Taking The Test Further

by **Kavala** on November 29th, 2012, 8:49 pm

Timestamp: Early Fall, 512 AV
Continued From: Becoming A Kuvan

When they were done eating, and a bell had passed, Mos’rila got them both moving again and headed back towards The Labor Aide. Kavala was stopped however; they both were, by Kuvay’Nas outside of the building. The guards handed both women a sash to wrap around their waists which also passed up and over one shoulder. They were a bright red material and made the two women instantly visible.

“The Kuvay’Nas is going to help us out with this one. It’s going to be a sort of challenge to them as well. These sashes are going to denote us as challengers so the people of the city don’t get disturbed seeing us rush through the city. They are used to seeing these sashes as Kuvay’Nas training exercises. We have to work as a team, because Nivar wants everyone in the city to understand that loner’s won’t survive. We have to stay together and work together as a city and as a citizenry. Now, what we are going to do is eventually get to Semele Park which is across town. The Kuvay’Nas is going to try and stop us. We are the targets, and they are our enemies. We can’t hurt them though and they can’t hurt us. Now, everyone gets a flag. They do and so too do we. It just affixes to the sashes and tears off easily. It should be strong enough not to tear off moving around the city, but it might. Part of this test is if you know the city… and part of this test is how resourceful you are. Each of these flags is a life. If you take one from the Kuvay’Nas then they are dead unless they have a spare. If they take one from us, we are dead unless we have a spare. Now there are spare flags hidden all around the city. Some are in plain sight, and some are more concealed. Our ultimate goal is to collect as many flags as we can while keeping our own AND make it to Semele Park. There is a master flag there, it’s a ‘home base’ and if we get there before the Kuvay’Nas catch us and take all our flags, and then we pass the test.” Mos’rila said.

Kavala grinned. It sounded like a great deal of fun that much was for certain. She didn’t hold out a lot of hope that she could get to Semele Park without getting ganged up on by the Kuvay’Nas. After all, Riaris and his kin were fierce fighters. But she’d certainly try. She could also see now why this part of the test was voluntary and didn’t affect her overall score. And in a way she felt flattered that they used her to test run this scenario. They didn’t have too. They could have picked a man, or even another woman with combat experience or perhaps someone from a warrior culture, like a fully human Drykas. Konti were considered small, soft, harmless, and even at times weak. That they thought she even had a chance at this was a bit exciting to her. Mos’rila might be able to help keep her alive longer than she could on her own, but all in all, Kavala’s first thought was that she was going to slow Mos’rila down.

“This sounds incredibly fun.” Kavala said softly. “I know I’m going to slow you down, but I’ll do my best to see what I can do to help us get there. What counts? Can we use magic? Are we just restricted to weapons?” Kavala asked. Mos’rila looked thoughtful.

“The Commander said we could use any means possible. I don’t think he realized you were a mage. Are you a mage? You aren’t going to hurt them are you? That’s not allowed. No setting them on fire etc.” Mos’rila said, chuckling. She was starting to think the Kuvay’Nas might be in for a nasty surprise if it turned out that Kavala was not only a healer, but also a mage.
“I’m a Reimancer of both earth and air. They’ll come in handy in a chase. For example, a stray breeze filled with dust, a heavy gust enough to give us a boost over a wall or something. If it’s allowed, I’ll use it. But I don’t want to cheat or make a mistake not knowing the rules. “Mos’rila nodded. She grinned wickedly and then they both laughed together. The experience was drawing them close together. Kavala could feel it. The girls paced lightly, waiting, until all the Kuvay’Nas was assembled. They used the time wisely, to warm up again after their light meal and to drink lots of water. Both slipped into the Labor Aid to use the facilities and came out seemingly ready to go. By then, the Kuvay’Nas in charge of the test had joined the group and summoned the girls over.

“I’m Sanvis. I’m in charge here today. Mos’rila knows me, right?” The Akalak grinned and Mos’rila seemed to blush. She dropped her head for a moment, and then lifted it once more when the Akalak passed the girls each a flag. He helped them affix them properly to their sashes and then began a small talk. “This is not a timed test. My men will scatter and give you exactly ten chimes to discuss strategy and leave. You will then be given a ten chime break, use the facilities and eat…. Then you will want to be aware. Because after ten chimes, my men will be hot on your trail.” Kavala and Mos’rila nodded. They both could tell it was going to be an interesting time.

“Ready?” Mos’rila asked Kavala. The Konti blinked, smiled, and answered her promptly.

.

by **Kavala** on November 6th, 2013, 5:24 pm

“As ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s get this thing started.” Kavala said, stretching one last time and then hunkering down as if preparing to run. The moderator then showed up, consulted with the Commander for a moment, and then lifted his hand. In it was the small tinkling hand bell. He rang it once, and Mos’rila sprang into action. She bolted down the street… not in the direction of Semele Park, like Kavala had anticipated, but down, heading down a small side street that deviated from the Labor Aid down into the second tier. Kavala took a moment, but was after her in a heartbeat, glad she had her leathers on and sturdy shoes. The two women literally pounded the cobbles, leaping a railing once in a while to drop faster down the series of terraced paths and stairs until they passed Raven’s Perch and dropped further down towards Godiva. Kavala saw Godiva’s ahead, and wondered suddenly if Mos’rila knew a way around the Bluevein Falls and into the southern part of the city without actually taking to the streets.

Kavala hoped it was true, because as she set her feet carefully one after another, she realized there was no way she’d know the streets as well as a Kuvay’Nas would. The Konti concentrated on her running, which was hard because the woman with her, sometimes ahead and sometimes beside was intent on not following the streets but cutting straight across them. Sometimes this meant down, and sometimes this meant up. Mos’rila thought nothing of vaulting gates or walking across the tops of fences like a cat. Kavala had to be more careful. She couldn’t fling herself through the urban area of Riverfall willy nilly. When they came to a gate, she had to jump up, grab the top, pull a foot up and perhaps get leverage on a decorative item on either side of the gate and hoist herself up. Once she got a handhold, it wasn’t hard moving across fences. What was hard was moving down them from the top. If there wasn’t a roofline to hold on to, Kavala had to balance by holding her hands out and slowing her walk. Looking down was always a bad idea. She felt like an acrobat with no training.

And the dizzying part of it was that Mos’rila led them mercilessly. One moment they were up, one moment they were down, and even once Kavala had to climb up a drain and move across a rooftop – albeit a shed roof – to jump down to another road. Kavala knew inherently they were cutting off huge amounts of time moving the way they were and it was keeping them out of the sight of the main road. That was important as well.

As an added bonus, just past Raven’s Roost Mos’rila found another life. Kavala cheered quietly when she did, finding the fluttering ribbon that they called a flag flying in the wind hanging from a crossroad sign. Mos’rila tucked it into her pocket and almost didn’t miss a beat, continuing on with her free running. Kavala struggled to keep up, but once she got over the shock of what they were doing and found her rhythm it got considerably easier. Literally, following Mos’rila, she learned that there were handholds everywhere. A flower pot could be a stepping stone upwards, while a roof stile could be a quick slide down. And the thing that was most surprising to Kavala was that she was having fun. Sure, her lungs burned from running and her arms from climbing, and after just one spill, her bum hurt from falling, but the amount of fun she was having seemed to negate that considerably.

Kavala had an easier time keeping up with Mos’rila after fifteen or twenty chimes than she had at first. The Konti paid less attention to where she was stepping and jumping and landing and more attention to the joy of the flight. And it was when they circled around to the Glass Gull; Kavala got herself another life as well. This one was hanging above the door of the gull, in plain sight. Kavala was able to grab it, though it was well over her head, but running at the wall and half walking up it, using it to push herself off with and gain altitude to actually reach the flag in mid leap. She captured the silk ribbon, then did what Mos’rila did and pocketed it. The whole time neither girl paused more than thirty seconds to retrieve the prize.

Then, in a shocking move, Mos’rila darted into the shadows behind the falls, and seemed to disappear. Kavala blindly followed and found herself on a walkway behind the waterfall, deep in the stone. The roaring of the falls was almost deafening. The same falls caused the stone to vibrate at a dangerous level in Kavala’s mind. The walls dripped with water and the floor was slick. Mos’rila reached behind her and grabbed Kavala by the hand dragging her forward when she paused. Kavala had to concentrate on staying upright, her fighting boots not geared towards gripping slick stone that had rivets of water rushing across it.

The tunnel within the wall was easily seen to circle around and come out on the other side. Negotiating the dark and scary passageway with its damp and dripping walls was a frightening thing for Kavala. It wasn’t that she wasn’t used to the stone walls and underground, it was the deep vibration and the thought of all that water above them that made her so scary. Mos’rila gave her a grin a time or two, her teeth flashing white in the near darkness. “It’s okay, Kavala, almost no one knows of this passageway!” She said, keeping a hand on the Konti and another on the damp cold stone wall to feel her way through. Thankfully Kavala was relatively small; the passage having been built for a far larger sort. Its smoothness and general uniformity meant that she didn’t have to worry about bumping her head or smashing anything on uneven walls. It was only the water-slickened floor that was the problem.

by **Kavala** on November 6th, 2013, 5:26 pm

Kavala honestly was expecting an ambush. She knew more than ten chimes had passed since the two women fled, and that the Kuvay’Nas would be all over the city looking. She wasn’t sure how many were out on the exercise, but she figured there was enough to take them down. None came. The girls immerged from the stone through a swinging door at the end of a road that wove around The Crystal Rose. They headed down a street towards The Velvet Curtain, and Kavala started to have hope. Her lungs burned as did her thighs as she kept pace with Mos’rila. The Healer was glad for her morning runs, so glad in fact that she didn’t think she’d have been able to keep up without them.

Suddenly, ahead, two Kuvay’Nas stepped out in the street, blocking their way right before they could make a sharp left in front of the brothel. Kavala darted right, cut by a small building, and came around the Azurite Watchtower on full steam with Mos’rila right behind her shouting ‘go go quick’. The two women started to cut between the watchtower and the Sapphire Star when Kavala felt strong arms grab her and yank her against armor. She spun, not trying to resist the grab but trying to keep the momentum going she had by channeling her forward motion into the spin encased in the warriors arms. She gritted her teeth and lashed out with a booted heel, smashing into an instep and cocking her elbow and shoving it back hard into ribs. Only there weren’t ribs there. It was heavily molded leather armor and the only thing she did was manage to cause blinding pain to streak through her arm. Her foe, whoever he was, cursed a blind streak but kept a hold of her. She threw her head back, using the thick part of the back of her skull to slam into his chin. He yelped and let her go, but not before grabbing her flag off her sash. She spun, gabbing her other one out of her pocket and attached it as she was feeling.

Mos’rila was nowhere in sight.

Kavala beat feet down the road towards Laviku’s Tower, instinct drawing her closer to the sea and further away from the Kulkukan where the Kuvay’Nas would be think. She ducked down the street, passed two private residences which she cut through yards on, and heard a struggle. She glanced right and left, then ran up a porch at full speed and climbed the railing then a trellis that was housing a gorgeous climbing rose. The rose left blood on her, but the Konti didn’t care. Once on the roof she was high enough to see were the fight was coming from. Up high she felt safer, especially with her one flag or life left, and she was able to take a moment to clear her head. She almost avoided the Kuvay’Nas killing her. Almost. Next time she’d do better.

The commotion from the roof of the residence was clearly visible. In front of the Overlook Apartments Mos’rila was busy taking two Kuvay’Nas down. She had one ‘killed’ already and was trying to get the jump on a second one. The dead Kuvay’Nas was standing off to the side, cheering on his buddy and leering at the Godiva’s Refuge woman. Kavala thought about moving past her, the path on the roofs clear as long as the military was occupied. But then she remembered what Nivar had said and Mos’rila had quoted. It’s about teamwork and knowing that the whole defense of Riverfall takes everyone, not just individuals. Kavala agreed.

So she ran down the length of the roof, jumped off and onto the roof of a shed, and then climbed onto a fence and ran its length to another porch where she hopped a roof and brought herself almost on the fight scene. She jumped down on another fence, keeping her up high enough to be above the Kuvay’Nas’ line of sight, and ran down its length until she was parallel to him and Mos’rila circling. Then when they engaged again and Mos’rila drove him back – back into Kavala’s fence – the Konti jumped, landing on the man hard, and taking him down. She grabbed his life flag as they went down and jumped free just before the man hit the ground. As they came forward, she tucked her body, and twisted into a perfect dive roll that gave her the ability to roll on the cobbles and come straight up to her feet, running.

Mos’rila, of course, grabbed her again. They cut between a building, not waiting to see of the Kuvay’Nas was okay, and acquired a second flag on the doorstep of the Antiquities Society. Mos’rila gave it to Kavala, laughing, and said… “I still have mine, Kavala. None of these city men are going to get the jump on a Drykas.” Kavala laughed, and then gestured. They had to cross the open street to get between the Zhongjie Warrens and the Windswept Apartments. If the two girls couldn’t find a way in to Semele Park that wasn't guarded, then their victory in the test would be short lived. Kavala could see the street was being patrolled. She bet they were guarding every way into the Semele Park. And yet… would they even consider someone circling around and hitting the park from the Kendoka Sasaran?

Kavala turned around and shared her thought with Mos’rila. “That street is impossibly guarded. We can cut across but they will see us there. I wonder if we keep going south, hit the bakery and then move east towards the Kendoka Sasaran and avoid them. That would get us hitting the park from the south, possibly a side they aren’t openly guarding as a group.” Mos’rila grinned.

by **Kavala** on November 6th, 2013, 5:26 pm

“It’s a better plan than I had. Sure… lets’ try it. We have to stay down though. The buildings here are newer and are a lot further away than the old town buildings are. We can’t jump the length of the street anyhow.” Kavala agreed with Mos’rila’s assessment and together the two women turned south. They cut through two huge private residences again, this time leaving tracks in a garden. Then, they hit the street between The Inner Eye and The Bastani Bakery and expected to swing around by the city wall. They had no such luck. Two Kuvay’Nas were standing outside the back door of the bakery, by where a life flag was hanging, evidently guarding it. It was obvious the two girls took the Kuvay’Nas by surprise because as soon as Mos’rila saw them, she charged forward and had the flag off one before he could even blink and put down the sweet roll he was eating that he probably bought from the bakery. Kavala was at Mos’rila’s side and tried to pull the same move on the soldier’s buddy. But the buddy was faster and engaged her right away.

The Konti ducked an uppercut and twisted around to let off a roundhouse, contacting solidly with the guy. He was big though, so Kavala realized right away that he wouldn’t easily go down, not unless she was stronger with her leg sweeps. So she didn’t’ give him pause and advanced, knife hand raised, and hit him with a series of blows on the side of his neck. She made a grab for his life flag just as his he wound up and tried to cold-cock her in the jaw. She ducked that, snatching his flag, and then quickly backing up. They had two more and two dead soldiers. Kavala grinned wickedly until the dead started screaming. “OVER HERE. THE TARGETS ARE OVER HERE!!!!”

She turned tail with Mos’rila and fled, staying off the street and darting around the edge of the bakery towards the Kendoka Sasaran. Kavala was fast wearing out, fatigue setting in, and she wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take. With Semele Park in sight, it would be a bittersweet failure to have come so far and yet stop short of their goal. Kavala kept her eyes on the glimpse of the park she could see around the Sasaran. It was her downfall. With her attention so focused on the park, she didn’t notice another pair of guards come around the Sasaran from the street, bearing down on the girls drawn by the sound of the ‘dead’ soldier’s voices.

“We can outrun them!” Mos’rila encouraged and took off running. Kavala’s muscles ached. She wasn’t so sure, but she wasn’t ready to give up either. The Konti broke into a run, but unfortunately she wasn’t that fast. A bola came flying at her from behind just when she found her running stride, her feet tangled and she went down hard, rolling on the strip of green behind the Sasaran. Mos’rila stopped in confusion, as if she didn’t know why Kavala was down. But the solider knew why, and he’d been expecting The Konti to go down. She had, and he was on her in an instant, his foot planted in her chest, and her life flag ripped away. He released her immediately, made a tsk tsking sound, and backed up to give the dead target room to climb to her feet. Kavala did. She clutched where the big Akalak had stomped at her and frowned when she saw his tattooed face. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled her last flag out, attached it, and turned in time to see Mos’rila doing the same. Downed, because of her confusion, Kavala had almost gotten them both killed.

The solider that had taken out Mos’rila made a shooing motion. “Go girls. There’s not this much coverage at this side of the park. They thought you’d come down the street head on and try and hit it. No one thought you’d circle back. Go… before more come.” He said, laughing, as the two women set off at a run.

“By the Gods, he stomped on me. I’ll not breathe right for a weak.” Kavala said, the boot print on her chest her proof.

Mos’rila laughed. “Had he been the enemy, he would have done worse. Be glad they are on our side, face tattoos or not.” She added. The two women kept running and rounded the southeast side of the Kendoka Sasaran and dove into the park. Unfortunately, the park was full of young Kuvay’Nas. Form the moment they hit the park, it was a battle. Most, however, were not expecting the women to hit the park from the south side, and so most on the end were taken by surprise as the women tumbled into their midst. Tumbled would be a kind word, too. Kavala hadn’t really spent a lot of time in Semele Park so she hadn’t really had a clear understanding of the lay out of the park. It was a breathtakingly beautiful place, but it was built in the depths of a huge quarry. Most of the stone to supply Riverfalls’ buildings with had come from the location. So when the city had grown large enough, the quarry had been considered an eyesore and people had decided to do something about it. Some say it was a Nakivak that spearheaded the project. But wherever the idea had come from, tons of dirt and animal waste and even grey earth from the city it was hauled into the location and the stone covered with a thick top soil at the bottom. Once it was filled to a twenty foot depth, plants were brought in and planted, pathways were put through, and some of the rocky ledges then covered on the way up and out of the park. The only place that was left alone was the extra deep lake in the center. That lake was a centerpiece and often reflected the stars at night like they were glittering jewels in the bottom of the quarry.

by **Kavala** on November 6th, 2013, 5:27 pm

This set up posed a problem or the girls. Not taking a path into the park, a marked trail or chiseled set of steps, the women bumbled down the side walls of the park into its bowel. Dangerously they slid down bare stone, passed trees growing on the imported soil ledges, or just flat out rolled. The experience was somewhat traumatic to Kavala who didn’t know the proper way to roll down a steep stone hill, avoid trees, and stay alive. So after the first step, which she assumed was into the thick vegetation of a park and not straight down a steep stone slope covered with vegetation… she lost her footing.

Mos’rila stayed on her feet longer, but not by much. After two or three steps of running straight down and staying up, both women fell and started tumbling. Kavala knew their mistake immediately, because by the fourth roll, she hit a rock outcropping hard and felt her forearm break. Blinded by the abrupt pain momentarily, the healer kept rolling but tucked into a protective ball around the broken limb. The condensing of her body into one tight ball did nothing to stop her downward roll, and instead only increased it. So as she finally broke free of the vegetation and rolled out onto a pathway in the bottom of the park around the lake, she cried out bitterly in pain and lay there shaking. Her vision was clouded with red, not in anger, but in pain as sound roared in her ears. She realized it was her own screaming and shut her mouth, trying to force herself to her feet. She managed her knees before she had to stop and heave. The light lunch they ate was suddenly on the crushed shell path under her rather than in her stomach.

That was when they killed her. Two youths, gleeful in their discovery, converged on her in a partnership and while she was busy jumping to her feet to kick the smile off the first one, the second one was busy grabbing her flag from behind. Her violent mule kick forward still connected to her opponent soundly in the jaw and gave her the satisfaction of having him go down. She had another flag so she pulled it out of her pocket. But that forced her to release her broken arm, which hurt so bad she almost lost consciousness. In pulling forth her new flag she realized she had no way to attach it. It took two hands. She turned, where the young solider was standing with her life flag in his hand, and gestured to her arm and the flag. “Do you mind?” She asked.

He nodded, stepping forward and taking her flag. He affixed it for her, while Kavala tapped her gnosis and fused the bone together in her arm, reducing the pain dramatically and causing the swelling to immediately go down. She breathed in relief just in time for her would-be helper to turn, spot Mos’rila exiting the woods in a violent roll down the slope. He released Kavala’s flag, turned, and moved in for the kill.

Kavala shouted. “Mos’rila! Watch out.” And then Kavala was at a run in a heartbeat. She was fast, but not fast enough. Her young friend counted another kill. By the rules she couldn’t’ engage the guy that killed her, but Mos’rila could. It was too late though. Her partner was just as dead, though she had an extra flag. Kavala was panting then, hard, and noted that Mos’rila seemed in pain as well. Glancing more closely at her friend, she saw a huge bruise on her elbow that was unrelated to any ‘attacker’ and that two of her fingers on her right hand were dislocated and hanging at an odd angle. Kavala immediately drew forward, and grabbed the woman’s elbow at the bruise. She tapped her gnosis and cleared the flesh of trauma to ease her friends’ pain. Then, before Mos’rila could protest – Kavala thought she looked a little shocky – the healer had grasped her two dangling fingers and gave them a swift yank, putting them back in alignment. She then flooded the woman’s hand with healing to ease the pain. Mos’rila was frozen mid-scream, when the horrible pain she thought she’d be feeling.

They did feel pain though, for moments later, half the Kuvay’Nas came running down the path in both directions and had them surrounded. One, who looked slightly older and with a fancier uniform, leveled his weapon at Mos’rila and Kavala, “Do you to surrender? You are short of the master flag, and by our calculations you are out of lives.” Both statements were true. But Kavala wanted to keep fighting. Her gaze circled the crowd and she decided ten to one odds were not good odds at all. The two women met each other’s eyes, the fun of the chase long past for them since both had suffered injuries, and then nodded. They came to a wordless agreement between the two of them and removed their flags and dropped them to the ground.

by **Kavala** on November 6th, 2013, 5:29 pm

“You win.” Mos’rila gave the leader a bow and smiled at Kavala. “We did not make a bad showing either. We did, after all, make it to the park. “ She commented wryly.

Kavala laughed. “I don’t care about our showing. I care about my citizenship. Did I earn it?” Kavala asked, looking at the leader of the group in the park and then at Mos’rila. The owner of the Godiva Refuge howled in laughter. She started to say something but was interrupted by the moderator, who was suddenly there in the steadily growing crowd.

“You might not have won the battle, but you’ve certainly won the war.” He quoted, and then laughed, handing her a slip of paper that gave her permission to head to Riverfall Ink and get her citizenship tattoo.

“Thank you! Thank you all. This was a wonderful experience. Well, perhaps not the broken arm or the dislocated fingers… but everything else was fantastic.” Kavala said, giving Mos’rila a huge hug and laughing out loud along with the moderator.

by **Taylani** on November 13th, 2013, 8:03 pm

Kavala

Skills :

Lores :

Notes :

Solo Taking The Test Further