Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"How did he do that!?" Fendros exclaimed with a hand at his forehead.

Janius didn't have an answer, he didn't have any words at all. He began to bite on a joint on his forefinger nervously. This monk, Ra'kalesh, there didn't seem to be a clear counter to him. Every approach Kaleeth had was failing. Still, Janius knew that Kaleeth wasn't going to lose by a grappled submission, not with her strength advantage. That would mean that Ra'kalesh would keep beating her until she gave up. Given how furiously she fought, that might take too long. Janius kept watching, but was wary of Kaleeth's limits. If it seemed she was getting nowhere but more pain, he would call out to suggest that she yield. Too much pain and anger would make it difficult to hold back her beast form. The best Janius could hope for was for Kaleeth to come up with a more creative approach than he could ever think of.

Though a day or two later than he intended to leave it, Gallus finished his bland lunch and went to look for Ahnasha. He tried the top deck at first and was surprised to not find her with Fendros, but that meant she was probably watching the children. Gallus proceeded below deck and gave an amused look at the youths sprawled about in various effects. The smell and the idle empty bottle was clue enough to their activity. Tzirret was snoring loudly through his nose and had a leg hanging out of his hammock, Ciinriel had given up on the hammock and was sleeping on the floor below it, and Peiter and Sabine were far from sleeping by the looks.

After just being in the sun, Gallus couldn't see much deeper into the dark room. "Ahnasha, are you here?" He asked. If she wasn't around, he would look around further until he found her.

Sabine had her eyes closed and was blissfully enjoying Peiter's kiss and embrace when she heard Gallus' voice. Her eyes shot open and she tapped Peiter to bring his attention to it. The embarrassment only turned into more drunken laughter, however.

The Jade Stream

"I suppose so," Kyang said, a little less brash about her approach. That name was even more familiar. Who was this woman? "Waitress?" Kyang clicked her fingers in the air, "A bowl of what she's had, please!"

"So, Torako...dono?" Kyang began, not certain if she should be using that Rikoku honorific, "You're a traveller as well, huh? I was intending to stay here and look for a job. I can read and write in just about all the alphabets, you wouldn't happen to know anyone...?" Kyang trailed off, but before an answer could be provided, a boy sat down across from them both. He looked closer to Kyang's age than Torako's.

"Oh, no problem," Kyang responded, feeling a little chirpier. A local guy was much more likely to know where to go than a tourist. "Do the people around here not see many strangers? I've not felt this watched since the last time I was examined in a tea ceremony." Kyang finally put her helmet on the table and leaned on her elbows. "You a celebrity or something, Torako? Er, dono?" Hopefully this would provide the missing piece in Kyang's mind.

It was then that Kyang heard some excited shouting outside. She twisted to the door to listen. Something about a challenge against the school. Even Kyang knew enough about Mingdu to know what that meant. "Someone's asking for a hiding," she commented.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It's looking like I'm going to have a few things to do today. Posts may be slow.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

When Ciinriel fell out of her hammock in the process of trying to get into it, Sabine craned her neck to see if she was alright at first. With her comment, it sounded like Ciinriel was okay, causing Sabine to begin giggling involuntarily at the event, joining in Peiter's mirth.

When her laughing died down, Sabine still wore a wide smile as her eyes found Peiter's. She shifted so that she could get her arms free and wrap them around Peiter as he had done around her. "...Hello," she murmured, her face still red from intoxication.

Before today, Janius had not seen a proper hand-to-hand martial artist in action. Everyone else was brawlers. All the sailors, Kaleeth as well, they were brawlers. This Khajiit was something entirely different. He moved like water, but never fell. Savage blows were rendered harmless towards him. Janius had thought that Kaleeth would have at least landed a few blows on Ra'kalesh, but he was making her look like a child. Janius was actually stunned to silence by Ra'kalesh's movements.

For lack of any better advice, Janius called out, "Balance, Kaleeth! This one is like a swordsman!"

The Jade Stream

My vote is Five Wheel Striking Style. Makes it sound tantric and technical :P

The Jade Stream

"Mingdu, after all this time..." Her glaive over one shouder and her helmet under her other arm, Kyang took in a deep breath of the fresh, summer air from underneath the town gate. This place looked less like a city than she thought it would; relatively quiet, surrounded by ponderous grey mountains, dryer than up north, sparse. In a word, peaceful.

Townsfolk wandered in and out around her, but unlike most isolated settlements she had stopped at, they gave her and her Daeyang-Gug style guard uniform no heed. However small this place was, it was a crossroads for all kinds of people. With all the fame that flows through the place, it would be perfect to blend in and hide away from her family.

The next phase in Kyang's plan was in action as she began walking forward, spying the various signs down the main street. She had no idea where the prefect or the mayor or whoever the head person in the town would be, but she surmised that would be the person to talk to about a desk job. Instead of finding anything resembling a governmental building, she spotted - or rather smelled - something that gave her an idea. Two ideas, in fact. It was a restaurant, the perfect place to ask the locals for information and to fill her road-weary stomach. The excuse to ask for directions was the perfect reassurance that she wasn't purely getting sidetracked by her hunger.

There were two major features of the restaurant that caught Kyang's attention immediately as she walked inside. The first was how hushed and whispered everyone's voices were. There had to be some reason, but Kyang couldn't quite put her finger on it. The second was the brightly dressed, pink-haired young woman sitting alone, save for next to a sword made in Rikoku, at least as the shape suggested. Well, everything about her screamed Rikoku, except for the way she was slurping down soup at an inhuman rate.

Kyang stepped up to the woman without a hint of recognition, despite the fact that everyone else in the place was clued in. "Hey there. This seat taken?" Kyang didn't wait for an answer before she leaned her weapon against the table and sat herself down, "You seem to be the only one doing any talking in this place. How's the soup here?" Realising herself, Kyang straightened up and extended a hand, "Oh, my name's Kyang. I'm new in town. What's your name?"

A sideways glance at the onlookers connected the dots in Kyang's mind. This woman they had been steering clear of this entire time was probably the reason they were being so quiet. In fact, this woman had a worded description that seemed familiar. It was strange, Kyang would normally be able to recognise such things in dangerous situations.

The Jade Stream

Ah, we've finally begun! I'm spoilt for choice on which character to interact with, hmm....

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine didn't believe a word from Peiter, and it showed on her own smile before he suddenly jolted onto her. She brought up her arms reflexively, trapping her hands between herself and Peiter's collarbone, but soon enough was laughing along with Ciinriel. Sabine hadn't even stopped laughing before she brought her head forward and gave Peiter a quick kiss on the nose. She probably would have kissed him properly had she not wanted to leave Ciinriel awkwardly sitting around.

Although, the thought gave Sabine an idea. She craned her head to the still prone young Wood Elf and spoke in a jokingly chiding tone for kicking Peiter, "Ciinriel, do you need to be carried to your hammock as well?"

Not knowing how Ra'kalesh fought, Janius couldn't rightly give much advice to Kaleeth. It was just as well that he couldn't make another bet, as this time his confidence in Kaleeth's victory was not as certain. He just stood up with her and gave her hand a squeeze as she walked off. "Good luck, love," he said, still with a smile.

With the fight set up, Janius joined Colours and Fendros by the ring again. Kaleeth might not win this time, but whatever humbles her would be an impressive sight regardless. Janius only hoped that Kaleeth's beast-spirit-exacerbated temper would not flare if she did not do well.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As Sabine slid to the floor up against Peiter, she felt as if there was no reason to be anything but honest to Ciinriel. "Only two days," she answered plainly, before looking up at Peiter's face, "But I think it began before then." Sabine closed her eyes and took a deep breath in through her nose, "Peiter was nervous." She began to laugh breathlessly, "You still are nervous, sometimes, Peiter."

Janius grinned knowingly, "You've found a competitive spirit in you." He gave a chuckle, "Now you know how Lorag, Ahnasha, and Fendros get motivated to train." Janius' grin lowered to a smaller smile, "That said, these are just sailors. Ra'kalesh looks to be a very experienced fighter; he'll be stronger and likely know how to use your strength against you. How do you think you'll handle him?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Between heavy breathing over the edge, Tzirret spoke roughly, "This one should not have had that last drink..." Tzirret then flailed behind himself with one hand to try and swat away whatever was holding onto his tail, but he was not even close to reaching Peiter. Without any coordination, he kicked with one leg and ended up pushing Peiter away and himself nearly over the edge. Sabine caught Tzirret's shirt, but not before the slack on his tail tightened and sent a shock up his spine. He yelped and scrambled back onto the deck properly, turning and revealing a tear-strewn, exhausted face with some remaining flecks of vomit clinging around his mouth and under his nose. He started to slide his back down against a crate onto the floor, but Sabine caught him under the shoulder.

"Let's take you to your hammock, Tzirret," Sabine said, still slurring with her drunkenness, but sounding matronly enough for Tzirret to comply. With Peiter's help, Sabine and Tzirret helped each other for support so they wouldn't fall down the stairs, and they raised Tzirret into his hammock where he promptly fell asleep, snoring loudly. With that done, Sabine put her arm around Peiter and turned around to Ciinriel. "How are you? Do you need to vomit?" Sabine was too drunk to be subtle.

Now a little more interested in the fights, Fendros stayed with Colours to watch the next one. Janius sat down next to Kaleeth, still smiling from the show she put on. "In an arena?" He asked, looking at her with a raised eyebrow, "They had little competitions like this in the fighters guild, but that had different rules - no, more rules, rather. We fought with practice weapons as well as bare knuckle." Janius laughed through his nose quietly, his mood was lifted by Kaleeth's smiles, "It seems like you're enjoying yourself. How is it different to what you expected?"