Closed Peace, Interrupted (Aello)

[Irriari]

81st Day of Spring, 513 AV:: The Wildlands

Irriari clenched her hand around the rabbit that she had killed five chimes prior. Blood leaked out of the mangled carcass and the rabbits spine snapped for the third time. After five attempts over the last three bells, she had finally managed to shoot one of the pesky animals. While her vision was far better at dusk, the petching rabbits were too flighty to pin down. It was hardly intelligent to take out her rage on the corpse of the rabbit, but her short time in Ravok the day prior had frayed her nerves. She had arrived too late to shop for Alchemical supplies, but too early to avoid the stumbling drinking masses of humans that crowded the streets late at night. The rabbit didn’t provide much meat, anyhow. She threw the carcass to the ground and ripped it in two with the claw on her left foot. What was left of the blood and bile splattered onto the nearby plants. Irriari walked deeper into the forest, satisfied. If only the same could be done to every petching human in the city that crossed her path.

After a couple hundred feet, the zith found herself in a clearing that was large enough to stretch her wings. Relishing the chance to do so, she snapped her wings open quickly and was unpleased at the result. Such maneuvers were of utmost importance for quick escape, and her years among humans had caused her to lose her edge. After a few more attempts, her wings felt slightly better. It would have to be enough for now. She pushed off the ground lightly and hovered a few feet in the air. This exercise was even more maddening, and her results were far worse. The zith found herself on the ground a few moments later, cursing loudly in her native tongue. It had always been irksome to hover a few feet over the ground- there were no thermals or drafts to keep her wings from straining, however, she didn’t remember it being that hard. This time around, it actually hurt the tendons in her wings. With a snarl, the Zith got to her feet. Irriari wasn’t sure whether her wings or her pride was damaged more.

[Aello]

"But Aello, if no one died of old age, where the heck would we put all the bodies?" Lily asked. "People would just be living one on top of the other and there would be no food for you... and you guys would use everything to build your flimsy shelters... and... and..." "Hush now Lily," the huntress replied. "But Aello, you brought it up!" the pycon cried. The words ringing hollowly against the Treaver's ears. "We have sharp, pointy objects for a reason," Aello replied, a smirk crossing her lips, a glimmer leaping into the corner of her eyes as she continued to glide through the forest. Muddied irises trained on the endless sea of trees that stretched out before herself and her companions. "If people didn't die on their own, of more natural causes, we could always speed up the process," Aello whispered. "There being those who deserve to die and all." "Like who?" Lily asked, as her tiny clay hands clenched the deep green fabric of Aello's dress all the more tightly. Causing the cotton fibers to tickle the woman's skin. "Arsonists. Tyrants. Slavers. Rapists. Murderers," Aello replied, each word spaced out. Spoken after a slight pause. "But Aello, if you killed all of these 'bad' people, wouldn't you be a murderer yourself?" Lily asked, her big clay eyes staring up into the huntress' own. Aello fell silent as her boots scraped against the earth. Deep brown grains rising against indentations she cast with each of her steps. "Aello?" Lily whispered after a time. "I don't know Lily," the Treaver whispered as her fist tightened around the supple curve of her father's old bow. "I don't know..."

[Irriari]

Irriari attempted to wipe the dirt off with the backs of her clawed hands and found that she had managed to cake the filth further into her fur. Angered at her own stupidity, the Zith used her claws to scrape off the dirt, mindless of the lacerations it caused. Pain was a good thing, she reminded herself. A few droplets of blood merged with the remaining grains of dirt and ran down her shins. As they did, she allowed herself to release the feeling of pain. Like many other skills, her ability to ignore pain had nearly been lost after all the time away from the caverns. Even after the pain and trials she had endured in the past two seasons it was becoming more and more difficult to ignore scrapes and scratches. Musing on her predicament, Irriari decided that the reason she couldn’t take pain was due to the fact that she avoided it far more actively than she had in the past. The anger from the fall had barely receded, and the knowledge that she had become weak clouded out all other thoughts. Self loathing surged through her head as she began to walk through the forest aimlessly. She had become weak. Away from the colony, she had started to fear the humans she was meant to own. Their large numbers had cowed her and made her a docile shell of what her race was meant to be. Snarling loudly, Irriari clawed her arm, heedless of the damage it caused. These realizations cut deep, and Irriari knew she was no longer the fearless warrior she had always sought to be. Determination replaced certainty and she vowed: the next human she found would be her test.

After a few more chimes of travelling, the zith found herself in a calmed mood. She expanded her hearing outward, taking pleasure in the lively sounds of the Wildlands. Here, there were no arguments to distract her from the sounds of predator and prey. The zith’s hearing expanded outward and she snarled and cursed in Zithanese. There were humans about. She heard two voices close by, neither of whispered. Whoever the bags of meat were, they were surely brave.

After a few minutes of following the voices, Irriari found herself in front of a human female that was hardly taller than she was. With a smirk, she eyed the woman. She was well armed, and a bird fluttered around, too close to be a wild animal. Other than her weapons and confident stance, the brunette looked boring enough.

“Human, why are you wandering alone in these woods? Are you stupid enough to think that you’re safe here, away from your city? It would be terribly easy to kill or enslave you. After all, there’s no one here to hear you scream and beg.”

Musing for a second, Irriari continued

“That’s a shame, though. I enjoy an audience.”

[Aello]

The pair walked along in silence for quite some time. The wind steadily blowing upon their faces, tousling Aello's hair as Lily whispered, "do you think killing bad people makes you good?" Aello shrugged. "Yes, and no." "Why?" Lily inquired. "Because you're getting rid of the darker souls within this world," Aello began, "only to allow someone else to replace them." "Why not just kill them too?" "You could," the huntress replied, "but it would only start the process all over again." The huntress kept on walking. For now, they were both silent. Caught in a trance- their eyes fixated on the beauty that surrounded them. Their minds musing over their words until a time that they ran into the zith. Her furry flesh; leathery wings, white hair and obisidian colored eyes. They seemed to fixate upon the huntress, as opposed to the frightened pycon who slid down the length of the girl's dress and into her pocket for cover. The older woman came to a halt, her eyes blazing as she sized the smaller zith lady up. She was busy hiking her bow up the length of her arm, so that the curve would rest upon her shoulder when Iri began to speak. "You could say we live here," the huntress responded to her fist series of remarks rather levelly. Her hands diving past the slit in her dress, into the folds where each of her blades were concealed. Her fingers furled around the dark wire hilts, before wrenching each free with a hollowed ring. She spun each deftly between her fingers before sweeping her arms down to her sides. The metal of each glinting menacingly against her skin. "Nor would I assume that I'm easy enough to kill..." Her voice trailed off as the wind picked up again. Tousling her chestnut colored mane. Adding to Lily's shiver from within the depths of her pocket. "Are you sure zith, that you'd still like to try?" Aello asked, a malicious sparkle within the corners of her right eye.

[Irriari]

OOCSorry this took so long from when I said I was writing it- my cat distracted me. Please don’t kill me, kthx.
The human girl was hardly scared of the hallmark wings and claws of her race. Such occurrences were rare and often reserved for Akalak warriors or the mentally unstable. Even if her claws failed to scare those that the zith interacted with, many were afraid of the unknown. Having never encountered a zith, many of her targets demonized her within their minds and reeked of fear before she even spoke. She reveled in the sweat that rolled off their bodies and the higher pitch tones in their voices as their voices quivered and cracked. Still, this human had none of those characteristics, and Irriari was frustrated. Maybe she had grown weak. Could she even be called a zith anymore? With a proud smile and a mocking tone, she addressed the woman

“What, are you going to stop me with that ridiculous excuse for a bow? Have you ever encountered a zith, human? I could close the gap between us and rend your face in half before you could land a single arrow. And we haven’t even gotten into the fun that would occur after I ripped your pretty face to shreds. Would you like me to tell you more?”

Irriari tensed her legs slightly, readying herself to move if the woman decided that it would be prudent to shoot her. Her wings opened slightly, though she knew it would be near impossible to gain the amount of distance needed to escape an arrow if she flew skyward. The canopy of tree branches would likely lacerate her wings and skin more than an arrow, though the wound would be far less deep.

[Aello]

"If I had intended to use you as arrow fodder, I wouldn't have hiked my bow up the length of my arm, now would I?" Aello inquired as she studied the slight quiver within the zith's legs. As though she were growing fearful; or perhaps, simply uncomfortable with how the huntress had been reacting to her. But then she saw the tension- the hint of muscles jumping beneath matted fur. That which swayed softly in the breeze. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as her thumbs danced lazily over the hilts. The huntress offered a slight nod. "A few times. I can't say you're a race to be feared," she whispered as she slid into a defensive stance. Legs bent at the knees, the right foot resting about a foot in front of the other. "Would you like to try and kill us now?" Aello asked. "Or would you prefer to stand around all day and snarl insults which you lack the spine to back up?"

[Irriari]

Irriari swore in zithanese. To the human in front of her, it would look as if the zith was simply mouthing words. The ultrasonic language of her race was the one she defaulted to when cornered or agitated. Currently, Irriari was both. The human was a wrench in her plans that she hadn't expected and the lack of emotion on the womans face continued to unnerve her. Irriari calmed her breathing and looked upward to the trees above. As she feared, the canopy was thick with thick tree limbs and moss. Every muscle in her small body was primed to take flight, and her mind cautioned her against doing anything else. Ignoring her better judgment, she taunted the human again, unsure of any other option.

“I'd much rather toy with you, human. I'm curious as to why you haven't ran from me yet. I do not which zith you encountered to make you think so little of my race, but I assure you, I am not someone you can dismiss so easily.”

[Aello]

"If that's what you wish," the girl whispered, "then it can be done." The last word leaving her lips as she sprang forward. Feet pounding against the uneven terrain beneath her, displacing thin lines of dirt as she trod. Her arms swung with each of her steps, helping to propel her forward. At the last moment, when the distance between them had been crossed Aello swept both of her arms out to her side. With blades flashing, she swept the cursed towards her form, in a wide arc directed at the zith's shoulder line. She would bring it up to the left shoulder, before moving over to the farthest point of her body, before dragging the blade down as she swung inwards with the cursed blade's twin. She'd direct this attack towards the edge of the woman's shoulder, where it met the wing, before spinning around the right side of the zith's body. Returning both blades to her side as she ducked, head bending into her chest as the rest of her body furled. Legs pushing up against the ground to propel her forward as she rolled under the zith's wing, and around her body, so as to be behind her for her next attack. Two rough swipes at a hopefully exposed back, before she darted away to face her head on once more.

[Irriari]

OOCI wasn’t exactly sure where each of the daggers were meant to land, based on your wording, so I did the best I could- I can edit it later if it didn’t fit what you want.

Irriari startled at the hasty attack, moving backward, but not quickly enough to avoid the daggers that tore into her body. The first blade sliced across her shoulder, cutting a line a foot long across the top of the ziths arm. The second blade hit her leather armor and scored a line through it that cut through the entire hide. While she had attempted to hide it from the human, her body was still recovering from her fight with Nolan. Blood flowed freely down the length of her arm to her fingertips before falling to the forest below. Noting that the woman was behind her, Irriari ran forward while swearing, attempting to get the momentum to fly into the air.

[Aello]

OOCOh that's alright, I just tend to assume that everyone knows what the heck I am talking about. The zith was running away from her, causing Aello's fists to tighten around the hilts of each of her blades as she bent her legs at the knees, and eased her lithe form into a crouch. Now what is she trying to do? the huntress wondered as she eyed the retresting creature, arms rising from her sides, bending at the elbows, to reside in a sort of kick-boxing stance in front of her chest. A defensive maneuver, designed to allow her to flick her weapons out easily when in close quarters. As soon as the zith had run a little further the huntress began to assume that she was either retreating, or about to take flight. Something she simply could not allow the zith to do. Thus, she pulled each of her arms back, before first hurling the cursed dagger towards her enemy, and then its twin. The metal swirling in the air; flashing in the sunlight as it neared. Seeking its furry target.