Closed To Kill a Glassbeak.

[Cyq]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Those few extra ticks were all the Pycon needed to finish off the last pieces of the spear. The leash would add a few more ticks as well, holding back the juvenile creature from simply bursting out from the simple ring and slamming straight into Shamus. The tip was refined to a sharpened edge, and all at once the Res inside the spear was slammed down and transmuted, causing it to gain speed and weight just before it slammed down into the creature from above. Shamus' fear had worked, and kept the creature huddled in one place, meaning that the strike went down from above and impaled the creature - the spear was only a few feet long and quite narrow, but it was still a spear, and sliced through the ruff of feathers lining the things back.

It was a shame that the Pycon didn't have anything else to finish the thing off, because it wasn't dead just yet. Mortally wounded, yes, and far beyond the ability to harm either of them now as it stumbled about in the portal, choking for breath and coughing up blood. Both Shamus and Cyq could relax - the hedgehog being the first to do so, nearly tumbling onto his own backside since he'd been forced to abandon his little walking stick in favour of using both hands to draw forth the necessary djed from his palms. If he could sweat, he'd likely have fallen back into a puddle.. but the adrenaline commanded that he cast more, nonetheless. There was no reason to.. the creature was soon falling over on its side, just outside the portal, breathing heavily within the effort to just keep its lungs working.

The leash had broken at some point, thanks to the sudden jolt of magic running through the birds body. With it outside the portal, it was safe to close it again - the deceased animal wouldn't be slipping back inside again, and the Pycon had no intention of allowing any more creatures through, if that even was possible at this stage. A touch and the watery surface dissipated, with the ground rising back up again to fill the space within the painted surface. Blood painted a majority of the circle anyway. "Well done, Shamus." They'd done it. Now there was only one thing to do left. "Now, you said you had a knife.. time to put it to good use. I'm going to need a bit of help carving up this body, if you wouldn't mind. Feel free to help yourself to the beaks and claws if you like.. I don't think I'll be able to do anything with either of them." Well, it only seemed fair.

[Shamus]

35th of Fall, 514 AV The earthen tip slammed straight into the bird, still confused and looking around. It punctured the feathery coat, delving deep into the bird, but not deep enough for a clean kill. It stumbled and then fell, feet still moving and releasing halfhearted squawks of pain alongside its heavy breathing. It was difficult not to feel bad for the creature, making a large effort to survive even though everyone knew it would die in mere chimes or ticks. His eyes closed, shielding himself from the birds slowing flails and everything else, resting his sore eyes. He opened his mouth to take a long deep breath, holding onto the breath until he felt lightheaded. The air puffed out gently, lips pursed and cheeks pushed outwards against the world. His throat hurt slightly, and Shamus knew his voice would be little to nothing for the next few days thanks to his earlier yell. Surely it would wear off in a few days, loss of voice never lasted long enough to be debilitating, Shamus nearly laughed when the pycon said well done, opening his eyes to see what had happened to the pycon that suddenly changed his demeanor from threats to compliments. His shoulders moved up in a shrug, no reason to ruin the pycon's good mood. Shamus wasn't a fan of being told he would die anyway. While listening to the request to help cut up the bird, his hand moved to the sheathe under the belt. Fingers curled around the hilt before giving a yank to free the kukri from its sheathe. The curved blade reflected sunlight as he walked toward the pycon, thinking of useful things that the claws and beaks could be for, thinking of carving tools with the talons and maybe some other tool with the beak. "Yeah, I can use the talons and beak. Here," he said, gripping the blade on the flat sides with two fingers, hilt pointed toward the pycon. His legs bent, crouching down to get it to the clay hedgehog.

[Cyq]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Cyq smiled when the man finally unsheathed his blade.. but it immediately dropped when the thing was presented to him. Just as a show, he made sure to wave the hunting knife of his own before Shamus. "Hey, if you want them, you'll have to get them out yourself. Don't know if you haven't noticed, but I'm not the biggest nor the strongest creature this side of the Unforgiving. They're free to take, but you've still got to take them I'm afraid." It was true, that even if Cyq wanted to, he wouldn't be able to take out the beak nor the claws. For one, the beak was molded firmly to the rest of the skull, and the claws were pretty solidly attached to the rest of the bones over the feet. Second, the fact that they were nearly translucent and incredibly strong meant that not only would they be pretty useless to the Pycon if he couldn't carve into them, but they'd also be even more difficult to break off in one piece. "Now come on, get stuck in!"

Just like that, the Pycon stabbed the Glassbeaks body straight at the top of the right leg and began slowly dragging it down across the inner thigh and down to the kneecap, before continuing down the length of the side of the calf and down towards the ankle. He needed to slice away all the muscle and clear up enough of a gap to get to the bone so that he could begin removing it. The work wasn't clean; the blood was still warm, and it flowed freely over the bone and out of the wound, drenching both the blade and the Pycons paws. Thank goodness that most of it went out with the spear through the middle of the body. Maybe I should get into the habit of bleeding out the animals before I begin chopping up their bodies.. just to make sure they won't bleed all over me when I make the first incision. True, there was a lot of blood, and it stank of raw meat with a distinct metallic aftertaste lingering in the back of the throat.

The Pycon didn't flinch, though. He handled it with all the grace of a human dissecting a plant. This blood, these bones and muscles and organs were not his, not even close to his. This was more than just an animal, this was an animal that he shared no common similarity with. He had no sympathy for it, as he unhooked the groups of muscles surrounding the backs of the legs by their tendons, before ripping them away and beginning to cut the ligaments and remove the leg entirely. The skin was the easiest part, and shredded away like little more than paper. The only delicacy came when it was time to remove the femur bone from the connecting joint at the hip. After all, the bones were all that mattered. As long as they were kept in shape, everything was fine. Afterwards he could prepare them and then begin work. "I suggest take what you want, and then help remove the other leg before dumping the body farther down off the edge of this hill." He broke off for just a moment to look back at Shamus. "We don't want to attract more wild animals with the scent of fresh meat..."

[Shamus]

35th of Fall, 514 AV His fingers gave a few snaps, smacking against his palm as he thought about whether it would be worth the effort or not. He finally decided that it would be a great souvenir if nothing else, although it seemed that it could be put to use in some other way. "Alight, brief warning, I tend to focus pretty hard on tasks, so give me a nudge if ya need anything." The blade was brought to the head of the fallen elegant predator, his knees gave a bend, bringing him close to the corpse. A puff of air in, blade pointed to the base of the beak, a puff out and the blade entered into the flesh, only making it a half inch in before smacking into bone. Shamus pointed the handle down, pointer finger moving onto the top of the blunt side of the blade blade and applying pressure. He began to move the blade, sliding the blade through the flesh and back to get as deep of a cut as possible. He did this in a circular motion, tilting the angle of the blade harshly to achieve a wedged cut. The blade was set down, dripping with crimson fluid that matched that on his hands. He held out his hands. wrapping his fingers around the beak securely, which was difficult with blood lubricating his hands against the smooth beak. Managing to find a grip, he positioned his legs to push against the body, moving glassbeak's head to between his legs. Knees bent, body moving forward, preparing to spring back in a yank. He took in a big breath of air, pushing back against the bird to gain leverage. The beak made a loud pop as he yanked, giving slightly against his pull. Another pull, a bead of sweat running down his face from exertion. More ground was gained before a final pull that resulted in the ultimate extraction of the beak. He looked at it with wide eyes, running a finger across the surface, painted red from blood. Cutting up a corpse proves to be nasty business, he thought to himself. A bit of nausea crept into him, stomach upset at the warm liquid covering everything. The major wave of nausea hit him hard like a tsunami, his head turning quickly and emptying the contents of his stomach onto the ground next to him. "I am not really accustom to blood, as you can probably see," he said with his voice shaking. He gagged again but luckily found nothing coming out.The claws aren't worth it, he assured himself, turning his attention to the removed leg. Shamus walked to the pycon, observing his work and fine clean cuts. He proceeded to follow his instructions disposing of the leg and turning back toward the hedgehog, turning away from the gory scene. "What else lives out here?" he wondered aloud, "how much longer should you take?"

[Cyq]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

With the tip of the blade slipping between the ball and socket of the joint at the pelvis, the entire leg soon fell away. Afterwards, there was still the foot to be removed and sliced clear of the lower two bones making up the shin of the bird, which went by fairly quickly because of the mass of bones that made up the ankle and the various gaps he could slip the blade between. There were still claws that could be taken, at least three. The tip of the blade slipped into the little fleshy ring surrounding each one, and dug deep into the joints of the toes before popping the entire thing free. Knuckle bones, three of them, each tipped with a glassy hooked claw. Didn't look that bad - and if Shamus wasn't going to pick them up, then the Pycon sure wasn't going to miss out on the opportunity.

When the man was finally finished with the beak, he allowed himself a moment of rest. Not that it was really rest at all. His muzzle crinkled as he looked away from the man vomiting up all over the rocks. "What even was that?!" he asked in disgust. He didn't know what it was, evidently, but it looked and sounded both disgusting and painful at the same time. "If blood doesn't suit you.. ugh, perhaps you should look away while I remove the other leg and remove the bones. After that, we'll go. Before the bears and birds arrive." There were bound to be hunters and scavengers already eyeing them from the edges of the mountains.

With that brief 'break' done, he turned back to the single removed leg and the second leg still attached. Shyke. This is going to take a while. Killing and harvesting Glassbeaks wasn't as easy as it sounded - bells had passed since they left the city, and Syna's light was beginning to ebb. He didn't want to spend the night out in the Unforgiving, whether or not he had someone around to help out. He wanted the bones, and he wanted to get home.

His movements were becoming faster - he cleaved through the space just between hips and thighs with little hesitation, cutting away skin and muscle before digging his entire paw in up to the shoulder with the knife still in his paw, to cut away at the ligaments and free up the bones from the socket joint at the hip. The leg was stretched out as far as it could go to make some space before he simply slashed through the remaining parts, becoming less of the delicate slices one would expect from a doctor and more of the overhead chopping one could expect from a butcher cutting up a sow. The blood had stopped flowing an age ago, but it still drenched the Pycon in flecks and leaked all over the surrounding floor as he dug deep and eventually dragged the leg free of its torso. "If you're done with it, grab the body and toss it down the edge of the hill." That way he could finish cutting up the legs and collecting the necessary parts with the peace of mind that most of the edible meat was far away.

He needed to work on both the legs at the same time. All thoughts of the hypnotist proving useful when it came to the butchering of the animal had fallen flat. Instead, he ruthlessly dug the little blade into the space at the back of the knees on each of the legs in turn, drawing it up into the gap between the femur and the tibia. When he drew open the wound, he found a very narrow bone that he could only suspect would be the fibula.. although it was very long and very narrow at the same time. "Petch!" He wasn't sure if he'd be able to do anything with them. What he thought was six bones, might turn into just four. I guess I could live with four... In truth, he only needed one or two. I could always summon more as well. I know where they are.. I know they're afraid of fire. He nodded quietly to himself and then began anew.

There was no more caution. He ripped away the muscle surrounding the thick fibula and femur, drawing them down and pulling them free almost violently - the two were thick and strong, easily able to withstand a little rough treatment. In no time at all, he'd dragged the four blood-soaked bones from their respective parts, and abandoned the two fibula. One of them had cracked under the pressure, but he didn't care. "Get the rest of this muscle and shyke down there and let's go, now." He didn't even bother to collect the other claws. He just wanted to get out.

[Shamus]

35th of Fall, 514 AV He clutched the neck of the beast, putting one foot back and moving his weight to his front foot. He gave a pull, digging the foot into the ground and yanking backwards with as much force as he could muster. The bird moved an inch. A growl of frustration emanated from his mouth, as if it would help him in his task to move the bird over the cliff. Another pull, similar story. The Glassbeak was extremely heavy, so much so that Shamus's efforts weren't enough so far. A different approach was necessary. Pondering tactics to move the bird took him a moment, throwing ideas around in his head before grinning at a particularly appealing idea. He searched the ground, picking up a few fist sized stones that seemed round enough to roll effectively on the rough surface of the cliff. He found a arm full, around eight of the stones, and placed them in front of the bird, pushing them under the body. His arms encircled the neck again, wrapping tight as a vice to secure the grip. He stepped back, grunting as he pulled the body of the massive bird up onto the stones. He moved quickly, rolling the bird across the ground over the stones with much more ease than before, although it was still plenty of work. A final pull pared with a large grunt of exertion and the bird went falling down the cliff, clearly not made for flight. It plummeted, smacking against the lower cliffs with subsequent cracks of bone breaking each time. Shamus was sore, arms tired from the hard work and he knew it would be a painful morning for his back and arms. Pulling birds around suddenly seemed to be a much harder task than he had first interpretation of it would have made it seem, pulling things around was a challenging task. He stumbled back toward the Pycon, sitting down on the rough ground to prevent any tripping. After glancing back toward the hedgehog's work, he turned away immediately in favor of looking over the hills instead.

[Cyq]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

If Shamus thought that the weight of the torso was heavy, he should have tried the legs. Sure, they might have been lighter for him, but the Pycon was barely a few inches tall, and it was like moving a literal mountain. Even the bones were heavy for him, and they were far too large to stick in the small bag filled with the various materials he needed to keep with him. He couldn't walk into Lhavit with a load of blood-soaked bones, because someone would evidently become suspicious. Instead, he packed away his tools and other materials, before taking out the strips of cloth he kept inside. Each one was wrapped around the stack of bones, keeping them together and covering the bulk so that it just appeared as a regular package. He could likely get away with this. The blood soaked into the insides, and there was hardly enough of it to soak all the way through and make it blatantly visible. The few parts that weren't covered he quickly pressed against his side to disguise.

"If you're done, I suggest we leave now." There were still pieces of muscle and skin lying over the ground, strewn in a small arc. If anyone came along, it'd likely be pretty obvious just what had happened, considering that none of the pieces had been eaten and only specific body parts were targeted. The wild animals would make short work of the rest, though. Soon there'd be nothing left but a few specks of blood and more bones, most of which would be utterly useless to the hedgehog. "We've spent too long already out here." Syna's light was rapidly fading, and the hedgehog wasted no time in slinging his heavy pack over one shoulder, hooking it around the other, and picking up his abandoned walking stick before beginning a wobbly hobble back in the vague direction of Lhavit.

This was the reason he'd brought his stick along with him - or at least one of the reasons. He was leaning against it much more than before; reliant on it, in the hopes that he wouldn't simply tip over to the side under the weight of all the thick bones in his free arm. "If you'd like to take these for the duration of the journey, I'd be very grateful, you know." The question was almost in hindsight, but the hedgehog didn't mind carrying them himself. If anything, they felt comfortable when they pressed into his side, reminding him of his accomplishment. Two femurs, two fibula, and three claws all pressed against his side. Not a bad haul considering the work they'd gone through. He felt utterly exhausted from it all, but it wasn't anything that a quick nap wouldn't fix. "If you're feeling better from whatever the shyke you had before, of course."

[Shamus]

35th of Fall, 514 AV He nodded in agreement, muscles contracting and releasing quickly in his dramatized gesture, "yes, much too long. The light will fade to nothing soon, we must hurry back before we are left in the dark." Shamus pondered what was to come when they returned, bloody and clearly out of place, a bit suspicious to all who would see the pair. Shamus listened in on the Pycon's request, shrugging to himself. The Pycon was small, he was big, may as well help out. "Sure, hand 'em here," he said, taking the bones from the Pycon. The mind always wandered when there was nothing left to be said, as it was now. Maledictor... What's that like? How does it work? Clearly extracting the abilities of the a past life somehow... Maybe finding a way to release and use the djed that defines the ability through carving? All of his thoughts revolved around the seemingly dark art while his eyes watched the ground for anything that would result in him tripping in the fading light. The pair moved with quick feet and and quick paws, each being hobbling along in their own attempt at a fast pace. "What do we do when we return? We don't exactly look inconspicuous, being a Pycon and a man both covered in blood. And where can I find you if I ever have reason for a Maledictor or Summoner?" Shamus's golden eyes began to perk up in the dim haze of light that coated the world as Syna left the skies alone. He always did find sight easier when the sun wasn't forcing its gaze into his delicate sight. A glimmer of light was seen in front of the pair, a sign of the city approaching into sight. "We will be there soon," Shamus stated, as obvious as it was. The pace was increased even faster, trying to reach the city before the last bit of sun disappeared until it was invisible to all. Animals had already begun to go into hiding, and a period of rest had befallen the city, rendering Shamus tired from the usual routine that told his mind it was time for the tendrils of sleep to encircle him and pull him into the resting warmth of his bed.

[Cyq]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

At the question, the little Pycon scoffed. "Perhaps you don't." If anything, the Pycon was soaked in even more blood than the man - head to toe, as if his clay had a natural dark crimson tinge. The longer he stood in place, though, the more the colour began to fade from his surface. The clay drenched in blood was slowly drawing itself inside his body, and being replaced with fresh clay that covered the hints of blood. It took a few chimes of standing in silence before he'd returned to his original colour, with nothing but a few splatters of blood over his little wooden walking stick to ever raise suspicions over what he'd been up to in his spare time. "Suppose you'd better try and hide all that stuff." He waved a paw to all the splatters of blood on Shamus in a vague answer, before turning and once again beginning his walk. He'd answer all the other things on the way.

"You'd want a maledictor, or a summoner, huh?" Now this could be very interesting. "If you ever want to find me again, you can come and find me at the Towers Respite." He was still learning the proper ways of Reimancy under the Dawn Tower, so it was the most likely place he'd ever be.. if not out in the Unforgiving, hunting down more animals and killing them for his Legacies. "If you want my services.. then I'm sure we can come to a very simple agreement." After all, he could always use more things. Not money, though...

"If you ever want me to summon something for you, then I'm sure we can work out something on an.. ahem, individual basis. And if you ever want something maledicted, then I'll do it for free." He was a charitable soul, after all. There was just one thing that he really wanted in the end, and then he'd likely agree to making the man whatever he damn well pleased, just for the pleasure of creating some new items with some new materials. "All I need you to do is supply me with the materials needed to craft it. Maybe a little extra. I'll even help you kill it, if you want. Don't expect me to do all the work.. but I don't expect you to go out and try to kill a Glassbeak by hypnotizing it into a heart attack."

In a rare moment, he stopped a second time, in the fading amber light, and turned back to Shamus. "You know that I appreciate everything you've done for me today.. and if you need something done, I'd always take up an opportunity to return the favor you've done me by coming out here." There was sincerity in his voice as he stared up at the man, with a soft smile pressed on his little clay lips. He felt like he'd shared a moment with this man.. something that would never really be shared with many. The only other he'd done it with so far, was the Symnestran maledictor that had given him the gift of Legacies. "Anyway, enough bawling. I don't fancy being picked up by Zith during the night." They really were running out of time. Heck, they likely already were. It was a long walk back to Lhavit and they'd be making most of it by Leth's light now.

[Shamus]

35th of Fall, 514 AV It was cold, especially when he took off his bloodied cloak to reveal his relatively clean undershirt. With the sun down the only source of warmth came from himself, but that heat was quickly wicked away by cool gusts of wind that slammed into Shamus as they swirled through the air. Shrubbery shook in a growing applause of noise when the wind picked up, quieting down when the gentle breeze dissipated. It was as if the world was acknowledging their accomplisment against nature itself, destroying a predator designed to be on top. His shoulders shrugged as his teeth chattered lightly to accompany the rest of his body's shaking, "never know who or what I may need." Shamus listened as the Pycon told him where he would be found, the location of which Shamus found slightly surprising. The towers were a place of learning, a place Shamus wanted to learn Reimancy at some point, but not now. But Malediction is looked down upon by most, causing it to be a lesser practiced art in Lhavit. It surprised Shamus even more when the Pycon told him of free services, something that could be taken advantage of in the future. Shamus laughed slghtly when he heard the Pycon say that he shouldn't try to hypnotize a glassbeak into a heart attack, something he would dream of being able to do. "Maybe in the future, when I have more skill," he said hopefully, knowing talented hypnotists could play with the mind's very workings with ease. The Pycon gave him a bit of praise, which was greatly appreciated by Shamus, for he got very little for all he did. "It was a slight ordeal, but I learned something. Never knew how to capture a scent and implant it into a surge of senses, but I do now. Helpful skill." The pair walked in silence for awhile, Shamus giving a yawn every couple chimes. The drew closer into view, and Shamus handed the Pycon his bones back, if they were searched he did not want to have those. Hands folded the cloak so it was inside out to mask the blood on the inside as they walked closer. "Alright, here we are. Time to part ways it seems, but I have a feeling you and I will have some future run ins... Maybe I will see you in the tower when I pursue Reimancy, if I do so." Shamus's feet were already bringing him away from the clay figure, moving towards his apartment. He rubbed his eyes, wondering if what had occured was really just a dream, seeing as it was a exceedingly strange event. No, in dreams his legs didn't get sore from a long walk. Luckily he was undisrupted on the journey back, finding his bed very attractive and crawling into it as soon as he waled through his door, not bothering to remove the bloodied clothes. Afterall, the blood had dried, what harm could it do? Sleep found him quickly, drawing him into its unrelenting grasp.