[color=ed1c24][center][h2]Akeno[/h2][/center][/color]

Akeno hadn’t expected the creatures to be directly in front of her once she emerged from the underbrush. Maybe she should have, but in her haste she hadn’t considered it as an option and for her lack of care she received a face full of feathers and a deafening cawing in her ears.

Closing her eyes and batting away from feathers, she opened them again just in time to see one of the other chicken-beasts open its beak to spit a small fireball in her direction. It wasn’t large, but then again neither was she and small or not it was still fire; she had time to dodge, but instinct prevailed and muscle memory controlled her response as she swept an arm from waist to above her head to block the attack the way she would an incoming punch. The motion was smooth, easy, driven by her skill which had active unconsciously as soon as she drew on her martial arts training.

She felt her arm burn. Pain engulfing a baseball-sized patch of skin just above her wrist as the ball of fire seared away at her. Rather than dwell on it, Akeno pushed down the feeling and lashed out at the chicken directly in front of her instead; her left foot came up, hips rotating as she swung her leg into the creature’s side as hard as she could. The hit felt strong, stronger than normal somehow, but as she felt her kick impact the soft feathers and fat body of the Elwet she knew that it wouldn’t be enough.

The legs, the neck, the head. Akeno didn’t have a knife or a spear or anything that could stab though the flesh to reach the organs, so she needed to target the parts of the body that wouldn’t be able to absorb the shock so well. Both feet back on the ground, Akeno hopped back from the chicken and took up a proper stance as she awaited its next move.

[@Zeroth][@ERode][@Crusader Lord][@Kazemitsu]