Falling Through the Sky (Kayiri)

[Ariel]

5 Winter, 510 AV Ariel was walking through the grass when she heard something whoosh past her head. But when she looked up, all she saw was a blackish-brown blur. Thinking it was just a rather quick bird, she thought nothing of it, and continued on her way, humming a short tune, something she didn't know the name to, but knew she had heard before. Just then another blur rushed past her ear, and landed in the dirt slightly ahead of her, "what the?" she wondered as she moved closer to it, wondering what it could be. When she got there, she noticed a few feathers at the end of a short branch, and a pointy tip at the other end, it was an arrow. Oh lovely, Ariel thought to herself as another arrow shot whirred just past her on the left, nearly clipping her clay wings. "Would you stop that!" she shouted, "whoever you are!" being able to see no one, as she looked up at the sky and another set of arrows volleyed towards her, and she had to quickly run out of the way or face being pierced by a what appeared to be a pointy rock on a stick. "Would you stop!" she hollered again, as she ran around, in what she was sure had to be circles, in a glorious attempt at avoiding certain death.

[Kayiri]

Note for the GraderIf the description of the technique was poor, you have my apologies. I have a video showing it, if you need to see it done to understand it when you're grading. Just nudge me! <3

The warrior was frustrated, and it showed in his every movement. Shoulders were rolled forwards towards his chest, which heaved every few moments as it took in the breath that sustained his oxygen-starved body. He was red in the face, and by extension, red pretty much anywhere ones eye could choose to settle. Kayiri's green eyes gazed forward with a steely, single-minded determination, the sort that one would swear could bore through steel if given enough time to its own devices. The warrior snapped into action like he had so many times before on that day, shield strapped to his left arm. Empty, his right hand flew to his hip, liberating the shining blade from its sheath. A skilled hand brought it up to his side, ready to lash out at any foe that would dare to assault him. His shield hand, however, was notably less certain. Due to the fact that he had no formal training with the board of wood, he didn't have the slightest idea what to do with it. This left him poorly imitating a stance he had seen many people use before. The shield was positioned in front of torso, covering everything from the upper part of his thighs to the upper part of his breast. Determined eyes peered out over the edge of the shield, watching the endless, swaying grass before him.

Another try, now. Kayiri moved to take a swipe at the imaginary enemy before him, moving the edge of the kite shield just enough to allow his blade room to slip through to his enemy. The honed blade narrowly avoided the shield's wooden edge, much to the man's pleasure. Perhaps this wasn't so hard after all! Another swipe proved him wrong. This time, the weapon did catch the shield. With a resounding thunk, the sword was deflected off of the rim of the shield, the tip burying itself in the dirt. The Drykas trembled slightly in obvious frustration as he examined yet another cut he had added to the rim of his shield. Every other strike had had this problem! How was he to use this device to protect himself when it hindered his own strikes just as much as it did the enemy's!?

It took him a few minutes to cool down enough to come up with a logical solution. After a minute or two of thinking, a rather ingenious idea hit him. He could "wrap" his strikes around the edge of his shield! The man put the ability to the test immediately! He held his shield up once more, and then did something interesting. Instead of slashing in a wide arc with his right arm, he twisted his torso in a quick snap. This would be the basis of the strike's momentum. Then, his right arm moved forward with the rotation of his body. It wasn't a wide arc, as mentioned before, but rather one in which the arm stayed almost entirely folded. When the rotation was about to come to an end, the elbow snapped out, and the shoulder began to add force to the blow. Eventually, it turned into your normal swipe. However, right before the weapon would have hit his opponent, he flipped it over quickly, so that the palm side of his hand was now facing downwards. With the palm side of his hand downwards, the joint of his elbow now faced inwards, towards the shield. His elbow began to fold quickly as he followed through on the strike, and had there been an opponent there, they would have found a sword's edge in their side. Or, at least, if Kayiri hadn't messed up, they would have.

He had followed through with too much speed, and as such, had slammed his elbow into the rim of his shield. Much swearing ensued as the warrior removed the shield in a fit of anger and sheathed his sword, pacing frantically in an attempt to rid himself of the anger and frustration that once more permeated his thoughts. Before he knew it, he felt the familiar wood of his bow gripped tightly inside of his clenched fist. Feathers fletched to the shaft of an arrow brushed against his fingers as he drew it from the confines of the quiver, carefully bringing it up to the carefully maintained string of his bow. The notch found its way to his string, setting it comfortably on the weapon. With a single, powerful motion, and a titanic expulsion of breath, the Drykas pulled back the string, taking careful aim. He noted out of the corner of his eye that he did indeed have his archer bracer on, something he took great care to make certain of since the accident last season, and let the arrow fly.

Green eyes didn't bother following the arrow as it followed its destined parabola back to the surface from whence it came. He was too focused on the next arrow, on the simple actions he went through to fire a projectile at speeds quick enough to end the life of those it hit. Such a dangerous weapon, so mundane in principle, when one simply stopped to think about it. A second arrow soon found its way into the beautiful blue sky, arcing high until it slammed into the ground off in the distance. This time, Kayiri's eyes actually followed it. He had something to aim for now. A third arrow notched onto his string, and he lowered his head to his bow, aiming silently. The tip of the arrow pointed up into the sky, feathers brushing against his cleanly shaven cheek.

Plink! A third arrow loosed. As he was going through the motions of notching a third arrow, he heard a tiny voice, one barely audible, the made him stop. His ears perked up, and his entire body strained to pick up any more sound coming from the direction in which he was firing his arrows. When there was none, Kayiri continued with his little session of cooling off. A fourth arrows found its temporary home against the string of his bow, and quite shortly, flew off into the world.

This time, the voice was unmistakable. It was someone, or something, crying in a high-pitched squeal. Kayiri furrowed his brow, stowing his bow. Silently, he picked his shield up off of the ground and put it over his back. He then crept over to his constant companion, Serenity, and rode off into the waving grass to investigate.

He didn't notice the small clay creature at first. In fact, he didn't notice her for a good minute or two. It's hard to notice a three inch figurine in a plain filled with grass up to one's hip. First things first, he dug around for a moment, miraculously finding his four fired arrows. The fourth arrow, however, came with a bit of a surprise. When he bent over to pick it up, he noticed the figurine, dashing around, looking for non-existent cover.

Horrid images flashed through the man's mind, ones of the hunt not a season ago, in which his hand had been pierced by a trap set by small, clay figures not to dissimilar from the one he now observed. Rage bubbled through the man as he remembered the pain and embarrassment the small creature had caused him! An unthinking hand flew to his sword, drawing it quickly from it's sheath. "You!" he declared resoundingly, pointing the tip of his sword at the creature. "Identify yourself! Who are you, and what business do you have here? Are you a thief, and a dishonorable trapper, like the rest of your miniature kin!?" Rage dominated his tone.

[Ariel]

Ariel was simply running around in circles, screaming her head off. "The arrows are falling, the arrows are falling! They're coming to get us!" she screamed as a wave of bugs scattered, flying out of the grass in all sorts of directions, as if heeding her call.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared over Ariel, what the? she wondered, as the grass all around her started to part, forming a v shape all around. Ariel's head darted from left to right, looking for whatever had continued to disturb an already bad scene.

And then she saw it- another giant, and his shoe! He was towering over her, and looking down at her, his eyes blazing. "You!" he declared resoundingly, pointing the tip of the sword he had just unsheathed at Ariel. "Me?" Ariel asked, as she pointed to herself, before she raised her hands above her head. "Identify yourself! Who are you, and what business do you have here? Are you a thief, and a dishonorable trapper, like the rest of your miniature kin!?" the man inquired, angrily. He was gritting his teeth, and his eyes seemed icy cold.

The man's skin was rather tan, his hair was fairly long and light brown, it was tied up in a pony tail. His dark green eyes never left Ariel. Ariel gulped, as she took a deep breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth, before saying, "Ariel." She breathed deeply a few more times, allowing all of her thoughts to leave her mind- how the grass beneath her feet tickled her, how the sun glinted on the man's blade, just how cruel his eyes made him seem, how the wind rustled the long blades of grass that surrounded each of them, and then Ariel looked into the man's aura. It was simply a swirl of bright red, the man certainly was angry about something, she thought, she didn't need to look into his aura to figure that out. But what? as far as she could tell, she hadn't done anything wrong to piss him off so much.

"I'm just here... on... on.. an adventure..." Ariel's voice shook a bit, she didn't like to have large pointy objects pointed in her general direction. But it seemed like such occurrences happened quite often these days. It seemed like something or someone was always trying to kill her- chasing her around, threatening to smush her, threatening to cut her in half, capture her... the list went on and on. "And, I'm not a thief! And neither are all of my kin! Although I'm sure that there are thieves among us, just like in any other race!" Ariel hollered back up at the man, she was staring at him, with her unblinking eyes. She wouldn't allow herself to feel afraid even if he didn't budge, and kept his sword pointed at her. After all, she could take him, couldn't she?

[Kayiri]

A deep laugh echoed forth from the lips of the proud warrior that stood before the miniature figurine, but his eyes never left her, never wandered for more than a few brief moments, to check the Grasses around them for the dangers that were ever so present in the Sea of Grass. His response came quickly, without a moment of thought put behind it. "Not all of you are thieves? Bahaha! That is like saying that not all warriors can defend themselves! That is like saying that not all priests believe in the Gods! That is like saying that not all swords have a hilt! All of you clay people! Every last one of you are thieves!" The man was red in the face, spittle flying from his lips as he screamed at the small woman, sword tip still pointing in her general direction despite the quivering of his swordarm.

"You make settlements in the caves beneath the Grasses that rightfully belong to the Drykas, and in the night, when they sleep, resting to gather strength to face the dangers the Grasses throw at them when the sun rises, you steal their weapons and their belongings, every last one of them, and retreat back into the caves like the spineless cowards you are! You set traps, for you know that you are too small and pathetic to face a true, righteous, good-hearted warrior in combat! You're all spineless, fear-filled cowards, thieves, that deserve to be no where else, other than within Dira's cold grasp!" his voice was filled with blinded rage, echoing out over the endless Sea that surrounded them in every direction. His entire body shook as he stood there, breathing heavily to catch his breath after his huge fit of screaming.

Finally, he burst into movement. His sword went off to the side, his body beginning to bend at the waist, to bring his upper body closer to the ground. In a single quick, powerful movement, Kayiri's left hand shot out at the Pycon, hopefully grasping around it's small body. Considering the fact that poor Ariel was no more than three inches tall, and Kayiri's hand was fairly large, calloused and muscled from hard days of work under the sun's pounding gaze, only her head would stick out from in between his thumb and index finger, the rest of her body concealed within the confines of his hand. If he succeeded, a perverse smile played across the warrior's face, and his body slowly returned to a fully upright position.

Then, he spoke to her, holding her close to his face, green eyes watching her coldly. His voice offered the poor woman no sympathy as it rang through her ears, quiet, cold as ice. "Tell me now, clay-woman, why should I spare your life, when you are nothing more than a thief, like the rest of your people? Why should I let you wander and, perhaps, if fortune smiles upon you, find the Wandering City, where you can steal from the inhabitants to your hearts desire? Why should I not end you now?" The scars that ran under his eye, so apparent in Ariel's view, showed that the man had seen combat before, and emerged with his life. He would not hesitate to kill her, if he felt the need to. Smashing the clay-woman would be no more difficult and no more of a nuisance to him than scratching an itch.

[Ariel]

A deep laugh echoed forth from the lips of the obnoxious, and giant human warrior that now stood before Ariel. His response came quickly, as though he needn't think about his words. "Not all of you are thieves? Bahaha! That is like saying that not all warriors can defend themselves! That is like saying that not all priests believe in the Gods! That is like saying that not all swords have a hilt! All of you clay people! Every last one of you are thieves!" The man was red in the face, spit flying out of his mouth, and landing all around her, mainly on blades of grass, dripping off the sides and down the stalks, giving the appearance of the morning dew, or having just rained. His sword was still pointed at her, but it was quivering wildly. What an incompetent, and ill-learned man, Ariel thought, as she looked up at him. So naive, can't even see true logic she thought, as she rustled her clay wings slightly.

Not to mention... not all of his supposed logic made sense... after all, not all warriors were good, or entirely capable of defending themselves. What about if they were injured? Or had broken their weapon? Were asleep and ill-prepared, incapable of producing a weapon and defending themselves? What if their weapon had been knocked away, or they had been killed in battle, could they defend themselves then? she wondered, wanting to scream at the illogical and red-faced warrior, but biting her tongue.

And weren't unfinished or broken swords sometimes found without a hilt. And she knew for a fact that no one in her family had ever stolen anything. Certainly, this man was just plain dumb, and entirely out of his mind.

"You make settlements in the caves beneath the Grasses that rightfully belong to the Drykas, and in the night, when they sleep, resting to gather strength to face the dangers the Grasses throw at them when the sun rises, you steal their weapons and their belongings, every last one of them, and retreat back into the caves like the spineless cowards you are! You set traps, for you know that you are too small and pathetic to face a true, righteous, good-hearted warrior in combat! You're all spineless, fear-filled cowards, thieves, that deserve to be no where else, other than within Dira's cold grasp!" the man's voice was overcome with rage. Ariel was getting annoyed, would he shut up already? she wondered, stifling a laugh as his entire body shook, and he attempted to catch his breath. She supposed yelling really did take a lot out of a person... not... how pathetic she thought as she wished she could roll her eyes at the man's histrionic and generally ridiculous nature.

Once again, Ariel had never seen or heard of another pycon in the area. And her people weren't spineless, they fought how they fought because they were so much smaller than others. They had to find a way to use their height, or lack thereof, their cunning, in order to keep them alive, especially in combat, otherwise, someone would step on them, and that would be the end of that.

The red pigmentation in Ariel's cheeks started to glow. She was starting to get really angry, and she balled her hands into fists. If anything, this man was a coward, spineless. After all, he was towering over her, and pointing a quivering blade in her general direction. If he wanted a true fight, he wouldn't be bullying someone like her. He'd be out picking a fight with someone his own size. After all, a TRUE fight, a FAIR fight, took place between two equally-skilled and matched people; and while Ariel had no doubt in her mind that she was far intellectually superior to this so-called warrior drykas, she was also reasonable enough to know that he could easily squash her in a physical battle as opposed to an intellectual one.

The two stood in the grass, staring each other down for quite some time, and then suddenly, he moved, his sword coming to rest more to the side, his body beginning to bend at the waist. Ariel didn't have any time to react. He had reached his hand out and grabbed her, holding his entire body in his hand, only her head exposed, sticking out between the warrior's thumb and index finger. The man smiled perversely, like it was difficult for a giant to capture a three-inch clay woman. Ariel stifled another laugh, how pathetic, she thought, look how proud he is, at having accomplished such a simple task. It wasn't like she had run, or even put up a fight.

Ariel tuned into his aura again for a moment, which was now a swirly mixture of both bright red and a bright yellow. Happiness mixed with anger, she thought, she had been right. This warrior truly was a bully, and a rather pathetic one at that, no real warrior, no honorable one, would ever pick on someone who hadn't done anything to them, and certainly not a child, someone who was only a fraction of their age, and less than half of their height. An unarmed, defenseless, person.

When the man spoke again, he was holding her close to her face, his green eyes glaring. "Tell me now, clay-woman, why should I spare your life, when you are nothing more than a thief, like the rest of your people? Why should I let you wander and, perhaps, if fortune smiles upon you, find the Wandering City, where you can steal from the inhabitants to your hearts desire? Why should I not end you now?"

The scars that ran under his eye, became even noticeable from where Ariel stood, trapped in this man's grip. He had seen combat before, and gotten his butt kicked too, she thought to herself, again, laughing inwardly.

"Well Mr. Warrior," Ariel began, "have you ever actually seen me, personally, take anything from you or your people?" Ariel paused. "Do I look like I actually have anything on my person other than my small bag of clay and personal effects? Does it appear to you that I may have stolen something, anything at all?" Ariel paused again, giving the man a little kick with her leg. It probably didn't feel like anything because she could barely move it. "I should think not," she said, "for I have stolen nothing, and since you have seen nothing, since there was nothing to see to begin with, I would greatly appreciate it if you would set me back down so that I may be on my merry way."

There was a pause. "After all, I am only one pycon, I couldn't carry much of anything on my own anyway..." she said, turning her head from left to right, as if daring him to pick another pycon out of the grass. She knew, for a fact, that she was the only one around, having glanced around the area, looking for signs of life, the subtle wave or bend of the grass, an aura off in the distance that signified the life of another living creature, but she found nothing other than the occasional bug or mouse.

Ariel continued, "not only that, but I have no use for your people's food, being that pycons ingest only clay, and I have no use for your weapons, which are too large and heavy for my people to wield, or your prized horses, which are far too large for us to successfully ride upon."

Ariel hoped that her words would be enough to satisfy him, "so once again, I ask that you please let me go, and we may pretend that this little... meeting... never happened."

[Lariat]

Ariel

Experience:

Observation: 1 xp
Auristics: 1 xp
Running: 1 xp
Rhetoric: 1 xp

Lores:

Flying brown birds?
Arrows ARE predators
Getting away from the insolent

Kayiri

Experience:

Observation: 1 xp
Weapon (Longsword): 1 xp
Shield: 1 xp
Weapon (Composite Shortbow): 1 xp

Lores:

How not to wield a shield
Taking out your frustrations on the air
Picking on the little people

If you think I missed anything just send me a pm.