Candy

Defiance

@Valkon@Seraphin@Polaris North@Jensoman@tex@Zyngard@Dartbored Fairy@Hokum@ArkmageddonCat

….

“It’s not like I have anything better to do.” Fauve replies to Gabriel. She’s sneering a little to portray her usual unexciting life. “So you can count me in, Cutie.”

Right then The hooded murdered from the tavern the night before shows up and takes the map from Gabe without a word. Now Fauve didn’t mind the woman to be honest about it, and being that she killed the barman at what appeared to be random, kinda tickled Fauve’s funny bone.

“You sure are one psychotic piece of work.” She says to Devlin. Once she’d done taking a gander at the map, psycho lady commences to delivering a speech to everyone. She introduces herself as the Daughter of Despiun. Fauve knew about the massacre, hell, everyone did. Fauve however preferred to think of Daughter of Despiun as the Begotten of Death, which she was sometimes referred to as. Sounded much cooler in her opinion. At the end of her speech, Psycho lady went on to invite everyone to join her then headed on her way to the location the map. She also took a dig at anyone who was to frightened to go with her, a comment Fauve figured was directed specifically at the Pussycat.

Fauve then regards Lui who she can only just see hiding behind that Elf thing, and when the obvious-fooling-nobody construct finally shuts up, she looks at Dani, and says sharply; “Have you always been such a damn scaredy cat? You’ve gotta learn to live a little kid. Beside, god Damn it, the living wood is right, we’re safe in numbers and it looks right clear to me that everyone else is going to be following the psycho ladies lead on this. So what are you gonna do, go off on your own and expect a rosy picnic? Look around, fur ball, and grow some hairy balls for once in your life.”

“Let’s go then!” Fauve says to Gabe, then turned to Corc, giving the big bad bastard yet another slap on the butt, adding; “And how about you, my big sexy beast, you coming with us? Sure would hate to leave you behind!” She looks down into the town and gestures to the crowd of undead headed their way. “I’m getting tired of the undead around these parts anyhow.”

Fauve starts walking after Devlin, thinking that her big orc honey and Gabe would follow. She also gives Jack and tree man a jerk of her head, inviting them to come along. She also stops momentarily to say hello to the mute (assuming that he hasn't left after his girlfriend yet).

“Welcome to the motley crew, mutie! Names Fran. Saw you using sign language back there, so you must have a fun life, right?” She looks off in direction the psycho lady was heading. “Psycho lady a friend of yours?”

Whether Ren replies or not, and whether Gabe, Jack, Foeldar, Corc or any of the others follow, Fauve takes another swig from her bottle and starts walking in direction that the psycho lady had headed. It just so happened that Devlin was already out of sight at that point, gone into the woods. Fauve was walking casually though, no sense in rushing into possible death. Best the psycho lady takes a good long lead on this.

….

Defiance

Mention @Jensoman@Hokum@Seraphin

Direct interaction @Valkon@ArkmageddonCat@tex@Polaris North

….

Fauve exited the trees in her new clothes right when the Treeman ran into the wall by the gate. He disturbed her train of thought about Corc. She had been wondering what the big guy would be like to have a little private party with. By reputation, orc’s really knew how to let their hair down and have fun when they weren’t going around killing folks. Besides, she liked big guys, especially the rough brute type. They had a way of turning her on.

Since the tree ramming the wall had diverted the attention of the rest of the group, no one seemed to notice Fauve’s approach. She arrive just to the side behind Dannisus as he was finishing up with his ever growing list of concerns, and figured it was a good opportunity to have a little fun with him. With that in mind, Fauve’s tongue stretched from her mouth, extended a few feet in a coiling fashion, and then slapped him playfully up side the face, leaving a streak of saliva in his whiskers and fur. Her tongue flicked back in her mouth with a sharp whip-crack action.

“Still feeling a little skittish there, are ya, Kitty?” She laughed real hard, took another swig from her bottle and swiftly turned her attention to Jack. She placed a little peck on Jack’s cheek, and said; “Good to see ya again, Handsome!”

Fauve was just having herself a little fun at the expense of others self-preservation, not really caring how they might react. Continuing on her way, she gave a little nod and a wink to greet Gabriel who had also arrived, holding out the map she mentioned earlier.

Walking around the gate now, Fauve plucked a leaf from the ground while catching a glimpse of Devlin and Ren approaching, then gave a swift kick to the golem’s shin. Not too hard, just enough to draw his attention. She held the leaf up to him and gave it a teasing wag.

“I think you might have dropped this, Shrubby.”

Having another laugh, she flicked the leaf aside. Even though her butt cheek was no longer exposed, she gave it a good scratch while making her way over to take that second look at the map.

….

Defiance

….

Fauve slowed her pace when she arrived at the tree-line, as she had noticed a streak of blood on the leaf of a rubber-tree plant. Below the plant was a few more drops of darkening scarlet fluid leading a broken trail into the woods.

Well, that was easy

She pushed her way through the snapped twigs and blood smeared leaves for what must have been a good thirty yards before arriving at a clearing. The source of the blood was a human male, leaning with his back against a tree. As fortune would have it, he was about Fauve’s height and build. Unfortunate for him, he was damn near dead already. The horde had done a good job with this guy, numerous lacerations decorated his chest and right arm. His brown trousers were in a miraculously good condition, though, minus a few small spots of blood, and his boots were much fancier than her usual choice in footwear. But that didn’t matter, it’s not like she was about pay money for them or anything.

Despite being so close to death that he couldn’t even lift an arm to reach out, his eyes widened with that futile hope for salvation she’d seen so many times before. She knelt beside him and faked a reassuring smile.

“Ple… hel.. me….” His plead for mercy was so weak, Fauve could barely hear it, but the message was clear.

“There’s nothing I can do for you, Bub. You’re as good as dead.” She was candid about it, while tapping her index finger on the tip his nose in an oddly playful manner. “But not all is lost. I’m gonna go ahead and put you out of your misery.”

The young man gave a half shake of his head, apparently not liking the idea too much, and tried his best to form a few words of objection, but failed.

“Now – now.” She placed her finger on his lips to hush him. “There’s no point in fighting any more. You’re gonna die either way so we might as well make this quick, right? So, what I want you to do is say a little prayer to whatever God you might believe in – And if you don’t believe in any God, well, now might be a good time to start.” She took her finger from his lips to observe his response.

What energy he had left was present in the horrified look of his eyes. His upper lip trembled as well. That was all he managed to display of his obvious understanding on the matter, not that he was any keener on the idea than he was beforehand.

“Good. I’m glad we could reach an understanding.” She told him.

Providing him a few seconds to say whatever silent prayer he may or may not have had to say, she then reached out, faked another smile, and pinched his nostrils closed with finger and thumb, while smothering his mouth with her palm.

It sure didn’t take long. He barely had enough strength for one final struggle. With a few small jerks of his body and a sloppy flip of one hand it was over. Fauve watched with solemn regard at the life drain free of his terrified glare. That wasn’t the first time she looked someone in the eyes as their soul departed this world, and in a place like Akripola, it probably wouldn’t be the last.

“Sweet dreams, Bub.”

Another life gone.

Before too long, Fauve was wearing the dead man’s scuffed, black boots and trousers, and he was wearing her old shredded trousers. Not like she was so damn hardhearted that she’d leave his corpse naked from the waist down. She did have… uh, well, a few standards, at least. Turns out, though, that his boots were a very specific and custom design, and were perhaps the most comfortable footwear to ever meet her feet. Such was a pleasant surprise.

While fishing around in her new trouser pockets and finding two gold coins, one silver, she wondered what the dead guys name was; if he had any family left alive, or maybe a wife, friends perhaps, anyone out there who may have been looking for him.

“Nah.... They’re probably all dead as well. Hell, he was probably the only one left in completing an afterlife family reunion.”

Feeling half decent about her score, Fauve retrieved a fresh bottle of liquor from her shoulder bag and started making her way back to the gate. At that time, Corc could be heard calling out his own name in the distance, maybe some sort of battle cry. She laughed and took a swig from the bottle.

….

Defiance

@Dartbored Fairy@Zyngard@Jensoman@tex

….

Corc was adorable. Fauve laughed at his remark about the map.

At the gate, Fauve took a bottle of Spiced Potato Spirit from her shoulder bag and had few swigs from it while listening to the others state their piece. Her thoughts were leaning more towards the shoulder bag though, and how its pristine condition managed to be preserved through the fight. Everything inside was intact also. She then had a thoughtful scratch of her butt cheek while considering the other matters of conversation.

“Relax them whiskers there, kitty.” She spoke to Dannisus. “Corc and myself just did battle with a few legions of undead and came out relatively unscathed. Not bragging at all, but I’m doubting that a few bad guys reaching the gate is gonna present too much of a problem.” She gives the Orc a ‘well-done’ pat on his rear end. “My main man here won’t let any harm come to ya.”

She takes another swig of her wine to consider the series of recent events before addressing everyone: “The map I’m talking about isn’t what you mob might be think’n.” She has another scratch. “It’s a map of Nadska and immediate surrounding area. It was dropped by some running fool on his way out of town right before hell turned up. I’m guessing the fool knew what was about to happen, though, since the map he dropped had Nadska suspiciously marked off with a cross. I’ll give you one guess what that might mean.” She laughed and had another swig from the bottle. “It also had another section circled off in the nearby woods. I’m betting the circled area of the forest has some significance to the plight of this shithole town as well. I’m half inclined to go look’n for the circled area out of pure curiosity, but I was needing to make certain of the direction before I go.”

Feeling like she was talking too much and giving the false impression that she actually cared about anything other than her own self gain, her mind drifted from the moment. She really needed to find some shoes and new trousers.

“Now if you mob excuse me for the moment, I’ve gotta go searching for a change of clothes.” While walking off towards the tree-line, she gives her butt cheek a slap to highlight the reasons why. “I’ll be back momentarily! Try not to die while I’m gone.”

There had to be some Nadska residents hiding amidst the trees somewhere, perhaps injured, dying or already dead, who she could salvage some trousers and footwear from.

….

Defiance

@Jensomanand@Valkon@Dartbored Fairy@tex

….

Fauve liked that. Being caught in the orc’s hands and let down to the ground in such a gentle manner confirmed her trust in him, but more than that, it established that Corc had a variety of honor rarely found in the world lately. He was in her good books now, and that was also a rare thing.

“This is yours!” She confirmed, and slapped the leg of lamb against Corc’s rock hard abs. Assuming he then took the food off her hands, she commenced to following at his side in direction of the west gate, fighting off the random, tailing undead assailants along the way. In the near distance ahead, she could see the Myti and another couple from the tavern the night before. Ain’t it just a small world and all that.

She really wished she had of found the time to salvage replacement trousers and shoes, but shoes were more the issue. It’s not like running around barefoot was going to cause any major problems, and sure she usually presented herself as a feral bitch anyway, but shoes were much more comfortable to be traipsing around outdoors with. While she ran alongside her new friend, she kept an eye out for any dead bodies that might have been wearing her size footwear.

As for her butt cheek hanging out and the shredded condition of her pant legs, well, she doubted anyone really gave a damn anyway. Besides, Corc would have no doubt had a good feel of said butt cheek when she landed in his hand. In addition to the meal she provided him, maybe it provided him another reason to be happy. Nothing wrong with a little discrete joy on the side.

Pretty soon, the unlikely couple were drawing within comfortable calling distance of Lui over Aelih’s shoulder and Dannisus running on ahead:

“Have any of you three seen the guy with the kick-ass gauntlets and the other human I was talking with earlier in the Tavern? They have a certain map that, under the current circumstances, I feel inclined to take a second look at.”

….

Defiance

Observed: @tex
Interaction... I hope: @Jensoman

....

Contrary to what was assumed, Fauve hadn’t kept running. She had stopped on approach to the Tavern (which she had previously shown interest in) when the Myti pounced down from somewhere above. While Corc turned to greet the cat man, Fauve gave the orc a slap on the butt to let him know she was heading inside. She didn’t have time to shoot the breeze.

It was moments after she entered the tavern that Corc defended the Myti against the ensuing group of undead. This, Fauve wasn’t aware of, since she was already on her way upstairs to the second floor where she commenced to frantically searching the nearest room for new clothing. There really wasn’t a lot to choose from. She quickly settled on a sleeveless calico pullover tunic to take the place of her torn shirt, but had no time to find a new pair of shoes or a replacement for her shredded trousers before the sound of more trouble was heard growing outside.

Looking down from the window of the room she was in, she saw the pussy running away up the path toward the West gate. Apparently he was feeling a little skittish from the oncoming horde of hostiles, and had decided on leaving the fighting up to Corc. Quite the honorable cat he was. She wasn’t, however, really sure if Corc was about to run in the Myti’s footsteps or not, and she didn’t have time to watch on from above to find out.

Feeling oddly indebted to the orc for what they had been through together, Fauve raced down the stairs fast as her legs would take her. She snatched a roasted lamb thigh from a hook in the kitchen then raced back up the stairs and launched herself out the window without first looking to see if Corc was still down there. For one reason or another, she was just kinda taking a leap of faith that he was still there and ready to catch her. Clutching the lamb cut under one arm, she yelled out the orc’s name as she plummeted fast to whatever awaited below….

....

Defiance

@Jensoman

....

Fauve was wanted throughout the land for a good number of crimes, which is why she had already lied about her name to Gabriel and Jack. She didn't really see a big problem by sharing her true identity with this orc, but it was still better to be safe than sorry, for now anyway.

"Call me Fran. Good to meet ya there, Corcy! Gotta say," She laughed, "Even for me, this isn't the most conventional way to be meeting someone."

The crowd of undead and necromancers had cleared a great deal on their journey towards the West gate, though there were a few stragglers around, which she and Corc were quick to eliminate. Aside from that, Fauve was enjoying the ride.

"Well, Corc the Orc," She suggested, swiveling at the waist to face forward again, "if you really need to eat, shouldn't be too big a deal." She gave him a slap on his massive deltoid and leaned past his head so he could see where she was pointing. "You see that Tavern over there on our right? Rumor has it the owner of that establishment is a little on the indisposed side of things. So I'm guessing we could stop by and grab ourselves some free grub before heading out of this shithole of a town. What do ya say?"

She jumps from Corc’s shoulder now and runs alongside him in direction of the tavern, which is when she spots a person heading up the path to the West gate. From what she could make out at that distance, this person was carrying another individual over their shoulder. Seems to be she wasn’t the only one hitching a ride to safety that morning.

More than just food was on Fauve's mind though. She was in need of a change of attire and was currently quite the sight for sore eyes. Prior the battle, her right butt cheek was already exposed from a tear in the rear of her trousers. Now she had a boob hanging out from the rip in her shirt as well. Her trouser legs were also shredded from the many times she had transformed her limbs to sharp weapons, and her shoes, well, they had long since gone and perished during the battle. This is one reason why Fauve generally dressed in nothing more than ragged clothing. Not much point in spoiling the finer variety of attire.

“I can probably find something to wear in one of the rooms while you’re getting a bite from the kitchen.”

....

Defiance

@Jensoman

....

Fauve had a saying: “Don’t try drinking an ocean of water.”

It was plain damn obvious at this point that she and the Orc could have kept on fighting till the cows came strolling home, but they weren’t about to win this battle. They were outnumbered, simple as that. Winning the battle was never Fauve’s intention to begin with anyway. Hell, it had been a bit of fun to fight the undead, but the real reason for doing so had already expired: All the civilians within the immediate vicinity had fled, either to the west gate or somewhere else in town. There was no one left here to save and she wasn’t about to diddle about in harm’s way for no good reason.

Fauve realized her work in this area was done at the same time one of the Orc’s ground slams set her off balance and subsequently almost got her struck by a stray flaming arrow. First regained her footing, she then made her next move: Jumping high and moving fast, she using the heads of the nearby undead as stepping stones to get closer to the Orc, and when close enough, she took a hard leap and landed right on top of him. She straddled to the orc like a little girl might take a ride on her daddy’s shoulders, and raised her voice above the sound of the battle.

“Now you listen to me, you big, bad bastard! In case you haven’t noticed we are already outnumbered and they just keep coming. We won’t be winning this battle today. Look around, Orc, there’s no people here left to save! So go! Go now!”

While Fauve was yelling, she swiveled to turn at the waist. Her torso was now facing backwards, while her legs were still facing forward and straddled to Corc’s shoulders. Her left forearms also opened up to an expansion of dense bone that took the form of a shield, while the bone of her right arm extended like a three meter sword from the flesh of her hand.

“And don’t worry about a damn thing! I’ve got your back - you take care of the front! Now giddy up! Get us the hell out of here!!”

....

Defiance

@Jensoman

....

The group of people at the North Gate had clearly heard Fauve yelling at them to flee to the West gate, because a few of them actually listened and started running in a westerly direction. It came as no surprise that the majority of them were too dense to move their asses out of there.

In her peripheral vision, Fauve noticed a large singular body approaching her from the right. She knew what it was, since prior to her little bout with the five undead, she’d caught sight of an Orc swatting his way through a number of pesky undead of his own not far from her own position. He was kinda hard to miss, but she doubted he was a threat to her. As he continued to approach Fauve now, she pretended not to notice until he stepped right up alongside her and announced his testament to her strength, with an added concern for her safety.

Fauve looked to meet with the Orc. Her face was a tad contorted to express her irritation for the stupid people at the North Gate. She looked the Orc’s mass of muscle up and down while maintaining the irritated expression, and yet she still found a second to stare at his groin area before replying.

“Whatever you say, Big Boy.”

The Orc moved on to the gate, and it was good to know he had some smarts about him, proven by the fact that he was backing her up on the call to head for the West gate. She kinda had to laugh, though, since watching the big bastard commence to battling the undead was sort of like watching some mean kid beating small animals around with a bat in his backyard. He sure was enjoying himself, and she instantly took a liking toward him for that. Always good to make the best of a bad situation.

Lo and behold, the party crashers came to ruin the entertainment. While the main front of undead from the East were now closing in on the Orc and the group of people he was sheltering, a heavy blunt force caused the North gate to burst from its seams and came crashing down on some of the civilians there.

And that’s what happens when you don’t listen to reason

Not surprising in the least, the new opening to town gave way to another flood of undead in the company of numerous magic wielding individuals who instantly starting throwing their weight around.

Seems the fun was only just getting started.

Now the remaining civilians had themselves the kick they needed to start running, and that’s exactly what they did. Though many were quickly killed by the onslaught of the arriving horde, the others screamed and finally started running in direction of the West Gate.

Fauve didn’t take the Orc’s advice. There was no backing down now. Besides, she couldn’t let him have all the fun.

“Welcome to the party!” She called out in a battle cry tone that ended with a laugh. Demon horns grew from her head for added effect as she charged in to aid the Orc in battle. Her inhuman agility and speed was, for now, keeping her free from the path of spells being cast, while she tore her own path through the advancing horde in a frenzy of slashing, weapon-shaped limbs.

....

Defiance

....

Only a few short moments after the invading horde was heard to breach the East wall of Nadska, two rogue skeletons from said horde managed defy every damn law of physics and arrived outside the tavern on the West of town. Less surprisingly, the equivocate Elf and that handsome Jack managed to make short work of these skeletons with incredible ease.

Fauve avoided dealing with the likes of monsters where at all possible. That didn’t mean she was a coward at all, she just didn’t see the point in putting her life in danger without good reason. Turns out, the current situation was good a reason as any. There was the option of following the path of the bookworm runner out the West Gate to probable safety, and she considered that prospect with a thoughtful scratch of her exposed butt cheek, but the problem with fleeing would be the resulting remorse. As much as she would never admit it to any other bastard around, she had a little thing called a conscience. The sum of people in this town were too weak and pathetic to protect themselves against this sort of thing.

Jack was already on rout to the heart of the action with flail and tavern door in hands when Fauve made up her mind. She gave Gabriel a pat on the shoulder in passing, though she didn’t say a word, taking the road that led to the north of town where the panicked cries of many Nadska residents could be heard.

The treed crowd of screamers at the North Gate came into view at the same time that a dispatch of five undead broke away from the horde, their sights set on Fauve. Thing about the undead, is they give no mind to clever tactics. Running at full charge, an anticipated arrow was the first to be released from one of the five and easily blocked by Fauve. Gnarling with discomfort, she had extended one arm well beyond the reach of human ability, seizing the leading skeleton by the neck and using its body as a shield. The hand gripping the skeletons neck then became a scissor-like tool that clamped shut to remove its head before the creature had time to raise its sword against her. While the archer stopped to prepare a second arrow, the other three melee wielding undead continued their futile advance. The two on the outside of the three had no time to prepare for the instant it took for Fauve to extend the bones of her arms like swords, and lop off their heads with an inwards swing. Not having enough momentum in that action to sever the head of the one in the middle, the two blades of her assault quickly turned to hands - one latching to the handle of its mace, the other grabbing its shoulder to keep it at bay - while the fabric of Fauve’s shirt tore open and her boob speared out through its eye. Its skull then busted open as her spear-shaped boob expanded like tongs. No longer than a second after the first arrow was released, she then pivoted on one foot while her other leg took the form of a club and spun about in a circular kick to smash the skull of the archer.

With first a laugh and a dust of her hands, Fauve continued in direction of the crowd at the gate and yelled at the top of her lungs.

“Run, you stupid bunch of imbeciles! The West Gate is clear!”

....