Of Iron and Light

[Ixzo]

Ixzo leveled her gaze on the man, finding again no reaction from him at her transformation. Perhaps her initial misconception that he was carved stone come to life had been wrong, but the stoic exterior of the strange creature before her was stone in other ways. She decided that he was stone because he seemed to not care for the outside world, or the shock of the unknown. It intrigued the Kelvic, who was quick to temper and so curious in so many ways, she didn’t understand the concept of stifling one’s reactions. Still, it was his turn to be curious and while it was clear that he did not know much about her kind, be it Kelvic or lion, there was no fear in his eyes. He rushed through his questions in common, and Ixzo found not a word she understood.

Instinctively her ears flicked back, away from him, but listening to the world around her. When changing in a city like this, it took her a few ticks to adjust to the sudden over-stimulation of the world around her. Ixzo could smell better, see better, and hear better in this form, which meant there was suddenly much more for her to take in and for her peripherals to process. The bustle of the Commons that didn’t seem to break the serenity of the Temple was suddenly background to every word Crylon spoke, and although she did not understand all of his words, the Commons distracted her from those she would have. He seemed to speak slower, waiting for an answer or reaction of some sort, but Ixzo did not satisfy that. She ignored his questions, although she likely would not have answered him even if she were in her human form and could speak common fluently.

Working to satiate the noise and smells that were now added to her perception of the world around her, she stood up once again. She was confident the Stoneman would not frighten from her, and so she slinked in his direction. With one massive paw she shoved her dress and ax towards her boots so they were in a rough pile in the corner. It was a lot of work to change between forms, and if she did it too much to this stranger’s whim he would also likely see her eat an entire dog raw in front of him. Not thinking it worth it, and knowing she wouldn’t have spoken much if she was human, Ixzo decided instead to introduce him to something, or more accurately, someone. She didn’t have a good feeling about the Stoneman, but she did not have a bad one either. He was clearly not completely tainted by the slum of a city they lived in, and she wanted to use this to her advantage.

Deciding her mundane things were not worth taking with her, Ixzo turned away from them and padded over to the man. She did not make a sound, but brushed her cheek against his forearm, silently spreading her scent on the man while trying to gather his attention to the fact that she was communicating with him. It wasn’t the territorial scent that she worked to spread in the woods around her hut, but an unintentional release of the glands beneath her whiskers coating the forearm where she brushed against the man’s arm. Once she had it, Ixzo took a sharp turn, curving closely around the back of Crylon’s body and pushing her weight against him with her shoulders, urging him to take a step forward. After circling him once she took a few steps down from the stairs, and then paused, turning her ears back to listen if he was going to follow her or not. She gave him only two ticks to react before she started walking, making it as clear as she could that she wanted him to follow her.

[Crylon Stonecraft]

If the kelvic in her animal body understood him or could respond, she gave no sign to Crylon. From her actions he believed she was still the same person, but she did not respond as a person even in so much as she had before in broken sentences or single words. He tried again, taking his time, giving her a chance to respond in some fashion, but still she did not seem interested in responding to his words even listening to them. When she rose Crylon began to tense, but quickly shook it off, returning his gaze to the cats eyes. If she wanted to attack, he supposed she would have done so already, and if she did he would use his arm and beat her away until she regained herself. One of the upsides to his arm, along with having an ever present tool he also had an ever present weapon that did not dull or break. Instead of coming at him though she moved to her human forms items, her dress, boots, weapon, pushing them with her paws into a pile. He was not sure if she wanted him to pick them up, or if she was simply tidying up. Regardless, it seemed to be something a wild beast would not do, another sign that she was still herself. Once she was done with that though she turned to him, moving in close in her lithe cat form. When she neared she rubbed up against him, like he had once seen a smaller cat do to a human. The she swooped around again, using her body to push at him in the legs and forcing him to take a step. She wanted him to follow? When she began to take a few steps away in the direction she had pushed him, he was sure that was her intent. Though where she wanted him to go... That he was certainly less sure of. But she clearly did want him to follow, seeing as she was giving him time to do so, and stopping to check and make sure she was doing so. He took a few steps to the side and picked up the pile of possessions she had left, he assumed collected as such because she wanted him to bring them for her. It was not too many things, and simple enough for him to hold the pile in front of him. With those in hand Crylon headed after the kelvic. He did not think she was trying to harm him, or to lead him somewhere to be harmed. If she had wanted that he felt she would have done so when he was not expecting her to change to her animal form. And so he followed, silently as her example, doing his best to keep track of where they were and where they were going in case he needed to find his way back by himself. But he had seen nothing to make him not trust the kelvic, and so would follow her. And if worst came to worst, he had his arm to beat away any threat. He was hopeful, but cautious, what he felt to be a good middle ground. And certainly better than what most of the city did in seeing an enemy in everyone and assuming as such until it was proven right.

[Ixzo]

The beauty of Sunberth, if there was anything beautiful about such a wretched city, was that no one really cared. Everyone had only themselves in mind, and so a full-size Night Lion walking through the streets with a Stoneman did not bring a mob of hate for the unknown. Sure they pair got curious glances, even fearful ones, but it was clear they were not worth approaching, both could confidently defend themselves, or so that was the projected idea. Because of this, the lioness prowled straight for the tent grounds, were the poorest of poor tended to dwell. Those who were on the streets gave the pair a wide berth. Ixzo did not look back at the man once she heard him following her. She knew the person she was taking him to meet would recognize her in this form. Lolan had met the Kelvic in the worst possible way, and yet the child still liked her, and although it had taken the lion and child a time to understand and get used to one another, Lolan knew what Ixzo’s intention was, thanks to a Godly gift that the Kelvic did not recognize. That gift also meant that Lolan would be able to understand this man, and Ixzo would be able to glean more information from him.
By the time they reached the slums, Ixzo paused and glanced back to see that the man had picked up her stuff. Confusion flitted in her face, and then she averted her gaze quickly. Perhaps her callous indifference towards the permanence of object was not clear to him, or perhaps that he was still waiting for her to turn back. The large cat licked her chest a few times out of embarrassment. She was fully prepared to let the old shabby things go to waste, or fall into someone else’s hands, although he had brought them with them. She wasn’t entirely sure what to do with the situation, so she opted to ignore it.

Ixzo slowed now, skirting the edge of the grounds until she caught wind of a familiar conglomerate of smells, the children. Lolan was trying to stay out of the Vino’s sight, and so blending in with her fellow orphans had been her best option. Ixzo had not yet built the confidence in the girl to invite her to live with Ixzo in the woods, where she knew the little Drykas would be safe. She also knew that as soon as Lolan saw an opportunity she would want to return to Endrykas, a place that Ixzo was not prepared to return to, not so fresh after the breaking of her bond. But taking responsibility for the child would obligate her to. She slowed, unintentionally falling into a slight crouch, letting her mouth part to take in the pungent human scents better as she tried to differentiate one particular human. She could smell Lolan among the other children, but where exactly the girl was left the tracker a little more confused.

”Ixzo!” The shrill child’s voice rang out just above her, and Ixzo looked up in time to see the small girl descend from the top of a pile of rotting wood that perhaps had once been gathered for fire. The Drykas child landed with a hard roll right next to the lioness, and the Kelvic was quick to roll onto her back, playing as if the girl was stronger than she. Lolan was not yet brave enough to touch Ixzo without heavy warning, but she recognized the Kelvic and seemed genuinely happy to see her. The girl reached for Ixzo’s face, gathering her whiskers between her palms and blowing on her snout like she would a horse. Caught by surprise, Ixzo forcefully pulled her head back and stood up, which made Lolan trip where she was. Immediately sorry for the act, the Kelvic leaned close to the girl, chattering with her whiskers so that Lolan could pull herself up by Ixzo’s fur. Instead Lolan helped herself up, and Ixzo let out a quick purr, brushing her cheek across the girl’s shoulder.

”Ixzo,” Lolan spoke again, slower now, trying to draw the Kelvic’s attention. ”Who is this?” Uncertain, curious The girl spoke in Pavi, aiding her words with Grassland signs so that only the lioness would understand her. They both knew Ixzo could not respond, so instead she turned to face the man once again, sitting with tail curled around her front paws, and gave out a short singular chirp, watching Crylon steadily, to gauge his reaction to the girl. Out of the corner of her eye, Ixzo could see another orphan peak out from inside a tattered tent. The orphans were watching.

”Who are you?” The child finally spoke in common to the man, a healthy dose of Sunberth suspicion in her voice. Lolan also stepped forward, two hands out to reach for Ixzo’s things, but not to shake the man’s hand. And then Lolan did exactly what Ixzo had brought Crylon to her for, she spoke of things she shouldn’t know about. Things that only her strange godly gift allowed her to know, things of the past. ”Why are you here?”

[Crylon Stonecraft]

Luckily for Crylon as an Isur he had a good sense of direction. He knew where he was in general in relation to where he had started, and where they had stopped at the temple, and knew which way they headed now. While he might not know all of the places in the city, once he knew of a place and where it was in relation to others he could usually find his way there. The finely tuned Isurian capabilities meant for navigating mine tunnels and underground without land marks and keeping from getting turned around worked equally well in the poorly labeled and laid out city of Sunberth. They had been walking for a few chimes when Crylon considered the oddity of the pair. A shirtless short Isur walking along with a great big hunting cat. If he had been back in Ravok, he could only imagine the reaction... Here, everyone was so wrapped up in their own things, not caring unless it interacted with them, that they left them more or less alone. People looked, stared, took a few paces to walk further when passing, but did not seem to mind so long as the cat did not start eating people. He smelled it before he saw it, the sea of tents marking the place where those without even a half rotted hull of a building to sleep under lived. Those truly without a home, something that seemed odd to Crylon. The concept of not working, of not rectifying ones situation and building something up to use, was foreign to his mind. Like trying to explain air and sky to a fish who lived at the bottom of the ocean. Industry was bred into his people as much as anything was, and Crylon did not doubt that if he was dropped with nothing in the middle of such a place he would have a decent shelter post haste. He was surprised however to find not just adults here, but children as well. And not families with children, but just children... Alone... In groups... In pairs... Clearly not supervised or anything. Did the city not have a place for children to be taken in if alone? As he was pondering this there was an exclamation, and a child came rushing up to the kelvic with glee. Clearly she knew Ixzo, and for quite a bit longer than Crylon had by her reaction. Even more so when Ixzo began to roll around and play with the child as if she was some kind of oversized house cat. Once they had become reacquanted and the girl calmed down she began speaking to the kelvic in an unknown tongue Crylon did not recognize. His surprise turned into concern, and concern into sorrow. In Sultros, such a thing would never be allowed. A place would be found within a clan for such a child bereft of family. They would have new family, would be cherished and part of the whole of the Kingdom. Not so clearly here. Seeing such things made Crylon's hope for the humans dwindle for a moment, as the sorrow and un-justness of the situation saddened him. In his distraction he did not fully understand her meaning, answering the more immediate tense of her question and not the implied component. When the one known to Ixzo came Crylon handed her the kelvics things, shaking his head before responding in his best common. “I Crylon, young one. I here follow Ixzo, she bring me. Show me here. So I come after.” Her question in Crylon's understanding answered, Crylon turned to his own question for the child. “Why you here? No family? No place for children no family in city? What call... No home child house? Why you here? No place for child, be here.” As he said this Crylon saw other children about, and whereas he had been brimming with hope for the humans when Ixzo had tried to touch him with her power before, now he was clearly hollow in said regard if only for a time.

[Ixzo]

As soon as she retrieved the clothes, the child simply dropped the items to the ground, and Ixzo turned to sniff them. She hadn’t cared for the mundane things, but since they were here now she had the opportunity to switch back if she pleased. She knew the child was uncomfortable with her Lion form, and so the idea seemed like a good one. Allowing the young God-touched Drykas to carry the conversation for her, Ixzo padded a few steps behind her orphan companion. Within a few ticks the woman found herself standing on two legs again. Habitually she cracked her knuckles and twisted her neck slightly to adjust to the new bones before stooping to gather her dull red dress.

”Maybe you shouldn’t be here.” The child said defensively and made the sign for moron. Ixzo caught the hand movement and snorted.

”He is not a moron, he is different. He did not understand your question.” Persistence, Creativity, Intention. She signed quickly to the child, speaking in Pavi. Ixzo then adjusted the hem of her dress and then stepped forward to stand beside the small red haired Drykas. One large calloused palm reached down to ruffle the child’s hair and then smooth over her upper back were the lily marks lay giving her the blessing.

”She want know why Sunberth.” Ixzo said, now understanding that she was right in bringing Crylon here. Ixzo didn’t often care much about the affairs of others, in fact she actively tried to avoid it most of the time, but she was so curious about the Stoneman that she wondered if his indifference to her gnosis meant an indifference to compassion. Or if her companion could glean anything from him. ”Ask him where he came from.” Curiosity She whispered to the child in Drykas, looking back at Crylon with as innocent a face as she could muster, as if he wouldn’t know they were talking about him right in front of him. Only all Ixzo could muster was the deadpan and slightly angry look that she always seemed to wear, with little emotion crossing the cat’s fac, even now.

The only fault to this plan was that Lolan did not even trust Ixzo nearly as much as Iollu or Catli had when she cared for those children. Perhaps it was the Sunberth paranoia that had already infected the small child who had been there only a few moons yet, perhaps it was simply what she had endured. Ixzo knew she would not have gotten as close to the child as she was if she did not speak the horse-people’s tongue, but the Kelvic still wanted to breech the last barrier that kept Lolan wary of even her. Seeing how the child reacted to this stranger only made it that more clear to Ixzo that Lolan trusted her far more than anyone else.

”I’m Lolan.” The young Drykas finally stuck her hand out, except she offered her left hand, a knowing smile on her face. Ixzo scrunched her brow at the child, figuring that she was trying to force the man to let her touch his odd arm. ”I’m from Endrykas, where are you from?” She carefully watched his reaction to the girl’s query as she ducked and stuffed her feet into her leather boots and strapped the axe back to her belt. It dawned on her that he cared more for material things than she, not having entirely understood her disinterest in following up with her clothing. She could always buy more, so to her it did not seem a waste. Someone who needed the things enough to steal them could have them, if she was not using them. It was perhaps a philosophy the Stoneman did not understand.

[Crylon Stonecraft]

While the child spoke the kelvic returned to her original form in which Crylon had met her. It seemed to only take a moment, before she was standing tall and appearing as a human once more donning her clothing. It was also clear from the girls tone and words that she was not pleased with Crylon's response, though he was not sure why. Perhaps a translation issue? But as far as he could tell he had answered her question. Double meaning were still confusing, particularly without any clarification to give context. But if her impromptu and shortly worded question were not meant in the way she had said them, he had no way of knowing that. When next there was speech, Crylon was surprised to find the speaker was Ixzo and not the girl. While she was not much more verbose than the kelvic, she seemed much more free with her speech. If still rather curt and clipped and abrupt. The two conversed, from their glances at him clearly speaking of him in the language they shared. Crylon simply weathered this, waiting for them to address him instead of ignoring him as he was deaf and dumb from but a few feet away. His eyes crinkled as he inspected the two of them, Lolan and Ixzo, gathering his thoughts before speaking. “No, you is rude, both rude. Speaking of me, right front me. Not stupid, just cause not know tongue same. And ignoring questions I make, to ask own. Is rude. Not nice. Speaking, is give, take, not just take. If I give, you give back, is how works when talk to people as same... Equal. Otherwise, is just you looking down, and being rude. I not be friends with people rude, with bad people. Now you be good people, be treated good in return? Or you bad, rude people, and be treated rude in return?” Crylon took the extended hand, the left hand with his own left, an oh so subtle attempt to touch his arm of metal/gem that he had not seen before... Except for the dozen or so times before people had done exactly that since leaving the Kingdom. He fought to roll his eyes at how unoriginal and obvious the two were. “If you want touch arm, just ask. Worst I say is no. Stop try be sneaky. Is silly. And obvious. Not first person try take hand with left, though not normally do.” Giving the pair the benefit of the doubt, and assuming they would heed his words, he let out a sigh and took his hand back after an appropriate time of contact. “From Sultros. Before Sunberth, in Ravok. But it... Oppressive there. Very focus on one god, not like speak of or worship others. Sunberth not perfect, but not issue here. Also my trade, build, design buildings. Is what I do, is what I learning to do. What better need than here for that?” Pausing for a moment, Crylon turned to the girl, meeting her eyes. “But you still not answer question. New Sunberth, want learn. If you not explain, how ever know? Why you here, this place? No family? No place for children no family in city? Not have no home child house? Is not place child should be, but see many here. Makes sad. Is sad. Why? ”

[Ixzo]

Ixzo hadn’t been chastised in nearly six years, it had been such a time since anyone had talked down to her like that, it didn’t feel quite real. Crylon spoke in chopped common and too accented for her to understand most of the time, but the Kelvic could read his anger and offense loud and clear. It didn’t occur to the socially unaware Kelvic that he might take offense to her correcting Lolan in Pavi, but then again he likely did not understand what she had been saying, and she had no intention of explaining it to him. The Kelvic simply listened to the sound of his annoyance, rather than to the meaning of his words, understanding why he would be annoyed, but seeing no point in leaping to her own defense. If Ixzo was considered a curt woman, Lolan was eerily similar, and far more suspicious than the lion. The Stoneman didn’t seem to have much tolerance for the soft moldable minds of children, and when Ixzo looked down, she could see tears welling in Lolan’s eyes. Uh-oh.

The Kelvic was eager to please, and it was easy to be generous to these children. To give and give because they always needed something, and she had more than she could have every needed and no one to give to. She was happy to provide, to have some purpose for someone who needed her. But, no matter how much the lion loved the orphans of the city she hated, tears were far too out of her comfort areas. The Kelvic had nothing to give for those, no remedy, no object, and no understanding of how to make them end. She could attack Crylon and maul him for offending her beloved Lolan in such a manor, but something told the Kelvic that would be unreasonable. The barriers of three people who barely spoke the single language they could communicate in was prone to create issue where there needed not be any. Perhaps the young girl had avoided his question, although Ixzo thought that Lolan had answered his question in her cryptic way, but it was clear that the man was of far more words than either of them and was not satisfied with her answer. When he began pressing for further explanations the tears finally spilled over and Ixzo’s eyebrows rose in uncertainty of what to do about them. She had never really known what to do with the salty water that flowed from child’s eyes at the slightest emotion, she hadn’t ever learned. Her hesitation didn’t help, and as the first sobs racked Lolan’s tiny frame the redhaired Drykas turned and fled, not once turning to the Kelvic for comfort.

Ixzo didn’t reach out, just watched the child go, unsure of how to fix it. After a tick of trying to track her form weave between the tattered tents of the squalor living area, Ixzo turned back to Crylon. Eyebrows still raised in confusion over what felt like an ordeal. Happy? She wanted to say, but was starting to gather that he was more sensitive to the tones and words of others than she, and so Ixzo was not sure how it would be received. She admired the mono-form humanoids for that sensitivity, something Ixzo had to learn and still hadn’t been able to completely understand. Even now, her closest friend in the city was crying, in tears… somewhere, and the Kelvic had no idea what to do. She had wanted to use the small child to help learn things about this strange Stoneman, but the plan had backfired, and now she was standing here looking at the man.

”No good.” She voiced her opinion on the failed attempt at making conversation easier. She could tell he did not like his questions to go unanswered, so Ixzo made an attempt to explain Lolan’s outbreak.

”No family. Family in Endrykas,” She pronounced the city with the clear accent of one who had lived there, hiking a thumb back to reference Lolan. ”Sunberth home of lost.” She shrugged, eyes glancing back towards the tent city that expanded behind her as if it was an example of this. As far as she had understood he had left his home for religion, for new experiences. Ixzo thought it to be naïve. She would have loved to have never left her beloved jungle forests, the world outside was horrific and foreign and full of uncertainty. Who would crave such a thing? Crazy people. Ixzo focused her silvery cat-like gaze on the man once more, thoughts whirling behind them as she tried to digest what he had said. Unconsciously because she had no better words to describe what she was thinking, he hands made the grassland signs for Curious. But she did not follow up with words, her signs falling away from uncomprehending eyes.

”I go home now.” She said curtly, nodding to herself, and then looking back at the man. She wasn’t entirely sure what to do with the situation she had caused, her incompetence with the child had shown and she had embarrassed herself, and the rough pelts and blankets of her den in the forest seemed much more comforting than standing with this strange, fresh discomfort hanging in the air. She didn’t like it, so she quietly stepped around the man, heading back towards the main street and turned north to begin the long trek up past the gated community and the slag heap and through the dry branches of the odd eastern forest.

[Crylon Stonecraft]

In Sultros it was at once a wondrous place, but also a harsh one. A son of the Kingdom of Isur, much was expected of him. He was not to be some layabout, he was to be of value to his people. And the weight of his people rested on his shoulders, even from such a young age. His childhood had been filled with joy and learning and family, but it had also been filled with tradition and expectations and harshness. It was much more structured than the freewheeling city of Sunberth. He did not see his harshness as anything different than how one of his own elders would have reacted if he had acted as such at home as a child. But then, they were not Isur. Were not such hardy people of the mountain, ungiving, without surrender or quitting. But at the same time... He did not think being overly nice would help any more. Her sadness and tears saddened him, but he knew that if he was not harsh then she would never learn. Would keep on with the same harsh manner. The kelvic wanted to be her friend, or was her friend, it seemed, but was not willing to do the harsh things the child did not enjoy for her own good. Crylon felt it was akin to a parent slapping the hand of a child away as they tried to reach into the fires of a forge. The pain was immediate, but they would remember and it would stop them from much greater pain down the road. More permanent pain and problems. If he could tell nothing else, he could tell that this child was not used to being told the proper way, and so reacted with tears and running away. Running away was easy. Tears were easy. Learning, especially hard truths, was not so easy. Crylon responded to respect with respect, and responded to rudeness with rudeness, in hopes that he could teach the child something of how to act. For her own good. Not with malice, not with enjoyment of the tears. But with the firm hand of a parent keeping a child from burning themselves in a forge. The child fled, vanishing like smoke in the wind into the tents, her home and familiar ground. For a moment he considered following her, but then he lost track of her with his eyes, and could not find the small human among the many others of the tents town. His shoulders slumped for a moment, his face saddened, but then he returned to his resolute stare and firm back standing tall. He might not have liked being harsh, but sometimes good spirited harshness was better than mean spirited kindness, or empty holly niceties. “From Endrykas. Not mean no family here. I from Sultros. Far away swell. Not mean cannot make new friends, new family. But also not mean I should be nice, and let act bad, or child not learn be good. What happen someone not nice as me, she say same to? They react so nice? Or they angry, hurt, attack? Better hard truth, than sweet nothing sometimes... If saves worse later.” Turning to the Kelvic, Crylon met the womans eyes. “Child try put hand in forge. In fire. You sit, do nothing? Or you stop, slap away? This make happy? No. But sometimes is what need, is what good so learn. If want help, not always be nice and give what want. Not if be responsible, not if want help be good.” As they finished talking, the woman simply responded, explaining she was going home. Where this was, if they would meet again, was not broached. Though if the two were friends, perhaps he could see where the girl had learned some of her manners... Ixzo leaving, Crylon tried to get her attention, not wanting to end things as such.“Ixzo. I...” However before he could finish the sentence and before the woman could get too far, an object struck Crylon from behind. Turning to face the threat he checked his back, finding it to be... Mud. Or what he hoped was mud. "Aye! Who you now! Wazzat arm there! You some kind of magic arm man! Whazzat your mother petched the slag heap, and you came out like that! Who you think you are, goin bout like dat eh!" His rough common trying to make sense of the words spoken in a garbled rush, Crylon turned to the man, holding up his empty hands in an assuaging gesture. “Not magic. Is gift, from Izurdin. Is because Isur. I...” But once more Crylon was cut off as another person began speaking from a few tents away. "Oy, shut it! I'm trying to sleep here! He's just an Isur you idiot, now shut it afore I come over and shut you up." But at the word of magic several more ears had perked up, and within a half chime a couple more idiots who had never seen nor heard of an Isur were at the first mans back. "I'ma take yur arm magic man, cut it right off. Then you won be magic no more, eh! Less get im!" And with no further ado the three men came charging at Crylon, giving him no more of a chance to defend himself than to raise his arms and position his legs so that his body was in a basic defensive stance while he waited for the men to cross the last few feet to him. The first man was weaponless, as was the second, but the third held a heavy branch of thick wood apparently in use as a simple club of sorts.

[Ixzo]

The Kelvic could not help but be spooked by the sudden shouting. A foul smell reached her nose, and the warrior found herself turning to glare at the offending party, before she realized that she had not received the worst of the attach. Someone had thrown… something, at Crylon, and the approaching party did not seem too friendly. Ixzo’s feet were still directed north, ready to carry her home at any moment, when she noticed the Isur’s sudden predicament. As soon as her eyes landed on the club, however, her mind was mad up. Ixzo was not a fan of senseless crime, although the Kelvic was more than happy to appear at someone’s defense. Already the slight thrill of violence was taking hold of her heart, pumping it faster while her breathe slowed in preparation.

Crylon just had time to prepare himself, and Ixzo was but a few ticks behind him, one large hand pulling the axe from her waist, and lightly adjusting her grip on it. A small quirk of a smile echoed on the corner of her lips, and the warrior glanced at the Stoneman to try and gauge what he was doing. This would not be the first time she fought alongside someone who she had not fought with before, but every person was different, and Ixzo was sure his arm would affect his style. The first two unarmed men had closed in on the Stoneman, but the one with the club had seen Ixzo coming. Without too much more warning he launched himself towards her, and Ixzo took advantage of the distance she had already put between herself and Crylon. Her hand itched for her bow as a better ranged weapon, but she was confident enough with throwing the axe to give it a shot. Bringing her arm up by her head she loosened her grip just enough to allow the axe head to slip into her grip, and then she flung her arm forward, trying to release it at the right time.

It flung with the finesse she was going for, and it would have hit, if she was not so far away. The club-wielding human had enough time to see the thrown weapon and duck, letting it clatter past him and skid across the rough soil without doing any damage. Instinctively the Kelvic let out a snarl of frustration, although she did not mind going for the man unarmed with his club. Ducking low, she launched herself towards the man as well, doing something he wouldn’t have expected but was familiar to her. She tackled him.

Her shoulder impacted his thigh hard, and she tightened her grip behind his knees, picking up the full grown man with uncanny ease and letting him fall to the ground on his back. The force of her short burst shot the pair forward so that Crylon was behind her now. ”Oof!” The breathe escaped his lungs in a quick and violent rush, his grip loosening on the odd object enough for it to clatter from his hands. But he hadn’t been shocked enough, and the Kelvic felt the hard impact of fists on her back. It was not the most ideal place for him to batter her, and her body was used to the pain enough that the battering was simply an odd annoyance.

Pushing off the ground, Ixzo rolled off the man and gathered her feet underneath her, jumping onto her feet. The guttural whine that crawled from her mouth warned him of his impending doom again, and the cat quickly glanced around herself, realizing that she had her back to the attackers that faced Crylon now, and how unpleasant of an idea that should have been. Seeing the opportunity for what it was, she ignored the man that was gathering his feet to return to her, and twirled on nimble feet, sticking a long leg out underneath her, and swiping the feet out from under one of Crylon’s attackers.

This one fell forward onto his stomach, and Ixzo immediately stepped forward to place all her weight onto one foot in the center of her back. She could feel the breathe leave him and the bones complain under her feet. Just as she was about to lean in properly and cause some serious damage, she felt something grip the back of her head, and was reminded the man with the club had not gone completely out of commission. Ixzo screeched in frustration, and then felt the thick branch at her neck as if the man intended to choke her with it. Refusing to release her foot from the man beneath her, she opted instead to brace her weight on him, which earned her a scream of pain from him, she reached up to try and hook the branch away from her neck. Flexing her muscles she was able to push the branch off her neck enough to not give completely in, but his strength was testing hers to try and get him completely off of her.

[Crylon Stonecraft]

Crylon had been moving to meet the brunt of the attack, swinging his left arm about like a club to ward them off when two men crashed into him. Even with his legs solidly placed and his weight, he had been standing still and could not counteract the force of two full grown men crashing into him at speed. Full grown if somewhat malnourished, but in size compared to Crylon giants. He heard more scuffling and fighting from nearby as he fell, his left arm smacking into the side of one of the men as they fell and producing a pained grunt. Noticing the absence of the man with the club of wood, more of a branch in truth, Crylon did not have time to consider why that branch wielding man was not also piled on him. Only to praise his fortune that whomever or whatever had interceded had left him free of a third foe. Then it was a primal struggle, less finesse or skill and more brute instinct and strength and trying for leverage as the three men thrashed and wrestled on the ground. Crylon used his left arm to block attacks, holding back limbs which struck to the pain of the other men rather than Crylon. Like they had struck their hand against a metal club shaped into a arm. All of this passed in but moments, during which unbeknownst to Crylon Ixzo was off fighting with the third man. During which many more blows rained onto his exposed arm on his right side which was not so indestructible. But neither was it as thin and light as the humans limb. While it left Crylon sore from the impacts, it did worse to the men, bloodied knuckles having struck his black arm now striking his dense Isurian flesh and bones. They were so close in their grappling though that neither side could get much leverage, and so the strikes not hitting or being hit by his left arm did no lasting damage. One of the men, the one he had already struck in the side with his left arm, got banged in the side of the head near his left right eye and rolled off to regain his feet. Perhaps planning to launch a renewed assault from the vantage while the other held Crylon down. But he had not been on his feet more than a moment when they were knocked out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground again. Now, even in his struggles, Crylon did see the cause. Ixzo having taken the feet from under him. Ixzo though, focused on taking on this man, was attacked by the other man with the stick who had apparently returned. Or been fighting Ixzo. Then Ixzo was left struggling and fighting, using his legs and body weight to keep the one man down, while the other tried to strangle her from behind with a stick. She could not fully commit on either lest the one man get free and attack her or the other to be able to strangle her. Crylon, in his own fight, made a decision and grabbed the mans hands in his own. The human clearly thought to grapple, to bear Crylon down, but had forgotten about his left arm and hand. With a sudden clenching of muscle Crylon squeezed his left hand like a vice on the humans fingers, and felt as they snapped with a single clenching. Then the man was screaming, pain rushing through him and distracting him from Crylon. His finger bones on his right hand that had been paired with Crylon's left, all but his thumb, had been crushed, snapped, and broken. Useless for anything, let alone fighting. Crylon took this moment to grab his front with both arms, bringing his knees up under the mans chest and torso, and threw him off him to land in a heap off Crylon. The man did not rise, at least immediately, tears running down his face, pained screams and sobs, and using his good hand to try to cradle the damaged one. Crylon rolled over and popped up, with another motion returning to his feet. Then doing likewise as the other man, without further thought, ran straight at the man holding Ixzo by a stick at the neck. Surprised by the new threat the mans hands popped open and released the stick to fall to the ground or to tumble right in front of Ixzo, while Crylon bore the man to the ground. Crylon on top, the two humans began to wrestle much as he had with the others, though now he had leverage and surprise on his side rather than his foes.