[CENTER][h3][color=lightseagreen]S A I T O[/color]
Forest >> Cave >> Clearing[/h3]
[i][b]There and Back Again[/b][/i]
[@Dark Light][@RC3][/CENTER]
[hr]
As Saito hauled his spoils back home, his newly cleared mind was awhirl with possibilities. The stronger bones he had pulled from the carcass had rounded ends, one narrow and designed to fit into the hip joint and the other much larger. They might make good blunt weapons. The creature's hide could be made into some form of clothing, and its tough plates would protect him. He wasn't sure what he would do with the tiny skull--maybe just make a trophy out of it? And the tail...it wasn't really like a piece of vine, flexible or cord-like, because of the plating. Yet it still had flex to it, and each segment of the armor seemed pretty sturdy. It was almost like...a chain? [i]My memories again. Even now they're still cloudy. But I know more than I did before.

I was a man. I lived in another world. I passed away...and I remember that there were a lot of memories. I can't see them, but their weight rests upon my mind greatly. So I must have been old, to accumulate so many. I believe I passed away happily. Content. But...there was something else I wanted, too.

And now I have been reborn. I am...a goblin. My instinct and experiences tell me that much.[/i]

He was able to find the mark he had made in the dirt, and with the landmarks he remembered finding the cave again was easy. He noticed there were far fewer goblins here now--the others must be out hunting as well. A scent on the air caught his nose, oddly sweet and fruity. Maybe he could secure some more food for later? He went back inside the cavern, back to his dark corner of the wall, and looked around to make sure no one was watching him. Then he buried his spoils just an inch or so below the dirt, leaving himself enough signs to remember where it was. He didn't know what kind of culture or community these goblins had, but until he could trust them it was better not to let his things be taken. He might be willing to give or to help, but if any goblin tried to steal from him...Well, they'd better not steal from him.

With a now empty loincloth once again wrapped around his hips, Saito headed back out and sought that fruity smell from before. He was cautious, but also curious. Keeping his guard up, he eventually found himself in the presence of one of his goblin brothers, baring his all while fixated and absorbed on something from afar. Saito looked at the other greenskin and scratched his chin as he mulled over his observations.

This fellow was the one that had bitten another goblin's ear, and run off back into the cave. His underbite and fidgety hands gave him an odd look, with elements of both a simpleton and a trickster. Yet he moved like he knew what he was doing--even more quietly than Saito had on his earlier hunt. And he had fashioned himself a piece of protection of some sort, just a brace of sticks, as well as a weapon--using, Saito noted with some spark of humor, his own loincloth. The sling didn't look very well made and such a weapon seemed...deceptive in its use. If he planned to throw rocks with it, it would mean he had to build up a lot of momentum, wouldn't it? Reasoning would follow that swinging the weapon in order to do that would also make it difficult to aim...but maybe the goblin had already practiced with it?

The other goblin saw him, and gave him a wide grin full of sharp teeth. Saito's own expression was decidedly stoic. His brother raised one finger to his lips for silence, and Saito nodded. He had already noticed, up ahead in the clearing, that the source of that sweet smell was coming from what looked like a ball of grass and twigs covered in some yellow substance. It sat on a patch of ground that had obviously been disturbed--so this goblin was trying to draw some creature into a trap.

The other hunter went to the left, and again Saito watched him move with interest. This greenskin definitely knew something of the art of stealth, or at the very least he had a talent for it. Saito tried to mimic his brother as he went to the other direction, but watched as the other goblin loaded the sling. He would need to make sure to stay out of the weapon's aim--if a throw missed the target, and he was standing on the other side of the clearing, he didn't want the missile to kill [i]him[/i] instead.

Slowly hoping forward, interested in the sweet aroma that came from the trap, was a plump frog, around two feet in height. Its red skin, horns, and oddly tiny wings all seemed very out of place to Saito. Around a foot from the trap, its tongue shot forward, aiming for the source of the sugary scent. Sadly, instead of a treat, it was surprised by the unpleasant tasting slime and the discomfort from the pointed bark and stick. It grimaced in dissatisfaction as its tongue quickly retracted.

The creature faced the trap. The other goblin was on one side of it. Saito was on the other side, but at an angle, diagonal, so that the slingshot wouldn't hit him by accident. It also allowed him to react more easily to the frog's movement. If it tried to run forward, it would go into the trap. If it tried to run backwards away from the trap, Saito would be able to cut it off. If it ran from his brother, then it would be coming right at him and he would again be able to intercept it. And if he moved for it first, it would have to either run into the trap or into the other goblin.

The goblin seemed to think they were in a good position. Saito felt his muscles relaxing once more. Just like when he had lunged to attack the Shrew, his rearmost foot pressed into the ground with a slowly building pressure...

The sling whirled with a whip-crack, but Saito was afraid it still wouldn't be fast enough. Would the frog hear the other goblin winding up for the throw? Would it have the senses or reflexes to dodge the attack?

No time for what-ifs. Saito almost [i]felt[/i] the "rising and falling timing" pulling him along. He aimed to move in from such an angle that he wouldn't run into the trap if the frog dodged him, but he was fully committed to the followthrough of his attack.

He [b]Lunged[/b] and [b]Struck[/b] in one motion--and, in the single instant of thought he had left before his physical body was moving with intent, he realized that something felt different compared to before. And it wasn't just that he didn't have a weapon this time--in fact, that almost felt [i]more[/i] natural.

Easily moving twice as quick, maybe faster, than when he attacked the Shrew, Saito covered the distance between himself and the Dragon Frog. In fractions of a second his body twisted all at once: his foot came down hard, sending a rebound from the earth up into his thighs and hips. This explosive power was converted into torque by his waist, spiraling up his backbone. And this torque assisted the extension of his arm, driving forward even more with the aid of his shoulder and triceps. As the same time his other arm drew back, fist curling near his hip under his ribs. This pulley motion, action-reaction, further increased the speed and power of the arm driving out like a piston towards the Dragon Frog.

Saito's fist clenched hard enough to pop his knuckles. What would have been a gut-level punch to a creature the same size as himself, was at just the right height to strike the frog's face or the back of its head. And just like before, he felt the exhiliration of breath leaving his body in time with the strike, further increasing its ferocity.

"HIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

[hider=OOC]
Hid his stuff in the cave.
Some introspection about Reshy.
FLASH STEP PUNCH THE FROG (Used Skill: Lunging Strike)
[/hider]