Prologue: Gathering Shadows [Holly/Audric]

[Holly]

It was really interesting to see how Ryerde had changed over the years. From 'it's f**k**g nothing' to an actual march, albeit still a small and struggling one; from almost no real national identity whatsoever to an interesting mix of hope and pride that it had ever lacked. Not her favorite place by any means. Few too many undead for her tastes, for one, and not nearly enough big cities. And that Lucius guy - well, he'd apparently taken a page out of old testament Elimine, with all the purges and disappearances. It... probably wasn't wise for her to be here in the first place, honestly, but Holly had always liked to see things for herself. Any idiot could read a book, or a report. Didn't matter how well meaning the writer was, they always missed stuff. Sometimes it was irrelevant, sometimes it was important. Sometimes they had an agenda. Yes, she had heard from gossip and rumors the rough state of Ryerde, she wasn't dumb enough to go in completely blind, but it was always smart to keep both eyes open and your mind so wide it threatened to fall out, at least as far as she was concerned.

The bandit problem in Ryerde had also been interesting - despite their humble origins, they tended to grow leaders. Like some kind of walking fungus, as far as she was concerned. The kind of thing you wanted to knwo sooner rather than later. Cut off the head and the beast crumbles... sometimes. Or splits into two, like the hydra of legend. THAT was one of those things where, much like cutting a tree, you had to do it just right. Aim the strike perfectly. Take out just the right people. She wasn't planning on doing any such thing, that'd be suicidal to even attempt, but it never hurt to know that kind of knowledge. Maybe there'd be a way to pass it on to someone who would find it useful. Maybe it'd be an interesting bargaining chip to save her own butt. Ya never knew.

This particular evening, her lazing about a small town in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, Ryerde, had been interrupted. Having spent a little time earlier keeping an eye on some out of state Lycian knights that had gone off somewhere, she had expected to have the afternoon off to goof off. Maybe start planning a journey back to port or visit the academy, try to get some grub. Local cuisine. Not so! Her carefully laid plans had been thwarted by the dastardly actions of, uh, a couple guys walking through town and not bothering anyone. Which, admittedly, was not the greatest crime in Lycian history. The stench might be, but they hadn't done anything wrong.

That was the problem.

If she knew anything about bad guys, and she did, these guys were pretty obviously either outright bandits or at best really out-there mercs. There was a sort of bestial aggression to 'em that was a bit too familiar for her tastes. They LOOKED like bandits too, as the stereotype went, but then stereotypes were often based on a bit of truth. Unwashed, wielding crusted but perfectly dangerous looking weapons, moving as a group. Not great coordination, but with their eyes out, forcing her to keep an eye from a bit of a distance.

And they weren't bothering anyone. Pushing their way through folks maybe, but none of the usual roughhousing and rabblerousing she would have expected. They were looking for something, or someone. Could be for any reason. Could be she had just misjudged them and they were a few mercs looking for their mark, or caretaker. But it didn't hurt to keep an eye on things. Especially not when the group stopped shortly after one of them had run into another traveler - and this time, not just pushed through. Half smiling, Holly leaned up against the wall of the house she'd slipped behind, avoiding any watchful eyes from the group as two of them looked around, and turned on her listening ears. Which were, uh, normal ears, but she was paying more attention.

"Oi. You. Boy." Predictably gruff and threatening. Wonderfully cliche. She loved it! "You're that Audric fella, aint you?"

Audric... Audric? It didn't quite ring a bell. At least not one that she recognized. By her estimation one of the men, the back right one, should be looking about here right around now or she would have peeked out to get a better idea of who he was talking to.

[Audric Tania]

Ahhh, the open road. Well. Sort of. Open road, Lycian town, same thing. It wasn't some musty room in Castle Tania where he was forced to pour over tomes and scrolls while being subjected to the constant droning of one of his tutors while they mentally assailed him with the tedium that was Lycian politics and the history there in. Was it important to learn? Sure. Absolutely. He'd need to know it all some day if he wanted to succeed his mother in being an excellent Marquess. That didn't make him dislike it any less however after sitting in the same chair at the same desk next to the same musty window for a fathomless passage of time well beyond his reasonable aptitude to gauge. It only made sense that he'd leap to the chance to get out of the castle and onto the road. To explore and engage and interact with the Lycian's that made up the average people. The common man had an vastly different set of troubles and woes to dwell upon that he himself could likely never fully comprehend. He also had an idea no amount of books could really prep him for that.

Merio's contingent of Tanian knights that had served as their escort was...far from subtle. In-fact he felt the brown cloak worn over-top his armor to conceal most of his bodily features, as well as generally make him look like some horrendously colossal blob of a human, really didn't serve much purpose. When a group of armed individuals traveling with as much luxurious appeal through the visible quality in their weapons moved about it became fairly obvious someone of note was out and about. So Audric found justification in his secret forays into society. Venturing away from the camp and into the smaller towns to wander about quietly. Though Buidhe was tethered to his back and entirely visible, the ornate castle forged armor was nigh unseen. Though the blotch of bright crimson hair messily and explosively protruding from his scalp made him stick out just as poorly as he would in full visible armor. Even so. He could enjoy the small town for what it was. Moving through the small streets with relatively little fear of anything. People generally left him alone. Which was quite a nice feeling hones-

"Oi.You. Boy."

Audric turned around suddenly. Instantly replying with all the tact of a obnoxious bear poked abruptly with a heavy club. His side protruded at an angle, indicating his hand was now resting on his hip. The faintest sound of metal plates clinking together and the rustling of his robe followed his rebuttal, though the armor was still well concealed.

"Yes. Me. Boy."

A world class intellect on our hands no doubt. That didn't prevent him from observing that there were a few more of them, than there were of him. Which was probably good for them. No one deserved to deal with more than one Audric at a time, and most likely Elibe wouldn't have been able to contain that much over-confidence. Piercing gaze did briefly dart to the gathered meat-heads(Hi kettle, name's pot) as he observed that most were his size or larger. Which was fairly large. That same gaze narrowed as they mentioned his name. At this point Audric took a bit more of an aggressive poise. Shoulders lifting, and squaring his jaw for a second as he shifted more weight into his legs by leaning forward ever so faintly. Brows furrowed when he spoke, as he turned to the man that'd spoke directly.

"That's a very...common name. Alot of Audric's aren't there? Why would you be looking for an Audric in the first place...sir?"

A bit more severity and edge crept into his tone as he felt his fingers twitch upon his right hand. Muscles taut and mind instantly considering how fast he could grab his spear before they were upon them.

[Holly]

Okay, there could NOT be that many Audrics to sort through. It wasn't a common name, and Audrics that anyone would be looking for were even fewer - but she couldn't think of any that would have ANY reason whatsoever to be in this neck of the woods, much less have anyone looking for them. Hm. If she had gauged the motions correctly it should be safe to peek out about... now. A black haired head popped out from behind the house, to the great surprise of... absolutely no one, because no one was looking in that direction. Uh. It occurred to her that she wasn't actually sure if she had just been playing it too safe or what. Oh well. So what WAS going on? Yes, tall dark and musky over there, his five best friends in the world who had all had loved ones killed by water and thus sworn vengeance upon it, and some red-headed lug who apparently hadn't learned that sometimes wisdom was the better part of valor.

She couldn't really see him clearly but he seemed to be wearing some kind of cloak. Hmm. Red hair, people would be looking for him, bad people would be looking for him, disguised... she ran it against as many possible hits as she could think of but not many popped up. No clear hits anyways. A few possibilities. Some more interesting than others. Take away any sense of self preservation or intelligence and the list narrowed further. Should she intervene? Holly... tried very hard to see how she was going to kill six armed guys in a fair fight, and... didn't see that going exceptionally well for anyone involved. Even if she started it on her own terms. She wasn't exactly the tank and spank sorta feller that good ol' Audric here seemed to be, bless his poor dumb little heart, just cruising for a bruising.

The lovely hairy gentleman seemed less amused than she by the red haired individual's response, grunting in frustration. Or at least something, anyways. It was the one next to him that spoke up first though. "Yeah, that's the one. Got a mouth on him like they said." Not as tall, a bit thinner, but still uh, not the kinda guy she'd challenge to an arm wrestling contest. The apparent leader grunted again. "Not for long."

He was already pulling his maul out of its harness when the moment to act arrived - the realization that there was no more time to stall, either the fight would start or she did something to prevent it. The problem was, she... couldn't think of anything to prevent it. And while it was likely that Audric was some kind of warrior, especially if he did meet one of her hypotheses, he didn't really strike her as the kind of guy who casually murdered armies. Thought he could, maybe. There was a whole lotta ego in that response. But could he actually pull it off? Not likely. Too young. Too stupid. Cute, but stupid. Even if he was a trained knight, six on one was just poor odds for about anyone. And they weren't spread out and distracted either, the closest two to Audric looked pretty on edge, and the other four were starting to move to circle around Audric.

Her body and her mouth alike were already moving at about the same time her brain made the decision - it hadn't taken long, snap judgements were part of the job - stepping out from behind the house and onto the road with an audible crunch and a sweetly casual voice. "Excuse me!" A momentary reprieve. Catching the moment in its nascent split between action and inaction. "Would you folks happen to-" "Get out, girl." Wow. Rude. The probably leader growled out the words, not bothering to look at her, though one of the banditos did. Hm. Interesting. "Just walk the f**k away and you won't get hurt."

...Very interesting. So they really were only after this... guy... and not all his friends? She shrugged mentally. Another question to ask later. Finishing a bite of her pear, Holly smiled sweeter than honey. "Don't mean to bother y'all," she slipped into slang, playing up the farmgirl angle a bit, "Just looking for the port and I'll leave you to ya business." Two of the bandits were looking at her, and with an aggrieved snarl the leader turned slightly away from Audric for a moment, inclining his head more towards the one closest to her. "Rolf, would you shut this idiot up?"

But she wasn't looking at him. She was looking at Audric. And since the guys looking at her were both on the left, it was her right eye that shut and reopened in a none too subtle wink to the red haired 'traveler.'

[Audric Tania]

So, this was about to get A-lot more fun. By A-lot, he meant things were inevitably spiraling down to the path of someone getting hurt. Or killed. At this point he felt that small fire begin to boil in his veins as the red haired youth's brow furrowed again. Especially when the lout opened that maw for a mouth.

like they said.


Yeah that part caught his notice. They. So they'd been sent by someone? That or had asked around, and someone knew him enough to know his name and attitude? Either way, it seemed like this was happening. If he'd said he wasn't partially excited at the rush, the thrill of such odds, he'd have been telling a damn dirty lie. Not for long. Okay, it was evidently go time.The man looked to be gripping a flail or maul or sorts, and Audric moved in simultaneous motion with either arm as he saw the weapon being drawn. The movement quick, snap reflexes allowing him to swiftly hook his shield from his back onto his left arm while the right arm reached back to grab for Buidhe. The brown traveling cloak rustling and parting as it exposed the armor beneath.

As if his body was entirely encased in darkened viridian plating. The emblem of house Tania emblazoned upon the center of his breast plate and right shoulder pauldron. Metal plated armor brushed together and audibly rang with metallic clinks as he set his shield in-front of him and locked in his heels. Buidhe's bladed base of spear came to rest upon the left side of the shield in a defensive stance. Shoulders squared and he bent his knee's just a bit more in preparation. A special kind of hatred in his gaze. He really didn't like ruffians that harmed or troubled others for a living. His gaze ever so slightly darted from side to side to observe the others that were starting to spread out. He was trying to mentally chart out that ever so crucial first move. At that point, a particularly interesting distraction turned the corner that made even Audric look away for a brief moment.

The girl seemed to have the absolute worst luck of all. Like, horrible misfortune that no doubt followed her where ever she went. Audric might've jovially commented on it if he didn't hear the rather infuriating words next.

Just walk the f**k away and you won't get hurt.

Audric's temples didn't have a protruding crimson vein of pure rage, but he was getting pretty damn close. His fists curled beneath plated gauntlet and he gripped his shield and spear as tight as he possibly could when that molten eruption of boiling white hot fury washed over him. Just mad enough to see that little veil of red over-take him. Uncharacteristically of him however, that...vibe was abruptly disrupted as he turned to see the girl wink. Audric had visible surprise plastered on his face, almost hapless shock as he was roused from his blinding seething rage for a moment. So. She was doing this on purpose? He'd not recognized her so he knew she wasn't with Merio's gathering of knights. Who was she then?

He turned to the apparent leader who now had his back turned to Audric. Well isn't that unfortunate.

"You think you'll go through me? No."

Audric smashed his shield forwards abruptly intent to squarely impact between the primary brigand's back before he snarled loudly, thrusting Buidhe forwards in a controlled stab. The treasured weapon of his house intent to punch through the man's lower back and out his abdomen while the crimson haired youth shouted violently.

"I GO THROUGH YOU!"

[Holly]

Awwww that was the cutest damn thing she'd ever seen! That 'helpless puppy' look of confusion and shock was a sight for sore eyes. Poor Audric. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, maybe a few clowns short of a circus. But his heart was in the right place, and that was something she could work with. Plenty of smart people in Elibe who used their abilities for ill, but even an idiot could be trained to perform one task well. And she had seen the general mix of emotions and reactions that ran across his face - open book, REALLY need to fix that too if they got out of this alive - for some silly reason he had been concerned about HER instead of himself. Noble. Brave even. But still stupid. Especially when she saw that emblem on his armor, recognizing exactly what it meant and who he was in that instant; she had had inklings before but now knew without a shadow of a doubt.

...Man, this would be so much easier with her gear. Or a partner or two. Only a complete moron would engage in a fair fight against a superior opponent, and the kind of stupidity it would take to fight two was incalculable. Meanwhile, here she was, angling to take on three at once. There was a special word for people like her. It was spelled D-E-A-D. Also, fired, but that wasn't really a concern anymore. Audric made his move a little later than hoped, when people had already begun fully focusing their attention on her, so when the red-headed lordling rammed into the ringleader the commensurate moment of shock and surprise among the crew wasn't quite as strong as she had hoped it would be. The second in command looked back immediately, so did two others, thankfully including the one close to her, but one was still looking directly at her as realization dawned.

"SHE'S WITH HI-"

The blade was already out of the sheath on her back, the one handed grip adjusted with a snap of the wrist on mid air as she simultaneously tossed the remnants of the pear upward into the air and ducked down to bring the silvery steel slicing through the intervening distance - not quite the jab she was more fond of but there wasn't enough time or momentum to quite pull that off - the momentarily unarmed bandit noticed in time, raised his arm to block - stupid - it'd go through anyways - the blade caught on the bone, and in that moment she realized she had made an error - too used to having her real weapon, not this hunk of iron junk that couldn't deal with a little resistance.

Reversing her momentum as she spun on one foot, the reverse roundhouse smacked the still surprised bandit upside the back of the head, knocking him forward as she retracted her right leg, regaining her footing to some degree as the whole scene dissolved into chaos. So much for the quick and easy assassination, and so much for having free reign to take out a few of them before they realized she was a threat. Looked like they were doing this the hard way. The really, REALLY hard way.

The pear came crashing down into her waiting hand, and with a mix of a devilish grin and maybe a slight bit of frustration she launched it like an emerald missile at the next nearest guy to get his attention off of Audric. "C'mon handsome, I don't bite!"

[Audric Tania]

It was slightly difficult to maintain eyes on the girl while he had lots of big dumb dead hired muscle obscuring his view. And certainly he'd have rather been looking at her certainly. Like most of the bandits, his gaze followed the pear for a second as it traveled upwards. The moment that the man started to shout, Audric felt shock wash over him and genuine surprise as this girl pulled out a blade and just legitimately stabbed her blade through the dude's important bits. Even if it wasn't an instant kill...man if that'd been him he would've fallen for it too and probably had a dent in his armor or some kind of injured something that shouldn't be injured. That didn't stop him from growing a wide grin as he saw her kick at the brigand literally in the face before catching the pear and throwing it at another brigand.

At this point Audric let out a booming laugh. A feral one. Probably one hundred percent unbefitting of a lordling but the rush and thrill racing through him couldn't be denied. He was killing those who were absolute scum, and evidently wasn't the only one that took pleasure in doing so! He retracted the spear from the primary brigand and nudged the corpse aside with his shield. The meaty thud of of the body flopping down was enough for him to no longer consider the dude a threat. When another made the rather grievous error in judgment however to look away from Audric and shout at the woman who assailed his head with a tactfully timed fruit projectile that would no doubt forever haunt that brigand from the depths of hell. Which was obviously a terrible fate to suffer.

Audric leapt into action. Quite literally. He was already crashing into the brigand while he held his shield aloft. One of the muscle-heads near his target smashing their club into his shield as he felt the metal kite ring loudly like some heavy gong. At this point though it was too late to stop him as he shouted loudly and plunged Buidhe into the man's shoulder from the side and skewered down into his ribcage from there. "RRRRAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!" Audric bellowed a ferocious shout as he kicked at the man to dislodge his weapon from him. Again, not entirely a killing blow. But in the initial chaos he could siege advantage of the females distractions. Which seemed to be her game here. He wasn't sure why she'd help him but he wasn't exactly complaining. Audric was interupted by this moment of glory and revel however as he was sent stumbling backwards by a heavy thud as his shield was smashed against his chest once more. The heavy club was a shockingly effective weapon for...clubbing...things. Well, if he hadn't considered himself a world class intellect, now he was. No doubt a result of all that tutoring.

Audric lifted the gilded shield as he pushed back against his attacker with as much force as he could muster to knock the club upwards as it came down to batter him. Giving himself a moment to breath at-least. His hope at-least, was that his wild actions would draw from her distractions and open her up for more of them. He couldn't exactly shout to her though "Hey keep distracting them!" or anything though. Even in the heat of battle he wasn't that stupid.

[Holly]

It was clear that with the primary shotcaller gone, the crew had fallen into partial confusion, but it was also equally clear that it wasn't going to be a completely trivial walk in the park. The good lordling Audric of Tania seemed to be doing his part pretty well, but she was here without her gear, rusty as all hell, with a pissed off guy charging her, and the kick she had delivered to the first one probably nowhere near fatal. Audric had taken down one and done serious damage to another, but was still one wailing on him and one more, the guy she had beaned actually, looking like he was trying to decide what to do.

Well. First things first. The sword wielding bandit coming directly at her was the real problem, on account of him clearly beating the crap out of her in strength and having the strength and wit to come pretty close in speed too. Maybe not agility, but agility didn't help unless you could use it, and with him coming in like a bat out of hell with rapid sword swings, it was all she could really do to evade or parry each one - the first, a diagonal slash, she parried fine, but it sent a ringing pain down her arm that ruined the return motion and forced her to sidestep the second, and the third, grinning openly to mess with the guy but privately a little more concerned with her ongoing quest to not get f**k**g murdered.

Ah what the hell. She was losing ground anyway. Might as well make him work for the fun. Her arm still worked well enough to toss her sword, distracting the guy for a second, catching it a moment later with her good hand and bringing it up in a nearly vertical slash to gut him from dick to skull. At least that was the idea. In practice, he uh, blocked it. So much for that. Still, that had accomplished its secondary objective; by interrupting his offensive momentum he was forced to pause, and in that moment she had time to sneak a glance behind her, mentally mapping the route, and start a hop skip and a jump backwards as the burly brute looked up and saw her escaping. Well, they weren't having any of THAT, obviously, his large frame powering into a charge that forced an IMMEDIATE course correction on her part, consulting the mental map as she barely missed tripping over the hedge, and then he was already on her again with a wild overhang swing that if she had been paying 100% attention she might have been able to use against him but in this moment was forced to improvise. Breaking to the side, pushing off the fence with one foot as the sword came crashing downward where she had been a second ago.

[Audric Tania]

Fighting two guys that were distracted? Yeah he'd rock that again. He'd play that game over and over if possible. As the lordling staggered backwards beneath the enraged assault of repeated club swings and maul strikes, Audric was quickly pressed close to the wall. He was unable to actually main any gain, and the crimson haired youth kept his head lowered and shield raised as his left arm got wailed upon. He was just barely able to move his shield to the side or center as he attempted to withstand the onslaught. The heavy metal ringings felt like it was going to fill his ears literally forever at this point. He couldn't tell if he'd ever quite been in that type of situation before.

Maybe when he'd met Ulai to a degree. Not quite however. He wasn't against a wall while he was being assailed that time. He'd kill for an open field at this point. Audric snarled and leaned into his shield as he tried to gain some momentum. At this point he had to fight against the force of two men. The metal in his shield held true, a shining exemplar of castle forged steel. He saw that minute window open up when the men were both mid-raise to swing their weapons. Lips parted, and his lungs expelled every last bit of air as he surged forwards. "RRRAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!" Bulky armored frame smashed into the two men with his shield forming up as the centerpiece of his security. The two men stumbled backwards from the backwards shift in weight, but that was about it. He found himself leaning back and managing a few steps of freedom from the wall.

Boy, lead arms was definitely a fairly unpleasant situation. He attempted to stab his spear towards the club-toting brigand but not only was he denied, but almost completely. The large thick wooden club came crashing down wildly from the side as he plunged his spear out towards the opposing brigands chest. Before he could even drive Buidhe he saw and attempted to react. He'd barely managed to get his shield raised high enough to preserve his side and chest, stumbling harshly and nearly falling over onto his right side as he moved to adjust. Audric staggered over a few long steps before turning just in time to raise his shield as another blow sent him back pedaling. The furious assault now battering away a bit more ferociously as the second brigand joined in. At this point Audric's left shoulder felt like it was going to fall straight off.

[Holly]

The sound of combat from beyond the corner of the house could still be heard, her ears didn't magically stop working just since she couldn't see, and Holly had always been good at dealing with multiple sensory inputs at once. But she didn't really care. At least not beyond the very basic thought process of 'is Audric still alive -> yes,' a solved decision space, and even that was overstating how passively, rapidly, that line of thought had come and passed her by. In the moment there were no other auditory channels diluting her attention, only the momentary struggle, the dance of life and death that consumed her whole and threatened to never give her back.

In short, her element.

The smile on her face was almost carefree, girlish, despite the whirling tornado of processes spinning throughout her mind as she attempted to gauge, assess, counter, comprehend everything that happened. Rusty and out of practice as she might be, dancing on the border of life and death was as intoxicating as she remembered and a thousand times more besides. See how sparks flew as steel kissed steel, feel the pang as force rushed up her arm, feel the light painting them both bare for the world to see. Dodge that strike - watch his muscles tense - predict the reverse blade - parry it, riposte, weaken his grip. Rotating her own grip, feeling the familiar blade twist and churn in her grasp. Bringing the hilt down on his wrist like the hammer of god, rewarded by the gasp of pain and near drop. Seeing in his eyes, for that one tiny second, the dull realization that for that moment, the hunter had become the hunted.

Holly's free hand came down in a knife blow on the back of the hand a second later, dashing the sword completely from his grip as she surged into a knee to the groin - not the most ladylike or even lethal of moves, but it was the tempo, the openings it created, that were important. The time taken to right her blade and draw back for a proper strike would have given him an instant to recuperate, one that he might or might not have taken, but it was not his waltz to lead. He was stumbling backwards, momentarily surprised, when the side of her fist slammed into the side of his head, sending another spreading wave of pain through her hand - you're not wearing the gloves or the bracers, dumbass, you can't be that careless - and a deadened look of contused idiocy across his face. In that moment, stepping inside his arms was as safe as a lover's embrace, and her leg hooking around his almost cinching the deal - though when she pulled back violently, ripping his right leg out from under him, there was no willing lover to catch him in his fall. Only a momentary flourish and her blade following him down, spearing through the eye just as the skull hit the ground - the crack of breaking bone mixed with the squelch of shredded eye and brain. The thief dropping to one knee on his chest to finish the stroke, pushing the blade in as far as it went.

And then - nothing.

It took a moment to realize how hard she was breathing, the tranquil state of adrenaline and concentration disintegrating from unuse, leaving her equally confused and sensate at once again. No longer able to ignore all but the most relevant channels. No longer able to focus in on the ones she did want to. A transitory state, a moment of weakness. And yet - despite her weakness - it was too hard to restrain herself in that instant, still pleased that she still had it. That she was rusty, but not completely soft. "...Too easy."

She didn't see the hand coming, or quite understand the motion, until the back of her own skull crashed into the wooden house with enough force to nigh on drop her own blade as a snarling face filled her field of view, crushing the life from her throat with the strength of a man possessed.

[Audric Tania]

Audric's vision was constantly shifting. The thunderous impacts shaking him up and sending him jostling about wildly of the club strikes especially as his shield lifted and lowered in attempts to manage some form of offense with defense. The best he'd managed was one failed thrust that managed to puncture the air with thunderous force and little more. His left arm was growing more and more pained, and beginning to feel like it was bound to bags of sand as the weight of his shield grew. Ragged breathing caused his body to jostle slightly, armor plating barely moving through from linked segments as he felt his chest cavity rising and pressing to the form fitting armor. It was definitely like being in a metal casing. Normally he was fairly ignorant to its presence from acclimation to wearing it. Not so however with this instance.

If anything he felt his suit and noticed it more than ever. Every limb and motion felt heavier as he stumbled about. His fury slowly building as he was battered about. Until the crimson haired youth exploded with seething fury that spurred on motions enhanced by adrenaline. His body didn't have fight or flight. It just had fight. Audric threw his weight once more into both men and this time, managed a far greater success. With his shield trapping the club brandishing brigand's arm and that damned club to his chest, Audric heaved forwards. His body slammed into the others as he shouldered onward like a fully riled stumbling bull. Bursting past the two, the one toting the club shouted in frustration and pain as his wrist was twisted at just slightly a wrong angle. The other brigand toppled onto his back as he Audric full on stomped onto the brigand's abdomen before taking a colossal heave of force to shield bash the club toting lout once more. Holding Buidhe high as he did so.

Now. It would've been wise to stab one of the two. This certainly would have made his life easier. No doubt when he examined this point in time far later down the road he'd laugh about it. However, aggression leading him to manage a third shield bash for brutalities sake was foiled as the brigand grew tired of his garbage and gripped the shield tightly. He pulled on Audric's arm and as the youth was yanked, a heavy wooden slab smashed into his chest plate and sent him falling onto his back. He landed on the other brigand before forcing himself onto his side and trying to vault up with the assistance of Buidhe. Another club strike to the right shoulder sent him stumbling backwards and leaning onto a wall with a solid amount of venom in his gaze. Audric was feeling more and more like a child's doll idly thrown about than a trained youth at that particular moment, and he had a sneaking suspicion it wasn't changing any time soon.

[Holly]

"I got something hard for you alright."

On account of, uh, being strangled by a guy whose arms could have been mistaken for tree trunks, it took a few tortuous moments to recognize the face and voice of her captor. Not her finest moment. But then neither had... any of this been, really. As she managed to focus a little bit - oh, right. It was that guy she had cut and kicked at the start, looking decidedly NOT dead, though she could see a bit of blood on the side of his head, and given he was only holding her with one arm while favoring the other it looked like she had at least done some damage. Yay her. 'Hurt a guy a bit before dying' should go nicely on her tombstone.

Well, assuming she got a tombstone anyways. Seemed his plans were more along the lines of 'rape to death and then kill,' not necessarily in that order, she couldn't really be certain that he was planning on a proper burial. What a way to go! Outside of a bit of meaningless scrabbling though, there was very little that she could really do; it was far too difficult to really mount any kind of meaningful resistance when the lack of air was already clouding her vision and the pain was rapidly mounting. Whatever she was, Holly was NOT superhuman or a magician by any means. She couldn't just... NOT be held.

The idea of dying HERE, after what she had done and was trying to do here, was almost hilarious in a darkly ironic way. The last few years had been... peaceful, almost enough so that Holly had started to think she had a chance to forgot the past and move on, try to do something else with herself, but at the same time during her journeys she had seen time and time again that the world did still need people like her. Helping out Audric had been on the spur of the moment - a snap decision, trying to do something good - and this was how it ended as a result?

Holly giggled, or at least gurgled through the grip holding her tight, drawing a bit of the bandit's attention as he paused in fumbling around his pants with his bad arm. A flash of inspiration struck as she continued to feel sorry for herself, but her subconscious mind hadn't succumbed and continued moving onward. "Heh..." It started off as a bit more of a croak than any kind of really recognizable human speech, but the utterance still served to draw the man's attention a bit more, shifting his head upwards, the motion pushing her further against the wood in one moment and slightly less in the next as his muscles tightened and loosened through the arc of movement. "Speak up, you little crap," he groused, snarling and smiling all at once in the blatant supremacy he held in the moment. Considering that her big mouth had gotten them both into this, she... supposed she couldn't entirely argue with him there. And there it was, his grip loosening just a little more, not nearly enough to actually fight back or do much, but barely enough to speak without her windpipe feeling like it was about to turn into a wind...not...pipe.

"Me too," Holly said a little more clearly, and a small smile crept to her lips. The man's brows furrowed as he looked up to her eyes entirely, uncertain of what to make of it, possibly thinking she'd finally snapped. And at the instant that his grip had loosened enough to feel a little something again, her arms and legs still feeling like they were full of pins and needles but at least barely functional, her wrist flicked upwards, the sword held so loosely in her hand suddenly tight again, and the silver spike lanced forward as her feet and elbows both pushed back against the wood to allow some minor degree of piercing power.

The blade flew quick and true, piercing the heart with practiced ease. Third time's the charm, right? As the walking corpse's grip loosened, his eyes staring through her as the body creaked, Holly dropped to the ground as the blade was torn from her grip, coughing and hacking with her left hand around her own throat to try to massage the soreness away, almost struggling to stay conscious in that moment. But alive. And as she heard the leaden crash of the body falling backwards, that was a lot more than the other dickhead could say for himself.

Seemed she couldn't quite get away from killing people.

[Audric Tania]

His heart hammered in his chest wildly. Blood pumping in his veins, inflamed with a volatile fire that spread with building intensity. The crimson haired youth's heart as if a molten core within his body, and each blow served both to tire and enrage him. His body still jostled about behind his shield, but he lifted it a bit higher and with every ounce of strength kept his now quaking arm lifted as it endured the flurry of heavy blows to the metal plating. The lordling's nostrils flared for a moment as he tried to maximize just how much air he was able to suck into his lungs before the club skirted the top of his shield. Though it lost some serious momentum as he lifted his vital line of defense, the heavy wooden club did connect to the side of the red haired boy's skull before swatting him to the side a few steps. Tumbling almost drunkenly as he snarled in agony and rage and frustration. Sweeping his spear left to right wildly in a sudden and large arc, both assailants were able to peel off while Audric took some valuable time to breath. The shocked howl of rage as he cut one of the brigands with the biting metal of Buidhe. It was a small wound. A thin laceration to the rib-cage section. It was however also going to be a gift from the heavens above if they existed.

He was fairly certain that his lungs had never been so grateful to have air within them. If only just barely enough. His skull was engulfed in pain now though, and as he managed to feel the faint resistance of his spear catching flesh from his blind sweeps of retaliation he saw a faint crimson stain run down his forehead and into his right eye. A swift series of blinks alleviated it but only slightly. He had no time to wipe the injury clean of stains though as both men set upon him wildly. This time Audric secured his back to the wall. Bracing himself for the onslaught to make up for an injured limb, Audric hunkered down with legs locked and shield angled ever so slightly so that the tip locked against his breastplate segments to support further weight. Both brigands were now once more assailing the lordling with single minded focus. His form was getting poor though. He was getting so tired as well. It was greatly hindering his entire style which relied the brute force behind his shield to contend with stronger or thougher enemies. He wouldn't give in though. He would not submit.

[Holly]

Ah... hah hah... once in a while she wished she had just retired to a nice beach in Badon or something. She'd never been to Nabata either. It sounded pretty terrible, but they had beaches at least. Holly took the liberty of sitting there feeling sorry for herself before putting on her big girl panties and pushing herself upright, a little shakily but more or less in functioning condition. She was still a bit short of breath but not seriously injured as far as she could tell. Not great condition for a protracted battle by any means. But enough to finish this one quickly. Hopefully. Assuming Audric wasn't already bleeding out, she doubted he would be game for much more fighting himself either, though they'd see what his mettle was really like soon enough regardless.

With a wry smile, the thief stepped forward and wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her blade, still buried in the heart of the lout who had nearly offed her. Wasn't like he needed it anymore. She wasn't sure if she should feel good that she had still managed to take a couple of fighters even as rusty as she was, or really pathetic that it had taken THIS much effort to take a couple of backwards bumpkins even with the element of surprise. Turned out she didn't feel much of anything at all. A... familiar feeling, one that would normally be a little more worrying, but the hollowness was what allowed her to focus on the work so much more precisely that she could hardly grieve it.

Her body moved of its own accord, the faint pitter-patter of moving feet quickly dying down to near nothingness as Holly began to run, moving far more quietly than she had any right to. Exiting the makeshift alleyway of a sort, turning towards the fight ahead. Bodies already littering the area, Audric's victims. None of them in that cobalt armor she was looking for. It wasn't hard to find anyways, again mostly obscured by man-flesh as the lord was backed up against a wall. It was impressive enough that he had survived this long and taken his pound of flesh, but it was also clear that he was well beyond his limits in actually fighting off any kind of real group of that size. Understandable. Also much better than she would have done, but that was also understandable.

So. A man with a club. And a maul of some sort. Hm. The sheer impact force of a good maul was one of Elibe's premiere anti armor weapons, especially with a piercing head. Probably the most direct threat to the armored lance wielder. The club was more dangerous to her personally, lighter and faster, but less likely to take Audric out while she was busy with the other.

...

By the f**k**g saint, sky, and every other deity she could think of, she really missed having a god damn set of balanced throwing knives. Would have made this situation, hell the whole fight, a god damn joke. Unarmored fighters, most of them not paying attention to her, less than ten meters distance; even with her diminished skill it should have been an easy opportunity to take out a few and injure others. This 'swording' thing was about as efficient as a butter knife and half as safe.

Well, whatever. They were still focused on Audric, so it was only a matter of watching and gauging movement for a time as she approached to extrapolate basic movement patterns, and from there even less work to bring her blade in for another piercing thrust, impaling the maul wielder from behind as he focused on what he had thought the real foe was. She kicked his legs out from under him, a right sweep to down the fool immediately as she ripped the sword out of his back. Another successful assassination, but the element of surprise was gone now.

[Audric Tania]

Audric was beyond frustrated. The helplessness of the situation was beyond humbling. It was infuriating. He couldn't save his own life in that moment. As his armor was wailed upon he felt his arm turning into solid lead. The crimson haired youth might've buckled as every muscle in his body strained. Sanguine fluid from within trailed down his chin as he fought furiously against the climbing desire to simply drop downwards. He knew though that exposing his head, and back would spell instant death. His shield was the only thing keeping him alive in that instant. His right arm was about damn near useless as Buidhe was pinned to his right side. Though before he had time to contemplate it further he saw the maul wielding foe abruptly stabbed. The man's brief pre-maturely halted shout of shock before he was dragged down by a swift leg sweep.

The club brandishing brigand turned with surprise to see what had claimed his comrade. Audric's entire body exploded in that instant. Pain, fatigue, and unending fury mixed into one terrible cacophony of emotions as the tanian lordling slammed forwards. All semblance of tact devoid to the inferno of his hatred as he full on smashed his skull into the brigands while he crashed against him like a viridian armored youth put every ounce of power into the rush. "HRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH!" Audric lifted an armored hand to grab at the man's throat as he heard the loud clatter of the wooden club hitting the ground. Shocked so abruptly by the interruption and charge that the man didn't register the need to re-grip his weapon. Crimson hair like ablur as he knocked the man onto his back and came rushing down with him, crushing against him and lifting his left arm as his shield rose into the air. Buidhe was a mighty spear and quality forged but not suited for such a situation. Audric's shield?

Well the heavy metallic thud as he crashed that into the brigand's chest and started repeatedly assailing him with the strikes seemed to knock the fight right out of him. The oaf wasn't dead yet. But he was about to wish he had been.

[Holly]

Man, that Audric guy was still doing well enough to turn THAT fight into a... not fight... pretty fast. She was still pulling her sword out of down dark and dumb, her new pet nickname for the warrior formerly known as darth maul, when the red haired prince jumped the other guy like a pirate who'd been at sea for months finally founding a whorehous-ok in retrospect that was probably not the best simile - actually you know what screw it, it WAS a perfect simile and she was proud of herself for thinking of it. Okay, granted, Audric seemed a little less rapey, but there was a solid line of spears and thrusting and penetrating being metaphors for - yeah anyways.

...Man he was really, REALLY going ham on the guy. Uh. Wow. She had kinda expected a little pent up aggression, he seemed like a very angry person, but it didn't take long for each armored strike to be followed by strings of blood and Audric seemed to have no particular plans to slow down or, say, stop with the corporal punishment angle. Holly sighed. Sword back into sheath. Not gonna need that anymore, and she didn't really need to keep the hand full of crap for the rest of this adventure. She was gonna have to talk to this guy about self restraint one of these years. In the meantime, he was gonna have to take a chill pill before he beat THIS guy to death too.

"Audric." ...No response. Holly considered sighing again but gave it up after remembering that wouldn't accomplish anything either. Instead, she took a few steps over to the man sandwich and placed her right hand on Audric's left shoulder, wearing a sideways smile of sorts that didn't quite reach her eyes, limiting his motion as, uh, unobtrusively as she could. "AUDRIC. I have some questions for this fine gentleman."