We Fight

[Dravite]

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58 Summer 515 AV
1st Bell, Early Morning.

Continued from Here.

It had taken them the better part of the day and night to reach their first campsite which consisted of a well, a patch of bare land to set up tents and a few posts to tie animals to; nothing fancy. Here they met up with a second group of Watch members. Their leader was a spear-wielding woman by the name Helena Swiftrun who led a team of four men, each rather gifted in their craft of choice; a builder who was rather fond of his war hammer, a swordsman, a bowman, and a wilderness guild that was deadly with a pair of throwing knives. She had taken first watch while her team lay sleeping out in the open on their bedrolls. Bayon signalled for his group to halt and water their animals before getting some rest.

Dravite led his horses to the well and pulled up a heavy bucket of water, putting one hand in front of the other to stop the rope from slipping through his fingers. By the time he had done this six or seven times his arms were jelly, but his horses and goat seemed content now that they each had a belly full of water. Dravite tied Bones to Cree and undid the saddlebags to put them down on the ground away from the well where he chose to set up for the night. If he went to sleep soon he realised that he would probably be able to get a few bells rest before work started bright and early. Dravite unrolled his bedding and put his blanket down, too hot and sticky still to sleep under the covers.

As he lay in bed he closed his eyes and thought about his family back home in Endrykas, about the kiss Pearl and he had shared before he took his leave; still burning on his lips. For a few chimes he practiced the art of meditation, trying to consciously clear his mind of any distractions before slipping into a trance that would take him to a place that was starting to feel like a second home; the Drykas Web. He followed the fluorescent blue lines through the darkness, slowly circling the campsite and the small djed pools belonging to the individual members of The Watch where they lay sleeping. Soon he expanded his patrol, moving out into the wild grasslands and all of the strange throbs of energy that echoed through the strands of the web as they crossed the plains in the area.

Horses, wild boar, ground dwelling birds, and small game, perhaps rabbits. Dravite spent at least ten chimes making sure the area was all clear before he felt safe enough to return to himself and sleep, but just as he was circling back he noticed a big, dangerous pool of energy that was there one moment and gone the next. Drawing closer to the area he had sensed the strange happening, he watched and waited for about ten chimes before it appeared again, only this time further northwest of the camp's current position. Whatever it was, the man thought to himself, it was either moving through trees to avoid detection or... It could fly.

He sat up suddenly and gasped, feeling like a stranger in his own skin; too long in the web made these sorts of occurrences take place more and more frequently. The man was slightly dizzy and it took him a moment to get his bearings before he was able to find his feet. Dravite tiptoed through camp quietly as not to alarm or wake anyone and went to speak with Bayon and Helena. "Do you know the lay of the land northwest of our current position?"
"Of course," Helena replied, "why?"
"Are there many trees in that area?"
"Little to none."
Dravite and Bayon shared a glance, "Helena, forgive me, I should have introduced this young man to you sooner, Dravite Blackwater, this is Helena Swiftrun of the Ruby Clan. Dravite is of my clan and a budding webber."
"Ah," Helena smiled, "it's good to meet you, Blackwater; I've not had an experienced webber on my team for some time; I envy you Bayon."
"I believe we may have a problem," Dravite said.
"If it's a Glassbeak, there is no problem; there are plenty of us here to fend one or two off."
"And what about a Zith?"

Helena fell quiet.
Bayon's mouth formed a straight line across his face, "he's seldom been wrong in my experience," the man admitted.
"That's what I feared," the woman sighed, "just our luck."

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[Dravite]

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Bayon was tasked with waking the camp up quietly as not to draw more attention than necessary to the site, especially if there was indeed a Zith in the area. "They have unbelievably good hearing and they don't need their eyes to see us in this light; they can literally feel our hearts beating," Helena explained, "what are you like with that spear?"
"Not as good as I'd like to be," Dravite admitted.
"Raise it for me."

Dravite did as he was told and Helena slapped it aside with her own spear before pointing the end at his throat. "Again, every time you lift that weapon you do so as you intend to use it; do you want to die, Blackwater?"
"No."
"Then listen and learn quickly."

Dravite raised his weapon, only this time he was expecting something. Their spears clashed and the horse lord ducked low to jab at the woman's feet. Helena threw her body backwards into a rather acrobatic flip, dodging his strike with ease. He pushed forward, giving her little time to think before his spear was at her feet again. "Now high!" Helena ordered.

He lifted the weapon to block a move she swung at the right side of his head then raised a leg, tipping his body back to act like a counterweight as he struck her in the gut with the tread of his riding boot. Helena whipped her spear down to take the man's legs out from under him before he could right his stance and Dravite was forced to duck into a forwards body roll across the ground, upsetting his rib injury. He sucked air through gritted teeth and raised his spear to block another oncoming attack.
"Good," Helena encouraged, "now you're thinking like a fighter!"

The two continued their sparring lesson until Bayon returned. "It's good to see you've been keeping an eye on the Zith," the man grumbled and Dravite lowered his weapon, bowing his apology to the man before he sat down and closed his eyes, chasing the adrenaline of the battle from his mind so that he might better be able to concentrate, or rather meditate as it were, and slip into a trance that would take him into the depths of the web.

The blue vines of the webbing reached out to him, an old friend, and welcomed him into the fold. The tightly spun strands of djed were alive with activity, illuminating the dark expanse of the grasslands to the limits of his skill's reach. Dravite moved through the maze slowly, extra vigilant, knowing that the Zith was capable of covering a lot of ground in a very short amount of time. He read the web as easily as if it were a book printed in Pavi, each throb of energy fed into his being, telling of this or that; a movement within camp, the stirring of wild horses, even a swift breeze did not go unnoticed. There, he pinpointed the dark energy appear only a few hundred feet from camp and raced back to his form to warn the others.

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[Dravite]

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Wait, he froze for fear that he must be seeing things as a second pool of energy surfaced much closer to camp. Dravite stood transfixed within the web as it fed him pieces of information as quickly as one might receive a static-shock. He read his surroundings, making note of certain landmarks so that when he could be sure of what he suspected, he would be ready to fight as soon as he returned to his form. Another landing, like flies on a frog's radar, he held out as long as he could before, there! Now he was sure of what he saw and left the web in favour of his physical home.

His body accepted his presence a lot more readily this time and free of the dizziness that had plagued him the first time, Dravite got to his feet quickly and raised his spear, pointing it northeast, using the tree he had seen in the web to guide his sense of direction. "Two," he warned the group, "One is a lot closer than the other."

Helena signalled for formation and The Watch men and women each found themselves a partner, standing back to back in the trained stances of their chosen weapons. Bayon with his daggers and long-bow, Sparrow with her short-bow; Dravite looked at each of them until he saw the boy, Greywing standing all alone. He approached the young man to take him as a co-fighter, when a lean, winged man swooped down from the starless night's sky and plucked the boy up as if he were weightless.

A volley of arrows whizzed past Dravite, tearing holes in the delicate flesh of the creature's wings, causing him to fall low and flap off balance away from the camp. A second wave of arrows crossed overhead and Reed Greywing cried out as one of them caught him in the leg. The Zith was forced to drop his victim and Greywing fell a good two metres to land on his back, instantly doubling over to grab at his leg. Good, Dravite thought as he ran as fast as his legs would carry him towards the faltering creature; at least he isn't crippled.

The horse lord was startled as the Zith turned back and hissed at them, once again making a bee-line for the wounded Watchman. Dravite raced the bony creature to the boy and skidded to a halt, sliding across the dry earth to lie on his back next to the teen, his spear raised to meet that fast landing Zith, who, impaled on the end on the man's spear, took three measured steps backwards, before falling forwards to land on the two of them. Greywing screamed while a determined Dravite reached for the steel dagger on his belt, clutching it up in a reverse hold to raise and drive into the Zith's back. The winged man howled, closed his teeth against Dravite's right leg just below the hip before it blacked out.

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[Dravite]

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Dravite kicked his way out from under the smelly creature, driving his boot into the Zith's collarbone until he felt it give way with a loud snap! To make sure it wouldn't be biting anyone else tonight, he attacked its throat with his dagger, drawing the blade back and forth until he had hacked through the lean muscle and weathered flesh to sever the spinal-cord and finally smash through the bone with its sharp point. When he had finished decapitating the creature he was shaking uncontrollably, his arms covered in the same blood that also painted his leather pants and riding boots. Sparrow ran to her cousin's side and helped Dravite to his feet. She embraced him until the shaking in his limbs subsided and cooed, "You’re all right; it's dead."

Bayon ran over to assist Reed, rolling the headless body of the Zith off from on top of the boy to check his wound. The arrow had scuffed his left calf, leaving no more damage than the claws of a young hunting cat might on the behind of a rabbit that's leapt just out of reach. "Is anything broken?" Bayon asked the young man, who was sobbing uncontrollably and fussing over his scratch.
"He fell a long way, perhaps he dumped his head," Sparrow offered.
"You shot me!" Reed cried, "Petch!"
Bayon slapped the boy around the ears, "get a hold of yourself son, if nothing's broken and you're not bleeding to death we need you on your feet; there is another one of those things on its way here and we can't afford for anyone to stuff around while the rest of us risk our lives!"
"Get back in formation!" Helena boomed, "Archers!"
"Go," Bayon waved, "you two together!"

Dravite ran into the fold with Sparrow at his side. The two stood back to back, him with his spear and her readying another arrow. They stood in deathly silence, each touching heels to make sure the man or woman at their back had not been plucked away unnoticed. Dravite heard Sparrow swallow and caught his breath, "don't panic, cousin; just keep that arrow pointed at the ready."

Another chime passed and four more, but still the men and woman of the Watch held their positions. There was a great gust of wind that came from overhead. Everyone looked up to see the second winged creature hovering overhead. Sparrow let off an arrow and quickly fixed a second to her bow and Dravite catapulted his spear towards the creature’s chest with all his might, catching it low in the gut. "Fire!" Helena yelled.

The group gave a hearty war cry and fired their arrows in quick succession. This Zith was noticeably slower than the first and once the group managed take him down they found that he was sporting a few old injuries including a broken leg that hadn't healed properly. "That explains why this one came so far behind," Bayon surmised, "he couldn't keep with his friend here."
"Something just doesn't seem right," Helena sighed, "Zith don't usually attack like this, especially when they are far outnumbered."
"Hungry?" One of her men asked.
"Maybe... What do Zith eat?"
"Meat," Bayon piped up.
"Large game," Dravite interjected, "they live in communities much like ours, and team hunting isn't unusual."
"Bookworm," Sparrow teased.
"He's right," Helena scolded, "something must be driving them to seek game further and further from their hunting grounds; I say we all get some rest and try to find out exactly what it is that’s upsetting them tomorrow."

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[Dravite]

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2nd Bell, Early Morning

Dravite crept out of camp quietly to forage for a few pieces of dry wood he would be able to use to light and keep a fire. Sparrow followed closely behind him, ripping up dry grass from the earth. "Are you sure you're all right?" She asked.
"Positive," he insisted, "please stop asking me that."
"Sorry," she sighed.

The man bent down to pick up another piece of wood, holding it under his left arm as they continued their search. Dravite located and picked up two more pieces of wood before Sparrow spoke again.
"You should probably wash."
"I will," he nodded.
"Sooner rather than later."
"Yes, Sparrow."
The girl giggled, "Sorry, I worry is all!"
"You don't have to worry, I'm still walking and in one piece."
“But you were sha-“
“Sparrow.”
“Right, sorry.”

When they got back to camp, Dravite set about starting a fire. He piled the wood up and balled the dry grass up tightly before fitting it between the wood to set alight. The dry grass caught quickly and burned even faster, leaving no time for the wood to heat up and take. "More grass," Dravite told Sparrow who handed him everything she had gathered.
He twisted it into tight knots and packed it firmly between the logs before trying again, using his flint and steel to spark the flames they desperately needed to take, "that's better," the Watchman smiled, "now we're cooking."

He boiled some water over the heat and set it aside to cool slightly before fetching a rag to wash his hands and arms with. After cleaning his leather pants and removing what he could from his boots, he rung out the rag and set it over the heat in some fresh water to boil again.
"What are you doing that for?" Sparrow asked.
"Sterilising the cloth," he told her as he added salt to the broth.
"What's the salt for?"
"I'm not too sure, honestly, just a trick my mother taught me when I was younger."
"For cleaning?"
"For cleaning wounds, yes."
Sparrow was silent for a few long ticks, "you're wounded?"
Dravite stirred the cloth around in the water, watching it bubble and simmer away, "nothing serious, just a scratch."
"Show me!" Sparrow demanded.
"No."
"Why not?"
"I'd need to take my pants off and I don't think that is something my little cousin needs to see."
Sparrow laughed, "Oh please, since when have you been shy? You're always walking around camp in your skins back home."
"Would you stop pestering me and get some sleep."
"Fine," Sparrow hissed, "but if you won't show me promise you'll show Bayon after you clean it up."
"Yes, yes, fine," Dravite sighed.

Once Sparrow returned to her bed roll the man worked out of his pants and held the hot cloth against the bite mark below his hip. He couldn't see much in the dark with the fire burning so low but felt the sting of the saltwater cloth was probably the best thing he could do for now. When he was done cleaning up he set his things aside and crawled onto his bed roll to rest. Dravite was so tired he didn't even remember closing his eyes.

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[Dravite]

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6th Bell, Morning

Dravite awoke to a dry throat and stiff limbs. He swished some water around in his mouth before spitting into the fire that had burned out, which hissed at him in response, obviously still crackling away under the pile of ash it had become. As he sat up and looked around camp to find that he was the first awake, Dravite crossed his legs and let his hands fall into his lap as he slipped away from the conscious world to join the whispers and movements of the web.

Searching the web, Dravite found that the grasslands were relatively relaxed this morning. He wandered for a while like a ghost without a home, checking on a small drift of wild boar that were making a right mess of a little knoll not too far from camp. He watched their young learn to dig, mimicking the actions of their parents and instantly his thought ran away from him, back home to his family where he longed to be. Upon returning to camp he noticed a few tears in the line and judiciously spun lengths of his own djed into woven strands to help mend the broken threads.

Dravite left the web and got to his feet. He slipped into his leather pants, but not without checking the bite-mark below his right hip which seemed all right in the sunlight. The small teeth-mark wounds hadn’t closed over like he thought they might, but they didn’t look as if they wouldn’t cause him any trouble for now. The man took his dagger from his belt and went over to where the two dead Zith lay side by side. He hacked at their fingers and toes, removing their claws with the point of his short-blade. The dagger wasn’t really designed for slashing movements, but did the job all the same. The man counted twenty claws and stashed them away in his saddlebags before taking his drawing book and ink sticks out.

He sat down beside the winged monsters, studying a perfect foot-print that had been left on the ground where the first one and fallen; something he could later use for tracking. Carefully the man used his ink stick to trace out the shape of the foot on a black page, slowly adding detail to the sketched outline in the form of toes, a cracked heel, and claw points. After completing this Dravite moved onto studying the wings and in particular, their shape. How did such flimsy looking sheets of flesh hold up these fully grown men, the man wondered. They both looked a lot leaner than the men in Endrykas, but that wasn’t to say every Zith looked that way.

On their long, narrow limbs he noticed the thick, shaggy hair that most Zith were known to sport. Dravite cut some of the hair loose, at least a handful to present to his dogs as a scent tracker for training he would do later. As he continued sketching he felt the presence of someone sneaking up behind him and turned to see that Helena was up and out of bed.
“Don’t worry, we’ll take them and boil the flesh from their bones; you can even keep a leg bone to fashion yourself a nice dagger from,” she grinned.

“I’d like that,” Dravite smiled up at the woman before closing his sketch book.
“What do you have there?”
“Oh this? I use it to write down difference notes and observations.”
“No… is that, hair?” Helena asked.
“Yes… It’s not as strange as it looks. I’m planning to train my hunting dogs to pick up on different scents. I thought this one would come in handy,” Dravite explained.
“Quick thinking there, Blackwater; I could use a man like you on my crew.”
“Kind words,” the horse lord hummed.
“Truer words have never left these lips. How long have you been with The Watch?”
“I’m a new recruit; this is my second season working under Aris Riverwatcher.”
“Ah, that’s how you were selected to work alongside Bayon.”
“I think Trail recommended me,” he admitted.
“Well, perhaps once you have seen the completion of your first year with The Watch, you can come and work with some real fighters.”
Dravite smirked, “Oh that’s what that was last night, real fighting?” He teased, referring to the sparring match the two had undergone with their spears.
Helena only smiled, yet there was something so mischievous about the way she did it, “Why don’t you pick up your spear and follow me and I’ll show you how it’s done.”

Continued Here.

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[Pearl]

Dravite

Experience

• Body Building - 1
• Animal Husbandry - 1
• Logic - 1
• Meditation - 2
• Webbing - 4
• Intelligence - 1
• Stealth - 2
• Rhetoric - 3
• Weapon: Spear - 3
• Weapon: Dagger - 3
• Unarmed Combat - 2
• Acrobatics 2
• Endurance - 2
• Land Navigation - 1
• Leadership - 1
• Running - 1
• Teaching - 2
• Socialization - 3
• Wilderness Survival: Plains - 1
• Cleaning - 1
• Medicine - 1
• Scavenging - 1
• Drawing - 1
• Tracking - 1
• Planning - 1

Lore

• Helena Swiftrung: A spear-weilding woman of The Watch
• Pearl: A memorable kiss
• Helena Swiftrun: Of the Ruby Clan
• Glassbeak: Not much of a problem for a larger, trained group
• Zith: A formidable foe
• Zith: Exceptional Hearing
• Zith: Can feel our hearts beating
• Zith: Can see easily in dim lighting
• Spear: Can be used to block an attack too
• Watchmen stand back to back with a partner for fighting
• Zith: Strong enough to lift a grown man
• Bayon: Fights with daggers and long-bow
• Sparrow: Fights with short-bow
• Reed Greywing: Injured by an arrow.
• Dravite: Bitten by a Zith
• Zith are smelly creatures
• Dravite: Decapitated a Zith
• Reed Greywing is a sissy
• Wounded Zith are slow
• Zith hunt in teams
• Medicine: Wounds should be washed sooner rather than later
• Tracking: Zith Foot Print
• Zith hair can be used to train a dog to hunt Zith
• Dravite: A quick thinker

As always, your writing is a pleasure to read. There was so much in this thread for use that it made my first grading assignment such a rewarding experience. Thank you for allowing me to grade and enjoy your work. If you feel I have missed anything, please do let me know.



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