[The Northern Pass] Entering Falyndar (Siiri, Revy)

[Revy Hiroe]

The moment Garou had gotten the coils loose enough, Revy sucked her lungs full of air again. Coughing, and still heavily breathing, she got pulled up on her feet as the python slithered away. She gritted her teeth tight as she felt the bones scraping across eachother. The pain didn't abade and only got worse as Garou moved it to clean the wound, caused by the snake. "I'm ok. But I want petching revenge on that piece of shyke.", she said with a pained voice. It felt as if her arm was set on fire. It especially hurt since the myrian moved it rather.. unpleasantly, to say it gently. "What the hell was....", she started, but stopped as she heard the shriek of the other myrian. Seeing her drop from the branches, the mercenary didn't hesitate and grabbed her sword with her left hand. She held it only a little different from when she held it in her right. It had been a while since she last used her left hand to wield a sword, but she didn't forget how to do it properly. She saw the dhani emerge and already got a bit pissed. "Dhani! Son of a.... Time to have some fun.", she thought upon seeing it. Upon seeing the pattern of it's scales, Revy's flame of anger got fueled as if one were to poor oil on it. "I'm going to kill that piece of shyke. One way or another.", she whispered back, her voice emanating her anger. Her face did carry a smile, but it wasn't your average smile, but one crooked from anger and craziness.

[Siiri]

Revy:

"Piss, ye sound like the boss lady," Garou snorted at Revy, shaking his head as he did so. Warriors like this human and his own commanding officer Siiri never stopped to consider the enemy's strength, going straight at it and matching it blow for blow even if doing so left them with some pretty nasty injuries. It was so much easier to take a target out when they least expected it, striking from its blind side and hitting it where it hurts the most. Such had always been Garou's tactics.

"Go kill it if that's what ye be wantin'. I'll flank."

And with that, the Myrian scout began to edge towards the left side of the Dhani, his stance low to be able to scramble back quickly in case the reptilian monstrosity decided to go after him. His daggers were held out and wide, ever ready to strike when the opportunity presented itself. Despite the determined look on his face, should Revy glance his way, she would note the telltale signs of apprehension on the grizzled Myrian's features. He knew more than she did that they were outmatched by the much stronger snake creature before them. Going head to head against a Dhani had always been a dangerous strategy, even if it was as young as this one. Using arrows or keeping the things at bay using the longer reach of polearm weapons had been the recommended strategy of the trainers back in Taloba, never failing to remind those going out on patrol to do such if they found themselves face to face with one of Siku's children.

The Dhani kept its eyes on the Myrian, perhaps considering him to be the more dangerous of the two. It had already broken the human's arm with little effort after all, and despite the long sword in Revy's uninjured hand, it felt that it could take out her out with minimal effort. It knew that Myrians were the most dangerous creature it could encounter out in the jungle, as taught by its elders back in Zinrah.

"Run now, human," it advised Revy in a low hiss. "Leave thessse two meatbagsss for me to eat, and I will ssspare you."

Revy would see Garou hesitate in his step at the Dhani's words, perhaps realizing that the she was not obligated to stick around and kill this beast like he was. He resumed circling the Dhani after that brief moment however, as if he did not care if Revy chose to follow its suggestion.

The Dhani slithered closer to the Myrian, its muscular tail propelling it forward with great speed. Revy could see the power beneath its sculpted frame and thick arms. The creature opened and closed its scaled hands in anticipation of tearing Garou apart, though it still glanced at Revy from time to time. Its tongue flicked out of its wide mouth at regular intervals, tasting the air and the pheromones released by both human and Myrian. It was said that a serpent could taste fear the same way predatory cats and hunting dog could smell it.

A few more seconds however, and Garou would have positioned himself directly opposite Revy, forcing the Dhani to choose where it should focus its attention, to him and his twin daggers or to Revy and her larger and heavier longsword. It did not give the Myrian the chance to complete his circuit and put it in such a vulnerable position, however. The Dhani lunged at Garou, muscled arms outstretched to try and grapple the man to the ground and overwhelm him with its superior strength. The move still left its back exposed to Revy.

OOC Note :

Revy:
Should you decide to attack, please only write the attempt and I will reply with the result of your move. Thanks.

[Revy Hiroe]

The mercenary's eyes had gone icecold as her stare kept locked onto the Dhani. Her hatred for it not showing on any of her bodyfeatures. If there was one thing she remembered from her previous battle with a Dhani, it was that showing it your hatred could have deadly consequences. She didn't react to Garou's words at all, she just kept staring at the enemy before her. Hearing the words of the dhani made Revy cackle crazily. Let her live? Only something that would live could say that. She had already decided that it was dead and as one knows, the dead don't speak. "He just hasn't realized that he's dead yet. Well, let's wake him up shall we?", she thought to herself as she slowly build up tension in her legs to get an explosive charge. But she wasn't stupid, she knew that the Dhani was much stronger then herself. So she used what Garou had planned. Flank him from his blind spot. And there was the moment she had been waiting for. As the Dhani lunged forward, Revy used the built up tension in her legs to propel herself forward. Her rush calculated and well-timed. She raised the sword over her right shoulder, aimed to strike at the unprotected back of the Dhani, attempting to slice him open from his right shoulder down to his left hip. "I'll make sure he'll regret having broken my arm. And I'll make sure that those myrians take back their words about me being weak.", she thought. Revy had no fear, only bloodlust dominated her mind right now, the blood of the Dhani was what she wanted to see, smell and taste.

[Carsten]

Carsten did not answer her first comment, but merely watched her behind guarded eyes. As he spoke, he noticed that her eyes crept to her wrist where a letter was tattooed. He did not understand it, if it indeed was a letter, he suspected it was from a language he did not know.

Carsten paused to think about her comparison to Caiyha. It was true that nature needed a balance, but nature was by its very definition chaotic. “Yes, in a way. But they are not the same; Caiyha will try to protect the nature from those that try to bring order to it, for it is so very chaotic. The animals do not act logically, they will defend their areas and family, often by killing intruders, or die trying. They act on instincts, they do not think things through first,” he said, and after a short pause he added. “Alas, this is a fault that plagues humans as well. If you want to compare Gnora to one of your gods, think of Dira and Rak’keli. There can be no death without life, but death is a necessity for life to go on and evolve. I do not know if you have heard of Lhex, the God of Fate. He acts as the weights on their scale, it is he who decides where we go after we die, what we become and when we die again. A truly mysterious god...” The last part was said low, as if it was more a mutter to himself. He had always been curious of Lhex, but he did not have any cults or followers, and most of what he had read of him seemed to be made from imagination, and not based at facts. It is a shame I will not meet him until I die, he thought.

He noticed her Common was not perfect, but it was good. He wondered how many visited Falyndar for her to speak Common so well, is it a gift from Myri, perhaps? He wondered, while he talked. When he saw her frown, Carsten understood that something he had said irked her. He suspected it was why he was in Falyndar, but for all he knew it could be that she just did not like his story in general. He had a feeling that she thought little of him.

“I believe you know why I could not stay home and learn of you from books,” he replied to her when he was done talking. “There are few written accounts of Falyndar, and very few have ever been here. The Falyndar Jungle is a mystery to the learned in the world, and so the only way I could learn of this place, is to be here myself.”

[Siiri]

Revy:

Her move would have been bitten deep into the Dhani's back, likely severing its spine and rendering it immobile and vulnerable to further attacks. It would have been effective, had the Dhani not expected such an obvious and rudimentary tactic. The reptilian monstrosity halted its charge at the Myrian and, with a twist and turn, swatted its thick muscular tail against Revy's injured arm. Coming the same direction where the human mercenary initiated her slash, the Dhani fully avoided being cut by her blade. But its retaliatory strike was powerful, the force of the impact strong enough to throw the human mercenary off to the side, and the jarring movement likely shooting excruciating pain up her shattered limb.

Even as the Dhani delivered this, it was still quick enough to turn to Garou, who did not jump in to attack the same time Revy did. Instead, he took that opportunity to pull out a strange contraption - a long wooden instrument tied to a bit of rope. This he swung in a circular motion, and the object emitted a loud, roaring sound, similar to that made by tigers. The roar blasted through the jungle, startling animals in its wake, and even giving the Dhani pause. It did not give Garou another chance to swing it, however, as it sprang forward, propelled by its powerful tail. A large scaled hand closed around the Myrian's neck, while another closed into a fist and began pummeling his scarred face.

Garou did his best to ward off the blows with his hands, even using his daggers to stab at the Dhani, but to little effect. It was too strong for a single Myrian to overcome, and his small blades did minimal damage against its thick hide. If Revy did not act soon, she may be facing the Dhani by herself in short order.

==/==

Carsten:

Siiri listened as the human explained himself further. From his words, she understood that his deity, the one called Gnora, was a separate entity from Caiyha, and the balance he spoke of was different from what she had voiced out earlier. Gnora, apparently, governed over the actions of Carsten's kind.

A human god, Siiri thought sourly.

Carsten's comparison of his deity with Dira and Rak'keli had Siiri frowning again. Dira was worshiped among her people, for it was to her they sent their victims to. But Rak'keli? The warrioress remembered a vague conversation she had with another deyhan, a Konti, one whom she had pressed information from regarding the goddess of healing. She did not like that particular goddess, who forced her favored into servitude of her by requiring them to heal everyone that needed healing - even foes! Surely this deity did not facilitate balance in the circle of life.

"Perhaps you mean Kihala," she corrected the human. "Few among my people, if any, would choose to follow the path of the slaver that is Rak'keli." She said the last part in scorn, for truly that was how she felt about that goddess, even if she blessed the world and its people with the gift of healing.

The human introduced another deity in the conversation, the one called Lhex. Siiri thought the name sounded familiar, though she could not place where she had heard it before. From the lips of one of the many trespassers she had killed before, uttered in a curse towards her in their dying breath? Or in that desert land...Yahebah? Hai, perhaps? She knew she should have paid better attention to the lessons regarding Mizahar's divine pantheon when she was younger...

But it did not matter, for she thought that Carsten was speaking of things both strange and alien to her. He was a learned man, it was obvious, but some of the things he said truly did not make any sense to Siiri.

"We do not go to this Lhex, whoever he is, upon our passing," she retorted, a little too vehemently, for it seemed to her that Carsten was making things up about the nature of the afterlife. "Dira may direct our souls on where to go, but it is Myri who keeps us when we die. This 'weights on a scale' do not make sense; we remain Myrians, and you and your kind, humans!"

She calmed down a bit, realizing her reaction was a little over the top. Dropping the theological discussion, Siiri focused on the man's reason for coming to Falyndar. He persisted in maintaining that his reason for daring the jungle was to learn about the place, its people and the goddess that claimed the place as hers. His claimed of being a scholar of sorts must be true then, and though his kind were not really welcomed into the land, Siiri herself had heard of more than of similar objective in entering Falyndar being escorted around by one of her people. Perhaps Garou's words were true then, that this man before her had been called by the Goddess-Queen, though for a different reason from how their other human 'guest', Revy, was called.

"You would face the dangers of our jungles for this knowledge?" Siiri asked, genuinely curious as to the man's answer. "You dare much, for this place is much different that your human lands. I do not know whether you are brave or foolish. Perhaps foolish. Other Myrians would have shot you first and picked clues about your origin from your items and your corpse." She paused, suddenly confused as to why she had revealed that bit of information.

"I'm not really sure why I spare you now..."

She would have continued but a great roar erupted from the distance, interrupting her flow of speech. Carsten would see the sudden alarm in Siiri expression just then.

[Revy Hiroe]

Revy hadn't expected the reptilian to react so quick and got taken by surprise completely. As the tail painfully connected with her arm, she tried to withstand the blow, but the sheer strength that went with it sent her flying. A scream of agony went out of her mouth as her bones grated along eachother, the pain unimaginable. But as she was sent flying and hit a tree, her body stopped hurting. Her brain had started producing mass amounts of adrenalin, suppressing the pain all together. "What the...... it stopped hurting... Better for me, let's take this piece of shyke down.", she thought a little surprised and happy at the same time. She stood back up at the base of the tree as she saw Garou getting pummeled. "Bad move, piece of shyke.", she cursed at the Dhani, just before starting to run again. But this time she'd use a feint, stop just before the Dhani could reach her with his tail and then as it swung around, diving under it thrusting her sword up aimed at the underside of the tail.

[Carsten]

OOCOh wow… I can’t believe that I actually mixed Kihala and Rak’keli… Oh well, I’ll try to save it, please forgive me for this mistake.

”You are correct, I did mean Kihala. But Rak’keli serves a purpose in the world as well, to call her a slaver would be cruel. He said to her, wondering how closely Dira and Myri were allied, for Siiri did seem to have respect for the Goddess of Death. He suspected it might be a personal worship as well, many warriors or other people who saw death all the time worshipped her. He had done so himself, on occasion. ”Without her, who would combat Vayt and his diseases? When you look at this world, you will see a connection, a very delicate balance. But there are faults, many things are unbalanced. It is… a difficult and complicated thing.” he continued.

When he mentioned Lhex, and heard her reaction, surprise crept across his face. For a moment he looked shocked, before recomposing himself. He had completely ignored the tone of Siiri, he had barely noticed it. The souls of the Myrians did not go to Lhex, but to Myri herself? Was this a deal between Lhex and Myri, or Dira? The alliance he had thought of earlier, between Dira and Myri, suddenly seemed so much more plausible. Death and war did go hand in hand, after all, but he had not been aware that she had the power to do this. ”I… I did not know this. It is interesting, very interesting.” Though his voice was as cold and emotionless as normal, it was clear he was too focused on figuring out this new information to form a proper reply, and so he merely moved on to explaining why he was in Falyndar.

”I am neither brave nor foolish, for are they not similar? Are not both people who act without thinking? I will tell you this: I never act without thinking. I was, and I still am, aware of the risks of this Jungle, but it is a risk I am prepared to take.” When he was about to say why he should be spared, that he was no risk to the Myrians or Taloba, he heard the same roaring sound that Siiri clearly had heard. It sounded like a large animal, a tiger perhaps? Were they being attacked by a tiger? No, she looked more alarmed. ”What is going on?” he asked, wanting to draw his rapier, but he waited. It might be seen as a sign of aggression.

[Siiri]

Revy:

The Dhani paid no more heed to Revy as soon as it got its hands on Garou, confident in its belief that the human must be down and out from the damage it had inflicted on her - a foolish notion, for the human mercenary was made of sterner stuff than the Dhani believed. Perhaps it was a sign of its inexperience, but the Dhani too engrossed in rearranging the smaller Myrian's face that it did not notice the human creeping up on it. Revy's feint was unnecessary, for her blade straight and flew true, burying itself unimpeded a good foot or so into the Dhani's thick tail.

The reptilian monstrosity stiffened as soon as it got hit, it's back arching from the pain. Revy should have backed off at that point, for it was the only chance she would get as seconds later, the Dhani began to thrash about, its muscular limbs lashing out here and there in search of something to hit, and its tail whipping about as it tried in vain to make the pain go away. Whether Revy did pull away or not, the Dhani ended up hurling Garou at her, the Myrian's arms windmilling as he sought out something solid to grab on to to halt his flight. If Revy's weapon had not been yanked from her grasp by the Dhani's wild flailing, then she had best be careful to point the blade down or risk impaling the suddenly flying Myrian.

The Dhani would continue to thrash about for a few seconds more, and it would be dangerous for anyone to approach it then, with its fists flying and muscular tail flaying about, but if both Garou and Revy could recover then, it was their chance to carry out a concentrated attack.


Carsten:

"Trouble," was Siiri's only reply to Carsten's question. She glanced at him, briefly wondering if he was somehow connected to whatever problems her men had encountered, but she quickly dismissed the thought. The man did not look like he knew his way around the jungle enough to set up anything that would place her people in jeopardy. Still, the roar they had just heard signaled of danger, and it was one seldom used by Myrians if they knew they could take care of whatever threat they faced. Whoever signaled with the roarer just then must be facing overwhelming odds to call for help from any Myrian within earshot.

Slayer found itself in Siiri's hands, the quickness of how she drew the blade indicating the need for swift action. She signaled a complicated gesture to Onna, who was still in the trees, before turning to face Carsten.

"Mount your horse and follow if you do not want to remain here. And if you know how to use that pigsticker of yours, then draw it. We may have a fight and I will not waste the eyes of one of my people to watch over you if there is," Siiri snapped. Her tone was firm and authoritative, as if she was used to having her words obeyed. She did not wait to see if Carsten complied or not, for her eyes were already roaming the trees, looking for Onna, whom she had motioned just then to determine the direction they were to take to reach the source of the roar. There was a rustle of movement towards the west and Siiri was quick to head that way.

Still, she paused long enough enough in her rapid strides to check if the human would follow her or take that chance to gallop away from Falyndar and its dangers.

[Revy Hiroe]

Revy twisted her blade the moment it had buried itself into the flesh, a mistake on her part as that caused her to lose the only seconds she had to get out of there. Right now, the only thing on her mind was inflicting enough damage on the Dhani to mortally wound it. As soon as the reptile started to thrash about, Revy lost grip on her sword and subsequently got hit by the tail at her right arm again. The force was enough to lift herself up, only to get hit by the flying Garou seconds later. The both of them flew a couple feet further away from the Dhani, Revy hitting the ground first with Garou hitting it behind her. Because of the adrenalin, this also didn't hurt one bit. But if the woman wasn't careful, she'd be going unconscious any minute now from the built up pain. You see, a body can accumulate pain at one point. The person wouldn't feel any pain anymore, but if enough of it is accumulated, the brain forces the person to go unconscious to protect itself. Revy stood back up, now weaponless, but still fueled by anger. Perhaps in the eyes of others, it would seem as if she was just a lunatic, standing up even with the bruises covering her body. This human didn't know when to stop and was just putting herself in harms way. "Come on you piece of shyke. Who should run away? I'm going to petching kill you and there's nothing you can do about that.", she taunted the Dhani.

[Carsten]

Carsten looked sideways at Siiri, while trying to listen closer to everything around him. Then she drew her greatsword, with such speed that Carsten had barely seen it leave her scabbard. He was quite impressed with her, but the gesture’s meaning was not lost on him. He understood that they were in trouble indeed, and quick thinking was required. Siiri then made another gesture, some kind of sign language no doubt. She turned towards him, and spoke a few quick words before heading off into the jungle.

”Pigsticker? he thought, almost amused, as he drew his rapier, the blade alone was almost one meter long, and in his opinion far more elegant than Siiri’s greatsword, but he made no comment. He had often experienced how the rapier was underestimated by those who thought of it as nothing but a weapon to show off. He had often proved them wrong, sometimes it had even been fatal. Few weapons had a thrust that was as dangerous as the rapier, but many thought it was a thrusting weapon only, they were wrong. While the rapier was primarily a thrusting weapon, it was sharp and could easily draw blood with a cut as well.

He quickly mounted, rapier in hand, and urged his horse to follow Siiri, keeping his eyes on her, only sometimes looking upwards to see if he could see the scout that was no doubt there. Perhaps he or she had gone ahead to locate the area they were headed to? They did not travel far, but he noticed that Siiri made it possible for him to follow. He knew she could have disappeared into the jungle, but it did not seem like she wanted to lose him. Carsten was not certain if that was a good or a bad thing, but for now it meant his survival, so he thought of it as good.

As they travelled through the jungle, Carsten could hear the shouting and screaming, a battle was clearly going on. He stopped his horse for a moment to listen in more closely, but when he looked up, he could not see Siiri anywhere. For nothing but a few seconds he looked about, before continuing towards the sounds, very soon seeing the battle. A scaled and tailed human was fighting the other human and the Myrian he had exchanged words with. A… Dhani? He had never seen one, only read of them. Siku’s children, a minor race, it was suspected that there was less than a thousand individuals left of them. They were dangerous, he knew that, but he had do something. He could remain on his horse and wait for Siiri and the other Myrian, he could charge in to save the day and possibly die. Or he could do as he did, gliding off his horse effortlessly, and slowly advancing on the creature. His rapier was held in his right hand in a position that made it easy to parry an incoming attack, in case the writhing Dhani would suddenly throw itself at him. He barely noticed Revy as he tried to get close enough to attempt a fleche, the longest extention of his body to stab the Dhani and be able to retreat before a riposte.