Of wolves and men. (neekra) [job thread]

[Ximal]

10th Fall 512 AV

Stuck doing the early morning shit, Xi rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he headed out into the jungle. Her didn't get much sleep last night, mostly because of his serious problem...Liro. the blasted ghost was always trying to pull him out fo control, and then go gallivanting off with his body. huddled beneath hsi cloak his breath gave of a slight puff of steam as he exhaled. the cold air really bit hard in the mornings. The stray rays of light shine through the tree tops and cloud cover. pulling out his hands from within the cloak he entered his sneaking mode. pathetic as it may be he still tried to be as quiet as possible so as to keep the poachers and other people in the trees unaware of the fact the were being watched. Venturing out into the darkness of the cloud covered tree blackened area Xi kept his arms close to himself. So as to be ready for anything from wild animals to other humans. Rolling his feet as he headed further through the shadowy area he huddled his cloak around himself and pulled his body closer to the trees. He slid his gauntlets on now just to be careful. Many a beast in this jungle had fangs sharp enough to puncture his flesh down to the bone. If at least he had some steel hands he could batter them away before that happened. The cold morning started to creep up his body faster than he had anticipated

[Neekra]

Neekra trotted into the jungle as she did every morning. Her mission: find enough food to keep her full for a few hours if not most of the day so that she could try to keep her mind from having daydreams about what Jamouras tasted like, or humans for that matter. She couldn’t help herself though. She was a beast not a human. Even if she were to be in human form and decided to sit down and have a meal of human flesh, that wouldn’t make her a cannibal. At least that’s what she thought. Lupa, her little dog, spastically jumped around under her feet. Every once in a while, she would be distracted by a bug of some sort and mindlessly wonder off. Then Neekra would call her back and the little dog would instantly run back to her and take shelter under her belly. Neekra was surprised at how well the little dog had bonded with her as if she was her mother. Lupa was not only following her around but also mimicking her howls and learning to eat whatever she killed. It was strange behavior for a domestic dog. Suddenly, a sharp yet familiar smell registered in her nose. Only one race smelled like that. Human. She halted and commanded Lupa to sit while she scanned the area. A body wasn’t visible. She put her nose to the ground again. If the scent wasn’t so fresh then she would have assumed that the person was already gone. But that wasn’t the case. She nudged Lupa with her mussel to guide her into a thick patch of brush then picked up on the essence of the smell again and followed it. Soon she had found the source. Knowing that she had already been seen and unable to tell in this man was a threat or not, she lowered herself into a threatening position and slightly raised her lips to reveal a hint of her massive fangs. A small growl escaped her throat.

[Ximal]

Keeping to the tree line xi shifted his weight over his feet slowly. The slow roll of his feet along the ground, would help mask the sound of his huge frame moving with the ground. Drawing further in, a sound caught his attention..The rustling of a bush...Great wild animals. Turning on the ball of his foot, he came upon what he thought was the source of the rustle. A large wolf, already bearing it's fangs. not knowing what this beast would do, Xi pulld his body into a crouched variation of his fighting stance. His right arm blocking his right side, and his lft blockign his chin, throat and left side. Crouched down low even inn a fight with a wolf there was little chance of him getting hurt, especially with the steel covering of his hands forearms shins and feet. Still he may have been the intruder here so he'd simply knock the beast out before leaving as quickly and quietly as he'd entered. Driving the ball of his left foot into the ground and the heel of his right he awaited the action from the poised and snarling wolf. Still this wolf wasn't exactly a small wolf. Not by any stretch. being too low might be a hindrance to him So Xi brought his frame up slowly to build up a solid defence against the creature. Rolling his right shoulder back he shifted his weight to his right foot, so as to take any impact force. He had at least three ways to knock out this beast but would any of them work? after all this was his first time fighting an animal.

[Neekra]

She watched as the man took position. His stance was brilliant and defined. He looked like a man of fine precision and skill. Neekra would have to match his skills. She studied him for a moment and realized something was off about this man. He wasn’t angry nor did he have the appeal of a soulless hunter that wanted to kill her for her luscious black fur. But if he didn’t want to kill her then why was he willing to fight against her. If he didn’t want a fight, he could have back down or walked away, instead he positioned himself to fight her, so she wouldn’t keep him waiting. With a quick observation of the armor on his hand and feet, she weighted her options. There were only few places to seriously deal damage and on such a large man, those places would be even harder to maneuver into. She considered what a blow from his fist would do to her. Surely, she could withstand one or two of them but after that she couldn’t promise herself the ability to strike accurately. Plus she wasn’t sure if her had a secret weapon stashed anywhere on his body that could be accessed at any time. So with her plans set and dangers taken into consideration, she moved. Lunging with the powerful muscles in her back legs and she sprinted towards him at full speed. At the last second, she ducted off behind him, moving quickly past the back of his legs and appeared on his left side. Without hesitation, she followed one movement with another and turned sharply with her mouth open and lips peeled back so that her fangs were fully visible and she attempted to sink her serrated teeth into his left thigh.

[Ximal]

Xi was now backed into a corner, not a lot he could do in a situation like this, other than perhaps stand his ground and fight like he'd intended too. watching the wolf before him, he steeled himself. Switching his positioning ever so slightly he wondered what the wolf before him would do. Without even a moment's hesitation the would sprinted at him. Xi had to strain to keep focused on it. dark fur in a dark place was not a good combination. Still his eye's followed it then the wolf darted out of sight behind him. Within seconds he'd spotted the wolf again now lunging for his thigh. Xi reacted now out of instinct jamming his steel plated arm and forearm between himself and the wolf, he'd ram his fist between those jaws . Press his left hand down on the beasts muzzle and then throw the whole thign over head in a single arcing motion. Distance here was a killer but if he could stun the wolf long enough to pin it, perhaps the could end this without causing the beast too much harm. If that plan failed Then Xi would need to come up with another possible solution to it. After all he didn't want to hurt it. This was his fault form being here. Shifting the weight in his legs if he needed too he'd shunt the beast out of the way with his shin knocking it out of the way and around. Still not harming it too badly. Right now Xi want the prey...He was the hunter.

[Neekra]

His movements were quick; she’d openly admit that his reaction surprised her. She tasted the metal of his arm guard when he focused it in between her jaw. The thought to pull away occurred to late. He slammed the palm of his hand down on her mussel, making her fangs press against the solid metal to the point of pain, and then lifted her over his head, effortlessly. His counterattack made her realize that she was born a wolf and not a bird like her parents for a reason; she didn’t like flying. Fortunately, it ended shortly after it began with a solid impact on the jungle floor that knocked the oxygen from her lungs. She gasped for air and replayed the last few moments in her head. There was no way she would kill him, not by a long shot. So her plan changed. All she needed to do was scare him away, merely remove him from the area but even that would be a daunting task. She would have to make him fear her without actually attacking him. As complicated as it sounded, she thought of a simple way to do it. Most humans had a common fear of the unknown, or so she had heard. Hopefully, even though this man was one of the largest humans she had ever seen, he would fall under that percentile. Neekra pulled herself to her feet and faced him once more. Still his expression confused her. He didn’t look like the cruel, heartless type but then again, maybe he was just good at hiding his intentions. Without warning, she bolted diagonally into the woods and halted as soon as she knew she was out of sight. The environment was on her side for this fight, the unsettling darkness hid her well. Neekra observed him for a while, watching his every move. After a few moments, she began to walk in circles around him, slowly and cautiously. Of course she wouldn’t walk the complete circle. As soon as she made a loud enough noise to give away her position, she’d switch directions and walk the opposite way. Her location at any given moment was easy to track. She was everywhere he wasn’t looking.

[Ximal]

His plan worked he'd launched the wolf without hurting it, but he'd gotten a look at the wolves eyes. Intelligence...understandable intelligence. Before Xi could even open his moth to speak the wolf was back up on it's legs. Xi kept his low standing and didn't even try to follow the wolf as it darted off into the darkened brush. Instead he slowed his mind and collected his thoughts before opening his mouth to speak to the wolf slowly. Taking one step forwards Xi lifted his fists again. His strength still in bountiful measures. But now he wanted to speak to this wolf. "If your trying to stalk me in the trees your not doing a good job. I'm used to being stalked by a much larger much quieter beast than you. Come out. " Xi shifted his weight. Right now he may as well have been fighting blind. Rather than tracking the wolf with his eye's Xi focused on another piece of sensory equipment. His ears. Simply listening out for any sound that could and or would be made. the cracking of twigs the crunching of dry dead leaves. Anything that could lead him to the wolfs position. His eye's stayed open but focused on nothing. Shifting his weight back on his left foot but making it look like all his weight was on his right.

[Neekra]

She pawed through the forest, circling around him then circling back, trying to distract him long enough to line up the perfect shot but she soon realized that her attempts were failing. She watching him as she walked about, not one ounce of fear leaked from his eyes and his body was unchanging. His composition was cool and collected but more importantly unshakable. Neekra slowed her pace and wondered how she could break him, was there no end to his strength or was she not as powerful as she thought? Her pace dramatically dropped as he took a step forward and raised his fists; she froze in mid-step when he spoke with a thundering voice. He sounded just as she imagined, masculine, authoritative, and fierce but, surprisingly, there was an acute element deep within his voice that coated every word that came out of his mouth with warm sincerity. It reminded her of the low, violent rumbling of the earth that promised to raise new islands from the depths of the ocean. Now was her moment of truth. She could continue to unleash fruitless attacks on this man or she could reveal herself to him and hope for an optimal reaction. The latter seemed more appealing. It was time to put her fangs to rest unless he chose to awaken them once again. Neekra pawed to the bounty that she knew he couldn’t see her then leapt out of the thick brush and ferns of the jungle and into his clear view. She landed effortlessly - feet planted an equal distance apart, tail down, head and ears up and alert. She made eye contact with this man for a few short seconds to make a final decision to move closer. With a much needed shake from nose to tail, she cleared the dirt and foliage from her thick shadowy fur then trotted closer to him. About three feet from his looming figure, she sat and elegantly wrapped her tail around her body. With her round, golden eyes, she looked up at him and waited for a reason to trust him or run.

[Ximal]

The wind whistled through the trees throwing off his sense of hearing. He could do nothing now but hope that he was right and that this wolf was indeed a kelvic. He took slow breaths, not to clam himself but to remain clear headed. If this was not a kelvic then he really was in trouble and he might have had to slay the beast to evacuate the area. If he had to do that...Well he didn't want to think about it. He was going to have to trust his instincts and his own knowledge. He lowered his fists. This didn't mean however he was dropping his guard. Just as he was about to raise his fists again the wolf leapt from the brush line. Xi took a half step back out of natural reaction not fear. Xi just watched the wolf before him pad across the soft ground shaking the bristles from it's midnight fur. Xi re locked his eyes with the wolf before him. Xi's own royal dark-blue eyes roaring with the flame determination, stared into the wolf's molten gold eyes. Xi readied himself before the wolf...Sat? Definitely a kelvic. Xi crouched onto a knee to keep an eye line with the now known kelvic. He was going to talk with this kelvic and apologize for intruding. Speaking again in his slow methodical voice "I take it that this is your territory? Sorry for my intrusion...i'm just doing my job, i'm part of the spires guard. I protect against poachers and slavers stalking through the spires. This area was on my rounds today. If you are a kelvic, could i please speak to you? I'd like to know if you've seen anything odd around here. It might hep me save a few lives." Xi re-rose from the ground standing back to his full height. Awaiting for the kelvic to either walk away or shift for him to talk too. Either way right now things were in this kelvics hands.

[Neekra]

There he was. Crouched in front of her and face to face. He was a brave one, she’d admit that. At any moment, she could regret her decision and lunge at him, sinking her blood-lusting fangs into his skull. But then again, she had no reason to do it. Reasoning. It’s what separated her from the other wolves. She held his eyes, daring not to look away as if doing so would break their tiny agreement of trust. His eyes, she noticed in this short moment, were not so dark. In fact, they were blue. And the viciously, cruel stare that she distinguished when she came across him had dissipated into a gentle, sympatric expression. But one thing had not changed. He was driven by purpose. Neekra listened carefully as he spoke to her again. This time his tone was different as well. He spoke with precision, selecting each word carefully as if one wrong word would change her mind. Your territory… My job… The Spires ‘guard…Protect against poachers and slavers… Kelvic… Could I speak with you? Neekra eyed him as him rose to his feet. Did she trust him enough to change? Could he handle her in her human form? Speaking with grace in front of a furry beast that proved to be harmless was one thing, speaking with grace in front of a naked woman was another. A lethal question crossed her mind: could she break this mighty warrior faster in her human body than with the threat of her fangs? She was about to find out. She closed the distance between them and then with one fluent motion, she reared and planted her front paws on his upper abdominals. Her eyes aligned with his then in a flash quicker than lightening, she changed. Where her beloved coat once was silky pale skin remained; the lone remnant of her dark fur was thick, wavy locks that draped down to her back. Her mussel and fangs were traded for a pair of full red lips that hid a set of canines that could easily give her true form away if she smiled. And where her paws supported her body against his chest, her fingertips gently touched the material of his cloak. Now a bit taller, she was closer to his face and able to see the blue in his eyes again though he still towered over her by a good foot or so. After a moment of silence, her red lips parted as she spoke in a soft voice. “Hello.” She hesitated and let the word fade. Then she dropped her eyes and allowed her fingertips descended from his cloak to her side. Neekra looked up at him once more with her cold, unreadable expression that she hid behind as a human and continued, “You have no reason to apologize. This is not my territory; I only hunt here. And, in fact, I’m glad to see you which I’m sure you don’t understand since I attacked you but it’s true. There are a lot of poachers and hunters in these areas and I’m afraid that one day my little dog will wonder into one of their traps when I’m not looking. So I suppose I should to the one apologizing and saying thank you.” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and waited for a reply.