EliteCommander

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak grinned. "And I must say, I am quite fond of carrying you. I want to take you higher than before; to the limits of where my wings can carry us. At that height, buildings can be like specks of dust on the landscape beneath you. Being above the clouds, you can watch them pass by like mountains in the sky. There is a point, far above the ground, where the horizon itself starts to bend. I do not believe I could take you there, but...I think you will enjoy it regardless."

With their plans decided upon, the pair started making their way towards the building's exit, but Ssarak still had Meirin's scent on his mind, and did not want to pass on the opportunity to compliment her on it. "I would also like to say, your scent is simply wonderful. It is bold, but not overbearing. It is sweet, and exotic...well, to me at least. It flatters me that you would wear it for our time together, and makes me regret that I did not do the same for you."

Given the context of the scents Meirin was wearing, Ssarak once more started to think about the dress, but from a different perspective. He never would have known her to wear something so restrictive, but she had also used a scented oil or perfume for the first time since he had known her. He understood the meaning of perfumes, and could not help but to wonder if her sudden change in attire was for the same reason. Reflecting on how he had responded to the dress, his expression quickly turned to regret. "Oh...wait, did you wear the dress for...me as well? I am so sorry, I did not realize...I of course appreciate you doing such things for me, but..." He stammered, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "It is just, in my village, we never used clothing in that manner, or many other purposes that were not strictly practical. We were usually either nude, or just wore simple loincloths, pouches, and such. I never knew clothing was used in so many ways in Human lands. I am still sometimes learning what is appropriate or expected to wear in what occasions. I truly hope I did not offend. Should I be wearing anything different right now?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I may not be able to post tonight. I'm home, but I'm pretty tired from this day of moving.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It had only taken a moment’s distraction for Janius to be able to follow through with an attack that was unquestionably lethal. The axe cleaved through the Suthay’s neck and shoulder, and severed her body’s largest artery. The bleeding was enough to render her unconscious in seconds, and dead soon after. Unfortunately, where one fell, two joined the fray. The opponent Kaleeth had injured had again recovered, and now there were two swordsmen beside him. They were already advancing to attack the pair and make use of their numbers. Though, some of the other lycans were also fighting their way through the enemy on the right side of the room, and could potentially be in a position to flank shortly.
Sabine’s wild punch was indeed easily blocked for the Khajiit mage, though even a blocked strike from Sabine hit harder than he was prepared for. She came close to fracturing a bone in his forearm, but regardless, he was too absorbed in the fight to pay attention to the pain. He managed to land a punch straight on her nose before she could guard her head, then clawed at her armed twice before he switched to striking at her torso. He landed two solid blows to her chest, then to her stomach, then decided to tackle her to the ground.

The Khajiit was going to start trying to claw at Sabine’s neck when he noticed her dagger. Because Sabine was panicking in the melee, she could not grab it before he did. Since her hand was right next to the blade, he stabbed it straight towards her palm.

Overconfident as he might have been, Gallus’ attack was nevertheless effective. A Cathay was a hard target to topple, but the pain he was in from his broken ribs meant that he was not as focused as he could have been. As such, he overcompensated when Gallus pulled at his leg and ended up falling to his right. He was certainly not in an advantageous position against Gallus, but that would not keep him from trying to fight back. Already, the Cathay was taking a swing at Gallus’ ankles while on the ground.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I'll have to respond tomorrow, if I can. I don't think I'll have time tonight. Goodnight.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak was quite patient in the hallway for Meirin to return. He understood that she would want to clean up after a bout of what he assumed to be training, though he did start to notice that it was taking a bit longer than he would have expected. Nevertheless, he did not even think of moving until she returned. Mostly, his thoughts were filled with brainstorming on where he could actually take her. He had made the decision to spend the day with her not long ago, so it occurred to him that he did not have many specific ideas in mind.

When Meirin finally emerged, Ssarak found himself surprised for more than one reason. Given how Meirin usually dressed, he did of course notice her new attire, along with the attention she had put into her hair. It was green, with a floral design on its lower half. It had quite a large bow tied around her midsection, and seemed more loose than her usual garb. Overall, it did not seem nearly as practical as what she usually wore, which struck him as odd. For Ssarak, he had no concept of what it meant to "dress up." In his village, both men and women certainly had ways of improving their appearance for those they wanted to impress, but they did not use clothing to accomplish it. As such, the meaning of her new dress was lost on him.

Certainly, though...I have to admit, I am not entirely resolute on what we should do. I only learned I would have this free time recently, so...I am making up my plans as we go along." Ssarak chuckled. "But, I think we have plenty of options. We could take a walk around the gardens, or perhaps the forest, we could go for a swim, or fly up to the rooftops and have a nice dinner as we look out over the landscape. Or, now that your magic can allow you to fly yourself, I would feel more comfortable flying you up to the highest altitude I can carry you. The world looks so much different from up there. For me, I have no preference. I am just happy to spend the time with you."

As Ssarak allowed Meirin a moment to think, he took a look at her dress once more, this time with a curious expression. It was unusual enough that he could not help but to comment. "You know, you look different from usual. That dress is not like the clothing you usually wear. It is...lively and flowing, like the waves on a lake. But, it does not look easy to move around in. I am surprised you would want to wear it."

A few moments later, now that Ssarak was paying close attention, he noticed the scents of the oils Meirin had put on herself. They smelled sweet, like the flower he had given her. It was quite pleasant, and for Ssarak, it was something he could understand. While those in his village did not dress themselves to impress their lovers, perfumes were something they did use. The scents they had access to were far different from what Meirin was wearing, granted, but they were still pleasant, and he understood the intent behind it. He quickly started to smile upon the realization that she seemed to want to impress him.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It might have, but I wanted to throw a wrench in the gears. Things don't entirely go to plan in this attack, as you've no doubt seen. Plus, it will be interesting to see what Sabine does with a fist fight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Yeah. The ice storm weakened it greatly, and the ice spear broke it entirely. Unfortunately, the ice spear was way overkill. Even if there is a small, weak ward that is near to breaking, a quick burst of magic like an ice spear will just break it without damaging the person behind it. I assume Sabine was panicking.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With Janius pulling away the attention of the Suthay, Kaleeth had the freedom to focus on the swordsman she was facing. Once again, she made full use of the advantage she had. Against a single opponent, only one who was very strong, or skilled and quick enough to outmaneuver her, could get around her physical advantages. This particular opponent had neither of those qualities. She stopped forward and waited for him to make a swing before parrying and bashing towards his head once more with her shield. He of course brought his own shield up to defend, but that only meant that it was his own shield that hit him in the head thanks to the sheer force of Kaleeth's blow. It might not have cracked his skull, but the impact actually made him dizzy.

Kaleeth could have tried to finish off her opponent, but she used the opportunity to attempt to help Janius instead. The Suthay was more than quick enough to dodge Janius' attack, so Kaleeth made a swing at her from the side. It did, of course, miss, but it could give Janius a chance to land a hit on her.

Sabine's instinct to fall back on her training served her well, as her attack was more than her opponent was prepared to handle. The ice at his feet took him off balance, and more importantly, lessened his focus. The Khajiit's ward was not as efficient at the moment as it could have been, and he could not redirect the magicka of her spell into himself, so both his ward and his magicka were drained to a dangerously low level. Unfortunately, while Sabine's ice spear was certainly enough to break his ward entirely, it was not a sustained spell, so it did not harm him after the ward was broken like a stream of ice would have. Meesei often advised Sabine to reserve powerful, concentrated spells to either break a strong ward, or kill the opponent after a ward was broken. To use a powerful spell on a weakened ward was magically inefficient, but as Sabine was still learning, such mistakes could be expected.

Nevertheless, Sabine's opponent was no longer a magical threat, as he had been too drained in blocking her spell. But, he still had the ability and willingness to fight with his fists. He made another swing for her head, but it would be less of a surprise this time. Seeing as he was a Suthay-raht, he was larger than Sabine, but she was still a werewolf, and could still naturally outclass him physically.

The Cathay officer was certainly not expecting quick thinking and fast movements. All of Gallus' preparations with Ri'vashi meant that the officer did not have the kind of advantage he was expecting. He was far less maneuverable than Ri'vashi, and did not have near the reaction speed, so Gallus would find the Cathay easier than he had perhaps been expecting to outmaneuver. Training with Ri'vashi had allowed him to prepare against one of the most maneuverable Cathay warriors in Elsweyr, so most others would be slow by comparison. Gallus' plan worked exactly as he had expected, so he had a clear strike on his ribs, many of which broke from the impact.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Yeah, I'm having to catch up with a lot of stuff now that I'm home, so it might be a bit. Tomorrow will be much the same.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I've spent all of today moving, and filling out paperwork, but I'm home now. I'll be moving over the next few days. I'll try to get up a response soon.