Aerious
Manakete
The Foul Destroyer
It takes pressure and time to make diamonds.
Posts: 496
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Post by Aerious on Sept 6, 2012 22:13:41 GMT -6
Aerious saw Veigue run off, and followed suit while slightly rolling his eyes. He glanced back to Nayru, as if to say [red]'Coming?'[/red]. It wasn't too long before they were in the village, and Aerious just sighed. So many other forces against them, and people had to fight among each other. Such a waste of potential...of promise.
Magnus stopped for a moment, speaking with a child, and then ran off deeper into the town. Chasing down death, and leaving life behind? He'd have a long way to go until he could learn to harness that emotion of his. When the human ran off, the girl noticed them, and shyed away again. Aerious dropped to a knee, to be closer to the child so she wouldn't be quite so intimidated. He raised his hands up as he slowly walked in her direction. When she started to back away, he stopped.
[red]"I don't want to hurt you little one."[/red] He spoke softly. [red]It is not safe here. We need to go find friends."[/red] He didn't speak any more as he moved closer to the child, scooping her up with relative ease. One might have expected the child to recoil from this stranger, but she didn't speak a word and allowed him to hoist her up. [red]"Nayru, the villagers here likely got together in a place they could easily defend. That is where I need to be going. But Magnus, he's running out there like a kid. Would you be able to watch over him while I find some survivors?"[/red]
Putting Nayru into combat might not have been wise, but he needed to know early on if she had serious control issues. That could be dangerous and...as horrifying as it was to say, at least here the damage could be minimized. It was already destroyed and mostly dead.
As he stood there, the young blond girl in his arms waiting for an answer, one might have wondered why he didn't seem bothered by the situation all that much.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Sept 12, 2012 6:37:04 GMT -6
"...Such savagery."
Her heart bled to see the atrocities laid bare in the burning village - lifetimes of work eradicated within minutes, the legacies of families and individuals alike swallowed in the all-consuming flame. Stories that could no longer continue, if they still existed at all in the hearts and minds of the survivors; mere footnotes in a history of constant brutality. Casualties sacrificed in the name of greed, of profit - but how much real profit could there be in a farming village? How many pieces of tainted silver, of cursed gold? Such a waste, and for so little.
The only sound that escaped her was a guttural growl, but another flash of silvery-blue light reflected in the lurid hues of the ravenous flames, a silent reminder of what was truly within, clawing for escape.
Washing the ugly scowl off her face by sheer willpower, her face contorting for a moment before reaching equilibrium, Nayru reminded herself yet again of how important it was that she not give in to weakness - that no matter how weak she might be, how flawed, she could still hold the well-being of others to be more important than giving in to her vile urges. If nothing else, she would not lower herself to the level of the subhuman trash that had caused all of this.
She would have said something to the girl, tried to comfort her as she had Veigue, but the instant their eyes met, the child shrank into Aerious, uncomprehending but ravenous fear illuminated in her eyes. The smile that crossed the dragon's lips as she turned away was equal parts wry and bitter; even if the girl could not comprehend much of the situation, even if Aerious was capable of exponentially more devastation than she - humans were so very good at sensing threats when they did not intentionally cloud their eyes with lies and arrogance.
It still stung a little.
"Understood."
Spinning in place as if it hide her face, Nayru strode after Veigue with measured steps, taking momentary solace in the structured consistency of her movement. Something she could still control - a beacon of order in the midst of chaos. Her long strides enabled her to catch up in short order, ignoring the hissing fires in an attempt to catch the subtle evidence of human movement around them. Her face was hard, molded in granite; a return to the persona she had shown the world before - her. Elly.
-But now was not the time. Not even the crackling embers and groaning support beams could mask the sound of movement to her enhanced senses; while she had nowhere near Aerious's control, a predator's instincts held true regardless of which form a dragon chose to take. "...We are not alone. Be ready."
Where would the first attack come from?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2012 14:45:34 GMT -6
Finally calming down a bit, Veigue took a deep breath and exhaled, becoming a lot more relaxed than his tense state moments ago. He still could not forgive this slaughter though.
When Nayru arrived and warned him, he stood his ground and focused as strongly as possible, as he didn't particularly hear anything yet. Either his new acquaintance may have been hearing things over the blazing flames or she must've had extremely heightened senses. Nevertheless he had to be prepared for the worse.
Mere seconds later, Veigue could finally hear footsteps in the dirt of the streets. There were definitely people near them...in fact, he heard them in all corners. He couldn't help but listen carefully to the sounds and speed of pace the footsteps were making. They were slow paced and they were more like stomping than walking. No doubt about it this time. While they were being sneaky, they weren't doing a very good job at it so far.
Soon, he heard only a few of the steps picking up running speed to their left. He turned around to see a bandit leap from the corner in between the two burning buildings that they were really close to. His target was without a doubt the first person closest to him.
"Nayru! Behind you--"
He wasn't safe either. Another bandit jumped out behind him while his back was turned to Nayru. He turned around slightly just enough to block the incoming axe with his already drawn sword. They both halted and were struggling to overpowered each other, like what happened before out in the plains. But this time, Veigue had to release himself with a slight push on the axe and flipped to the side to get some breathing room in between the enemy and himself, due to not being able to put all his strength into the parry.
Before he or his enemy moved, he could hear the rest of the footsteps picking up running speed as well. Looks like this was the part where he said it would begin to get pretty nasty from this point on...
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Sept 29, 2012 19:29:39 GMT -6
"...Noted."
The fetid air of the burning village burned her lungs as Nayru took in a deep breath, slamming her leading foot into the ground in a plume of dust to establish her defense. No weakness. No quarter. The executioner's axe was already falling, the bandit having taken a running leap from the rafters to finish the job in one fell stroke.
Her hands came together with a thunderclap, open palms simultaneously slamming against each side of the axe like a vise, illuminated in a shimmering shower of sparks. The growing look of horror on her attacker's face was interrupted by her shoulder, the principles of gravity he had initially held as an ally revealing themselves now as the inexorable force driving him headlong into disaster. It was the work of an instant to rip his arm from its socket, a grinding screech of bone on bone echoing before she drove an elbow through his skull.
The lifeless corpse slid limply to the ground, the dragoness already driving the axe into the closest support beam she could find in an attempt to disorientate the group closing in on the two defenders. A massive spray of sparks and charred cinders blanketed the area as the already-precarious structure, finally stressed past its breaking point, collapsed in an impressive display of pyrotechnics, showering the battlefield in heat and smoke.
Nayru, for her part, kept her eye on the prize; as soon as it was within reach she grabbed one of the broken rafters, already alight but still relatively unscathed by the flames consuming its brethren. After an experimental heft, she brought it around in a sweeping arc, smashing through the two nearest bandits to the grisly accompaniment of rending flesh and breaking bones... and breaking wood.
Woops.
Apparently it hadn't been quite as unscathed by the destruction as she had hoped.
Ah well, c'est la vie!
The group closing in on them was larger than she had at first expected, half a dozen bandits lusting after their blood; she considered being slightly ashamed of herself for only having been aware of their general approach rather than exact numbers, but pragmatically decided to worry about it after butchering the lot of them. Well - most of them.
"We should spare one or two for questioning." Her voice was low, throaty; the dragoness's diction was still flawless, but there was a hint of raw emotion creeping into her normally-detached voice, a primal anger that coated her tones in frigid ice. "...If possible."
Maybe she would leave that part to him, she decided.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2012 22:04:09 GMT -6
(No prob. We all have RL situations that prevents constant activity, so it's all cool.)
Veigue went a quick round with the bandit that took him by surprise, taking advantage of the fact that he has the upper hand in terms of weapons. When he blocked an incoming attack with his slim sword, he performed a strong parry that cleanly knocked the enemy's axe out of his hand. He then makes a huge step past him and swung his blade rapidly, hitting his vital points in his mid-area. The ragged man had no choice but to fall backwards and suffer from excessive bleeding until he eventually die.
He managed to meet side-by-side with Nayru shortly after dropping his enemy, as well as taking note of the sudden change around them and nodding to Nayru as she suggested to leave a couple of them alive. The air was a lot more plagued with smoke from the burning buildings that are collapsing around them. It was becoming difficult to even see or breath, but he endured and stood in stance to prepare himself for their next attack. While only half a dozen of them, that's still twice as many as they've fought at once today. He figured trying to pick them off one-by-one alone will not make this go by any faster, nor make it any easier. But the Sacaean swordsman had a few tricks up his sleeve that could make this easier that involved working together with Nayru, placing a slight smirk on his face...something rarely seen from even him. However, none of that was going to work if these bandits continue crowding up on them. He had to break their formation quickly.
This was beginning to be a daring move when the majority of them charged head-on like bulls, but he had to have faith in his agility, otherwise he'd die here and now. However, moving at the speed to intercept all three out of the six that charged is the most difficult part, as they were coming from different angles. But he noticed in slight slow motion that their running speed individually wasn't entirely in sync with another...meaning some are slower than each other, giving him just a split second between each movement to shield Nayru and himself from a crowded battle and for his plan to flow perfectly!
Seeing as the one trying to attack Nayru from behind was the fastest out of the three, he darted himself at that one first to throw them all off entirely, smashing his sword upon the axe, then delivering a strong enough parry to knock him off his feet. He took a deep breath, then circled around Nayru as fast as he possibly could, successfully doing the same thing to the next bandit, but the blow from his sword caused the axeman to spin around 360 degrees, but only once. The man was only stunned for a brief few seconds to regain his balance.
Veigue moved quickly again, and he barely made it. Though he was trapped in a weapon lock once again. He figured he could handle this one, but as he wrestled with the man, he turned his head slightly to Nayru, placing a small smile on his face before pushing the bandit off him. The bandits he hit were still recovering, but they were nonetheless vulnerable to anything she could dish out that would finish them off. Though they had the other three who were totally unharmed to worry about...
"They're all yours."
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Aerious
Manakete
The Foul Destroyer
It takes pressure and time to make diamonds.
Posts: 496
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Post by Aerious on Oct 1, 2012 7:22:19 GMT -6
Aerious watched Nayru run off, and sighed for a moment. Ah the vigor and recklessness of youth. Maybe after seeing this for the hundreth time she'd stop being ruled by her emotions with it.
Maybe not. But as he thought about this, he felt the child shifting in his arms, right. He had other things to be concerned with now. [red]"Hold on, little one. I'll get you somewhere safe."[/red] He spoke, holding her snugly as he tapped into his stones power.
With a single bound, he took them from the ground up to the top of a building. The girl eeped in surprised, but clung to the dragon never-the-less. Aerious stood on top of the building, looking at the devastation, and tried to make out the landscape. Most of the buildings were on fire or destroyed, but one to the north seemed to still be in decent shape. Large house, likely the mayors or something like that. Aerious jumped back down to the street, landing softly to try and minimize the shock to the poor girl. Rooftop running wasn't his best skill, and with his power and their weak structure, he might fall through. He'd be fine with that, but the girl probably wouldn't come out of it as healthy.
And so, he went there the old fashioned way, running through the streets trying his best to dodge combat and detection along the way. Some things were more important then punishment. Recovery, survival, they were the important things.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Oct 1, 2012 12:47:31 GMT -6
Veigue blurred into motion, his path marked by the dancing silver of naked steel and the harsh scrape of blade on blade, occasionally marred by the lurid splatter of rent flesh and dripping blood. Poetry in motion - and far more than she had expected out of him, if she was to be honest. Nayru studiously ignored the possibility of her simply being jealous that he was faster than her, realizing that with her element of surprise as a "defenseless" unarmed woman gone, the situation was likely to get messy; she had not expected so many bandits at once, and there were more gradually converging on their position. "Good work." The roaring flames and collapsing buildings would be the duo's favor, she realized: the sounds of their battle would not carry as far or accurately as they would have in a normal fracas, and the wreckage of the village would slow their advance.
Still, that only delayed the inevitable, and they could not take on an army of bandits as they were. She could - but no, that would cost far more than she was willing to accept. Human form it was for the time being, then. This would call for more accuracy than the gargoyle fight, though...
Power flowed through her body as Nayru's stance shifted, effervescent flickers of essence momentarily joining the embers of the air as her leading foot slammed into the ground again. Against this many foes, she needed an unbreakable defense more than suicidal offense, so Mantis form was her only option. Small movements, watching and waiting - not all of the bandits had been cowed by Veigue's display, and two were already striking, the jagged steel of a well-worn axe descending upon her as a sword-wielding bandit approached, lagging slightly behind.
So be it.
Silver light illuminated the shadows for a brief instant as steel met the ornate gold of her bracers - and the soft, valuable metal simply failed to yield, bolstered by something... more. Nayru spared little time for aesthetics, capitalizing on the bandit being inside her guard; she exploded into action, her inhuman strength rebounding the axe even as the impact lent her momentum to spin in place, rotating her one hundred eighty degrees and allowing her to bring the elbow of the blocking arm into the solar plexus of her attacker; even with much of her power already being directed elsewhere to steady her body and prepare for the oncoming sword, the strike was enough to blast her brigand backwards, flailing uselessly in disbelief. A thin smile tugged at her lips - that had been the first one Veigue had disoriented, and while he had managed to recover remarkably well, his assault had fared no better this time.
The blade fairly sang as it lanced through the air, the second bandit settling for a vicious thrust that would be extremely difficult to block, and so she simply leaned backwards almost imperceptibly, unconsciously remembering the words of her sifu, the man - the human - who had taught her Mantis in the first place; remain remote, though unapproachable. Small, precise movements that seem too small to warn of danger - but when the prey comes too close, strike with blinding speed and savage strength.
That was something she could do!
One hand latched on to the surprised swordsman's armo just below the shoulder as the other closed around his wrist with a grip of iron, his bones already groaning under the mounting force. Before he could begin to struggle, she forced his arm down even as her knee erupted upwards, instantly shattering his elbow in a horrific cacophony of disintegrating bone. The blade fell from his ruined hand as her grip intensified, grinding it to dust.
"No more," she whispered. Never again would he take an innocent's life with that hand. Blood for blood; that of the innocents who had stained it before now joined by his own in grisly atonement. With contemptuous ease, she hefted her victim over her shoulder, hurling him to the ground hard enough the body bounced back into the air with a strangled gasp, arcing in Veigue's general direction as she refocused on the fight. Her voice was clarion, her tone sharp but perfectly clear as the volume rose. "Veigue! Incoming!"
[OOC: she sent both of the guys throughout the post in Veigue's general direction, up to you what you do with that. This is starting to get a bit long so cutting it a little shorter than I'd originally planned.]
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2012 16:39:31 GMT -6
The clashes of weapons from the swordsman and bandit raged on for several seconds. Veigue continuously struck the axeman's weapon to keep the pressure going, but then he heard Nayru's voice, followed by an incoming bandit. With his quick reaction time, he dodged to his right from the enemy's axe and rammed himself into the fighter with all his might, making him slide back fell on his side, hard and painful.
He twisted his body around and followed up with swift horizontal strike from his sword, now sending the flying man sideways and flat on his chest with a grievous cut on his back. But much to his surprise, the first one he knocked down recovered quickly and assaulted him again. He turned to face him, once again having the clashes of steel continue. All in one instant, he saw the remaining bandits around them come in to attempt to join the fight while seeing another one flying behind him from Nayru. Time for some more quick thinking.
He smacked the bandit in front of him hard on the side of the skull with his sheath, then slid his feet in the dirt with widening range until he was directly behind the opponent. Then he kicked the bandit in the center of his back to rocket him forth a small distance, but enough for the two to collide with each other. The sound of them both smashing into each other wasn't very pleasant, as both of their heads were bashed onto each other and the sound of their skulls were like they were cracked. They both fell down and were seemingly out cold with blood rushing down their faces. Yeah, he wanted to see the person that would end up conscious after a hard impact from rock-headed bandits colliding. He figured once either of them came to, he'd question them. But the others that approached didn't have the look of giving he or his partner any time to rest.
Veigue momentarily sheathed his sword and held it's enclosed state in his left hand like usual, getting ready to switch to just pounding them to death until it was time to draw the blade again. He back flipped over the two unconscious bandits to get back over to Nayru faster, hearing more footsteps from around. More of the fiends were in the area. The sounds were the same as before, so he imagined there are just as many as they started off with, though it was harder to tell with all this heat. He just readied himself and held his sheathed sword in front of him and clenched his right fist tightly.
"This is going to last forever at this rate..." Veigue sighed. He wondered exactly how many were here causing this chaos in total.
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Elly
Pegasus Knight
Rookie Squirrel!
Posts: 101
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Post by Elly on Oct 2, 2012 23:06:52 GMT -6
"Hold, y'all scoundrels, stop I say, here comes the heroine fair! Stuff your prayers, y' can't run away, we swoop down from high up in the air! Elly and Heather come to save the day!"
Elly pumped her closed hand into the air as she cheered loudly, her singing drowned out by the sound of rushing wind and the flapping of Heather's wings. A tiny frown appeared on her features as she heard what sounded suspiciously like an exasperated whinny, but she resolved to ignore it. It was probably just her imagination, after all. The commander kept saying she "let it run astray too often," whatever that meant. She hadn't seen any asteroids, and how was her imagination supposed to find one? That was just silly. The commander probably didn't even know what the word meant! She giggled to herself, puffing up with pride at finally knowing a word her superior didn't. And it was all thanks to that weird story about pegasi in space she'd read ages ago!
She shook her head, holding the reins a little more tightly as a current of air caused both pegasus and rider to sway from side to side for a moment, yet Heather steadied herself without help. She smiled and rubbed her hand along her partner's mane happily. How could people stand to walk from place to place? Life without Heather would be so dull! The pink-haired teenager sighed, pursing her lips as her mood dropped. She missed Nana and Aerious. She'd rushed back as fast as she could from the Illian outpost, but of course, they hadn't been at Salvation Point anymore, and she'd been afraid to search the ruins too closely, given what they had found previously. She shuddered in her saddle; those things still gave her nightmares. Ahh, and all this trouble just for a silly routine report! It made her feel frustrated. It hadn't even taken five minutes! "I'm learning how to become a heroine for love and justice!" Really, she'd heard from the other recruits that they had spent at least an hour with the supervisor in her office, receiving advice. The officer had just dismissed her right away. She harrumphed. They probably had no ambition, and needed a lecture on how to properly choose a goal. They had been so impressed with hers, she hadn't needed to stay for one entire extra-long boring hour!
Going back south towards Bern from the abandoned fort had sounded silly, so she'd been flying from settlement to settlement, asking after the two. Nana always left an impression with her fashion style, she was so cool! Only, nobody had seen her. For a moment, she felt dejected; what if she never found them? Elibe was huge, after all. She sat up straighter, drawing in breath and closing her eyes, puffing up her cheeks before letting all the air out at once. No, Elly, you can't give up! She nodded at herself, her confidence soaring. She'd find the two, no heroine ever got lost! It was time for a song!
"A bear there was, a bear, a BEAR!" She cheered loudly, picking up one of the songs she'd heard at her Papa's pub. Unseen by the teenager, Heather winced, neighing softly in resignation. "All black and brown and covered with-huh?" She paused, her eyes squinting against the sun. She raised her right hand, brushing away her hair before using it to block the daylight, and her eyes widened. She gasped in shock; the village ahead was in flames! She hurried Heather onwards, the song forgotten, her features growing serious. A heroine was always bound to help!
Elly tugged on the reins softly; the two of them approached from the sky, circling the village from what she hoped was a safe height. She'd managed to stay awake through enough lectures on archers to know they were bad! Soon, however, she grew impatient; people were being hurt down there, she couldn't hesitate out of fear. She urged Heather to descend, picking up speed. Maybe if the two of them could just fly over the village quickly, she'd find...ah, there! A lone man in a brown cloak, carrying off a helpless little girl. He surely had to be a bandit!
"Death from above!" She cried as she swooped down past him, Heather touching down roughly onto the ground, causing her teeth to rattle and her voice to shake slightly. She grip on the reins grew a little too tight, causing Heather to wince in discomfort, yet she quickly released them, dislodging the lance from its bindings. "There's no escape for you now, y'know!" She hopped down from her saddle, her lance twirling once in a beautiful circle that would have made any parade officer proud. He totally had to be awestruck now! And Nayru had even said that she should have been practicing how to use it when she showed her. She took a step forward menacingly, bringing the point to aim at her dastardly opponent. "Let her go, you-uh?" She blinked in surprise, looking into the man's green eyes, a large smile bursting forth on her face as she recognized his face. "Aerious! Aerious! Hi! Is that really you? Is Nana here? What's going on? I missed y' two! Hey, is that your daughter?" She bounced forwards, her lance waving to and fro with dangerously little care, her barrage of questions unrelenting, breathing relegated to second priority at a later date. "Y'know, you shouldn't bring your daughter here, I saw fire from up high, yeah? There's bandits everywhere!"
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Oct 3, 2012 16:30:10 GMT -6
"Why can't we ever go anywhere nice?" Her tone inching towards the melodramatic, Nayru spoke quietly - to herself more than anyone, though certainly loud enough for those in the vicinity to hear. "A nest of rabid spiders one day, and bandits the next." The dragoness snorted, her aspish words belying the fact that she was in a surprisingly good mood, even if there was the whole relentlessly mounting urge to shift and murder everything aaaaand there went the good mood. Sort of. If nothing else, this was a wonderful workout and a very effective form of stress relief, and really anything she did to these swine would be a crime with no victim, ergo, not really a crime. So no one could really complain if she was a bit rougher than strictly necessary.
A theatrical sigh escaped as Nayru composed herself, drifting back into reality with the realization that their fight had just begun. At least Veigue was proving to be quite adept at moving through the fight. She absentmindedly glanced at her still-raised right arm, drenched in blood, and halfheartedly shook it, frowning slightly at how little was actually dislodged by her futile efforts. "And another bath. Acidic arachnid innards were frustrating enough, but now I must risk the presumably contagious plague of stupidity that must infect these buffoons."
Forcing the frustration down, she opted to wipe off the sweat and dust beginning to cake her face. With, as she realized during the fact, the arm... still covered in blood.
Glorious.
"Perhaps I can pass it off as some variety of morbid war paint," she muttered to herself, beyond the point of particularly caring. Wasn't the first time she'd been spattered in the body fluids of men. Or spiders. At least this time it wasn't acidi-
The throaty roar of thunder rumbled through the vicinity for an instant as power flooded her entire body, her sixth sense firing on all cylinders against a danger she did not recognize, could not predict, only take precautions against - but it was so much harder to shape that much essence all across her body than it was to concentrate it in a single spot for an instant that her powers of observation failed her for the crucial moment, one hand darting up towards her face as if to swat a fly as the other moved to her midsection.
The dull thud of twin impacts plinked harmlessly against flesh of iron; as her senses recovered, Nayru realized she was holding an arrow in her right arm, the barbed tip atop a broken shaft mere inches from her left eye. A bent shaft lay at her feet, having struck elsewhere nearly simultaneously.
"Archers."
No sooner had the word passed her lips than she found herself swaying, the world blurred about her in vicious mockery of her attempt to emulate what Aerious could do so... naturally. Okaaaay. Halfway between delirious and panicking, Nayru found herself filing what she had learned away for future reference with an oddly light tone of muted humor, deciding that intelligent archers were much less fun to fight against than those of lesser intellect who insisted on closing the gap to where she could better deal with them.
Still suffering the effects of channeling that much energy without any preparation, Nayru found herself on one knee - which might have been more of a problem had not another arrow fluttered overhead, closer to where her neck would have been had she still kept her footing. "Splendid," she mumbled, and snorted incoherently in a tired mockery of attempted humor. At least it would take a few moments for their opponents to nock further arrows.
Aaaaand the house to their side was collapsing, sending flaming debris into the cluttered street, temporarily obscuring vision, even as the vague sounds of approaching footsteps coalesced into three armed individuals, ones that she pragmatically decided were probably not the town guard coming to help. Perhaps they could rely on the melee to keep the archers from firing again? Unlikely. "Even thieves could claim more honor betwixt themselves than these curs," she intoned, reminded of an old proverb.
Which meant that they needed a way to close the gap to remove the archers, as well as taking out this group quickly. She glanced at Veigue, an idea beginning to form as she rose to her feet with all the speed of a glacier.
"...Veigue, will you trust me?"
There was absolutely no way this could possibly go wrong.
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Aerious
Manakete
The Foul Destroyer
It takes pressure and time to make diamonds.
Posts: 496
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Post by Aerious on Oct 3, 2012 19:59:27 GMT -6
Aerious stopped short when he felt the air pressure change. Something was moving through the sky, did these brigands have more resources then they thought? He paused, looking to the sky and scanning the clouds. He saw something, but he wasn't sure what. Safe assumption would be an enemy, but the way they were moving made it clear that they had seen him.
It wasn't until the knight had come to within a stones throw of the ground that Aerious was able to identify the slid shod flying and overly anxious movements. There was only one person on a Pegasus like that. She didn't seem to recognize him yet, as she seemed to caught up in her own dramatics. She took a step towards him in what was clearly her best attempt at a menacing pose, and the girl Aerious was holding gripped into his chest with a sob. Aerious just glared back at her, more admonishing her then trying to scare her, as the young pegasus rider finally recognized him.
[red]"Nice to see you too. There should be a group of survivors in the manor house, Nayru and another friend are searching the town. Keep an eye out for an ambush for me, ok?"[/red] He said to her calmly. The daughter comment had not escaped his ears, but he ignored it for now. That wasn't something he needed to dwell on right now.
This little one's fate would not be death and fire.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 22:56:43 GMT -6
With the battle getting worse and archers stepping up to the plate, Veigue was nearly lost on what he could do next. The collapsing house made it no better, but in a way, it could help. However, sneaky tactics probably wouldn't work here. He silently swore to himself before accidentally having his right hand fall on the hilt of his family's Wo Dao. He looked to it for a brief second, then focused on what he could possibly see ahead of him at the moment. His sister crossed his mind again even after forgetting about the sword, once again trying to remember what she would do in a tight situation like this. However, thinking time is limited.
He noticed that Nayru seemed to be a bit fatigued. Must have been from all the fighting today. But he began to think otherwise when she seemingly had a plan. He arched an eyebrow when he looked at her directly, unsure as to what she could possibly be up to, seeing her raise her feet. But he had no choice either way. Other than that, he had no reason to distrust her next move and nodded immediately. He decided not to make any moves until he heard her out.
"I'm kind of lost right now, but go for it." he insisted before gazing forth again. "...As long as it's not anything too risky for you. Don't want you dying on me here."
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Elly
Pegasus Knight
Rookie Squirrel!
Posts: 101
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Post by Elly on Oct 4, 2012 0:15:58 GMT -6
Elly looked down abashedly, her ears growing warm as she noticed the younger girl's reaction. "Uh, sorry, Aery!" She squeaked out in a small voice, dejection and chagrin filling her. "I kind of thought y' were a bandit, y'know, and were kidnapping her and taking her to your hideout in the mountains to your master who would raise her to become a legendary bandit queen and I totally couldn't let that happen!" She gasped for air, bringing up a hand to her chest. Heavens, but that was close! Any longer and she could have suffocated. Bandits were a danger even in mentioning, she realized.
Heather pushed her head softly against Elly's back, snapping the teenager out of her reverie, and she jumped up in surprise. "Huh? What do y' want, Heather? I know it's scary, but y'know, you're a heroine too, and-" She paused as she looked into the pegasus's gaze, her partner's small eyes shimmering with something that was quickly growing beyond exasperation and right into the realm of anger. The young rider hurriedly turned to face Aerious once more. "Right! Scoutin', I can do that! I'll go up and check, just a second!" She struggled a little with her saddle, finally managing to mount once more with a small hop, giving a small yelp as Heather took off somewhat more roughly than usual.
Elly struggled to juggle the reins and the lance for a second, finally settling down somewhat comfortably...only to let out a second scream as she struggled to remain in her saddle when Heather banked sharply to the right. Her eyes widened with panic as she felt herself slipping sideways for a moment before Heather righted herself once more with a high-pitched whinny. "Heather! Cut it out!" She started angrily before her eyes caught movement on the ground below. A large bald man drew a second arrow from his quiver, nocking it as he prepared to fire once more. Her heartbeat accelerated for a moment as fear gripped her, yet she swallowed and gathered her focus. These were not monsters. Her mind flashed back to her flying lessons, the memories bringing an odd calm and order to her thoughts. Her eyes sought out the bandit once more, noticing his right hand held the arrow and the bowstring. He would have a harder time aiming towards his right. "Heather!" She called out again, yet her tone was one of command. With a sloppy, shaky pull, she directed her to dive to the side, making sure to hold on properly this time; she turned her eyes to the ground, and the man let loose.
A small smile appeared on the Illian teenager's face as she saw him cursing, the arrow missing the two widely. "Yeah! Take that, ugly!" She cheered enthusiastically, directing Heather to fly out of his bow's range, and she turned her attention to the maze of small houses below. There; right in the middle of Aerious' path towards the manor house, a group of bandits were walking down a small side alley. They didn't look like they were planning an ambush, but would walk straight into Aerious if they went on! She pursed her lips; she'd never make it back in time to warn Aerious and hide, and she had no idea if the two of them could take out four bandits together. No, there was only one thing left to do. She took a deep breath, her body shaking softly with fear as she directed Heather to land atop the nearest house. "Hey, uglies!" She called out, hoping her voice sounded as brave as it did in her mind. "Villages are for peaceful livin' and workin', not for settin' things on fire!" She brandished her lance in a wide circle above her head, emboldened by her own words. "In the name of Illia, I will punish you!" She took off once more, flying in a wide circle before drawing away, keeping her altitude low to taunt them as she fearfully scanned the surroundings for archers. Just a few more moments until Aerious was safe, and then she could pull away and look for him once more. She just had to be brave for a few moments more. Nana would be so proud!
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Aerious
Manakete
The Foul Destroyer
It takes pressure and time to make diamonds.
Posts: 496
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Post by Aerious on Oct 5, 2012 18:16:17 GMT -6
Aerious tried to keep an eye on Elly, but soon enough she was out of his field of vision. He needed to watch the ground, to try and watch out for a potential ambush. This would be the worst time to get jumped, carrying a child, and with Elly around to boot. He could use some of his strength with the child, nobody would believe her anyway, but Elly would cause the greater problem.
Luckily for him, he managed to get to the manor house without any real problems. More to the point, he didn't really see Elly. That concerned him, but he'd deal with one crisis at a time. His acute sense could see people's outlines through the broken windows. Civilians, and a few armed people. They seemed villagers, at least based on how scared they all looked. Aerious ran up to the window, and cut off the person that went to speak with him. He didn't have time for it, as he made to hand the girl through the window.
[red]"Take her!"[/red] He ordered, saying nothing more to them as he passed off the child into the hands of her neighbors. [red]"Stay here, we'll handle this!"[/red] He instructed, turning to run down a wider street now. He moved past the damaged houses, and stopped for a moment next to an overturned wagon. Still no sign of Elly yet, she must be flying low. Probably to hide from the archers among the fire and smoke. That was probably wise with her skill level. What she had said earlier finally settled in though, his daughter. Aerious hadn't gotten a good look at the girl, but it did make him slightly depressed thinking about it. Carrying her in his arms, the tiny child she was, how long had it been? Five hundred years, six hundred? He'd lost count a long time ago. It was a sobering reminder of just how deeply it had woun-
*Twang!*
A sharp pain in his chest jerked Aerious back to reality. Damnit, he'd lost his focus! His protection had waned, and the arrow from the brigand archer had ripped right through his skin with normal effort to shooting a human. Aerious winced as the pain shot through his system. The brigand wore a sick smile as he believed he had just scored another kill. Aerious, however, remained standing, though hunched. His vitality was coming back, but the injury still hurt a lot. His stone glowed, the light pouring out from beneath his shirt. He tapped into more, and more power. As he did, he felt his body changing. Normally, when he grabbed a little power the changes were slight, but this time he was grabbing much more. Much much more. The bandit hadn't seemed to notice the change through the heat haze and the smoke.
[red]"You...you have hurt me..."[/red] He spoke, looking up with his golden reptilian eyes. A maw of curved and vicious fangs instead of straight human teeth, and even two small horns on the top of his head. His skin had cracks, taking on the look of his scales. He felt the full transformation happening, but he managed to keep from losing all control. The brigand had noticed now, and fell back in fear, losing his footing as Aerious reached to the side and grabbed at the wagon. The flimsy wood bent and broke under his claws, but he still got a half grip.
[red]"Hurting me was a MISTAKE!"[/red] He roared, easily heard over the cries of battle as he lobbed the half destroyed wagon. The man barely let loose a scream before it was cut short by a tremendous crash. The mangled body, the wagon, and the house he had clipped with the throw, collapsed to the ground in a massive plume of dust and debris.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Oct 5, 2012 20:15:30 GMT -6
OST: youtu.be/yZuL0opq96cVeigue's response caught her entirely off guard, halting the tentative explanation in her throat. Every time she had fought so far, it was had either been for self-defense or to protect others, or even more often as an avenging force - taking murderers to task for their butchery of innocents, freed to unleash whatever she saw fit in the absence of observers who would survive the scene. Fighting alongside another was already strange enough in and of itself - having them even profess to worry about her was something she was simply not equipped to handle. Even Aerious... she suspected that he was more worried about what devastation she might unleash rather than what the inevitable result would be for her. The irony that even she felt the same way was not lost on Nayru; as much as she feared for herself when she lost control, the thought of becoming a force of destruction far beyond those she had fought to stop was ever foremost in her thoughts on the matter. Hiding her surprise in a momentary stumble, the silver dragon reigned in her emotions by force, determined not to show weakness - or how much his words had affected her. A pulse of - something in the vicinity, a veritable bonfire of electricity in the air, of the burnt ozone that was all too familiar, proved the catalyst needed to move her into action. Aerious was apparently taking this very seriously to be... transforming? Close to transforming? It was harder to tell with her own senses still dull after her last discharge, as well as the roaring flames and crumbling buildings around them, but the meaning was clear: this was not the time or place to hold back entirely. She let out a sigh, rolling her shoulders, letting her head loll back to stare at the sky; even obscured by smoke and spark, the stars burnt bright. A reminder of what she was fighting for. "...My condition is of little concern," she mumbled, unable to wallow in self-pity with the same degree of projection that she usually spoke with. -But as long as he made it out of this safely, that would be enough. Nayru strode to the nearest remaining structure, sparing only a moment to secure her footing in a plume of dust before ripping the nearest corner support beam from the walls, her iron grasp tearing through plaster and splintered wood alike to encircle it before jerking the veritable log out of the structure. The silvery dragon was simultaneously illuminated and obscured for an instant by a massive plume of dust and cinders as the building, already weakened by the mounting flames, simply collapsed in her wake. Too late to go back now. Hefting the massive beam in one hand, she experimentally tossed it aloft a few inches, feeling the weight bear down on her in the aftermath of the respositioning before decisively snapping it over her knee around the middle. Two eight-odd foot logs instead of a single larger one, now, which would hopefully be much easier to utilize. She offered a tentative smile at the only other human in the vicinity, hoping against hope that she looked at least somewhat reassuring. Hefting one of the beams over her shoulder while dropping the other to allow her to control the first with two hands, she finally deigned to speak, her voice undertoned by one somewhat deeper; more like someone - or some thing speaking through her body than the voice her human form favored. "...I will provide cover to allow you to close the gap to the archers. Your speed advantage dictates that I will be more useful here, holding off melee attackers and allowing you to close the gap and disrupt their force before joining you once more."She decided not to suggest that she throw him instead. Humans were so very... fragile.
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