[center][h3][color=green]Lewa[/color][/h3][/center]

As chaotic as the insect ambush started out, the situation ended up being pretty manageable. The centipedes, soft-shelled and not exactly difficult to hit, seemed to be relatively easy pickings if one could get past the initial fear factor. Lewa confronted each bug in turn, sometimes several at once, unceremoniously hacked them apart, and left the ropy halves to wriggle their last. With everyone's efforts combined the centipede assault didn't last long. Their wanton slaughter left the whole area stained with splashes of murky blue arthropod viscera, and without the might of a swarm to back them the handful of leftovers that survived could achieve very little. It looked like it wouldn't take much more for the otherworlders to exterminate the scuttling threat completely.

Perturbed by the whole affair, Lewa used the lull in the storm to wipe the bug gunk from the protodermis edge from his air axe. He wasn't worried about dulling his blade necessarily, or the possibility of rust, but something bothered him all the same. Even taking into account the instinctive fear response from some of the humans, the centipedes' unprovoked aggression, and dogged refusal to flee for their lives, struck him as oddly self-destructive. The rahi he knew didn't just mindlessly throw their lives away without any real chance of reward; if anything, these creatures reminded him of the bohrok, who fought, destroyed, and died for the sake of destruction alone. Maybe that was just the nature of swarms? For a beast that only existed as part of an army, perhaps the army itself superseded all else. 

In his uneasiness, Lewa kept his guard up despite the relatively minor threat. He paid close attention to the strange noises that filtered through the trees, wondering just what sort of animal would be attracted rather than repelled by the sounds of conflict. He noticed one member of the team, Remilia, who hadn't put up as much of a fight, wandering off. "Wait, there could be-!"

His warning came too late to prevent her horrific discovery. A moment later, the monstrosity that the vampire unveiled charged toward the group through the foliage. The creak of its heavy exoskeleton and the clack of its mouthparts told Lewa everything he needed to know about its comparative side before he even laid eyes on it. "Incoming!" he called, whipping around in order to sprint toward the disturbance. As he ran, he whirled his axe around preemptively, stirring up a stiff wind. When the full-grown centipede finally burst from the underbrush, Lewa knew he'd made the right decision. Now [i]this[/i] was the kind of rahi he was used to fighting. "Wind, fly!" With a swing his axe his cyclone blasted forward, tearing up grass and leaves as it whirled toward his foe. Even if the beast didn't receive the tornado's full might, it would hopefully keep the beast away from his allies, not to mention give them a clear shot by shredding the surrounding foliage. His preemptive strike bore fruit; the next moment, Mokou swooped down to strike the monster head-on, its venomous mandibles knocked away by the fierce winds. One beat later, a fiery explosion went off, exacerbated by the remnants of Lewa's tornado. Despite the substantial new danger, this looked like a promising start.