[The Bizarre] The Hammer and the Snake (Bones)

[Arros Angerforge]

Arros starred at the beast as it transformed into, truly a monster. A snake and man combined to form, what most could only imaging in there nightmares. But Arros stood there unimpressed. Frightening as it may be, Arros felt still only the anger that boiled his Isurian blood, this was common for him, as the only emotion he could only ever feel, was anger, no joy, no sorrow, no fear had ever been present in Arros's thoughts and appearance, he was, to everyone's knowledge a husk, not to everyone's knowledge however, he was power-hungry and hoped that one day, his name would strike fear into the hearts of even the bravest warriors when mentioned . The people that crowded around all shrieked in terror as the snake took its form, ripping its clothes in the process. Only a few onlookers remained hidden and continued to watch the battle, as the rest of the people of the Bizarre fled for there lives as fear gripped they're very souls. All was quiet now, the people of the Bizarre had ran, all that remained was the cheap wares of the merchants that had been left abandoned on they're stalls and the occasional thief that filled they're ragged sacks with the possessions of others. A fine day this would be for the undesirables as all there was left to stop them from steal was the faint breeze that tickled and left a soft kiss on the uncovered flesh. Arros looked up and down the creature that was a mixture between snake and man, it wasn't the best looking of things, infact Arros thought it was damn right ugly but he could recognise the strength and power that resided in such a beast. This thing might of had the power and reach, but Arros's mindset, indomitable spirit and rage could provide all that was needed to beat this creature. Physical advantaged helped in a fight but with out the mindset of a willingness to win and an unbeatable attitude, those physically attributes meant nothing. Although the fury of Arros did cloud his judgement and immune to reasoning, it also made him immune to pain and allowed him to keep on going. The snake man, skilfully pushed Arros's blow aside and then pounced on him, using its tail and arms to try and squeeze the life from him. Arros roared and grunted, while tensing his massive muscles, trying to wriggle free from shape shifters iron grasp. "I was told never to trust a snake, because they'll try and deceive you! Your lies change nothing, beast!" he bellowed. As he heard the snake man whisper in his ear. Managing to wriggle one of his arms free, Arros roared. This thing had alot of strength in it, the tightness around his Isurian chest as the snake man squeezed emphasised that power. Using all his strength in his arms, Arros brought his elbow crashing down, hoping to connect a hard blow into the side of his rival.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones was getting a bit annoyed... This guy just would not leave him alone... And he still had no idea what had him in such a rage. However rage was a thing of the instant, and it could not fuel you forever. Eventually you would realize what was going on, and then it was just you driving yourself... Still, he did his best to wrestle the man into a pin, and to keep him from moving. The isur was in such a frenzy, he was not thinking right. However he did manage to get a bit of leverage on him. Though Bones was trying to keep him still, he managed to slip one arm out just barely. Bringing the elbow done, he tried to nail him with it, but only managed a glancing blow on Bones left shoulder, which caused some pain, but mainly just caused him to momentarily release that arm. In that time Bones tried a punch himself with the other arm, aiming for the mans throat. And with the force behind it, there was a good chance it would do some serious damage, it could probably crush a boulder to pebbles! Though in his hurry his aim might be a bit off and hit something else of the Isur. However once the blow was delivered, it would give the isurian a moment to try and get away, and out of the gripping limbs of the dhani. Though he still had to take the first hit. Most likely if he tried to take the time to block it or to dodge, he would not be able to get out of his grip, and Bones would be able to clamp down once more after it. So the isur had a decision to make...

[Arros Angerforge]

Arros was now getting tired as the fury started to sap at his energy. Anger was useful in short bursts for short fights as the unpredictability and power of fury fuelled muscles would have the upper hand, but for one fight such as this, were two warriors were locked in a battle of time and pressure, it did nothing but drain the users stamina and strength. The snake man's tightening grip was also taking its toll as he felt the squeeze that was being administered from the scaly tail and arms. The torches that lit the Bizarre flickered as the rumble and tumble of the two progressed. Some brave merchants started to appear back, trying to fight off the odd thief from stealing and quickly packing up they're wares, trying quietly nto to attract any attention. Seeing the snake man throw a strong punch, Arros was bracing for the impact that was aimed for his windpipe. Slightly off mark, the punch still managed to connect on the side of his neck. Isurian skin is dense but the impact from the blow caused Arros's eyes to water and made him emit a hoarse cough. A resounding pain shot up and down his neckline that felt like hammers smashing they're way along, he had endured some blows that caused some damage, but this took the very breath out of his lungs, despite the distance the blow impacted from the chest. Arros was in trouble now, having his arms and legs constricted and unable to move freely was one thing but without oxygen, he would lose this fight and most likely his life aswell. Another wave of anger flushed over Arros as the will to survive and a personal revenge kicked in. Roaring with a mixture of pain and fury, while clutching his neck with one of his free hand, he saw an opportunity to escape. Arros began to violently thrash about in an desperate attempt to finally break free from this monsters grip. Using every part of his body of a weapon, Arros kicked and swung with his legs, feet and arms, hoping to strike a vulnerable place and wriggle free. He was fighting the snake mans fight, it was about time for Arros to deliver some pain of his own to his adversary, if he could get free and retain his strength.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones attack was somewhat successful, as it clipped the mans neck... Lucky for the Isur he had not had his windpipe crushed, he barely avoided it... Regardless, The man used the opportunity to get away, and after thrashing around and smacking, he used the opening to get away. But by know Bones had completely lost it... His dhani side had taken control, and all he could think of was to kill, to crush... To consume!!! It seemed the isur had pushed him beyond his ability to control... All that Bones could think of was one thing... Killing this man and stuffing him down his throat. Bones would not give him a moment, and he dove, trying to sweep the man off his feet. If he was successful, the man would tumble landing on top of Bones, with his face down near Bones tail end. Bones would sweep his arms in, trying to crush the isur's legs, while moving his tail around to crush his head and neck, though it would take time to maneuver it. A voice could be heard shouting something loudly from nearby, "Bite the end of his tail!" Though if the isur turned to look he would see empty air... Were had the sound come from? Regardless, it was Alvadas, and odd things did happen. So would the Isur follow the disembodied voice? Or would he do something else? Either way, he had to do something fast or he was going to be dead, as Bones was no longer in control... He could not stop now...

[Arros Angerforge]

Arros was now in the process of getting free from the snake mans grasp, still clutching his neck as it proved difficult to breath. Managing to wriggle free, Arros clambered to his feet and took a big inhale of oxygen. The air was cold and refreshing as it slowly made its way into Arros's lungs, it was far better than the muffled air mixed with the warm condensation of sweat when they were Arros was struggling to breathe due to the constriction that was placed upon him. Standing up with a sort of freedom that would eventually be short lived, Arros peered over to the exit, he saw that day had started to darken, be it from a large rain cloud over head or actually time that it came to be, Arros felt that they had been fighting or should it be said struggling for the past while. Looking down on the ground, he saw a beacon of hope that could we'll be his saviour, his hefty, large family hammer that was situated a few meters from them, Arros now wished that he hadn't been so foolish and thrown down his weapon that had the ability to be so devastating in close quarters, only to engage in what appeared to be the snake mans fighting style of time, a constricting of movement and an unrelenting pressure. Arros's fighting style however was quick, very unpredictable and used so much power, he liked to go in fast and finish fast, It wasn't suitable against a foe that had the endurance to last so long, if the this fight was at Arros's pace, style and on the feet, the outcome could well of been far different, utilizing the bob and weave to make his opponent miss and throwing strong, powerful blows when the time to counter punch approached. Realising that with his hammer, he could do some serious damage of his own to the snake man, he started to make his way towards it, still clutching his neck that ached from the recent received blow, however to Arros's dismay the creature sweeped his legs from up behind him, causing Arros to tumble through the air, giving a quick curse in his Isurian tongue he landed with his face down near the tail end of the snake man. All of a sudden, Arros heard a voice that shouted the words, "Bite the end of his tail"" confusion set in as there appeared to be no one in the area. Arros gritted his teeth in disgust, the feeling of scales in his mouth didn't appeal to him much, but he was running out of options. With his mouth wide, Arros put all his might into the bite that was going for the creatures tail, knowing that his teeth has the capability to pierce the tough hide, he began to plan out his next move of obtaining the hammer and crushing some snake bones. The only question was, would his bite do anything to make his plan a reality?

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones move had been successful, and the had knocked the isur off of his feet. He moved in once more to try and crush the man, encircling his body with his arms and tail... Slowly edging him closer to death... By know he had lost it, and could think of nothing more than to kill this threat... It was rare for him to lose control like this... But sometimes instinct was just to powerful to overcome. He used his arms, pinning the mans legs in place, and was starting to wrap the tail around the head and neck. However as his tail moved, the tip waved by the face of the man. Suddenly, tremendous pain swept through his body, making every muscle loosen from shock. What kind of person bit the tip of the tail of a snake? Rude ones... And lucky ones... For it was not well known, but the tip of a snakes tail was rather sensitive, and the pain caused by someone suddenly biting it was intense. Intense enough to involuntarily make a snake loosen his muscles... And in this case shock him back into his sense... Though the pain only lasted a few moments, it was so intense, it had done what Bones could not do on his own, and throw off his instincts grip on him... Now Bones was once more in control. A bit confused, he rolled away, getting up and off of the isur... He was not sure what exactly had happened... It was a bit fuzzy... But Bones did not want to fight anymore, to tell the truth he had not wanted to fight at all. The isur had started it, and caused the entire thing to go out of control. Holding up his hands, Bones tried to end things peaceably. "Sstop! I do not know what thisss isss about, but ssere isss no need to fight... Sssurely we can talk this out? Now what isss it ssat has causssed all of the fighting? What are you ssso angry at?" Looking around, Bones saw how much destruction the mad isur had caused in his rage. There were stands smashed into pieces, goods strew about... And a general scene of confusion... It looked like a pack of wild animals had tore through here... Well at least he had not done this damage, but someone was going to have to fix it all...

[Arros Angerforge]

To Arros's amazement, the piece of weird advice that said to bite the snake mans tail that had been shouted by a stranger in the Bizarre had unpredicted results. When Arros bit down onto the snake mans scaly-hide tail, a weird taste of blood and flesh penetrated his mouth, he didn't think as his teeth as a weapon, but when things are going sour, you do the craziest and dirtiest of things, a voice that shouts out what to do also doesn't hurt, unless its your opponent. Seeing that the bite had an intense pain effect on the snake man, Arros utilised this chance to finally get away from this things grasp once and for all, Arros had been in many fights, but this was among the most peculiar, never afore had he seen a man shape shift into a creature such as that, never afore had he experienced what is was like to be squeezed beyond comprehension, never afore had he witnessed some one trying to eat him, this was definitely, Alvadas, the city of "never what it seems". Finally managing to get on his feet, Arros ran towards his hammer that rest on the ground nearby. His muscles ached from exhaustion as ever step promised a thousand more pains to come, his neck ached even more as it stung every time he spoke or breathed. Upon reaching the hammer, he noticed that his anger that proved so difficult to disappear, had evaporated to a small annoyance and frustration. Picking up his hammer and panting hard from fatigue, he began to turn back onto the snake man, hoping to revenge his throat that had been nearly crushed, and hopefully to avenge his fallen brother that resided in the beasts blade. The snake man however began to speak, ""Sstop! I do not know what thisss isss about, but ssere isss no need to fight... Sssurely we can talk this out? Now what isss it ssat has causssed all of the fighting? What are you ssso angry at?". Arros lowered his hammer with his tight grip to a less threatening position, still keeping an eye on the beast. "You killed one of my people, fashioned the bones for your sword and you expect me to do nothing?!" Arros shouted, the embers of fury started to reignite in his eyes. "You nearly crushed my throat and you expect me to do nothing?!" he shouted again but in a louder more fearsome tone. "You then try to devour me and expect me to nothing!?!?!" this time his voice was thunderous and boomed across the Bizarre. His eyes flared again with anger, only barely being kept in check from the fatigue of his body. "No.. beast, my vendetta with you has just begun..". Arros was again furious but unexpectedly he had the ability this time to control it, was it from the exhaustion that was so evident from his heavy, hard breathing and pulsing muscles? or was it because he had managed to finally retain his composure? He didn't know but he certainly wanted to find out, if he could channel is rage instead of going on a rampage of destruction, he would become a very grave threat to whoever would challenge him. Arros was slowly regain his stamina and strength, the pain from his neck started to dull as the anger once again built up in him, Arros wanted to fight and leave an ever lasting mark on his foe, to make sure he would know the dangers of getting on the wrong side of an enraged Isur. The snake mans next move would decide everything, would he try and punish the Isur for his blind hatred knowing that he held such a devastating weapon capable of inflicting serious damage in his hands or would he try and pursue a path of peace and reason that could only a snake's silver tongue could achieve. It was his decision, would he face the Hammer or be the Snake.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones looked at the man utterly confused... He had no idea what he was talking about? In fact, Bones did not even know what an Isur was. He had met a few, but never realized they were a different race from humans... And still did not realize he was not human. With an utterly confused look on his face, Bones looked over at his gladius, and then spoke to the man who was dramatically shouting at him. "What do you mean? Ssat bone is not a human one, it is much to ssstrong to be one. A human bone would break much to easssily. And I did not fassshion it into the sssword, I cannot even make weaponsss. I told you I got it from my fasser. And he did not make it, he took it from a Myrian he killed in battle. If you ssshould be mad at anyone, it is ssat Myrian." This just emphasized the point Bones always tried to make, which was to talk and figure things out before trying to kill someone. Unless they were currently trying to kill you. Otherwise, it was much better to solve things with words, and avoid miscommunication. "And yes I did hit you once, after you chased after me trying to crush my head with your hammer, and ssen refusssed to ssstop attacking me. And ssen I hit you once... If sssomeone refusssed to ssstop trying to kill you, wouldn't you defend yourssself?" Bones just looked at the man who was being wildly over dramatic, and yelling. While to the contrary, Bones kept an even tone, and talked calmly as he explained what he could. "I ssink my actionsss here were jussstified, and were in the right. But your actsss were basssed on assssumption and incorrect information. You ssshould really talk and find out before deciding sssomeone has wronged you and ssshould die. More often ssan not, you will sssee ssat what you firssst ssought to be true, wasss actually incorrect." If the man tried to yell at Bones saying he was not a human, but an Isur, Bones would simply reply honestly with, "what is an Isur?" Since he had never before heard the name of the race.

[Arros Angerforge]

Arros was swinging his hammer in his hands, loosening the muscles in his arms that had became tight and sore with the inactivity of them, Arros was not used to remaining idle for certain periods of time, he had always been working in the forge, smashing burning metal, moving hefty amounts of materials from place to place, almost anything to keep his body moving and active, even when it came the time for sleep, Arros would very rarely stay still. Memories of abuse started to flood his mind. Trying to ignore these, he surveyed the area. Arros looked around and saw the destruction that he had caused in his anger fuelled rampage, businesses and livelihoods smashed apart, pieces of glass that glinted from the flame torches that rested on the walls littered the floor. To his surprise however, every turn of his hard Isurian head illuminated a small part of the market place that had not succumbed to Arros's rage, it remained the same as it had always been, busy and full of punters, Arros wondered if anyone, apart from the owners of the ruined stalls and the crowd of nosey onlookers had even noticed the fight, there was alot of damage to be sure, but it wasn't to the magnitude that had been first thought, it was almost as the city of Alvadas itself, wrapped a cloak of invisibility around the destruction causing it to not be acknowledged by anyone else. This was a city that could easily trick even the most keen of sight. The Bizarre was beginning to fill back up with the people that scattered away from the recent confrontation between Arros and the now peaceful snake man. The street urchins that wore ragged cloth rags and were covered in dirt, began to try and salvage anything that remotely useful or precious amongst the carnage. Some of the braver nobles also returned, still glimmering from riches that hung head to toe from they're bodies, most of them that did return also had the sense to come occupied with a bodyguard or two, just in case the tension arose again. Arros impatiently listened to the snake man as he tried to explain, the most peculiar of it though was that he said that it wasn't human bone, this must of meant that the snake man believed that Arros was a human. Humans in Arros's opinion were arrogant, stupid, dishonourable and a race of betrayers and deceivers. The insult stung. "You really think that I would care if your sword hilt was made out of human bone?! I am no human, I am an Isur you disgusting creature!!" Arros's voice was brazen with fury. "That hilt is made from an Isur's bones, strong and mighty like the rock from the belly of Sultros! If my people knew of what you have carried, you would be hunted, slaughtered and your slimy hide would be fashioned into something worthless!" Arros remained still, stretching his large muscled arms using his hammer as a weight, his voice continued to emit signs of anger. Arros ignored the snake mans apparent justification, he didn't care, all he wanted was for some revenge to be exacted onto the person or beast that dared had attacked, killed and made the bones of his comrade into the blade. "I say this to you creature.. next time you flaunt that blade infront of me or another Isur again, I assure you that not even you slippery limbs and nimble constrictions will be able to contain me! I will bring this hammer down on your head!" he shouted in an angry, threatening manner. Pacing up and down in a line, still staring at the snake man with furious eyes, Arros began to think on what was his next plan of action.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones let out a long breath, and shook his head slightly. This man thought he knew better than anyone else, and would not listen to reason, just holding on to his wrong idea without letting go. He would not listen to logic... Just clinging to this idea he had fallen upon of what he saw at first glance. He hoped all Isur were not like that... Though he was only vaguely aware even now of what an Isur was... Apparently though they were not human, which this man made a big deal of pointing out. Well whatever, he seemed just as closed minded as many humans he had met. How was he any better then? "Yes, ssat is the way to deal with ossers, call them names and be rude. Truly you are better ssan a human." Obviously this last part was said with sarcasm, as he was pointing out that this isur was being just like the race that he said he was so different from. "And while you make ssreats, you do not even attempt to know the full ssstory. I did not make the weapon, the man my fasser killed made it. I sssee no wrong know in using sse weapon. I never flaunted it, I sssimply walked by, and you attacked me." Ignoring the mans further rants, he went over, placing his weapon back in its sheath, and picking up his articles of clothing, some of which was in tatters. He turned and walked away. He was not afraid of his yells and feeble attempts at intimidation. It was a bit sad really that this man was so enclosed in his own little world. He would move on with his life and better himself, while he stayed believing he knew better than all others. If he kept on like that, he would be dead before long, or in jail. Especially after the destruction he had caused today, he would be lucky to be allowed back to work here again.