Mad Happenings in the Unforgiving (Solo)

[Sira]

Mad Happenings in the Unforgiving Timestamp: 41st of Summer, 512 AV OOC: Thread approved by Phoenix OOC2: Oh, and this is a Treasure Nest thread Sira walked quietly along the forest floor, taking care with each step to produce as little sound as possible. She was no master of silence, especially when it came to moving on the ground, and was only barely a novice, but Sira wanted to hone her hunting skills beyond that which could be done from the air. Each time she stepped on a twig she cringed, knowing that any animals nearby would be able to hear her, but each time she would recover. Slowly Sira lifted her foot from the ground, easing it forward carefully, and placing it down as softly as possible. First to touch would be the ball of her foot as she gently eased the weight of her body forward, only sinking all the way onto her foot when she was certain it would not make a sound. Then she would move forward again. It was incredibly slow, but she knew from experience that to become good at something you had to start off slow. That was how it had been with the bow, and the sword. Even when learning to fly, a bird had to be careful and not over do it. Sira had her bow in hand, an arrow drawn and loosely nocked to the string, though she had not yet sighted anything worth shooting at. Her keen eyes picked out many birds, and every so often she would see a rabbit scamper away, but all of them were alerted to her presence and it would be a waste to fire on them. Sira was waiting for something larger, or at least something that didn't run away from her as soon as she spotted it. A deer would be nice, though she doubted she'd get that lucky. Not on a simple one day hunt anyway.. half a day, really, because she wasn't planning on staying out for very long. Sira was just placing another cautious foot onto the ground when she heard a man's scream, sending a chill up her spine and causing her to stumble both at the same time. Whatever silence she had hoped to achieve was forgotten as the scream sounded again, and Sira quickly forgot all about stealth and began to run in the direction of the noise. As she got closer she began to hear other sounds, grunting, like that of a large animal. The closer she got, the louder the sounds became, until suddenly all went silent. Sira ran into the clearing, her bow drawn taught and ready to fire. What she saw almost made her lose her grip on her bow. A man was dead on the ground and next to him.. a massive two-headed bear. OOCUsing the event from the calendar: 41st- Avora is found dead next to a two headed bear by an Endal in the Unforgiving.

[Sira]

Sira's eyes scanned over the scene, always returning to the strange bear. The man had red hair, which meant he was probably from Wind Reach.. but the bear, it had two heads. Two petching heads! Sira recalled the strange things that had happened to her and Tiaue'a during the djed storm, but they had returned to normal. The same thing must have happened to this bear, only it was never reversed. Did Caihya miss it? Had it offended her somehow, or were there many strange new creatures out in the wilderness now? Knowing she had a duty to do as an Endal, Sira approached the body of the man first. He had obviously been killed by the bear, his wounds were apparent all over him. Sira didn't recognize his face and figured he probably wasn't an endal, though she couldn't be certain. She investigated the bear next and once she overcame the shock of seeing the two heads, she became confused. The man did not have any weapons on him, or if he had, they were nowhere to be found. But the bear had been killed by arrows, or at least some sort of puncturing weapon, to the throat. Yet there were no arrows to be found either, just the man and the bear. So who killed the bear? If the dead man had done it, who took his weapons? Where were the arrows that should have been in the bear's throat? And if somebody else killed the bear, why hadn't they helped the man? Sira was stumped, but she knew what had to be done. Calling on the innate ability that all wind eagles possessed, even wind eagle kelvics, Sira sought out the mind of the nearest of her kind. Luckily there was one nearby, along with a rider. Aero, Sira called to the wind eagle, recognizing him as soon as she touched his mind. ...Sira? Yeah, it's me. Hey.. I need you here. Is Sakko with you? Yeah, we're both here. What's up? I found a body.. well, two actually. The first, he's an Inarta. Don't know his name and the second... well.. you aren't going to believe this. Sira flashed an image of the strange two-headed bear into Aero's mind. What the petch was that!? I don't know, but it killed him. Just get down here, okay? Alright, we're on our way.

[Sira]

Sira waited for Aero and Sakko to land, keeping her bow ready just in case her suspicions were correct and whatever had killed the bear was still around. Finally the eagle landed and the rider hopped off, taking in a sharp breath at the sight before him. "What in Caihya's name.. that can't be natural!" "It was affected by the storm, I think." Just another thing to add to our lists of stuff we fucked up, Sira thought to herself as she watch Sakko examine the bear and the man. "I think I recognize this guy. He's an avora, one of the hunters. I think he rode with me once. Pretty good shot, if I remember right.. though I don't know if he could have done this alone." "He didn't.. well, I don't think he did. His weapons are all gone, which means somebody took them. I don't know where they are, though. "Hmm.. what do you think we should do," Sakko asked. Sira took a moment to think. She usually worked better alone in situations like these. Unlike other Endal, she didn't need her eagle to fly away if things got dangerous. She would be better off searching on her own, at least for the time being. "Take him back to the city, he might have family. I'm going to stick around here for a while. Don't worry, I'll be fine.. just let the Valintar know what we found. I'll bring back the bear when I leave." "You sure?" "Yeah, I'm sure. Don't worry, I've dealt with worse than two headed bears. I'm sure I can handle whoever killed this thing. Good luck, Aero added after Sira helped load the body onto the saddle and they flew away. Heh.. hopefully I won't need it.

[Sira]

Sira watched as Aero and Sakko both flew away, along with the dead avora. She waited until they were out of sight before returning her attentions to the dead bear.. two-head bear.. thing. It had certainly been killed by arrows, but she couldn't tell if the arrows had come from the avora, or whoever had taken his weapons. So all that was left was to find who took the weapons, and try to piece together exactly what had happened. Sira began examining the ground around the battlefield. She was only a novice at tracking, but her eyes were often able to pick out minute details that even an experienced tracker might miss. The problem was, tracking a human was something she had never done before, and she assumed that whoever had taken the weapons was probably human, or at least some type of humanoid. It could be easier, or it could be harder, as far as she figured. Humans often didn't think about where they were stepping, and left obvious signs, making them easier to track. On the other hand, though, a human who wanted to conceal where they were going would be much harder to track than an animal. Eventually Sira found a set of impressions, but they were not the ones she had been looking for. These were leading into the clearing, and were most likely the foot prints of the dead avora. Even if they did belong to the mystery person, it wouldn't have mattered, because the trail was quickly lost in the jumble of the fight. She needed to find a set of prints leading away from the melee, not into it. After a while Sira paused at a particular indention near the edge of the clearing. It wasn't a complete print, far from certain, but something about it drew her eye. Sira reached down, gently pressing her fingers into the indention. Whoever had stepped there, they were trying to step lightly. Her eyes began to scan the grass just beyond the clearing and she inched forward a bit, getting as close to the ground as possible. There! A few blades of grass were bent over in an unnatural way! Something had stepped there, and it looked to Sira as if the prints were continuing away from the clearing, not going in. This was the trail she was looking for. Someone, other than herself, had been there, she knew it for sure.

[Sira]

Following the trail was an incredibly slow process. Maybe someone with more experience might have been able to do better, but Sira was no expert tracker, and often the only thing she had to go off of was a single bent grass blade, if that. Sometimes she would get lucky and find an actual print, but whoever she was following, they were light on their feet and mindful of where they stepped. Sira didn't know if this was on purpose, or if the person just normally walked that way. Experienced hunters often left no trail, so this man might be such a person, but any hunter from Wind Reach would have stayed to help the Avora, or built a signal for the eagles to spot.. or something. If she had been following the trail from the air she might have realized that it was leading her in a big circle. Whoever she was following, far ahead of her, was now behind her and moving ever so silently in her direction. Sira was bent low to the ground, trying to determine if what she was looking at was an actual footprint, or something else. If it was a footprint, then it meant that the person had change direction. If it was something else, it meant she had lost the trail. Sira couldn't be sure, it was only a partial impression in the grass, but she couldn't find the heel or toes. "Petch," she muttered to herself, "How do you even get good at this?" The arrow would have hit her, it would have taken her out, but Sira had an advantage that her assailant did not know about. "Lookout! Lookout! Danger! Danger!" The voices of the birds in the trees warned her, and Sira fell flat to the ground just in time as an arrow buzzed over her, slashing her back but dealing only superficial damage. Sira was on her feet just as quickly and dove behind a tree, readying her own bow as she tried to peek around the trunk. She didn't see anyone, but she did see another arrow, and ducked back as it whisked past the tree. "Whoever you are, you need to stop and turn yourself in. My name is Sira, and I'm an endal! Turn yourself in and I promise you won’t get hurt." If her attacker believed a word she said, he didn't show it. A bird in the tree above chirped another warning, "It moves. Fly away! Sira took the birds cue, though she didn't shift and fly. She did run, darting from tree to tree. She could hear her attacker, now that it was closer, and had an idea of what direction to watch out for. When she heard another flock of birds fly away she knew it meant he had just passed under that tree, and Sira popped out and fired an arrow in her attacker's direction. It was a man, and she watched as her arrow sailed past him just barely missing. Sira ducked back behind the tree, trying to decide if she recognized him or not. His red hair marked him as Inarta, or most likely, and his face was familiar but she couldn't recall his name. "You need to stop this. I don't want to hurt you, just let me bring you in!"

[Sira]

Sira's mercy was quickly running out. The only reason she wanted to bring the man in was so that she could question him about what had happened, but his continued assault was quickly tempting Sira into making him her next meal. Unfortunately she could not shift, not without making herself an easy target. The trees were too close together, she would have no room to fly even if she could find space enough to shift. Plus she was wearing full gear, and some of the stuff wouldn't shred so easily if she shifted without sparing the time to take it off. Sira would have to beat him on the ground. "Lookout! Fly away!" The birds in the tree above her scattered and alerted Sira to the danger just in time. The man, an older Inarta it seemed, came around the tree with his talon sword and it was all she could do to bring her bow up in time to block it. The sharp blade cut through the wood of her bow easily, but it slowed it enough for Sira to dodge out of the way and make a break for it. She wasn't retreating, but she had to get far enough away to draw her own weapon and make her stand. As soon as she was away from the man she pulled out her own talon sword, the long two-handed weapon flashing dangerously out as it was pulled from its sheath at her side. Sira had practiced with her blade many times, but never before had she actually gone sword to sword with someone in a real life or death situation. Her opponent showed no trace of fear as he stalked toward her, and slowly they began to circle one another, each step carefully followed by the next as they sought an opening in the other's defense. For Sira, it was a very tense situation, but her opponent seemed completely at ease.

[Sira]

Sira was the first to attack, an impulsive action that marked her as still being a novice to the blade. She waited until the sun was shining in his eyes, and then shifted forward with her right foot, planting her weight, and lunging forward quickly with her left as she brought her weapon down with an overhand chop. The sharp end of the blade sliced through the air, aimed for her opponent's shoulder. The older Inarta was no amateur, however, and when the sun hit his eyes he immediately cast them down, spotting the shift in Sira's weight, and seeing the attack before it even came. His sword came up and blocked Sira's blade with ease, and the sound of their steel clashing rung out into the trees shaking birds from their perches as they watched the battle with curious, beady eyes. The block was turned into a parry, and Sira's blade was thrown wide, sending her staggering back and off balance. But the man did not attack her, he simple watched as the endal recovered, and regained her fighting stance. Sira knew then that she was being toyed with but, prideful and arrogant as any endal, she did not back down. She attacked a second time, and was not surprised when he blocked her again. She didn't stagger back either, but followed through with the attack, turning and building momentum as she attempted to come around the man's right side and clock him with her elbow in the jaw. Again he proved the superior opponent, and avoided the attack, dodging away from Sira and easily resuming his defensive posture. The kelvic was growing irritated, and attack again, this time with a furry. The man's sword blocked each blade forcefully, sending numbing vibrations through Sira's arms and putting small notches in her blade with each collision. His sword, however, never dulled. Whatever it was made of, it was of superior steel to Sira's, but she wasn't observant at that point in time to notice the damage he was doing.

[Sira]

He was toying with her, and Sira knew it. She tried desperately to land a blow on him, but her every attack was blocked, and the man's expression never changed. It was always smug, like he knew something she didn't. Every time he blocked, he aimed for the same spot on her blade, and the magically enhanced edge of his steel was slowly putting a deep notch in the blade. Sira still didn't notice, though most likely because such a thing was never a concern in a normal fight. But against a magical edge that never dulled, her blade was far inferior. After a while Sira began to tire, and the man began to tire of his game. Suddenly he launched an offensive, slashing hard toward Sira's shoulder. The kelvic blocked and staggered back, but he attacked again in the same manner. Over and over, but too quickly for Sira to form any sort of counter attack. All she could do was try to keep the blade from hitting her. He didn't relent, over and over his attacks came, hitting the same spot every time, and Sira was driven to her knees by the force of his blows. And then it seemed that he hit just the right spot. Suddenly Sira's sword was cut in half, and finally the man's expression changed to one of a cruel smile. Sira, for her part, just gaped in surprise. The man ceased his attack momentarily while he let it sink in that Sira had suddenly become defenseless, and when her eyes finally shifted from her sword to the man towering above her, he drove the hilt of his sword into her face, knocking her out cold. Once she was down the man quickly checked her for more weapons, then began to tie her up. He bound her arms and legs, and then gagged her so that she couldn't bite when she woke up. After that, the man hoisted her over his shoulder, and proceeded to carry away.

[Sira]

Sira couldn't be certain how long she was out, but when she finally came to the man was still carrying her. It was still light out as well, so it couldn't have been too long. At first she was confused, unable to remember what had happened or what was going on. She tried to move her hands to investigate the pain she felt in her face, but then she realized they were bound. After that she realized she wasn't on the ground, but draped over someone's shoulder, and then everything came back to her. She remembered the bear, she remembered the fight, and she remembered how she had been bested. With that realization came the instinct to escape. Sira began to struggle, and the man grunted, trying to get a firmer grip on her, but Sira wouldn't stop. Eventually, he threw her to the ground, planting his foot on her chest and pinning her down. "Be still, or I'll have to knock you out again." Sira started struggling again immediately, but the man wasn't lying. As soon as he saw she was going to put up a fight, he kicked her in the head, and once again she was out cold. The next time she awoke she was in the dark. The stone floor reminded her of Wind Reach, but she quickly realized she wasn't in the city. The stone was uneven, and natural, which meant it hadn't been carved out. If she was in the city, she was deep below it, but more likely she was just in a cave. Sira found that the gag was no longer in her mouth and she called out, "Is anybody there? Someone help, I'm trapped in here!" It hurt to speak, her jaw had taken most of the blow from the kick, and her forehead still ached from where he'd hit her before with the pommel of his sword. Other than that, he hadn't appeared to have done anything else to her. Help did not come but the man did, bearing a torch which he used to light a fire near the entrance to the cave. He turned back to Sira, eying her for a moment, before calming walking over to his bag and withdrawing the gag. It took Sira a moment to realize what he had in his hands, but when she did she cried out. "Wait, no. I!" "No talking," the man said as he jammed the gag into her mouth and tied it in place with a rope. Sira's muffled voice was cut off, and she fell silent once more. She could have spoken to him in his mind, but she didn't want to risk him finding out what she was. Even though it would be painful with her leather boots and belt, she could still shift if she got the opportunity. There was no room in the cave, but if she could somehow get out, she could shift and tear him apart. If he learned what she was before she could get away, he might bind her with something stronger than rope, and then she wouldn't be able to shift at all. The man ignored Sira for a while after that, going about his business setting up his camp, roasting a rabbit and eating it in front of her, and even appearing to doze off a bit. Every time Sira would move, however, he would sit up and shake his head at her, before returning to his rest.

[Sira]

Sometime in the middle of the night Sira was awakened by a rough shove that knocked her on her side. Apparently she had drifted off to sleep, though she hadn't wanted to. The man towered over her once more, staring down at her prostrate form. After a moment, he knelt next to her and removed the gag. "I'm going to give you water." As he went to retrieve the water, Sira wriggled her way into a sitting position before speaking out. "You need to let me go. I'm an endal. The others will be looking for me, and they'll kill you when they find me. If you let me go, I won’t tell them where you are." The man turned back around, carrying a flask of water, and walked back over. He didn't respond to her words, but instead brought the flask gently to her lips and tipped it back. Sira knew better than to refuse the drink. If she wanted to be strong, she couldn't refuse any food or drink, and so she guzzled down as much as he would let her have. After a few moments the man stopped, and replaced the flask in his bags. Finally, he answered her. "I'll see them coming long before they find us, and we'll move on. I've survived out here this long evading far worse things than endal." "But what do you want me for? Why didn't you just kill me, like you did the avora who was fighting the bear?" The man's head snapped in her direction at her last question, an angry look on his face. He stalked forward, grabbing her chin and staring directly into her eyes. "I killed him to put him out of his misery. I am not a murderer, no matter what you and your endal might think." Sira was thoughtful for a moment, considering what he had said. Had he been accused of murder before? "But why are you keeping me?" The man flashed a smile at her, and Sira knew the answer before he ever spoke it why. The look in his eyes, she had seen it before, in the eyes of Gwain, the man who tried to force himself on Addy, and in the eyes of many other equally disgusting men who wanted only one thing. "It get's lonely out here," the older Inarta replied. "And a man has needs." His hand stroked her cheek, and it was all Sira could do not to flinch at his touch, before it went lower, trailing down her chest as he leered appreciatively at her breasts for a tick before meeting her eyes once more. "I need children. You will provide them for me. In time, you'll come to love me."