Quest A Calling (Ximal)

[Balderdash]

Ambiance! : 17th of Spring, 513AV Two bells before dawn It was curious how many of the strange things that happened in Nyka- And there were many, many strange things that happened in Nyka- happened at night. Tonight was one of those nights. While normally Nyka in the dark hours was as quiet as a crypt, tonight was different- For one man. Ximal, a foreigner staying in the Hostel, as foreigners do, was roused from his sleep by the most curious sound. A thrum that rattled his bones and dug into his ears. A steady boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. It was a heartbeat, but one belonging to a creature much larger than anything that could possibly exist. What was stranger was that that no one else seemed to hear it. His compatriots were fast asleep, and the rest of the inn was slumbering just as soundly. Furthermore, the sound was not all that Ximal felt. In the depths of his chest, a force akin to an invisible hook was tugging at him, urging him out of bed and out onto the streets, towards the rift the locals called the Aperture. The Heart of the World was calling to him.

[Ximal]

Dreams. What were dreams but flitters of the imagination, flights of fancy that could take you anywhere? Pieces of the imagination that allowed the could to be free and able to do what it wished, within one could change the past or even seek out a meaning for the future. Though Xi's dreams this night were interrupted, drawn forth and brought his weary head to light. The weariness of sleep still clinging to his dark and clouded mind, the evil omen around him still hanging like a dark apparition,. Sitting up slowly in the bed, he rubbed his eye's harshly pushing the sleep from them as the thunderous booming rang out in his ears. The sound of a heart bead drumming out in a single prolific beat. The monotonous melody of the calling of a heart. Could no-one else here this thunderous beating ? like clashes of thunder, like the rumbles of an angry stampede? Why was everyone else sleeping soundly as the thunder thrummed on. Swinging his legs out of bed Xi felt a tugging in his chest, a pull, and then felt something which made his very bones shake. His heart and the thunderous thrumming were in time. Xi took a slow breath to try and still the eeriness that creapt up into him. What in the world was going on ? Then came the pull, the dragging tug. almost wanting to rip his heart from his chest, dragging his body towards the window. the tugging only increased he trailed closer to the window. pulling away just made the tug stronger, the pull harsher. Damn it, could you stop and let me think for petch's sake! Or at least let me get dressed first. Xi pulled back far enough to get dressed and sliding on his trench coat and cloak, he strapped his steel to him his vambraces and greaves before grabbing his bow and arrows as well as his gauntlets. His pack he also brought with him, just the essentials. He could afford to leave his axes or at least the large ones behind as well as his money. Slotting a hand axe into his belt he clambered down the stairs and out the door. He would follow this tugging to it's source. What ever was causing the thunderous tone to beat in time with his own heart, he would follow and seek out answers.

[Balderdash]

Some would say it was luck that Ximal encountered no monks out on their evening patrols. Others would say the will of a higher power. Whatever the reason, the result was the same. The guard was guided through winding cobble streets, past dusky stone houses, to the maw of the Aperture. It was then, that a quite curious thing happened. Ximal heard a woman's voice, high and hoarse, whispering into his head a single word. "Jump." The Aperture seemed to extend into infinity from where Ximal stood, but there was no mistaking the instruction. Jump. The question, of course, was simple. Did he trust the voice in his head? A voice not his own? Or his own bodily instinct.

[Ximal]

Xi walked the streets, the cold early spring morning air bit into him. the streets along his bath, the road that the tugging in his chest was pulling him down, vacant. Where were the monks ? The thunderous crashing and consistent repetition thrummed out. Getting progressively louder as Xi reached the lip of the abyss. The infinite blackness extend out and unto infinity before him. Xi's breath escaped him in slow puffs of steam. Xi looked won into that endless expanse of vapid vacancy and heard a single voice. Akin to ana's when she's tried to morph her voice. It said only one word. "Jump." Xi took a deep breath looking down into the darkness and weighed the options in his head. Did he let fear control him? Or did he follow the commands of a strange voice ? Freedom. Control. LIfe. Death. Do i heed the words of this voice and jump into a chasm which has no base ? Or do i heed my own doubts and head away ? Ignore the pull ? Or follow it? Xi took a deep breath, and stroked the light beard he was sporting, was he really going to do this? Jump on the command of an unknown voice into a void with no see able base ? Do i follow? Follow commands? Do i follow the command of the voice? Beckoning me into the void? Or do i follow the command of my own fear ? Over and back again. Into the void i shall venture. Fear has it's way, and cannot yet have it's day. I am a slave unto no-one, least of all my own fear! Xi stepped up to the edge, unsure of what he was doing. Deep breaths, you can do this, you can ge through this. Fear controls. And i will not be controlled. Xi steeled his resolve and stepped back from the edge by one...two...three...four paces. He was really going to do this. Xi began to run. Hard boots pounding upon the stoney ground, three steps. Those three steps took what seemed like an eternity, a time all unto themselves. Fear screaming at him to not do it. As the forth step hit the ground he leapt. Jumped. For better or for worse, he'd made his coice, now he just had to live with it.

[Balderdash]

Rushing wind met Ximal as Nyka gave way to endless stone. His eyes were being pushed into his sockets, his clothes flapped, his shirt flying free into the air. For what felt like an eternity, Ximal fell. And suddenly there was a sound like a thunderbolt, and all was darkness and silence. He woke up to the texture of gravel pressing against his skin. Gravel dyed a dark purple by the light in wherever he was. Should Ximal rise, he would see he was in what could be best described as a gigantic stone dome. The supports were arches made of what could be giant rib bones, but they belonged to no animal that existed on Mizahar's surface. They were smooth, stone cold, and ebony in color. They rose dozens of feet into the air, creating a network not unlike that of an egg whisk. Completely surrounding them was crystal that glowed and shimmered in ever changing hues. There did not appear to be any entrances or exits. A grunt alerted Ximal that he was, unfortunately, not alone. At the far edge of the dome, stood a man, but unlike any man Ximal had ever laid eyes on. He towered at nearly seven feet, with arms almost as thick as heads, and thighs as thick as two. He was barrel chested, and his sandy blonde hair was tied back in a braid that fell down the length of his spine. A goatee of the same color shrouded his chin. It was his skin that set him apart the most, however. It was a dirty bronze, with bulging veins that pulsed with a strange violet light. His eyes were the same color, and there was a snarl on his face. The man wore little. A primitive skirt, and gauntlets of what appeared to be stone, though they didn't seem to be connected by any adhesive. He banged his fist against his chest, the resulting thud echoing throughout the dome... And then he strode towards Ximal.

[Ximal]

The wind whistled past Xi's face as he fell, his speed as he plunged deep into the core of the world, breathing what he could and when he could he could feel the exhilaration filling him the sensation fo free falling the delight at being able to feel free from the constraints of the ground. He felt...Free. Surging ever forwards Xi steeled himself for whatever may lay ahead then something caught his attention the rumble before the roar. A blast of thunder rang out around him calling out. The sheer volume foreign to Xi Having never experienced a loudness of this level Xi's body didn't know how to cope and Xi fell from conciousness. Xi awakened in a strange dome, his face feeling the sharp tiny edges of gravel digging into his cheek, and then the sensation returned to the rest of him, just how far had he fallen and where had he ended up ? Looking around without moving for a moment it was clearly nowhere he'd ever been before. Ivak's breath ? Moving his lumbering body up Xi pushed himself up off of the ground slowly, brushing stray flecks of gravel still clinging to his cheek and clothing off. Not sure of what was around, but the surroundings astounded him. The black tendrils of rock shooting up from the earth, interlacing like fingers above him, or at least that was first glance. Examining them closer they looked more like a monolithic ribcage. The curves shallow in some places and harsher in others. This was a magnificent place, the crystal illuminating the room was something utterly foreign to him. But fascinating. Xi stretched out his body to get a feel of the damage the fall had cone, and surprisingly ity had done little from what he could tell. Well other than the headache, he always had one of those. Then the silence broke and Xi's ears snapped his eye's in the direction it came from. Standing at the edge of the dome was, a man taller than Xi was but still smaller than most akalaks Xi'd seen. Though only height wise. Xi could see a muscle build on the man that made his former boss "the Bull" look like an average person, and he himself look positively tiny in comparison. Long blonde hair, braided not unlike Xi's own current mid back length ponytail of midnight black hair. His arms seemed to be coated in stone...or a very dull coloured metal. His skin looked like hammered bronze, just without the shine. Though that wasn't the strangest thing, the strangest thing was the fact that his bdy was seemingly glowing purple, but that came from the pulsating veins over the giant of a man's body. Xi was not in a good spot here. Xi took a half step back ready to turn and run, or dodge if necessary. Then the man mountain began moving towards Xi. But not before slamming his chest hard enough that the sound echoed out throughout the dome. If he could take a punch from a stone coated fist to his own chest...Xi was in deeper shyke than he'd thought. Xi could feel his heart rate speeding up, his muscles beginning to contract, he was tense. Xi looked the approacher in the eye, steeling himself taking deep breaths. Slow, deep, breaths. Xi needed to be absolutely focused. He couldn't feel intimidated, he couldn't feel scared. If he did...he was dead. Xi kept his hands loose and open at his sides. Showing that he meant no ill will. "Where am i ?" Xi spoke out slowly, but just loud enough to be heard not loud enough to ring out like an echo. Xi held himself steady, what could he do besides try to reason with this monster...He felt some what...powerless. The doubt began creeping into his mind as this man mountain drew closer. Xi HAD to relax. The slow deep breaths became slower as the monster of man drew closer. Xi right now looked like he was just standing, but he was always ready to fight, right now, he was just taking his time to prepare himself. Running through his arsenal of techniques. Making sure his energy was up to snuff, if he had to he would use flux. he didn't want to have too but after seeing this man beast. He probably wouldn't have a choice. Although. Seeing as this man beast looked his strongest...perhaps i if he fought would finally get a chance to take his powers off their leash? Release his mental limiters as it were. But how would he do that? as that man monster drew ever closer Xi's movements became ever slower. Trying to focus, trying to meditate, trying... Xi's breaths kept their slow pace and Xi kept his mind steady. He wouldn't strike first. Just in case this monolithic man was infact friendlier than his appearance determined. If not, then Xi had a few tricks up his sleeve to get out of that situation.

[Balderdash]

The man did not react to Ximal's question. Simply continued walking towards him at the same pace, clenching and unclenching his hands. When he was five feet away, his lips pulled back, his teeth parted, and a low, rumbling voice issued its challenge. "Djas vasat!" The behemoth's knee drew up to his waist, his right arm wound back behind his head, and he lunged forward at Ximal, swinging his massive fist in a downward arc at his head like an angry ape.

[Ximal]

The man mountain continued it's slow walk towards him, Xi on the other hand hadn't moved an inch. Battling with all his will to calm himself, and to try and find the key that unlocked his potential without him looseing his temper. Xi sucked down a deep breath his eyes locked upon the man mountain. Xi took a slow tempered breath and then heard the low rumbling voice of the giant. Djas vasat ? What the ? Xi drank down the air with a slow breath before closing the cap between them himself. As Xi drew closer the mountain of flesh drew itself into a fighting stance, raising his knee up to his waist. His arm going behind his head. Crap. I've never seen that stance before. Alright calm down. As Xi drew up closer xi fell into his own visible fighting stance. Left arm up in front of him, right arm down low by his side. Left leg in line with his left arm and right leg behind acting as a brace. Then that risen arm came falling down with a lunge. Xi shifted his weight and side stepped the monstrous punch before ending up on the mountain's now unguarded right side. Xi felt his hands itch and then lash out. Xi slammed his hand into the soft spot of the man-beasts right side, into his liver, or at least where it should have been. Xi flung out two strikes, both the same style off attack with a twisting snap of the wrist to both magnify the force of the impact as well as cut the time it took for the blow to strike. His left fist came around as well to strike the mountain of flesh in the kidney, or at least where it should be. if all the strikes landed Xi would retreat back, a couple of steps, if none of them hit Xi would still retreat back the same distance and then try to come up with another battle plan.

[Balderdash]

Ximal was fortunate for not attempting to block the blow. Gravel leaped up like disturbed water, and a tremor shook the ground as his foe's fist slammed into the dirt. Both of Ximal's blows thudded into the packed muscle of the warrior's side, leaving angry black bruises in his wake. And then the outright depressing happened. They began to heal, shrinking back to nothing in a matter of ticks. However, they didn't shrink at the same time. While the one on his liver took less than five to repair itself, the one on his kidney took seven. Regenerating flesh was not the least of Ximal's worries, though. While he had escaped the first blow, he had also set himself up for another. The man swung the same arm outward whilst straightening up and turning his waist, aiming to crack Ximal across the chin.

[Ximal]

Alright The word rang out through xi's skull s the punches collided only untill the hammer was put down. The resulting quake of stone beneath his feet almost sent him sprawling on the ground. Just how much power did this man beast have !? Xi took his steps back and admired hsi handiwork though leering at he two blows he'd landed and the angry black marks that had been delivered. Only until they started to recede. At that moment xi felt two things happen; firstly his focus snapped like a twig beneath a dire bull oxiodalipux. And secondly, his heart rate normally low and slow sped up to the point Xi thought it was going to spring from his chest. Ok...Stock check on this behemoth. Regeneration? Check. Inhuman way beyond flux level strength? Check. Height? Check. Speed? Check. Intelligence ? Check. No visible weakness? Double petching check. Xi had retreated a distance but saw the man mountain moving and bringing his arm around and across to try and strike Xi in the jaw. Alright ya jackass, let's see just how fast you can regenerate from this ya bastard! Xi leant back and ducked underneath the swinging hand and brought his own left hand out with a snapping thud to attempt to punch the beast in teh chest, right over it's heart. If that didn't work, then Xi was in serious trouble. Afte rthe punch attempt Xi darted backwards out of it's attack range, difficult as it was it was necessary in-case the beast caught hold of him and squeezes his innards out his mouth. At that point a couple of steps away from him Xi took a deep breath and started weighing up his options, if that blow did nothing then Xi would have to just continually dodge or at least try to untill he found a way to hurt this beast. if not...He was a goner.