EliteCommander

The Depths of Deception

"You might be right on him being a hostage, but I think you should hold off on the flashbang. No need to alert anyone else that might be in the area if we don't have to. I'll move up and take out the guard on the right. Bit, you get the one on the left as soon as I take out mine. Once the guards are down, I want everyone to move up and secure the area around the elevator, make sure that mechanic knows he isn't getting away. If he tries to contact anyone, we'll need to neutralize him quick." Rareth said, motioning for the others to stay back while she moved up with Bit.

For Rareth, staying out of sight wasn't too complicated. The guards were just around a corner, so she was able to stay concealed until she got close. From there, she made use of her magic to cloak herself in invisibility. Even the most skilled magic-users could not become perfectly invisible, and it was draining to maintain, but she only needed to move a short distance to get behind her target. The two guards, a Masulu and a Human were talking amongst themselves while the mechanic, also a Human, worked. They weren't quite attentive enough to notice the shimmering in the air near them, so Rareth waited for a few moments with her blade at the ready while Bit got into position. Once she felt she had given him enough time, she thrust her blade straight through the Masulu's head for a quick, easy kill.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Adapt? I feel like I am swinging a stick. How are you so agile with these things?" Kaleeth responded with frustration. From the few people in her village that actually used swords, she knew that it took a lot of training to use one with any grace, so she didn't understand how he wanted her to learn. She didn't think to watch how he was swinging, as her mindset caused her to give up quickly. Since it felt like a stick, she decided she would just use it like one. Instead of parrying or blocking when Janius first struck, she swung at his blade at full force just to try and knock it out of his hand, which very well could happen if he didn't brace enough.

To his credit, Fendros got up after Ahnasha knocked him down rather quickly. When they first started out training, he wasn't near as quick. When it came time for his strike, he did manage to swat away her guard, but she had just enough time to react to his next move. In the instant she had, she saw his other hand was going to grab her, and she could counter in the usual way, but she had been trying to fight differently, and now she was going for something really different. In general, Ahnasha did not put herself in positions where they would start grappling, as Fendros would have the advantage, but this time she decided to try. It could go horribly, but it would definitely be unpredictable. She let him grab her wrist, but before he could follow through with a strike, she spun around into him so that her back was facing him and the hand he grabbed was crossed across her front. Instead of jabbing into her sensitive stomach, his strike hit a tougher spot on her back. She then threw all of her weight backwards, bringing him down to the ground with her on top of him. She hoped the impact would be enough to cause him to lose his grip; otherwise, he would be in a position where he could use his strength to his advantage.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The first two of Janius' blows weren't very difficult to block, but she wasn't used to handling the sword and missed when she had to shift it over to the other side. She recoiled back a few steps. "Ah, how am I supposed to use this thing?" She hissed, barring her teeth. Regardless, she moved on, noticing that Janius was standing defensively. She retaliated with a swing straight for his torso, clumsily, but with considerable force. As Janius knew well by this point, there were few people she could not directly overpower as a werecroc.

Conversely, Ahnasha was well-aware she could not overpower Fendros, but she had more practice in hand-to-hand combat than he did, though she was out of practice. She approached him and started to slowly circle, watching for weaknesses. Though they did not generally focus on unarmed fighting when they trained, she and Fendros had sparred before, so he was familiar with her fighting style. As a result, she had to keep varying her tactics and trying new things if she wanted to stay ahead of him. At first, she feigned two attacks, then struck with her fist on the third, though it was easily enough blocked. In each attack, she was quick to jump back and get out of his reach, but on the fourth, she rapidly punched towards his head to make him block and followed through quickly by attempting to sweep his legs.

The Depths of Deception

Sorry for not posting, the past few days have been busy. Went to turn on my desktop and it let out a giant spark and fried the power supply. Luckily, it is under warranty, though I don't know why it happened in the first place. I was quite shocked.

At any rate, if anyone else wants to have their characters give input, feel free. I'll try to post soon. Still pretty busy.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

As it was a hostile scenario, Ssarak had been listening for the thoughts of others, so it came as a definite surprise when he heard the soft voice of Lyn in his mind. He glanced down to see that it was indeed her. How and why she got here was beyond him, but he had no time to question, only act. He followed his instincts and listened to the little girl, pulling with all of his considerable might to bring the rope closer to the pole it had formerly been tied to. With the wagon weighing down the bridge, it was far from an easy task, but inch by inch, they brought it close enough for Lyn to secure it around the post.

Ssarak nearly collapsed from his excision, so he was not the first to see that Lyn was still in danger. Meirin, however, saw that she was in need and ran to grab her. Unfortunately, the other side of the bridge burned to the point that the ropes on the far side snapped, collapsing it anyway. In desperation, Meirin tossed Lyn to safety, but was unable to save herself. By this point, Ssarak had recovered enough to act, and act he did. Lyn might have received a scratch or two from the impact, but she was otherwise fine. Instead, he jumped off down after Meirin.

"Protect Lyn!" Ssarak shouted as he dove after Meirin. He had to speed his descent to catch up with Meirin, and while that did allow him to grab a hold of her, it also meant he was going too fast, and carrying too much weight to pull up in time. In the instant he had to react after grabbing her, he spread his wings both to slow them down, and to do his best to level off. They did start flying level to some extent, but they still had enough downward momentum that they were going to hit the bottom. If there was one thing he had learned from years of playing his favorite sports back in his village, however, it was how to crash. Seeing that it wouldn't be good to land in the water, Ssarak guided them towards the rocky edge of the river, then gave his wings one strong flap before rolling onto his back and wrapping his wings around Meirin, who he was holding close to his chest. Landing this way would keep him from crushing Meirin, and minimize damage to his wings.

Ssarak hit the ground hard with his back, but not nearly as bad as they would have if they had hit straight on. Ssarak had the wind knocked out of his lungs and was generally in pain across most of his torso, but he was alive. He would have to check to see if anything was broken, but for all intents and purposes, he was fine. Once he was able to breathe again, he unfurled his wings and Looked down at Meirin in his arms. His body would have served to cushion the fall for her, so she wasn't likely to have felt the full force of the impact. "Are you alright?" He asked in a slightly pained tone.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Wings are pretty good at that sort of thing. I'll post when I get home.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Being that their argument the previous day was still fresh on her mind, Kaleeth could tell what Janius was trying to do. Her reaction was not particularly positive or negative, she simply grabbed the sword he tossed at her and started to follow him. She had never really used a sword before; the closest she had ever come were bone daggers, so it felt foreign in her hand. She wondered how close the wooden version was to an actual metal sword, as the one she had felt strange to carry. They at least knew where the training room was in relation to their bedrooms, so it did not take too long for them to arrive.

Ahnasha and Fendros were already present when they stepped into the room, though Janius seemed more concerned with getting started on their own training routine. They found an empty space to practice, though Kaleeth had not yet adopted any kind of fighting stance. She really wasn't sure what that would be for a sword. "Are you sure we should practice with these? I am better with a spear." Kaleeth asked.

Meanwhile, Ahnasha and Fendros had their own spot in the corner. Some of the cultists were already in the room training, but most of those were sticking with the magic-focused exercises. Ahnasha had brought Fendros' bow, but set it aside for the moment. Given that the catacombs they were staying in were tight quarters, she thought it would be better to be practiced with melee combat. "How about we start out unarmed? Just a classic sparring match. I've been getting back into practice with it, but I still think I need more time working on it."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Although the situation certainly created an uneasy rest, the pack nonetheless went undisturbed for the rest of the night. It seemed that there were few in the cult who had reason to pass by the guest accommodations, as there was little activity immediately outside their rooms other than themselves. Several of the pack were somewhat at a loss for what to do once they awoke and had their breakfast (which they immediately returned to their rooms to eat). Other than just walking around, there was little they could do without risking a confrontation with one of the cultists. Many of them seemed indifferent, but some, like Vinaremo, just wanted to make trouble. Nevertheless, Ahnasha's restlessness was getting to her, After being denied much activity for so long, she found it hard to just sit and do nothing, even now. After feeding herself and Rhazii, she sat down beside Fendros, who was finishing his meal.

"I don't think I can just sit here doing nothing all day. Even if I can't do anything that matters, I would like to at least head to that training room Meesei mentioned, if only to keep my skills sharp. Will you join me? I can ask Sabine or Meesei or someone to watch Rhazii. We can work on archery, but I would more like to work on some close quarters techniques at the moment." Ahnasha suggested. Meanwhile, the others had their own ways of passing time. Meesei meditated on magic, Lorag put himself to work sharpening every blade the pack owned, while Kaleeth stayed in her room trying to think up some way to make her death a little less likely.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I'll timeskip to the next day. I have some ideas of things to do before having Llarvan arrive.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

So should I make a post, or wait for you?