Completed Alone?

[Penn Zay]

"Whatever they are, they're humanoid, but not human! I'd say that there's about nine of them!" Penn said quietly, as she sniffed the air again and listened for more clues as to what 'they' were! Then she heard a series of gutteral utterances, getting closer and closer. She glanced around, still unable to see anything. "Did you hear that?" she asked Maedoc, refusing to take her eyes off the dark in front of her! Then something charged at her, it's hand swinging towards her face as she duck... Almost instantaneously, she removed her clothes and her body began dissolving into light, before reforming in the shape of a large white tiger who turned on the creature and ripped it's neck out, rapidly killing it, before waiting for the others to try...

[Maedoc]

Humanoid but not human? What did she mean by that? And how did she know such things, Maedoc could barely see into the darkness. But he heard the queer sounds of unnatural things in the darkness as well. An angry rasp in the night, and the crackling of leaves on the soft ground. “I think they’re close, girl! I hope you have some tricks hidden up your sleeves.” Gods know, he had but few. Just as Maedoc sputtered those nervous words, a bright light flashed behind him and he turned. He was just in time to glimpse the woman, nude and with her back to him, being enshrouded in light. Behind her he caught sight of three short creatures. They seemed an odd representation of men, though only rudimentarily so. With misshapen limbs or oddly structured faces they snarled and approached Penn with clear malicious intent. But Maedoc was not so sure she was the victim here, watching he began to understand certain mysteries. The human Penn had been replaced with a sleek feline Penn. Where the youthful woman had stood now slunk a predator of the jungles, a tiger. That was why she had been traveling alone and without weapons. A kelvic in the woods did not seem so far fetched now that he put it together. He was ripped out of his reverie by a snarl in the night air before him. Maedoc spun back and saw another one of the misshapen men, arms raised to attack, not four feet in front of him. His hands moved without his mind’s intent, instinct taking over where thought could not preform. He brought the shaft of the hammer lurching forward across the bridge of the thing’s nose. His weapon was formidable, vicious, and near unblock able for anyone without skill. But it was slow and he had learned he had to put distance between himself and his attacker, or victim, if he wanted to get a swing in with any power. With a snap the thing toppled backwards but did not fall. He saw now it’s skin was cracked and covered in grime and dirt. What in shyke was that thing? Seeing his chance, Maedoc hefted his hammer above his head and ripped it down as a woodcutter would heft an axe. The head of the hammer slammed into the thing’s chest with a fury, letting out a sickeningly wet splat. Ribs ripped out of the thing’s skin like fingers. Dirt and rocks erupted from the thing’s insides and Maedoc went cold. “It’s… It’s not human. They are made of earth! What is made of earth?” He spoke, a bit of frantic fear crept into his voice, though he tried to suppress it.

[Penn Zay]

Penn growled at the creatures, a low pitched, menacing sound, that was responded to only by gutteral utterances that seemed to be mocking her! Then a creature charged at her, trying to hit her, but she managed to dodge it... As she prepared to attack it, another one ran at her, ploughing straight into her ribs! She had been distracted by one, and they'd seen that! But the only way she could fight was by taking them out one at a time! How would she manage? Then another thought crossed her mind! The man, Maedoc! How was he doing? She knew that even taking a glance at him, would be reckless, but the white tiger couldn't help it! As she attempted to glance around, a third deformed creature attacked her! It's hand swinging into her head! She growled at it, then pounced...

[Maedoc]

Maedoc tried to pull the hammer free of the creature, but it had been stuck firmly. He cursed loudly and glanced over his shoulder. Worry broke through his his demeanor as he saw the tiger strewn under two of the creatures and a third stumbling his way. Maedoc pulled once more at the hammer, it came loose a moment too late and he had to drop it to block the brownish red attacker. The thing snarled and gnashed it’s fagged fangs at him as he raised gloved hands to defend himself, hammer lay in the grass at his feet. “Come on beastling!” He shouted and blocked a swing from the Yukman with a stiff arm. Sending a quick fist forward he spun his torso into it, aiming for the thing’s jaw. He saw it’s eyes flicker and the damn beast blocked his punch and deflected it down. That was disconcerting. It had been a move almost mirroring his own. But the former brigand had no time to think, if that tiger got pinned down he was definitely finished. He had to keep her alive, to keep himself alive. The night was now full of the noise of combat and the desperate gasps of a tired man. Maedoc kicked out quickly at the thing’s knee, catching it off guard and sending it to it’s knees. In a practiced move he grabbed it’s head and attempted to send a knee into the back of it’s skull. He missed and instead slammed into his cheek, toppling the beast backwards onto it’s dirt encrusted back. Maedoc glanced over at the tiger once again, she seemed to still be struggling with her assailants. He stomped his foot down twice on the Yukman’s head, stopping any struggling at the price of his foot, which was now in severe pain. “Hang on, kelvic.” He breathed, barely able to speak. “We’ll make it out of this yet.” He left his hammer there and closed the short distance between him and the girl, throwing his shoulder into the thing on top of the tiger. He spun over it’s back and slammed into the ground hard on his shoulder, tumbling across the dark grass. He could not see or breath. Then he suddenly stopped, crashing into the base of a stone. He was just able to focus in on the fight when the Yukman he had attacked slammed into him, sprawling on the grass. Maedoc smelled and tasted blood and could barely see. The thing was struggling to turn around and attack him. Maedoc quickly attempted to slip his arm around the thing’s throat. He hoped that would be enough to keep the tiger in the fight. He was tired and beaten, and barely able to hold the Yukman down. Blood ran from his skull and his arm, cooling in the night air. Maedoc could feel the crusted grime of the Wildlands in the thing’s hair.

[Penn Zay]

As soon as Maedoc distracted one of the Yukmen, Penn got to her feet and pounced on the other one, viciously biting it and clawing at it until it stopped moving! Then she turned and growled in case any others were nearby... Her way of warning them of what was to come if they dared to attack! Then she ran to where Maedoc was wrestling with a Yukman! The man didn't look too good! And he seemed to be having some trouble keeping the Yukman down... At that moment, she felt that the right course of action would be to keep the man alive... She bumped her head against the man's side, her way of telling him to get somewhere safe, before clawing at the Yukman in an attempt to weaken it! It mayb have been strong, but surely it wouldn't be able to move a whole tiger!

[Maedoc]

No matter who you are, Maedoc was a firm believer that if you fought together in battle, it made you a friend. Penn had just pulled the beast off of him and given him a chance to recover. It was a simple, yet powerful, act. The things kept coming, but they had been fighting hard, and well together. Hope of victory crept into his heart and gave Maedoc strength. What was all this but a few future scars, eventually fading? The night was young and these creatures of Mizahar needed to die. They may be wild beasts, unafraid and undaunted, but he was also a creature of this land. He would not sulk in the corner of some rock and die. Mizahar would have to rip his soul from his body to take him. Maedoc rubbed a hand across his face, clearing his vision of crimson blood and tried to focus on his hammer once more. It lay, a soft glimmer in the otherwise dark green and brown blotches of the night, just across the Caern. He moved swiftly toward it, adrenaline temporarily dissipating the dull ache in his foot. These thing’s heads were definitely as solid as a human’s. He stumbled once, caught himself, and continued his rush. The tigress behind him growled into the night, and he was once again momentarily thankful she was on his side. The kelvic had saved him, just as he had done for her. Together they had done well, fending off the Yukmen, not with ease, but mostly successfully. But now the remaining assailants were pressing in on multiple sides. Penn had dispatched the Yukman whom Maedoc had been choking in a vicious, animalistic lunge of her claws. The thing’s blood trickled into the ground silently, returning to it’s place of birth. Mizahar was cruel that way. Her greed drew everything back to her, no matter how far or how long they ran. This land would eventually claim you, without thought for your accomplishments or your power, it would take you back once more. What was there to do against such an end? Nothing. Mizahar was in him as much as it was in the kelvic or the earth-things. He had been born to her violent existence and he would die by her hand, but not tonight! Maedoc’s fingers finally closed around the soft leather haft of the hammer, now cool to his touch. As he picked the thing up, gore and rocks dripping from the head. The heavy weapon had a reassuring familiarity about it. He had wielded this tool many times before, and his many kills were flashing through his head now. His green eyes shifted in the night, breath exploding out of his mouth rhythmically. A few calm moments searching and he spotting another Yukman lurking out of the night. It had learned to keep it’s distance from the hammer, eying it with apprehension. This caught Maedoc off guard. The first one had come at him blindly. The second had performed his same block, and now this one seemed to be waiting for something? Were these things really human? Penn had told him they were not, but they were no dumb animals. Hopefully none of them would live long enough for Maedoc to find out. Maedoc squared up with the Yukman, ready to strike out. A hissing flooded his ears from behind. Another had snuck up behind him, shrouded by the night and silenced by the sounds of the fight. Maedoc yelled in shock and shouldered the thing back, surprising it. He would have to dispatch it quickly to defend himself from it’s brethren. The brown man hit the smooth grey of the stone and reached out for Maedoc. “It’s time to go home, beast.” Maedoc muttered and spun his body. He squeezed the haft of the hammer tightly as his torso turned. A black booted heel flared out and sent grass and dirt flying as Maedoc put as much power as he could into the swing. The Yukman knew what was coming a split second before it happened. A faint shimmer of fear shore through it’s black eyes before the head of Maedoc’s hammer connected with it’s skull. The stone behind the Yukman was used like an anvil, and together with the forceful blow of the hammer made the beast’s shaggy brown head explode like a melon. Blood, gore, and earth flew in all directions.

[Penn Zay]

Penn smiled inwardly as she looked up at Maedoc to see that he had annihilated another Yukman... There can't have been many others left! She glanced around to see another one stood near a rock, observing her! She stalked over to it and began circling it, occasionally flashing her teeth as a sign of dominance! Then she used a large white paw to occasionally knock it... Enticing it to attack her and lose it's energy! Then it would be an easy kill, but that would be if it kept trying to attack them! Then she began hitting the creature with more strength than before... She needed to help the man... If he died, then she'd be alone, and she would have no-one to teach her about the world, and the things her mother never taught her! And two were better than one! Especially in somewhere like here! The wildlands! The place that could swallow you up and not even leave a trace! Penn didn't want to disappear! She wanted to learn! She wanted to be the tiger that was there, looking after someone! She wasn't sure who that someone was, but she was sure that she'd find them in Nyka! She'd had dreams of it!

[Maedoc]

Maedoc grunted in satisfaction as he felled the Yukman, then turned to see the tigress, Penn, batting one of the ugly brown things around like a toy. Now that he got a good look at the vile thing he could tell it was definitely not human. Cracked skin that looked more like mud in the dark night was home to rocks and rubble actually embedded in the body of the thing. It’s jagged, rock-like teeth were bared in an animalistic manner at the kelvic, ready to bite down should she let her guard down. She clearly did not need his help at the moment. And he had enough to contend with, the Yukman he had been fighting was feeling left out. The earthen creature walked forward, careful in it’s steps, calculating. The damn things learned fast. Maedoc thought ruefully, many more of these and they will be more deadly than he was. The Yukman’s beady, black eyes kept flickering down to his hammer, clearly apprehensive. Maedoc began to feel the cold ice of doubt as he realized the thing was formulating a solution to the weapon. He had to act now, before it figured out a way to counter the hammer. Maedoc decided to strike fast, and keep pushing, giving the thing no opportunity. He hefted the weapon in his hands, top hand loosely gripping the haft and bottom hand clasped tight. The thing crouched and Maedoc swung a downward killing blow. As the hammer fell Maedoc’s heart filled with dread, the Yukman had seen the tactic coming. He sent a thickly muscled leg out to collide with Maedoc’s knee in the same sort of manner he had used on one of the thing’s brethren. The warrior crumpled to the side, his hammer smashing into the ground, sending dirt and grass flying into his face. He recovered himself in time to watch with cold apprehension as the Yukman ran it’s short, lumpy fingers around the hammer’s shaft. It yanked the thing from the ground and tested the weight. The Yukman then assumed the same stance that Maedoc had been using. Well damn. The hammer came down quickly, faster then even Maedoc could wield it. With an angry groan he rolled out of the way. The jagged head caught the edge of his cloak and Meadoc hurriedly unclasped it and scrambled backwards, his knee still ached from the kick, but it was nothing permanent. At least there was that. “Kelvic! You have a moment?” He shouted over his shoulder, fresh out of ideas.

[Penn Zay]

Penn heard the man's voice and immediately dispatched the creature she had been toying with... Her attack was so sudden that the poor thing didn't stand a chance against her deadly teeth! Then she turned and ran to where Maedoc was, before beginning to circle to earthen creature with the hammer... As she did so she growled at the creature, wondering what it would try to do with the hammer... That hammer had looked deadly on Maedoc, but a this creature of such extreme strength, it looked more like the embodiment of death! Suddenly she saw the creature swing the hammer towards her and she moved out the way, the deadly weapon brushing through the fur of her leg as it narrowly missed her... This creature really was quite deadly with that hammer! She could feel the force that it had been swung with and knew that it would have caused a serious injury, had she been hit! Death would have been a high chance too! She glanced at Maedoc, then back at the earthen creature, as she began circling it again, occasionally darting towards it then away from it... Teasing it...

[Maedoc]

Penn hurriedly answered his call for help, once again coming through when needed. A flash of fur, a blur of claw, and the Yukman was sent stumbling. She was clearly on the defensive though, the thing possessed his hammer. Maedoc cursed himself for letting the damned beast get the best of him. Instead of wallowing in it he stepped up behind the tiger. If she needed his help, he would be here to do what he could. He has shifted forward a spike of burning pain shot into the muscles in his left ankle. His jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth in anger. Damn that pain, he would not let it affect him. He was easily tall enough to see the Yukman wielding his weapon from over the tiger’s arching shoulders. Penn glanced back at him, her feline eyes catching what little light there was a flashing with an animalistic meaning he could only guess at. He stood in the night, letting his sweat and blood cool in the breeze that came with darkness. He took the lull in combat as an opportunity to catch his breath. It felt like ever since the damn thing’s attacked he had been stumbling his way in and out of near death situations. Often he had been in ambushes, but rarely on the receiving side. Penn began to toy with the Yukman, darting forward and then dodging back in time to be clear of the thing’s violent swings. It had power, but it was slow and sloppy. The Kelvic, on the other hand, was quick and accurate with her deadly strikes. And she was prowling her way around the clay-riddled creature. It became flustered, not knowing which to keep it’s black eyes on, Maedoc or Penn. In the end the thing chose the healthy tiger instead of the wounded, tired human. Maedoc did not blame it, he wouldn’t have paid himself much heed in a fight either. Not looking like he did. He shifted his weight onto his good leg. If he ever had a chance, it was about to pass. The Yukman had it’s back to him, ready to swipe at the tiger. But the tiger couldn’t execute a quick end to the thing without risk of being mauled by the hammer in the process, then they would both die a bloody punctuation to their lives. Maedoc spat, and sprinted up behind the thing. He slid his bad left foot deftly in front of the Yukman’s own right mangled excuse for a limb. Wrapping his fingers in the thing’s wet, greasy hair Maedoc arched forward and slammed the thing’s face into the ground. The move was executed nearly perfectly, tripping the beast and sending it full force into the ground. The only problem was Maedoc’s hammer was pinned somewhere under the thing, leaving him no was to end it’s sorry existence. “Shyking Mud-man!” He bellowed, frustrated with his continual ill luck. He hesitantly unsheathed his eating knife, having pinned the beast with a foot on the neck. He wasn’t sure what manner of diseases the beast blood bore, but he had no other choice. Maedoc grunted with effort as he slid his short knife into the thing’s neck. Squeezing the grip he twisted viciously. Maedoc only withdrew the knife when he heard a few tendons pop. Sighing he fell to his knees beside the corpse. A quick shove rolled the thing and revealed his hammer. He was about the pick it up and stand when he looked up and saw Penn prowling around still, looking for something else to kill. He shrugged and withdrew his pipe from within his shirt. With a practiced move he lit and drew a breath from the long wood. “I am petching tired, Kelvic.” He muttered, using his hammer to stand. “Where’s the rest of these damned things?”