The Most Dangerous Game! (Adelaide)

[Adelaide]

Three down, potentially two to go... Adelaide thought as her heart continually hammered in her chest. She had forgotten how easy it was to get fatigued, especially after impromptu acrobatics like that, but then she recalled how soldiers became fatigued relatively quickly. Especially knights, who were, in essence, mobile steel hotboxes. She couldn't fathom all that perspiration pooling beneath the colossal mass of armor. The very thought brought her on the verge of wincing. Fortunately, she was a woman, and unlike most men, she prided herself on the fundamentals of grooming.

But that would have to wait. While Adelaide regained her composure briefly, Theo had taken the liberty of kicking the living daylights out of the mounted man and sent him careening into a nearby tree, but not before taking a couple of concerning gashes himself. C'est la vie, she surmised, as the ersatz ent proved the notion that his bark was indeed worse than his bite.

"And what was that about biting off more than you could chew?" Adelaide called, smirking. "All that's left is their leader. Do you think we could take him on? I have yet to see him, but I can hear the little bastard skulking around in the brush back there. Can you walk?"

Adelaide's shoulder pulsed with twinges of pain, but it was clear that the injury was not concerning save for an easily cleanable spell of stained breastplate. She did, however, had to ensure that it wouldn't become infected. Pus was a nasty, nasty bodily fluid.

Speaking of fluids, Theo appeared to be leaking them from his front shoulder and his front leg. Blood, of course. While enough to add a crimson tinge to his supposedly pristine coat, it was not enough to actually hurt him too much. Hopefully.

[Theodore]

"Hmph, tis' only a flesh wound!" he shouted, not wanting to let that comment slide without a reply. Looking at the woods, he could hear the man better than before... His heart was beating faster... Good, fear would give them an advantage over him. However, it'd be foolish for him to simply charge considering his injury, same for Adelaide and the fatigue she had earned thanks to that aerial stunt. They'd need to double team him to ensure the least amount of losses, who knew if that guy was more experienced than the others.

"Stay put, I'll drag him out of the woods and you can catch him there, a pincer attack in essence. Oh and do not worry over me, Lady Adelaide, this rabbit has had a lot worse than this."

With that, he sprinted off to the woods to the left. As he entered the thicket, he started to turn ever so slightly to the right to be able to come back around and catch the man off guard. He didn't however go in a straight line as it would be too easy for the man to see him coming. He also kept his noise at a minimum. Despite being a 900 pound beast, his legs could easily make him sound like a small deer galloping in the woods. On top of hearing his heartbeat earlier, it wasn't hard to smell the sweat and body odor coming from the leader. Probably didn't care much for personal hygiene if Theo had to guess...

Getting closer to him, Theo took a moment to get back to his human form. Sadly enough, the wound had cut his clothes too as he transformed back. The cut wasn't as deep thanks to body proportions, but it still hurt quite a bit. Continuing his move, he saw what looked like a hooded figure with a bow, staying put and looking for Theo. Only the rabbit noticed his enemy gladly, he still had the element of surprise, probably because the poacher was looking for a white 900 pound mass of fur and not a thin tophat wearing humanoid. Pulling out his bow, he wasn't able to aim properly thanks to his injury, but he was able to shoot an arrow into a tree right next to the man which was enough to make him bolt.

It all rested in Adelaide's hands now.

[Adelaide]

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Adelaide asked with some consternation laced within her tone. "And don't call me 'lady', Fluffy," she added haphazardly. "Adelaide's fine."

The plan was bound to come to fruition independent of Adelaide's control. She only had a graze plaguing her at the moment, whereas Theo's injuries were a little more burdensome, but not altogether serious. Still, Adelaide felt that her fatigue was subsiding, though it would be safer to attempt this pincer maneuver on foot. What appeared to be a hooded figure - no doubt the leader, began charging toward Theo. Adelaide could barely make out Theo returning to his human form after he ran in an erratic pattern to confuse the hooded figure. The figure appeared to be reaching for a sword of some kind, perhaps iron. However, Theo had missed his shot, though Adelaide heard the distinctive splitting of bark and the sound of rushing footsteps.

"Leader's a damn coward," Adelaide observed, huffing. She assumed a combat stance, attempting to use a thicket as a means of subterfuge. If she was able to surprise him just as he rounded the oak tree...

It didn't work. As Adelaide jumped from the thicket with her lance in tow, she felt the myrmidon parry the blow and swipe at her right thigh. She felt the white-hot iron blade cut into her flesh - deeper this time, no doubt - and her form went awry. Panting, she righted herself almost instantly, with some effort.

"Come, missy, I heard you you just said about me! Best keep your petty little insults to yourself, eh? Now, tell me where your big furry friend went, or I'll cut you to ribbons!"

"Transformed," Adelaide replied simply, finding the strength to stand at last. Her entire right leg convulsed with pain. She'd have to sort that out later. "He's a taguel. And you're soon to be a carcass. Don't take it personally. En garde!"

With all her might, Adelaide thrust herself into combat stance again as the myrmidon aimed another swift strike. This time, Adelaide was able to deflect it with the side of her lance, and attempted a lunge. The myrmidon swiftly blocked that, too, but his form was slipping, as Adelaide, despite her injury, was able to block the next series of strikes.

The skirmish raged on for about forty seconds. It was a bit of a conundrum; the myrmidon was swift and precise, whereas Adelaide was slow yet powerful. Neither side appeared to have a distinctive advantage over the other, until...

Adelaide pivoted on the spot, gritting her teeth, on the verge of screaming from the pain flaring up her right leg, as the myrmidon aimed an oddly predictable blow at her middle. Using the momentum from her pivot, Adelaide jammed the wooden side of her lance-handle into the man's chest, taking him completely by surprise. The force sent his blade flying from his grasp and knocked him off balance. Without wasting another second, Adelaide drew back and plunged the tip into his sternum, finally killing him instantly. She had won.

Wobbling, Adelaide slumped against a nearby tree. Astoria hissed some yards away, attempting to crawl next to her. She finally inspected herself: her shoulder had for the most part stopped bleeding, but her thigh was streaming steadily. The sword hadn't struck a vein, thankfully, but it had come awfully close. Neither injury was grievous, thankfully.

"Vulnerary," she mumbled, fumbling with her satchel to find it and a poultice. Surely Theo had heard the commotion and its subsequent ending. She listened for the familiar flurry of footsteps as she began nursing her wounds.

[Theodore]

Closing in on the leader to see what was about to happen, Theo stayed on position, bow at the ready if an opening showed itself. As Adelaide tried to surprise the sword wielder, she was met with a swift counterattack and a nasty cut to the thigh. Dammit, they're too close together for me to take a shot! Theodore was getting more and more irritated as he could only watch with his arrow ready to fly out of his bow. With his injury, his accuracy was too inconsistent to safely try and attack the poacher without a risk of hurting Adelaide as well. Not only that, but running towards them would be too long and any more running in his bunny form would probably aggravate his already bleeding shoulder... Ugh, he couldn't believe he let himself get hurt that easily... Some humans truly were disgusting despite them being entertaining to watch.

As she landed the final blow, Theodore finally took a breather as he stopped pulling on the bowstring, pain in his shoulder intensifying slowly when he stopped solicitating the muscle. Running back at a brisk pace, he reunited with Adelaide who was now resting on a tree. She was in every way possible the pure definition of "tired". Watching her trying to pull out a vulnerary, a surprisingly interesting medicinal ointment Theodore had discovered when he came here, he decided to crouch down next to her:

"Hold on, let me take care of that, it'll be easier if I do it. I scratch your back, you scratch mine?"

He felt strange saying those words. Normally back on Vinland, he was much more cold to his companions, the rare moments he did have companions... To him, seeing a friend in danger like this would only make him chuckle a bit as he told the person all that he did wrong during the fight. However, seeing Adelaide's act of altruism by helping him with the poachers, he somehow felt that being nice for once would not be a bad idea... Wouldn't stop his immense sassiness from slipping in a joke or two sadly:

"And you're soon to be a carcass? You were trying to sound cool back there?" he said sarcasticly while chuckling to himself.

As he finished bandaging the wound the best he could with what he had, he then turned to present his right shoulder as he took off his overcoat followed by the shirt he unbuttoned halfway to take out his arm out of the sleeve which now had a gaping hole... And I had paid top gold for that... The gash was pretty bad actually. Blood had already started to dry all over his shoulder. Ugh, who decided that javelins were a good idea?

"Alright then, I gotta ask your help with this if you could. I don't think I can properly clean the wound by myself sadly..."

[Adelaide]

Adelaide had been huffing so hard that she had barely heard Theo's sauntering footsteps approaching. She had been focusing on the thrum of her pulse and breathe a sigh of relief when her heart rate was finally beginning to slow down. That bout ranked among one of the harder bouts in terms of one-on-one combat. As she reminisced about her far earlier battles, Theo had offered to help Adelaide tend to her wound.

"No, I got it," she said somewhat ashamedly. However, her grip wasn't quite as limber as it had been, and the vulnerary and poultice nearly slipped from her fingers. Just as well, she surmised, since they were covered in blood belonging both to her and to her downed opponents. Adelaide resisted the urge to facepalm.

"Fine," she said in a curt voice. "But only because my grip is slippery at the moment! Just make it quick." With that, Adelaide reluctantly tugged off her thigh-plate, revealing tan leggings stained with blood. She allowed Theo to apply the vulnerary and poultice to her injuries from this perspective; the tunic was cut such that the gash was clearly visible. She loathed accepting assistance from anyone other than Astoria, and she was merely a wyvern with no opposable thumbs. She viewed it as selfish, and she'd sooner die with a spear in her hand than die knowing she was a burden to someone else. She didn't like to admit it, but she cared about strangers from time to time. Selfless acts of kindness were the bane of her existence, however; what manner of talisman would weigh down her stomach if she were helped and didn't swallow her unwavering pride? Additionally, what if she was expected to return the favor? She knew she had better things to do. However, this predicament was different.

In any event, she figured that this eye-for-an-eye arrangement was inescapable. She could probably walk with a slight limp, but Theo's wound was a tad more concerning. After Adelaide had been tended to, she furrowed her brow, but ultimately nodded in response to Theo's plight. She then cleaned the wound and applied the poultice, bandaging the wound to the best of her ability. She wasn't frightfully good at this, but she had learned a few tricks in the Bernese military.

"Mkay. This shouldn't fester... hopefully. I think we're good."

[Theodore]

The vulnerary worked... But god did it sting! He could've almost started to hop around the forest like a madman if his better judgement didn't tell him to just bear it until she was finished. Theodore could definitly tell that she really was a soldier with the way she had patched him up and her whole attitude during the whole thing. She was surprisingly for almost dying a few minutes ago. Ok, maybe that was a bit too much but she did run a good chance of actually not leaving this battlefield... So did Theo actually. Hmph, well everything's good now, no need to start regretting what I did. As she released his arm, he started to button back his shirt and taking off his hat which he had forgotten he still had on. Sitting next to the tree, he looked at Adelaide and said:

"I sure am lucky that you came in at the right time. Guess what you people say about lucky rabbit feet are correct eh?"

Feeling his arm pulse with pain, he knew that things could've been a lot worse. If he had been alone, no way he could've taken care of five ennemies at once despite being a 900 pound rabbit. After that injury he wasn't even able to aim straight, he dreaded the couple of days he'd have to go without the complete use of his appendages. Looking up to the sky, Theodore started to think about if coming to this place was a good idea... Oh who am I kidding, I LOVE THIS PLACE! Getting a bit hurt is a small price for the best show in existence! Wars! Religion! Arts and music! Humans are so interesting! Who cares if I get a scar or two to watch them go?

"Man, to hunt down and try to kill me simply for a few coins... You humans sure have an interesting way of looking at things than where I come from." he said, looking over at Adelaide, curious about how she'd react.

[Adelaide]

Adelaide did not readily meet Theo's gaze as she dressed his wound. The duo had escaped near-certain death, at the very least. Adelaide had learned during her time in the army to never assume she would be leaving the battlefield alive, much less unscathed. If anything, this was a wake-up call. She sighed absentmindedly as her thigh flared into an intense sting, but gradually began to quell itself out as the vulnerary began to do its work. Still, it would probably be wise if she didn't overexert herself for a couple of days. She even debated on setting up camp nearby, despite the fact that she hadn't brought any of the essentials for it. Still, they had Astoria lounging nearby, who had now taken the lack of combat as a sign of regard.

"Save your breath, Fluffy, I don't believe in your little figures of speech. I was saving myself too," Adelaide explained. "I probably would've died if you hadn't dispatched a couple of them beforehand, so I suppose... yeah. Thanks."

She rolled her scratched shoulder absentmindedly and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't pulse with pain like it had done before. The thigh gash, however, would take a little longer to heal.

"You humans, huh? Is Vinland really that different from here?" Adelaide asked, bemused a tad. "Do you even use gold there? I thought killing people for money was as old as humanity itself. Then again, I bet you'll argue that you're not human, so it wouldn't apply."

[Theodore]

Aw man, but I like my figures of speech... They make everything seem so much more elegant!he thought sarcasticly to himself. Wow, he was even giving sass to his own brain! Now that's some dedication.

Hearing her mention Vinland brought back a few memories for the taguel. He remembered how boring everything was. Especially when he was still living with his family in their nomadic tribe. No time to waste on things that didn't relate on survival... What's the point of living if everything we do is simply to live another day and do the same thing without anything to keep us entertained? He could still remember those last few weeks he spent there and how his father and mother would endlessy berate him for wanting to do something else with his life. Already at around 14 years of age, he had already left his home to join a village of civilised taguels where he learned how to be a blacksmith on top of other important skills such as making traps, woodcarving and plenty of other skills befitting an artisan.

Shaking his head to stop thinking about all of those memories, he decided to actually answer Adelaide's question instead of just standing there with a melancolic look on his face: "Oh, taguel-kind is much different than humanity. Comparing our societies, for example, would be equivalent to children trying to copy their parents. Except for one or two bigger towns, most of Vinland is either nomadic groups or very small and rare communities of sedentary taguels such as myself. Gold or any currency was never something I saw or heard the concept of since most of our trading resumed itself to simple ressources such as food and tools which you can easily trade without giving exact monetary values. So yeah, we're pretty different...

Also we're giant animals, that's also the biggest difference just in case I needed to reaffirm that statement" he let out with a sarcastic look on his face.

[Adelaide]

"Thanks. Hadn't gathered that for myself," Adelaide retorted, gathering the slightest twinge of sass in her voice. She was a tad too tuckered out to bring more emphatic meaning to the words. Like Sacae, she heard her mind telling her, recalling the geographical training she had received during her initial conscription into the Bernese military.

"So, trading. Hmph. Lacks the shiny clink of gold, if you ask me. Seems like more trouble than it's worth," she said thoughtlessly. "I mean, no money at all? That sounds like both a good and bad thing." She recalled a robbery at the royal treasury in Bern some years back - not a massive heist, but a practiced thief had been looking to get his mittens dirty on something other than food or drink. A small volume of gold had been lost, though the thief was quickly apprehended and sentenced to death. Yet it made Adelaide wonder if all the greed in the world was truly worth it, or if money was simply a means to an end. To Theodore, that seemed nigh implausible.

Suppose society could retrograde in such a way, then Adelaide would essentially be out of work. Being a mercenary was enough for her to eat periodically yet not consign herself to a stationary day-in-day-out job, such as blacksmithing or merchanting. Being a mercenary meant that she could exert due independence and see new places from the air while still making enough, though infrequent, money.

"I guess you must think we're all greedy savages," Adelaide confessed half-sarcastically.

[Theodore]

"Oh well don't feel too bad. I find that almost everybody, human and taguel, are all equally stupid. The reasoning behind that claim is the only thing that changes depending on the group I'm talking about." he said, his normally sarcastic tone taking the slightest bit of seriousness, knowing that would be enough to show he was being serious with what he was saying. Theo slowly got up to let himself still lean on the tree with his back.

"Though I will say this Adelaide" he then said, as a genuine smile formed on his lips. "Some of you... Well most of you may be greedy like those ones over there, but I don't think I'll ever say that your are savages. Live in Vinland your entire life and you'll know what savagery really is. You people have some of the most complex cities with amazing concepts and inventions such as art, music, poetry and even government and royalty! All of these things you people have invented to structure your society are definitly signs of great knowledge, something contradictory to savages." However, Theodore did think pretty hard that knowledge did not equal maturity but getting into that argument would probably only lenghthen a result that will be the same anyway. Better to simply stick with low-key insults to the church than to go and talk directly about how religion is a pretty stupid concepy in general and in most cases.

"So yes, you are greedy. But savage? No way, that's impossible when I look at your continent's sense of aesthetics. And really, don't you need greed if you want to have enough determination to achieve your goals and reap the results? Sometimes simply doing what is right is the best thing to do. You humans follow that rule pretty damn well which might actually explain why you've seen to have created so much on this continenT.

"Bu I'm curious Adelaide... Do YOU think you species is filled with disgusting monsters or do you have a more positive outlook in general?.

[Adelaide]

"Stupid but equal... hmph. Now there's a philosophy I can get behind," retorted Adelaide snarkily. "Humans can be downright savage. You ever seen the darkest sides of war, Theo? The war in Bern is over now, but war can turn even the most uppity preacher-man into a hardened fighter. I've never even heard of Vinland, but I imagine the taguel have their own issues to worry about."

Astoria stifled a rhotic yawn that sounded like something along the lines of rrrrrrrrr. Then she drooped her wings and looked quite calm, as she would often do before settling into a shallow nap.

"I think there's a monster in all of us," confessed Adelaide. "I mean, I'm certainly no cup of tea, I get that. I'm loud and independent and hate a lot of things, and I have a tendency to think with my lance instead of my brain sometimes. And I'm not going to wag a finger at war for making me this way. I think people have always been callous and cold. That's just the way it is. Didn't help that people have been utter dung to me in the past."

Adelaide shook her head. "I don't suppose I have much of a positive outlook on anything... makes you feel less tempted to expect or rely on things."

[Theodore]

Looking towards the wyvern as she started to get drowzy, Theo was already forgetting the grudge he was supposed to have against the thing that tried to eat him... Eh, guess he was a big softie when it came to animals... Well, non-taguel animals to be more specific.

"So you're a pessimist through and through and on top of that, you've actually accepted that side of you without falling into a depressive state... Heh, guess I wrongly analysed you Adelaide. I didn't realise that your situation is actually quite similar to mine. Though we might not have reached the same end point personnality wise, it seems like people's negative and downright awful words and actions have shaped the both of us into who we are today. My family's traditionalist views made me want to rebel which is a big reason for why I learned how to be a blacksmith and why I'm travelling Elibe. I also lost any kind of attachment to well... everything: familial bonds, values, ideals. All of those things went down the drain the longer I saw how meaningless things like war and conflict are, especially when it is done for made up reasons such as vanity and pride. People who disguise the fact they're serving their basic need for power and control by trying to argue that they're doing it in the name of a higher purpose such as justice are simply cowards towards who they really are.

Getting back to the comparison I was making, but do remember that this just me speculating, it seems like the war and the darker side of humanity iself has also shaped you into a darker and more pessimistic individual..."

After that lenghthy reflection, Theodore let out a long sigh. Lifting his head up a bit he started to laugh out loud with a soft voice.

"Now isn't that simply just a funny coincidence..."

[Adelaide]

Adelaide couldn't help but let out a rueful chuckle. She hated the notion, wanted to deny its existence - the notion that Theodore hit the nail right on the head. She surmised that now was as good a time as any, or perhaps the side-effects of the vulnerary were kicking in coupled with her general feelings of malaise.

"It's not that I want to be pessimistic. It's that I have no choice in the matter. I don't know why you came here, but if you haven't noticed, poachers and bandits are preening themselves with promises of gold and riches and who knows what else. Being human is kind of a drag, really..." Adelaide mused, trailing off, her voice a touch less intense in clarity. Then she spoke again with renewed fervor: "I was... pretty damn poor growing up. Sick a lot too. I'm not convinced my lungs have fully recovered from whatever crap ailed them when I was a girl. So I didn't have the luxury to optimistic about things. I was always known as 'that sickly girl' or 'that poor girl', so by default, people avoided me. I suppose that's why I'm so independent now... I never needed or wanted anyone else. I always assumed that people were too heartless to give a bloody damn."

She didn't know why she was telling Theodore all of this. Her exposition was incidental, and she especially didn't want to relegate herself to saying something trite like 'it made her the woman she was today'. She did what any person would do when gauging the tension of a conversation and changed the subject.

"So, a blacksmith, huh? Do you work with materials like iron and steel or is it different in Vinland?"

[Theodore]

Well, she definitly had the backstory that fitted with her personnality... As he kept listening to her, Theo strangely didn't feel compassion or pity for her. Instead, he was simply impressed that she was opening up to him so easily. Normally, Theodore has to analyse and deduce the truth about people by methodically piecing everything together until a coherent life story can be made. Well she's definitly interesting, I'll say that much. he thought to himself. Not many people he knew were so upfront about things like that.

Seeing that she was trying to change the ssubject, Theodore decided to let it pass since she had already told him so much of her own will. She seemed actually seemed to be curious about Theo's profession surprisingly. Of course, his passion for blacksmithing was strong enough that the mere mention of it would make him start a huge explanation about the subject:

"Oh, well not exactly you see... Metals are quite rare in Vinland since we don't have the technology to create mines to find ore stuck in the earth's crust. Actually, a great majority of the weapons I've made have usually been wooden bows, with only the smalest amount of iron to strengthen it. For armor, I really did anything very complex. Not like taguels feel they need a lot of protection when they can shift into giant beasts like bears and lions. I did make a couple of daggers and lances, pretty much whatever didn't require a lot of metal. Our only supply was iron sand which could be found on the surface. And I doubt you have knowledge about how smelting ore is like, but let me tell you that iron sand is probably the most furstrating material to work with hands down... Though that challenge did help me master my craft. You guys have it way too easy with how simple it is to buy litteral INGOTS of metal! Human technology impresses me once again with that one."

Looking towards Adelaide, he grinned slightly before adding:

"Give me a few months and I'll topple whoever your greatest blacksmith in Bern is, just you watch!" he said, multiplying his "grandiose" overall attitude by an absurd level. Not only that but the pose he took by bringing his hand up to his face really added to the whole show.

[Adelaide]

"You've probably noticed it's the opposite here," piped up Adelaide. "Metal is dominant, and wood is usually used for handles." She paused at the wily mention of the abundant ore which could be formed into ingots easily. She had taken those for granted since... well, iron seemed as common as oxygen. Even steel, which could be argued is merely reinforced iron, was common throughout the ranks of various militaries. Especially that of Bern's.

"Oh, you're entering into a competition that I can't even be a part of? Heh. I'd try and one-up you but I don't know the first thing about smithing. Tell you what though: make me the best lance you could envision and let me use it one day! I'll skewer 'em like never before!" the brown-haired wyvern rider teased. Astoria let out another half-asleep snort. She surmised that the wyvern had some semblance of a sense of humor, but it was hard to quantify. They had been acquainted several moons prior, but it would not be appropriate to employ the term "expert" here.

It was at that moment that Adelaide realized that if she took off on Astoria right now and went as high as she could, she still wouldn't be able to find the pinnacle of Theodore's ego. So grandiose was he, that the stratosphere couldn't find a home for it! Eons from now there would be humans scattered throughout the cosmos and the ballooned remains of Theodore's grandiosity would be an intergalactic landmark. Except Adelaide had no such concept of the word, so one might have to wonder how it came about in the first place.

Anyway, the afternoon was turning pewter by the time Adelaide and Theodore had finished their discussion on metals. Adelaide turned to him and asked, "I can only imagine Vinland is a long way away. Where were you staying if you're this far inland?"