On the Road to Nowhere. (Aiken)

[Dastan Tyrael]

TImestamp: Summer 5th, 510 AV Location: A few miles from Syliras Time of Day: Dusk Tag: Aiken The cool breeze came in with the clouds, night enveloping the land at a crawling pace. The sun hid, but only just, behind the clouds and the mountains in the distance. As time passed, the man walking slowly along the path towards Syliras hummed a quiet tune and seemed to forget everything else. He found it rather droll to worry about being robbed when he had not seen such problems thus far. More accurately, Daston was tired. Tired of thinking about life, even more tired of worrying. He'd come this far alone, what was to stop him from going the rest of the way? The only fair thing to say would be that Daston would welcome a challenge. It had been a long time since he had been home, and he had learned many things, both about himself and about his family. It was a very sobering thing, responsibility. It was something that drained all the fun out of life. And the only person he had now was himself. His cloak whipped in the wind as it picked up, and his eyes raced across the horizon. In a single heartbeat, he listened to all the sounds the world was offering, and in the next, he shut them out. The idea that man is in control of his own destiny and yet that there were gods was a paradox, and yet, it was welcome. Daston had someone to blame for all his problems that way. Not that it was doing him any good. He made his way along the path just a bit further, then stopped against a tree to rest. "Just a bit more," he reminded himself. "Almost there." It had been a long day, and he was ready to do something more interesting. Walking was great, to an extent, but he did enough of that. He surveyed the area once more, almost anxious for something to happen.

[Aiken]

The moon was rising as twilight began to make itself known. Aiken would have to give up his chase soon, no matter how fun it was. The night may have been beautiful and free for him, but even his wolf's eyesight couldn't keep him from running head first into a tree.

But for now, his eyes were set firmly on the deer's already bloodied hind legs, well within his reach. But the chase was too much fun, and his kill was dumb enough to keep running. He snapped his teeth while he had an opening, tearing his teeth through hot flesh. The splash of warm blood on his tongue only added to his frenzy for meat.

As the sun began its fall beyond the horizon, Aiken decided it was time to end his playtime and move in for the kill. His stride brought him closer until he finally jumped at the rump. Without any alert, the deer jumped to the side to avoid an incoming tree. Normally, this would have held no problem, and Aiken would have just jumped off the tree.

However, this tree held a man, who was clearly resting. Whether he was prepared to have a 75 pound wolf run into him or not, Aiken couldn't change his path now, except to close his mouth and turn his side to the impact.

[Dastan Tyrael]

Daston heard it before he saw it, but he had little time to react. He had just leaned back to rest. His eyes widening, Daston threw his weight back onto his shoulders, his knees bent and his feet up, ready to spring up quickly. Whatever it was landed against him with a thud, and he instinctively kicked out to create distance. That was even more important right now than moving. He reached for one of his blades without thinking, then stopped himself to see what was going on, for he hadn't fully gotten past the reaction phase. In short, they were still in the inital "what the petch is going on" phase. He kept his hand on the hilt of his weapon, but did not draw it. Perhaps he would grasp his next move when the... whatever it was... stood up.

Oi, what the...!?

[Aiken]

Aiken coughed once before gasping for air. His head must have hit something - either tree of ground - and was throbbing with each heartbeat. He tried standing up, finding it much harder to keep his balance. There was a ring in his left ear, but he felt it was better to deal with it than make his headache worse by shaking it away.

He opened his eyes and stumbled around with double-vision, before deciding to lay down and let things settle. He did notice, however, that he was much farther from the tree than he expected, and that the man he hit was now holding a weapon. He was still too confused to understand why, or to shift and explain in human form.

[Dastan Tyrael]

He watched the other man for a moment, trying to determine what he was doing, why he had seemingly attacked. Drawing his blade, "Anwar," Dastan hopped down from the tree into a harsh roll, coming to his feet with his knees still bent. He took a few more steps, righting himself with his blade at the ready, peeling his eyes for any signs of instinctive movement on the part of the wolf. Dastan made no move to strike, but he made certain not to look like he wouldn't. "Easy now, no sudden moves," Dastan muttered breathlessly. "I won't kill you unless I have to. Well... this all sort of stupid if you don't understand me... just pray to whatever god you understand well enough to worship that you just happen to cooperate." He tilted his head slightly, gripping the weapon tightly, then relaxing his grip and gritting his teeth. He figured this wolf was going to strike as soon as it got itself situated, so it didn't hurt to be ready for that. "Cool it, Dastan... it's just a rudding wolf..."

[Aiken]

Aiken tilted his head, as if he were asking a question. He sat up slowly and barked once, testing his vocal chords. He looked to the man's eyes with a fierce accusation, wondering what he was doing out in the wild, alone for that matter.

He stood up and walked slowly, making a slow circle to the left. Something was telling him that he had a right to show this man exactly why what he was doing was stupid, and punish him for that fact. But another side, deeper in his subconscious, told him to shift and explain the situation.

But his fun had been ruined, and he lost a meal. Which, if nobody knew, were very hard to come across together, and almost never successfully. He bared his teeth and growled, eying his new prey with a dangerous glare. He didn't want to kill, he wanted to play, wanted to fight for contest. But for now, the man had the advantage: he held his ground with dangerous blades, both things that would prove to be Aiken's defeat if he attacked now. No, he wanted this man to run. He wanted him to attack. He wanted nothing else for this man to hold the first act, so that he could have the advantage of reaction.

He barked again, this time more angrily. His steps became cautious, ready to turn and attack when his opening came.

[Dastan Tyrael]

Daston watched the creature moving, unsure of what its intentions were. He wondered just how wild it really was, seeing as it hadn't just sprang at him, and he wondered just how intelligent it was. He couldn't just assume something without proof. Spinning "Anwar" in his left hand, he kicked at the dirt toward the creature to simulate forward motion. With it's back to him, there was a chance it would be tricked by such a simple manuever, and yet, if it were not, it would prove that it was, as he presumed, intelligent. Bringing the blade to a sturdy position at his chest, hand gripped in a deathlock on the hilt of the weapon. He quickly adjusted his feeting so that he could react quickly, eyes not leaving the creature and waiting for it to move. The dirt blew up around his feet, his breathing even, and he tensed, not sure what would happen next...

[Aiken]

Aiken stopped moving as Dastan feinted attacking, but kept himself distanced as he saw the trap. He didn't like this, this standoff. It was boring, and every minute he waited here only increased his chances of winding up on the end of a blade. He stopped walking and faced the man.

The sun was setting now, and darkness crept slowly upon them. He would have the advantage as the moon left a dim silvery light on his gray fur. His eyes were stronger than any human's, and he was in his own domain here. He barked again, showing bloody teeth. His face curled up into another snarl as he tried to get Dastan to attack. Much longer of this boredom and he might as well shift and say hello.

[Dastan Tyrael]

Whatever the issue was, Daston could sense hesitance in the wolf's movements. Any swordsman with the experience Daston had by now knew that there was no sense in rushing in to a situation. Glory did not necessarily dictate death, and having a weapon similarly did not dictate murder. Though this creature certainly seemed to want him to try killing it. He spun the blade so that the moonlight reflected off it, directing the short beam across the wolf's eyes in an attempt to provoke some sort of instinct. There was bound to be a moment of indiscretion somewhere in it's mind. Daston did not make any move to attack or unsheathe his second blade, but neither did he move to stand down. He was doing his best, his absolute best not to act impulsively. He was itching for this situation to be diffused, and he was so used to just jumping in head first... But this opponent was a deadly predator. And more like it were probably nearby. "You're an intersting breed of predator, you know. No killer instinct. Come and get me, why don't you?"

[Aiken]

Aiken howled once and jumped forward. How dare this wanderer insult him like that He had a good 20 feet of space to go, and he figured the best way to confuse his opponent would be to shift to his human form and tackle him while he thought there was nothing but a wolf before him. As he got within 10 feet, he shifted. His body was consumed in bright lights and a naked human form came out, still running at full force on all fours. A terrible growling roar came from his now human throat.

He leaped forward to tackle Daston, his face still bound in a snarl. He aimed for his waist, rather than his chest, which would have knocked wind out of him. He wanted to have fun, not to try killing him.