Into the Woods [Ora, Leviathan]

[Leviathan]

OOCNo worries Ora, take your time to get better. The Post is just fine too, so you can sleep tight, assuming you are capable to do so.

"I would suggest the lady stay at camp. This Akalak is a real beast." The leader of the three-man Akalak Hunting Party spoke up, he offered no answer to Ora's question, except for a short glance, and a quick turning away. Did he not deem her worthy to talk to? Was there more to his silence? One had to wonder. "I thank you sir for your assistance. We've been following this monster for three days now, and I don't think we can hold out much longer. He's already killed three of us, my brother and two others, not to mention our strongest dog." Just glancing at the two massive canines, it would be difficult to imagine something actually like them, but bigger, stronger, fiercer, obviously a prized possession, and destroyed at the hands of such an Akalak. If stories were true, then it would be painfully obvious that the Akalak was indeed trouble. Perhaps it would be wise to bail and take care of the Konti, rather than risking her life in battle with said Blue Man, or her being alone in the Wilderness. Right now, there was no safe places. But it was too late now, as the man spoke, their destination was reached. It wouldn't take long for the hunting party to catch up to the Akalak, who was already glaring at the leader of the three men viciously. His arm, though bleeding, did not seem too severe. Assuming nothing more happened to injure him, he would probably live. He would take a quick count of the numbers, Rhuryc and Ora made the five being party into seven. Seven on one, very grim odds. The Akalak closed his eyes a moment as he muttered something, his lips moving in silent incantations. Was he praying? Chanting? A spell or a message to a God? Perhaps he was just talking to his other half. Akalaks were difficult to read. "You shouldn't have come here." The Blue man was looking at Ora now, the only female in the area for miles most likely. His eyes, only moments ago vicious and ready to tear the heads off of every dog and man in the area, was filled with despair, sorrow, like he saw the future of himself forced to kill her. "Please leave little one. I do not wish you to see this." The Akalak spoke almost like he knew her, or at least cared about her. It was well known that the Akalak and Konti respected each others' race, but this seemed more than respect, it was genuine care. Rhuryc, he couldn't care less about. He gave him an evil scowl like the others, he had sided with them after all, he was now an opportunist. "Shut it monster! You've committed the murder of three men, one of which was my blood-" The Akalak smirked now, but the smile was not normal, not friendly, but it was cruel. Something in the Akalak shifted, mentally. "Come join your foolish kin. I'll not be hunted like the beast you wish me to be. Your blood be damned." It was now time for decisions. In mere seconds an awful fight would explode, Akalak against three men and two savage dogs. The pair, Rhuryc and Ora, easily placed on either side of this war. What was more important. Honor, the desire to create a fair and even battlefield, or justice, to set down the law and kill in the name of order. Rhuryc had done it before in self defense, could he do it to force repentance upon another?

[Rhuryc]

"Ora, stay back." Rhuryc spoke as his blade came free from its scabbard, metal ringing out against the trees. Sword and shield raised in conjunction as the man himself entered some strange trance, a state of battle. Already he could feel the adrenaline course through his veins, the beat of his heart crashing on his ears like thunder. Odds and honor, justice, none of it mattered; the question remained a simple decision between right and right, which group was it, then, that deserved such aid? There was the girl to think about. Battle was hectic, chaotic. He would have to stay between her and the fight no matter the victory, and surely the three men would serve as suitable fodder to dispatch the Akalak - numbers, after all, were their greatest advantage. The man's eyes narrowed in those few brief seconds of thought. Why was it a trip to the falls could never just be a nice, pleasant experience?

"She will feel no harm." Rhuryc said in Tukant, his grasp of the language basic, choppy, but the message was clear. The man separated himself from his racial kin, one leg crossing the other as he came away from the hunting party, now responsible for the third party. Himself. He only hoped Ora had enough sense to stay behind him. The man's sword came down at an angle against his leg while his shield raised up to his chest, both items held in protest. Those dogs would prove troublesome, but armed with three and a half feet of iron, Rhuryc believed his own size served as a suitable advantage.

"As I said, until I see reason otherwise." The man sighed and spoke in common again. "I ask that you three abandon your hunt and lest you wish to lose more kin this day, to seek the aid of the law and leave your vengeance to cooler heads."

[Ora Sa'vina]

The young woman felt some compassion towards the men, who suggested she stay at camp, Ora had no intent to follow what they requested. These men were driven for vengeance, an emotion Ora understood little of. While the Konti wished for her questions to be answered, she would not push such a sensitive topic with people whose emotions were already running so high. While the leader spoke of the power this Akalak had, Ora found it hard to imagine one person being able to cause so much pain and trauma. Did that man really do everything they say he did?

While the Konti was wrapped up in her own thoughts they reached the destination, almost suddenly to Ora. Her eyes landed on the gigantic man who watched the human leader intently. Violet eyes watched the blue man intently, his eyes closing and his lips moving slowly. Ora could not hear what he was saying, perhaps he was praying? Asking for forgiveness? The young woman continued to watch him, his eyes suddenly on Ora as he spoke. Ora felt her heart skip a few beats, his eyes filled with such sadness and sorrow, it was hard for Ora not to feel the same pain he was in. "You shouldn't have come here." He said to her, Ora felt her breath catch. "Please leave little one. I do not wish you to see this." Ora's face twisted with confusion, her eyes locked onto his face. He speaks as if he is a friend? Do I know this man? The flash of a small thought passed through her mind. Is this my Father? This small thought was quickly tossed aside; the chances of her, by chance, coming across her Father? There was no chance of it.

Her mind seemed to block out the continuing talks as the burlap bag that held her possessions fell to the ground at her feet. Small tan boots slowly moved around the men, her brain was having trouble listening to the things around her while her eyes remained fixed of the Akalak before them. Even with the ferocious expression the blue man now wore, Ora continued to walk towards him, stopping just short of a foot from him. Her head barely made it to his elbow, her head was craned back to look him in the face. "Please," Her voice was quiet, the words flowing from her mouth were in Tukant, though her accent was coated in Kontinese hints. "Do not." Her ability to speak this man's native tongue was broken at best, but her hope was to get the point across. Do I know you? She wished to ask him this, but not in front of these men, it would make her and Rhuryc easy targets for the humans.

The young woman removed a tan leather glove from her right hand, holding out her bare, pale, fingers towards the Akalak. "What happened?" She asked, her hand barely shaking even in the high tension situation. If he were to take it, she would know what had happened, every gruesome detail.

[Leviathan]

The leader of the three men slowly turned his head, watching Rhuryc in disbelief. His expression was twisted, confused, yet easily read. 'You traitor' His face lit up a bright red color, as if he and Rhuryc were life long friends and Rhuryc just now decided to abandon him. He shook his head slowly. "You have forsaken justice my friend. Please leave, hope you never cross my path again. Cowardice will not be so easily forgiven under these circumstances." The man was going to say more, but as Ora began to move towards the Akalak, he was stunned, confused. Surely she knew what that blue man would do to her! - - - - - For a long moment, one that felt like several minutes, the Akalak just watched Ora, his expression was still crazy, the inner second half had surfaced, but not without struggle was he still there. When Ora reached out her hand towards him, the Akalak fell to his knees, putting them about at eye to eye level. Perhaps her powers weren't the best they could be yet, but she could see several things for certain. Murder, and innocence. The man did kill the brother, but he was not at fault. The Akalak then, rather than grabbing her extended hand, jumped forward, grabbing the small Konti woman, and roughly at that, hiding her within his powerful embrace as he turned. Was he trying to smother her? Kill her? No, He went to the ground, almost like he moved to the fetal position on top of her, and that was mere moments before he grunted in pain. The dogs had been unleashed. The three men saw Ora's distraction as the perfect chance to take down the Akalak, and fearing for Ora's life, he embraced her to keep his own body between fangs and her delicate skin. The dogs dug their teeth deep into the Akalak's shoulder, and the other on the upper thigh. Ora alone could see the grotesque twisted pain on his face, but the Akalak did not cry out, but spoke between gasps, whispers to Ora. "You shouldn't have come here." It was the same concern, but now it was obvious it wasn't so much that he was afraid of her killed by his own hands, but by them. Though now the Akalak was weak, his chances of winning the three and against one fight was unlikely. "We got him. Let's finish the prize off and take him home." One of the men, not the leader, drew forth from inside his cloak a steel mace, nothing simple, but it would do its job just fine in bashing in someone's skull, regardless of insane height. The other companion to the leader pulled out, from the same hidden area of his cloak, a sword, and the two of them approached the Akalak now, slowly. Their eyes had changed, gleaming with madness, ready to savor the moment that was to come. The Leader of the group, however, did not approach the Akalak, he instead stared at Rhuryc, his face was not the same grin as the other, but within moment he had discarded his cloak, revealing a dagger in hand, and various small knives, throwing knives, held securely by his belt. He meant to punish Rhuryc.

[Rhuryc]

Rhuryc grumbled.

"You're an ass of a man. What you seek is vengeance. Justice is found at the head of a court, not the blade of a sword." He spoke with a dark, low tone, ready as he was to defend himself.

A silent curse issued from his lips as Ora approached the Akalak and he moved closer, now, his eyes flicking between the girl and the men both, casting his attention in five separate ways. The exercise was exhausting. Nevertheless he kept a vigil between the parties, ready as he was to leap to Ora's defense. When the dogs were released he swept into action, ignoring the conflict between his ward and the Akalak. He would not hurt her, he was sure of it. Instead he moved in to engage the incoming hunting party only to find himself cut off from the main conflict. Their 'leader', the arrogant sod, wanted to square up with him alone. Knives? For a moment Rhuryc almost laughed. He had a clear advantage. The length of his blade and his arm together gave him all the reach he needed. Not to mention the shield. He liked shields.

In any case, Rhuryc did not like waiting. With his shield extended, the man charged his singular opponent, sword brought down to his side with a murderous intention. The distance between them was cleared in mere moments, his strides wider than most men, and his sword was sent up in a diagonal assault, the blade dragged along at the leader's left hip. Out for blood, he focused the full brunt of his power on the swing, the considerable strength of his trade coming to light in that singular instant.

[Ora Sa'vina]

Ora's hand remained extended, the Akalak showing no intention of taking it. The woman was surprised when the large man dropped to his knees, his eyes at her level. She could read in his eyes two things, he had killed the brother, but he still remained innocent, he had not intended to cause harm to the man in question. An accident? Ora was not able to ask out loud, her body was roughly consumed by the man's large arms, both their bodies hitting the ground.

Her ears picked up the Akalak grunting in pain as well as the sound of the dogs, their paws scampering over the loose dirt, their teeth ripping into the man's flesh. The Konti felt her eyes well up, he was hurting, badly by the sounds of it, and he was protecting her. Her wet eyes looked to the man's face, his expression was twisted, his breath was sharp and came in gasps. Have I done this? If she had not approached him, he would not be in this much pain. "I am sorry," Her voice was small as she watched the man, wet streams rolling down the sides of her face and into her hair.

The young woman was at a loss, she did not know how to help him, let alone if he even could, her heart broke at the thought of this man dying because of her. Would the same fate happen to those who accompanied her to Riverfall? A voice broke her mind from its thoughts. "We got him. Let's finish the prize off and take him home." They were coming to kill him, their heavy soled foot steps were a clear indicator of their intentions. Violet eyes looked between the blue skin of the man protecting her and the dirt pressed against her back. "They will kill you," Her wet eyes moved back to her protector. "Please, I will be fine," Her hands pushed against his chest lightly, her eyes filled with worry. "You need to go before they kill you!" Her voice was urgent, her words came from her mouth quickly.

The young woman didn't know what she had planned to do once the Akalak moved from being her human shield. She could run, but the dogs would not take long to catch up. Perhaps should could make it to the falls, it couldn't be that far now, once she was in the water, she would swim to it's depths where no dog or normal human could reach without needing more to breath. Or, she could stay and fight. Don't be foolish, you know you will just get in the way, you would probably lose a fight to a mouse. She thought to herself. Irrelevant to what her plan was to be, the Konti did not want any more harm to come to either of her companions because of herself.

[Leviathan]

The Akalak merely grunted in return, no words in response to the young woman he was protecting, not yet anyway, he had dogs to take care of. Perhaps it wasn't particularly an accident that the brother died, it was self defense, just like now, and the Akalak was about to show them why he was so terribly strong. The Akalak easily lifted Ora within an awkward sort of cradled position with his left hand, his body, his muscle, everything moved so easily, flawlessly, not even an Akalak with their natural strength should be able to move so easily, especially with a gash in your left shoulder and right thigh. Something wasn't natural. The answer was Flux. The Akalak knew personal magic, and now that he had enough time to channel his Djed, his physical abilities increased two-fold, three-fold, a catastrophic power, it was plan petching scary to know a single being held such physical power. With his free hand, the Akalak swung his fist low, pounding the canine attached to his thigh right in the eye. The dog was sent flying across the ground, and once the cloud of dirt settled, it was obvious that his skull had caved in. The chances of survival did not exist for that unlucky beast. Without hesitation, he reached around his body, grabbing the dog that was suspended in air via jaws to Akalak's shoulder, and the large blue finger easily punctured through the canine's eye. A single faint whimper before the beast fell limp, the ground making a soft packing sound as the fur bag collided. The Akalak lowered Ora to the ground and took a moment to lightly stroke the side of her head (not with his bloody hand by the way). "Hush now Little One, you are safe." That seemed to be all he was worried about, her safety. The Akalak gave a faint smile, which was drenched in pain. His thigh, his shoulder, bleeding heavily, yet thankfully were not lethal. Perhaps infection would set in, maybe a fever, but it was clear that the Akalak would survive the bites, most like. The right hand though, it was swollen, the collision with the dog's skull as such an alarming speed not only caved in the Dog's skull, but shattered several bones in the pinkie, ring finger, and middle finger. His right hand was mostly useless now (except for gouging eyes with his thumb of course). The two men, armed with weapons, had long ago stopped their approach, both waiting for the other to continue. They were so certain of their victory that the shift of balance nearly toppled them. They were the true cowards. - - - - - The leader of the group, who Rhuryc would find to be quite nimble indeed, easily revolved around Rhuryc as he charged and swung his blade, a swift, almost mocking kick was delivered straight into Rhuryc's back, sending him briefly stumbling, or perhaps even falling if he didn't catch himself. The man chuckled heartily as if he was in a tavern, drunk, and laughing over some lame joke that only a drunk could enjoy. "Boy! I'm going to make you regret your choices. That pretty little doll of yours will be leaving with us. I'm already imagining the things we are going to do to that slender little body." The man continued to laugh, as that drunken lightness faded into a more maniacal roaring laughter. As he laughed, he weaseled out one of his knives and threw it towards Rhuryc. "I wonder if she'll scream."

[Rhuryc]

Rhuryc grunted as the kick hit his back. He stumbled forward and shoved a leg out in front of his body. A boot slammed into the ground and he stopped himself before he hit the ground. That trick was one he expected. So the man was fast. Great. Turning, Rhuryc faced his opponent again as a knife came streaming towards his chest. The shield came around, the wide, metal plate deflecting the projectile without much to-do. The advantage of carrying a large, iron board was that you had no need of precision. He snorted at the man's commentary, ignoring the anger at which it was aimed to inspire. Emotions had no place on the field, and the man nothing but confidence in his ability to win. Knives were of little concern.

"You're a bit of a loon, aren't you?" He said, one foot coming forward as he adjusted his stance, squaring back up with the leader. Technically he had brought himself into a flanking position with the Akalak - from here, he could monitor both his and Ora's status. From the looks of things, the blue demon required no aid on his part. "You ever fought an Akalak? It'll take more than a few pinpricks with those shoddy little knives you've got there."

With his piece spoken Rhuryc simply stood where he was. Any movement he performed would most likely be avoided; outmatched as he was in speed and maneuverability. After all, all he had to do was provide enough of a distraction to give the Akalak time. Rhuryc brought his sword up over his shield and angeled the flat of the weapon upward, the blade pointed at his opponent just over the edge of the shield.

"We could just talk ourselves to death if you'd like."

[Ora Sa'vina]

His arm was strong enough to easily lift her and hold her, the small woman was surprised by the cradling action, her hands resting against his collar bone, her head pressed against his sternum. Violet eyes stared at the insides of their eye lids, Ora did not wish to see what was happening, hearing was more than enough. She listened as flesh met flesh, the tell-tale noise of bones cracking. Her body clung to his as he moved with such strength, removing one dog at a time from his body. Ora listened to the small whimper of other dog on his shoulder dying slowly. Her eyes remained shut, clenched close while she listened. How could this man stand back up and hold her in addition without any apparent trouble.

Ora felt herself moving away from the blue man, her eyes opened to watch herself be lowered to the ground, her eyes moved up to the Akalak's face once her feet touched the ground. The hand that had cradled her so carefully moved to touch her face with care as he spoke. His face bore a worn away smile, surrounded by pain, a sight which was hard to look at. The man turned towards the humans with weapons. Violet eyes scanned the damage on the Akalak's body, his thigh was bloody, his shoulder as well, her eyes lingered on his swelling hand. Was the cracking noise Ora had heard from the first collision the sound from his hand breaking? The woman's attention moved to look at the damage that large man had caused, one dog had been thrown a ways away, lying motionless in its own blood. The other was only a few paces behind her, lying still like its companion.

Her stomach turned at the sight, gurgling and pushing up at her throat. A small hand clasped itself over her mouth as her eyes looked between the dead animals. Violet eyes shut as she took several deep breaths, her mind trying to calm her uneasy stomach. While her eyes remained shut her hands slowly moved to grasp the sais that still rested on the sides of her waist. Violet eyes opened up again, her attention moving to the chaos in front of her.

Ora knew she would be nearly useless in this fight, and the Akalak would become distracted with her in the midst of danger, this, the young woman had picked up on. The best she could offer without getting in the way was to stand back near the dead carcass of the dog and prepare to defend herself if it was needed, or, to enter the fighting if that was needed as well.

[Leviathan]

The Two men with weapons, once regaining their composure from their initial shock of the Akalak's easy discarding of their beasts, began to approach the Akalak again, but now their movements were more methodical, they split up, hovering around either side of the wounded giant, who was now unable to ignore his inability to be completely mobile. It was one powerful arm against a sword and mace, the Akalak was not in a good position. Rhuryc had his hands full as well though. The leader, now revealed as a near-psychopath, was more than happy to talk about death, but at that moment, he desired more the death of Rhuryc than anyone, excluding the Akalak of course. The leader quickly took several paces towards Rhuryc, taking another two knived from his belt and hastily departing with them, both knives were incredibly well aimed, targeting Rhuryc's legs, but moments later would reveal the knives to be little more than a distraction. From what the crazy man saw, Rhuryc depended heavily on the shield, perhaps to a flaw. Assuming Rhuryc to lower the large shield to once again deflect the knives, the man would rush in to simply throw a solid punch to Rhuryc's nose, nothing Rhuryc wouldn't be able to handle, Tristan would simply laugh at such an easy blow, but the point stood that both attacks would not be blocked by the shield. - - - Once the two men were on opposite sides of the Akalak, their movement slowed again but did not completely halt. The inched ever closely to the Akalak, knowing the more time they gave him, the more blood he lost, the weaker he would be. What were they waiting for? Opportunity to strike, but they both knew too well that the blue giant would be able to break their necks, if not pummel either of them to death within moments, for now, they waited.