud of geeking out over a stranger's muscles. Especially not when tub of lard still clutched to her leg as if she were St. Elimine herself. With a roll of her eyes she pressed her free foot against his chest and pushed against him until he finally let her go. Tears of joy seemed to stream down his face all the same, relieved that he had successfully strong-armed Kat into saving his kids, since he sure as hell wasn't capable of it.

Speaking of strong arms, Kat turned around to shoot the man a smirk. She uh, didn't enjoy having to look UP at someone, but she'd give him a pass for it. “Basically this bastard and his cart got attacked by undead. I think they call 'em...Revenants and Bonewalkers, yeah. They got attacked by a bunch of them just past these woods here.”

Kat pointed straight ahead, to where the treeline of the forest began. “He just hired my tight little ass to go drive the corpse bastards straight back to hell.” Gears began to crank in her mind as an idea formulated swiftly. She crossed her arms over her chest and her smirk broke out into a full on grin. “I've never had to deal with the undead types before, but I've been looking to break out my newest purchases on them. Could probably use a hand, though, and you're not going to tell me that you're walking around being this f**k**g big and not be up for a scrap.”

“O-oh! Yes! Please! The more the better, sir!” Kat rolled her eyes as, apparently, ole whale blubber snapped back to reality.

“Oh for the love of Papa Sky...”

Thankfully for brick shithouse over here the merchant didn't bother to try and molest his legs or anything. Instead he just shuffled forth on his knees, hands clasped as if he meant to pray, as he looked up at Jalid with hopeful eyes. “Please, won't you lhelp me? Won't you save my two brave boys?”

[Jalid Al-Qabbad]

Undead? As in. Dead that stopped being dead? Was that common in Elibe now? In his day that had been unheard of, to his knowledge, and he knew of no such thing in Arcadia. So the first response from Jalid was confusion, but not at a severe reaction. The toned dragon quietly placed one hand beneath his chin, scratching audibly at it in thought while he looked on with interest towards the large man. His tone contained a genuine innocence about the question that implied he truly didn't know.

"Do...your dead often raise to become living once more? This is...not normal where I am from."

His gaze leveled to the portly man as the woman began to explain that these dead were apparently violent. Perhaps they had not slept well in the afterlife? However a small part of his mind associated one thing with these.."Revenants and Bonewalkers". He'd never punched one before. He'd never tested their might. Was it greater than his own? It seemed that this man's trouble lay further down the road. The path he had go to. If that was the case, he could afford to give these creatures a case of the beatings. Jalid's muscles ran taut as he flexed his biceps, forearms, and pectorals slightly to stretch out his upper body while rearing back his right hand and left hand.

Right hand balled into a solid fist while left hand remained open like a receptive palm. He punched his palm with enough force to let the audibly smacking sound carry a reasonable distance before a grin widened upon his expression. A faint thrill building within him as he nodded towards the girl, now somewhat neglecting the man because his answer applied to both.

"I will help convince these living-dead that they were better off simply dead. "

His left palm flattened to his balled fist and curled around it, clasping it firmly while he began to work himself up internally. A human martial artist within Arcadia had once said "Enter the fight a kitten, and leave the fight a Tiger."

He did not understand this phrase, as he knew not what either were. What he could do however..was enter the fight a dragon.

And he doubted, that the walking dead could contend with a dragon. If they could? It simply meant that this fight would get that much more fun.

[Deleted]

“Welcome to Lycia! Where the dead walk around, wolves are bigger than people, and spiders are bigger than the wolves.” Despite the snort that Kat let out after her little speech, she actually didn't hold Lycia in any contempt. Sure, it was a monster infested crap hole, but at least nobody questioned here when she punched monsters. Aside from her sanity, maybe, but sanity was for the weak anyway. The important thing is that monsters were a problem that COULD be solved with fists.

And thus, why Kat had begun to find just a bit of a home in the unfortunate country. Sure its old capital got blasted to hell by Etruria or something, but it wasn't all bad, right? If they got mad they could just go chop the legs off some gigantic spider! Talk about stress relief.

What was really important, though was that the big guy...er, the big guy in a good way, seemed content with simply going forth and beating the unlife(?) out of these undead. THIS was someone she could get along with swimmingly, provided he wasn't actually some giant weakling. Hell that'd be hilarious though, almost worth the disappointment.

“Hell yeah! That's the spirit!” Kat's eyes practically gleamed at the man who invoked the stature an Ancient Etrurian God, only to force her eyes to focus on the blubbering disappointment that was the merchant. “You hear that, lard-ass? He's in. Just wait for us...in the tavern, back at the village behind us.” Kat jabbed a gauntlet covered thumb over her shoulder, unable to keep an excited grin off her face. “Hole up there until we come back.”

“Ooooh yes! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouth-” That uh...that didn't show any signs of stopping. Really, the merchant just kept going, and Kat's grin started to falter. What the hell was wrong with this idiot? He get hit in the head by one of those damn undead?

Heh, that rhymed. She could be a bard. Idle amusements gained from the literal ramblings of a probable madman aside, Kat turned her head up to Mr. Sun's out Guns out, as she forced herself to tune out the merchant completely. “All right beefcake, I'll take point.”

Uh, right. Names were a thing. She didn't give a damn about the merchant's name, and she could probably come up with all kinds of flattering nicknames for Jerry Qrews over here, but that could wind up confusing the poor bastard in the middle of the brawl. So, as she made her way to the treeline, folding her arms behind her head once again, she spoke out casually.

“Name's Kat, by the way, and where I come from the dead don't get back up either.”

[Jalid Al-Qabbad]

Wolves larger than humans, and spiders larger than that? There was a brief moment, as Jalid followed behind Katsumi, where his expression became a somewhat feral grin. Though not wild or crazed, the idea of such a prospective challenge excited him. So much so that Jalid quietly retracted his right fist before punching his left palm once more as muscles ran taut and his entire upper frame went rigged. Body stretching out and him pivoting on his waist. Toned abdominal muscles clenched through rigid form and he felt his spine ripple slightly from the series of pops and cracks as he shifted his weight to align himself better. Jalid's booming tone affirmed a sentiment his mind iterated internally.


"I would like to see these wolves, and spiders that are larger than man. They seem like strong opponents."


It was one of his tenets. To seek out those who might have a stronger will of iron. Enemies that would batter and break his body. So that when he healed, his entire core was stronger and harder and greater than the battle before. It did not acknowledge retreat, but only the forward steps of progress. Perfection was not needed, but progress was. Jalid however preferred to make larger leaps in progress. If he could fight such a foe and break his body in the process, it did not mean he'd lost. It simply meant that he'd improved physically opposed to martially.

The tall Ilian dragon hadn't quite paid attention to the man who had been asking for help, after he started to move past him to find these undead. Not to imply he'd forgotten the man entirely. No he was actually quite good at acknowledging faces and recalling faces so that was unlikely. In actually he was simply focused on the excitement of a strong enemy and a good fight. His gaze averted though to the young, smaller woman who was to be the lead. As she introduced herself he inclined his head quietly and spoke in return, his tone masterfully composed despite his overwhelming excitment to face new enemies.

"It is good to make your acquaintance Kat. I am Jalid. Ah and yes. It is quite strange to see such beasts as a possible concept. I can only hope they are up for a proper fight. I long to test myself. "

[Deleted]

“Never had the pleasure of beating down those wolves. Uh, Darth Mogs, they're called, or some crap like that. But man let me tell you about those f**k**g spiders.” The memory was still pretty clear in Kat's mind. Granted that asshat Asura had done most of the work with that long-ass sword of his, Kat still managed to get a few meaningful blows on the big bastard. Oh, that one bandit guy had helped too. Turned out he was all right, decent with a sword too.

“When I say these fuckers are big they are BIG. They move damn fast, too. Have nasty fangs that could probably tear a man to shreds.” That bit had...almost been terrifying, really. When she saw the Bael expose its teeth to her. Hell even their legs were sharp and barbed, perfectly capable of stabbing you with plenty of little needle-like spears. Probably venomous, too, but luckily for Kat she hadn't had to figure that out the hard way.

But maaaaan what she wouldn't give to take another crack at them. Before she'd only had her wakizashi, her short sword. Now, with these brawler gauntlets, heh, she'd pop all eight of its eyes and break all eight of its damn legs too.

Kat continued to lead Heracl...er, Jalid, through the forest, though despite the confidence and ease with which she strode forth, she wasn't actually certain she'd headed in the right direction. Either she wasn't worried about it. If those sons of the merchant's hadn't bit the dust yet, the sounds of battle would ring out through the trees soon enough.

“Jalid, huh?” Now that she thought about it, Jalid did seem to be a bit of an odd name. Granted as far she was concerned most Sacaen names were strange as hell. Her name was one of the few that she liked, and even then she still shortened it for simplicity. So who the hell was she to judge? “I like your style. I'm looking to test myself, too.” Indeed. It wasn't just a matter of breaking in her new gauntlets. Kat needed to...refine her style a bit. She was damn good at the martial arts her clan had taught, but what they had taught was extremely limited and restrictive.

Huh, as her mind drifted away from that a bit, she realized it was actually a bit strange. Really a lot of things about Jalid were strange. For one, he had a physique Kat had literally only ever seen in dreams. Er, not that kind. Those dreams had all involved kicking the crap out of those men, or fighting alongside them. Buff ass women too, for that matter. She didn't really care so long as they were good in a fight, and not hardcore Sacaen.

On that note, though, the big guy seemed pretty composed. He didn't have that same “I am a man of Sacae” restrained, needs to get laid, kinda vibe that most Sacaen men seemed to have. Instead he was more...he seemed more chill? Yeah, eager to bash some skulls in, literally, but chill. Was he even a mercenary? He hadn't shown any interest in earning a single gold coin from this venture, just fighting these undead.

“I'm still getting used to these beasts too. If these things are anywhere near as tough as that Bael, 8-legged freak I told you about earlier, then I hope you're as strong as you look.”

It seemed she'd get to see for herself soon enough. The unmistakable echoes of steel clashing with steel could be heard as the two continued to push down the forested trail.

Much like Jalid had done earlier, Kat made a fist and pounded it into the open palm of her other hand, flexing her own respectable muscle as an eager smirk flared across her features. “Sounds like the fun's just ahead.”

[Jalid Al-Qabbad]

The ice dragon quietly pondered what precisely this meant. These spiders were strong. Very strong. That only served to be further incentive for him really. Another drive to try and encounter these monstrosities some day. If anything, he almost wished the "undead" would've been these great spiders. He felt an itch building within his muscles. As if a trigger had been pulled. A desire to feel his closed fist crashing against flesh, bone, muscle and sinew before feeling such prospected force crashing into him in return. Truly it was almost palpably appealing.

The notion of a foe trading blows with him. Each one breaking their might against one another's powerful frames and constantly battering away until one of the two submits from sheer force overwhelming one and dropping them to their knees. Jalid's gaze drifted as the human woman began to speak of the beasts once more before directing her comment towards him. The ice dragon grinned, gazing out towards the source of combat's ringing song where metal sang sweet symphonic tones while he replied with a calm deepened tone. His right hand lightly lifted to rub the back of his head, golden cups upon each strong tanned digit while he itched his scalp idly.


"I do not know the strength of my foe, but I will break them like a brick beneath foot if I must. I am not want to relent."


His icy hues searched for the visible sign of combat, while he felt his blood begin to boil in his veins. Each step getting a bit more punctuated as he started to roll his shoulders, and head atop them as he felt the rippling series of pops sound out while he cracked his neck. Straightening his poise and briefly flexing enough so that his shoulder blades aligning cracked his back as well, Jalid went through this practice with every body group. Quietly tensing the muscles in each arm individually, stretching out his fingers and extending them in totality for a brief moment causing the limb to shake as it ran taut before relaxing. 


Though simply a process to stretch out his muscles, it also enhanced his sense of relaxed calm that served to balance out his boiling blood that fueled the fiery temper within. The taller Ilian Male's body was fully ready. Though he did not quicken his pace, he was visibly far more ready than a moment prior and spoke afterwards. His tone jovial and laugh booming as if the levity was entirely appropriate for a traditionally dire situation.


"I am ready to show them what real fun is. Hahaha!"

[Deleted]

Like a brick beneath foot, eh? That's a hell of a boast, but at least Jalid had the physique to back it up. But seriously, where were more people like this guy? He seemed just as eager and raring to go as Kat was. The sounds of battle had been enough to get the adrenaline pumping, and she clenched her fists in anticipation. “Hell yeah! Time to bust some skulls!”

Kat jogged ahead of Jalid, her own excitement compounded by Jalid's own. The man laughed, LAUGHED, at the prospect of trading blows with the dead risen again by black magic, or whatever the crap caused skeletons to walk and corpses to attack. Really, did it matter? No, the only thing that mattered was if Kat could feel them break beneath her fist.

Not quite a clearing, but a small break in trees just down the path, was there destination. Two men who, despite their supposed relation to the merchant, seemed to be in rather good shape. Well, good physique, anyway. They looked like hell had just run them over. Torn clothing and cracked armor, their swords covered in thick chunks of rotted flesh. They stood close to each other, backs pressed against a modest wagon. No sign of horses, though.

Prooooobably because they ran away from the freaking zombies. They uh, weren't exactly what Katy. She expected pale, smelly looking people who, despite months or years spent rotting in the embrace of Mama Dirt, still resembled people. Now the overall shape of the zombies was uh, human, but whatever the hell nether magic had done to them, they sure came out of it looking all kinds of fucked up. Rotted flesh had begun to bubble and fold over on itself, and what were once hands had taken the form of jagged, bird-like claws. At best a sunken in eye and most of their mouths were visible on their faces. The rest of it just looked as though someone even bigger than Jalid had gone buckwild with a meat tenderizer.

And there were about five of these nasty bastards, all stumbling and moaning in good ol' zombie fashion as they slowly closed in on the wagon.

Then, on the opposite end of the wagon, Kat spotted a few of the less-meaty cousins of the Revenants. Rather than pearly white like one would expect, the bones of the skeletal monsters were stained yellow, green, and red. Their movements looked awkward, but they shuffled around the wagon a LOT faster than the damned revenants did and...wait, what the hell? Were they wearing armor?

...Holy crap they had weapons too. Swords, spears...one of the fuckers even had a bow. There were only four of them, though as Kat could judge from the scattered bones that had fallen across the ground, she could gather that at least a couple had been dealt with by the merchant's sons.

Kat hadn't uh, expected claws from the revenants or straight-up weapons from the bonewalkers. Made her a bit hesitant to jump straight to punching. So she gripped the hilt of her wakizashi and drew it, grinning widely as one of the bonewalkers noticed her. It let out a sort of “creaking” sound, like someone had slowly opened a door with rusted hinges. The sound not only alerted its fellow bones, but also the sacks of meat as well, each of them slowly turning their head to face the newcomers.

Show Time!

“Let's get cracking, big guy!” Kat didn't wait another second. She charged straight for the nearest Revenant, wakizashi held in front of her, and waited until she drew close to strike. The zombie drew an arm back in an almost lazy motion, but the strike was too slow to catch the Sacaen. She'd already run her blade across the side of its chest before it finished its own swing, and though she sliced off a slab of meat, the strike was uh...otherwise ineffective.

[Jalid Al-Qabbad]

So these were to be his foes. Frigid gaze drifted from one side of the wagon to another. The two men toting weathered blades fought valiantly it seemed. His sights setting on one of the corrupted flesh-piles that seemed to be attempting to rend at the slightly taller of the two sons with fetid claws. Kat had already rushed forwards with blade gripped and charged at one. Jalid? He walked.

THUD

There was a heavy meaty thud as he smashed his fist into his palm, grin etched upon his lips. His long slow stride punctuated every third step by another thud. Audibly announcing his presence as he began to observe the creature in greater detail. The smaller aspects about it. The way it moved. Slow...but strong. Jalid's smile widened a bit as he reveled in that fact.

Good. Let me break that strength with my own!

Jalid's left arm lifted as the creature slowly began to move away from the brothers, shuffling towards the new arrival at the attention drawn by the sounds of his golden gauntlet crashing into fleshy palm. It's arms began to rear back as it moved towards him. Jalid's poise shifted, as he reared back his right side and slid his left foot out before stomping it heavily into the ground. A small plume of dirt kicking up around his foot and dispersing an inch or two later. His right arm becoming vascular as muscles throbbed and he began to gather his might. The fiend's arm lifted high into the air, and Jalid's inhalation came out almost like a hiss, before he shouted loudly while he threw his fist forwards.


"KYAH!


The force of his punch instantly rippled through the body of the corpse. Bones breaking. Flesh sloughing off in small chunks onto his arm while the forearm was littered in scraps and chunks of foul rotting meat fell atop it. The scent was strong. However Jalid's elation as the beast flailed, before rising back from his punch with almost no visible struggle caused him to laugh as he lifted his left arm to brace for its strike. The claws ripping at the plated gauntlet of his with its last two fingers slicing easily through his flesh, the force of the blow sliding him back a few inches even.

"Haha...HAHAHA! Excellent beast!"

Jalid threw himself forwards with his body pivoting on his heel, as he swung with considerable force and brought his heel crashing into the side of the creatures shoulder. It's body buckled and was sent sprawling, the man's long leg completing the motion after forcing through its dead weight. He kept his foot in the air for a moment, before stomping it down and lifting his fists outwards and in-front of him with forearms clashing in a standard guard. The ring of his golden gauntlets singing before he braced himself and began to walk towards the creature again. He hadn't felt so alive in years.

[Deleted]

“Wh-what the? Who are you guys?” One of the merchant's sons cried out. Neither of them moved, their gazes fixed on their two impromptu heroes.

"We're the mother f**k**g cavalry!" Came Kat's swift response. It was...not inaccurate? Either way it was swift and that was what mattered most. Kat really didn't care much to pay attention to the two scapegoats (because really, that lard-ass merchant definitely left them there for that purpose). Instead her eyes were fixed onto her current opponent with all the focus of a predator. Like a hawk ready to descend on an unsuspecting fish. It was her foe who had the talons, however. Kat just had her blade...and her fists.

The revenant had turned around to face her, the other three apparently torn between approaching her and Jalid or descending upon the merchant's sons. As the creature lifted its arm to bring it down on Kat she, in turn, brought her wakizashi up in diagonal arc. However the blade had not been sharp enough to make a clean cut, instead it found itself lodged in the zombie's arm.

“Crap!” Kat cursed as she gripped the hilt of her blade with two hands. Slowly but surely the meaty-flesh bag pressed it's strength and weight down onto Kat, forcing her arms down. Her wrists became strained the more she attempted to resist, yet the beast's rotted talons drew closer and closer to her face. Before she let herself be scratched or worse, Kat turned her wrists to the side and shot a leg out at one of the creature's knees.

It's own weight through it off balance, but to the creature's credit it did not fall. Instead it gave a lumbering stumble forward while Kat stepped to the side. Her instincts overrode her logic and, despite the fact that she owned a blade, Kat's smile stretched into a grin as she drove her knee into the zombie's side. Had her opponent been a human they'd be left winded, likely even a bit nauseous, from the strike she had just delivered.

But all Kat had earned was a quiet groan, almost like some sort of lazy protest. The creature arced backward and allowed its long arms to swing freely. The bulk of its left arm caught Kat in the side, knocking her back a few steps closer to the wagon. Rather than curse again, though she merely continued to grin, even through the stinging pain that shot through her lower torso.

In the corner of her eyes she saw Jalid going balls deep against his own Revenant. The big guy didn't give a damn about their claws or weapons, he just went right at them fists first. Granted he had his own gauntlets to help him as well, but it just hyped Kat up even more. She wasn't down to get impaled by those talons, but she wanted to drive her fists straight through the flesh of these creatures.

However, as an arrow whizzed over her shoulder, nearly giving the half-Sacaen a f**k**g heart-attack, she snapped her head around and stared at the Bonewalkers. They were content to let the revenants do the hard work, but the archer still seemed more than eager to take some free shots all the same.

“Hey! Do you asshats want to do something about those boney bastards? Or are you just gonna stare at my ass all day?!” Kat snapped at the merchant's sons, startling them more than even the creatures did. Hey, Kat wasn't one for giving orders most of the time, but she sure as hell wasn't okay with getting shot in the ass by some skeletal prick. The two young men swung around the wagon, albeit with some reluctance, to engage or at least distract the bonewalkers.

Which meant Kat was free to REALLY cut loose.

“Come on then!” She roared as she charged her old foe. It had staggered a few feet closer to her, arms raised in preparation for round two.

And boy was Kat ready.

[Jalid Al-Qabbad]

Jalid's fist crashed into the corpses side once more as it raised its arm to strike. This time, smashing it to the ground from the downwards angle at the shoulder joint from which he struck. His muscles throbbing and his arm swollen from the taut nature of them while he smashed the undead monster to the ground. This time however, he did not leave it as such. He stomped his right foot onto its left arm, and then his other foot to the side and knelt down quickly. His arm raised, and smashed down into its rib-cage for the second time, smashing through the bones and obliterating most of its chest cavity before he retracted his fist and punched a second time. Striking for, and severing the spine of it with a loud shout. His hand gripping at another part and, with the loud ripping and cracking sound following, tore out his hand to hold one of the monsters column of vertebrae. 

These monsters do not register pain. It does not slow them. I love it.

He turned as Kat shouted for the brothers to fight something else. Jalid's figure already raising as more shuffling corpses approached. This time, he wanted to test himself further. So he clashed his balled fists together and closed his eyes. Tapping into some of the power within his stone, Jalid began to barely alter. Skin began to harden. His pupils converged to slit like designs and though almost impossible to notice, his nails sharpened. His hair took on very faint white streaks through it swirled within, and he felt his body strengthen. This time when he took his pose, and stomped his foot into the ground, a faint tremor in the immediate direction of the reverberating force could be felt. As if something of a great weight had took a lumbering step.

Merely to cut-loose, Jalid lunged forwards with a shout of ferocity and excitement as he extended his arms. Hooking the waist of the two undead flesh-bags nearest and slamming into them with the force of a charging bull before carrying them forwards briefly and slamming them with taut straightened arms to send them sprawling. Instead of falling forwards himself though Jalid leaned backwards, before stomping forwards once more and cocking his arm back to slam it down into one of the undead. Every ounce of might he could muster crashing through and obliterating a significant part of its upper torso. The second one hadn't even fully risen by the time it struck at him. This time though, his left arm intercepted it with far less of a wound, the nails barely carving through his flesh and rending much less blood as Jalid let loose a wild laugh.

"Ha, HAHA! My turn!" 

His left arm snapped forwards as he grabbed at the arm which had just struck him and smashed his right elbow down into it. Destroying but not severing the limb before he shoulder slammed into the corpse and sent it sprawling. Neither blow strong enough to put the monster down, or cause it harm since they felt no pain but its body moved significantly slower. Jalid's laugh at the rush of energy had barely scratched the surface of his true thrill felt from fighting such an enemy. As if he a child, and had been given a now toy.

[Deleted]

Rather than go for a simple slash like in her first charge, Kat instead crossed her sword arm over her chest. She held her sword in reverse grip, and palmed the rear of the blade's hilt with her free hand. As the creature before her raised its arms, the long limbs tossed backwards through the air, likely in preparation to be brought down on Kat once again, the half-Sacaen lunged at the creature. With a cry she drove her sword straight into the monster's chest. Her full body weight was pressed against the blade as she crashed into the zombie.

Even if the creature was larger than her the full force of her running jump had been enough to force it down onto its back, with Kat landing atop it. The creature's arms bent in a manner that should have left it screaming in agony, the long limbs crushed and folded beneath it's body. Yet it remained almost silent in the wake of Kat's attack.

It...right. Zombie. It felt no damn pain.

Before Kat could gather her bearings the zombie began to struggle greatly beneath her. Since it couldn't move its arms at all it instead just bucked its body up against Kat's. Before she could even make a suggestive joke the creature had hurled her off of itself, Kat landing on the ground next to the beast. It then, slowly, becan to sit up, a single eye transfixed on her as it did so.

“Like it rough, huh? Give me some warning next time.” Okay, she still got her joke in. Kat grinned as she pushed herself to her feet. Her damned sword was still embedded in the chest of the beast. It didn't even bother trying to remove it, hell it probably couldn't tell the weapon was even there. Heh...that was fine by Kat. She raised her fists and slid into a familiar stance. Left leg forward, right leg back. Left arm up and forward, right arm lower and drawn back in.

Even if the creature felt no pain it still seemed to have taken damage to its arms. Rather than lift them as it had before, it instead swung its body back, its limbs allowed to flail freely, as if broken. As such when it twisted its torso the first time, its arm collided against the face of a second revenant. There were FIVE of the fuckers, they were just slow to converge.

When the beast swung its body towards Kat, the same arm that had been thrown back was now whipped towards her head. Kat stepped forward and ducked beneath the blow, the creature's rotted talons flashing just above her head as she felt a rush of hair toss her hair about a bit. The creature could get a hell of a lot of power out of that swing, but it was even slower than before. And a HELL of a lot more choreographed.

So Kat closed the distrance while the creature recovered from its own swing. “Kiah!” She cried out as she drove a gauntlet-clad fist into the belly of the beasts. The force behind the blow, along with the admittedly squishy mash that was the zombie, pushed her fist surprisingly deep into the creature. A liquid that was putrid in scent, greenish-yellow in colour, began to flow from the wound. But Kat didn't give a damn, she just kept on grinning.

The half-Sacaen fed the beast two more punches from her other hand, each one drilling it's side. The first punch didn't impact the beast's body as her othe rone, but the second strike did the trick. More nasty fluid leaked from the wound, but ultimately neither seemed to cause the Revenant any sort of issue.

Instead it swung it's body again, the bulk of its arm slamming into Kat's side. She was tossed a few feet, her obliques stinging as she rolled across the grass and dirt. Damn...she'd gotten too freaking into it again. Causing it pain didn't help her a damned bit. Even if she could keep punching holes into its body she'd just tire herself out doing that. She needed to get he blade back...and go right for the creature's head.

She could hear Jalid's voice boom out over the ambient sounds of battle. Heh, sounded like the big guy was having a good time.

[Jalid Al-Qabbad]

Jalid's change grew slightly more drastic. Small segments of scale becoming emphasized beneath his gauntlets as his body fully adjusted to the energy he drew from his dragonstone. The Dragon's brow creasing as a hard crest like bone began to harden along it, while the dragon shouted wildly and threw himself at his undead foes once more. Large arms wrapping around the waist of the one he'd already begun to brutalize, slamming into its waist as it raised up its arm to strike. If only it's world hadn't suddenly gone through reversal first, as he threw it up into the air with a loud grunt and great exertion of strength. A quiet groan was the only sound it made as it flailed once through the air haplessly towards Jalid as it ascended several feet up.


It rose for another second longer before it started to come down. The other undead was rising from the prior strike, and Jalid latched the back of his arm after hopping up into air only to catch the thrown zombified fiend. With a great shout he gripped it by its leg and slammed it down with him as his arms throbbed from the exertion. Using both gravity and his considerable strength, he brought the revenant crashing down upon its fellow as the two bodies meatily smashed into one another. A small burst of pulped, tainted flesh sloshed about sloppily before Jalid extended one leg forwards and crashed his heel into the ground near the zombie. His hand raised with elbow bent into the sky, palm facing down towards the bestial undead before he let out a loud shout.


"GRRAAAAAAAAAAH!"


The dragon's fist slammed into the first undead atop the others with thunderous force. Palm first through the chest cavity of the first revenant. His palm undaunted as it crashed through the tougher jointed section of its ribcage while it punched directly into the rotting organs that were no longer of use. Thick chunks of pulped meat and rotting fluids bursting out while he continued the palm thrust through the corpse and into the second. Though by this point he'd met far more resistance and was stopped after fracturing the upper cavity of the rib-cage. It didn't stop him, once he'd extracted his fist, from picking up the corpse of the now second shattered one and tossing it to the side with a rough throw.


The lower one instantly flailing strong claws at the dragon, fell nails puncturing his shoulder and ravaging down the side of his back while the dragon roared in an initial burst of pain before he reached out and grabbed the arm with both large hands; throwing the zombie into the air and a few feet away where it landed with a meaty thud and began to rise. Grinning as the searing heat of his new wound burned like a fresh brand off the fires. He smashed his closed fists together again and started walking to it all the same, gaze hungry for more combat.

[Deleted]

Even as Jalid drew on more and more power, Kat was far too locked in her own little zone to acknowledge it. Even though she knew now the ticket to victory, she still noticed that two other Revenants slowly approached on her position. If they got too close to their buddy then Kat would find herself dancing with three of the fuckers, rather than just one.

If they were just humans? Hell to the f**k yeah she'd be down. Buuuut these bastards couldn't really be stunned or wounded, which meant she'd easily wind up overwhelmed by a three on one.

So Kat charged straight at the Revenant, an almost feral cry escaping her lips as her eyes narrowed. One could have thought her to be a Taguel, on the verge of shifting...that's what those cat people up in that magical island were called, right? Either way she sprinted full force up to the creature while it swung its torso to the side once again, readying its limp arm for another strike.

Kat gripped the hilt of her sword, still buried in the beast's chest, and using the momentum from her sprint she ripped it through the thick flesh of the creature. Even though she had begun to tear a downright nasty hole in the flesh bag, with more of that nasty vomit-looking fluid pouring forth, the beast didn't slow its following strike at all.

As the limp arm swung through the air to meet Kat's face she dove beneath it, tucking her arms and legs in as she hit the ground in a roll. As soon as she caught her footing she whirled around, breathing hard as more adrenaline pumped through her body. The beast was off-balance once again, unable to do anything other than put its full strength into those swings. Its back was to Kat, the creature for too slow to turn in time for her final strike.

“HYAAAAAAAH!” The half-Sacaen let out a feral scream as she threw herself upon the creature, full force. The momentum behind her run had been enough to knock the zombie onto the ground, face first, with Kat landing on its back. Immediately she scrambled, gripping her wakizashi before she knelt above the beast's back, the tip of her sword raised high above its head. With a loud grunt she drove the short-sword right through the fleshy head of the Revenant, cracking through whatever was left of its skull.

Yet the beast still moved. It twitched and attempted to flail beneath her, the resistance sparking more than just a surge of adrenaline in Kat. This...this was power. This was dominance.

Leaving her weapon in the back of the zombie's head she drove her right fist into the side of the creature's head. Kat repeated the punch again, and again, and again, each blow managing to land harder than the last. The meat and rotted bone that shaped the revenant's head began to collapse beneath the repeated pressure Kat applied, the flesh practically melting as she quite literally pounded its head to a pulp. The rotted remains of its brain matter began to leak out, shards of crushed bone flowing with it.

When Kat was sure the beast was dead she leaned over, panting a bit. Not quite from exhaustion, but...

“f**k YEAH!” But from the RUSH. Where were fights like THIS more often? Fights that left her sweaty, bloody, and f**k**g satisfied?! Kat felt so f**k**g alive!! Was a shame the revenants couldn't quite say the same.

Kat turned her head to take a look at Jalid, but instead what filled her vision was another stump of malformed flesh those revenants could call an arm.

Oh crap.

[Enemies: 3 Revenants, 4 Bonewalkers]