EliteCommander

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

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Ssarak nodded. "That is a valid point; most of them may not be prone to thinking rationally under duress at the moment. Though it may be easier to fight them in groups, it may be risky to wait for them to separate. If we wait, the others may return and we could find ourselves outnumbered by less intoxicated foes." He reasoned. He still did not like that they were going to be outnumbered regardless, but with a proper plan of attack, they could push the odds more to their favor.

"Very well, if we are going to attack now, we should plan our attack. As you said, eliminating their leader first would be our best bet. From what directions would you two prefer to strike? For myself, I believe I can surprise them with a high angle of attack. I can back off, then fly up above the trees and use them to hide from their line of sight. Once you attack, their focus will be on you, so I will likely be able to eliminate at least one target without much resistance. If you haven't killed the leader by that point, it would certainly be him. Otherwise, I could focus on the next largest threat." Ssarak suggested.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei gave a brief nod to Oswall before turning her attention to the crowd. "You can be assured that Jerrick's successor will be one of your own, likely one of the lieutenants. Succession will be a top priority after the traitor, whoever it might be, has been charged, along with Jerrick's funeral. We would decide this sooner, but it would not be appropriate to do so before the trial has concluded." She explained.

Meesei did not know for how long she would need to remain to answer questions, but she stood ready to answer them for as long as required. Keeping the peace amongst the clan's members was the ultimate goal of this announcement, so putting to rest whatever concerns and fears they had was worth the time required.

Ashes [EliteCommander and Vesuvius00]

"I, uh, I wouldn't call this calm, really. I'm not exactly panicking, but..." Tarentek responded. His breathing felt almost as rapid as his heart rate, but he as least wasn't completely frozen anymore. He saw the sea ahead of them, though he still found it best to keep his eyes on the horizon.

Now that he was in a marginally better state of mind, he was able to focus on something other than the thought of falling. At this height, he could see in quite a far distance in all directions, enough to spark a thought in his mind to keep him distracted. "How high can you go? From the Human works we translated, we learned that the Earth is like a ball; rounded. If you go high enough, you can actually see it. Have you saw the curving of the horizon before? I'm not sure how high you have to go, or if you can even reach that height." He asked. Although this was the first time since they took off that he had said anything not related to his very present fear, it was obvious from his tone that he was still quite nervous.

Ashes [EliteCommander and Vesuvius00]

Tarentek managed not to close his eyes as they took off. In fact, they were about as wide open as they could possibly be from fear. As Onyx suggested, he kept his eyes fixed on the horizon, apart from the brief moment she turned him to look at the mountains behind them. "Ah this is...okay, okay, okay, just...okay. I need to...okay." Tarentek repeated, unable to collect his thoughts into rational sentences. His heart was absolutely racing, but he tried to follow Onyx's advice as best as he could.

"You don't want me to be as stiff? Okay, I'll try, but you also said not to move around as much. How much should I be moving, or...not moving? This is all just....I can see everything from here. It's terrifying and amazing. Seeing the world like this is beyond beautiful, but if you let go of me right now, I would die. I just can't get that thought out of my head." He said, putting his focus into the conversation instead of the flight.

Ashes [EliteCommander and Vesuvius00]

"That sounds...terrifying. I think I'm glad I don't have wings now; being pushed off of a cliff doesn't sound appealing. Anyway, I'll try to look for some redeeming quality in all of this. That, or I'll just close...or, well, no, closing my eyes won't get me any closer to overcoming this. Maybe I can just focus on the view; I'm sure it will be spectacular." Tarentek commented. When Onyx grabbed him, he felt himself become more nervous, if that was even possible. His mind was screaming at him that this was a bad idea, but for his own sake, he had to get over this fear.

Tarentek let out a deep breath. "Okay, I'm ready."

Ashes [EliteCommander and Vesuvius00]

Tarentek had fallen asleep briefly after laying down. Fortunately, he was awakened by Onyx's footsteps entering the den, so he was alert by the time she entered his room. After quickly grabbing his weapons, he stepped outside just behind Onyx. His gaze shifted northward as Onyx spoke, and to the sky above him. He had been nervous about this moment ever since he had suggested it. Regret was pouring through his mind that he had even thought of the idea to begin with, but it was too late to back out now. He had to go through with it, because if he didn't deal with it now, then he would be dealing with it in a few days anyway.

"I wouldn't worry about that. If anything, I'll be too frightened to move a muscle. Just, um, do you have any...advice for me? Anything that might help me keep calm? Are Elissic children usually afraid of flying at any point, or is it just something that is natural to you from the beginning?" Tarentek asked as he approached her. He stood still, ready for her to grab a hold of him, though he hoped she had some advice for him.

Ashes [EliteCommander and Vesuvius00]

It took Tarentek until a few minutes after Onyx had left to finish his breakfast, which he cleaned up at just as leisurely of a pace. His rifle, machete, and canteen all had straps that were rather secure, so there wasn't much he needed to do in the way of preparing. Until Onyx returned, all he had to do was find a way to pass the time. It had actually been quite a while since Tarentek had been alone with nothing to do. After escaping Amman, he had been alone, but preoccupied with survival. Before that, he had sometimes been alone while on scouting missions, but he usually had some task to focus on. Now, he just paced around the main room for a few minutes before returning to his room to lay down and rest until Onyx returned.

Ashes [EliteCommander and Vesuvius00]

Tarentek nodded as he started on his breakfast. "I don't think the rope will be necessary. If you don't think I'll need it, then I trust you. For safety's sake, I'm going to bring my weapons. It's very unlikely that we'll be attacked, but I like to be safe. I'll also bring water, of course, as you never want to enter the desert without it. Other than that, though, I won't bring anything extra.

Since he was going to have to wait for Onyx to finish her duties for the day anyway, Tarentek took his time with his meal. "As for you, I don't think you're going to need anything specific for swimming lessons. If you have something buoyant to use as a flotation device, you could bring that, but it isn't really necessary. I intend to try and get you accustomed to the water before anything else, and you could use a flotation device for that, but like I said, you don't really need it." He explained.

Ashes [EliteCommander and Vesuvius00]

Tarentek awoke to the smell of cooking food filling the den. His night had been entirely devoid of dreams, which was a vast improvement over the night before. He would rather no dreams at all than to experience the terrors he had become used to. At least now, he had something different to worry about, as today was the day he was going to be facing his fear. He knew it was something he had to do, but that still did not stop him from getting out of bed as slowly as he could, taking extra time to stretch his muscles and examine his current state of health. Of course, he was in even better condition than the previous day. Not perfect yet, but a measurable improvement.

Eventually, Tarentek got himself dressed and joined Onyx in the main room. By the smell, the food was very nearly done, so he took a seat at the table. "Good morning. So, today's the day you take me way higher in the sky than I was ever meant to be...again. Honestly, it wasn't as bad the first time, while I had malnourishment and dehydration to distract me. I guess we can fly up to the Dead Sea, where you first found me. That is far enough to hopefully get me started on coming to terms with my fear. And, while we're there, you can have your swimming lessons. The salt in the sea makes it easier to float, so you won't have to worry about it being dangerous." He explained, pausing for a moment as he looked down at the table with a slight chuckle. "Now, if only there was a way to make flying safer."

Ashes [EliteCommander and Vesuvius00]

Tarentek smiled at Onyx. "Does this mean you'll be considered a full adult in a few days? Must be exciting. My people do not have any sort of moment that defines adulthood, so I can't say that I know how that will feel. I suppose it would not be appropriate for me to be present, so I will go ahead and wish you the best for it now." Tarentek commented.

Since they had gone through all the business they intended to bring up with Raldel for the moment, Tarentek assumed they would be leaving soon, unless Raldel or Onyx had a reason for them to stay. There were still quite a few hours left in the day, but Tarentek was fatigued from the earlier sparring match and would prefer to rest at the moment more than anything.