Nothing Like The Hunting Of Men [Koa]

[Hania]

Time Stamp: 10th Day, Summer, 510AV

Guarding the snake pit of Zinrah had become a little harder since the rains. The usual trail that was used to reach the city hugged the shape of the basin and allowed the Myrians a quick jaunt home with some nice scenery along the way. When the basin floods the trails close to the water become inaccessible and force the warriors on watch at Zinrah to take the longer paths home. His watch had ended last night, or rather early in the morning. It wouldn’t have been impossible to make the trek home at that hour but he would have been near Taloba by sun up, and seeing the well laid traps would have been impossible so he decided to hang around until daybreak. It wasn’t an entirely bad choice since he got to rest his tense muscles for a short while. Han described duty at Zinrah as brief flashes of action, followed by hours of tense waiting. As much as Han liked to plan out what he was going to do, and what was going to happen next, the constant waiting taxed his patience to an extreme.

So when he could properly see again he went about repacking all of his things in the tarp he used as a makeshift hammock and slung it around his shoulders. It would be an early enough start to get back home for the mid day meal if he took the path that led through the northern pass valley, baring no hang ups of course. After one last sweep of his minimalist camp Hania trotted back to the warrior that had relieved him and gave a final word of farewell. It was always wise to let someone know when one left and wandered into the jungle, so if you didn’t make it back home they would know about when the person got lost; and if it was worth looking for them. As he finally broke camp he caught a glimpse of another Myrian leaving as well, but thought little of it at the moment. His feet easily picked and placed their way across the forest floor, almost finding the simplest path by themselves. “This should be a good day…” Hania remarked brightly as he came across a small cluster of bananas in a clearing. It wasn’t hard to find things to munch on in the jungle but sweet things like bananas were a treat. The ripest looking bunch he could see was wrapped several times with the pole of his spear to knock out any crawlers that were calling it home. The bunch of fruit was yanked off and one separated from the rest, which was quickly peeled for sampling. His hike back wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

Han continued on his way stopping briefly to pluck and peel another banana several chimes later.Just as he was about to start off for the third time he paused and looked in the general direction he’d seen the other Myrian heading in. He hung his head with a sigh, feeling that he ought to at least be friendly, plus two travelers always seemed to make the trip go faster. Once he’d finished off the second banana a warbling whistle echoed through the surrounding jungle. He was walking heavy enough to let a fellow hunter know he was approaching but the whistle was just an added courtesy. The bushel of fruit was thrust out as a peace offering of sorts, so the woman could take some if she desired. Han just gave her a small nod as far as any sign of recognition, he'd known her for a while and didn't see much reason to continually exchange formalities with people he knew. It was just Hania being us usual gruff self. “Your watch as painful as mine? Or did you manage to bag a kill?”

[Koa]

oocHanhan, don't forget the timestamp.

These were some of the duties Koa rightfully and dutifully upholded. To honor her city in the service of combating Dhani and keeping the vile slithering creatures at bay was enough to make her skin boil in animosity and excitement. That day she had been standing guard for what was most of the day, snacking on berries she had packed in her sack before the journey, with eyes peeled towards the shadows and the ground littered with bits and pieces of leaves, twigs and various insects.

When dawn encroached on the young sky, the female Myrian had encountered a rather small constrictor slithering it’s way near her pack. Whether it was Dhani or not did not matter, at once she had lashed out from her position on the branch of a nearby tree, landing squarely on the rough back of the reptile, knee digging into the spine in an effort to crush it, and using her modified glaive to puncture the tough flesh of the neck and slice it in half. She tore at it in a frenzy that was nearly unstoppable, with growls and cusses flying from her lips all the while, until all around her was strewn the flesh of the creature.

Too easy, she thought. It was just another snake… But you couldn’t be too cautious out in the jungle wilds, where everything, even the flora were designed and instinctively programmed to kill. She stood, the blood that stained her leather armor, her legs and her hands ignored. Several bells had passed then until she was relieved of her position, and she gladly took her pack and began her trek home, of course, without first encountering an old acquaintance.

The whistle was heard first, then the flash of bananas held out as if a peace offering. Koa rolled her eyes at Hania and waved the fruit away. She smirked. “Oh, I managed to kill today, but it was not a Dhani. Just some random poor snake, probably not even three years old. Oh well.” As they continued walking, she hefted her pack up further on her back. “They’re getting better at hiding, those bastards. Rarely do they come up anymore. I suppose that’s a good thing, but it’d be nice to actually break their bones or something.” She spoke of it like an inconvenience, a crime that the Dhani’s hadn’t popped out of their lairs to meet their rightful deaths at the hands of the Myrians.

[Hania]

A shrug rose and fell on his shoulders when Koa dismissed the treat. He’d just have her share for her. A juvenile snake didn’t count as a kill in his mind but he wasn’t one to point something out just to disagree or irritate, the corners of his lips though, twitched slightly. “Baby killer.” The left over skin of the banana was absently examined while he listened to the woman’s complaints. He agreed that if there were more of the vile snake people in existence suffering guard duty at their city wouldn’t be nearly as bad. But that was the extent of his like-mindedness. He curled his arm back and flung the banana peel as far as he could in another direction. It’s decent through the air was watched until it hit the ground upon which he seemed mildly happy with the result.

“The less Dhani there are the better. I would wipe them from the face of existence if I could. We have enough prey and problems to worry about. We don’t need anything slithering around as well.” That’s where he stood on the matter, and that’s where he would leave his opinion, no need to justify how he felt. Hania would continue the walk in silence excluding the occasional grunt as he passed by something interesting. He didn’t have a lengthy conversation in him at the time, he was more preoccupied with trying to figure out why the animals were quieter than usual. A normal day constituted his ears twitching at sounds every few seconds, and looking over his shoulder at every faint growl or cry. He glanced over at Koa to see if she noticed anything, then up at the canopy high above.

Some of the bigger leaves were just visible, they were turned up; it was going to rain today. Next he jabbed a finger in his ears to see if clearing anything away might help but it didn’t. Hania slowed his pace and took great care to place his feet softly on the ground. It took a minute to calm his heart to a less noticeable level but when he did Han was standing dead still. It was impossible to eradicate all noise since his head was buzzing with questions he quickly answered, only to be replaced with another question. “Koa.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “When was the last time you haven’t heard anything but birds?”

[Koa]

Baby killer. Hah! What a pleasant compliment that was, at least to Koa’s demented way of thinking. She was partially upset at herself for having recklessly destroyed one of Caiyha’s children, but she had to admit that if it were not for the fact that the Dhani could become full snakes, she couldn’t help but be on edge at all times out in the wilds. There was always a reminder when she returned home and greeted her mother, who had suffered at the hands of a predator and was left crippled, that Koa had to be aware. To smell, and see and hear what she could.

But when Hania had finished speaking, to which she didn’t reply out of irritation, she began to notice the pattern of silence that followed them throughout their journey back to Taloba. Since they walked side by side, the heat emanating from his body was comforting, but the chill that crawled up her spine at the silence crushed any pleasant sensations she felt. She paused just when Hania did, turned herself around to eye the encroaching shadows, the whistling birds above and the rustling foliage.

When he spoke abruptly, she stood still, regardless, emerald eyes locked onto the shrubbery ahead. She raised a hand up as if to silence him, and then a faint shout echoed among the canopies overhead. “It's either an unknown predator waiting to ambush us…. Or a creature that makes the sounds of a mortal man.” She glanced at Hania, motioning for him to follow as she slunk low to the ground, crawling through the obstacles that encased the jungle floor. It was easy for her. She was lithe, athletic and flexible, any sounds she made was muffled by the caws of birds overhead.

There were tracks in the mud when she had come to a stop five minutes later. Boots, fresh, and leading near the road of the northern pass. She waited for Hania before she spoke. “It seems we have intruders. Shall we go greet them with open arms?”

[Hania]

Hania would have been leading Koa if his legs were longer, as it was he started to move first but her pace was longer and she took the lead. In all honesty it didn’t really bother him who was leading who but it felt like, to him at least, it looked as if he just waited around for someone to bark orders at him. He swore at his height internally for a few seconds but the conflict was soon washed away when they set off after the cries he knew to be no predator. His path was slightly to the left and behind Koa’s for he was in the habit of moving slower through the jungle, trying to pick up every single obscure detail. Maybe something had brushed up against moss or fungus on a tree and left a clue. Or it’s coat snagged on a prickly vine leaving a tuft of fur behind for him to find and identify. A trail would be hard to find in the kind of vegetation they slunk through, but within the first inch of the ground he might be able to spot a broken twig, or pressed leaf that would reveal similarly marked vegetation, turning into a trail they could follow. And indeed he did find several things, the most curious being a sizable set of prints belonging to a frog that would have been as big as a chicken, but nothing related to whatever made the sound they heard.

It was Koa who found the boot print, and Koa who voiced the exact words he was thinking. He was about to follow her lead again but something caught his eye. It was something about the boot print, it seemed…..off. Hania squatted down placing the spear on the ground so he could reach a finger out to touch the center of the track. The ground was wetter than its usual soggy texture. “This wasn’t made long ago, I think.” His eyes swept forward in the direction the boot was pointed and spied the next imprint. He hopped forward like a bird, bone jewelry clinking as he did so. The placing was so chaotic he glanced at his own feet as if to reassure himself he hadn’t gotten left and right mixed up by some chance. The right print was on the left side of the left boot print. “These feet don’t make sense, they are on the wrong sides.” He knew his partner had to be itching to run the human down, but he simply wasn’t done extracting all the information from the tracks yet. Han stood up and walked backwards two feet, then jogged forwards, putting his own foot print right next to the booted one. He turned to examine it. “Look,” the thing that had been bugging him was now clear, “the tip dug out some dirt.” Eyes raked over as many of the boot prints as he could see. “It’s running is all over the place, in no direction.” He finally picked up his spear again, ready to follow Koa’s lead again. “This is how you get lost, or lose what’s chasing you.

But you’ll be the one to greet it, won’t you.” It wasn’t even a question. He knew Koa would be the one to make the kill even if he happened to capture the human first. It was the way of things. But again, he didn’t mind. He would get the chance to kill a human some other day, there were always more, and as long as he was in the jungle he was learning, honing, and utilizing what he knew. That was enough to keep him content. They traced the path of their prey, able to move slightly faster now that they had a road map to follow. It seemed, though, that Hania hadn’t guessed the time the tracks were left correctly for only a matter of minutes passed before they heard rustling in the undergrowth; and light whimpers of frustration. “Wait,” his hand shot out to catch her shoulder before she could move off, “Take it down how you want, have your fun, but don’t touch anything above it’s shoulders. I’d like to string this one up as a sacrificial example. Intact.” He added, hoping to the gods his hot headed friend communed with reason enough to grant his request.

[Koa]

Koa crouched quietly and watched as Hania inspected the boot print. She didn’t quite understand why it was necessary. The jungle told whispers of intruders, it was a living essence that infused the flora and fauna, a natural guard to intruders, and it was often made quite evident if something was amiss in the land. But she allowed Hania his fill of his curiosity, and found amusement in the way he stepped back and forth among the footprints. “Yes, so they aren’t as stupid as other intruders, it doesn’t make any difference, they’ll be dead in the long run.” She flashed a white grin, green eyes glinting from the rays of sunlight that filtered through the canopy. Time would not be wasted, they set off at once, although Koa remained silent throughout their time tracking the individual human down. The rains had produced fine quality mud that coated the ground in a dark layer, sprinkled with bits and pieces of flora that sprouted amongst crevices of trees and rocks.

There was always a rule number one when out in the wilds: cover your scent. The female Myrian had been told this many many times during the course of her life, far more by her own mother than from anyone else. Become the undetected, the shadow that slunk in the trees and on the ground, the first to strike a move, to catch someone or something unaware, far different than her actual dueling style, which preferred the second move as opposed to the first. But there was adrenaline coursing through her veins. Heart pounding, blood racing. She wanted the kill! Her legs propelled her forward far more quickly than Hania could manage, yet when she had begun to slow down in response to the noises that emanated not a few feet ahead of them, she felt Hania’s hand on her shoulder.

She smirked at his request. “Yes of course, Hania. I will try not to utterly maul this one for you.” Koa gave him that trademark smile, sweet and coated in sugar, but at once she had dropped low to the ground, setting aside her glaive and her pack for a moment to completely coat herself in a layer of thick mud. She brought up a hand to drag the substance across her neck, her light but form-fitting legging and made sure her bone necklaces would not dangle to make a sound. Once she was sure her scent would be obscured by the layer of earth, she tightened her pack around her waist and grasped her glaive. The sounds gradually became lighter as she crawled forth, under enormous roots of large trees and past ferns and shrubbery that were well-suited to conceal her. The sight before her, however, made her pause.

There was not one intruder, but five. Humans they were, one female, the rest male, garbed primarily in leather with one male in particular sporting plate coverings. The whimpers were exuded from the female, who held a wound that bled profusely, as was apparent from the lingering scent of blood that reached Koa’s nose. Her eyes narrowed, glaive gripped tight, and she brought a hand up to motion towards Hania. They spoke in Common, but it was hard for the female Myrian to decipher, as her mind was racing on tactics and ambush. A large, looming branch caught her eye, and she quickly crouched her way over toward it, using the sturdy knots planted in the trunk to lift herself up and onto the sturdy limb, kneeling with her glaive held ready. This was where she inspected them from above, noting how all of them carried a sword, yet only two had their’s out. She grinned to herself, nodding towards Hania from above before dropping down onto one of the men that stood precisely below her.

The impact of Koa’s kick to his back forced him to the floor, where she landed with a muffled thump on the soft mud and quickly brought her glaive down for an elaborate sweep on his back. Howls erupted from the victim’s mouth as blood spurted from the gash. But Koa did not stop there, she turned him around, twisted his wrist so fiercely it snapped in half and promptly sliced the limb off with another sweep of her glaive. It was not a chime how quick she was. She sunk the bone blade into the cartilage of his chest, tore out his heart amid the heart-wrenching screams and bit into it, mimicking the same action Myri had done during her victory over the god Ruros. She would show these intruders who they dealt with now; avid followers of the Goddess-Queen, merciless warriors that would leave no one alive.

The other four had been shocked into a temporary paralysis it seemed, for they had not come to the aid of their colleague that had stood not 10 feet from where they had been. Koa dropped the warm, still-beating heart of her victim onto the ground, an absent gesture, for her eyes had caught those of the fear-stricken woman. Blood coated her lips, her neck and chest, mixing with the mud and giving her a grisly and macabre appearance overall. She raised her glaive up, dripping as it was, and stood with a foot practically crushing the corpse beneath her. “Intruders!” She hissed in a thickly accented and broken Common, “You come to this land to DIE.”

[Hania]

Emotion was a driving force behind Koa’s personality, and if Han wasn’t careful to keep to himself, it would take over him as well. She wanted to charge head first into the situation which he commended her for since it would take a lot of will power to make himself do the very same. If he just charged blindly into something, fueled only by his emotions, the chances of slipping up were astronomically higher. He wouldn’t slip up, wouldn’t make a small mistake that could easily kill him. A monkey with a rock could kill him if he made one wrong move and he was determined not to die so frivolously. She had seen the foot prints of her prey and he knew she was itching to find it and kill it, but to Hania, taking his time with the prints was everything. They told him a vast amount of information he speedily lashed together into a plausible, and very probable theory. The prints were small, and not even as deep as the one he’d made but just as far apart which meant the deyhan was lighter than he was but still moving fast; and it was nimble to move about so easily. He would even hazard a wager that the boots were the heaviest item in the beings possession. Running constituted a need to be somewhere else in a hurry, plus the direction the tracks were headed in, he figured someone had run into the fringes of the jungle and was hoping to run back out again. Only slaves and adventurers tried such a trick but single, erratic, tracks told him the former was a better guess. All of this also told him that the two Myrians weren’t the only one’s hunting this deyhan. So a child, or woman, slave had made a last ditch attempt to lose the man hunting her down by getting him trapped in the jungle. How desperate they must be to try such a stupid thing. It probably helped he’d seen this tactic tried once or twice before.

And when Koa paused as she set eyes on the group of humans he let a small “I told you so,” grin break over his lips. He already knew all of what he saw before him; except the number of men sent after the woman. Four, she must be special, still it was no matter since none of them would care about anything except escape very soon. Han stayed close to Koa until she made her way up onto a branch at which point he began flanking the left side of the group, wanting to come up behind them and take out one more sword toting buffoon. Dramatics, though, was another aspect of Koa he’d overlooked. He’d assumed she was on the same page as he was and had the same game plan. He really should socialize more, so he could be aware of these differences in thought. Granted he had his own grandiose flair in mind, so he wouldn’t condemn her for theatrics, and the distraction was welcome. He was able to sprint in a wide arc that did indeed lead him to the back of the humans. Hania slipped into a shadowy patch of creeping vines and Tskanna leaves, vanishing in inky blackness.

He settled himself down just in time to see Koa drop a quivering, jittering, heart to the forest floor. Really? Was it completely necessary to open the man’s chest cavity right in front of them? He’d wanted to play with the deyhan. Pick them off one by one, leaving them to panic as their numbers mysteriously thinned. But it seemed Koa had let the cub out of the den with her public show of flaying meat from bone. He stepped forward, looming out of the shadows inches behind one of the two men with drawn swords. This one was chosen for the soul purpose of burning fear into every fiber of the remaining humans; for if he could best a man with a weapon already drawn what chance did they have left? His eyes found those of his murderous partners and would remain there until the act was done. The second she started to speak Han’s free hand clamed vice like over the human’s mouth and wrenching his head back, eyes toward the sky. His right hand pulled back a little only to flash forward, ramming the spear into the man’s back. The spear entered under the human’s ribs in his lower back, pierced the right lobe of his liver, and burst out through the seventh and eighth ribs on his front side, leaving the first six inches of the much touted weapon jutting out of his body.

The blow had been timed perfectly for the sound of breaking bone echoed in the silence following Koa’s last words, and Hania removed his hand from over the other man’s lips to allow him one painful gasp of air. The others turned half to start running, and half to see what had suddenly happened behind them, only to catch a glimpse of their party member being yanked backwards by something in the dark. The skewered man hit the ground with a thump, the lower two thirds of his legs still protruding from the shaded alcove of foliage. Mortal screams rent the air with a hint of piteous crying but not for long, however.

A small puff of air, like someone had put a hole in a bag they’d blown up, juicy choking and coughing, and a few squishes later the man’s legs had stopped flailing about. They just twitched as the brain sent its last communications to muscles that still craved to be worked. Hania’s form stood from its crouched position in his shadowy corner of Faylndar. He was only an outline against the darker backdrop, spear tip visible and dripping bits of bone and blood, as well as a bloody hand when he tossed something at the man in armor. A tongue attached to most of the inner workings of his the victims throat splattered across his chest. “Run, human.” The tip of the spear gestured in a northwesterly direction, away from the breech in the northern pass. “Your friends will not feed us for long.” Again the deyhan seemed to freeze but they soon broke free of the horrid hypnotism of their dead brethren, pelting through the foliage in the direction he’d indicated. “Idiots.” Hania threw his head back in monstrously sadistic laughter. “We can have fun with these ones. Like a snake in a tiger’s paws.”