Reever Wilderness, near the Escain border
The forest was silent. A stillness had fallen over the evening vista, a cool breeze blowing through the forest. Not even a single owl was out doing its nightly hunting. It was odd, though not unnatural. Like the stillness one felt as one was stalking a prey, the moment before the kill. The only sign of immediate life was a brave little rabbit, poking its head through the underbrush as it looked for a safe place to rest.
A massive, leonine roar pierced the stillness, flocks of birds flying off in random directions. The stillness was finally broken, a beast awoken from its slumber. Sounds of combat followed, a shout from a human matching the roar of the beast. A human had been knocked to his back, the massive Manticore lumbering over him, nearly crushing him with its weight alone.
"Fool, if you're going to get in my way just stay out of it!" A second human shouted, entering the fray, leaping to the other humans defense. Her rapier thrust forwards, but before it could sink into the beasts flesh, it leaped backwards, leaving just a shallow cut.
"Hmph!" Following through, Sav flowed through the motion, the Manticore raising a hand to strike instead roared in pain, Sav's rapier having impaled it thoroughly.
"Weak." She pulled out the rapier, quickly following through by cutting right through the monsters eye. Flailing, the creature attempted to gain some sort of traction fighting the human, but it failed miserably. By the time it realized he had missed his strikes entirely, Sav had already acrobatically leaped, flipping once in the air, her rapier impaling itself right between the creatures eyes.
At least, that was the intent.
Right then and there, was when the world decided to return her true identity in full. Her attack slowed, missing the timing of her attack and giving the Manticores powerful claws time enough to slam right into her side, sending her flying into the ground. It quickly followed up, scooping her torso up in its mouth, clamping its jaws.
"Grah!" Sav shouted, the teeth sinking into her flesh.
"Sav!" The other knight managed to finally recollect his wits, picking up his spear and charging the beast. Turning, the Manticore whipped around its tail, trying to impale the knight on his stinger. Showing some skill, the Knight struck upwards, slicing the tail cleanly in half. Following through, he slammed the butt of the spear right into the Manticores face, causing it to recoil in pain and drop Sav from its jaw.
"Urgh," Falling face first on the ground, Sav growled. Pushing herself up, not seeming to mind the wounds, she swiftly moved in.
"This. Was. My Favorite. Dress." Ignoring her wounds, and the suddenly new information directly implanted into her brain, she struck at the beast. Ducking under its flailing claws, she jumped, impaling her Rapier right in to the Manticores chest cavity. "
White."
In that instance, a bright flash filled the evening forest, the knight having to shield his own eyes as an impossibly bright flash of light, but it was over in an instant. The Manticore's body convulsed, having been seemingly burnt from the inside by some force. Kicking off of its body, Sav flipped, landing acrobatically on one foot, flourishing her rapier as it fell backwards.
"Hmph. Pathetic beast ruined my dress."
"I don't know how you do it." Sitting at a table in a well off inn, he rubbed his head in a tired manner. "You took care of that thing like it was nothing."
"Of course." Sav seemingly absentmindedly replied, staring at her teacup.
"A Manticore! You killed something that would have decimated less skilled people in a matter of seconds, in a matter of seconds!"
"Indeed I did.""You also completely tore your dress, too."
"It was a nice dress, too.""And some people pay attention with other people are talking to them."
"Well," Blinking, seemingly pulling herself out of her thoughts, Sav sighed.
"I apologize for not responding to the buzzing of a bee-""Oh, I'm a bee now instead of a fly. I'll take the upgrade." Narrowing her eyes at him as he interrupted her, he quickly continued. "Something on your mind? You don't normally get distracted like this. Not to mention what happened in the fight. You're usually not that careless. Unless you've been drinking." Frowning, Sav took a moment to collect her thoughts. Hum, this was harder than she thought it would. She and Iska had been traveling for almost two years now, having decided to team up and exterminate monsters for fame and glory together. It was a good idea to start with. Initially she had made a bit of a name for herself in certain circles, and made quite a bit of a splash, but...recently things had gotten stale, and after last night...she was certain on her course of action.
"...I'm leaving." She said bluntly, taking a sip.
"...is this about me seeing your underwear that one time?"
"I-I thought I told you not to bring that up ever again!?" She replied, nearly choking on her tea.
"You did, but I'm not good at following directions you know."
"No, 'tis not about that." She replied further, setting her tea down and quickly changing the subject.
"Rather...I simply feel as though it is for the best. You're dragging me down." Iska blinked, surprised at the news.
"Not that you aren't skilled. No, you quite are for a human." She always did that, calling others 'humans' in a way that she thought less of them.
"But I need...more." And if she was quite honest, he would only hurt himself if he continued to follow her.
"...right." Iska sighed, folding his arms against his chest. "You still looking for that glory and fame of yours, eh?"
"You should have expected this would come at some point.""When are you going?"
"As soon as I'm done with this tea."Present Day -
Bartla, Capital of Reever, Tellurian
@Salvia
Iska was more than a little upset with her leaving, even if he wasn't too outward about it. Well good, at least he knew his place in the grand scheme of things. What happened the night with the Manticore was something she had initially been rather irritable about since it made her look bad, but no, this was a grand opportunity. Such a wonderful, once in a millennia opportunity. To say she wasn't looking forward to this supposed invasion, was an understatement. This was the best opportunity she could ask for. A chance to become renowned. A chance to carve her name in the history books.
Now...where to go? She had only been to Bartla a few times in her travels outside of Escain, so she only knew her way around the main parts of the city. Hmm...really, what would she be doing here in the first place? She only had a vague idea that she should try meeting up with the others, but to be quite honest she had no real desire too. Likely some of the virtues were there and she had no desire to put up with their likely to be uptight attitudes. Not that the other Sins would be much better.
Really, she could handle this entire plight herself. Hmph. Well, as long as she instated herself as the clear leader in this endeavor, it shouldn't matter.
Soon enough this mental link, this...pull towards the others made her reach her destination. A rather lively looking bar. Eugh. What were they doing in such a place? She'd prefer upscale clubs over this any day. Ah, she missed the lodgings and lavish quarters she had in Escain more and more already. Well, best get this over with...and they were having a special today. It was going to be crowded with lowlifes of every sort, then. Ugh. The woes of the perfect people, having to intermingle with these mongrels.
Walking into the bar, Sav ignored almost everyone else and walked up to the counter, speaking directly with the bartender.
"Perchance you have some high quality wine?"
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