[Flashback] A strange encounter (Bob Barton, Closed)

[Llano Chyme]

Chyme studied him. If she was fast enough she might be able to knock him down with a wing, or at least knock him back in surprise. They were of the same height, but he had that cane. And therefore an advantage. Petch. "Bob the cheating prankster? Seems you..." her brain mulled over the human term, "enjoy? Some very interesting things." She would need to keep him talking if she was to have any chance at finding a weakness. The sun was shining brightly now, it was too beautiful a day to be looking like a stray dog. She tossed her hair back in anger. Why was she so helpless? She was a Zith for Leths' sake. An animal, lethal killer to be feared not pitied. Perhaps Tempest was right, her time spent with humans made her soft and weak. Vulnerable. He began to tense, she could see it. His eyes held suspicion. The jig was up. Grinding her teeth she loosened her wings from around her body. She was just so hungry.

[Bob Barton]

PETCH! Wings and claws? Bob has heard of these creatures before. They were the zith. Fearsome predators of the night. Stuff of nightmares mothers used to scare their children to sleep at night. But Bob had no mother so it was his uncle who used to scare him everytime he snuck into the kitchen for a midnight snack. It always went something like "If you don't get to bed, a Zith will come down and swoop you to the sky. I got better things to do than to look for you if that happens."

Bob would have taken the time to admire the body. After all the best form of art made is the form of a woman. But of course now he was about to die so all his focus had to be put on whatever battle they have on hand.

As he had planned, Bob put his full body weight on his cane and pushed it forward. Doing that, he drew both hands apart revealing the cane in the sword. Follow the plan...the plan, Bob threw away the outer layer of the cane freeing his hand. With the weight already fully on his lower body Bob used it to kick himself off and started charging at the zith with his sword drawn. Getting the zith off guard will give him a good advantage. To make himself seem more of a threat to the scarier zith Bob let out a loud battlecry. "YYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAA!" and held his sword forward aimed at the body hoping to nail the zith with his charge.

[Llano Chyme]

The ring of a sword unsheathed was all too familiar. The predator inside was awoken with a hiss and a baring of teeth. She spread her wings out, stretching them as far as they could go. An intimidation method. He was well trained, to her eyes at least. She had spent time around sword wielders, but never studied them, much. But still, his speed and ability to withdraw his sword in such a timely manner surprised her. Then came the yell, to be honest it sounded like an angry cat; but it startled her enough that she took a step back--only to trip on an upturned tree root. Her clumsiness was lucky; his sword whooshed past her head cutting some of her hair. The zith swung her legs along the ground with the goal of sweeping his feet out from under him.

[Bob Barton]

The zith's wings spread out as she hissed. Bob for a little scared from it and with the distraction, his aim was off as the sword went past the top of her head while he ran as fast as he can. His foot struck the zith's leg and Bob started hopping on one foot forward in an attempt to balance himself and stop.

He spun to face the zith and help his sword tightly as he advanced. Raising his sword for another attack the thought came to his head. This was a zith, she can rend his body into half if she wanted to if the stories are to be believed and here was Bob only using a sword to protect himself? This was stupid! Madness! Suicide!

Bob made a plan. A plan to run. Hopefully could anyway. He held out his sword pointed at the zith again. Her wings made her a bigger target so he took aim at some random point there. Pushing hard on his feet Bob launched him with another charge yelling again "YYYYYYYAAAAAAAA!" Though this time his sword was aimed at the zith, his path would be running past her so Bob chose the side of the zith which was not near the trees to attack and run.

[Llano Chyme]

This isn't good. He had described himself a cheat and a prankster, made obvious by the concealed sword. But also a coward. If she could just scare him enough, perhaps he would forget and abandon his backpack while fleeing. This would be her goal. Her dark eyes narrowed as he tripped and hopped, giving her a small window to get on her feet. A strong movement of wings and she was up, claws at ready. A grey arm lashed out, careful of the blade, aiming for his face. The human prepared his move again, she saw this, and was ready. Yelling he charged yet again, battle-cry ringing in her ears. She pushed upward with her feet, wings flapping hard stirring the dust. She was airborne. But Chyme wasn't quite fast enough, it seemed the bottom of her right wing was ripped and bleeding. It wasn't enough to keep her from plunging... yet. Adrenaline surged in her blood, Chyme yowled in anger. "You petching idiot!", she screeched in her native tongue.

[Bob Barton]

"Snip!" the sword went when it pierced the airborne zith. As good as it was being able to stick a sword into something for once, getting clawed on the face wasn't. Lucky her aim was off from losing control over her flight and Bob was running pretty fast. Blood started trickling from above his brow making Bob shut his eye to prevent the blood from entering. Well, it could have been worse.

The legs continued their charge, ignoring the scary screech coming from behind him. After hearing that no one in their right mind would stop. Bob spotted the cane lying on the path and reached down to make a grab for it. However with one eye out of commission, it was not accurate and Bob grabbed at the air beside the cane instead. Making another grab so soon after caused Bob to slip but at least he got his cane back on the ground.

Bob quickly scrambled to his feet and rushed further down the path. The zith would most probably still right behind him and today along with every other will never be good to get eaten. With that in mind he knew what to do repeating it to himself "Not get eaten by hot zith!"

[Llano Chyme]

How things could go from bad to worse in such a short time. All she wanted was conversation... and a meal. Humans really are so excitable. As if she had forgotten the fear and hate other races held for her kind. She needed something new. A slave, perhaps, that she could keep as a pet... He was running. 'If anything', she thought, 'The man's not a liar.' Black eyes followed his escape, burning into his back. The grey Zith began pursuing after him and made an effort to swoop above him, which failed miserably. A flap of wings and a ripping noise later, she was plunging. In an attempt to mid-air adjust her body, she twisted herself as to try and not land on her back. This proved difficult for she wasn't as far from the ground as she originally thought. Rediscovering how hard the earth is wasn't on her top favorite things to do. She hit the ground like a sack full of rocks, her arm taking most of the damage. Though winded and in pain she wasn't about to let Bob attack while she was down. As quickly as she could, she struggled to her feet. Which was a fight all in itself. After several grueling chimes, she was bipedal. And he was running. Although she seemed to not be the only clumsy creature in the fray, she noticed him floundering around in the dirt as she recovered from her dive. Then he was off. His trajectory seemed to be headed to the trees. The animal inside her screamed to catch him, her prey was in front of her, almost within reach. Blood stench filled her head. But she was wounded and wouldn't go. Far off to her left sat her prize, she had it and wasn't going to go looking for trouble. They would meet again in time. With a satisfactory sigh the small grey form limped over, scooped up the bag with her good arm (it was surprisingly heavy), and disappeared into the trees.

[Bob Barton]

There was already so much walking in the morning and now there was the running. Bob got tired and slowed down while he looked back to see if the zith was pursuing him. That little snake with wings. She was stealing his bag! A little inventory check went through his head to see if it was worth it chasing after her. He had his money in his pocket and his sword in his hand as well as his clothes on him...the bag had his tent and his food...Without those he might not survive the wildlands unless he ran into some friendly travelers like a few days ago. Could he risk that in face of the certainty of death at the hands of a zith?

Then it got to him. Damn it! The book was in the bag. The precious book handed down for generations. There was no way he was going to let that zith have it. Bob went to the spot he saw the zith disappeared into. Stalking her with his sword in hand. At least Bob knew she would be grounded with the state of her wings and all, but everyone knows that a wounded animal is dangerous. He would have to approach this carefully...

Bob followed her through the forest. He was not that good but she did leave a neat little trail to follow. Broken twigs on the sides, bare spots where the leaves were kicked up and if he was really lucky, footprints in the dirt. Oh lets not forget about the shade of red which really brings out the green of the forest. Bob looked for all of these and if he could not find it, he looked harder. Bending on the ground to look closer and hopefully find something out of place.

As time passed he heard some unnatural sounds getting louder and louder. Either he has reached the zith or something else which can kill him. Bob stopped in his tracks and tried to sneak closer. He watched the ground while he tried to avoid the dried leaves and while getting closer he kept hiding his body behind the trees to keep hidden. There was no need to look for the trail anymore. Not when there was that noise to guide him.

[Llano Chyme]

There was no way he was going to come after her. In fact she was almost sure he soiled his pants. Bob... he was an interesting fellow. One that, if the situation didn't end up as it did, she would be glad to encounter again. But by the looks of things he was long gone. 'And good riddance', she had the feeling that another meeting of this type might end up with him dead. Wounded her wing! The nerve! She was kicking herself in the head for not killing him on the spot. Amidst all the bipolar thinking, she was tromping through the woods. Her arm and side were still a little sore, but the limping was almost gone. The pain in her wing was unbearable. Though scabbed over now, she was certain at one point she left a good trail of blood. Hungry, aching, without flight, and pissed off, she didn't feel like she won anything. And for gods sake this bag was heavy! What did he carry in here, rocks? At last, after 30 grueling chimes she came to her spot. It was small clearing littered with animal bones and the faint smell of blood, this was her current home. Sighing she threw down the bag and began to inspect her wound. It trailed far up her wing. Would she be able to sew it together, perhaps? By the looks of things, if not treated immediately, her flying would be seriously hampered. Dark eyes looked to the bag. First, she needed to eat. Ravenous hands threw everything from the bag. '...Dried meats... What the petch do humans eat?', but she couldn't be picky. Any approaching creatures could hear feral growls and chewing sounds, but at last she was being fed.

[Bob Barton]

What was that sound? And that smell, Ugh... It sounded like Bob has stumbled on the liar of some wild animal. There was that gnawing and growling sound accompanied by the smell of stale blood. Either he has found that thieving zith or he something even scarier. Now that he was a lot more aware of the dangers, he tried to move as silently as possible. Keeping hidden behind trees and their shadows while moving closer to the opening, avoiding anything that might give him away like the leaves and branches scattered on the ground.

At the entrance of the clearing with his back still to the trees, Bob peered to the side to have a look. Better to know what you are walking into especially when the enemy probably has lived here a lot longer than you. Bob took note of the things such as the wide space between the trees, the worn out grass which looks like normally used trails and any obstacles that was between him and his bag. And lets not forget about the bones. Brrrrrr...if he mucks this up he would probably end up like that...

Maybe Bob should attack the zith...maybe Bob should grab the bag and run. Those were the ideas running through his mind. But first things first, he needs to get close to his target without alerting her. Bob picked up a rock and threw it at the far and of the clearing behind the zith so that the sound will distract her. Then without waiting he started creeping closer sword in hand. If the zith still sat there, he would have to threaten her with his sword. If she moved to the disturbance, he will take the bag and run for it.