Avanthal Reaches Out (Closed)

[Balthazaar Kraigen]

Although he hadn’t been prepared for Sliver to catch his attack, he reacted quickly. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, he brought his left hand to the side and proceeded to backhand her across the face. The blow didn’t cause any significant damage to the Kelvic, but it caught enough off guard that she released his foot. With his new found freedom, he hopped backwards and then gingerly applied pressure onto his left foot, testing the pain. A column of ache shot up his leg, but it wasn’t enough to make him buckle to the ground, so he held his ground and embraced the sensation. “Oh…would you like a round applause for predicting an obvious attack?” He said tauntingly, a sinister smirk crossing his face as he did so. He followed this up with some mocking clapping and then an audible spit in her direction. He decided to hold his action and wait for Sliver’s next assault; he didn’t want to make any sudden moments with his leg still throbbing in pain. “Well now, are you just going to stand there like an idiot? Or are you too scared to fight me anymore?” He said with another mocking tone, whilst prepping himself for her retaliation.

[Sliver]

Since he wasn't pressing what may or may not have been an advantage, Sliver wiped the bloody saliva from her eyes and sized him up. She caught the wince of pain, glad to have left her mark. And now he was goading her. She blinked once, amused. It seemed they were immune to each other's ploys. Ah well, you could only be so creative when your only inspiration was tarred wood and the sound of water slapping the hull. The Kelvic turned her gaze upward to see several individuals peering down the stairs from above. She smirked. They had been making quite a bit of noise, and she was sure a lot of people wanted to see her get put in her place. Well it wouldn't happen today. She took two steps back then charged forward, delivering a slide tackle aimed for his injured leg.

[Balthazaar Kraigen]

As Balthazaar watched her movements, he knew that there would only be one place she would aim for an attack. It was quite clear that his leg was causing him trouble and would be the easiest weak point to exploit. However, in this understanding came power and with this power came the chance for a counter attack. As the young Kelvic rushed towards him, her leg extended outward, the young botanist tightened the muscle in his left leg and as her foot came within inches of its target, Balthazaar was able to dodge to the right just enough to avoid the attack. Then moving as quickly as he could, he pushed through the pain and leapt into the air towards Sliver while bending his right elbow and as he came crashing to the ground towards her body, he brought the elbow down with the momentum of his falling body in an attempt to slam it into her stomach.

[Sliver]

She should have seen it coming, for it was exactly the technique she had used on him, anticipating the attack for the weak spot. The Kelvic growled. A blow that vicious to her stomach was going to be a problem with its proximity to her ribs. She had not calculated for the intense swiftness of his retaliation, however, and was only able to shift just enough so that the blow struck somewhere near her pelvis, jarring, but not too damaging. The toll of the fight was beginning to fray on her body. Sliver's breathing was rough and ragged, even more so because of the pressure her lungs made when pressing against her ribs. She had to end it, and soon, lest her opponents better physical prowess win him the battle where skill could not. The Wolverine focused, assessing the man. She was stronger than him, perhaps not quicker, but nearly and she had to use what little advantages she had to overpower him. The position he had on top of her, she realized, put him in an unexpectedly vulnerable position, and Sliver smiled. Both hands flipped backward to give her leverage, partially lifting both figures off of the ground. Using this slight upward momentum she sent her knee slamming into his groin, pushing herself forward in order to shove him bodily off of her and rise, eyes keen on his reaction.

[Balthazaar Kraigen]

A blue sky, a shimmering lake, the smell of fresh herbs, the thrill of a fresh kill; These were all the things that went through the young botanist’s mind as Sliver’s knee connected with his groin and sent a surge of unbearable pain rushing through his body. “Not…okay…” He grunted almost incoherently as he rolled off of Sliver and curled up into a ball, rubbing the area of discomfort gingerly. All at once the urge for violence had seeped through his body and he was left with nothing but fatigue and soreness. Once again he had regressed to his formal self, the quiet, timid and friendly botanist that didn’t want anything to do with conflict, let alone fighting. “I concede…” He groaned while lifting himself to a ground, wincing as he applied pressure to his left leg.

[Sliver]

Sliver whooped with laughter as many of the viewers booed and 'awwed' in disappointment. The wolverine gave them a rude gesture that sent them off, heaving and panting until her breathing returned to a more normal state. "I swear, next time I'll fight fair." Her tone was jocular, and warm, and if Balthazaar was paying attention through his haze of pain, a certain level of affection and apology was carried with the words. She gave him a few minutes to recover, then rose a bit shakily to her feet. She lifted him up bodily, whether he gave her physical aid or no, and slung one of his arms over her shoulder, ruffling his hair, and making sure to take the brunt of his weight so that his foot need not take anymore strain. They proceeded up the stairs slowly, at a crawling pace where a companionable silence filled the space between them. About the space when they reached the top, Sliver grunting from the effort, she spoke in a musing fashion, quietly, but with purpose. "You should learn to use him more often, the other part of you. The snake inside you is just the same as the human inside me, they are no different from what we are." She had finally realized what Balthazaar was, and was a bit infuriated at herself for not realizing sooner. His skin, the way it was almost iridescent in some places, she had always taken it as a trick of the light, but in such close proximity, it was hard to ignore the scales, and his attitude, his profession. She had met full blooded Dhani before, he was most certainly not that, but there was snake in him. Now that she knew what it was she could smell it radiating from his flesh, hidden just under her nose before. She half carried, half guided the botanist back to her room and sat him down on her cot, relieving the pressure off of his foot. She knew nothing about how to treat his leg, but it didn't seem anything more than a sprain, hopefully it would feel better in no time at all. It was then that both companions' gazes drifted to the small opening in their rooms. What had been blanketed by varying shades of grays and sheets of rain was now a bright and shiny hue of patterns that revealed the rising sun. Sliver whispered a quiet thanks to Morwen and smiled. That hadn't been so bad now, had it? XReady when you are Valk!

[Valkyrie]

Summer 14

Syna rose quickly into the sky and bathed the ship in light. While the sun’s glory was revitalizing and beautiful to the passengers it also revealed how disgusting their quarters had become. Filth splattered the floors and walls with only the cold to keep mold from growing. Thankfully the passengers would not have to stare at it for long. As soon as Syna had fully exposed herself to the view of the ships the woman manning the door up to the deck opened it to allow Syon room to enter. Those who saw him pass through the doorway noted the revulsion on his face when the smell of the cabins assaulted him. He turned and hurriedly whispered into a sailors ear before turning back to the growing crowd of somewhat resentful passengers.

“Hello there! The storm finally passed and it is looking like blue skies in every direction. So, we decided to open the deck up to the public and let everyone get some fresh air. While you are all up there enjoying the sun a few sailors will come down and scrub out the cabins. Anyone willing to help will be appreciated and awarded double rations for lunch and dinner. Passengers will be have access to the deck until weather suggests otherwise.” Syon said and moved aside with a gesture of his hands to encourage everyone to go up on deck.

Few needed further encouragement and much pushing ensued as everyone fought to get a breath of fresh, crisp ocean air. A handful of passengers stayed below for a few bells to help the sailors clean up the cabin and hold levels with freshly drawn barrels of tangy seawater and ancient mops. After the stress of the previous days it was hard to resist the lure of a bigger meal.

The deck was full of passengers yet still quiet. Many wanted to just soak up the moment, feeling as though they had not seen in the sun in several seasons rather than several days. Even the near constant snowing of Avanthal was easier to deal with then the terrible confinement of the previous days. The day passed quickly, certainly quicker than most desired. It passed quietly as everyone was content to merely bask in the brilliance of the sun despite the still chilly atmosphere.

Chilly as it was, it was not as cold as the seas around Avanthal had made the air when they left. Some excited conversation passed around concerning this fact and conjectures were made about how far south they were. The coast that they had been following was definitely different from the coast around Avanthal. There were lots of trees, mostly evergreen but a few other varieties, and the land was hilly was in some places unlike the sterile flatness of the Northern Wastes.
OOCEnjoy stretching your legs for a bit and soak up some sun

[Sliver]

Sliver remained below decks, aiding in clean up. Though every instinct in her body told her to sprint above decks and drink in the cool sea air, she decided that cleaning up after the filth of the last few days was the least she could do after terrorizing most of the passengers at least once if not several times. It was a grueling job, and Sliver got to know the contents of certain individuals bowels better than she may ever know the person, but she kept reminding herself about the extra food and pressed on. Eventually they were done, the recruits wiped themselves off with briny sea water and the Kelvic took very slow steps up onto the deck, having avoided the initial rush for freedom. Syna smiled down upon her, the gentle lapping of waves brushing comfortingly against the side of the ship as if apologizing for the rough weather. The Kelvic stepped out and found an empty spot of railing, gazing contended into the dark waves. She sat on the deck, stretching cramped and sore muscles from days of being cooped up, massaging the flesh and letting her body revitalize as others milled about the decks, their tones so much lighter than before. Sliver was glad this part of the journey was over, but she also doubted that it would be the last trial they would undergo, so she enjoyed the break and drank in the rays of sunlight.

[Balthazaar Kraigen]

Balthazaar also stayed behind to help with the clean up. There was something therapeutic about cleaning that he had never quite understood and at this point in time he needed all the therapy that he could get. The confinement that he had experienced in the last several days was something that he never wanted to go through again, no matter what the consequences were. Physical harm was far less threatening than the mental fatigue generated from constant solitary imprisonment, at least in his opinion. When the cleaning was finished and Balthazaar was thoroughly exhausted, he gingerly made his way towards the deck. He was still very much in pain from the numerous injuries that he sustained during his brawl with Sliver, but he tried not to show it, especially not in front of her. Although the fight had been a somewhat bonding experience for the two, he didn’t like giving her the satisfaction of knowing that she had gotten the better of him. As he finally took his first steps out of the darkness and into the light, he felt his mood shift almost instantaneously. Syna’s warm rays invigorated the young botanist and within seconds he was one his knees, arms extended out towards the sky, as if he was trying to capture each and every bit of golden joy that he could. In that moment he forgot about his worries, his pain and the quest they were on, all that mattered to him was the sweet bliss of her embrace.

[Valkyrie]

Sliver

A young woman emerged from the darkness of the stairs as Sliver sat massaging her muscles. The woman was slender and her face seemed taut with stress. She stepped forward and leaned down to kneel on the deck near Sliver. The woman had also been chosen to stay below to clean, her slender wrists indicating that she could certainly use the extra rations. The sun eased the tightness from her face and she smiled; long, red hair tangled around her shoulders seemed to glisten in the sunlight. She looked over at Sliver, her eyes seemed gentle with content.

“The joy it is to see the sun again was almost worth all that horrid time down in the dark during the storms. I often wonder if the sun is as beautiful for people who get to bask in it every day. They don’t have the despair of darkness to compare it to.” She said with a sigh and turned her face back up to soak in more of Syna’s rays.

Balthazaar

A middle-aged man stood at the railing of the ship, his wind burned skin and rough clothing seemed to indicate that he was one of the sailors. The man leaned against the thick wood of the rail and watched the passengers enjoy the air. His gaze traveled around and came to rest on Balthazaar. He stepped forward and approached the blonde man. His heavy boots slid across the deck with loud squeaks, the sound quickly alerting Balthazaar to his presence.

“Like the sun, do ya? Think ya had it bad down there, did ya? Well it wasn’t no walk through the snow for us neither.” The sailor said and stared intently at Balthazaar. The sailor’s eyes dared Balthazaar to counter his claims. A few of the sailors and passengers around the two quieted to a low murmur as everyone felt the sudden tension that had sprung up. A few glanced nervously from Balthazaar to the sailor and back, unsure if the older man had a point to make to the blonde or if he was only up to trouble.