Whittle Away the Day (Gaius)

[Mordechai Zoltar]

Damn, I knew I hadn't been convincing enough. This man had seen through my lie. But what would I tell him? That I dig up graves and loot them? That I practice animating the dead? That I've been chased out of every place I've been?

"I have... I have a troubling past." I finally said to the man. I continued cooking the venison, busying myself with that instead of the conversation. Letting the green res pool around the meat and pull the flames to it.

He continued to glare at me for an answer.

"Look, let's just say I've had to do unsavory things to support myself and that my hobbies are, well, frowned upon. But I haven't done anything wrong here, and I don't want to be taken in by the guard when you tell them. Which means I'll either have to fight you or run, and to be perfectly honest, I think you're a grand fellow and would rather not fight you if possible. This means that after we eat I'll have to leave"

I said this getting frustrated and accidentally burnt a piece of meat by laying too heavy a gel of res on top of it. "Sorry, I'll take that one." I said, a bit upset with the turn of events.

[Gaius Sivet]

The man was reluctant at first, but then he spoke with such a burst of speed and nerves that I had trouble keeping pace with him. Slowly, I pieced together what he was saying and nodded slowly. I wasn't sure what to say, or whether there was anything to say at all. I stared awkwardly at the dirt for a while, letting my grey res make small pools before hardening into earth, before I finally looked up.

I took a deep breath, ready to say that I didn't care about this man's past, whatever he did, I wasn't concerned, I just didn't want lies. Excluding things, fine, but no lies. I opened my mouth to say as much and stopped dead.

He was faced towards me, and so he didn't see them, but I was staring straight at them. Wolves, five of them, all prowling just beyond the trees. The smells of the blood and cooking meat must have drawn them to us and I sword silently while trying to decide what to do. My concern must have shown on my face, because the man looked at me in confusion and then began to turn.

My mind raced. I was torn between warning him and trying to ready a weapon. In the end, I settled for a curse while I stood and unslung my bow from my shoulders, grabbing an arrow from my quiver as I did so. "Wolves!" I shouted as I drew, sighted and fired at the nearest one, taking it by surprise and piercing it through the throat, just as the others began to surge forward, one leaping directly for the man, looking to take him in the throat. Once again, I cursed under my breath, hoping I could string my next arrow in time and if I couldn't, maybe he could last just long enough himself.

[Mordechai Zoltar]

The wolves certainly took me by surprise. I had turned around just in time to take one that had been charging me to the arm. It bit down hard into my flesh. I used the limb to keep it back from my neck, as I now struggled on my back.

I had to move quick. Gaius had shot one, but I knew there were more. I used my fresh wounds to leak res into the beast's mouth. This was going to hurt, I thought right before I ignited it. The beast jumped back in pain while it's mouth was singed, equally I rolled back as my arm was now burned. Quickly I hobbled to my feet.

Gauis was readying another arrow when I oozed fourth from my hands a large pile of thick green res onto the ground in front of me. The rest of the wolves stood in front of me, preparing to attack. There were 4 left, I could see them all now.

Setting the res aflame I returned to Gaius' side. I now had a pool to draw flames from, the sustained battle should go more smoothly on my body now that I won't have to be creating flame. The thick res burned much moor slowly, but the amount left a powerful fire off to the left of us two.

I gathered a ball of green res in my hand and hurled it at one of the trees between us and the wolves. It pulled the fire towards it and next thing I knew it was burning brightly. That worked perfectly, I thought to myself as the wolves were taken aback.

Suddenly the pain in my arm settled in. It was excruciating. I was forced onto one knee from the pain. Gaius was at my side, taking aim at another wolf with his bow. I forced myself to gather another ball of res and hurled it aimlessly into the woods. I couldn't concentrate on my aim with these burns.

[Gaius Sivet]

I cursed as I saw the man fall to one knee and sending a ball of flame whirling off into the trees. The burns and bite on his arm were obviously excruciating and dangerous, and his mind was beginning to weaken. We had to finish this and fast.

I let fly another arrow, but the wolves were intent on watching us now. The wolf I had aimed at leaped aside as I released and my shot managed only a glancing blow on its side. I quickly threw my bow over my shoulders and drew my talon sword, standing at the ready, waiting for the wolves to come closer. Off to one side, a tree burned brightly, and it lit another next to it in similar flame. The fire was spreading, however slowly, and it needed to be stopped.

I channeled res into four thin, aerodynamic spikes, allowing the outer layers to form into hard, jagged rock while the inner remained unchanged. I hurled the rocks forward, completing the change of the inner layers as late as possible. Two of them pierced the wolves, one through the head, the other in the throat. The other two went sailing off into the forest. I ready myself for another attack when the wolves started forward again.

[Mordechai Zoltar]

The fire, it was more than just a distraction, it was a wall of defense. A rapidly spreading wall of defense. A rapidly spreading wall of defense that I realized was a bad Idea.

I watched the man use his grey res to create and hurl spikes at the wolves, taking out two more. He can fight the wolves, I thought, I have to take care of this fire.

I began channeling my res out from my hands into a compact orb. Tighter and tighter I packed the orb. I cried out in stress as blood came from my nostrils. The fire was pulling towards it fast. Even more res I poured into this orb the size of my fist. I held it as far away as I could while still controlling it. Roughly 2 feet away from my outstretched arms.

But it was working, the flames were pulled from the trees and were now cycling around the orb in front of me. With the last of my strength I tossed it back into the clearing where it could do no harm and then blacked out.

I went limp and fell to the ground.

[Gaius Sivet]

I watched the two remaining wolves pace patiently as far from the flames as they could, while the man created an enormous ball of res that drew the flames away. He was bleeding from his nose and mouth now and he managed to barely stay conscious just long enough to cast the ball of swirling flames into a clearing, where they smoked and burned, but didn't light on anything else.

I stood over his body in a defensive stance and waited while the wolves paced and circled us. Then, they lunged forward with a speed and fury I hadn't expected. I slashed and stabbed wildly, forgetting everything I had learned of swordplay. I managed to lop the head off one of the beasts, but not before the second bit deeply into my left leg. I slammed the pommel of my sword down on its head, sending it reeling, before lunging and running the beast through.

I let myself fall to my knees and wipe my sword on a spare bit of cloth before sheathing it. Then, I turned to the man, still passed out, though the bleeding had stemmed and stopped. For a moment, I wasn't sure what to do. Then, I stood, dragged the man back towards where we had been cooking our meat, and sat once more, examining our wounds and assessing the damage.

Well, this certainly wasn't the day I planned. I lost the deer, or most of it. But I may have gained a friend.

[Mordechai Zoltar]

I awoke to find the man sitting over me, eating bits of venison. He smiled, seeing me awake now.

I sat up and grabbed a piece of the meat myself. I was starving. We sat there, eating silently for some time. Once all the meat was gone we continued to sit in silence.

I pulled out my knife and grabbed a nearby chip of wood. Quietly I carved into it and shaved away piece after piece. The man watched me as I did this. Eventually I finished it. It was a small version of his very bow, whittled in oak wood.

We both got to our feet and I handed the little bow to him. As he looked down on it he could faintly make out a signature carved in the wood. 'Mordechai' it said.

We smiled and headed back into town where we parted ways with little an exchange said.

What an interesting turn of events, I thought to myself. This man, this Gaius, I will see him again, of that I'm sure.

[Emblem]

Congratulations! You Get Glorious Experience! Mordechai Skills Reimancy- 5 XP Hunting-1 XP Stealth- 1 XP Animation- 1 XP Lores A Compromise Foe Turned Friend The Joys of Overgiving Other Shenanigans: Your arm will be hurting for a few weeks and you will have trouble using it for a while. In addition, you will be extremely fatigued for the next two days, due to overgiving. You can expect random nosebleeds. Gaius Skills Weapon: Longbow- 4 XP Tracking- 1 XP Sword- 1 XP Stealth- 1 XP Hunting- 1 XP Reimancy- 1 XP Lores A Compromise Foe Turned Friend Other Shenanigans: Nothing to see here. Comments : Nice threads gentlemen, just remember to write at your characters skill level. Go ahead and PM me with any questions or concerns.