Completed [Pavi Lake] Chasing The Salt Thief (Part II)

[Kaie]

58th of Summer, 513 AV

As expected, Ardea did indeed shift once more. As their best hope at recovering the trail of whoever was stalking them, Kaie was actually somewhat grateful for the woman's presence. Had the creature not leaped upon her back before she was aware of the woman's true form, the Myrian might've revered her a bit. Tigers were sacred to her clan. Perhaps even more so than her culture. Myrian Tigers littered her village at every corner. To find a beast within the jungle was a treat. They were beautiful and fierce, not to mention reliable mounts in warfare. Though this was a Kelvic, and one whose form was in no means dire, her clan might've called for the beast to be respected. Taking into account previous events, that order might've been quickly retracted. Still, she did admire the advantages Ardea had now with her heightened senses. Apparently, though, they didn't bring her much success this time around.

The Myrian woman turned to the group, eyeing each carefully. Had there been tracking on the ground, she wouldn't have hesitated to hunt the petching thing down. Yet tracks weren't in the trees. She had nothing to go off of. With both feral predators a bit lost and frustrated, Kaie had no choice to but see if anyone else had any ideas. It almost seemed like they were best cutting their losses and ditching the rescue effort all together. The thief was clearly trying to play a game Kaie had no wish to participate in. Though what choice did they have?


"Anyone have anything else to offer? Come on Ethaefal. What do those stars whisper to you now?"

[Jervis Hill]

"Anyone have anything else to off? Come on Ethaefal. What do those stars whisper to you now?" Kaie said angrily, though he thought more from frustration than with continued anger at the woman. So she was an ethaefal, he'd heard of them but never met one.

Kaie seemed at a lost for what to do as the Tressabelle had a point. Ardea couldn't help. Jervis felt lost too as they could track, running off, even with his night vision into the night blindly would be dangerous maybe fatal now that the enemy knew they where here.

He agreed with Tressa's assessment as the thief had a clear shot and seemed to mock them. It was something to provoke Kaie or maybe Ardea. Still he didn't know what to do.

"umm wouldn't the scent be in the tree the person was standing in, not on the ground here. I'm no tracker and maybe I'm being a fool, thats just my thoughts. I'm not sure what tree that was I didn't get a good look until he was already running away but if anyone did it might be a good place to start." Jervis mumbled allowed rubbing his head wondering if his suggestion had any made any sense. He figured if the thief had leaned up against the tree it's have his scent and while not clothing he might be able to take a piece of that for Ardea to use. He looked to each of the group in true wondering what their reactions to his suggestion would be.

[Vanari]

Why would they leave a trail? If their point was not to kidnap Rada, but rather to force us to participate in this wild goose chase, then what the petch could they possibly want? Why play this wretchedly cruel game in the first place? Somehow, it felt as though they were being toyed with, and the Vantha did not like such a possibility one bit.

Jervis said something about scents and trees. Vanari snapped out of her train of thought as she heard the others questioning what their next course of action should be, realizing the group's confusion was probably a result of no one having properly seen what she had seen. She repeated herself, louder this time.

"More. Salt. Look!"

She pointed down the moonlit path, the trail of tiny specks of salt somewhat difficult to make out but definitely noticeable once you knew what to look for. "It seems like they wanted us to follow, whoever they are. Anyone else getting the feeling it might be a trap?"

She pulled out a wedge of cheese from her bundle and nibbled on it thoughtfully. What in all of Mizahar could this possibly be about?

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[Opala Rada]

Opala' Rada

The clay woman had been jostling around in the dark of what seemed like a leather rucksack for a while before she realized, maybe this isn't a dream. After what happened to her father what seems like a lifetime ago her mother had always been so over protective of her. Suffocating really, but maybe with good reason. She'd not been in her first city a day before being kidnapped.

A rough jostle and the scent of big trees knocked her out of her deep thought. Who knows how far she's been taken. She decided to pull out her trump card. Rada hated doing this it felt unnatural and weird but this situation didn't seem like it was going to solve itself - least ways not in anyway she'd want it to be solved.

The small pycon began to meditate. Through the power of sheer thought her body began to slim and slim. She continued until she was just thin enough to slowly slip her torso out a very small opening in the bag. Her eyes widened as she surveyed the trees around her that whipped by as her captor leapt through them. From her bag she managed to pull out her py-whip.

This is dangerous. She thought to herself as her eyes hunted for a good branch to aim for This is dangerous and stupid. She'd managed to be quiet enough her captor thought she was still in the bag but they'd definitely notice the sudden couple of pounds missing. Before she could over analyze it the pycon saw a perfect branch and with a flick of her wrist the py-whip reached out and - Rada's eyes widened in amazement as the whip actually wrapped around the branch. But as the whip quickly pulled taught Rada thought Oh shyke. squeezed her eyes shut and grasped the whip tightly with both hands.

The clay figure was pulled roughly from the bag, mostly intact, except where the hem of her robes had ripped off up to her porcelain thighs. She soared through the air and shuddered at the bizarre pain of losing clay from her body. Rada shook her head and focused on the moment Focus, not falling to your death would be a good thing.

With surprising grace Rada landed on a branch nearby the one she'd lassoed. She was in the process of working the whip lose and wrapping it up incase she'd need it again soon when she saw her kidnapper had turned around and was coming right for her. The pycon began scaling up the tree with skill. However as skilled at climbing though she was, she was not climbing fast enough. The cloaked figure landed on the branch and reached up to grab Rada as a the branch cracked beneath their weight. A hand wrapped around Opala's leg and threatened to pull her to the ground. Instead what happened was her leg was yanked clean from her body.

The little porcelain colored woman caked in dust and dirt gripped the side of the big tree and let out a wail as her body was wracked with intense pain. The figure tumbled as it landed to the ground uninjured from its fall. It began pacing around the bottom of the tree looking for a way to climb up.

Opala Rada gritted her teeth and with her remaining limbs began to scale the tree but much slower and less surely then she had before.

{ooc: So sorry for the long long long absence guys. Glad to be back!}

[Tessabelle]

"Ethfael... What a great title. No, nothing yet. The stars tell me nothing. If she would be in bad pain the stars would tell me. But nothing." It was rare to see Tessabelle both angry and serious. The emotions she was feeling was towards the kidnapper and not so much Kaie, who she still hated. When the Vantha pointed out the salt, she just had to ask again. "Are you sure it's no one you know? Playing a game or something on you? This salt track is just a little odd." Sadly the stars told her nothing about it, she wouldn't be able to tell if it were fake or real. She patted her horse, who followed behind her the whole time. "Oh Leth, guide us to this thief. If it's a thief." Tessabelle wouldn't let go of the possibility that it was just a game. If the man knew Opala or not he was possibly playing a fun game and this group were the pawns in it. He was getting the best of everyone. People we're getting upset and filing their own plans."Guys, take a minute to think." It was a simple suggestions that they all needed. Everyone need to push their anger and hate away and think.

[Ardea]

The tigress flicked an ear in annoyance, of course there wasn't any scent, the thief wanted them to find him (or her) in a way of his choosing. She had no further move to investigate the scent, even on Jervis' suggestion, but she couldn't hold a grudge against him, obviously they had no concept of how scents worked and that was to be expected. When it seemed that they were back to the beginning, with absolutely nothing to go on, Vanari pointed rather insistently at a patch of ground by her feet. With low expectations, Ardea padded reluctantly over to the Vantha. As the trail came into view, she thought briefly how maliciously it seemed to glint in the harsh glare of moonlight.

At the Vantha's mention of the possibility of a trap, the tigress' auburn fur began to prickle with unease. However any paranoid thoughts were abruptly cut off as Vanari took out some cheese and began to nibble on it, the feline rolled her eyes, it was just like her friend to be eating at a time like this. Suddenly, something captivated Ardea's attention, her head snapped up and pointed towards the looming tree-line. The gentle breeze that brushed through the pines had brought with it an unnatural rustle, that of a creature, along with the very same, incredibly faint scent that had been on the deceased bird. A suspicion blossomed in the tigress' mind, her scorching gaze scanning the trees intently, as if she expected a rabid monster to erupt from between the branches at any moment.

However the Ethaefal's voice broke her concentration and the tigress averted her predatory gaze onto the woman. It was the first time Ardea had truly looked at her and she was breath-taking, though she did not expect any less of an Ethaefal daughter of Leth. The woman- Tessabelle, was it? - seemed, at the very least, to be able to defend herself with her words. Her suggestion, however, was less than productive. Thinking? This "group" seemed to be driven by impulse and it was impulse that would lead them to the thief. What use was thinking when all the facts were already lain out in front of them? What more could a mind deduce from a single salt trail?

Anyway, since the strange bird had shown up, Ardea was unsure whether or not she should even continue on this so-called 'rescue mission'. After all, the kelvic hadn't even seen the Pycon before, nevermind spoken to her. In any case, she was highly doubtful that Opala would see a tiger as an ally, anyway, even once she knew that Ardea was a kelvic, she might not favour her kindly. Kelvics were not usually so accepted. Would this Pycon even want to be rescued by a Kelvic at all?

Ardea shoved aside these thoughts, turning her attention back to the present. Whatever happened in the future, would happen. For now, she settled on sticking with the current moment, that mindset had always served her well before. Still, the Ethaefal's suggestion was pointless to her, even if the Kelvic thought of something, there wasn't exactly anyway she could communicate it, was there? What about those noises she had heard from the forest? The more the Kelvic thought about it, the more the sound had sounded like a wail. A cry of pain? But it had been so hushed and possibly quite far anyway that it was most likely not the being that the group were seeking. But what if it was? Ardea gestured pointedly towards the pines, in the direction the salt trail was headed, with her tail. They should follow the trail set out for them. What other choice did they have?

[Kaie]

Kaie's brow furrowed as Vanari brought attention to the salt yet again. As creatures of instinct and impulse, Kaie knew that is Ardea hadn't a clue how to find the thief, she probably hadn't much of a clue either. Though the longer the Myrian stared at the mediocre substance, the more her brain worked out a solution. She crouched beside the carcass, prodding it with her gladius's tip. Lip curled in distaste as the foul smell crept into her nostrils like a plague. Whatever it was, it had been long dead. But what had it to do with salt?

The Myrian stared down at the salt that had littered the ground. She crouched and placed a finger into the dirt. The woman swiped at it, and brought it toward her face. Kaie ran it between her fingers, testing its consistency. She tasted it on her tongue briefly, and scowled at the expected salty taste. There was no telling the salt left for them apart from anything naturally occurring at the salt lake itself. The ground gave easily so prints would've been clear. Perhaps that's why the mysterious figure had chosen the treetops instead of the ground?

Finally she stood up again and brushed her hands together, ridding herself of impurities. After a moment of contemplation she shrugged. It seemed their efforts had proven futile. If this really was a game, Kaie had no interest in playing. She had no incentive to, really. She had just pet the bloody Pycon for petch's sake. What's more she had a place she needed to be. Gone. Yet here she was in the petching woods looking for a petching piece of clay while something with the agility of a monkey taunted her. How cute. She shook her head at the group, scowling. Kaie began to exit their little gathering and take off into the trees.

"As I said once before, we should let the knights take it from here. Not my-" She was abruptly cut off as an arrow whizzed through the air in front of her face, wedging itself in the tree trunk immediately behind her. The Myrian rocked back on her feet, eyes wide with disbelief. She then crouched and whipped back toward the group as if she thought it had been one of them who fired. Instead she saw nothing. No bow in their hands. What she did see and hear, immediately brought a deep hatred to her expression. Kaie stared behind them, gripping her weapon tight. Waiting for it all to begin.

Right on cue came the rustle of leaves, bushes, and branches. It seemed that from above an angry shadow dropped to the earth. But they were not alone. Two more sounds. Footsteps left and more rustling to the right. Kaie was wondering just where to strike first. Another arrow flew toward her, but she narrowly managed to lean out of the way upon seeing the shadow of the bow. Her eyes immediately focused on the shadow who had been closest, the one who dropped through the trees. A man it appeared. He was racing toward them. For a moment she saw man between the thin areas of light Leth provided, but then he was gone. Replacing him as he moved into view was a strikingly quick jaguar. Suddenly, the tree running began to make more sense in the worst way.

Kaie turned to Ardea with an arched brow. She knew a fellow predator would need no other invitation. This was Kaie's battlefield and the tigress's territory. She had no doubt the instinct of the Kelvic would drive her to act. Lucky for Vanari, it seemed she would probably have her work cut out for her. Tessabelle and Jervis? Well, she hardly knew a thing about them. She did have a feeling the Ethaefal would be a bit of a problem wedged in the middle.
From her left came a thick, bearded man with a scimitar raced at her with a cry.

Goddess, don't let that woman turn me into a babysitter...

And the battle began.

[Vanari]

Vanari dropped her cheese as Kaie narrowly avoided one arrow, then another. Rustling sounds were suddenly all around them, reminding her eerily of a glassbeak ambush. Except, of course, for their attackers being above them as well, leaping through the thick canopies of leaves with terrifying ease.

She strained to see through the foliage, craning her neck and darting her eyes here and there. Wait...what was that? It looked small and familiar, and was moving so slowly it could not have been an assassin of any kind. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers. It couldn't be, could it?

She had to act fast, and alone, in their current situation. Alert the group and the rest of the intruders would know. One look at Kaie and Ardea and the Vantha could see plain as daylight they were both thinking; the two predators were ready for a fight, and they would not appreciate it if anyone got in their way of a long overdue bloodbath. Working on gut instincts, Vanari backed up towards the Ethfael woman and her horse, speaking to Jervis as she did.

"Jervis, you need to protect this woman and her friend." She glanced at him, then the Ethfael and her horse. "Just stay here, make sure she's safe, and see if you need to help Ardea or Kaie."

Then she lowered her voice the moment before chaos ensued and whispered, "Don't follow me unless I cry for help."

Vanari turned her back, trusting her Kelvic companion would be alright on her own, and scaled up a nearby tree two branches at a time. Thankfully, her height was good for something; she made easy work of climbing up, as there were plenty of branches to act as her steps.

Once she nearly reached the top, she stopped and gasped with a mixture of relief and horror. She had found the small Pycon, but her fine, clay features were twisted in pain and several parts were just...missing. Fumbling in her bundle, Vanari pulled out her small chunk of clay rations and placed it in Opala Rada's tiny hands.

Before she could utter a single word, however, a rustling sound alerted her from behind. She twisted around and stifled a scream. It was the thief from before, still hooded and unidentifiable, but approaching her and the Pycon quickly with a deadly weapon glistening in the dark.

Vanari didn't have much of a choice. She cradled the Pycon in her hands as gently as she could, then shouted below to Jervis and the Ethfael. "Guys! Catch!"

And then she let Rada go, watching her tumble down from the branches. There was no time to check if she was alright; the enemy was almost upon her, and she unsheathed her Tamo daggers, gritting her teeth and finding her bearings as best she could from atop the tree.

"Come get a piece of me, you petching bastard," she hissed.


" "

[Ardea]

Ardea leapt into action the moment the muffled twang of a bowstring reached her sensitive ears. A tidal wave of adrenaline that she had previously been restraining swept over her, a fight-or-flight instinct and her instincts stubbornly refused to accept the latter. Instantly, the tigress adopted a crouched position, it would give her an advantage, there was less of her exposed but it would be much easier for her to pounce. The second twang only severed to make her claws itch with eager anticipation. What little human that had been in her before had now vanished, the feline had adopted the same malevolent gleam in her auburn eyes as her truly wild cousins and what was there to distinguish her from them?

Her unruly gaze swept haphazardly across the undergrowth and a thin smile curled her feline lips as she spotted a man streaking towards them, a distinctly animalistic feature to his scent. The next moment, he had been replaced by a jaguar, which was of no surprise to the kelvic woman. Kaie's arched eyebrow cause her to act, she didn't need telling twice. The gesture was almost like a confirmation to the Kelvic, a subconscious reminder that Kelvics could make exceptionally good slaves and the creature interpreted the gesture as Kaie telling her that she could rip the other Kelvic to pieces.

The larger feline pounced, intercepting the jaguar on its path towards the Ethaefal. However, the male Kelvic was very agile and swift, something Ardea had not immediately anticipated and threw himself sideways, out of the grasp of her lethal claws. Ardea recovered swiftly, pressing herself into the group, her ears flattened against her head. A tenacious hiss sprung to her lips and she bared her bone-crushing canines in warning. The jaguar Kelvic twisted, their eyes locked, each seeming to be attempting to bore a hole into the other's soul. Tension between the two beasts was thick in the air like an incredibly hostile, lethal soup. One wrong move and the other would pounce.

To the two kelvics, there was no longer anyone else in the world, there was only Ardea and an enemy that was eager to sample the rich blood from her throat, just eager as she was to sample his.
"Your move, tabby." The jaguar spat, his tail lashing out behind him, a frustratingly confident glint in his eye that made the tigress tempted to take him up on his offer. But this feline was nimble, if she pounced then he would seize the opportunity to dart beneath her and cause some havoc to her unprotected stomach.
"Afraid?" He jeered, his concentration slipping for a brief moment as Vanari's voice rang out somewhere behind them, well what predator would pass up that opportunity?

"Enough talk!" Ardea let out a blood-curling battle cry (well, roar) as she pushed off from the soft earth, releasing the tremendous power which her hind legs possessed. Her massive paws stretched out in front of her as she aimed a painful blow to the jaguar's jaw- But the tigress fell short as the other beast barely managed to throw himself sideways. This time, Ardea did not wait, charging directly to the Kelvic and simultaneously re-engaging in the combat. Both felines now stood on their hind legs, a flurry of claws and powerful forelegs between them. One mistake, one wrong move and that- suddenly primed claws tore through her shoulder blade.

A furious roar erupted into the air as Ardea felt blood beginning to well in the fresh wound. But the jaguar had let his guard slacken slightly and didn't have enough time to react before Ardea's devastating claws ripped over his muzzle. This only served to infuriate the other feline further, both viciously tore at each other's pelts, acting entirely on instinct. They were relatively well-matched, but Ardea was larger and she would use this to her advantage. A well aimed set of claws soared close to her face, narrowly avoiding her eyes. Identifying a gap in his guard as he began to recover from his missed blow, Ardea surged forwards, her sheer weight causing him to topple to the ground.

But it was not over. The jaguar immediately defended himself, though he could not stand for the tigress loomed over him. Ardea batted at the side of his head repeatedly, baring her teeth, the jaguar responded by lunging for her throat- it was an awkward angle and his head soared underneath her chin, causing him to fall flat on his stomach. The tigress did not waste a moment, positioning herself over him and making a clumsy bite towards the back of his head, her canines connecting instead with his ear, which they pierced straight through- the jaguar hastened forwards and turned in one fluid movement, subsequently causing a chunk of his own ear to be ripped off. This fight would inevitably end with one of them being severely maimed- and it sure as hell wasn't going to be Ardea.

[Jervis Hill]

Jervis had turned back to the treeline, staring absentmindedly as his mind reeled wanting to help the young woman he'd just met. Happenstance made Jervis the first to see the arrow coming and had started off with a few angry quick steps, to instinctually protect the woman who reminded him of someone from his past before he heard Vanari's words.

"Jervis, you need to protect this woman and her friend." Vanari glanced at him, then the Ethfael and her horse. "Just stay here, make sure she's safe, and see if you need to help Ardea or Kaie."

It wasn't trust that stopped him but instinct, Though Jervis trusted Vanari most of the group so far. Jervis had been raised by a kind though strict priestess, Following with apprenticeship under the cold and violent Coli. To hear a woman issue a command who was not an opponent would always cause him to stop and listen, both from habit and slight fear of being struck.

Considering the woman's words and then the situation more clearly he decided she had a point. Kaie wasn't his limping mistress and he's just get in the way of the natural warriors with how rusty he'd grown on his long journey. If Coli had gotten the drop on him like this with one of her ambushes against him he'd never have been so lucky as to have her miss.

Jervis quickly jogged back to Vanari stooping to grab his cassock as he passed. Most would not understand the point of it but he didn't care. He wasn't allowed to use a real weapon so he'd learned to use everything as a weapon that couldn't be and his cassock was the his most trained.

"Don't follow me unless I cry for help." Vanari whispered to him as she passed.

"Aye Milady, No harm shall come to these two on my watch. If Ardea needs help I will." Jervis said firmly his voice resembling the his stone like appearance, continuing to move taking up position as well as he could between Kaie, Adrea and the enemies, placing himself behind the warrior but in front of Tessa and her horse. He did know if there where more enemies about, or even the full arsenal of the people involved so he used his cassock as a crude cape to blur his form in the darkness focusing on his weaker right side.

Jervis used himself as a human shield for Tessa as he paced back and forth keeping and eye on both fights and trying to see further assailants. It was foolish, and placed himself in great peril for this new girl but it was Vanari's command and he admired the way she had taken charge. It also didn't protect the girl from behind but that had been the way she had come from and hoped these two were the culprits, trying to brush off the grim thought of more assassins sneaking up on them from the trees behind.

After a few minutes of guarding and following the fight a voice rang down from the trees, Vanari's voice he recognized.

"Guys! Catch!" She called tossing something gently down. the light aiding his natural night vision he could tell it was Opala and she looked injured.

"Grab this." Jervis yelled louder than intended at Tessa,flicking his cassock instinctually towards her. It raced out towards her stopping with a snap an inch or two away from her torso, his intention being to use his cassock as a net to catch the small woman. He hoped the girl was as smart as she had sounded from the bit of overhead conversation and would catch on to his plan without explanation as the didn't have time.