Solo The Great Escape

[Tinnok]

She waited. One chime, two, they passed in agony, and still Syna seemed not to move from her lower position in the sky. Tinnok apologized silently for rushing the Sun Goddess, mentioning internally that it was surely nothing personal...only her puny mortal life upon the line. She did not draw her bowstring taut, and was glad she hadn't for the chimes kept stacking up. Each one that passed left Tinnok feeling more confident about her position, yet she didn't want to get her hopes up. Perhaps they were simply making sure they could kill her in one fell swoop, or had momentarily lost her location when she had gone for her hiding place among the roots. She refused to let herself pole her head up above the bark covered walls on either side, just in case it would compromise her position, but the strain of this experience was fraying at her nerves.

But when Syna drifted low in the sky, and pinks and violets arced across the sky, shadows long and darkening by the tick, Tinnok's eyes widened. She had done it, she had avoided her pursuers...at least for now.

Myrians were not nocturnal hunters like the Dhani, but it didn't mean they would give up their search, most likely they wanted to capture her alive and try her publicly in Taloba, make a great scene of the abomination before executing her for her crimes...and peeling the skin from her flesh.

Tinnok shuddered, and with those thoughts echoing in her mind, slowly rose from her crouched position, blood flowing down into her cramped legs. She glanced around warily, but saw nothing, no one, nor heard the tell tale sounds of feet and shuffling foliage. Tinnok let out a long slow breath and stepped over the roots, making her away around the great tree.

A sharp cutting whistle cut through the trees, the sound of a blue winged eagle. Prey found.

Tinnok cursed loudly and began sprinting through the foliage. So they had known the general location of her, but not precisely, and with her confidence in the darkening sky she had given them precisely what they had wanted...a visual. Several arrows whistled by her, one from up on high, which meant a scout in the trees that had been set up specifically to get an aerial view.

Tinnok's feet pounded hard against the ground and tears of frustration slipped out her eyes. When would it just stop? How could she just get them to stop?

Except now she knew precisely how.

She sprinted full out ahead, knowing her pursuers would be running, but not sprinting, circling around her. She had just a little time, and she would need to use it. As the world turned grey, just before the last of Syna's light was sure to vanish, Tinnok stopped mid run and turned on her heel, leaping onto a low hanging branch upon a tree and beginning to climb it from the opposite sides of her pursuers. Like a rodent circling around the trunk in order to evade its hunters, she needed any advantage she could get. Her arms screamed as she lifted her weight swiftly and uncaring up into the tree, needing to get as high as fast as she could for her idea to work.

About 40 feet up she stopped, crouched on a branch, and un-slung her bow, notching a barbed arrow to the shaft and drawing back fully, her eyes scanning the darkening ground She saw a shadowy movement to her left and took careful aim, eyes narrowing, as her arm pulled the arrow all the way back. Then she released.

She heard a cry of pain, though she couldn't be sure where she hit her target, but it didn't matter, for they would have to suffer with the arrow inside them unless they wanted to lose more blood yanking it out. She then leapt up, and jumped from branch to branch, getting to the other side of the tree, and drawing again, eyes focusing. Another shadow, and another. She fired off two shots consecutively, the first whirring through air, and missing it's, mark, the second hitting a shadowy figure with a squelch, and saw the shadow disappear into the fringed darkness that was the surrounding plant life.

"She's up in the petching tree, shoot her down!" Tinnok leapt up and began moving around again, a dangerous proposition with the encroaching darkness. Throwing the bow back over her shoulders she began climbing up, sure to change her position so she was climbing in a bit of zig zag and not a straight line. Crouching against the tree she took off her backpack and threw it open, snatching out the sections of Night Armor. She started with the grieves and bracers, the easiest to put on, holding her bow in one arm, then another to prevent it from falling as she threw on the chest piece and cinched it up tight against her chest, pulling a soft cloth hood that was attached the piece over her head.

Then she notched another barbed arrow, and waited, crouched and panting from the exercise.

"I can't see a petching thing!" Someone cried.

"She's there, just get her!"

Tinnok grinned. This Night Armor had been a good buy...and now darkness total and complete enveloped them. She was hidden, but they still knew she was in the trees...a victory and a loss at the same time.

[Tinnok]

It wasn't enough. They were getting worried about her position. She had shot down a few more arrows, using her regular one's so as not to waste her supply of barbed. Cries of pain went up from below, one of the scouts she had injured but not killed, and from the sounds of the hushed conversing below, she could only assume they meant to get back-up. The half breed hadn't picked a particularly good tree, for there weren't any nearby branches to other trees that would be able to support her weight. There was no moon to show her position, so she was able to change her spot in the tree several times, and now her pursuers couldn't tell where she was.

And of course, her legs were getting sore from crouching upon thick branches.

What she could not risk was waiting until daylight when reinforcements would arrive. By the torchlight she saw one of them move off, jogging briskly back the way they had come.

Petch.

She had killed one, and injured three. One had left as well which left 6 remaining members of the 8 of the fang that had chased her this far. Who had torn Dog asunder, and demolished her home, destroying plenty of plant life in the process, and if she didn't escape...she would surely be captured, dragged back to Taloba if they could get her alive, and would be tried in front of Myri herself, as a monster and a traitor.

And Tinnok was thoroughly done being held up to Myrian standards. She had done it her whole petching life, hunted, tracked, did everything for the benefit of a clan who had never seen her as one of them, only to join the army and be rejected by nearly all of them, and then re-paid for her three years of loyal service to their Queen by being tortured and questioned before releasing her contemptuously, with no respect gained. She was more than done.

It didn't formulate in her mind as any sort of plan, no idea of her tactics or the end game, but only a deep seated desire to watch those petchers below her suffer for just an instant like she had suffered all these long petching years.

She was no master of stealth like other clans, and fangs who could move like shadows...not yet, but she moved quietly down the tree, gripping the bark with padded hands and feet in her newly donned Night Armor. There was no light to reveal her, and in the darkness the black leather looked like a hole of blackness. She moved slowly, making sure each branch was solid under her grasp before moving to another, slowing the sound of her weight on branches by slowly lowering her form, and moving down the tree inch by inch, unseen though the entire piece of fauna was surrounded by the remainder of the fang.

She was about 20 feet up when she crawled out onto one of the branches above a male staring blankly out into the night. She had been watching the three uninjured guards, one with an arrow in her leg, studying them carefully. The two females constantly looked up into the foliage to see if she was there, but the males seemed to get bored with this game fairly swiftly, so it was safer to lower herself over one of them.

Her body froze as the male in question that she was positioning herself above suddenly glanced curiously up, body rotating, and hand covering his eyes, holding his torch up towards the tree as if that would help. Tinnok held her breath, closing her eyes just in case the light caught their glint. Praying that she wouldn't hear some tell tale cry and the whirring of arrows.

When she dared open her eyes again the male was staring out blankly again into the darkness, and Tinnok allowed herself a slow breath of relief. She crawled up a few more feet, twisting her body to prepare for the jump to come, bow slung over her back, and a dagger clasped in either hand.

And then she dropped down upon him. Her calculations were a bit off, for she had hoped to stab both daggers into the man's back and cushion her fall. This still happened, but it was both of her feet that stabbed into the man's back, his body careening to the ground, and his chin slamming off the ground, neck giving a satisfying crack that suggested...he would not be rising. Tinnok grinned, but the movement, though quieter than some attempts, still sent vibrations through the earth, and the crack sent signals to the 5 remaining Myrians.

Tinnok dashed to toward the other side of the tree, both females practically slamming into each other in their effort to find the other one. Tinnok snarled at the female and drew both daggers across her chest in a horizontal sweep toward the female's face which was suddenly split apart with two deep cuts. She screamed, and slammed her bone studded club into Tinnok's ribs. She screamed too, her body knocked into the tree. The half breed shoved herself off of the plant and charged the female, headbutting her in the stomach and sending her flying for her efforts. She whirled to face off against the next male that threw himself at her, a long spear jabbing towards her chest. The half breed rolled to the side, jumping up and hurling one of her daggers into the male's chest at point blank range. She saw him cough, stance faltering, and took advantage of her hit, dashing forward and forcing her second dagger into his throat with a swift punt from her hand. His last noise was a disgusting burble, and Tinnok pulled out both of the daggers as the heavy weight of his now dead body tumbled to the dark ground.

The other female took advantage of the dark, and her hands gripped Tinnok's neck like a vice, dragging her back and squeezing the oxygen from her lungs. She gagged upon the contact, arms flailing, feet trying to find purchase on the soft ground as she was dragged. She thought bitterly that she wouldn't know when the darkness had overtaken her because it was nearly as black as pitch, then brought both arms forward and sent her elbows rocketing back behind her, hitting the female directly in the ribs and setting her free. Because of the angle she had been at, Tinnok fell upon the ground, rolling over and trying to figure out precisely how many she had left to kill, 3, 4, 5?

First this female was going to die. She felt her daggers fall to the ground, rotating and screaming with rage as she lunged upon the female like a jungle cat, tackling her to the ground. Her fist raised above her head, and a vicious punch landed across the sprawled Myrians jaw. Her arms flew then, delivering blow after blow, after blow, screwing up that full blooded Myrian's pretty face, for it surely must be beautiful int he light, tanned and sparkling like bronze, round full breasts, and a stature and perk to turn the head of the most obedient male. It was her turn to find her fingers sliding around the females neck, gripping as hard as she could, and shoving her thumbs roughly against her wind pipe. She would live on, and this nameless woman would die pathetic and worthless int he eyes of her Queen at the hands of a being who shared half of her blood.

Take that you fickle bitch.

Tinnok grinned as the movements of her foe weakened, then died away, and as her hands released their death grip, she felt the blade sink into her shoulder...

[Tinnok]

Two males from the campsite, they hadn't been guarding the tree, were later to the fight, but no less ready. The blade sunk into Tinnok's shoulder with a chunking of flesh and she screamed bloody murder into the night. Both of her palms slid up, grabbing the front of the blade between them and wrestling against the strength of whoever had the blade, she maneuvered onto her knees, eyes bulging out of her head with pain as the sword slid around in her flesh, then groaned as she lifted herself off the ground, hands helping to lift the sword even as her attacker tried to keep her down. Once high enough, Tinnok dropped and rotated, one leg kicking outward and acting as her balancing point as she swung around and knocked her attacker off of her feet, the second other male kicking her in the chest and knocking her back onto the ground.

She had three opponents. One was the previously injured female she had knocked into the brush, one male who she had kicked onto the ground, and the second male bearing over her with a gladius in each hand. Her fingers groped around for her dropped daggers. She found one, and grasped and crawled with her other hand, hoping to find the other. It was just when her right hand had found the shining tip of the blade that the male's foot stomped down on that hand, sending another wail from our witch. She snarled and sent her left hand with its dagger sinking into the man's thigh. It was his turn to scream, leaping back from her like he had been set on fire, and Tinnok grabbed both daggers and heaved herself onto her feet, leaping up and stabbing both of her knives into the male's stomach.

Which was when the sword from before cut into her side. This time, however, Tinnok was ready for an attack from behind. She had been watching the recovering male, and her body twisted, the blade bouncing harmlessly off of her armor.

"You will all die here, and I will go free." Her voice was dead serious, and had only the scariest twinge of glee that came at the end of the word free. The only noises was the occasional insect and the crackling of the camp fire the scouts had set up a distance from the tree.

"I WILL BE FREE!" She screamed, whirling and lifting up her leg, kicking the sword out of the remaining male's hand, even as she saw the shadowy form of the injured female limp charging her with that heavy club. Male in front, female coming from behind him. Tinnok took a step back and then jumped forward, rotating her body a full 360 degrees to power up a kick aimed directly for the male's chest. It was meant to be timed well and send him flying into the charging female, but instead he flew off in one direction and she kept coming. Tinnok ran forward as well, dropping to her feet, and groaning in the pain of her legs rubbing against the ground in a drop kick for the female's shins. This resulted in the woman falling upon Tinnok, the half breed letting out a gasp of air from the sheer wight of muscles on this particular female. She felt her shift, pulling back the weight of the club, but Tinnok dropped one of her daggers in order to hold the woman's wrist, preventing her from following through with the blow.

"I will be free." She whispered to the woman, and shoved her other dagger into her neck.

She had barely gotten her weight off of her when the male leapt upon her as well, clawing at her face with his hands and leaving three giant scratches along her face, evidence that he probably hadn't the time or will to search for his blade. Tinnok grunted in pain and punched him in the face, her fist on fire since it had already started bruising from her attack on the other female. Her energy was low, all of her injuries combined adding up to a whole new level of pain. But she was almost done and he was all that stood in her way.

Wars are no more heroic that a simple fight to the death, both parties knowing they have no other choice, reason and logic gone from the equation, leaving only animal instincts and that desire to live on. Tinnok of course had already eliminated five of the six remaining scouts, but she was now injured, and this male had the desperation of knowing that these were probably his final moments.

Which didn't help him much when Tinnok curled her head around his and sank her teeth into his ear, ripping it off the side of his head. She felt a bile rising in her stomach as the blood and flesh filled her mouth, but it was surely nothing compared to the pain her opponent was feeling, whose head she grabbed in both heads, kneeing him the stomach before snapping his neck with a loud crack.

And then it was done.

She lay there for a few chimes, recovering what little energy remained in her body, then moved the bodies off of her. She was a murderer now, a full on traitor, her life forfeit in the eyes of those she had called brethren for over two decades.

Slowly bloody fingers picked up her daggers, collecting her longbow and quiver which had gotten strewn in the process of the fight. She checked the gear left around the campfire and found several strips of jerky, emptied a water skin, and took several ripe mangos, throwing them into her backpack.

The scout would return with reinforcements to this spot. It would be impossible to hide the signs of battle, blood soaked foliage, and an untended campfire, but she could work with what she had. She wasn't sure if she should feel sad about the death she had caused, or joyous, and so her emotions leveled in some strange pool of apathy that she simply couldn't fathom.

She cleared the area around the tree, bringing foliage, dead branches and vines, and built up the fire. From a medium campfire she turned it into a bonfire, making sure to clear the area around it so it wouldn't spread.

Then one by one, she piled up the bodies of the dead upon it. It was slow, tiring work, and part of her knew she was sacrificing valuable time in the escape, but it felt right for two reasons. To send off enemies that she would always respect, despite her hate for them, and to confuse the petch out of the reinforcements that would arrive. She tied vines and leaves around the bodies to help them burn, constantly adding brush to the fire, and after 3 bells she had managed to get all 7 bodies (the Myrian she killed instantly with er bow as well), into the fire, and burning nicely. She said a short prayer to Dira, emptied another water skin that had been left at the camp, then turned and began jogging slowly through the jungle, certainly unable to keep up any more serious of a pace.

She worried not about the foliage hitting her, or the times she needed to slow to a walk so she wouldn't run head first into trees, and wasn't even concerned with what direction she was going in, because she knew she was heading away from Taloba, and for now...that was the only direction that mattered.

[Soliloquy]

Tinnok

Experience:

• Reimancy (Water) +1
• Running +3
• Brawling +4
• Morphing +3
• Negotiation +1
• Weapon: Long Bow +2
• Socialization +2
• Stealth +2
• Acrobatics +2

Lore:

• Mornings: Set rituals and exercises
• Reina: Has a strong grip
• Giving into anger
• Krisha: A mother full of suprises
• Dog: a once faithful companion
• Night Armor: Near invisible
• Biting one's ear off is an odd sensation

Additonal Notes :

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this especially the fighting scenes. Definitely going to go back through your past threads ylto find out what lead to this. Cant wait to see how Tinnok handles all of this mentally and how she progresses now.

If one has any questions or concerns associated with their grade, send me a PM and we can work out the details.

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