Flashback Ferocious and Invisible IV

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The Wilderness of Cyphrus is an endless sea of tall grass that rolls just like the oceans themselves. Geysers kiss the sky with their steamy breath, and mysterious craters create microworlds all their own. But above all danger lives here in the tall grass in the form of fierce wild creatures; elegant serpents that swim through the land like whales through the ocean and fierce packs of glassbeaks that hunt in packs which are only kept at bay by fires. Traverse it carefully, with a guide if possible, for those that venture alone endanger themselves in countless ways.

Ferocious and Invisible IV

Postby Shausha on June 28th, 2013, 12:30 am

32 Summer 511
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Continued from (here)

“Will you come back out with me?” Shausha pleaded, pulling on Chi-ee’s wing.

“Why!” exclaimed her friend, indignant. “I’m still bleeding and you don’t need my help anyway!”

Displeased, she hissed, but Chi-ee merely rolled her eyes as she continued to lick blood out of her fur. It was a little past midnight after she had finished her lunch. Usually, Goliath would call on her at this time, but he had not requested her for a training session for the past few days. The thought made her frown. Shausha paused before leaving. “If Goliath sends for me, will you come get me?” she asked.

“Yeah, yeah.” Chi-ee said dismissively, waving a paw behind her.

Shausha pushed into the air, exiting the underground system and rising in the night sky. She watched her moonlit shadow flow over the grass as she approached the scarred tree that had been her training dummy earlier. She landed with a soft thud and sank into the tall grass. She rolled over several times, trying to impart the earthy smell into her fur and taking it into her lungs as well. She lay on her stomach, examining the weapon and thinking of its potential uses. After a moment, her hackles raised uncomfortably. Shausha slapped a hand to the back of her neck and looked around, trying to root out the source of her instinct’s discomfort. Finding nothing, she got to her feet and unwound the rope weapon from her neck.

Like earlier, she tried spinning it round and round, stopping to find it when she accidentally flung it away. Slowly beginning to understand the mechanics of this weapon, she sorted out what did and did not work. First, she realized the limits of just swinging it in circles; It was far too unwieldy and unreliable to use this method in any kind of combat situation. A pivotal moment was when she realized that she could use her body to change the direction of the dart; After swinging it around like a lasso, she’d wind it around her arm, unwind it, and using her forearm to bend the rope ninety degrees, it would fly with greater speed and accuracy than just spinning it overhead. She didn’t spend her next few hours aiming it at the trees, rather, bending the rope around her arms, legs, waist. Her unskilled fingers fumbled clumsily with the unbalanced weapon causing it to swing wide, or spiral too quickly around her body, giving her small lacerations.

While she was spinning the rope around her forearm, her fur prickled once more. She spun around, releasing the blade in a straight line, but no one was there. She yanked on the end of the rope nervously, recalling the blade. However, she pulled a little too hard and had to sidestep to avoid being pierced by the returning dart. Hissing, she held a hand to her newly-cut jaw and looking around confused. She definitely thought she had heard something.

Sinking to the ground once more, she rolled onto her bare back. The grass prickled under her skin, bending and shifting. A cool current of air ruffled across her chest, making the meadows sway. Shausha took a deep breath and stretched. The gentle creaking of the trees, the far-off cawing of birds, and the sky’s shadow pressing on her skin all lulled her into a state of immense comfort. She pressed an ear to the ground, listening intently, curious if there was anything to hear below. After a moment, she almost jumped out of her skin. While she was focusing on the underground, two Zith landed next to her overtuned hearing to amplify the actual “thud” of their landing.

“She’s right there,” Chi-ee drawled, flipping her long hair behind her shoulder. Expecting to see Goliath, Shausha quickly got to her feet. However, standing in front of her was Four-Fang. She looked from Chi-ee and Four-Fang, raising an eyebrow. Both smelled of sweat and were panting.

“Is something wrong? What did you rush here for?” Shausha asked, eyes now meandering over Four-Fang’s figure. He was covered in scratches. Chi-ee sniggered and turned, kicking his shoulder as she took off.
Circling his shoulder in its socket, he said, “Yeah, uh, Goliath was looking for you. I was gonna get you because...ahh...I wanted to see how you and the rope thing were getting along.”

“Getting used to it.” Shausha said, “but it’s a pain in the ass.” Four-fang leaned forward and examined the freshest cut on her jaw.

“I can see that,” he chuckled, wiping at the blood and sucking it off his thumb. “Come on, he’s waiting.” He was nearly a foot taller than Shausha, and his wingspan at least four feet wider. Using his much stronger legs to push off into the currently windless air, he circled overhead as Shausha got a running start. Aiming at a downward slope, she ran and opened her wings as suddenly as possible. Her wings filled with the sudden burst of air and it lifted her off the ground.

Beating her wings vigorously, she gained altitude, up to where the stronger currents of air resided. Unfortunately, the upper layer of air was rather still as well, so she had a some trouble keeping up with Four-Fang. The second time he had to pause and wait for her to catch up, he laughed, put his arm around her waist and gave her a boost of speed. She beat him off, squawking something like “I know how to fly!” at which he laughed harder.

When they finally reached the ruins above Xy, Shausha searched and found Goliath in their courtyard. He was speaking with a couple Zith she did not know. The strangers seemed important, judging by the way he was holding his shoulders and wings downward. Shausha saw Goliath glance up at her and shake his head slightly. She veered off, towards the entrance of Xy, unsure what to do. Four-Fang broke away from her, heading towards Goliath until he, too, was shooed away. The two landed. Shausha looked up at Four-Fang who rubbed his forehead, perplexed.

Four-Fang squatted down, picking up a stick and running it over the ancient cobblestone ground. “I suppose this is about the group of Akalak we spotted with the help of Ikbal. Probably the same as the ones that pursued you,” he guessed and sighed. “Come here. Look at this.” Shausha crouched next to him and peered at the drawing he had made in the loose sand. Depicted were several long lines with squares on either side. “This is Riverfall, the home of the blue men, the Akalak. There’s an enormous waterfall that plunges through the city...see here? And here.” He indicated to the housing on either side of the waterfall. “The city is built upwards, not downwards, like Xy.” He went on to explain several key locations that proved too fortified to attack, “The only advantage we have in Riverfall is being able to fly and that is not enough to make a smart raid. A predator never attacks on grounds where it does not have the advantage.”

“You should also know that they, like us, have a dark sight, a night side. They live four times as long as any Zith and are about three feet taller than you. We’ve rarely made raids directly on the city, because of their ability to see the heat of the body. You’ve heard that before, right?” he asked, turning to see her nod. “We prefer to pick off the sides and the widespread Drykas. Recently-” he paused to pass his hand over his face, “- Goliath has got it in his head that he wants to raid Riverfall.”

“He’s...” Shausha began, wide-eyed. She had not taken him for a brash or unwise hunter.

“A freakin’ moron,” Four-Fang finished. “One-on-one, a single Akalak male is stronger than Goliath. Probably. They are fierce warriors and weapon crafters... though, they’re dying out.”

“Dying out? From what?” she asked curiously.

Four-Fang tossed his head back and laughed, “They can’t find enough women that will carry their children!” He spat on the ground, standing up. “We Zith are prolific. We will take over. Every female bears two pups. Our numbers expand daily. Do not worry about Goliath’s fantasy. He cannot make the raid without two-hundred Zith and he can’t manage that without his elders consenting.”

The Zith that were speaking with Goliath departed, black bullets against the sky. Goliath walked out of the crumbling room the meeting had been held in, a dark look on his face.

“Aaaand that’s my queue to depart,” Four-Fang sang, backing away and jumping into the air.

“I’m sure he’s been filling your head will all kinds of stories,” Goliath rumbled, looking down at her. Shausha lifted a hand and traced a small, rather deep wound in his side. It was in the process of healing, but looked like it had been opened again recently. “The weapon around your neck did that,” he explained, lifting the cord that hung around her collar with a finger. “Alright, show me what you’ve learned with it.” Shausha instinctively drew her hand away and sucked the blood off her finger. It had a rich, powerful scent and a metallic taste that stung her tongue slightly.

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Last edited by Shausha on June 29th, 2013, 4:23 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Ferocious and Invisible IV

Postby Shausha on June 29th, 2013, 4:15 am

32 Summer 511
___________________________________________________________________________________________


Goliath lead her back into the courtyard. He was still brooding darkly when they squared off. Shausha spun the cord at her side, readying herself. Shausha focused on controlling her instrument as he resumed his efforts to land a punch on her body.

She found that utilizing the weapon demanded more of a mid-range stance. Spending more time trying to create distance from Goliath than actually throwing the dart, the main reason she fell was due to tripping, not actually being struck. After a short while of this awkward game of tag, Goliath suggested something new.

“Let’s try mid-air brawling,” he offered, “It’ll give us more movement and, well, this lesson has been coming for quite a while. Put the rope down as you get used to the movements. It’s much different.”

“You’re going to knock me out of the sky!” Shausha moaned, lifting into the air as she heard the sha-sha of his wings opening. They circled each other, picking up speed and normalizing their flight. Sure, she had brawled mid-air with her friends time and time again, but as she had learned the first day of training, fighting with Goliath was on a whole different caliber of art. In practiced readiness, she veered upwards, creating distance from him. However, he would not allow her the upper hand and shot upwards, making a hairpin turn and coming straight back towards her. She, too, made a turn and flew to meet him. They clashed together.

Shausha, correctly anticipating that Goliath would choose a straightforward power attack, used its momentum to fuel her own,secondary attack. She dodged his arm, clung to it, and using the force that would have knocked her backwards, flipped over. Barely allowing her time to straighten her wings, Goliath laid into his normal pattern of striking out: fast and accurate.

Being in the air gave Shausha more movement, but allowed Goliath to use his muscular legs against her. Blows came from all sides; If she closed her wings to drop suddenly out of range of a punch, Goliath’s knee was there to meet her. At first, she put up a fight, dodging and recovering quickly from any partial hits. However, as he wore her down, she quickly lost her pattern. Strike after strike landed on her body: wings, legs, back, chest. Finally resorting to a mid-air crouch, she huddled as her wings failed. Her arms swam in the air before her as she prepared to crash to the earth. She fluttered her wings weakly, but they could not hold against the speed of the wind that her fall was quickly increasing.

A wave of vertigo turned her stomach as she felt Goliath's arm wrench her out of the dive. Blood rushed to her forehead and between her eyes. He landed among the dusty ruins and released her. She teetered for a moment before balancing herself on a cobbled wall. Wiping a cold sweat from her brow, she nodded at Goliath and pulled his paw from her chin where he had been tilting her face upwards, scrutinizing her condition. He nodded, too, not having found a cause to stop. They returned to the sky.

This time, Golaith was prepared for her countermeasures against the initial strike. When she tried to repeat the flipping maneuver, he grabbed her right ankle before she could execute it. Shausha’s whole body throbbed with a powerful heartbeat as the memory of Ikbal grabbing her ankle flashed into her mind. Her hair raised on end and she snarled, liberating her foot from his hold with a sudden jerk. She trapped that arm between her legs and grappling his arm with her left hand. With her free hand, she put all her power into sending a flattened hand towards his throat. He caught her hand before her nails pierced his neck. Heart beating wildly now, she kicked off his chest, pulling her hand free and looping backwards in a tight flip. Drawing her knees up slightly and holding her hands ready, she waited for the next attack, but it did not come.

“You are tapping into your instinct's energy,” Goliath said, observing her frenzied state, “It helps you become faster, more reactive, but be careful not to lose yourself. It ceases to be useful when you go completely feral.” As her battle state faded, Shausha felt muscles relax that she was not aware she had tensed. They hovered for a moment before Goliath sighed and circled around, back down towards the ground. Reluctantly, Shausha followed, landing next to where he had perched upon a crumbling tower.

They sat for a moment, observing the lightening sky. The surface of Shausha’s eyes shone with the reflection of fading stars. The pale, faint glow of the sun’s luster bled upon the morning sky. Goliath let out another rumbling sigh.

“The Akalak are planning something; I know it,” he revealed. Reflexively, Shausha looked up at his usually stern face which was now dusted with vexation. Shausha raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“How do you know?

“I’m sure of it,” he repeated, not looking away from the horizon. “I can feel it coming.” Shausha returned her head to her knees as she shifted her footing on their stone perch. Goliath certainly sounded convicted and she supposed that’s what he had been talking to the strangers about. She was taken from her reflection when he suddenly took hold of her shoulders and stared down at her. His brows were knitted above his intense gaze. Caught off guard, Shausha tried to loose herself, but he gave her a gentle shake.

“If something terrible happens, see to it you escape.” Now thoroughly bewildered, Shausha nodded, staring back into his strangely concerned face. Not for a moment did she know Goliath to be anything but steadfast. “We’ll continue to train you. You’ll be fine.” Completely unnerved by this cryptic warning, Shausha stood up shakily. Goliath did not stand with her; He stayed crouching, staring into the horizon.

“I believe you,” she avowed. He looked up at her sharply. “The men that chased me were geared to the teeth. I think I told you before... when you first came to see me, but now that I think on it, the reason they were so slow to pursue me into the cave was because they had so much equipment.” She met his gaze sharply, “Were they setting up a camp?”

“Possibly,” he conceded, looking pensive, but no longer worried. “We will get to the bottom of this.”

Continued (here)
.
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