Lesson Fought, Lesson Learned

[Chiroptera]

((Closed to Corvus.))

HELP NEEDED
Able-bodied adventurer needed to protect livestock from threatening monster. Generous reward, negotiable upon completion.

Eltarri bit her lip as she squinted down at the flyer in her hand. She’d impulsively ripped it off the wall of a building only moments after stepping off the boat and had been reading it periodically as she walked through the town’s sandy streets. She’d hoped that the ad would do something to revitalize her lacking drive for adventure, but even the vague words on the parchment failed to prick her curiosity. Guilt weighed too heavily on her mind for other emotions to gain foothold. She missed the island, she missed her mother, and all she wanted to do was find a cheap hotel, bathe away the clinging smell of salt, and sleep, sleep, sleep until the shame went away.

Sleep, however, hadn’t been much of a comfort as of late. Her conscience was roaring as constantly now as it had been even before she’d left Scara Brae. It berated her for cowardice and ineffectually whipped at her lethargic mind, shouting for atonement. The trip across the water had been a nightmare, filled with nights of restless sleep that seasickness couldn’t account for and tainted with the crushing pain of her memories. Her dreams were gory, full of knife-wielding boys with lidless brown eyes and screaming girls whose slit throats gushed purple flames. She screamed in her sleep, begging for a way to save them, and every morning she awoke restless, desperate for a solution to a problem that she couldn’t solve.

It’s too late, she told herself miserably. You’ve already screwed up beyond repair.

The squat stone constructs of the city failed to impress her after the towering buildings of Scara Brae. She’d realized sometime during her journey that the ship taking her to Raiera was probably smuggling some kind of illegal product, judging by the ferocity with which the crew guarded the hold, but it had been the only sea-worthy-looking ship sailing from Scara Brae that she could afford. She and the six other passengers had not been dropped off in Anabrilith, as had been promised, but after dropping anchor off the coast they were rowed ashore in a lifeboat and left at the dock of a fishing village a few miles north of the larger city. None of the fishermen had seemed in the least bit disturbed by their arrival, but Eltarri had set off quickly from the dock, hoping to avoid any trouble that their unorthodox arrival might have stirred up.

It was with dreary reluctance that she stepped off the street into a clean-looking tavern, flyer in hand. Ignoring the suspicious glances of the patrons within, she made her way to the bar and rested her elbows against the counter, fighting a sigh. A thin bartender stood behind the counter, idly picking at a loose thread on his shirt. His hair was sparse and black, slicked to his pale skull over small eyes that fixed disconcertingly on the half-elf. There were more people inside than might have been expected on such a balmy morning, but the stools surrounding the bar were vacant. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who found the bartender a little unpleasant.

“What’ll it be?” The man’s face was neutral, but his eyes flickered to the red leather handle of the sword that jutted over her shoulder.

“I need directions,” she said, laying the flyer in front of him.

His gaze lowered to the parchment and he sucked thoughtfully on his teeth. “That’s old Ryber’s ad.”

Eltarri waited, then looked up at him when he didn’t continue. He had stepped back and was rubbing a dark bottle with a cloth.

“Maybe you’d like a little wine?”

Eltarri glared at him, but that was all she could bother with as a wave of weariness swept over her, convincing her that objecting wouldn’t be worth the effort. So the weird bartender was blackmailing her. It wasn’t as if she didn’t deserve it. “Make it ale.”

He nodded and moved to fill a pewter mug. “He’s a cattler up in the hills a ways east of here.”

“A cattler?”

“Yeah . . .” he noticed her blank expression. “A cattle herder, rancher . . . whatever you want to call it. He keeps cows. At least, he used to.”

Eltarri kept her gaze on his face as he set a brimming mug in front of her. “What do you mean, ‘he used to be?’”

“Not much’s been coming out of his barn in the last couple weeks,” he confided, “and anything he does bring to town is usually stringy and spooked, too tough and no good for eating.”

“How can I get there?”

The bartender’s thin lips curled and he looked again at her sword. “You an adventurer?”

Eltarri gave him a withering look. She was really not in the mood for human condescension. “Sometimes.”

He shrugged and scratched his nose as if to cover a smile. “Take the main street on through town and head out the road to Eluriand. About three miles down you’ll fork off onto a dirt road. The land starts to get hilly, but about four miles down you’ll be able to see a straight cliff on your right. Head for the gap when you reach it and you’ll find Ryber’s ranch a little ways west on the other side.”

Eltarri was having trouble coping with the sudden influx of needed information. She nodded and closed her eyes to better picture the route.

“Think you’ll need some landmarks?”

Eltarri’s eyes drifted open and she looked up at the simpering bartender with unhidden dislike. She wished she could glare the way high elves did, with silencing authority that forbid reply. Her tired look apparently didn’t make much of an impression.

“No thanks,” she murmured, dropping coins onto the counter before she turned to leave. “I’m really not that thirsty."

[Corvus MacCallum]

"How dare you!"

A flash of metal and out into the air flicked the blade of a rapier, a very fancy rapier, one in fact that was designed and destined to merely be splayed across some family crest rather than swung in the hands of an amatuer. The owner of this blade was some low grade noble son, such things were common, riding in a fancy carriage, with a fancy woman, in a fancy skirt and leaving her less than fancy bust quite clearly displayed. His name was probably Reginald or Rodderick, had to be an R that letter was emblazoned on the be-feathered cap resting on his immacutely preened and primmed blonde hair.

"... wha?... huh?..."

There was a far less elegant figure being threatened by this blue-blood, so inelegant that he had in fact wound up sleeping on a never trodden road that the Noble prat had decided would make a nice detour in order to 'display ones love for one, in fact one would most enjoy to give one one'. Corvus stirred slightly, rising up from his rather comfortable position... in a pleasantly rough way, it gave satisfaction that a person could acheive rest on such a hostile surface. Hair-spike after spike of hair rose up along with its owner, flumping and swaying into a rather one sided display of black with white streaks. A thick rustling of strewn leaves pricking at his ears, more so than the whistle of steel through the air as once again the noble boy presented himself in a pathetic manner... those puffy pantaloon things did not give an air of authority, just an air up the scroat.

"Shameful beast, sullying the land of my lineage"

"...huh?... eh fuck off brat"

The Highlander probably would have bust a gut laughing at the Nobs expression but he was not a morning person, specially when it was still technically morning when he was woken. Past all that pasty make-up to show the fop had never done a days work in his life colour could just barely be seen to drain as the wolf-mans utterance brought his whole world crashing down... a peasant that did not boy down before him, gasp, shock and possibly even awe. Pain too actually, it had only taken Cor a moment of blind grasping to find a suitably shaped stone and let it test the Nobs skull for soft spots... didn't find one but he was so soft in the head already the impact still made a nice sound.

"... sed fuzer... koff... "

"H-h... Jenevis destroy this beast!"

"... what sir?"

"I said destroy him, kill it, I demand and order that you do!"

Hissy fit... too loud... how to shut him up... the hells this...

Corvus had just started opening his eyes when the Blue-blood had started ranting, his sight catching hold of that rapier waving in front of him... then his fingers followed. A quick flex of the wrist and...

Ka-shink

"huh, shitty little thing..."

His superior hearing utterly blocked out the kid... well he was probably in his twenties, but he had the mentality of a brat... anyway he had drowned him out as he stared at half the rapier blade resting in his hand. Was typical, what noble kid would know the difference between a display peice in his daddys big study to the real, but non-lethal tooth-picks he was trained on daily. Still with the noble blocked out Corvus did over-hear some kind of impact on the ground, maybe the brat called a servant on him... would help if he could see past these bloody sleeps. Little pin-pricks assaulting his tear gland and other eye-bits, he tried to lift a hand up to rub but was greeted with a clang and instant pain...

... friggin buckler...

Still that little issue aside he managed to deal with the sleeps clogging up his eye sockets and gained a better view of the scene... things had changed in his little period of instant headache. The driver of the carriage hadn't jumped down, so the servants weren't sicced on him, in fact it seemed the foppish kid had just fainted on seeing his prized weapon broken like a twig... daddy wouldn't be pleased probably. Ah well least things were a bit quieter now that Jenevis and the Noble were silent... seems the servant was under the same impression that the weapon was a bonified grade-A legendary bit of kit, rather than a cheap replica for gloating rights.

There was a bit of fore-boding though... something punching against the slowly awakening Highlander nostrils, smelt like bad meat, or else Cor was just whiffing at his own morning breath... best gnaw on something to cure that.

[Chiroptera]

“Fork to the . . . right?” Eltarri muttered aloud, but her words went unanswered in the solitude of the countryside. The half-elf had encountered few people as she walked; the merchants who usually used the road were all in town this late in the morning. She stood in the middle of the road, biting her lower lip in annoyance at her predicament. The paved road – heading towards Eluriand like the bartender had said – continued over the rolling hills before her, but two dusty paths branched off on both of her sides. As far as she could remember, the bartender hadn’t been specific as to which fork she was supposed to take.

“Should’ve bought the wine,” she sighed, stepping off the road and throwing herself down onto the grass that bordered it. The air was cool and fresh, free of the briny taste that had tainted every breath for the last week. Even Scara Brae couldn’t claim air this clean. She inhaled deeply, feeling the ground against her expanded ribcage, and then let the breath out slowly, dropping her head onto the ground. What was it that was sapping her energy? She hadn’t been able to smile since leaving the island. Even the comfort of the ground felt like a guilty pleasure, something she had taken in exchange for the future of the little boy whose family she had helped kill.

A shudder went through the girl’s shoulders and she pushed herself up, sword scraping against the ground as she clambered gracelessly to her feet. She stepped back onto the road, dusting grass off the front of her clothes, and stood with her hands on her hips, turning her head to scrutinize each path in turn. They both looked the same to her.

“Are y'lost, dearie?”

Eltarri spun at the wheezing voice, one hand reflexively jumping to the hilt of her sword and the other to the clasp on her chest. The woman who’d called out took a wary step back, one eyebrow raised in disapproval. “No need to get . . . feisty . . . m’dear, I’m just tryin’t'elp ye.”

Eltarri dropped her hands, forcing the glare off her face in exchange for a politely neutral expression. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you coming.”

The woman was dressed in a faded black robe that only fell to her calves, revealing pale, scrawny ankles above sandaled feet. She was taller than Eltarri and her face was unlined, making her look as though she were only in her thirties. The voice that issued from her lips, however, was scratchy and weak like that of an old hag. She cackled proudly, parting her lips to show yellowing teeth in a big smile.

“Don’t worry, honey, not . . . many . . .do. Where’rey’off to?”

Eltarri considered demurring her aid. She didn’t need strange women prying into her business. On the other hand, there was no way she was going to find the place without help. “I’m looking for Ryber’s ranch.”

The woman cackled again. “Ye’re wantin’ Ruined Ryber’s Rump Farm? That’s a riot. Goin’t’elp him improve his . . . sorry . . . herd?”

The woman spoke strangely, sometimes speaking in a quick slur and other times pausing between each word as though she couldn’t remember what she was trying to say. Her eyes were beady, and they stayed intently, unblinkingly focused on Eltarri’s face.

“Um . . . kind of.” Eltarri shifted from one foot to the other, anxious to get away from the woman.

“Well, I actually . . . can . . . help you,” she declared. A bundle of cloth was strapped to her back, and she used one bony hand to adjust it as she pointed to the left. “I's headin' this morn. . . that . . . way. Crazy Old Ryber lives that way.” She swung her hand around to point to the right. “But you’ll be able to find it by the great ghastly smell of . . . his . . . nasty . . . creatures.”

“Right, then? Thanks!” Eltarri didn’t wait for the woman to confirm. She turned and set off briskly down the path, trying to keep herself from breaking into a run.

“Be . . . careful, lass,” the woman called after her. “If’e sends ye to feed’em beasts, don’t go! Pretty . . .girl . . . like ye . . . all’lone with’im . . . and ‘em . . .”

Her voice faded into a mumble as she turned down the left fork, but Eltarri didn’t stop glancing over her shoulder until the hills hid the road from her view. She reached the cliffs without incident and was on the other side before dusk began to fall. The old woman had been right; there was a smell, a sour and gut-twisting scent that made her choke with every gust of wind. When the air was still the smell became bearable, so Eltarri just breathed through her mouth and pressed on. A short while later, she topped a hill and came into view of a large, box-like house bordered by a barn that was different only in the lack of windows and the greater size of the door, which was wide open. She scanned the settlement for movement, but there were no visible signs of life.

This is stupid. Why are you even here? Turn around and go back to town. The prospect of not answering the plea for aid hadn't before crossed her mind, and for a moment Eltarri reveled in the idea that she didn't have to play the hero.

Maybe this guy is crazy and just a bad cattler. Maybe I'm not really needed. The thought sent an unexpected pang of regret through her. So why was she out here? Was this some kind of furtive attempt at suicide? Or was this just another pathetic attempt to levy the guilt that weighed on her conscience? Neither option struck her fancy, sounding petty and immature even to her own ears.

It doesn't matter. she decided. I'm here. I might as well go down there and see what I can do to help. Even if my motives do need reconsideration.

Her steps on the dirt path seemed loud, somehow, in the stillness of the afternoon. The closer she got, the surer she became that it was deserted. Manure littered the ground around the house, and the smell of fermenting hay came unsparingly from the barn. The house, though obviously once a respectable dwelling, was in a bad state of disrepair, the wood of the walls splintered and molding. The three feet of wall closest to the ground were stained with what smelled frighteningly like urine, stained at regular intervals around the walls like the territorial markings of a cat.

Eltarri's skin tingled. She nervously rubbed the knife-shaped scar on the back of her neck. It had been weeks, and yet the ridges of the burn still hadn't completely healed. The brand tickled whenever her braid brushed against it and itched at the most inopportune moments.

Okay, so I found the ranch. Now where's the rancher? And the cows?

There was a flash of movement at one of the upstairs windows and Eltarri looked up in time to see a crossbow appear in the glassless frame. She heard the trigger being pulled and yelped in alarm, jumping back as an arrow flew from the bow. Her reflexes weren't great, and the arrow hit her forearm that had coincidentally been thrown up as she'd leapt back. It bounced off her bracer and fell to the dirt.

Heart suddenly pounding, Eltarri jerked the clasp on her harness with one hand and used the other to grab her sword as the sling released it. She brought it around and stood with it vertically in front of her, eyes scanning the windows for movement. The blur of a face appeared for only a moment in the same window before disappearing, and then the shooter called gruffly down at her.

“Who the hell are you?”

[Corvus MacCallum]

"I'm Corvus the grumpy wolf, awoo bitch-tits!"

The situation had changed somewhat... it seems in this part of the forest a brigand of banditos had been travelling for new pickings, nothing around here to make use of and had descended on the carriage. Corvus had managed to wake up enough as they charged in to hurl the stunned noble brat into his wagon and give the horses a good hard whack sending them charging out of danger and probably into more... oh well. Angry of course to lose their silk encased target the Bandits had continued their angry rush for Corvus, at the least they could take out their anger on the freak. One of the axe-weilding front-liners had managed to yell out 'Who the hell are you!?' before Corvus had let his grip tighten on the massive sword by his feet, then rising up he smashed the flat of the blade against that particular bandit... slicing his nose off by a little flick of the wrist, entirely accidental...

Now things had gotten a bit more interesting in the Highlanders mind, he preferred monsters but these guys were out for blood and he'd help them out and make it flow. His sword continued to rise with the winded bandit still pinned to the flat and then sailed above and past him, a quiet but distinctly wet snap sounding as he hit against one of the trees, now bringing his other hand to the massive handle Cor levelled his sword to the bandits.

Only a handful, ten or so... rusty weapons, leather armour thats near the end of its life... hah...

On seeing that sword, of course they halted in their tracks, was like the spines of all those men suddenly shot into the ground and anchored them... he hated this part, if they ran then there'd be a chase, he'd have to expend needless effort going after them... picking them off one by one... just no fun. Thankfully they weren't intelligent enough for that and resumed their charge, two of them getting good and close, a dirk and axe coming through the air. With a flick of his sword and bringing its point to the ground Cor made a good attempt at blocking, the axe merely blunting its bite against the flat iron surface, Cors buckler being scraped harshly by the small dirk before the owner found his jaw dislocated as Cor smashed the Slammers handle right into his face. Then came the quick-step turn and out swung the blade, running right through bone, muscle, cartilege and verterbrae as the Axe-man fell to the ground as half-brothers. Corvus forcing the dirk twirler to the ground with that handle smash and then following it up by ramming his foot-claws against his Adams apple and shredded right through it with those sharp black talons.

The others had caught up by this point and this time Corvus decided it was time for some flash... to test out his suspicion of a furtive notion for combat. Digging his heel into the ground in front of him, Corvus raise up the blade to jut out behind him at waist level, tightening his grip, gritting his teeth... probably tightening his nuts as well, muslces were tricky to control.

C'mon... Air Rip... Air Rip... I can do it!

There was something building up inside him, filling his left hand, tracing across the blade of his gigantic slammer. Eyes shut he let out a howl and swung the sword with all his might, tearing himself right off his feet from the sheer weight and bad balance in his stance. A shimmering sliver of light was flung from his blade tip and impacted on a few of the bandits, at first there was nothing... the light merely passing against them, then through. But there were yelps of pain, gasping and clutching at faces, as Corvus pulled himself to his feet he got the chance to see the effects of the age-old technique.

The bandits who had been hit, thin slices had run their length across their faces, the cut was very shallow but the size of it and the fact a lot of blood went through the face increased the pain factor.

I did it... the Air Rip can work... I just need more practice to make it, well dangerous

With that bit of knowledge safely gleaned, the Vagabond warrior of wolven nature started his own charge for the remaining bandits, wouldn't take long now.

[Chiroptera]

“Identify yourself or I’ll shoot again!” The quavering voice that came shouting from upstairs was masculine, but just barely.

“You put out an ad for an adventurer,” Eltarri yelled back, her voice dark with ire. “I came to help you, Ryber.”

Her pronouncement was met with silence. Soft wind blew the rotten stench into her nose and she fought a gag, lowering the tip of her blade until it rested against the ground. The bracers would kick in if she actually needed to defend herself again.

“You aren’t here to thieve from me?”

Eltarri frowned. “Of course not. Why would I come skipping down in plain view if I was going to rob you?”

“You wouldn’t be the first!” His voice had risen to a panicked screech.

The girl sighed with barely contained impatience. “I’m not here to rob you.”

“All right,” he said, though his tone was still doubtful. “Come to the front porch and I’ll unlock the door.”

Eltarri snorted derisively. “Not likely.” If I get any closer you’ll probably try to pour boiling tar or something equally undesirable on my head . . .

The face reappeared in the window, this time staying long enough for Eltarri to get a good look at him. He had sun-burnt cheeks that were sparsely covered in a scraggly beard, with a round nose and puckering lips imbedded close together in the center of his doughy face. Squinty eyes peered suspiciously down at her.

“I won’t harm you, as long as you don't try anything funny. On my honor, see?” He waved the arrowless crossbow in the window, then disappeared from the window. Eltarri could hear him going down the stairs, and she braced herself for the reappearance of the crossbow. Glancing down, however, she caught sight of the arrow that had hit her, and she realized that it didn’t even have a sharp edge. It was just a stick with a bit of feather tied around the top.

The door of the house cracked open. “Come on, come on!”

Eltarri went forward warily, setting her sword back into its sling as she went. This whole situation was weird, and she was already regretting not sticking to the road to Eluriand. Adventure was definitely overrated.

Ryber stood with his face poking out from the doorway, eyes wide with fear as he looked around the silent grounds. He was taller than her, as were most men, but only by a few inches. When she got near he stepped back, hand still on the door, leaving a crack of room that was barely wide enough for her to slide through. She edged past him, catching her breath at the odor of sweat and fear that radiated from his body. Once in the house she took a few measured steps away from him, glancing around the room as he quickly shut the door and threw the multiple deadbolts.

The front room was in shambles. Pieces of furniture lay strewn across the floor, interspersed with discarded clothing and dirty dishes. It wasn’t even dusk, yet the room seemed dark and smoky, the air heavy and rank.

“We’ll be safe for now,” Ryber said, turning with his hands on his hips to look at Eltarri with a judging grimace. He had a body that had once been plump; folds of skin hung off his frame under worn pants and a faded shirt, both of which were covered in unidentifiable stains. “You aren’t exactly strapping, are you?”

Eltarri resisted the impulse to glance down at herself. She had gained some muscle since leaving the caves that had been her home, but the road she’d traveled had harrowed away most of the baby fat she’d carried before. She knew she was small and probably shouldn’t be sensitive to such comments, but the remark coming from such an unkempt man still rankled.

“From what I hear, I’m doing better than your cows,” she snapped. “What’s going on with your herd?”

A flash of indignation went across his face. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with my herd. I breed excellent stock, far better than any of the other, inferior brutes those swindlers in Eluriand call cattle.”

“If there’s nothing wrong with your cows, why did you need an adventurer?”

Ryber’s face fell into a mask of sorrow and he woefully perched himself on the edge of a three-legged table, scratching unhappily at his armpit. “My herd is under attack. Undoubtedly due to their superior breeding, some form of monster is eating away at them, killing off my best bulls and souring the meat of the survivors - cow meat tastes sour when the cows are afraid. Every time my herd goes out to pasture, they come back missing at least three of their number.” One hand waved aimlessly as he talked, his eyes filling with tears. “I once was a rich man, you know. My cattle were famous for miles around, envied for their glorious hides, milk, and meat. Now . . .”

Eltarri crossed her arms over her chest as the man sniffed back tears. You should be more compassionate, she scolded herself. But hearing about the man’s misfortune just made her own guilt weigh heavier in her mind. You don't deserve to be killing off other people's monsters. YOU are the same kind of monster that ruins other people’s lives.

“So you want me to find this monster and kill it?” She hated the brusqueness of her tone, but it broke Ryber’s trance of self-pity. His eyes blazed as he jumped to his feet, nodding emphatically.

“I want you to destroy the beast that ruined my life,” he shouted passionately. He stood with one hand upraised, spittle flying as he bellowed towards the ceiling. “I want you to slay it and skin it and bring its head back to me so that I can rebuild my home on the skull of my enemy!”

The man’s passion was enervating. Eltarri felt herself becoming less and less inclined to help, wanting just to find a quiet place to lie in the grass and sleep. Why bother throwing her life away, even if nobody did want her alive? At least if she was still breathing, un-mauled by some terrible beast that may or may not really exist, she could spend some time thinking through what it was that had taken away her heroic inclinations. There was a time when she would have jumped at the chance to help a troubled farmer, willing to sacrifice herself for this stranger's future.

Now, however . . .

She decided that she wouldn’t go fight the monster. She'd leave the house and wlak back to the paved road and continue right on to Eluriand, maybe look for something interesting to do there. Maybe he’d think she’d been killed by the beast and scare the other adventurers who came up to fight the thing. She opted, however, not to interrupt his ferver. It was probably better not to tell him of her decision. She didn't like to lie, but this seemed the kind of situation that demanded dissemblance. “So where’s the monster?”

“I don’t know. I’ve . . . never actually seen him. But I know he’s real!” He slammed his fist into the table and it collapsed obligingly onto the floor. “This is my idea: you can go stand with the herd, and then you kill it when it comes to feed.”

Brilliant, she thought sarcastically. The sky was still light enough to be called afternoon, but the sun was obviously on its downhill path. “The herd’s out on the hills?”

“I haven’t been able to leave the house to round them up for fear of the beast and marauders,” he said, trying not to look ashamed. “I’ve even had to employ means of protection to keep the monster away from my house.”

Eltarri thought back to the urine stains on the outer walls. “Right. Which way to the herd?” Which way to the road?

Ryber smiled with relief, jumping to the window to point eagerly towards the side of the house. “There are fences to mark my land, but I’m sure the monster’s knocked most of them down.”

Eltarri nodded and moved to unlock the door.

“Let me!” Ryber scurried in front of her and carefully undid the deadbolts. He opened the door, then paused and looked at her gravely. “This is dangerous business, young lady. I myself have been too cautious of late to venture forth from my home. Killing monsters is not child play, and I will understand if you decide that this battle is beyond your strength.”

Eltarri glared up at the man. How did he know? The insinuations about her size-competency ratio unexpectedly infuriated her, driving her to impulsively retract her earlier decision to abstain from the fight. He thought she couldn't handle some monster just because she wasn't a big ugly man? An unfamiliar desire to prove herself made the girl tighten her hands into fists. Suddenly she wanted to kill, to swing her sword and lop off something’s head, to feel warm blood up to her elbows as she dug through an animal’s chest for its heart. . .

Eltarri blinked. Where had that come from?

“Thank you for the kind offer, sir,” she said coldly, “but I am more than capable of taking care of some silly monster. I’ll be back tomorrow, and I’ll have that stinking hide for your wall.”

She shouldered past him, out to the porch and into the relatively more pleasant air of the outdoors. The door was shut and locked quickly behind her, but Eltarri was focused more on berating herself for her pride. Why had she made that declaration? Ditching now would haunt her forever, leaving her with the unanswerable question of whether or not she really could have handled the monster.

Now you HAVE to do it. Rolling her eyes at her own stupidity, Eltarri set off in the direction that the cattler had pointed, muttering under her breath about the many problems associated with monsters, cows, and her obnoxious penchant for digging herself into holes.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Good lump of beef would be quite pleasant right now... urgh these guys are too stringy... meh... I'm hungry dammit!

A fierce growl rose from the bowels of... well Cors bowels as he chased after the last bandit. They had broken when he cleaved the last of their number with three simple swings, he had also shaved the hair off one squirrel, stepped on some rabbit shit, lopped down one very old tree and had a whack of sticky little seed pods clinging to his furry tail... what a ballax!

For every paniced two step the Bandit managed Corvus was gaining ground fast with a fierce and constant pouncing while on all fours, one hand holding his blade so it stretched out alongside and behind him, scraping that strangely impervious blade against the rough ground. The thicket was thinning, the darkness getting brighter... in a nut-shell, perhaps even the one that slapped against Cors shoulder as it fell, the forest was ending. He was drawing closer still, prey gasping for breath as every muscle in his legs screamed for more power, leaping over some ruined lump of rotten wood, Corvus didn't even notice it as he sailed right over, it was merely an insubstantial deterrent to this bandits bloody finish.

With that final bound across the ruined fence the Highlander found his blood splattered self in a huge grazing field, could tell from the uneven grass-line, the steam rising from hidden pats in the foliage and the unmistakable stench of a cow... but analysis can wait. Landing just a few feet behind his exhausted quarry, Corvus brought both hands to the grip of his giant sword and swung upwards in a powerful arc... so powerful in fact, he had driven the sword straight through the ground, underneath him, then RIPPED the fucking blade right out and into the open.

Mud, clay, sand and resilient bits of stone were clinging to his sword but even through all that ground it still had more than enough bite, splitting his opponent from groin, through the gut and then running out of steam thanks to a heavily armoured neck-peice. The bandit just dangling there, a particulary strong gust of wind managing to send one half of his body flailing off to one side. Corvus panting and heaving as he clutched for breath, eyes slowly closing as he felt hot blood flow across his hands.

It was a moment of supreme beastial glory... his prey hanging there upon his mighty weapon, blood glistening across its sullied surface and feeling the vital fluid trickle down his claws... surely this required a poignant thought...

"... fuck my arm hurts..."

[Chiroptera]

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Eltarri surveyed the stringy herd that stood in scattered disorder on the hills before her. She wished that she’d known she was actually going to try to save the cows before she’s brushed off Ryber’s attempt at strategizing. Humans were the only other species that she’d seen gathered so copiously in one place! Standing atop her hill and looking out in the afternoon light, she counted about a hundred of the beasts just on the bordering hills, and more undoubtedly resided across the land that spread out before her. She’d climbed over a fence on her way and had yet to see even a perpendicular side. For the first time, the girl began to feel a little nervous. Ryber obviously owned a lot of land; he must have been a wealthy man before the attacks began. What kind of monster could destroy such an affluent estate?

Fighting apprehension she meandered across the grass, steering wide of the thin and patchy-hided cows. How was she going to be able to protect them al when they were scattered miles away from each other? She stopped walking as one of the brown cows with huge, curled horns lifted its head from the grass to glare at her with evil black eyes.

“What do you want?” She snapped at it waspishly. The cow stared at her, tail flicking, and used one cloven hoof to paw the earth.

“Just because your boss is crazy doesn’t mean that you have to be barmy too.”

The cow lowered its head and snorting, taking a step towards her.

Eltarri’s eyes narrowed suspiciously and her hand crept towards her sword.

A loud bellow came suddenly from over a hill on her left and both the girl and the cow turned their heads towards the noise. Eltarri self-consciously dropped her hand, edging away from the distracted cow. From over the top of the knoll a scrawny-looking calf tripped on flimsy legs towards her, mewling piteously as it came down. Eltarri watched it change direction to rush to the side of another cow, her nose wrinkling with dislike. Even the infants have horns!

A high-pitched scream of terror and pain rang through the air, prompting the cows in her vicinity to amble fearfully in the opposite direction. Eltarri moved towards the hill, flexing her fingers to stop them from trembling. The sour smell that lingered in the air was stronger, and strange noises were coming over the hill: tearing, snorting, crunching . . .
Eltarri topped the mound and stopped believing that Ryber was insane. The mangled body of a barely-dead cow lay at the base of the hill, dismembered and mutilated in a pile of bloody flesh. Bent over the animal, massive jaws crunching messily at the ribs, was a furred creature that was about twice the size of what had once been the cow. Eltarri raced mentally through all of the books that she’d read in her childhood, trying to match the animal before her to a description or drawing she’d seen before. Black fur, no tail, huge claws . . . nothing came to mind.

The girl rolled her shoulders in a half-stretch, half-shrug. Doesn’t really matter what it is, so long as I can kill it. The bravado of that thought almost made her want to smile. That urge faded as the wind changed, sweeping her scent towards the monster. It raised its head to look at her, blood dripping from its maw as it bellowed a warning roar in her direction.

Eltarri pulled the clasp on her chest and freed her sword from its sling, grabbing the long hilt with both hands and leveling it in front of her. At least the thing’s head was only at her shoulder level, well within reach of the four-foot blade. Reluctant steps took her closer, mere paces away, near enough to smell the hot innards of the dead cow. Waves of rotten stench rolled off the beast as it moved, stepping over the corpse to stand threateningly between her and its meal.

“Don’t worry,” she murmured, “I don’t want your cow.” Just your head . . .

The monster charged without warning, barreling forward with lumbering steps straight towards the girl. The attack was unexpected, as was its speed, but Eltarri was already on her toes with caution and she dived out of its way with relative ease, the tip of her boot nicking the monster’s shoulder. Unfortunately, hanging onto her weapon was more than she could manage. She finished the lunge on one knee, four feet away from her black sword and close enough to the beast to see flakes of dead skin in his dark fur. Eltarri bit her lip; it was faster than its size suggested it’d be. It wasn’t as dumb as she’d hoped, either. It didn’t pull a Wait, where’d she go? when it’d rushed past her, but spun with an angry roar to face her head-on.

Blast. Rather than waiting for him to make the first move, Eltarri threw herself onto the ground beside the monster, fingers scrabbling for the hilt of her sword. She was moving before she’d gotten a hold on it, rolling around the beast’s side until she was behind him, sword again in hand. Pushing herself to her knees, Eltarri lifted the blade over her head, preparing to swing it down onto the brute’s back with all the strength her bracer-abandoned arms could muster.

But the bear had turned. She was no longer facing its unprotected backside, but was now confronted with a terrifying visage of furious eyes and bared, bloody fangs. Uttering an ear-splitting roar, the monster pushed off its forelegs, going vertical and resting its complete weight on its hind legs, black-clawed paws brandished and snarling.

Sword still lifted, Eltarri gaped at the ten-foot behemoth that towered over her. Somewhere in the back of her mind the creature’s new pose connected to a memory of a story she had read as a child. Amid the sudden terror that flooded her brain and erased her capacity for movement, a small voice made what Eltarri suddenly realized might be her final observation. So THIS is what a bear looks like . . .

[Corvus MacCallum]

Even to a coinessuer of violent scents and all those subtle multitudes of nasel sensation... blood, stank and with every breath as Corvus attempted to refill his muscles with all that precious oxygen it was filling his nose, gliding across his tongue. He quite enjoyed the smell at times but smells always come in combos, right now it was mixing with worn out grass, fresh cow pats and... hmm rotting beef... tasty. Bit by bit he let his body rewake after that rest period... slowly lowering that massive blade and allowing his final prey to fall from it and drip quite thickly against the soil. A flick of the wrist... and bugger all happened, damn sword felt so heavy right now after that chase, was such an irritation, so many things happen to you as time goes by but you only notice all those little things during your weaker moments...

... I stepped in rat shit...

Eyes narrowing he slashed at the earth using his foot, trying to remove every last scrap of that brown smear, pulling himself forward through those motions and deciding to have a gander on this worn out grazing field, seems the herd had been about way too long. That scent of rotting meat was a bit of eyebrow viagra though, he just couldn't put it down while that scent swirled through his nasel cavities... what farmer leaves death on the field?... A few more steps taken and with a grunt he hefted up that huge sword, up straight into the air and then doing his best to lessen a painful impact as he rested it against his shoulder. Normally he'd fix the thing into his shoulder harness dealie but urgh... those chains and hooks were so fiddly and in truth he still hadn't quite woken up.

Step after unprotected step hazarding their way across the grass, so many wide, blackish hazards awaiting him round any invisible corner... he wasn't entirely fond of cows as animals, bit dopey, not all that pleasant to touch either... did taste nice though once you sorted them out, that was one redeeming feature. One of the few... anyways... normally travelling randomly brought up some funky prospects, but so far all he had dealt with was some twat of a toff with an anger issue and a really flimsy weapon... a bunch of half-wit bandits with dental problems and now a big cow field that seemed well past its prime.

I demand a tale of interest, intrigue, risk and of course the risque... yea that'll do for a starter

He cringed on hearing that loud scream, whatever had made it, he couldn't tell it was so distorted by fluid probably filling the throat and then trailing into a thick gurgle. Had the direction though and he was following that lead like any lead would follow a dog, this time for better foot-safety sticking to a two-legged run, keeping that Slammer lofted up against his shoulder in case he needed a good forceful down slash. He barely even noticed some of the startled herd as he rushed past, cows were only interesting when near a grill to be fair and that scream told of something far more curious. In fact when he caught sight of the scene it was very curious indeed...

Thats a big bear...

Small girl with a relatively large sword but... yea when you looked at the occurance most of your vision would be taken up by that ten foot behemoth, unnatural looking thing. Eventually he did notice the girl just as the thing reared up, must have been that cow that made the noise, she didn't have a scratch on her... girl that size being hit by that thing wouldn't be making a noise anyway. Time to do what he had been doing just a few moments ago, breaking into a hurried rush towards the mammoth beast, thankfully his sword was made for taking down these beasts, bet it had a lovely jaw of fangs.

One blow from that thing would send me right off my feet... they move fast as well, good turning speed thanks to all fours, think think wolf-man... I need suprise, a factor it wouldn't understand... oh shit... well no choice...

The beast was turning, it had caught wind of him, bugger... still he didn't abandon his inkling of a plan. Might work, stranger things do happen...

Slowly his right arm joined its twin and gripped the handle of his Slammer, bringing it off his shoulder, hefting its full weight in the air along his side, drawing closer... closer still... the giant bear had that stench of decay on it just as much as the cow carcasses that were left on this field from its attacks. One handy thing about this sword size was there was no need to be accurate... anything you hit was likely to include something vital... which was good in this instance. Baring his bloodied fangs Corvus brought his sword upwards to one side, point aiming right for the bear before with a 'right fucking chuck' to quote the thought in his mind it was let loose.

It sounded like a metal bull crashing through a boneyard, only more gooey, the bear being ripped off its feet by the sheer force of the throw and weight of the weapon. Smashing to the ground like a tree and laying still... almost still, in fact the git was still moving.

"Bastard..."

He tried not to waste a moment and broke his skid of a halt to charge again at the fallen form, leaping up as its limbs thrashed, massive claws renting the air around it.

Not from pain...

As he landed the reality of what this beast was started to become clear, his claws puncturing ancient and damaged flesh, warm air venting out of those cuts from the decay within. Strange but he was thankful to have one foot resting on cold iron, pressing down as his hands joined into on the handle, trying to drive it further through the beast... though judging from his tilting position that wasn't doing much...

It only took a handful of seconds but the Bear was back on its hind-legs, roaring and yelling... at least trying to, half-way through its vocal chords withered and died from lack of blood, it had been interrupted feeding after all. Corvus hanging onto the Slammers handle at the bears chest by a single pinkie toe and one hand.

"Just die ya git!"

Then his situation became a little odder, the handle titling downwards... meaning the blade was going up, quickly Corvus clawed his way up the beasts belly and pressed his full weight onto the handle, staring at the snapping zombie bear... or whatever it was and snarling right back. Then suddenly things went a bit dull... and fuzzy. It had swiped one of those huge fore-paws at him, smashing Corvus against its rotten frame, when air was forced out of you at that rate it felt like a hammer smashing against your throat allllll the way up. Still he wasn't going to let it have that blow for free and lashed out, one swipe driving his claws right across one eye and ripping off most of its faces skin, uncovering that muscled muzzle. Another great whack, thankfully this one lower down, Corvus had managed to hop up onto the things shoulders when that arm came for him. Just smacking into its own furred chest, looking down he beheld that gloriously ragged handle and dived... jumping would entail going feet first, but he went head-first.

His hands clasped around the handle, his shoulders smashing into the metal grip and downwards it went, the blade poking out from the bears back moving up as it was forced through rotten tissue. Flipping his body down Corvus pressed his feet into the beasts stomach, sinking his claws in and then with a great yank ripped the blade right out of the bears upper half, slicing through its shoulders and head with one savage movement. At this point he would have tried to kick off the thing, maybe land with a bit of style and panache but that thing was just too heavy, his sword causing his whole center of gravity to shift and merely fell backwards off the bear, landing on his arse, furry tail wagging furiously and the sword clanking down at his side, still tight in his grasp.

"Timber fuck-o!"

It did so, the beast... wether dead or not at least fell onto its own back again... great, last thing he needed was a dead body to flop onto him, bad enough his ears were still ringing from that whack... bastard had a hell of a hook.

[Chiroptera]

In the space of a few seconds Eltarri went from paralyzed with shock to paralyzed with relief, though the visible results of both were indiscernible. One moment the bear was towering over her, paw raised, poised for the strike . . . and in the next it was turning, snarling at something else, its attention refocused on a less-fortunate target. It was like a miracle, like something out of a cheesy novel, as if she had prayed to some merciful god who’d magnanimously decided to save her death for another day. Something heavy swung into the bear, knocking it sideways, and the shiny object was followed by a tall man who assailed the monster in a flurry of motion, leaping and jumping about as if holding still would cost him his life. Which, considering the bear’s reluctance to die, seemed a possibility. Eltarri’s arms slowly fell, drifting until her sword rested against the ground in front of her as she gaped with an open mouth at the savage duel.

Is that a tail? A glimpse of her sudden-savior’s fifth appendage broke Eltarri’s dreamlike paralysis and she fell back from her knees, scrambling away from the pair and dragging her sword with her. She watched the fight with a touch of wonder, unsure exactly of what was going on, but getting the impression that her tailed intercessor was winning.

A fast and audible whack to the head changed her mind. She rose quickly to her feet, preparing to return the favor that her rescuer had so timely bestowed, but by the time she had her sword in both hands and was ready to advance, the tailed man was already up and going, sword flying . . .

Eltarri blinked and looked again. That was a sword? It looked more like a small boat! How on earth was he even able to carry something as disproportionately large as that? Her eyes dropped to the black blade in her own hands. Sure, she had a big weapon – even though she had to use magical bracers to even lift the darn thing – but his massive sword made even her father's weapon look puny!

A flash of resentment went through the half-elf as she returned her gaze to the fight in time to see the bear and the warrior fall away in opposite directions. The monster hit the ground and stayed there, twitchy spasms shaking the mutilated corpse. The man stayed down too, but Eltarri had learned from the curs in Scara Brae that a wagging tail meant a happy dog. She forced herself not to glare at him.

Don’t be so immature. He saved your life.

He stole my bear.

If he hadn’t stepped in, you’d be dead and you wouldn’t have killed the thing anyway.Don’t you get it? You lost! Ryber was right about you; you can’t fight worth crap. You need weird dog-human hybrids who have BIGGER swords and BETTER skills than yours to save you from the situations you keep getting youself yourself into.

The realization was painful, and though Eltarri wondered which part of her mind was being so hurtfully logical, she couldn’t deny the truth of it. As much as she wanted to believe otherwise, she wasn’t battle-ready, and she couldn’t take care of herself in a dangerous situation. She kept trying so hard to be self-sufficient and independent, but every time she ended up relying on somebody else to save her.

You’re pathetic. Self-loathing washed over her and the girl lowered her head to hide her face as she blinked back tears. Turning away from the man, she swung her sword gently around to rest it against the sling on her back and snapped it shut, securing the blade in the harness. Then she faced him again, stepping forward until she was only a few feet away from him and the bear, lifting her chin high and trying to exhibit what little dignity an incompetent failure deserved to muster.

“Um . . . thanks. If you’re not planning to stuff it or anything,” she jerked her head towards the corpse, “would you mind if kept the head?”

[Corvus MacCallum]

A few spikes of hair drooped and mucked up parts of his vision, the Highlander panting as he flopped back against the soft grass... felt so damn good against a sore body. He couldn't help but chuckle at this little conquest, all the events peicing themselves together, he had fought like such an amatuer... use the scent to size it up, then wait until it was on all fours, could have rammed the sword from skull to arse with enough pushing. Still it was dead now and he wasn't, job well done and not like anyone would be rating his prowess, specially after seeing how much blood erupted from that yank of his blade. Then finally he realised someone else was here, looking to the shorter girl... very pale, rather sharpened in a way... cute ears too and a big sword for a girl that size, nice... what?

... just hang on a second... head?...

"Aww ballax!"

He shot up, well in realistic terms he rose rather quickly... still a tad dizzy from that smack to the head, those paws were the size of keg lids. Bit by bit he gathered enough strength to stand and dragged the blade behind him, grumbling and muttering words like 'stupid' and 'idiot'... it was important to get some kind of trophy from your kill.

"Be with ya in a second lass, now open wide boyo"

He had staggered around to the beasts half and half head, forcing open the left jaw and reaching inside, took only a few seconds of necro-dentistry style fondling to find what he was looking for. Digit by digit his hand clasped around it and once more something was ripped from the bear, one very large fang, largest in its maw. Grinning with that little acheivement he dumped it into the pack still clinging to his back and turned back to the lass.

"Sorry bout that heh..."

Feels so damn hollow tearing it free once the things dead, no real acheivement to it... next time though, I'll remember yea...

"You can take the head if you want, though I have a feeling you'll need some rope to bind it and at least a hand carrying it... names Corvus, how about you?"

He had been kneeling by the bears head on saying this and suddenly got a fierce itch, not rising, he simply brought his left leg up and gave a few quick scratches, letting out a silent sigh and then snapping back to reality.

"By the way, why do you want the head?... bit too ugly to mount on a wall, though you could always do him side-ways now heheh"

He glanced to the slayed and gave a sharp poke on its skinned nose, finally getting back on two legs and walking up to the girl, sizing up just how little muscle mass she had and how much would be required from that sword. His own resting against his shoulder once again, last thing he needed was someone giggling as he fought tooth and nail to get some chain to comply after felling such a huge beast.

[Chiroptera]

Lass? Eltarri drew herself up indignantly. Sure she was short and not very intimidating, but he didn’t look that much older than she, definitely not old enough to be referring to her in such belittling terms. Then again, she had been getting a lot of grief lately; maybe she was overestimating herself.

Jerking her eyes away from the man's claws as he went to the bear, Eltarri took several deep breaths to calm herself down. Despite the reassuring reminder that he had just saved her life, something about him made the girl nervous . . .something other than the tail. Her edginess increased when he bent down, reached into the bear’s mouth, and casually tore out one of its teeth, smiling widely as he dropped it into a bag on his back. Maybe he's a collector . . .

“You can take the head if you want, though I have a feeling you'll need some rope to bind it and at least a hand carrying it. . . name’s Corvus, how about you?"

Eltarri opened her mouth to retort about her ability to carry things by herself, then faltered when he used his foot to scratch himself. She was utterly lost when it came to categorizing him. He had the mannerisms and some of the features of a canine, but even with the outlandish accent he spoke politely – given, of course, that one ignored the muttered oaths. Her pause gave him time to speak again, after which Eltarri forced herself to stop looking at his tail and to meet his eyes. Manners, weirdo. Some would call you a hybrid too.

“I’m Eltarri,” she said. She was about to answer his other question by telling him that she needed the head for the bounty, but then she realized that she hadn’t actually killed the monster. He - Corvus - looked to be an adventurer, and by every right the payment should go to him. She shrugged mentally, not too concerned about the gold. The thought of seeing Ryber’s face after he heard about her failure made the loss of income the more preferable option anyway.

“Never mind about the head. I assume Ryber told you that he wanted it, so you can take it to him when you get your bounty.” He had stood and was walking towards her, boat-like sword over one shoulder. She looked down so that she wouldn't have to tilt back her head to see his face and grudgingly finished, “It was, after all, your kill.”

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Eltarri... can I call ya El for short, I'm not great with names, shorter the better, can call me Cor in return heh... urgh"

The Highlander rubbed at his aching noggin, sadly he didn't get that wonderful sensation of things spinning, right now only a handful of things were spinning and others were twisting or splitting. Bit by bit the fuzzy part of his injury were fading away and leaving behind all that stark, sharp pain... still that was a good thing, meant he was getting a grasp on just what was real. His eyes flitted to that sword handle, trying to focus on just it for now and get himself together...

"Bounty?... kill, well yea it is mine I guess but I don't know anyone called Ryber, I was just snoozing out in the woods and found myself legging it to this neck of the land... spotted you in a bit of bother and cut it down, can have any reward offered for its hide I'm not really interested"

Giving a simple shrug he swung an arm in the direction of the zombie bear... suddenly getting a twinkle of thought, decay always stank pretty bad and he wasn't going to travel with that funk wafting from behind him. Kneeling down he was at a much better viewing height for Eltarri, simply continuing what little conversation was going while doing this odd task. Opening his left hand and then ramming it against the ground, sinking claws in tightly and yanking against the earth, tearing forth a large chunk of grass and soil, then bringing his blade out in front of him, scrubbing against the fetid blood staining his Slammer.

"So some bloke wanted this thing put down?... makes sense, must put the wind right up the cows... so considering you took this job on why weren't you able to put it down?... or can I assume, for but a moment, that he had no clue just what was nibbling on the freshest beef in his stock?"

How the heck does she heft that thing... shes only a sleight little thing, hell I've seen bigger girls stick with broad-swords and get tired pretty quick. Wonder if she can even swing it, right now just seems to function as a very handy all back shield... hmm

He had managed to finish up just under half his blade, sure it was now mud-stained and green lines marking it but that would eventually come out with a good speckling of blood... some sort of cycle maybe, could always break it with a simple fire bath. Bit by bit his tail slowly began to halt its wagging, but with one particulary slow one the wind caught it and Eltarri found it brushing its thick, fluffy fur sweeping against her leg, the owner not even noticing as he busied himself on polishing off his big weapon.

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri was relieved when Corvus turned away to wipe his blade as a rush of heat flooded her face, accompanying the shock and dismay that sprang up in her mind. He didn’t even know about the bounty! What kind of person jumps from a nap into a battle without any reason? El? She wrinkled her nose with distaste. The nickname brought back unpleasant memories, but she definitely wasn’t going to get into her past with this guy, so she let it slide with a resigned shrug that he didn't see.

At his next words, another blush darkened Eltarri’s cheeks, though this time it was from embarrassment. If the bear had attacked, the bracers would probably have been able to protect her, and eventually, given enough time and a few lucky breaks, she might have actually hit the thing hard enough to hurt it. It would have been a much longer and harder fight than the one she’d just witnessed, but the job undoubtedly would have been done. The girl crossed her arms and glared at the back of his head.

“I wasn’t unable to put it down,” she retorted hotly. “You interrupted me before I could do the job.”

It was only a partial lie, but she realized with a wince that it made her sound like an ungrateful wretch. He had killed the bear for her without claiming the reward.

I’m not grateful. I didn’t need his help.

A small voice in the back of her head laughed derisively. If Corvus hadn’t stepped in, she’d probably be as pleasant a pile of chum as the bear’s most recent cow. There was no point in even pretending that she had a good reason to be offended by his impressions, especially since they were true.

“And no,” she added in a more conciliatory tone. “Ryber didn’t know—,”

Her voice cut off as something soft brushed against her knee. Still paranoid about the bear corpse that lay only a few feet away, when she glanced down and saw black fur her first thought was that the bear had come back to life and was grabbing at her leg. With an ear-splitting shriek she kicked hard at the limb and threw herself backwards. Arms flailing with panic, she tripped over her own feet and tumbled to the ground, landing on her back with her sword digging into her ribs.

As the initial wave of panic receded, Eltarri stared up at the dusky sky overhead and realized that it couldn’t have been the bear that had touched her leg. There was definitely a shortage of fuzzy creatures running around, and Corvus had been standing right in front of her. With morbid humiliation Eltarri stayed on her back, wishing she could sink into the dirt.

That was his tail, retard . . .

[Corvus MacCallum]

Corvus was sitting at full attention, one eye closed tightly, the other with a raised brow, all that ushered forth as his tail seemingly bent against him was a hoarse.

"ow..."

Was a pretty sensitive bit of his body after all, he glanced over to the kickee and gestured.

"that things attached, be careful... eesh a kick like that to the bears scroat and you would have won no problem... ow"

Then there was... silence, he resumed cleaning his blade, getting it nice and relatively clean before standing back up and looking to the fallen girl. His tail back to swinging though this time lower, so the tip poked out from behind his shins now and then. Hunkering down he reached out, before the blushing clutz could voice or motion any protest and pulled her into a sitting up position, hand giving a pat to her shoulder. Offering a smirk, blood visibly dripping from one of his fangs the Highlander glanced about him and spotted the rather ruined home of Ryber... didn't really need to, the stench of a man that hadn't left his home for many a moon was pretty prevalent with just a whisp of a breeze.

"So, how much was he offering you to kill it?... considering the size of that git it should at least be in the eight hundreds... nothing on it you could really use either so scavenge rights are out the window"

He had been looking over his shoulder to the fallen beast at this point, there was still such a strong scent coming from its direction...

If I can get this girl shunted back to that Rybers place with the bear head, she can collect her gold, giggle her greedy little giggle and skip away off... then I can start looking through these woods, that scents too strong for one...

... then he snapped back to reality and looked back to her.

"You want any help putting the head together in a nice carryable way?... or shall I just watch and wonder on how you can even cart around a sword like that... you able to use it at all?"

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri shied away as Corvus leaned over and pulled her up, smiling at her as if she was some pitiable child. His smell was so foreign, so unlike anyone else that she’d ever been near. There was something animalistic about him that made him seem more “creature” than “man.” And why was there blood dripping from his teeth? She pulled her knees up to her chest and glared up at him, refusing to let herself apologize for the undeserved kick.

He already thinks I’m just a stupid kid anyway. His tone wasn’t exactly condescending, but it was obvious to Eltarri that he didn’t think her capable of monster-killing or worthy of carrying a weapon. She was afraid that telling him that she didn’t know how much Ryber would pay her would just make her blush again and look even more naive, so she ignored the question.

“No, thank you,” she said icily. “I don’t need help with the head.” He didn’t seem at all affected by anything she said, no matter how rude she tried to be! His complete affability was more aggravating even than the way he kept speaking before she could answer any of his questions.

She pushed herself to her feet and stomped to the bear’s head, pulling the clasp on her chest with more force than was necessary so that she could swing the blade free, glaring at Corvus the whole time.

“Of course I can use it,” she growled, lifting the sword high with both hands and bringing it down onto the general vicinity of the bear’s neck. The blade bit deep into the meat of the shoulder, several inches below the base of the neck.

Blast. Eyes turned down, she jerked the sword free and tried again, this time getting closer to the chin. She hacked at the neck until the head was hanging by only a few strands of fur before she scraped her sword against the bear’s stomach, nose wrinkling at the streaks of blood that clung to the blade and remained tenaciously even after she’d returned it to the sling. The skull was about the length of her arm and three-fourths as wide, and congealing brains and fluids spilled out of the severed edges. Eltarri’s throat closed and she fought nausea, but she bent down and tentatively grabbed one of the bear’s ears with both hands and pulled as hard as she could.

“Don’t know why you had to split the darn thing in half,” she grumbled, forcing herself not to let go. It broke free and she dragged it a few inches away from the rest of the body. Standing up, she threw a pointed look at Corvus, then brushed her bangs out of her eyes and bent down to grab the half-head.

The trouble was that blood – both bear and cow – had smeared all over it, making it slimy so that getting a firm grip seemed impossible. She tried to grab the ear again, but it was too small to get both hands on. She glanced up to see if Corvus was laughing at her dilemma, and the glance reminded her of something that he’d done earlier. The bear’s jaw was still open from when he’d gone in and ripped out one of the teeth, but there was still one incisor left. Stifling a groan she wrapped the fingers of one hand around the tooth and grabbed the ear with the other hand before standing upright and pulling the partial skull up with her. It hung from her arms at knee level, but when she bent over and swung it forward she was able to take halting baby steps. Certain that she looked ridiculous, Eltarri pretended that Corvus wasn’t standing only a few feet away and focused her thoughts instead on what Ryber would say if she managed to make it all the way to the house to deposit the specimen on his doorstep. Half a skull is better than nothing . . .

[Corvus MacCallum]

Blood had been dribbling down a fang for a very specific reason and as Eltarri had started walking towards the bear her answer was in the sound heard. Corvus hocking up a few times, rolling around some fluid in his mouth then with a fierce fast spit, a great voluminous gob of blood and saliva was rejected from his oral orifice and splattered onto a patch of grass quite a few feet away... he wasn't much of a spitter but that damn iron taste got to him. He was fully aware of the small girls rudeness but why get upset when its only born from her embarrasment, he'd dealt with far worse...

Use it huh?... nah you can swing it, but theres certainly no talent being displayed there... dare I tell her its simpler if you saw rather than hack?... nah lets see her sweat it out

Her little mutterance of questioning his slaying methods didn't slip past the enhanced hearing, his receptors weren't all pointy but they picked up a damn sight more than most beleived. A silent chuckle shaking his shoulders.

"A monster is to be slayed by any means available to you at the time of each heart-beat... sides I didn't want that bloody head still snapping at us, thing was undead, takes a good chunk of the brain whacked to stop those things"

So thats zero talent with swinging a sword, requires magic to even carry it and apparently not very perceptive when it comes to her opponents... come to think of it be safer for her staying here while I check through the woods, anything could happen to her on the road... like a corner

Watching her very... slowly begin her little teensy tiny steps away for Rybers house Corvus took another look at the bear. Walking over he wrenched up the second half of head with one hand, was damn heavy but manageable... then came a twinkling of inspiration, as he carted it with him along the beasts body out plucked his claws once more, ripping off one of the digits of its paw. Taking grip of the huge black claw he stripped the finger from it with one quick trip through his fangs...

Urgh, tastes like month old mutton bleh!

... wretching aside he then rammed the claw into a juicier part of the brain, something with a bit of substance and with a few regulary paced steps brought himself level with Eltarri.

"Could just carry that for you ya know, make things go by a lot quicker... probably need a shower thanks to the grey matter drippings hitting your shins right now"

Wonder just how far I can push this girl until she loses her rag and lets me give her a wake-up call

[Chiroptera]

Studiously ignoring the odd sounds that were coming from behind her, Eltarri trudged bow-leggedly through the grass, arms burning from the weight of the skull. Cows scattered at her slow approach, the reek that was coming from her burden frightening them away. Odd squelching noises followed her, but she was eager enough to get away from the bear and the tailed man that she pressed on heedlessly.

Almost there, she encouraged herself through her panting as she reached the peak of one hill. Just about half a mile left to go . . .

“Could just carry that for you, ya know, make things go by a lot quicker... probably need a shower thanks to the grey matter drippings hitting your shins right now."

Corvus’ accented voice coming so close to her head surprised her out of her grip on the bear’s ear and tooth. It smacked onto the ground and rolled wetly between her legs and back down the slope, coming to a mocking rest within a foot of its original site of attachment on the furry corpse below.

Blast! She turned on her heel and stomped back down the hill, gritting her teeth in annoyance at the ease with which Corvus carried the other half of the head and his massive sword. She spared a glance down at her legs and wanted to groan at the sticky drops that had landed on her pants. That had BETTER come out with water. With a frustrated grunt she picked up the skull and started back up the hill.

“Thanks,” she said shortly to Corvus when she reached him, trying to stifle her labored breathing, “but I don’t need your help.”

It wasn't that she really didn't need his help, of course, for as he'd said, the trip would have been easier if he was carrying the entire head. The girl's pride, however, refused to relinquish what little self-sufficiency it could cling to. She seemed to believe, for some reason, that carrying the head back to Ryber's head by herself would make up for her inability to kill it's original owner.

Ina sudden burst of resourcefulness, Eltarri stepped past him and dropped the skull on the downward slope, giving it a push with the toe of her boot to get it moving. It bounced ahead of her down the incline and again came to rest at the bottom, minus a few ounces of brain matter that lay on the grass along its path. She threw a gloating look at Corvus before setting off down the hill after the skull. Toting it up every hill would be a pain, but at least the downhill part would be easy. And there were at least two more hills before she had to worry about carrying it on that flat stretch near Ryber’s house.

[Corvus MacCallum]

"For something so simple your looking a little too proud heh, gonna offer to carry it for you one last time... Then your getting my help wether you like it or not... and then I ain't mentioning it again, so pipe up now before we get to the inclines... plus I think Ryber would be more interested in a whole head than just half, least then he can appreciate the size of that git"

The way he held it kept all the dripping matter on the outside of his form, avoiding any splatterings mucking up his mucky trouser legs. He was starting to look forward to a good laze in a nice cool stream, maybe pluck a brave fish when he got hungry... made him wonder by people bothered with those porcelian containers... baths, that was the word. Was hardly an even gait, since he wanted to stick by Els side for now, a few steps, then a kick... few steps, then a kick, at the least her legs would have a good work out for this.

"If I hadn't come along, how were you going to handle that bear, assuming you did handle it?... after all your gonna need to tell Ryber something beleivable, even a desperate bloke is too greedy to give his money to those unworthy"

Considering the state of this place I have a feeling the guys gonna try to pay her off with bulk supply, all his ruined cows once he gets a new generation started...

Was only afternoon but with all that cloud cover it seemed like dusk as the sun found itself blotted out from its favourite stage. Chunks of light drifting slowly across the pasture and momentarily warming all it touched, was going to be a very pleasant sun shower soon. The Highlander smirking as he glanced to Eltarri, that would just make her day, drippy and then wet while still booting about that bear head... she was lucky a fang didn't puncture her shoe.

[Chiroptera]

Those unworthy? Eltarri’s jaw was starting to hurt from grinding her teeth together so hard. Her mind ran through a few of the choicer insults that she knew, but she kept her mouth shut, partly because she didn’t have a good answer to his question. She paused, foot poised over the half-skull. How had she been planning to handle the bear?

She glanced discreetly at Corvus, checking his face for sign of chicanery. He seemed casually interested in her stratagem, not surreptitiously intent on finding her weakness. Not that he would have to look very hard, but it seemed wiser to keep her magical bracers undisclosed than to blurt out her only means of martial competence.

“My plan,” she began, shoving the head forward in pointed disregard to his offer, “was to let him swing at me a few times. Once I had an idea of how he attacked, I could find his weak spot and get him.”

She’d whipped that “strategy” out of the air, and even as she said it she knew it sounded contrived. What kind of moron would use a stupidly impractical tactic like that? Why not just run up and try to talk the bear out of killing cows? Afraid to see his reaction and trying to hide her renewed blush, she stepped quickly after the skull.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Corvus fought back his growing smirk from that little strategy... for holding herself in a haughtily manner the girl must be greener than a Mossy Dryad. Another chunk of field covered and then came the steady drizzle, by now of course Corvus had fallen from reality and was mulling over an unusual flicker in his mind... one that would have potential. Realistically the girl would need to have something magical about her to heft that sword considering her physique and if that gave an edge to regular sword swinging she could be trained into something quite fearsome.

"Fields bloody big enough..."

Always helped when in thought to give out some relevant comment, that way they wouldn't beleive you were as utterly out of it as he currently was. Replaying in his mind the scene he came across, he had seen nothing of agility or finesse... in fact all he'd seen is a pale little critter of a woman with a sword too big for her but with one hell of a proud demeanour.

Study the bears battle tactics, yea that sounds feasible with a random force of nature, can only do that with trained warriors, spot the gaps in what they learned or exploit the faults of their style... a bear is a little trickier in that it will strike however it likes, when it likes...

Bit by bit this notion was forming in his head and instead of merely shoving the girl onwards into likely more dangerous ventures... maybe he should solve the issue of worry and make her able to deal with trouble. In his typical regard for priorities and conversation topics he was subtle about this...

"Fancy learning how to swing that sword?"

... well as subtle as he cared to be.

[Chiroptera]

Corvus’ unexpected offer startled Eltarri so much that she released her grip on the skull and dropped it directly onto her own foot. Yelping in pain she hopped up and down on the other foot, muttering the more mild curses that sprang helpfully to mind.

He knows! The thought terrified her. Why would he offer to teach her offense if he hadn’t figured out that she had no idea of what she was doing? Her posturing obviously didn’t convince anyone of competence. Indignation made her want to snap that she didn't need his training to fight, that she could swing her sword just fine without him, thank you very much. At the same time, a thrill went down her spine at the thought of receiving professional instruction from someone who carried a weapon as similar as his was to her own. It wasn’t as if she didn’t need the teaching . . .

She dropped to one knee and felt at her foot through her boot, turning away from Corvus to hide the excitement that she was sure was evident on her face. Calm down. Don’t let your emotions get in the way of sense. She had no money to offer him for lessons, and she really didn’t know any more about him than his name, which might not even be real. Who was to say that he wasn’t some swindling magician who took the appearance of a tailed man and who pretended to save girls to lure them into his tutelage only to take advantage of them in some dastardly and ungentlemanly way? Their meeting had been uncommonly fortuitous. Was greater sword-skill worth the risk of placing herself in an even more vulnerable position?

Don't be a moron; you're already the queen of vulnerability. The next time you have to fight something, there might not be anyone there to save you. Besides, he already knows that you’re a pansy. It’s not like he couldn’t kill you now if he didn’t want to, and you don’t have any pride left to lose.

Rising to her feet, Eltarri smoothed her features and took a limping step back towards Corvus and her half of the skull that rested on the ground. Try not to look like an overanxious kid in a candy store . . .

“If it isn’t too much trouble-,” she cut herself off when she realized how stupid that sounded. Of course it was a load of trouble to teach an imbecile how to fight. I mean, if you think you have time and can stand to try to help me. Actually, I’d appreciate any help you could give me because I can’t really fight worth a mound of dirt and the only reason I’m not dead now is because of people like you who keep saving my life. Her mind rushed through all the things she wanted to say, but her mouth remained obstinately still. Her face went red again and she stared at the grass at her feet, cheeks flaming. “Uh . . . sure, if you think you can help.”

[Corvus MacCallum]

"I might be able to, never had a crack at training someone but there are little tricks here and there on how to work a slammer... big sword"

Wasn't a term often used outside his home village so he figured it was best to add in that extra bit of information. She could probably learn very quickly how to be a fighter without him, but that involves many a risk that she might not want to face... after all not everyone has a flair for improvisation, the bear encounter reminded Cor he had yet to perfect it. When the blush came on and that poisoned tongue went dormant she was quite a cute little lass, the Highlander shifting himself in order to face her, lowering himself down somewhat to get on eye level with her, even if she was occupied with the visage of grass. His next line in many ways would sound patronizing but there was too much honesty in his tone to give it that peircing edge.

"Never know, might be able to learn something from this as well, always good to learn something new each day... well except for bad habits heh, so you fancy a hand carting this thing to Ryber so you can get your pay and we can get started?... don't know about you but I figure getting caught in the rain wouldn't do either of us any good endurance wise"

It was certainly coming, in spits and spats at the moment but soon it could grow into something satisfyingly large. Despite the hazard getting soaked presented while travelling Corvus did enjoy a good session of rain, refreshed every bit of skin and caused a tingle in every hair... plus it was just too much fun to splash about in puddles while hunting some wild animal.

Never stray too far from being a pup, after all have to have fun sometime

[Chiroptera]

Slammer. The word was new and somehow exciting. She’d never known that her sword fell into a real genre of weaponry, but the term was fitting. Her eyes rose to meet Corvus’ as he spoke, and for once Eltarri didn’t want to stomp her foot and scream for respect. She couldn’t detect any hint of condescension at all, and looking at his face she thought she could see that he was honestly and genuinely interested in helping her.

Way to be a snob, she congratulated herself. Her earlier rudeness seemed silly and childish. He’d saved her life, he was going to teach her to fight, and he even was willing to help her collect a bounty that she hadn’t earned. Why was she so eager to jump to wrong conclusions?

Nodding emphatically, Eltarri gestured sheepishly towards her half of the bear head. “That’s probably a good idea,” she said lamely. Ryber’s home was only a few hills away, and maybe by the time they got there the rain would have cleared.

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Excellent... now lets get this bugger sorted ew squidgy"

Corvus had crouched down by the head half awaiting at Els feet and then took his own half, with the large claw lodged in the brain section he rammed the two halves together and... while there was a bit of juicy sliding and the muzzle didn't quite line up right it was now a relatively whole head. Hefting it with both hands Corvus was able to lead the duo on a more natural pace, just as the rain started to kick up... that beautiful sound of heavily rustled trees as a gale swept through them, a simple storm was brewing and it just looked so good with those chunks of intensely bright sunlight still burning through the cloud cover.

Can't help it, I'm curious to see just what manner of creature this Ryber is, sending anyone out to protect his cows without going through any details like WHAT is killing his cattle and the amount hes offering for its slaying... plus that house looked rotten to the core, probably stinks to high heaven

"So El, since we have a bit of time until we reach that ramshackle creation of wood and stone... fancy a bit of light convo?... if your wondering I'm from a race called the Highlanders, mostly wolf with some human blood mixed in over the generations, how about you?... those ears look a little too sharp to be entirely human"

[Chiroptera]

Only slightly annoyed at the ease with which he carried the entire bear head, Eltarri squinted to peer through the rain at Ryber's house, now less than a fourth of a mile away. The journey had already picked up its pace since she'd relinquished her hold on the skull half, and her shoulders were pleased to be freed of the burden. Her right hand instinctively jumped to touch her ear at his words, as if checking to see if they'd grown since the last time she'd felt them. Her ears had always been a source of trouble for her, no matter what race she associated with.

"I'm half Elven," she told him. Part wolf? Her curiosity burned, but she held her tongue from blurting the question that lingered on the edge of her mind. How do human and wolves . . . never mind. A wry smile lifted one side of her mouth as she added, "Probably the better half."

Then she realized that he had human blood too, and that he might not consider it as a negative influence the way she had been conditioned to. Great, another stupid remark . . .

"Not that I'm ashamed of my human side, of course," she amended quickly. "My father was human and a great warrior. My . . . slammer . . . used to be his." She glancd at the metal boat that he carried in a harness similar to her own. "Is that thing a family heirloom, or did you have to kill a giant yourself to get it?"

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Its a good thing to be a mix, least thats how I think, with pedigrees eventually some species start falling apart, lots of inherited illnesses and disorders, but mix them up into a mutt, however bad people might see the term usually results in something stronger than the sum of its parts... as for the sword?..."

He gave a quick sweep of his tail, feeling it pressing against the flat of the blade, a nice reassuring and subtle method of checking it was still there.

"Was actually the sword of the captain in a monster hunting band I was part of... one day we took on this Blazen, might not be familiar with them its a dragon but they get very, very large and the older they are the more vents rise out of their scales... effect is that instead of just using a breath attack they can coat themselves from tail to tongue in flame"

Right bastards to put down... quick reactions, powerful limbs and one hell of a temper, why did I have to pick one of the stronger species to detest

"So we have this job to take on a very very large Blazen, thing was about as big as those mansions you see foppish nobles in. Me the captain and a bunch of other slammer users head in first, the thing lets off this massive gout of flame which torches pretty much the entire company, leaving just me and the captain... I was using a wannabe slammer that day, just a steel anti-cavalry sword, anyway I tried to ram it in the dragon but the bloody thing broke against its scales and for the next few weeks a nurse was picking metal shards out of my upper body. The captain uses this here slammer and manages to ram it right up near the beasts heart but dosen't survive to finish the job, I was pretty badly knocked up and bleeding but I rushed to that impaled sword and smashed it upwards using what I had left... actually broke my shoulder in five places with that attempt... but yea it did the trick, the Blazens heart was punctured and it toppled"

To someone from a present time it would look like Corvus was fiddling with a very grotesque puzzle, almost like a rubix cube, all the sliding, turning and slipping trying to get the bear head to look as whole as possible. Looking forward to El showing this off then displaying her martial prowess by splitting the thing in two right in front of the farmers eyes.

Should get her a raise

"Oh yea well after that I was the only one left out of the whole group... even me best buddy Sok had gotten torched..."

There was a rumbling growl rising in his throat, wishing he had been in a better condition, that the Blazen was at his mercy.... so he could extract a proper revenge.

"So with that, I plucked up the captains slammer after healing from my injuries and set out to stop so many other folks being brought down by a monster, this things felled some beasts in my hands"

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri’s mouth was slightly agape by the time Corvus had finished his story. She looked at his sword with a new respect, aghast at the price he’d paid to attain it. The tale did reveal much about his character, information that Eltarri tucked away for further reference. A few empathetic phrases went through her head, but she resisted the urge to speak one of them aloud. Any of the trite niceties that she could express would just seem paltry in the face of his struggles.

She walked across the grass silently, slightly in awe of the tailed man beside her. He didn’t look much older than her, but he had obviously endured and suffered lot more. Did it take wolf blood to have that kind of determination and stamina? If it had been her facing that dragon, she would probably have ran away and left her friends to die. It’s a good thing to be a mix, he’d said. But was it so good when the two parts couldn’t seem to reconcile themselves to each other?

He seemed the open type, so Eltarri didn’t think he’d mind her next question. “Do your parents approve of this quest of yours?”

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Thats a... good question actually, I'm not really sure... hmm"

His pacing stopped altogether as he tried to recall just what kind of atmosphere it was he left under. If only he wasn't carrying this damn head then he could scratch his chin in pondery!

"Well I kinda left in a hurry, we had just finished the Highland games, tests of endurance and strength, all that jazz... real butch stuff heh, load of bollucks really... I remember, what was it, oh yea after the games me old man sat me down... nice bloke bit gruff but a loveable mutt heh. He started talking about how the village needs defenders, to keep us safe, but that we shouldn't rely on keeping everything away... then he took hold of this big stick and lobbed it at the gates to the village, its a very, very odd thing when your dad looks at you with all seriousness and barks 'fetch' at ya..."

Was starting to play out in front of him as Corvus started walking again, his dad had been in an odd mood for some time before the games. Things were alright at home but everytime they talked his dad wound up saying less and less, hell the day before all he had heard from his dad was a simple hello and then nothing more until their long chat after the games.

"So yea I did as he told, I walked to where he had thrown the stick and found it hand landed next to dads cavalry sword... we're not good when mounted, animals don't enjoy having a wolf on their back heh, but because of our endurance we can use heavy weapons far easier than most... so I plucked that up and just headed on... to this day I still have no idea what mom thought of it"

There were now in a stone throws throw distance from Rybers home, Corvus mulling over what all he had said and figuring something might need clearing up.

"We're not a male dominated society, its all equal... I think its more I might not have been able to go if I knew it would break my moms heart... probably what dad thought and so he hurried me off, that was a handful of years ago and I haven't been back since, always had something of a wander-lust"

As his words finished up the Highlander let his eyes travel over El and her situation, visibly quite young and from how she spoke of her dad, what little was said implied she didn't know much of anything about him, still might as well share no?

"How about you?... you said your dad was a great warrior, how about your mom?"

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri shrugged uncomfortably. She hadn’t counted on him asking her about her own parents in return, and she wasn’t sure that there was anything she wanted to share. Yes, well, my mother’s living in a self-imposed prison miles deep in solid rock, fighting her share of the darkness that a jealous witch buried in our hearts and doing her best not to turn into some horrible and destructive banshee before I can find a wizard to rescue her.

“My mother’s a noble,” she said lightly. “Really blue-blooded, no patience for the wars of men. She doesn’t know that I took the sword, and she’d never approve if she knew I was out here pretending I could use it.”

As they got nearer to Ryber’s house, Eltarri realized that the smell of his urine was stifled somewhat by the rain. The more sour odor, however, remained strong, seeming even more potent in the drizzle. Ten feet away from the house, there was a flicker of motion in one of the upstairs windows, and then a wooden bolt shot down and landed a few paces in front of their feet.

“Stay away, fiend!” The shriek was high-pitched and terrified. Eltarri glanced at the headless arrow and then kept walking, glaring up at the house.

“He did this last time, too,” she muttered to Corvus before she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Save your arrows, Ryber, it’s me. I’m back with the monster.”

“I can see that,” the panicking voice hollered back, “but I told you to bring it back DEAD!”

Eltarri looked back at Corvus. Tailed, clawed, carrying a huge sword and a massive bear head and showing not a hint of civility, she couldn’t really blame the man for his misperception.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Shes a terrible liar... no noble man would swing a sword like this, unless it was an affair and perhaps he was part of the honour guard... even so, she blurted that out a bit too quick heh, okay I'll keep sthum on it lass

Then as they approached scents more offensive than most panic-striken bandits Corvus had a bad feeling about this little locale and the mystery man Ryber. So paniced he'd hire a girl this short purely on having seen her and then pushing her off towards some mystery monster that was far too much for a rookie. Then came the arrow, looked like such a pathetic thing, so naked and harmless.

"-told you to bring it back DEAD"

"Oi fucko watch the tone!"

He wasn't about to be talked down to, to some paranoid coward who sent this girl off to get killed.

"Now open your bloody door up or I'll break it down and insert this boyo into you!"

He hefted up the huge bear head and gave a resounding bark that caused the emaciated farmer to jump so high he fell off his aiming stool. Corvus chuckling as he walked past El and gave a wink as his tail swished side to side. Took but a moment or two to reach the door, resting the head against the wall beside he freed up a hand to scrape his claws against the door, with a simple push the worn out wood exposed exactly where Ryber had planted his dead-bolts from which parts bent and which merely creaked.

Wonder why this thing kept to the woods... probably the smell that put it off, dead or not you gotta have standards... oh here we go, off they come, click, clonk, clack

As the shaking head poked round, crossbow empty but being brandished Corvus couldn't help himself and leaned in to the crack between door-frame and door.

"Boo"

Absolutely, priceless

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri winced at Corvus’ tactless response to the man’s fear. Wasn’t he accustomed yet to humans’ ignorance and alarm when confronting other races? His reproach almost made her smile, but Ryber wasn’t the only one who jumped when he barked. For one moment, with the echo ringing in her ears, Eltarri was afraid as well. Then Corvus flashed her a smile and the fear disappeared. His contrasting behaviors confused her; one moment he was a fearsome, bloodthirsty warrior and the next his tail was wagging as he winked at her.

The sound of clattering footsteps down the stairs within was interrupted by the splintering of wood as Corvus broke the door. Eltarri, still on the dirt beside the porch, was tempted to leave Ryber to his deserved harassment, but worries about the security of the bounty and the twinging of her conscience made her jump forward.

“Corvus, leave him alone!” She ducked under his arm and pushed her way into the house, nearly tripping over the prone form of the cattler, who lay whimpering on the floor, staring at the tailed man before him with terror-struck eyes. “Ryber, he isn’t the monster and he’s not here to hurt you.”

The rancher on the floor didn’t move, but a spreading puddle on the wooden floor beneath him informed the girl that he hadn't gotten the message. Grumbling with exasperation, she stepped over his legs and stood between him and the doorway, poked her face through the crack, and scowled up at Corvus.

“You’re going to cost me my bounty,” she complained to the green-eyed wolf-man, pushing the door as shut as the broken deadbolts would let it close.

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Eh-heheh sorry lass, I just... couldn't help myself heheh"

Never seen a humans eyes go so wide, still guess it was a little much, ah well I'll let her handle this but still... need to ditch this hairy old git

Hefting up the bear head with both hands, his digits quickly spun it around to face him and smirked.

"Ugly git aren't you heh..."

Glancing about he found a heavily boarded up window pretty close to the door, stepping over he once again propped the bear head against the wall with only a single hand holding it up. The other busied itself by prying off the boards, wasn't hard to extract nails when your claws offered the leverage... then came the customary scream while Rybers protection was jeopardized, next the window was lifted open and finally with a bit of a crash as it crushed a rather badly made table Ryber found his home invaded by the monsters head.

"Enjoy"

Was all that Corvus uttered before closing the window and simply walking off, not very far but he wanted a fence to sit on, a nice comfortable position to feel the rain wash over him. Sides if he got a cold at least the blockage would stop him smelling Ryber... he did not envy that girls nostrils one bit.

Good luck with that El

Course now that this little venture was sorted, a question did arise... just what the hell would he teach this girl when she came back out?... he hadn't even mastered the Air Rip yet and his old monster hunting captain made that seem like childs play.

[Chiroptera]

“Wha – what is that thing?”

Eltarri turned at the gasped query. “That was Corvus. He . . . helped me kill the monster.”

Ryber was shakily rising to his feet, grasping at his crossbow as he scrambled against the wall. He seemed to have recovered from his bout of fear. “You killed it?”

She started to nod, then changed her mind about the deception and crossed her arms instead, tilting her head to the side and giving him a hard look. There was more splintering of wood from the side, and then a stream of light poured into the suddenly-open window. Ryber howled again as something large and black flew through the gap and crashed into a coffee table. Eltarri held back a grin. Thanks, Corvus.

Ryber’s eyes were fixed bulgingly on the skull, half of which had twisted so that the pieces weren’t perfectly aligned. Browning blood was smeared across the wood of the table and the bear skull stared up at the cattler with evil red eyes.

“It . . . he . . . bear?”

“Yeah, it was a bear. A really big, creepy bear.” The smell of the house was starting to give Eltarri a headache. “The monster’s dead, there’s the proof, so can I get my bounty?”

In a flash of movement Ryber was across the room and plastered against Eltarri, smothering her in an embrace that crushed her face against his sweat-stained shirt. The overwhelming scent of his body odor and urine struck her motionless long enough for him to sob as he tightened his arms around her shoulders and head.

“You saved my herd!”

Growling with repulsion she ducked out of his arms and shoved him away, lurching away from him and wiping her face against the sleeve of her jacket.

“I’m sorry, please excuse me, I was overcome with emotion,” Ryber blubbered, trailing after her with upturned hands. “You really are my hero!”

Eltarri stopped running and turned to glare at him, fists clenched and ready in case he came at her again. Guilt flooded her as his words reminded her that she really hadn’t killed the bear and that she didn’t deserve any of the admiration or gratitude that he obviously felt. “Thanks, but I just want the bounty.”

Ryber nodded vigorously, then rummaged in his pants until he pulled out a small drawstring bag. “I must warn you, I am not as wealthy as I once was. This is the most that I can afford to give, aside from my undying thanks.”

Eltarri cautiously let him approach and peeked into the bag when it was handed to her, trying to touch the warm pouch as little as possible. There were less than twenty gold coins, all of them dirty and worn. The sum couldn’t have been anywhere near what such a job would usually pay, but Eltarri was eager enough to leave that she didn’t want to bother squabbling over the amount.

I didn’t actually earn any of it, anyway.

As she headed out the door, Ryber stuck out one hand as if to grab her arm. Eltarri jerked away from him, but she paused in the doorway.

His face was solemnly repentant as he said sadly, "I have severely underestimated you. I should not have judged you by your size, for obviously you are more competent than first appearances would lead one to believe, just as I am so much more cultured than these shambles of my life might lead you to believe of me. Please forgive me.”

Shame made her face go red. No, Ryber, you actually didn’t underestimate me at all.

“Don’t worry about it,” she muttered, shutting the door after herself as she stepped onto the porch. Her eyebrows were lowered and she squinted through the rain, filled with newfound determination. She’d proven herself incapable and been esteemed for a task she didn’t complete, but maybe, with the right tutelage, she could learn what she needed to be worthy of such respect.

Now where did Corvus get off to?

[Corvus MacCallum]

Corvus was only to the mere left of her, sitting upon a section of relatively stable fencing. Having stabbed his slammer into the ground behind him the Highlander had made himself a decently comfortable bit of back support as he sat there in the rain. Sun showers were such an addictive sight, not to mention a treat for another of the senes, to be doused in rain and then feel the warmth of the sun dry you to the bone while still being splattered by the effluence of the heavens.

Pretty damn nice

His tail dangled below him since there was quite a gap between the sword and fance, leaving it to just lightly wag from side to side, keeping itself dry in the process. Taking a moment he raised up his left hand in front of him, claws open but grasping near the horizon and then clenching tightly... picking out the next direction he should head in. On lifting his eye-sight to see where he had grasped though a fleeting moment passed on changing his mind.

Not much of a mountain mutt hmm... ah well should be something fanged and nasty there I can practice with and all this travelling does a body good

Withdrawing his hand Corvus turned it around so the palm faced him, bringing his right in to trace along that jewel embedded in the palm of the glove. He'd only met a handful of scholars and wannabe alchemists on his travels so far, such learned individuals rarely hung out at such places like the Cock and Bull... but even so not one had any idea just what this glove was, or how to charge the jewel... at the moment all it seemed to be doing is preventing him from scratching his palm when an itch surfaced. All he'd managed to get from it is a faint glow now and then when around those steeped in magic but that did nothing for his own abilities... maybe all the old alchemist had made was a detector.

"Lock the doors, silence the lambs... silence those caws and put down that wee dram... theres a howl ringing out, fierce and wild... one of guts and clout... one of... one of, aw bollucks forgot the rest uh"

With a quiet sigh his arms fell down to his lap, head rising up to look up into the sky, doing his best to avoid squinting when rain drops hit upon his visage. But bit by bit they closed, a smile spreading across his face on thinking back... all those lands hes travelled so far, so many wondrous and natural sights locked in his memory... no suprise a simple poem would slip his mind, wasn't a big fan of it anyway. Something was rising from his mind though, in that peace and silence... well mostly peace, his soaked nose managing to avoid the stench of Rybers domain... something here spoke to him of home and he wanted to recall some form of lyrical work and there it was before him...


"Wha would be a traitor knave?
Wha would fill a coward's grave?
Wha sae base as be a slave?
Let him turn and flee!
Wha for Danubes pride an' law
Freedom's sword would strongly draw
Freeman stand and freeman fa'
Let him on wi' me!

By oppresion's woes and pains
By your sons in servile chains
We will drain our dearest veins
But they shall be free.
Lay the proud userpers low!
Tyrants fall in ev'ry foe
Liberty's in every blow
Let us do or dee!"


It had been a long time since he'd thought of home, this girl asking about just brought many things flooding back... but not one of them was home-sickness, he just wasn't that type. Still it was a good place to remember, he'd been travelling so long he had even forgoed his proper accent, what he spoke now was some bastardized mix of Highland and Common, simply so his banters with folks would go a lot smoother. Felt good to just lay back in the rain and speak in his original tongue, it wasn't vastly different, but the roll of those Rs and the twists of certain words just spoke of a bit more passion than Common ever had.

"Wonder when I'll make 'em proud o' me... an' what tae do wi' dat bonnie lass..."

A scratching of the chin ensued as he pored over all the swings, slashes and various other movements he'd made with that Slammer pressed to his spine. He might not make her impossible to beat, but he'll sure as hell make the girl's abilities match her pride.

Lyrics from Scots Wha Hae Wi' Wallace Bled

[Chiroptera]

The warmly wet weather was having less of a positive effect on Eltarri. Rain plastered her bangs down the sides of her face and caught in her eyelashes, inhibiting her vision. Her clothes stuck to her skin and the straps of her harness chafed against her waist and shoulders. She caught whiffs of Ryber’s odor from her own clothes, a deathly smell when coupled with the rank scent coming from . . . what the heck was that?

Opening her mouth to irritably shout the tailed man’s name, the girl looked to her side and saw his outline through the rain, perched on a fence in front of his massive sword, which was sticking out of the ground like some kind of blood-stained tree. His head was tipped back, and from the peaceful look of his face, he’d found something that took his mind off the stench in the air. He looked so peaceful, in fact, that it was with something akin to reluctance that Eltarri trduged over to stand in the mud in front of him. How did some people manage to be so obstinately happy even in the most disagreeable situations?

“Corvus?” She spoke in a low voice so that she wouldn't startle him, then changed her mind about hiding her displeasure and said louder, “I hate to bother you when you're obviously enjoying this positively lovely weather, but I don't want to hang around this dump any longer than I have to, so can we mosey?"

After a moment's pause and thought, she grudgingly added "Please" and hoped she wasn’t disturbing something that would put him in a bad mood. Teacher or not, it was never wise to piss off someone who knew how to use a sword.

[Corvus MacCallum]

A few blinkings of the eyes and he came back to reality, looking down to the lass in front of him. He snickered quietly and reached behind him, hands locking around the sword handle. Then up came his feet and pressed at the sturdiest post of the fence, jumping off, at the same time his sword came sliding out, pressing it to his back on landing Corvus nodded slowly and pointed off to the woods.

"Hope you don' mind roughing it but t'wilderness is the best place ta learn... sides we cin probably find ya a stream t'freshen up from those brain juice splatters"

He glanced down to her shins and then started the awkward task of hooking his sword in place from the harness. It was a leather apparel that covered most of his left shoulder, came down across his chest and then wrapped along his side. On the right it only really covered a portion of his right shoulder, the rest was exposed. A jingle, clink and a scrape gave the signal he was ready and Corvus started walking, she wasn't as perky as he expected and there wasn't much of a weight difference... must have gotten rightly stiffed on that little job.

"I 'aven't trained anyone a'fore, but did git some instruction by me old Monster 'unting Captain, one thing 'e felt was most important... an' I share that view, is practical application of knowledge"

Damn that was a bunch of big words

"Fer example, I don' beleive fer one second that Bear is t'only of its kin' round here, stench was too powerful an' it seemed to be already mauled in some places, we're going to en' the infestation entirely... but thats fer later, at the moment we need a bit of grub, wash up an' rest, so into the woods we go for shelter"

From his brisk little jaunts through the previous forest he had a fair idea on what was native here, few rabbits, couple of squirrels nothing all that big which would explain why the bears were preying on Rybers herd. Should be alright while those bovines still moo away, easy meat in a location they've visited many times before. Walking down the muddy path Corvus could feel all that mushed up earth squish between his furry toes... felt good in a wrong kind of way... speaking of things that were wrong.

"So how badly did that leaky git stiff you?"

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri tailed after Corvus, half her mind focused on deciphering his accent, which seemed to have gotten stronger since the last time she’d heard him speak. When he mentioned the presence of more bears, Eltarri stopped walking in both comprehension and alarm.

The preence of more bears explained the smell, but if there were more bears, who was to say that the one they – he – had killed was even the one that had really been terrorizing Ryber’s herd? Or was it that all of them were eating steaks and rapidly depleting the cow population? Either way, the prospect of facing more bears didn’t fill Eltarri with any sort of keenness to try to prove herself again. Facing and failing to that kind of reeking monster once was more than enough for her.

Corvus was still walking and talking, and Eltarri jogged forward to catch up with him, steering clear of the side on which his big sword’s tip was pointed. She’d never considered that her own weapon might be a similar hazard to the people she walked next to. Maybe he should start by teaching me from the book of massive-sword-wielding etiquette.

Though she had better sense than to verbalize her doubts, she was less-than confident about the potential of the forest to provide any of the necessities that Corvus said it would. As far as she knew, rain could get through tree boughs, stream water wasn’t synonymous with clean, and the only things edible in the forest were still alive. A dark suspicion crept into her mind, but she was distracted when he asked her a direct question.

“So how badly did that leaky git stiff you?"

It took a moment for Eltarri to catch up with the change in conversation, and then she was reluctant to tell him. It had seemed like a good idea at the time to just accept the insufficient pay so that she could get away from Ryber, but having to repeat the paltry sum to someone who already knew her level of incompetence in other areas . . .

“Oh, not too badly,” she said airily. “I figured he needs his money more than me anyway.” Searching the wet trees ahead for something to change the subject to and finding nothing, she returned to something she’d heard him saying earlier. “You were saying something about ‘practical application of knowledge.” She half-tripped over a rock buried in the mud, caught her balance, and continued with barely a pause, “So what’s that look like for someone who really doesn’t know anything about offense at all?”

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Its pretty simple, yer gonna treat me as an enemy, trust me I'm a lot more springy tha' you think heheh... we're gonna spar an' as we fight you'll learn how to best apply yerself... cin give ya a bit of info for nothing lass, 'cause of yer height you 'ave a much easier time ducking chest blows an' the like, lowering yerself during a fight is t'your advantage so long as you don't rely on just that... but theres a few other things I cin tell an' more will become obvious once we get you fighting"

He had started sizing the girl up on the walk across the field but he definately wouldn't have an accurate handle on her until he saw her fighting fit. At the moment she didn't give him the impression of being able to block that well either... a girl with that kind of physique would need to be a skilled Glancer for proper defence, not enough body-weight to keep her footing against full blows. It didn't take long at all before they were surrounded by trees, the rain fall was a lot sparser now thanks to the foliage but of course due to those leaves it fell far heavier. Now away from the muggy funk of Rybers abode and field Corvus could breathe freely, the rest of his senses waking up now that he was back in familiar surroundings... bit by bit he could start getting a feel for this place. A stream, thin but strong current wasn't far from here, no fish of any real worth... the soft padding of a rabbit or two to the left of him.

"Hope your no' adverse t'bit of roughing it, we head this way we've got ourselves from freshish water an' cin get rid of Rybers rank from you... definately gonna steer clear of that place no matter how clean it gets in the future, gave me the creepins that place"

Continuing onward Corvus gave an occasional glance to his new pupil, hoping she'd be a good student since he was utterly unaware of what kind of teacher he could hope to be. His pace slowing to match hers so that they could walk side by side, help avoid straining his neck. The sound of wind rustled at the branches above them, a great gout of water firing down from the tree-tops. With a smirk as he looked up the Highlander rought his buckler-clad arm up above Eltarri and stopped the girl from getting soaked... simply reducing it to a mere splashing.

"So wha' yer diet lass?... meat, fish, veggies?"

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri had been having so much trouble keeping up with Corvus’ long stride and copious speech that she didn’t have time to scoff aloud at his teaching strategy. Such a pla might work with someone who had even a minimal amount of instruction or know-how, but the only thing sparring with her would inform him of was her incompetence at offensive swordplay. She’d do fine if he just swung at her (a scary thought even if he really wasn't trying to kill her), but she was still reluctant to tell him about the bracers, and if she tried to execute one of her more appalling strikes after displaying the incredible defense that her bracers gave her, he’d know immediately that something was amiss.

On the other hand, she didn’t quite know how to respond to his evaluation of her smell. Pride made her want to attest that the smell was certainly not coming from her, but a whiff at her clothes told her otherwise. Between the cattler’s hug and the bear-brain drippings, her clothes had taken on a scent that was not altogether pleasant. Sniffing delicately, Eltarri was too involved with her clothes to notice when Corvus slowed his pace to walk beside her, and she recoiled needlessly when the water splashed across his buckler overhead and onto the ground in front of her.

“Thanks,” she muttered, stepping out from under his arm, which was infuriatingly far enough above her head that she didn’t have to duck. The question about her diet startled her into silent contemplation of her stomach. She hadn’t thought positively about food since before she’d left Scara Brae, and her last meal had been on the ship a day or two ago. The last thing she’d eaten was a bowl of seafood stew that had promptly caused her to throw up and swear off sailor’s food for the remainder of the journey. Her stomach twisted with nausea at the reminder. “Uh . . . I’m really not hungry.”

What little she could see of the sky had turned a soft purple, the sun already setting behind cow-spotted hills. Rain clouds darkened the sky further, and over the rustling of leaves the only thing Eltarri could hear was the squelching of her boots and Corvus’ feet as they walked across the muddy ground. The stillness of the surroundings sent a wave of fatigue over the girl as she looked around. All she really wanted to do was find a dry spot on the ground and sleep until the rain went away. But doing so would bring up all sorts of uncomfortable situations if Corvus was still around when she did crash. She wanted to get away from him before she had the chance to make a fool of herself, but there was no way that she would let him leave her company without having taught her at least a little in the ways of weaponry.

“Hey, what do you say to teaching me how to fight now?” She worked hard at keeping her voice light to hide her tiredness. “The sooner you impart a fraction of your vast knowledge, the sooner you can leave so that you won’t have to hang around and rescue me from bears and water and the like.”

[Corvus MacCallum]

"If thats wha' ye wan'... personally I dunnae min' helping ya out lass, a' least yer strivin' tae do better an' better... much as I like being noble an' all, I find it real 'ard to be helpful t'guys like Ryber there, its one thing being unable ta fight such a battle but to cower an' shiver instead of tryin' ta find help an' aid them... he just loses any respect I could have had for 'im"

Despite Eltarris tiredness Corvus had continued walking, she wasn't going to make it obvious so he didn't acknowledge how slumped her shoulders had become, how her heels were scuffing at the ground more than just every few steps. Then he arrived at exactly what he was searching for, hard ground, muddy claws tapping at the dusty little plateau of rocky dirt underneath a heavily withered tree. Mutual destruction in a way, it sucked all the nutrients from the soil until it became worthless, then starved to death from its own greed... that could be some poetic image to a person, but to Corvus it just meant he had somewhere to ly down tonight.

Stamping his foot a step or two apart he tested out most of the ground before turning back to Eltarri. Watching her as his gloved hand reached behind, unhooking the gigantic sword and catching the handle as its tip bit into the ground. His knees bent, lowering his form and then gave a gentle tug to his slammer, bringing its immense size over his shoulder to rest comfortably... well in comparison to any other position it might come to rest in.

"A'ight then, if ya fancy a quick go 'round then come at me, dunnae matter how just have a go, I need to see how ya swing that sword abou' an' the best position is as the opponent"

He decided this time to try out a stance that had worked out quite well for Drake hunting, gave him a lot of power in a short time, but now he wanted to test its defensive ability. Normally he didn't care one jot about stances, balance and such, he attacked in the best way possible at that current time... but still it was tempting to try out a refined tactic now and again, would help in the future to unravel it if he came across anyone doing the same. So his knees continued to bend, shifting so he stood side-on to Eltarri, his left arm draped onto the Slammers handle in a very lazy position, just doing enough to keep it balanced on his shoulder. Right arm dangling by his side, good and flexible for taking any blows.

" 'ave at ye lass"

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri stopped walking and stared at Corvus in surprise as he pulled his massive weapon from behind his back. She hadn’t actually expected him to be so keen to fight. See? He just wants to get away from you.

The girl frowned as she looked over his posture. His knees were bent, his arms loose, he wasn’t even facing her head-on! Every ounce of his person seemed to be mocking her, scorning her ineptitude and just waiting for her to make a fool of herself. Her frown deepened as she realized that he was probably going to stay like that until she attacked him.

Blast.

“Actually, I disagree with you on what you said about Ryber,” she remarked conversationally, taking a few steps towards his right and maintaining the five or so feet of ground that lay between them. The earth was harder here, firmer and more favorable for keeping her footing. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she stepped slowly, with all the concern of a child in a field of daisies. “He obviously isn’t a fighter and hadn’t a speck of training in any kind of weaponry. If he’d gone after the bears, he’d only have ended up getting killed, and what good would that have done?”

She paused and stopped walking, having circled until she was in front of him and facing him directly. Just the sight of his giant sword unsheathed sent a shiver down her spine, but she kept her gaze innocuously on his face, keeping her expression set in a cold half-smile. She stood with her weight on one hip and the other leg outstretched, a stance that she found looked relaxed while actually giving the poser leverage with which to make a quick dodge in case of an attack. Both were standing defensively, each apparently waiting for the other to make the first move. Eltarri hoped that he would get the message that the "ladies first" rule didn't always apply, especially when doing so involved taking the first swing at a weapon that was taller than she was.

No, please, after you.

“I think Ryber did the right thing.” She lifted one hand to rest her chin against her palm, eyes fixed warily on Corvus in case he did decide to attack, though she tried to keep her voice and face at ease. “He didn’t have his physical prowess to rely on, so he depended on something that was a much more stable foundation: his money. Not everyone is meant to fight his own monster, else why would people like you and me exist?”

[Corvus MacCallum]

"I never suggested 'e be the one ta fight, bu' he could 'ave done wit' finding out just what the 'ell was plaguing his fields, then contact people like us... the fact he sent out someone into the great unknown is no' right, particulary when he had the opportunity to find out what was eating 'is cows... damn thing was hardly stealthy... thats t'problem I 'ave with 'im"

The stance was pretty comfortable to hold, plus relaxed enough in order to quickly respond, knees bent and springy, pads of his feet giving a fair bit of bounce for a hop or two. Buckler ready and waiting without giving away where he favoured his defence, same with his sword, while it rested on his shoulder looking like it was placed just for leaverage, it would only take a quick yank to bring the flat forth in defence. He really detested attacking a woman, unless in self-defence... but at the moment they were both just standing there.

"No' attacking eh?... a'ight then lass, I'll come fer you"

With a shrug he brought the gigantic sword down and held it firmly with both hands, claws scratching at the hardened earth for a moment or two before bounding forth. His swing coming in low and rising diagonally upwards, easy blow and for safety issue was swinging with the flat of his blade... of course it would still hurt like hell but at least it wouldn't carve her in two. The idea of leaving her wasn't on his mind, he wanted to make sure the girl would be capable in the future... exactly where their paths parted?... that would be up to her really.

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri blinked in surprise when Corvus pulled his weapon off of his shoulder and readied himself for an attack. She hadn’t really thought that he’d be so quick to change his mind.

You need to watch yourself. This one’s full of surprises.

He was making no attempt to be furtive, and Eltarri could tell by the tightening of muscles exactly when he was preparing to move. His lunge, however, came faster than she had been expecting. One would think that swinging a sword the size of an average human would do something to slow a person down, but the Highlander was coming at her with more speed than she thought she could manage unarmed. She noticed in the split second before he reached her that he was swinging at her with the flat of his blade, and though the observation made her feel a little better, the mere density of the weapon could no doubt impart enough bruises and broken bones to make up for the lack of drawn blood.

Luckily for Eltarri, her bracers responded to actual potential damage instead of just that which was intended. Though she didn’t have the reflexes to move quickly enough to save herself, the bracers on her forearms tightened the moment Corvus moved and jerked her hands into motion, using her left to pull the clasp on her harness and the right to reach back and grab the sword as it fell from its sling. The imbalance brought on by the sudden loss of the sword’s weight made Eltarri shift backwards, her left leg moving back to twist her body sideways as the bracers swung the black sword around her side, keeping its point towards the ground.

When Corvus’ blade made contact, Eltarri had to whip her head around to look at him over her right shoulder, the hilt of her sword practically resting on her shoulder and the long black blade falling diagonally down her side and back. His weapon hit the lower part of hers, and even with the bracers strengthening her for the attack the force of the strike knocked her off balance. She was thrown sideways and had to throw out her arms to keep her balance, nearly dropping the sword as she realized with chagrin that she now had her back to her opponent.

Teacher, she corrected herself as she turned around to face him, keeping the point of her sword low enough to see over. He won’t try to stab you in the back. This one isn’t really trying to kill you, remember?

Having survived the first attack from the massive sword, Eltarri was feeling confident enough to think that she might not be completely humiliated by the whole sparring thing. As long as she was able to stay on the defensive, she could rely on the bracers and refrain from looking like too big of a moron.

“Give it another go,” she taunted, giving Corvus a cocky grin.

[Corvus MacCallum]

What the hell was that... the hands and the eyes didn't match up just now to that action... where are the strings, never heard of a puppet style of fighting huh...

Still standing too, Corvus took a moment to reaffirm his grip of the situation, eye sight tracing over things his 'student' should not have been capable of. That defence was too perfect for reflex action and she should not have been able to stay her ground, the blow was too fierce and low for her center of gravity to shrug off.

It is coming to my attention that many folks seem to rely on magical guff to preverse their life hmm..

Bringing his sword to point behind him Corvus clenched his fingers, feet being dug deep into the ground as he pushed against it, swinging that gigantic mass of iron side-ways to Eltarri, but before reaching her he bent his left elbow, the blades body rising up slowly before clearing her completely. As it reached her other side though his arms quickly wrung the swords handle like they would a neck and he pushed against its momentum. It was a trick he had learned when dealing with cocky fencers, a Highlanders endurance let him pull this off, sides, it felt damn good to push against something and feel it give away.

The swords speed broken he started it on a new course, smashing its flattened way through the air towards her left side.

If that move she just did was natural there should have been no need for help with that bear, so what got her to do it...

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri saw him preparing for another attack and braced her heels against the ground in preparation. As his sword came swinging towards her right she instinctively stepped to the left to facilitate the bracers in what she thought would be a vertical block, but as she moved her sword towards the right, the bracers did nothing to reinforce her motion. A flash of panic went through the girl as she pictured having to block the strike without their help, wondering with alarm what was wrong with them. Unaided she wasn’t fast enough to get her sword into the path of the other weapon anyway, but by the time she had the weapon on her right side Corvus’ slammer had already arced over her head.She jerked her gaze up to watch the blade rush above her, the air of its wake blowing across her face.

Did he . . . miss?

The giant sword changed direction half a second later, answering her question as it swung suddenly back towards her, this time on her left side. Eltarri realized then that moving the sword to her right had been a grave mistake as her bracers tightened and jerked the black blade swiftly across her front and down below her waistline, stopping vertically with Eltarri’s torso twisted towards the approaching blow. Corvus’s sword, however, had started its path only a short distance from her side, and even with the bracers’ almost-instantaneous reflexes her arms couldn’t be moved fast enough to find a secure enough position to properly block the hit. The girl’s arms locked as Corvus’ horizontally-approaching blade hit high on her upwards-pointing sword, and the momentum of the blow against the inadequately-positioned sword knocked the weapon back, propelling the black blade back towards its wielder.

The entire incident occurred almost too quickly for Eltarri to follow, and she turned her head to the left just as Corvus’ slammer whacked against her unstable hold and smashed the flat of her own blade against her face. She saw the black metal coming and felt the moment of coldness down the middle of her face as it hit, and then the next thing she knew she was prone on the ground a few feet away, sword beside her and a pounding ache splitting her face in half. Wetness from the ground was soaking into her back, though she didn’t remember falling, and rain falling gently on her face mixed with the stream of blood that started flowing from her nose. Worse than the pain in her face, however, was the humiliation that filled her as the last few seconds replayed themselves in her mind.

Please tell me that I was not just knocked out with my own sword . . .

[Corvus MacCallum]

Then something came to ease off the heat building in her cheeks from the humilation, some old rag, frayed but clean and soaked in wonderfully cold water, it had been dropped onto her face and covered most of her fore-head and eyes. Corvus smirking as he looked down at her, shaking his head and slowly stepping away to slump down against a tree trunk, Slammer propped up beside him against the trunk.

"I told 'er ta try a glancing defence... taking full on blows from strong enemies jus' ruins t'body, still remember the bloody tremors that heavy cavalry git gave me wit' 'is hammer... once back on 'er hooves should 'ave a go at seeing 'ow she swings that thing natural abilities gotta be a damned sight better than that enchantment... whatever it be, there's promise I jus' know it..."

There was a loud roar breaking out through the woods for a moment or two, Corvus snarling at the direction it came from, lips curling back to show off those well used fangs before giving a sharp series of barks, the roar dieing off immediately. Eyes still narrowed he fell back into his previous posture and folded those furred arms, the thick black fur soaked and clinging to everything, he had taken his time cleaning up while she was out cold.

No danger of her being carried off however long I depart... I'm a damned sight scarier than anything in these woods to mess with

[Chiroptera]

Scowling at the smirk she’d seen on Corvus face, Eltarri pushed herself into a seated position, the cloth falling onto her lap. Noticing red blotches on it she grabbed her nose, wincing at the fresh burst of pain. She grudgingly reapplied the wet cloth to her face, refusing to let herself wonder about where he’d gotten it from as she pinched her nose to make sure it wasn’t broken.

Wouldn’t THAT just be the perfect ending to a perfect day. She looked over her compress and caught sight of the Highlander and his tool of doom, both resting against a tree trunk, the tailed man relaxed and showing the kind of contentment that came from having had a good laugh at the leveled butt of the joke while she was unconscious a few paces away.

Stifling a groan, the girl crawled forward until she could reach her sword, then sat dejectedly beside it with her legs outstretched in front of her, one hand still clamping the cloth over her nose. She probed at her split lower lip with her tongue, then rolled her eyes and left it alone, directing an angry glare at Corvus. It wouldn’t have surprised her at all if he’d been standing over her with a grin, ready and eager to impart some pearl of wisdom about the ineffectiveness of her technique. The match had been her big chance to regain some measure of respect, and now she’d look even more foolish, especially if any of the throbbing parts of her face decided to bruise or swell. A part of her wanted to jump up and challenge him to a rematch, but the more domineering fatigue kept her seated.

That wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t so darn tired, she told herself, not believing a word of it. She considered pouting until he apologized, then decided that he didn’t really owe her an apology, and considering his easy-going demeanor he probably wouldn’t even notice that she was annoyed.

“Well, get on with it,” she muttered sullenly. “Tell me everything I did wrong. Or you could tell me what I did right, since there’s probably fewer of those . . .”

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Well funnily 'nough, technically there wasnae single flaw in yer defence, t'problem is, technically that defence is perfect fer someone built a lot bigger than you, some giant wit' arms a foot in diameter... t'defence moves you put on dunnae suit someone of yer body type, nor you in general"

Maybe it was harsh, he wasn't entirely sure it was just plain honesty... and he continued.

"Yer two main strengths be speed an' height, correction, three strengths, theres also how you can weild that thing when by all rights ya shouldnae be capable of it... suprise is always handy... I'll go into the faults now, all caused by a style mismatch, for one you dunnae have t'body-weight behind you in order to stop a blow from such a large opponent, theres just too much force put on you and the blade can only take so much... if I 'ad swung wit' full force it would have torn you off your feet... what else, aye yes, 'olding your blade in that full on position is just asking fer trouble unless you support it"

He stood up slowly and posed himself to try and mimic her earlier defence with his own slammer, but then put his free hand on the flat of the blade and also pressed it to his shoulder.

"If'n you 'ad done this, there would 'a been a lot less trouble, you probably would have lost yer footing but certainly not been all that hurt... really none of this is yer fault, its the fault of whoever you saw swing a sword like this, its just not suited to yer own body, you need to think about drawing on your speed an' stature... very few warriors ever block low in their entire careers an' certainly underestimate anyone with a weapon that seems too big for them"

For resting time it was still pretty early but it had been a pretty hectic day and certainly Corvus had no idea how long she had been travelling, or how early in the day she awakes. Did feel right however to call it a day for now, at the least her head was probably still throbbing and its best to train with a clear mind.

"You fancy having a wee break an' we'll start up afta' dinner?"

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri was glad to have the cloth over her face as Corvus spoke since she couldn’t keep the surprise off her face as he so mercifully dissected her skill. His observations were smacking a little too close to the truth for her comfort. The bracers had, in fact, been enchanted for the defense strategy of someone larger, her father, who’d been a big man even by human standards. The armbands did do something for reinforcing her blocks, but the kind of blows that the Highlander had imparted were too much without a sturdy wielder behind them.

Eltarri gulped. IF he had swung with full force? He could’ve killed her! What he said about the suitability of her sword and technique to her size was irritatingly understandable, but the girl had no intention of considering a different weapon, even if there was one more suited to her person. Aside from the fact that she had neither aim nor dexterity, there was no drive inside of her to strive for proficience in some kind of weapon. She didn’t want to be a good fighter, she just wanted to stay alive long enough to save her mother. Considering -gratefully- that Corvus wasn’t an enemy, it was unlikely that she would ever again have to fight someone who wielded a sword that was bigger than her own, but it probably was still a good idea to learn how to defend against more powerful weapons, no matter how unlikely it was that she would ever actually encounter one.

She was still pondering the stance he was showing her when her thoughts were interrupted by his question about a break. Her initial reaction was to refuse vehemently, jump to her feet, and doggedly continue the lesson, but reason wormed its way into her mind and kept her on her rear. Her nose was still bleeding, her vision was still a little blurry, and she was still covered in mud, blood, and brain juice. It had been a long day, and getting thrashed for a third time wasn’t really all that enticing of a prospect.

“We can take a break,” she said, "as long as you don't expect me to eat whatever you consider 'dinner.'"

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Fair 'nough lass, not gonna go twistin' yer arm 'bout it, jus' keep in min' hunger can do a lot t'anyones standards heheh"

Even as he spoke the Highlanders nose was working at the air, wondering just what would bring itself onto his platter. His eyes traced through the air and along the tree line, shoving the Slammer off his shoulder and propping it back against the tree he had been laying against a few moments before. There was the whisp of something strange in the forest... something that should not be here and it was a delightfully tasty stranger too.

"Hmmm yoooou... yes lass cin you fix up a blaze?... jus' got something in mind won't be long"

There was a flick of fangs revealed to the fading light as he shot right past El, the overfluffed tail swept across her mid-riff and then with the white tip flickering against a bit of undergrowth he was gone into the swell of the woods. What he was after had found itself on the out-skirts of the forest, a deer, black speckles lining its coat. Must have gotten lost on the grasslands stretching to the West... seemed a shame to destroy such curiousity and... well it had to be said, a creature of beauty. Corvus was laying prone on the ground, his head and shoulders ensconsed within a slab of moss drenched vines.

One furred arm stretched out, fit to launch him across the ground towards his snuffling prey. Every part of its body was sheer muscle, a female that had just yet to reach its prime, before the fat of rearing young would swell its form. Those soft brown eyes finally realised something was amiss and locked right onto Corvus, predator and prey stared each other down... he was fully aware of what would happen next, the poor deer... had absolutely no idea, only the fear clouding her mind gave a glimmer of what would befall her. As his claw sank into the earth, the Highlanders body pushing forth... he uttered no growl, no howl, no vocal out-burst at all.

There was a flash of furred legs, a swiftly turning body and beneath all those muscles and sinews pumping furiously for escape... then all that which fueled it, the blood found an exit from the system it had circled for the entire creatures life. Bones popped as the neck was snapped by a forceful wrench from Corvus, his fangs embedded near the base of the neck, feeling all that heated blood flowing against his tongue. Flooding through his throat, swallowing what he could while the rest of the thick liquid rose out from his lips and coated his chin, feeling droplets trickle and merge along his neck along with further marring the hide of his quarrey.

It felt so odd, it had only been the merest of moments but Corvus felt like he had lost himself momentarily, he hadn't recalled closing his eyes, or suckling off that wound so thoroughly. Hunger wasn't what fueled him... perhaps he had just spent too long killing and maiming, perhaps his training session with the young elven girl would give him some peace of mind and stability until this passed.

"haaah.... haaa... back to... uuuugh... camp"

Each word came with a growl and a gurgle, swallowing hard between each utterance in attempts to clear the blood from his throat, so much thicker than water it made quite a fight of coating his gullet. Placing his foot upon the deers flank he took hold of its snapped neck and pulled, ripping it and a thick chunk of the spine. Then came further weight, slinging the deer upon his shoulders and beginning the slog back to camp... if it had even been set up.

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri’s eyebrows shot into the air, but by the time she’d opened her mouth the only thing that was left of the Highlander was a few strands of tail-fur that drifted docilely to the ground.

“’Fix up a blaze?’” She half-heartedly called after him. “Does that mean ‘start a fire?’”

She hoped it didn’t, because the answer was a resounding no. When she traveled prepared she kept dried food to avoid having to deal with any kind of fire-starting materials. With a shudder Eltarri pondered the idea that if Corvus wanted a fire, it meant he was going after something that couldn’t be eaten raw.

Please, please let him be a fancier of tuber stew.

With a long sigh the girl looked despondently about the clearing. There were a few twigs on the ground, all of them soaked from the rain and unimpressive in the flammability department. She noticed that the rain had stopped; the water dripping now was just that which fell from the leaves of the tree boughs overhead.

“I don’t know how to start a fire,” she complained, but the woods around her were eerily silent. Muttering curses, the girl clambered to her feet, nominally cheered when she took the cloth off her face and found that her nose had stopped bleeding. She picked up her sword and used her sleeve to wipe the dirt off the blade, then refastened it into the sling on her back. Her eyes fell on Corvus’ sword. Her own weapon was easy for her to lift, thanks to the bracers’ ability to reduce its weight for her, but normal and even abnormally brawny men were unable to pick up her sword due to its size and density, so how on earth could someone as lean as Corvus loft a blade that looked about twice the size of hers?

She pondered the matter while she skirted the clearing, daintily picking up the branches and sticks that seemed dry enough to light. By the time she had a small mound in the center of the clearing, her curiosity had won over her inhibition. She stepped over to the tree and stood for a moment, staring in silent awe at the sword that was almost a foot taller than she.

Maybe he has some kind of bracers, too. She hadn’t before considered that others might have the same kind of magical aid that she did, but the idea didn’t seem too impossible when looking at the behemoth before her. The blade was streaked with blood and dirt, but it glinted at her with self-sufficient pride.

“Snob,” she muttered at it. The thing was intimidating, but less so that when there was somebody to swing it at her. “You’re not so scary without a wielder, are you?”

Glancing around and seeing no sign of the Highlander, Eltarri tentatively put one hand against the metal. Nothing happened. Berating herself for cowardice, she stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her hand around the hilt. Giving it a soft tug, she felt a moment’s disappointment when the sword remained sturdily against the tree. She hadn’t really expected her bracers to work with his sword, but the possibility had been enticing.

“Stupid sword.” She let go of the handle and stepped back to look at it again. Somehow it still seemed to be laughing at her. With a growl she jumped forward and grabbed the hilt with both hands, practically hanging by her arms, and jerked back as hard as she could. The iron slammer obligingly toppled onto her, crushing the girl between itself and the ground. With a piteous yelp Eltarri scrambled out from beneath the sword, scooting away on her rear and staring at it with wide eyes.

Did I do that? She rubbed at her now-sore ribs and bit her lower lip, wondering if Corvus would notice that his sword had been moved. Why had she done that? What subconscious part of her mind had decided that it needed to conquor an inanimate object?

You were supposed to be starting a fire!

Eltarri jumped guiltily to her feet, wincing at the ache in her chest, and darted from the clearing with her eyes busily scanning the ground. If the wood she brought back was big enough, maybe Corvus wouldn’t notice that she’d moved his sword . . .

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Too chewy... thats not tast-... what the hell is that?"

Hunched over in the woods was the Highlander, perhaps answering the question of when a sword falls on a runt in the woods, does it make a sound?... the truth is yes, but Corvus was too busy prepping the deer for serving. She seemed too cute and naive a girl, full of pride, but naive in some ways and so dumping a whole deer corpse in front of her might be a bit much, best to render it a little less recognizable. Dumped at either side of his furry feet were organs and bits of deer that had questionable taste, he knew there were questions to raise since all of them had bite marks on their surface.

Least its hide provides a nice wee carrying bag

Smirking the Highlanders claws raked against the last bit of thigh, fully seperating the skin from the meal-er muscle and allowing him to debone, gut and then redump the contents into the furry skin, leaving just the muscles, heart and liver... a bone rolling along his mouth to rest in a corner, nibbling on it quite contently as he bound up the spoils and headed back to camp with a cheerful flick to his tail. The bag of fur and meat dangling from one blood stained hand, he had done his best to clean up using part of the deers hide but there was a lot of red speckling his face and arms, least it would hide the smell of damp fur.

It didn't take long for the Wolf-man to reach their little site of camping and a fanged smirk crawled up on the side of his face Eltarri could not see, he had spotted her rubbing her chest and then glimpsed his slammer resting on the dirt. Wasn't hard at all working out just what happened and quite amusing picturing the haughty little elf getting squished by such a crude chunk of iron. How to be subtle about this?

"Behold, dinner... thing tripped up when I pounced so its a wee bit squashed, nice job on t'fire, got a bit a flint in me pack so no worries on gettin' it started up"

Dumping the bag of meaty gubbins near the little wooden cairn Corvus headed for the his sword, rubbing along the flat of the blade with one hand, while the other hefted it up pretty straight in front of him, searching for a good rough patch. Then he quite unceremoniously plopped down in front of the unlit mangle of branches, rummaging within his pack as it slid from the furred shoulder. Locating his chunk of flint Corvus began striking it off the roughest patch he could find on his blade, a few sparks finding their way to the branches... at first there was only a thin plume of smoke, but then came reassuring heat, glowing red and at last the fire was up.

"Won't take long to cook things up, lakes down that way if you fancy a quick wash, could do with one myself I guess hmm"

With a few testing breaths it surged into life, next came a very important step. Glancing about himself Corvus found a squat, flat-topped rock and dragged it to the fire-side, then plopped his pack and guantlet opposite the earthen chunk and then propping his Slammer up onto them having the blade rest in the flames but off the ground. As the flames licked at the blade it didn't take long before congealed blood began to sizzle and fade, while flecks of soil parted from the iron surface... a handy way of cleaning such a huge weapon.

"So, anything 'appen while I was off foraging?... never know what cin' 'appen when out an' bout, tree could come topplin' dune"

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri froze like a startled rabbit when Corvus reappeared in the clearing, covered with flecks of blood and carrying an even more blood-stained fur bag with what looked like large chunks of bleeding meat inside. Oh, gods, please don’t say that’s –

“Behold, dinner . . .”

Eltarri only halfway heard the rest of what he said, so intent was she on keeping herself from adding vomit to the list of fluids that stained her clothes. He dumped his messy load near her pile of sticks that had grown very little since she’d brought down the slammer, but Corvus didn’t seem to be troubled by the measly stack. He set about making a fire, and though Eltarri’s breath caught in her throat when he went to his sword, the tailed man said nothing as he picked it up off the ground and proceeded to use it in the lighting of the fire.

Maybe he really didn’t notice, Eltarri thought hopefully. It would be worth the pain in her chest to avoid having to answer uncomfortable questions about why the slammer was in a different place from where he’d left it. She stood awkwardly on the edge of the clearing, watching Corvus light the fire and debating about the wisdom of charging into the forest on her own to find the lake that he mentioned. Her stomach tightened when the smell of cooking blood filled the air, coming not from the raw slabs of meat on top of the sword-skillet but instead from the dried streaks on the bottom. Bear blood. Eltarri was about to comment on how unsanitary the blade probably was when Corvus spoke again.

"So, anything 'appen while I was off foraging?... never know what cin' 'appen when out an' bout, tree could come topplin' dune.”

He knows! Eltarri stifled a yelp and tried to keep her face from giving away her guilt.

“Uh, not much . . . I had a little trouble with the wood-gathering . . . I’m going to the lake.” She bolted through the bushes in the direction that Corvus had indicated. It really was only a short distance to the lake, which was really small enough to be called a creek, and once there the girl unstrapped her harness and went tentatively to the water’s edge, glancing about warily in case anything or anyone else was present.

When satisfied of her solitude, the girl took off her boots and coat and rinsed them in the water, then splashed and scrubbed at her pants and bodice until they were relatively clean, focusing especially on the gray spots of brain matter on her shins. The water was cold and slightly murky, but she finished quickly and put her boots back on, then slung her harness-bound sword and coat over one shoulder and headed back to the clearing. The meat was sizzling on the sword, dripping juices off the flat of the blade, which was still daunting even with deer steaks cooking on top of it.

Eltarri set her gear down a few paces away from the fire and sat next to it, eying the meat with revulsion. Corvus had just hunted the creature and torn it to shreds bare-handed, unless he had some kind of fancy daggers hidden up his sleeve. She’d seen the claws on his hands, though, and was inclined to believe that the Highlander was more than capable of the gory task. How else could he have become so covered in blood in the hunt? And what kind of hunter "pounced" on their prey? Fresh meat had been a rarity during her childhood, and even since leaving the caves she had been unconsciously reluctant towards carnivory. The prospect of eating an animal that had recently been as whole and alive as she was . . . disturbing.

Her stomach, however, apparently disagreed with her. The smell of cooking meat was making her belly hurt, but this time it wasn’t from disgust. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her bare arms around them, fighting the hunger than made her want to edge closer to the smoking venison. You’re not hungry enough to eat another living thing, she told herself sternly. Otherwise, you’re no better than that bear that was killing all of Ryber’s cows.

Her stomach’s answer was a loud and raucous grumble.

[Corvus MacCallum]

With Eltarri gone... well Corvus had time to indulge in another side of his personality. Shoulders trembling, hands shaking, heart-beat racing... was so bloody annoying having to hold all this laughter in but the girls ears would be too sensitive. Biting down on his lip the Highlander kept watch on his sword, turning it over once the surface started glowing, free from dirt now and decently heated to make a good cooking surface. His fingers flexing rapidly he snapped his arm at the bag, ripping open the small knot tied into the hide and then plucking up some of the choicest cuts. On contact with the Iron Slammer there was an immediate sizzling, fluids leaking out steadily as he pressed and prodded at the red lumps.

"Havenae 'ad deer for a few weeks now, should be good, hmm what else..."

His eyes lifted on seeing his pupil return, at least he had the full answer that it her ability to lift and swing a sword wasn't natural. But her talent could be improved even if her strength would probably never be, frame like that would never be buff enough to cart something like that in her hands. Was odd, after being scrubbed up and a little soggy she was... well kinda cute...

When her mouth was shut heheh... hmm

"Hmm going on well 'ere, listen lass have yourself a go at taking care a' this, jus' keep turning t'chunks, gonna go wash up proper"

Pushing himself off the ground Corvus stepped on past the Elf girl, narrowing his eyes once behind her, glancing back to see those ears and smirked with a quiet thought before just continuing his journey. Arriving at the creek Corvus didn't spend any time being abashed or shy, in fact he chucked off his shirt and dumped it in the water then, just jumped in with it, few stones hit against him but it felt good to have water flowing through the fur. Laying with his back and most of his front under the creek the Highlander let a smile spread across his lips, enjoying the simple pleasure of being cooled and washed.

Running his hands over each other, hiking up his trouser legs to expose the furred shins, rubbing and raking his claws through every bit of fuzz he could reach, wiggling those clawed toes and then clambering slowly out. Even drenched his hair-spikes managed to remain somewhat upwards, on all fours he came out of the water and gave himself a vigorous shake, water flying off his hide before a stone under his palm slipped and..

Ow... git...

That out of the road the Highlander grabbed his shirt and took hold of the garment, walking to the nearest tree and swinging it hard against the trunk, water splattering against the wood and into the air. Time and again brutally whacking his shirt off the tree until it was reasonably free of excess water. Slinging it over his shoulder the Wolf-man decided he might as well return, still pretty soaked but eh it made little difference to his chill resistent form.

On getting near the clearing the idea he had on seeing Eltarris ears once again rose to mind, chuckling quietly as he stepped into the clearing and watched her. Approaching near, flopping down onto his haunches... then simply reached out and let his index fingers claw scratch at one of those long ears.

[Chiroptera]

Corvus said not a word when she returned, but something about his stance made her feel as though he was hiding something from her. Maybe it wasn’t deer being cooked over the fire. What if he, in his thickly-accented voice, had said bear instead of deer? He’d pounced on the monster, and he could have gone back and sliced off chunks of the monster’s flesh when she was unconscious or not paying attention. It wasn’t exactly a logical deduction, considering that it didn’t explain the deerskin that he’d carried the meat in, but it was convincing enough to make Eltarri certain that despite her hunger she wanted nothing to do with the food.

“Hmm, going on well 'ere, listen lass have yourself a go at taking care a' this, jus' keep turning t'chunks, gonna go wash up proper."

Turning the chunks? She stared aghast at the cooking meat. He actually expected her to touch it? He had walked past her and was gone in the brush before she’d recovered enough to want to tell him exactly what she thought of his “deer.” Pulling her knees tighter against her chest, she petulantly settled herself onto the ground and vowed not to budge until the meat was out of her presence, or at least hidden in the gut of whoever was going to eat it.

The fire crackled on damp wood, the small pile that she had gathered already nearly gone. Only a few minutes had passed since Corvus had left, but the silent chill of the air made the girl nervous. She glanced cagily at the bushes around the clearing, resisting the urge to get up and walk the perimeter for a better look. Aside from her vow to remain seated, it was probably silly to be worried about some kind of predator in the woods. Other than the Highlander, of course.

Corvus. She still couldn’t figure him out, and her incapacity to categorize him irritated her. He was an animal-human hybrid, the second that she had ever encountered, and though he acted unbothered by the troubles and circumstances that surrounded him, she couldn’t find a good reason to attribute his oddness to mental instability. Unreasonable optimism, maybe, but having a positive outlook on life wasn’t the same thing as being crazy. And considering what he told her of his past, naivety didn't seem a likely explanation either. But how could his contrasting natures be reconciled? He was a warrior and fully suited to the occupation, but he took the time to help a random girl learn to use her sword. He hunted bare-handed and then went to “wash up proper.” Eltarri didn’t know whether to trust him or to fear him.

She decided after a moment that it was probably wise to do a little of both. His animal and human components seemed to dwell in harmony, and though he wagged his tail and killed with his claws, he spoke intelligibly and was considerately courteous. As long as he didn't start exhibiting signs of the wolf-part taking over . . .

Her eyes were still fixed on the burning meat when something cold and hard grazed against the edge of one ear. The sensitivity of Elven ears to sound and touch is not exaggerated, and though Eltarri was only half Elven, she had inherited the genes that made her auditory organs extremely receptive to even the slightest touch. If she’d been a cat, she would have jumped straight up into the air. As it was, she lurched to the side, throwing herself across her sword and coat with a shriek that echoed in the trees. She caught a glimpse of a long, dark arm connected to black-furred torso, and the first thought that entered the girl’s mind was

BEAR!

She had scuttled back nearly to the other edge of the clearing before she realized that the figure crouching behind her sword wasn’t actually a bear. She stopped moving and stared at the Highlander with furious eyes, too angry even to speak. Her heart was still pounding, and her face flushed a bright crimson at the absurdity of her own reaction and the feel of his claw that lingered on her skin. Why wasn’t he wearing a shirt? Why the heck was he smiling? Was touching the sensitive areas of unsuspecting victims the way wolf-people played with each, or was he taking revenge for what she'd done to his sword? She couldn’t think of any way to express her discomfited outrage, so she merely sat in the dust on her rear, glaring at Corvus as if she could burn a hole through his skull with the power of her wrath alone.

[Corvus MacCallum]

"heheh... hahah, HAHAH..."

Corvus had doubled over with laughter, not catching those burning pits of utter hatred on Eltarris face. One arm wrapped around his gut, knees forcing him in a waddle towards the dying flames and his sword, checking over the meat with his other hand while still laughing. A glisten formed at the corner of his eyes and finally he looked up as the laughter died down in volume, though his form was still shaking with humour.

"Sorry... sorry lass, jus... heheh... just couldnae 'elp meself heheh.. hahah... sorry again... by Fenrirs hairy scroat that was priceless"

Further quiet chucklings and then with a few deep breaths Corvus attempted to calm himself down, now and then shudders ran through him as his amusement tried to force itself back to the surface but the Highlander managed to calm himself. Pressing a claw against one of the smaller deer steaks, tearing the meat into sections before gulping down several bits.

"Mmm, tasty, tender... yea good stuff, if you want me to make it up ta ya lass, 'ow bouts if we train wit' sticks I'll let ya get a few hits in early heheh?"

If only I hadn't gone and misplaced me chewing bone... had it in my mouth when I was fixing up my sword... where did it go then... hmm

"You fancy a bit of this?... bit plain fer someone like you I bet, but its enough for survival"

His tone was an attempt at being serious, or at least friendly and trying to leave that mockery behind, but behind him was no mockery, it was a blur of a tail wagging furiously.

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri endured his laughter with silent fury, pulling her ankles beneath her to sit cross-legged at the edge of the clearing as if she had just been crawling around for a better seat. She glared at his back, but he was so absorbed in his meat and mirth that he didn’t seem to notice her ire.

Her nose wrinkled as he ate some of the “deer” off his sword, though her stomach rumbled with hunger. She was in the process of deciding just what a ‘scroat’ was when Corvus suggested they fight with sticks. Fearful of what would happen if she tried to fight without her bracers, Eltarri considered insisting that they use their swords. But considering how well she had done with the bracers’ help in the last fight, it didn’t seem that the advantage was all that beneficial.

Besides, if he hits me with a little stick instead of a six-foot piece of metal, it won’t hurt nearly as much. The prospect of keeping away from his slammer neatly cinched the decision. Fighting without her bracers would put her competency down to the level she was actually at, that being nil, but Corvus had already had plenty of opportunities to witness her incompetence, and it seemed wiser to cut her loss of pride to learn from the tailed warrior as best she could.

“I’ll get hits in early whether you let me or not,” she shot arrogantly back, the absurdity of the boast almost making her laugh. She was still peeved about the ear-touching thing, though, and she was going to make absolutely sure that he didn’t forget about it either. “And no, I’m still not hungry. At least, not for that.”

[Corvus MacCallum]

A mind is a terrible thing when wasted, either in the head of a simpleton, or having its interior feasted upon by maggots and larva. One such brain was being jostled in the fractured skull of... lets call him Bernie, Bernie was a very large bear of an undead nature, not particulary insane with flesh lust, but he was certainly very primal. Bernie was currently hurtling his thickly furred and muscled carcass through its home forest, dead nerves giving the tiniest of flickers when Bernies shoulder smashed aside a tree a tad more rotten than he was. Lumps of wood jutting out from the exposed flesh as a slab from the fur coating was dragged from Bernies hide by sheer speed.

Human zombies were shuffling malcontents with a skin rash compared to Bernie, he was a heaving, hulking, hunk a rotting power, even now the cracking cartilege holding his bones in place alongside twisted tendons and ripped up muscles, were surging with all that strength and flinging the black mass through. Bernie, while primal, wasn't just doing this on a whim, one of their number hadn't returned to the cave. Out for a snuffle of beef the zombie bear found an even further decomposed carcass of his old cave partner... lets call it Merium, Merium had been slayed and the slayer had touched Merium. Slayers made Bernie angry and after chewing on Merium Bernie learned a new scent, one that was very new and blood-stained, this was the slayer.

So yes, Bernie had an objective in his evening jog and that plan was coming to fruition as flickers of red and orange streaked dimly against a few low lying plants and bushes.

---

Corvus, being a Highlander and at that, one feeding... did not know of Bernies plan, until the situation resulted in this outburst being absolutely perfect...

"FUCK!"

In a flash the half-chewed deer steak was spat from Cors lips, his hand grasped the handle of his Slammer sword, raised it up... then came a large clang and things took on a lighter tone. Bernie had charged straight for Corvus, the Highlander only having just defended himself by the lifting of the sword, as it was the sheer momentum had carried Corvus off the ground, his side plastered to the swords flat and found himself flung into a nearby tree. A loud yell escaping his deer-stained lips as his own sword smashed against his ribs.

On a side note, Bernie was near identical to Merium, with one exception, for some reason his tongue lolled out of his head and this became apparent to Eltarri when his head jerked round and the oral appendage flew off the last bit of flesh keeping it inside and it slapped against her lap.

[Chiroptera]

Eltarri’s eyes were still fixed disgustedly on the steaks when, after a loud expletive from Corvus, they suddenly went flying through the air as the slammer was whipped out from beneath them. Corvus’ blade, glinting as it swung through the air, was then sandwiched by two masses, and it seemed to Eltarri that there were not really two separate beings in front of her but merely one huge mass of black fur.

That impression lasted for only an instant, and then the smaller body was flying through the air – in a fashion similar to that of the steaks – and slammed against the solid trunk of a tree with a noise that sounded painful. It happened so quickly that Eltarri’s eyes were still convincing her brain that there actually was a bear in the clearing when the monster whipped its head towards her, flinging something out of its mouth that landed with a wet plop on her lap. Even though something soft, slimy, and oddly textured had just landed on her thigh, Eltarri was staring transfixed at the bear, whose head jerked up and down as it opened and shut its mouth as if it had something caught in the back of its throat. Her eyes trailed down to whatever it was that was oozing warm saliva down her leg.

For the third time that day Eltarri shrieked like a river-dunked cat as she flung the tongue away from herself and scrambled to her feet, hands jumping to get her sword out of its sling before she realized that her sword was lying on the ground on the other side of the clearing. The bear was rising to its hind legs, coming out of the four-foot charge that it had used to ram the Highlander. It let out a mangled bellow, its mouth terrifyingly empty of all but razor-sharp teeth as it took a step towards her.

Eltarri stood frozen, her hands empty and her arms trembling, but no amount of determination could make them still. Her eyes were wide, fixed with terror the bear as her brain solved the dilemma of which direction to run by not moving at all. Its fur was darker and fuller than the one that she and Corvus had faced that morning, and considering that that one had had its head split in half, this couldn’t be the same bear; but if there was another one, if there were more . . .

A sudden lurch brought the bear close enough to swipe a paw at Eltarri’s head. Her reflexes were bad, but somehow her knees gave out and let her drop the foot that was needed to make the clawed paw sweep over her head. She had a moment to congratulate herself for the speedy reaction before the bear's other paw was moving towards her side in a swing that was quick and powerful but lacking in precision. She instinctively jerked back, but the flat of the bear's paw glanced off her left shoulder, and though it was not a crushing blow and lacked the bloodshed that contact with claws might have induced, it knocked her easily off her feet and sent her sprawling to the dirt.

There was pain, but not as much as she had been expecting, and it was almost with relief that she acknowledged the futility of a fight by rolling into a ball with her knees against her chest and her arms around her head. She didn't expect the bear to acknowledge her surrender by giving a cheerful farewell, but considering that she didn't have her sword and had not the slightest idea of how one ought to go about facing a bear bare-handedly, it seemed the most merciful way to let herself go. The most frustrating part was that she didn't even have a chance to defend herself with her sword in the sight of the person to whom she most wanted to be proven competent. She didn't know if he had survived the attack, but it saddened her to think that she would never be able to return the favor of a rescue.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Bernie lowered itself down and bellowed a flickering rainfall of saliva and sound to the prone Eltarri, an arm raising itself to finish off the little ball when there was a pair of resounding thuds to the ground. Slowly... very slowly the tiniest flicker of pain just reached out with its pinky and made the fleetingest contact with Bernies mind. This made him angry and the off-balance zombie bear hurtled itself around, except his nicknam was now tripod and lacking that front leg fell flat onto his chest and head.

... Lets rewind a bit.

---

Bloody git, interrupting me during me tea... urgh get... the hell off me!

From his position jammed between tree and sword Corvus growled loudly and rammed his injured chest against the iron blade. It didn't go quite as far as he did but it left his presence to be sure. Immediately the Highlander clawing at the ground and tree trunk to get onto his feet, lungs aching from having air forced out so quickly and then bringing itself to suck it all back in. His tail flicked with a huge irritation, his smirk curling into a snarl, he had yet to get angry though until he heard Els shriek and caught sight of the girl being taken on by the bear.

Get away from her... Get, away...

His feet started pounding at the ground, rushing towards his sword, back hunching down, hand lowering and then snatched up the gigantic weapon in a tight grip...

From

His pace quickened, now both hands gripped the handle and brought the blood stained weapon up high. A deep growl resounding his throat but oddly not leaving his body for now, then he lept into the air and brought that massive blade down.

Her

He had lopped off its right fore-leg and was about to take on the rest of it when this heroic rescue was defeated by a flailing foot. As Bernie flopped to the ground, his back legs fell out of place and Corvus had that large, clawed paw smacking against his foot, hitting him off balance and cracking his jaw against the iron handle of his Slammer. The black furred mass was scrabbling at the earth to try and get up, not yet aware a limb was completely missing, while Corvus gathered himself up and looked to El.

"What ya doing lass!... naw retreat an' naw surrender, grab yer blade an' ram it up ta' fucker!"

Course she'd need to have enough time to reach her sword, the duties of a teacher were harsh. Knowing this would need doing Corvus reached out to Bernie before his footing had even been resolved, claws sinking into the putrid flesh and then he rammed further. All that luke-warm goo surrounding his fingers, shifting against his knuckles and sifting against his fur, pushing in harder while the Bear continued its flailings he found something large and solid, taking firm hold and pulled for all he was worth. A rib snapping off inside the bears body and in the one tug he had nearly removed the rib, but his fingers slipped and instead Corvus quickly wrenched himself to his feet, dragging the sword with him as Bernie began to compromise for his lack of limbage.

Seems like as good a time as any... focus wolf-man

Jumping back from Bernie the Highlander brought his sword to his side, eyes squarely levelled at the rising black mass, he was going to give it one more go, at least for today. His claws dug into the soil and tried to bite in as deep as possible to keep him steady this time, a thin sliver of shine running up the very edge of his Slammers blade.

"Air Rip!"

His sword hurtled round in a horizontal slash, his left hand coming loose and leaving his right to bear the brunt of the impact shock as a trace of light flew from his blade and towards the bear. Then with its full support gone his sword rammed itself into the dirt beside him, all that force travelling through his arm. The slice hit Bernie and the result was minor, but immediate, blood starting to flow thickly around its waist and the tip of one claw hanging on by the tiniest of bones.

Getting there...

"C'mon lass!"

[Chiroptera]

She could hear it moving, smell its reek as it drew closer, sense its presence looming over her. Every fiber of her being was tense, waiting for the fatal strike that was inevitable. It was almost like waiting for sunrise, except that she was expecting death instead of a new morning. The philosophical aspects of that thought made her wish that she had put a bit more effort into keeping herself alive so that she would have time to ponder them further when something relatively small landed on the ground a few feet away from her and distracted her attention. Did the bear knock something out of a tree? She wanted to open her eyes and look, but she was clenching them too tightly shut to pry open before another object smashed into the earth, this time something that was ground-shakingly huge and still moving once it’d hit the ground. She was almost ready to crack her lids when a familiar voice barked through the air.

"What ya doing lass!... naw retreat an' naw surrender, grab yer blade an' ram it up ta' fucker!"

Corvus’ voice was like the crack of a whip in Eltarri’s paralyzed mind. Her head jerked up and her heart leaped at the sight of the slammer-bearing Highlander standing over the bear. She was even glad to see his sword . . .

Didn’t you hear him? Get moving!

She jumped to her feet and darted for her sword, steering clear of the struggling bear and Corvus, who was doing something strange at the monster’s side. She glimpsed his arm surrounded by raw, pink flesh and averted her gaze, shortening her stride as she reached her gear just enough to grab her black sword by the hilt and yank on the clasp that freed it from the sling.

Aim for something vital, she told herself as she ran back to Corvus, holding the sword tightly with both hands. The bear had rose to its hide legs and stood with its one nearly-intact arm lifted and ready to strike anything that came near. It was bleeding from several wounds and it looked as if Corvus had stabbed it in the side with some kind of white dagger, but its head jerked around angrily as it roared in pain and fury.

Still running forward, Eltarri felt a rush of reckless valor and opted not to stop once she’d reached the Highlander’s side. One chance to do somethig right. She drew the sword back as she skirted Corvus and went wide around the bear’s left side, and when she was close enough to see small insects crawling through its fur, the girl used all the pent-up frustration of the day to swing the sword at the bear’s lower back.

The surprising thing was that she actually hit it. Unfortunately, the strike hit near the hilt of the blade and was only powerful enough to wedge halfway into the bear’s right side just above its pelvis without causing enough internal damage to slow it down. Not only that, but the strike also caused the loss of her sword, which occurred a moment later when the bear whirled around and, in the same motion, backhanded her across the shoulder that it had hit earlier, sending her again into the dirt while her sword remained jammed in its side.

Blast! Eltarri was too angry to even acknowledge the pain in her arm as she climbed shakily to her knees. She was unarmed and on the ground again, and though the bear staggered under the lopsided weight of the sword without the leverage provided by her bracers, it apparently considered her defeated enough to turn its attention back to Corvus, spraying flecks of blood and saliva from its jaws as it half-charged, half-fell towards the Highlander. The trouble was that now Eltarri's sword was coming at Corvus just as quickly from out of the bear's side, heading to hit the wolf-man's torso before the bear could even get close.

Oh . . . crap . . .

[Corvus MacCallum]

Well it was spirited... bad aim but spirited, now...

The wolves eyes narrowed and he couldn't help but unleash a growl towards the stampeding bear, quickly his hand ripped through the air to the handle of his Slammer blade. Both now back on the weapon he waited for its approach, each stomp of a padded paw he could see that black blade, his opportunity... drawing closer. Knuckles whitening... though impossible to tell through the fur Corvus hefted up that massive blade from the ground, cleaving through the open air before with a sickening crunch it began sliding into the bears side at around the same height as Els sword. In fact as it cut through intestines and then lower to scrape the pelvis there was a resounding clang as the two blades snipped the spinal chord on meeting. Corvus using that impact as leaverage, letting his feet go and throwing himself over the swords handle to land beside the staggering bear.

As it turned with both blades badly wedged into it Bernie let out a gutteral howl and then... well, slid, off himself. The entire upper body flailing and clawing at its two attackers with that single arm, even collapsing onto the ground didn't stop its aggressive swattings. Loping towards it very unevenly was Corvus, he wasn't tired, nor dazed... he was simply taking his time in dealing with this git, watching the paw swinging wildly the Highlander took hold and bashed it aside using his buckler for protection against those huge claws. His other hand rammed inside the bears open maw and returned within a heart-beat, grasping a large fang.

"Dead now... El, this time its your kill... take 'old an' bring it dune"

Was obvious enough what he meant by gesturing to the black blade resting on the ground, having slid off the fallen lower half of the bear, it lay stretched out beside his, both stained in the same blood. It would have been poetically referenced if Corvus cared for that stuff.

[Chiroptera]

If there had been anything in Eltarri’s stomach, she would have puked it all up onto the dirt between her knees. The severed front end of the monster was flopping on the ground, the remaining arm and stub both swinging futilely through the air. The hind legs of the beast were moving as well, churning and bending as if trying to push their piece of the torso into an upright position. Bloody organs spilled from the new orifices, maggots squirming copiously across the membranes and tissue.

Why is that thing still moving?

“Dead now... El, this time it’s your kill... take 'old an' bring it dune!”

Her gaze jerked from the bear to Corvus, then to her blood-covered sword, and then back to Corvus again, her eyebrows and jaw dropping as she turned.

“Hey, just ‘cause you’re comfortable with ripping teeth out of monsters’ mouths and pulling out ribs and, and cutting things in half . . . it doesn’t mean that I’m going to do likewise!” Her anger helped the nausea recede, and she stood up and began to back away from the bear and Corvus. Corvus had a gore-dripping fang in one hand and was speckled with the monster's blood. The bear didn’t seem quite so threatening once it was cut in half, but she still didn’t want to have anything to do with it.

Don’t be a coward, he’s giving you the kill. This is your chance to regain some dignity!

Even the handle of her sword had flecks of bear-juice on it, blood or mucus or something equally unappealing. Her left shoulder decided that it was time to start hurting, but she didn’t need any more motivation; she never wanted to get close to a bear again.

You’re going to make Corvus think you’re a coward, nagged the small part of her mind that was still keen on regaining pride, if curling into a ball like a centipede when the bear was standing over you didn’t already . . .

“Kill the darn bear yourself,” she shouted obstinately, still backing away.

[Corvus MacCallum]

"If you won't ah will, but, I'm gonna let ya know something important me granda told me when I was but a pup... he told me..."

Corvus glanced to the bear from the corner of his eye, it was still baying and howling, the Highlander wheeling around to it and snarling loudly.

"Shut the hell up!"

Suprisingly it did, but that seemed more to do with fluid filling its wretched throat as its brain and other such juices leaked down out of its skull. Turning back to Eltarri Corvus watched the elven girl carefully as he spoke words of what he beleived was wisdom.

"If ye cin swing a sword, it dun matter one bit 'ow well, whats important is 'ow ya use it... I swing me sword to bring dune things like this, creatures wit' no true grasp to nature... if this isn't killed now it could draw others of its kind here, then a single breath of wind could give em knowledge of a village. In that village perhaps there is no one that can swing a sword, skilled maybe but lacking the guts, I do... an' you should too El, you've got that potential, thats why I offered to train ya, no' just for safety"

He gave a warning glance back to the bear as he heard it slump forward, still pawing feebly at the ground, its unlife slipping away slowly, a pathetic fate for a fittingly pathetic creation.

"Ah kill these beasts so tha' a child an' family can wake up tomorrow, break their backs and no' worry bout being claimed by some drooling titan of black fur like this here... or sparing some farmer 'aving his mind broken by staring into the hate filled eyes o' a dragon out fer blood... you cin swing a sword lass, an' you know right and wrong... are ye gonna do this right now an' put at least one good deed to yer name an' legacy, or back away an' prove me 'opes wrong"

[Chiroptera]

His words stung, and Eltarri wasn’t sure whether it was because they were critical or because they were true. Despite all of the heroic dreams that had fueled her on when she’d first come above ground, her “good deeds” now were done not for the benefit of the recipient, but for the relief of her own shame. Guilt weighed heavily on her mind, and she didn’t think that she ever would be able to do enough good to alleviate it. She knew right from wrong, true, but knowledge didn’t always translate to action.

I’m not a hero.

She didn’t want to fight for the good of other people. She’d tried being a savior and the only thing that had resulted was trouble. No matter how good her intentions were, she always managed somehow to mess things up, so what was the point in trying?

But he seemed insistent, and she didn’t have the energy for an argument. She went to her sword and knelt to pick it up, ignoring the blood on the hilt that smeared onto her hands. Lifting the blade, she rose and walked past Corvus to the mutilated bear. Put a good deed to your legacy. How could killing a mindless animal– even an undead terror like this one – be enough to make amends for her past?

The front half of the bear crept forward, its severed limb rowing it along the ground as the other lifted to claw pathetically at her ankles. The bracers barely tightened to block the paw with the flat of her sword. None of the mammoth strength that it had demonstrated earlier was left. She didn’t even really need to kill it, because with its nether region missing and fluids pouring from new orifices, it would have been dead in a few minutes anyway.

He’s the boss . . .

Eltarri lifted the sword high and threw her whole weight into a downward swing, pivoting her body so that the blade hit the monster’s neck at an angle perpendicular to its spine. She felt flesh give way beneath the sword before it jammed to a halt between two vertebrae. Spinal cord severed, the bear twitched spastically even though it was already dead again. Eltarri didn’t wait for it to fall still. She yanked her sword out from its neck and turned away, letting the tip of her weapon drag in the dust as she stepped up to Corvus with an insolent glower.

“Happy now?”

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Ah'll git there lass... now go wash up an' ah'll 'andle the beast 'ere, don' want it fouling up ma snoozin' "

He made to step past her but instead remained in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder, the least blood-stained and gave a light squeeze with his palm.

"Very simple lesson in life lass, you cin only get what you want, truly and honestly, if you earn it by doing wha's right... no' everyone will thank ya, ah get shunned constantly, but that don' get me at all, I know wha' I do is right an' I take pride in that, tonight, tomorrow... an' all those other days you cin lift yer head up an' know tha' today at least, ya did the right thing, ah t'least, ah'm proud of ya okay Eltarri?"

He suprised himself with that one... not the out-burst, no for some reason that was on auto-pilot, he was suprised with the fact he got her name correct after hearing it so long ago, he was terrible with names for the most part. Another soft pat on her shoulder and Corvus rushed to the bear, sinking his hands into the putrefied chest and hefting it into the air, though making sure not to bring it above himself and gently tipped it upside down to try and keep as much of the offal inside as possible. With that lovely mess of organs and mush he scarpered from the clearing and into the darkness of the woods, returning some minutes later for the legs, exactly what had been done, well it was pretty simple to guess, blood scratched from his hands and feet, replaced with streaks of soil and mud.

The Highlander scooped up the Slammer awaiting him and decided to get washed up himself, his mind a little foggy at the moment as it went through everything he would try to teach her and most importantly... what kind of personality the girl would develop, haughty and cynical, self-serving and cowardly... or would she improve a little and become someone worth trusting. Dragging the sword behind him Corvus managed to catch sight of his relatively clean shirt laying by the fire, then to the slammer and continued on his wandering to the creek.

Urgh, next time I set up camp nearer the water source, pain in the bloody ass

[Chiroptera]

Though Corvus’ “soft pat” knocked her a little off balance, Eltarri remained still even after he’d passed by, her emotions raging inside of her. One part of her was mightily indignant that he considered himself old enough to be patronizing towards her, but the other half of her mind was fighting the urge to cry at the praise, at the words of approval that she hadn’t thought she wanted.

“All I did was put the thing out of its misery,” she muttered, stepping away from the sloshing mess behind her. Whatever Corvus was doing with the bear, she didn’t want to know. One set of bear steaks was enough for one night. She rubbed her arm across her nose, then winced at the touch to her still-sore face. The twinge reminded her of the pain in her left shoulder and the way dirt was now streaked copiously across her damp clothes. Blood covered her blade and speckled her shirt, and her bare shoulder now bore the red and warm imprint of Corvus’ palm.

Go figure that it would attack after I’d already bathed. She set off through the bushes towards the creek, grumbling curses and trying to forget the look of the dismembered bears. All the gory images that she’d seen did not bode well for the quality of her dreams.

The water felt colder than it had earlier, and Eltarri washed as quickly as she could, teeth chattering and fingers numb by the time she’d scrubbed every visible trace of the bear from her clothes and skin. Her sword took less time; she just dropped it into the shallow part of the water and left the current to wipe it clean. When she felt that she had scoured all signs of the ordeal from herself and her belongings, she returned to the camp, relieved to find the bear completely gone but for the puddles of blood in the dirt.

Feeling a little guilty at how useless she had been, she scooped up handfuls of dirt and sprinkled them over the blood until what had been the site of a kill looked only like a freshly-planted garden, with patches of soil that stood out from the ground around them. When finished, she stood back and beamed at the tidied clearing. The fire in the center had died down to embers, so Eltarri went back into the brush to collect more twigs, running her hands over the ground to find the sticks in the dark. The blaze didn't get much brighter when she built it up, but the warm glow was satisfactorily cheering, especially after the frigidity of the water. She sat down drowsily in front of the fire, then remembered the way Corvus had greeted her at his last return. She stood, turned, and primly sat down again with her back to the fire, eyes warily watching the forest for any sign of the Highlander. Her head was fuzzy and her body cried for rest, but she steeled her nerve and clenched her toes to stay awake.

I’ll eat my sword before I let him catch me off guard again, she promised herself, though it was getting harder and harder to open her eyes after each blink.

[Corvus MacCallum]

The warrior with the giant sword merely dunked himself into the creek, doing the same as Eltarri had done with her own sword. Been awhile since he had seen the sword gleam and today was not going to change that, blasted thing, still it suprised him that after all its water exposure the sword hadn't rusted, couldn't work out how. Bunging the lump of iron onto his back Corvus headed on back to the clearing, he had to admit, on returning, that she did a good job on making the area a bit more liveable. He hadn't tried sneaking up and merely gave a lift of the hand for hi before examining her handiwork with the soil and then on the fire.

"Nicely done lass, heard tha' bit about putting it out of its misery, we Highlanders got sharper hearing than some elves heh... yer right tha's what ya did, bu' you need to think outwards, animals respond to noises, tha' could have called others through sound, smell... or simply being 'ere... 'ave tae finish what ya start lass, tomorrow ah'll 'ave a go at helping you along wit' tha' an' then... hmm... well following yer own motives agin', doubt ye'd wanna come wit' me"

Plopping down on the opposite side of the fire he smirked, a simple, fanged show of appreciation of her company and simply flopped down onto his back, wiggling those clawed toes in the flames. Felt good to get a nice, natural flame dry... specially between the toes where everything liked to build up, such a pain in the arse trying to keep clean, normally he wasn't bothered but then not everyone appreciated the rustic life-style.

"If ya got anything tae say lass, make it now, feeling a bit drowsy meself heh an' your swaying ain't showing an energetic person"

[Chiroptera]

Though she was relieved at the Highlander’s innocuous return, Eltarri scoffed and rolled her eyes when he finished talking. His accent was becoming easier to understand, and even his blunt frankness didn’t bother her as much as it used to, but his words still had the power to annoy her. “I’m only half Elven, thank you very much,” she said indignantly, “and my ‘swaying’ is a result of one too many blows to the head, thanks to you.”

She scrunched up her nose to highlight the bruises on her face and her split lip, then looked back to the fire to think through the rest of his words. He'd said there could be even more of the monsters roaming Ryber’s ranch, and he apparently thought that it was her duty to finish what she'd started by going back to take care of them. The thought of fighting more of the bears made her want to curl into a ball and hide in a dark hole. But he hadn't so much suggested as told her that she'd be going back, and even though the promise of his help was comforting, her stomach still knotted at the prosect of facing undead creatures, whose presence and existence she couldn't possibly hope to explain. Corvus probably could take on a herd of bears on his own if she wasn’t there to get in his way, but it was her bounty, and she had already been paid to take care of this unresolved problem.

Yeah, Ryber paid you, a sarcastic voice piped up in her head. Too bad it isn’t even enough to cover the cost of a new shirt, which you’ll need thanks to the way he expressed his ‘undying gratitude.’

But it wasn't the pay that had motivated her to help in the first place. It might have been boredom, if she was the type who liked to fight things for fun, but she was more inclined to read about such bravado than to live it. Maybe it was a resurfacing of the altruism that used to make her jump headlong into dangerously stupid situations.

. . . put at least one good deed to your name . . .

“Fine, we'll go fight the bears tomorrow, though I can tell you now that I probably won't be much more helpful than I was today." She didn't want him to have to verbalize verification of that statement, so she hurriedly added, "Besides, if we manage to survive without being maimed or crippled, you can finish teaching me how to use a sword."

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Teach you after?... nah during lass, during, trial ba' fir' an' all that"

He smirked and just let himself relax further, there was a light rustling of leaves as his overfluffed tail swept against the ground, it couldn't really go much distance being stuck between his legs but its not like he spent any mental energy controlling it... pure instinct. The rustlings and flames were bringing back another visage of home, this girl made him damn nostalgic, must be because shes little more than a pup without an aim, or at the least, not letting slip what it was.

"S'pose it could be seen as a coming a' age too, back 'ome ya cin try it a' any age really... you need tae' venture intae the surrounding woods an' find yerself a leaf drake, quite nice looking things they are, bout horse sized dragons, slender... scales all thin an' wispy like leaves, real cute in a way heh... basically the elders will bring you out an' have you track one your age, they'll pick it out so nae borra, yer task is tae pluck t'big leaf tha' rests on its 'ead"

His eyes closed on pondering about it, avoiding the flickering high-lighting of Eltarris injuries, ah well, she was still cute from what he'd seen anyway, not in the same way as a leaf dragon, but certainly more than passable. His tail tip gave a light twitch as he started to recall his own.

"Its one o' them great ruses, lil' bit o'jiggery pokery... a leaf drake, won't attack without someone 'itting it first... bu' they do act all 'igh an' mighty, pretty intimidating to those who dunnae know better, all 'bout restraint an' confidence, couldn't take one down as a kid, too strong a beast even young, but saunter up confident an' proud, it'll let you handle it wit' nae borra lass... this ain't exactly the same, but tae confidence to fight an' stand up against things like that is very important"

He chuckled quietly, he hadn't exactly passed with flying colours, well certainly no record breaker at least... he had actually wound up fighting the thing for awhile. Surviving was impressive but he got ear-marked by the elders as someone with a violent temperment, wound up getting restricted acess to female company and not being trusted with anything but the schools ink bottles.

"Something fer ya to chew on lass while ya sleep, a hero isn't someone that dune feel scared, its someone who'll keep tha' fear but no' let it hold 'em back"

[Chiroptera]

Trying to ignore what he'd said about a "trial by fire," Eltarri sighed and dropped her head onto her folded arms. It wasn't fear that bothered her; she was persistently hounded by terror, and it was the kind that crippled her mind and body, that rendered her into a quivering and useless mound of paralyzed meat that could only sit back and wait in horror for its own destruction.

Bear steak, she thought miserably. My fear turns me into a big, bloody chunk of bear steak.

Corvus had killed dragons, and he spoke of facing the huge reptiles as though they were nothing more than unruly housepets. He’d come charging in to save her from the bear that would no doubt have turned seasoned warriors into bawling infants, and he’d willingly agreed to help take care of even more of the monsters when he didn’t have an obligation to do so. What kind of person was so downright eager to put themself into dangerous situations? How could anyone who lived the kind of life that he did know about being scared to death? Her head felt too heavy to lift up, but Eltarri wanted to make sure he answered her question before she fell asleep.

“Tell me the truth, Corvus,” she said, her voice more bitter than she intended. “Have you ever really been afraid?”

[Corvus MacCallum]

At this question Corvus sat up, smiling at the lass and shrugged while his tail flicked about below him.

"Shit-loads a' times lass"

Then there was just silence, he watched her, still with that truly sincere smile on his face, a few spikes of hair dangling in front of his forest green eyes, visible even in this dim flickering light. As the light of the fire weaved around his visage Els eyes were able to pick out the faintest lines of scars and slices normally not shown on his usually chipper face.

"I've barneyed wit' beasts tha' put every bit a' life an' energy into ending me life, course ah've been terrified... still get get scared these days, wouldn't do this anymore if I wasnae scared a' the things I fight"

Taking in a long breath, not for any particulary long speech, but he just felt like doing it, his throat still hurt from all the barking earlier, plus blood had a habit of thickening the throat lining and making it tricky to breathe fully.

"Still keep pressing on though an' its because of the fear, see the reason ah get afraid, is because I want to keep living, a fearless warrior is looking for his death lass... all an issue of using tha' fear an' pushing on regardless of it... now get some rest, I'll keep watch fer a bit... shouldnae be any problems though"

[Chiroptera]

"No problems?" she repeated sleepily. "Didn't you say that before the last bear's attack?"

Corvus' approximation of a "fearless warrior" as a really only a suicidal maniac was depressingly surprising to the half-elf. She’d been pretty certain not too long ago that death wouldn’t be such a bad thing, but considering how stricken with fear she’d been when in a life-threatening situation, all the apathy that she’d felt earlier must have not been as real as she’d imagined. She was still worried about being killed by the bears, and she still wanted Corvus to teach her how to fight. Would she really be concerned with those kinds of things if she didn’t want to live?

Maybe with time and experience, she could reach the level of confidence that Corvus had, the kind of self-confidence that let him embrace the fear as something that was positive. There were few things that she wouldn’t give to be more like him. Eltarri’s gaze settled onto his smiling face, multi-colored hair casting shadows onto his features. When she noticed that he was looking at her she jerked her face down onto her arms, shutting her eyes and trying not to blush.

Don’t flatter yourself. You’ll never be anything like him. The memory of his smile lingered in her mind. He was more dangerous than she could ever hope to be, even if he did look and act like a harmless boy, grinning and wagging his tail as if there weren’t giant and murderous bears within a stone’s throw of their camp. But even if the massive sword did almost look out-of-place with his boyish hair and benign smile, he was coming with her to fight the bears tomorrow, and as she drifted asleep the thought nearly made her smile.

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Sleep well wee lassy... hmm, now wha' tae do..."

Through squinted eyes he watched the flame flicker and twirl, watching how its light caught on Eltarri... on too much of Eltarri. A silent chuckle escaping the wolf-man as he looked at her, so exhausted the little wanderer had conked out while sitting up, his fangs gleaming as his smirk pulled into a full smile, deciding to follow her swaying before seeing the girls balance being outdone by gravity. Giving a shove with his heels the Highlander flung himself past the fire and to her side, just in time to catch the tired form of his pupil, giving a soft rub to her upper arm just for comfort sakes before starting to lay her down. Seeing the hard earth beneath her Corvus had a quick spy about, scrabbling with a foot to nab his clean t-shirt, bundling it up beneath her head.

"If'n I didnae know you could 'andle this lass I wouldnae put you in such danger... you'll do me proud without even realising it heh..."

He offered a soft touch the girl likely hadn't experianced for a long time, running the smooth backs of his claws and the softly furred hands along her cheek. A shiver wracking the hybrids body, no blanketing in the Highlanders equipment but there was... well why not. Smiling down at her his tail swept in to brush against her arms, instinctively her body reaching for warmth and wrapping her form around it, the overly fluffy and soft tail fur grazing against what little skin was exposed.

Bit of a bugger though... ah well, maybe I cin wake up first an' make sure she don't recall holding it

With a soft shuffle of his own body the toned and torn Highlander flopped to the ground beside her, though facing the opposite direction. Stretching his arm for but a moment the warrior brought his blade close to the little scene, when waking up he was a very heavy sleeper, but when trying to snooze it didn't take much to stir him... helped to be cautious.

[Chiroptera]

Consciousness required too much effort for Eltarri's pursuit of it to succeed. She stirred at Corvus’ first touch, the stress and bother of the day making her wary even in sleep, but the caress was far softer, kinder than anything she had felt in all her life, and instead of bringing her closer to wakefulness it eased her deeper into the dark pits of slumber.

Still asleep, Eltarri's fingers twined tightly into the dark fur of Corvus’ tail, her hands unconsciously clenching into tight fists to pull it closer to herself, to make sure he didn’t get taken away. The girl’s future was far from bright, and she was only starting to get an inkling of how dark the world could be, but for now her skin tingled with the warmth of the Highlander's touch, and her dreams held none of the terror they once had. Less than two feet away from her was the wolf-man who'd saved her in more ways than one, and even though the morrow promised danger and bloodshed galore, knowing that he'd be there to face it with her made the impending trial bearable. She would have died of embarrassment if she knew that she was sleeping close enough to the man that her breathing unintentionally synchronized with his, but for the first time in several weeks, Eltarri slept peacefully.

And for what they were preparing to face the next day, they certainly needed it.


((All bunnying approved, quest continued in forthcoming installment.))

[AdventWings]

I'm sorry this took longer than I anticipated. Thank you for your patience, for the quest judgment is done. :)

Story

Continuity - 6/10

Not much immediate backstory given, though it did not do anything bad to the overall story, either.

Setting - 7/10

Excellent interaction and detail throughout the story. A bit too much sometimes, but fairly well-balanced.

Pacing - 5/10

The earlier posts by Cor sort of killed the opening pacing as the rushed style really clashed with Chiroptera's more fluid, controlled form. It got better as the story progressed. Telling a story this intricate in 75 posts seemed a tad... too long, as this could be effectively separated into two complete quests that tandem with each other. My only complaints here.

Writing Style

Mechanics - 6/10

Pretty OK for the most parts, though Cor should watch for apparent run-ons that pop up from time to time.

Technique - 6/10

Some advanced literary devices used sporatically, some worked. Overall good job in integrating them into the writing style.

Clarity - 6/10

Had some problem reading the battle scenes, but the rest were fairly easy to read and not too many details were unneeded.

Character

Dialogue - 7/10

Great, unique dialogue from both of you.

Action - 7/10

Nothing much to comment here, you two did good.

Persona - 8/10

Strong characters, memorable quirks and each with unique characteristics that made you two stand out from the crowd. Awesome job.

Miscellaneous

Wild Card - 7/10

I would love to see how these two end up in their hunt for the remaining undead bears.

FINAL SCORE – 65!

Chiroptera receives 3,000 EXP and 765 GP

Corvus MacCallum receives 2,000 EXP and 750 GP

[Letho]

EXP/GP added! Welcome to the next level both of you.