[Sea of Grass] Once Bitten Twice Shy (Mao)

[Baku]

The team soon moved in, Deervisha making the first move as he swung his staff in front of him the moment Vanator began climbing along Mao’s back. Gusts of wind began moving all around, an eerie sound of a buzz soon filling the airs with it. If Vanator or Mao had took a moment to look, they would see upper blades of the tall grasses being severed as wisps of wind seemed to take on momentary fog like appearances when it came into contact with the grass. It fell wide from it’s target as Mao took her first motions forward, colliding into the ground and kicking up dirt in a shallow gouge. Lorili began to move in an intercepting path as she ran forward, both of her swords lowered and getting ready for a strike. She had the same emotionless face that she had greeted them with, save for her teeth being bore. Alodis soon reached behind his back as a few darts were flung in their direction, slipping through the air before missing Mao narrowly as they embedded into the ground. A quick scent entered her nose of toxins that were covering the darts themselves. Telheth soon began moving as he drew his bow a little further before loosing the arrow as it flew through the air, nicking Vanator shoulder. The hit was shallow, barely a nick, but the sting of it still made him aware of the dangers they were now facing. Kailee soon began rushing forward, as they were all converging on Mao and Vanator, a wide smile and lick of her lips given as she stared deeply into Vanator’s eyes, the dagger held down to her side as the bow was gripped tightly but not being used quite yet. The group themselves moved almost as one. While their initial attacks missed, hinting at a skill level not terribly high, but still dangerous as they worked together like they had been doing it for a while, despite the small bickering some of them had done before when appearing. Mao and Vanator would have to move quickly and strike without hesitation to survive, and only on one to create an opening for them to escape and run. To create distance and come up with a plan or seek help. If they stood and fought, chances were that numbers, while not completely terrifying, would still eventually overwhelm them. The fact that a raven, flying overhead, suggested that fate might be looking to see casualties this day.

[Mao]

oocTook some liberties here, hope it's ok! Surprisingly, Mao hadn’t expected Vanator to climb so willingly onto her back. It was an odd sensation, having someone much heavier than a woman seat himself on the big cat akin to riding a horse, but the weight was not terribly obstructive when it came to her movements. Her head whipped around just as the group converged and surrounded them, sending darts and weapons their way. Vanator’s nudge caught her attention, and the word he uttered reached her ears. The archer. He was not too far away, and from the looks of their advancing movements she would be able to crush him without sustaining too much damage. So she lunged forward, two leaps into the action and something seemed to struck her forearm. She ignored it, despite the throbbing, and with mouth agape and fangs extended, Mao swung her claws in a sweep across Telheth’s arms. But his arrow, seemingly aimed at Vanator had embedded itself into her shoulder, and Mao roared. Whatever crack was emitted from her attack on his forearms was dismissed, as she pushed herself off her legs and leaped over Telheth’s form. Strong paws dug into the earth as she ran, with Vanator in tow, through the sea of grass. Mao could only smell the scent of her own blood and Vanator’s as well, but she did not stop to see if the mercenaries were pursuing. Earth sprayed into the air, and her legs crushed tall stalks. Faster and faster, she willed herself, knowing not how long she ran until a large clump of rocks ahead signaled her slowing speed. It was large, at least, and would hide them for a time before the mercenaries found them once again. Labored breathes escaped the kelvic as she eased herself down and allowed Vanator to dismount. Once he did so she reached down and clamped her mouth around the protruding arrow from her shoulder and yanked it free. A roar escaped her, but it soon vanished as pinpoint lights consumed the sound and delivered the cries of a wounded woman. Mao sat against the rough surface of the boulder, her heart pounding against her chest and trembling fingers reaching up to touch the bloody wound on her shoulder. “S-Shyke..” She breathed, “Those b-bastards…” Hard breathes. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the rock. One breathe. Two. Then she opened them again to face Vanator. “What now? I don’t… think they want a compromise.”

[Vanator]

Magic. A chill ran down Vanator's spine as he saw the strange phenomenon moving across the grass towards them from Deervisha, as if an invisible scythe had been hurled at them. In a breath it passed, and the Drykas clenched his legs around the large Kelvic jaguar as she crouched to move forward. Adrenaline and excitement overcame any apprehension over the unexpected alliance between cat and man, and Van quickly adjusted to compensate for Mao's shape and size, even as the cat lunged towards the nearby archer. The human caught movement from the corner of his eyes, but his focus remained on the most immediate threat, the arrow aimed at his chest. The missile was released before Mao could down the man, and as he twisted to try to avoid it, Vanator felt the sharp sting of the iron head as it grazed his shoulder just below the protective leather. The horseman grit his teeth but did not flinch. Then they collided as Telheth readied another arrow. There was a moment of confusion, flailing arms and paws and a loud roar. Vanator raised his battle ax and brought it down at the cloaked man. There was no time for a second strike, for Mao dug into the ground and propelled them into the open grass. Van leaned forward, adjusting his center of gravity to ease Mao's flight, and wrapped his free hand around her chest. The sensation was completely different than riding a horse, and his body jarred at the unfamiliar gait. Once behind the rocks, Vanator slid from Mao's back, seeing the shaft protruding from her bloodied shoulder. He quickly scrambled to peer over the stones to assess their pursuers progress before turning back to the injured kelvic. Predator growls turned to feminine cries as the telltale bright light appeared then waned to reveal once again the small, nude, dark-haired girl. "Petch Mao," the Drykas exclaimed as he saw the bloodied wound that stained her light skin. He knelt down at her side, tugging the hem of his tunic down below his armor. Tearing a long strip of the fabric from the hem, Van quickly wound the clothe around Mao's lean muscled shoulder, attempting to bind it tight enough to control the bleeding. His eyes caught the kelvic's pale green gaze. He had seen Mao fight, had even been attacked by her himself. She was fierce and bloody and fearless. But he had never seen her like this, her eyes were concerned, her hands shaking. He pressed his palm against the blood soaked bandage and leaned against it to help staunch the bleeding. "I don't think we can take them, especially with your shoulder." Then Vanator gave her a weak smile after glancing down at the trickle of blood running down his arm. "How come every time you show up...we both end up covered in blood?" Lifting his head to look out, he let out a call that sounded like a fusion of Pavi and some animal cry. Soon the sound of pounding hooves drifted across the grass. Kalinda was no Strider, and Vanator felt a pained regret that he had lost Backlash. His Strider would have been by his side already, waiting to whisk them from danger. But the bounty hunters were on foot, and even the Paintedmount could outrun them. The Drykas chafed at leaving the outsiders free to roam the grass, the vile beings they were. Perhaps he could return with his cousins to finish them off. "Come on Mao, we need to get out of here." Vanator put his arm around Mao, ready to help her stand.

[Baku]

As Vanator and Mao each took a moment to stop, to catch their breath and assess their situation, Vanator’s words might have rang with a little common sense to Mao. They had a fair amount of time before the group would reach them, but Mao could already tell by heightened sounds of hearing that they were moving in the direction her and Van had fled, with frightening accuracy. Before either one of them could utter anymore semblance of a plan, the flapping of wings suddenly caught their attention as they looked to the east, spotting a large raven perching on the light branch of a small bush nearby. A sudden chime run through the air, seemingly out of nowhere as they began to look around. Then, like before at Sanctuary, shadows from all around began to gather, merging with one another, being pulled from the various shadows that had gathered from the various blades of grass, crests of small hills, even the shadows that sat under both Vanator and Mao. They formed a wide circle of inky black that Mao and Vanator almost seemed to wade into as it spread out further like pooling crevice during a heavy thunderstorm. The tip of the Cerulean’s staff was once again seen first, the three rings clanging together at the top of it as it rose out of the surface in front of them. The short black hair of his head was seen next, rising out of the center of the blackness like he was standing up from under black waters. His rise stopped halfway down his body then, as Mao and Van could clearly see three large black triangles tattooed down the center of his back as he stood there, facing the direction of their pursuers. “You haven’t any other option at this point but to fight.” the Cerulean said, his tone calm, emotionless as he slightly turned his head. “You’re both already tired, the Kelvic is injured. Only one of theirs is injured, but still in the battle, and they have a tracker capable of following you both. I will intercept them, taking out their magic weaver and dart thrower. That will leave the two of you two uninjured and on injured to contend with.” The Cerulean then slowly began to start dropping back down into the shadow pool, shadows still gathering as Syna’s descent towards the horizon provided more. “They are not highly skilled, however, relying on their numbers and diversity in skills to overwhelm. So if you two fight tactically, you should have little problem.” The Cerulean explained, his head tilting back as the shadow began to form around his ears. “If you can not dispatch them, at least delay them until I return.” The Cerulean’s head then dipped beneath the surface for the blackness and before Vanator or Mao could utter any words, the shadows jetted forward fast and silently, moving with a speed that even Mao found frighteningly fast. As the shadow reach near two hundred feet away, they began to rise, taking shape and splitting off into multiple shadows. Before long, their shapes began to resemble Mao’s animal form, as black silhouettes of jaguars could be seen running silently through the tall grass, all of the blades passing through the black as though it were completely intangible. When the shadow jaguars had disappeared from view, it was close to three more chimes before Mao and Van heard the first sounds of violence, a blood curdled scream ringing in their ears before gusts of winds could be heard tearing through earth. The sounds, if either of them had taken a moment to guess, meant they would have at least five more chimes to prepare any sort of plan they would have for battle.

[Stranger]

XP Award!

Mao:

Unarmed Combat +3

Lore:
Fighting with humans


Vanator:

Battle Axe +1
Unarmed Combat +1

Lore:
Trusting the Untrustworthy



Notes:

Too bad it ended so abruptly! Let me know if I missed anything.