A Series of Ridiculous Events

[Tabarnac]

"Shut up," Verus muttered, along with some choice other curses. He had a mouth on him for the son of a merchant prince. But he struggled to his knees at least, and didn't suffer through an upset stomach like his purple friend. "He is gone," She said, and it sounded sincerely sad. "Dira has come and gone for him, and it was his time. Your Windoak decreed it. Your seeress foresaw it. The elder must step aside that the two may become men. I cannot help him, but I can help you complete your quest." She stepped close, careful to avoid Xuphim's mess, and placed a hand on either of their shoulders. It burned, and burned into them. When She stood up, they had matching bear's paw markings there, the sigil of Oriana, Goddess of Bears. Soon they would notice a heightened sense of smell, but how that would help them was anyone's guess. "Be quick. The both of you need medical attention." She took up the confused, mewling cub, and began to walk away. The hulking Kuma waited for Her to pass, and then moved to follow. "Xuphim," Verus said. "You stink."

[Xalet]

Xuphim couldn't see it, not beneath all those layers of armor, but having been marked before he knew what it was like. Being marked was unlike any other experience. It was the distribution of some sliver of divinity, tiny but still mentally overwhelming. "Damn..." Xuphim seethed quietly to himself, cursing the misfortune of the lost Knight. That was the way of the Order though, not many Knights died in bed from old age. It was a typical scenario to perish out in the field. Some even considered it a 'good death'. "Don't need no damn medical attention." his words were more like a gutteral grumble as he shoved himself back up to his feet, wobbling for just a moment before he steeled his muscles and forced them to keep him aloft. "Slow down just a moment, steady the breathing...just like taking any big hit..." he reminded himself. Having been clocked with all manners of weaponry, the Akalak was no strange to pain. Getting drilled by an over-sized bear was a new experience, however. Taking a moment, he brought a gauntlet covered hand up to his mouth, pushing air out into it, only to breathe it inward quickly thereafter. "Damn, I do..." he admitted. He could smell the difference, not just in himself, but in everything. Even the ambient air smelled slightly off. Was this supposed to be a blessing, or a curse? "We need to finish it." he said finally, sheathing his weaponry and straightening up the armor that had been knocked sideways from the recent combat. "We're so close, and if we can't save him I'm sure not going to just high tail it back to Syliras without seein' this through." his eyes glanced downward at the downed Knight, and inside he spoke a brief prayer for him, "Enjoy the break, you lucky bastard. The rest of us will try to keep things from going to the Void...Gods damn it, Xalet was always better at this crap then me. We'll get a patrol here afterward, get you all good and set up..." Rolling his shoulders heavily to get the kinks out, the gravity of meeting a Goddess was finally reaching Xuphim's thoughts. They always seemed to catch him when he was at his worst, and he always came up feeling like he owed them. One day he'd be on the other side of the miza, if nothing else than to keep his pride. "Lets go." he mentioned to Verus, heading over to retrieve his spooked mount so they could continue on the path.

[Tabarnac]

Verus stood on shaking legs, but he was standing and he would stand by Xuphim. He wouldn't have said that they were close, but they were brothers-in-arms now, baptized in the same blood. Part of him wanted to stay with the body of his fallen knight as was proper, but Ser Evander would have boxed his ears and told him to leave the worm food and get the mission well and duly finished. Perhaps it was this mark from the goddess of parents, but he was feeling a pull back to Syliras, as if he should see to Evander's wife and child. He wondered if Xuphim felt this too, but was sure he wouldn't admit to it even if he did, and so he said nothing. He gathered his horse and Evander's. They had run off, but heeded his call, well trained beasts that they were. In no time at all, they were back on track, and just before they broke into a wide meadow, Verus held up a hand to stop them. For all his rebelliousness, Xuphim knew when to take a cue from someone else. The other squire didn't speak, but tapped his nose and pointed ahead. Xuphim smelled it too, the breeze bringing a hint of something familiar, that now he was able to quite clearly identify as Akalak. Indeed, as they approached the treeline, they could see three hulking Akalaks leading a chain of dispirited human women toward the sea. Verus shot blue eyes toward his companion, eyebrow raised. It wasn't that he didn't trust Xuphim to do what was proper, but they were two wounded squires, and both of them knew somehow that this was what the Windoak had sent them for. It wouldn't do to return to Syliras without completing the mission, and with only a dead husk of Ser Evander to boot.

[Xalet]

Yanking back on the reins, Xuphim rocked forward in his seat slightly as Verus stopped them both in their tracks. Narrowing his eyes, he could see the other squire gesturing to his nose, that thing that now seemed to pick up scents no matter how faint. The scent it brought this time was somehow both familiar as well as obscure. Knowing only one other Akalak in the Knighthood, it was easy to say that Xuphim was something of a rarity outside of Riverfall. While he often didn't get the chance to recognize the scent of another Akalak, he knew well enough his own odor. Three Akalaks, it was more than the 'youthful' Xuphim had seen in all his life in one place. His own eyes slowly glanced over toward Verus, feeling that cautious gaze resting upon himself. Sure, it made sense. There were several Akalak, members of Xuphim's own race, but it made no difference to him. "What? Think I'm gonna go rogue of something? Twenty years workin' my ass off for the Order, you've got no worries. I'm a Syliran before I'm an Akalak." When he thought about it, it was astonishing how little he knew of his own people. The time spent in Riverfall occurred far before his ability to comprehend his own history, and the time spent in Syliras far outdid those prior years. It wasn't that he didn't understand the...superiority the Akalaks had over the Humans, but as he had said, he lived as a Syliran, trained as a Syliran, and was a squire to the Sylrian Knights. "Lets find out what they're up to. Not sayin' I understand a talkin' tree better than anyone else, but my ol' Lady says the Windoak supersedes everything else. If the Windoak wants them girls, the Windoak gets them girls. You can even do the talkin' if you want." That 'ol Lady' Xuphim spoke of was none other than his Patron, Sergeant Irine Braklin. Living in the dark about the true nature of the Windoak for so long, shortly after receiving his quest he obtained something of a brief synopsis of the tree's importance, as well as it's known origin. "Our people, possibly right from Riverfall, there is much to learn from them if we take a diplomatic approach." Xalet reasoned in the back of Xuphim's mind. "Hey, we promised not to spoil each others fun. I'm not gonna go around kissin' ass when we've got orders from the damn Windoak, we already do enough of that crap in the Order as it is. They're going to hand over them girls one way or another. Yeah, I know, there aren't many of us left, I ain't planning on stabbing the shyke out of anyone, but we've got the authority here, and we're in charge." was Xuphim's reply, just before he pressed his heels into the sides of his mount, instructing the beast to start forward and pick up the pace. It was best if they came upon the Akalak's before getting any closer to the sea.

[Tabarnac]

"No, I don't mistrust your loyalty," Verus hastened to assure him. "But we are wounded and outnumbered. A frontal assault would probably fail, so I looked to you to discuss a strategy here. I'll talk, but not by myself. Chances are they'll respect the word of another Akalak before a mere human, right? Or will they think you a turncoat for training to the knighthood?" Regardless, they were soon riding down to intercept the slavers. Verus attempted to sit his horse as straight and true as possible despite his injuries. They had to canter because the gait was easier than a trot. Finally, the Akalak spotted them, and halted suspiciously. They couldn't know that the injured squires were on their own out there, after all. Akalak might be warlike, but they were not stupid. One woman cried out in relief, and when one of the slavers moved to slap her, another caught his wrist and prevented any display of brutality before the would-be knights. There was power even in the idea of the Order. "Welcome to Sylira," Verus said, genially enough when they were within range. "I see you have liberated some slaves, undoubtedly from some Ravokian scum. We would gladly escort them back to Syliras for you." One of the men, in fact, the one who had been quick to use violence against the women, stared angrily at Xuphim, but for the moment it was a smoldering ire and naught else. "These women are Nakivak," claimed the leader. "They have contracts with Riverfall."

[Xalet]

"Heh, I ain't got a clue." Xuphim said in all honesty. He was about to tread into a world he had never been a part of before. Akalaks were rare enough as it was, and with most of the population living in Riverfall, that meant the chance to interact with one while living in Syliras was exeedingly slim. "Fact is other than stories, I don't know much about them. Ain't that messed up, my own people. Ah well. I understand our position though, I'm not feeling top shape, that's for damn sure. Other fact is we don't have a whole lot of information to go on." he admitted. The nature of the quest was a bit nebulous, other than it having to do something with the women in tow. As they rode up Xuphim's eyes watched carefully. Xalet had trained them well, those eyes, those senses. All that time sitting back, staying quiet, observing others. While they were separate Souls, they were still entwined. All his knowledge was Xalet's and all of Xalet's was his. A casual eye could have caught the distress of the women, but it was a keen glance that made sure to notice the incidental movement of one of the Akalak's hands, moving backwards to strike. It was just the sort of thing that pissed Xuphim off. The dark half had his problems, and they were quiet numerous. From being tactless, pushy, bull-headed, womanizing, and otherwise exhibiting very few manners as well as very little mercy during combat scenarios meant for training purposes, he still could never bring himself to strike at a woman. It wasn't exclusive to certain women or certain scenarios either, the dark brother literally found himself completely unable to raise a hand against a person he knew to be a woman, even during a time in the past when one was trying to maim him. Insult a woman? Sure. Try to bed a woman? Absolutely. Hit a woman? Impossible. "Well said." commented Xalet from his sidelined position when hearing Verus' explanation. Xuphim however, was not quite so focused on the Squire's glib tongue. "Did you see that shit? That guy was gonna hit that girl. And now he's looking at me sideways. I've killed bitches for less." it was merely the armor that did an excellent job at hiding the overall muscular tension Xuphim was feeling of jumping straight from his horse to the ground. "Yes, but use due caution. Nakivak is a part of the culture, however, you may attempt to mention that they are within the boundaries of Sylira, and as such are subject to Sylira law." Xalet seemed to be thinking fairly level headed, but he too was feeling the pressure of the situation. Thus far everything was resting on a rather large bluff. A bluff that Xuphim and Verus were in top shape, which could be betrayed by any damage in their armor, and the bluff that they were far from being alone. "Found in Sylira." Xuphim finally interjected, "Depending on the nature of their capture previously they will need to be questioned in case they have any information on Ravok. Afterward arrangements can be made to fulfill any voluntary contracts." things seemed to be going well for Xuphim, it was pretty rare they he spoke so cordially to anyone. "Excellent." Xalet commended his darker half, although it was a bit too soon. "...and there seems to be some level of disdain for these contracts from these girls. Or maybe I'm just gettin' the wrong impression." there was that bit of animal instinct inside of Xuphim that Xalet failed to achieve his whole life. With the lighter half living as humanely as possible, he allowed his instincts to dwindle, that was where Xuphim had to step in. He could tell by that heated gaze coming at him that there was some level of ocular challenge happening, and he wasn't about to back down. As far as Xuphim was concerned, he was the strongest Akalak on the planet. Whether it was true or not, that was how he displayed the faith that came from Priskil. That faith meant confidence in ones self, although Xuphim's emotional passion pushed the boundaries into the realm of arrogance.

[Tabarnac]

"I'm sure everything is in order," Verus continued, after an appraising glance at his partner. Xuphim knew Verus to be canny with a sword as well as his tongue, but today was the first time they were truly tested as a team with one situation after another. "But as my companion has noted, we are in Sylira, only a couple hours' ride from Syliras proper. Your vessel should be docked in our harbor for the legal transportation of these women." He smiled, and it was as perfect a mix of amiability and firmness as one could desire in a diplomatic setting, but the Akalaks did not seem swayed. The violent one spat upon the grass, and this time his companion didn't move to calm him down. The wind changed and their goddess-granted olfactory sense picked up the acrid tang of fear in the air, but it certainly wasn't coming from the aggressive trio of men. The various women expressed it differently, perhaps, and the sight of the squires inspired some hope. One, in particular, looked at Xuphim with a desperate sort of promise. He was a knight, she seemed to think; he could have her and would be gentler than his savage brethren. Whatever she thought or whatever she knew, there were stories and stories about the Akalak, and not many of them positive where women were concerned. Or perhaps she was offering herself to Verus, or to whomever's eye she could catch. There was the curve of a breast, a distracting expanse of thigh, but then one of the guards saw her and backhanded her across the face. One woman cried out, several others whimpered. The leader eyed them stonily, the other two resting hands on their lakans. It seemed this charade was not going to work after all. "I don't think so," spat the leader in response to Verus' words, though his eyes flashed a challenge directly at Xuphim.

[Xalet]

"Oh shit..." said, of all possible persons, Xalet. That word, in fact anything considered an obsenity was almost completely void from the light half's vocabulary. Not that Xuphim had been scrutinizing his brother at all hours of the day, but even he had to admit that in all of their years together, he had not heard anything of the sort. The word itself was the foreshadowing of the feelings Xuphim had rushing all around him. Why did it have to be women? For all Xuphim's experience, for all the man's skill gained through years of training in Knighthood, even if it was vicariously along side of Xalet, he was not without his weaknesses. Heights? He disliked them. Snakes? He wasn't so fond of those either. Women however was an entirely different subsection of weaknesses. Xalet had believed Xuphim's interest in them to be completely shallow for the longest time, but it appeared instead Xuphim had some twisted reverence for womankind. Of course he couldn't let anyone know, that would tarnish his reputation. "Alright. Now you did it. You just turned diplomacy time into ass whipping time." the purple skinned Akalak growled as he swiftly climbed down from his mount, both sollerets smacking into the ground, causing the cascading sound of the metal plates that made up his armor to clang. There was a sharp soreness in his side, but he did his best to hide it. Xalet's Patron once said a warrior must replace pain with honor and pride, Xuphim did well enough shoving anger into that distraction. "We're still not healed, things are becoming complicated." Xalet said, merely as a reminder. He knew there was no way of stopping Xuphim now. "Yeah." was all the acknowledgement the light half would receive. "You want to come through here, capture a host of girls, disregard the keepers of this region, and beat them in front of me? You must be petching crazy." when it came to the women it wasn't even about anything physical, attraction wise, anymore. The reason Xuphim's biggest weakness was women was he couldn't bring himself to raise a hand against them, not even in self defense. Even when attacked by a female he had to defer to Xalet in order to keep that body of theirs alive. "But I've been going through Cultural Diversity Training, so I'm giving you two choices. The girls are coming back to the city with us, or I'm going to backhand you..." he pointed to the leader with the challenging stare, "...to the ground, and then the girls are coming back to the city with us. End of story." already Xuphim was sliding the guige strap upon his shield around, pulling the plank of metal reinforced wood onto his arm. Deep inside, despite all of that anger wanting to just jump on the Akalak man that had struck the woman, part of Xuphim didn't want this. It wasn't just the 'part' that was Xalet, but something else. There were too few Akalak in the world, that much his mother had always told him, and in all his time in Syliras he had seen less than he could count on his hands. Fighting one of his own people wasn't something Xuphim wanted to do, outside of testing his skills. Just like he had told Verus, however, he was a Syliran before he was an Akalak.

[Tabarnac]

The Akalak, caught in the wrong in someone else's territory, reacted predictably. The man closest the women yanked on the chain that kept them tethered together and shoved one woman into another, creating a chaos of flailing limbs, screams, grunts, and mewling noises before catching up with his companions in their charge upon the squires. Verus remained astride his horse. He was strong from years of weapons training, but he hadn't Xuphim's bulk, nor the height of the Akalak men. But when violence became unavoidable, he was quick to lift the crossbow he had hidden under his cloak, aiming and firing before the nearest foe could properly react and taking him through the eye. But even with their numbers brought down, the squires were still injured and the outcome was unclear. All the same, he loosed his sword and urged his horse forward to back Xuphim up. Xuphim barely had time to get his shield in place and into a defensible stance before they were on him, first one and then the other, who had caused such confusion among the prisoners, caught up. But Verus wheeled past, sword distracting the second one, at least, to give Xuphim a chance to engage properly.

[Xalet]

Xuphim had a keen sense of balance from years of martial training. It wasn't to say that he was inherently balanced; he just understood when his own body wasn't reacting properly. Instances of mortal combat in his past had made the adrenaline come slower than it would have released in his younger years. The result was him minding his previous injury a bit more than he would have liked. Just barely managing to adjust his shield and his footing to receive the opponents coming for him. He swung the edge of his shield forward in an arc, looking to gain some distance. It was simply a distractive technique that would give him the time to draw one of his short blades. Verus was quick to Xuphim's aid, giving the Syliran an opportunity to fight his opponent in singular combat. Blade flashing in his hands, that strange blue glow surrounding the blade, Xuphim tucked his elbow firmly against his body and prepared to set up a 'screen' with his shield so that he could thrust forward with his sword. It was then that he felt an unfamiliar feeling, a level of hesitation sat, rooted deeply within his heart. Never before had Xuphim hesitated to give a potential killing blow anything less then all of his strength, but now there rested a doubt. Could these remaining Akalaks be taken alive? "Relent! Throw down your arms and surrender!" Xuphim snarled, not even yet sure of the caliber of opponents he was engaging. Was it all just foolishness? Gritting his teeth he could feel his blade could wait no longer if the answer did not come. He had to survive. Verus had to survive. Difficult choices were the burden of every Knight. Bring the shield forward, place it between you and the opponent and restrict their vision of your weapon placement, that was the first step. Sliding his left foot forward, Xuphim twisted his hips and fired his short sword out from its cocked position, blade parallel to the ground, elbow bent, shoulder flexed so far back that the wrist was nearly beneath the armpit. As he had learned from a training session with a Knight from a special operations unit of Syliras whom wielded two short swords, a stab from this position was fast and deadly. No wasted movement was performed, and with proper bodily alignment it had the forward torque to punch through any opponent. There was a significant addendum to the maneuver that the man had taught Xalet, and Xuphim now at the helm recalled this technique. At the last moment rotate the arm and flex the wrist, the tip of the blade would follow. This allowed an otherwise easily telegraphed thrust to become unpredictable, following its target or evading a parry.