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Post by iikagen on Feb 11, 2008 21:04:16 GMT -5
Iikagen managed to steady himself on an overhanging branch just in time to silence the noise made by his movements. From his vantage point he could make out the figure of the last remaining rider ermerging onto the trail with his mount. Like a moth to the flame he had zeroed in on his fallen comrade, who had made quite a racket in clanging his sword against his chestplate. Whatever that gesture might have meant, the Igni didn't care much.
Through the eyes of his Tengu mask, Iikagen watched the rider circle around the trail. It was obvious that the man suspected he was still in the area, but his gaze seemed to be sweeping every direction except the most important one. That direction, of course, being toward iikagen himself.
Still, there was a fair amount of distance between the rider and Iikagen's perch. He didn't seem to be moving any closer, and the force of the jump required to reach him would undoubtedly make some kind of appreciable noise. It was an unavoidable trade-off between attack range and stealth that Iikagen figured was worth the risk.
The moment that the ostrich-horse circled around past him once more, the Igni siezed his best opening. Hooking his fingers onto two branches ahead of him and taking one careful step to build momentum, the Igni hurled himself out of the tree. He descended towards the rider from the right and slightly behind him, shortspears gripped like daggers in a stabbing position. If the rustle of leaves wasn't enough warning, the unfortunate soldier would have a new pair of holes to breathe through in the sides of his neck.
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Post by erlang on Feb 11, 2008 22:01:41 GMT -5
Once again it was Erlang’s training the saved him from being skewered alive. He hadn’t heard the spirit leave the bough but he had felt and heard the breeze caused by the falling form. Instinct and experience took over before thought could be processed.
In a single move that could be missed by blinking Erlang gripped his spear and brought it above his head parallel to the ground. The movement occurred so fast the tendons in his wrist and arms popped. The shaft of spear absorbed the bird spirits impact. At the same time Erlang moved back slightly and the tips of the spirits odd weapons scraped against his breastplate. In a move with equal speed the spirits momentum carried it over Erlang and his mount.
“Eager to meet king Yama are you?!” he growled dropping the spear to his left hand he gripped the shaft of one of his javelins. Using his heels to make his mount turn slightly he sent the small spear hurtling directly at the point where the spirit stopped it’s roll.
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Post by iikagen on Feb 11, 2008 22:33:32 GMT -5
The fact that the man even managed to move in time was impressive enough, but Iikagen was convinced that it was sheer luck that had allowed the rider to actually deflect his strike. Both his wrists were stopped by the extended shaft of the man's weapon, and though his feet landed on the ostrich-horse's saddle he couldn't drop his weight enough to halt the forward momentum of his leap. Instead he was forced to push off with his feet into a forced jump over the rider's head.
Iikagen flailed his arms briefly as he was in the air, doing his best to give himself the proper amount of rotation to land. He struck the ground with his arms outstretched and his head ducked which sent him into a forward roll. On the first somersault he managed to plant his hands and twist, which turned his front rolls into backwards ones. After one more revolution he was able to sprawl his feet and stop himself from rolling any more.
He blinked twice rapidly to orient himself and peered through the darkness at his opponent. He had uttered something towards the end of the Igni's landing and was apparently pulling something from his saddle. Under the shadow of the tree it was hard to make out, but by his grip and posture it seemed like he was getting ready to throw a spear. Iikagen might have grinned at the unexpected surprise if he had the time, but instead he simply kicked off hard with his right foot and dove side-long toward the opposite edge of the trail. The javelin hit the dirt a heartbeat after he was gone from that spot, and he cartwheeled into a crouching position once more.
With his shoulders hunched and his knuckles planted on the ground in front of him, the Igni tilted his head to the side in a curious expression and rattled off clicking noise with his tongue.
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Post by erlang on Feb 11, 2008 23:18:30 GMT -5
The damned thing clicked at him.
Erlang did not rush forward immediately. Instead he slowly circled the spirit as it stared at him making clicking sounds. With the things squatting in the dirt it was hard to predict where it would go if he struck at it. After only a few feet he had formed in idea. Reaching behind him he made no hiding the fact that he was pulling a second javelin from the saddle, his finger slipped into the sling loop.
Lifting it slowly he reared back and threw it at the spirit. Before the shaft even left his hand he had driven his heels into his birds sides driving it forward. The bird drove forward without hesitation keeping its head low. Erlang expected the spirit to jump when dodging so lagging a fraction of a second behind the javelin he aimed as swing in an arc where he expected the thing to move.
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Post by tali on Feb 12, 2008 13:47:39 GMT -5
Tali had managed to throughly loose herself in the forest now, she sighed, after setting off the trap she thought it best to not stick around, least the person who set the trap show up. Not four minutes after wandering aimlessly through the forest she heard a faint clanking sound. Metal? in the middle of a forest? Something very weird was going on, she didn't have any idea what though. With curiosity once more stealing her sanity she quickly darted towards the sound. Her leg work was somewhat fast, her nerves getting to her more so than anything. She dodged roots and shrubbery that managed to get under foot, only faltering once for the entire length. She stopped when she saw a body on the ground. Her eyes grew wide and nervous, was he dead?
He moved a bit, not much, enough to show that it wasn't a corpse. Carefully the teen ventured to the mans side looking at him carefully, he seemed to be in pain.... what the hell had happened to him?, more importantly she realized he was bleeding. Not dead though, dying. Some what panicked she wished she'd have brought her pack with her, there wasn't much she could do. He muttered out something like poison, she wasn't really sure. She faltered, what could she possibly do to help? She should have paid more attention when her mother was attending to her own injuries, all the same she was too scared to touch him, it wasn't like she'd ever seen death before, and it was starring this man in the face.
The scene in the forest before her quickly caught her attention, the two men fighting, one was a soldier, she'd seen them at the inn just earlier today. The other, he, she couldn't believe it, a spirit? a demon? what was it? Shakily her attention darted back to the man, his breathing was raspy, she still had no clue what to do. His body convulsed and his stomach emptied it's self, startled the girl got to her feet and moved away from him. With a guilty mind and a bleeding heart she cursed herself, she called herself a warrior and a fighter, she was frightened of death blood and vomit, she couldn't even get enough of a grip to help him. Was she just stupid?
A frightened ostrich horse balked not to far away. Looking at the man quickly she made up her mind. Dashing over to the animal which nearly reared as she got close she extended her hand hesitantly. As it settled down she began rummaging through the pack for something, anything that might help. An old shirt, some rope, no medicine, there were some coins, she left that be, letters, a brush set, a container of what she thought was water, or a clear liquid of some sort. that wouldn't do much. Carrying the shirt the rope and one of the brushes she grabbed quickly she went back over to the man. If it was poison, she rationalized that the vomit was a good thing, get it out of her system... as sick as that seemed. Placing the paintbrush near his mouth timidly she told him to bite down.
Then her attention went to the wounds. Uncorking the bottle she poured it over the major cut, the way he winced and the smell of it didn't seem like water. It was alcohol. She gave him a look of sympathy, but over all it was better for the gash. Putting pressure on it through the shirt she nearly gagged herself when the blood began to soak through onto her hands. Closing her eyes tightly she pulled the shirt into long strips pushing them on to stop the bleeding. Her now bloody hands shaking she wrapped up the wound and tied the rope around it, she didn't know how much it would help at all. Hastily she poured the rest of the bottles contents into his mouth, she remembered being given hard liquor as a child when she broke her arm, it numbed the pain, hopefully it'd give him some peace.
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Post by iikagen on Feb 12, 2008 18:16:53 GMT -5
Iikagen stared the warrior down until at last the warrior decided to do something. As the rider reach for another javelin, Iikagen flexed his grip on his spears and prepared to explode into motion. The instant his opponent made a move to throw he was already pushing up and stepping to the side. The projectile was a little off target in the direction he was moving, which put its tip in line with him despite the move. However, as he straightened up he swiped both shortspears across his body and managed to deflect the javelin just enough to avoid being struck.
The Igni took one more step to steady himself, and then turned his focus to the rapidly charging ostrich-horse. There was relatively dense shrubbery right to his back, and running in either direction seemed like an invitation for a chase. Instead of buying into what he suspected to be his opponent's strength (which was a guess considering cavalry was non-existant on the Ingi Islands), Iikagen simply held his ground. With just a few yards separating him and the rider, Iikagen suddenly juked to his left and toward the weapon-side of his opponent before reversing momentum and shooting diagonally to his right.
The Igni ducked into his next step and the exploded upward as the ostrich-horse reached him. He avoided the beast's beak by inches and wrapped his arms up and around its long neck, simultaneously throwing his legs up to the opposite side of the rider's spear. Leaning back and hoisting up as much as he could, iikagen was nearly upside down with his legs in the air, as he began to rapidly throw several powerul kicks at the rider's head.
The ostrich-horse seemed none too happy with his presence there, though, but Iikagen wasn't planning on holding that position for more than a few seconds. Just long enough to give his opponent some fresh bruises.
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Post by erlang on Feb 13, 2008 1:18:18 GMT -5
Erlang grunted with the kicks. Though his mempo helped absorb some of the blows, it wasn’t enough to stop them from hurting like hell. During one of the kicks Erlang took the blow in order to grip the spirits leg. Simultaneously he dug his heels into the ostrich horses flanks causing it to shoot forward through the brush.
Using his thumb to hold his spear awkwardly he grips the sarong at the spirits waist. With a slight heft he jerked the spirit closer, and released the leg now that it was too close to be a large threat. He grips the sarong and the edge of the spirits lower garments with both hands. Directing Kweh with the pressure from his feet he steers it to his right. Before the spirit could react he tore it from it grip on his now very annoyed bird, the momentum of the movement caused the spirit to hang in the air with its legs over his shoulders.
Erlang saw a tree coming up close and swung the spirits bulk at it in a diagonal motion and releasing just before passing the tree. Though he didn’t see the impact he could certainly hear it.
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Post by tali on Feb 13, 2008 15:04:54 GMT -5
Her attention went to the fighting, she ducked down and stayed quiet, behind her the man laid where she found him. Suddenly she noticed he stopped groaning in pain. Silently her eyes fluttered back to him, his eyes were wide, he wasn't moving. Curiously she took a better look, whispering to him " Hey.. are you al-...." Her voice broke off as she noticed his eyes had no pupils, well, rather they were at the top of the eyes. Brown eyes widened and she could literally feel her heart stop. The wounds from his leg was still bleeding, it had completely soaked through the makeshift bandages and began to mix with the dirt, the red substance moving outward. His skin appeared to be more pale then it was a second ago.
Tali quivered denial spreading through her mind and body, soon it was shocked with realization and then fear, mixed soon with horror and disgust. Her lips parted slightly, her mind quickly looking for something to say, an image to block out the scene in front of her, anything really. Her quivering gaze moved shakily to her hands covered in blood. Then down to the blood steadily moving towards her. With all the grace of a foaling and speed of a hawk she stood up quickly moving away from the body and the blood pushing herself back against a tree.
Now she couldn't tear her gaze from the body, a second ago he was alive now... now he wasn't Her eyes pricked with tears and her heart raced, she couldn't find an excuse or an explanation for it, was he the good guy? the bad guy? Did it even matter at this point? All her life things were neatly drawn out, settled into two categories, good and bad, people were one of the two, the good ones succeeded, the bad ones died, well not died, were defeated. To some extent she was the heroine of her own story, she was good of course, her journey would be exciting, she'd help people and in the end everything would be fine. But this person died on her, sure she wasn't the one that stabbed him, but she let him die.
While she was right next to him this man she didn't even know died, she'd never felt so scared in her life.
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Post by iikagen on Feb 13, 2008 23:15:36 GMT -5
Iikagen grinned as he felt one or two of the kicks land solidly, but as he tried to swing back down he realized that his legs were trapped. He tried to wriggle them free, but the rider was holding strong and all of the sudden his ostrich-horse was starting to run. The mount tore through the brush alongside the trail, dragging scraping branches across the Igni's exposed back and leaving a few shallow scratches. Once past that and into the less cluttered woods, Iikagen managed to regain some of his bearings despite the bouncing of the ostrich-horse.
With no small amount of trust in the rider's strength, the trapped Igni released his hold on the ostrich-horse's neck and swung out wide. The rider was conveniently trying to pull him up onto the saddle which kept him from a rather nasty fall. But as his opponent tried to reel him in, Iikagen hooked a speartip under the large strap of the saddle and used the other to make a jab at the mount's leg. The jarring movement's of the creature's running shook the blade loose after a step or two, and the rider's insistent tugging pulled him up against his will. However, as one final parting gesture, the igni slit the saddle's strap almost clean through.
Being hoisted up over the man's shoulder was an awkward experience, and if it weren't for the fact that his mask had slid slightly on his face, putting the eyeholes out of allignment, Iikagen might have simply stabbed him repeatedly with his spears. However, in the split second it took him to push his mask back into place, the rider had already given him a great shove into the air and the Igni found himself tumbling rather ungracefully toward the trunk of a passing tree.
There wasn't much to do but brace for impact.
Iikagen's legs hit first, absorbing a good deal of the shock with his feet before they folded up under him and his tailbone smashed against the bark. And due to the angle at which he hit the tree, he found himself starting to rotate off the impact as he ricocheted further to the side and hit the ground in a barely-controlled tumble. After one or two somersaults he finally came to a stop and lay motionless on his back.
For a second he said nothing and merely stared at the sky, until at last he quietly grumbled, "....My ass hurts..."
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Post by erlang on Feb 16, 2008 1:07:16 GMT -5
Erlang slowed to a stop and backed up. Rubbing his jaw he slipped a foot from its stirrup and swung himself off the ostrich horses back and onto the dirt. He was gritting his teeth but when he turned to look at the downed spirit his face was a cold mask except for the gleam in his eyes that would unnerve lesser men. Unfortunately this was lost on the spirit.
Without slowing he reached to the side of his saddle and gripped the worn leather wrapped hilt of his saber. When pulled from it’s sheath it didn’t make the tell tale sound of metal against metal, the saber sheath was make of cloth and leather to reduce sound. Holding the well worn but still razor sharp blade he walked to the spirit who he than heard say something.
Closing the distance in less than ten steps he jammed the but of his spear into the dirt. Having no sense for drama he simply drew the blade back and swung down at the spirits neck.
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Post by iikagen on Feb 17, 2008 0:37:48 GMT -5
Despite the rather numbing pain that was shooting up the base of Iikagen's spine, the Igni was well aware of his surroundings. He could hear the ostrich-horse pulling to a stop along with the sound of feet hitting the dirt a second or two later. Glancing over toward the rider who was dismounting from his saddle, he wondered if the man had lost his senses. Why was he giving up the advantage of his steed and drawing out a sword? UNless...
His smirk was hidden by the mask. The man apparently assumed Iikagen's impact had left him helpless, but despite a literal pain in the ass the Igni was far from out of commission. Still, with his spears in hand he decided to lay back just for a moment to let the fly walk itself into his web.
The rider was approaching from the Igni's left, and even without having to look he could guess rightfully just as he was approaching striking distance. Rolling toward his foe, Iikagen pelted the shortspear in his right hand at the man's torso and throat. He knew the man's armor was substantial enough that all but a lucky throw would deal a fatal blow, but still, a spear coming at one's face is usually enough to force a reaction.
In the same twist that brought his throw to bear, Iikagen also planted his weight on his left hand and threw his right leg toward the rider's groin. He anticipated the man lifting his arms to try and stop the spear, which would hopefully open up that sensitive target for a well-placed roundhouse from the ground.
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Post by erlang on Feb 17, 2008 22:28:12 GMT -5
In the darkness that most couldn’t see their hand in front of their faces a brief spark of light flashed. At the same time the spirits kicks impacted Erlang in the upper thighs. Though much of the impact was absorbed by the mountain chain mail on his legs his groin still took an impact. Erlang let out a rasped groan. The jar of the dodge and the kicks impact caused him to drop his saber. In the moments before the pain came over him he drove the toe of his boot into the spirits gut and began to back up.
He stumbled back a few steps, the pain didn’t take him down but it caused his vision to blur. After a stumbling back a few feet he felt the familiar cold iron of his spear. Unwilling to give the spirit an opening he gripped the shaft and whirled it in front of him, holding it in a manner intended for defense he let a another rasped break out.
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Post by tali on Feb 18, 2008 10:59:32 GMT -5
She was growing increasingly paranoid, her eyes surveyed the area, encase there was something out there to get her. Adrenaline rushed to her head and made her feel all but numb, why wouldn't the body just go away!? Her eyes still stared at the lifeless corpse petrified, her hands gripped into the bark for something stable to hold onto. All of this couldn't have taken place in less than a few seconds though her mind stretched it out to be so. Her eyes were welling with tears that fell down her face in nearly straight streams unchecked by an arm or a sniffle. Her face had turned an unusual white. blanched from the gruesome tale and she did what any girl who's even been scared did, or at least wanted to,she shrieked.
Now he legs felt like jelly and her head felt odd, she'd never passed out before, not from blood loose of injury. Hell she'd nearly broken every bone in her body at some point or another, stills he'd never fainted, and yet her head suddenly felt like it was swimming. Her hands shakily let go of the bark and her entire body wobbled to and fro before she landed rather ungracefully into the grass adjacent to the tree. It would be a bit before she got up, hopefully her mind would blank out the event and spare her inner turmoil, for now the dreamless black expance was comforting.
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Post by iikagen on Feb 19, 2008 17:18:43 GMT -5
After feeling the impact with his foot, Iikagen could tell his opponent wouldn't be feeling too good. The Igni quickly recoiled his foot and stayed in a crouch with his remaining spear held defensivley in front of him. The rider managed to throw a parting kick before he started retreating, and in the darkness Iikagen simply braced his arms in front of him. His forearms stole most of the bite from the blow, but the tip of the boot contacted his chest enough to leave a future bruise.
Iikagen hopped back after his opponent disengaged and immediately began fishing a hand into his pocket. After a second or two of searching he pulled out his remaining three darts, each laced with a conciderable amount of nauseating toxins, as well as his blowgun. He positioned them between the fingers on his left hand with the tips pointing away from his fist and clamped the blowgun between his teeth Iikagen could make out the form of his opponent retrieving his spear from a good distance away. Apparently he'd dropped his sword in favor of the pole-arm. The sword was laying just a few feet away, and after a cursory inspection, the Igni spotted his second shortspear near the edge of the underbrush.
Those weapons could come in useful later...
But as for now, Iikagen decided to press the attack while the rider was still feeling the effects of that low blow. He darted diagonally toward him, swinging around between the trees before cutting back in and making a run at the soldier.
As he closed in just outside of striking distance of the spear, he blew out a hard puff of air from the blowgun in order to draw a defensive reaction and prepared to slip past his guard.
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Post by erlang on Feb 22, 2008 18:46:01 GMT -5
There was no defensive reaction. Though he had heard of them, in his time with the cavalry he had never encountered a blowgun. Thinking the puff of air to just be some spirit posturing Erlang shifted his right foot behind him. The hand at the lower end of his spear moved back till level with his head. His left hand slid towards the blade and allowed it to rest in the crook of his thumb.
Letting out a slow breath he let his eyes become unfocused. Without looking directly at the spirit he allowed his peripheral vision to take over as it was far better at reacting to movement. In the cavalry it was called ‘staring at no-thing’ he didn‘t know what other elite referred to it as.
When the spirit moved he was able to react immediately, while stepping forward the hand at the back of the spear shot forward sending the point towards the spirits leg before reversing direction and arcking towards its throat.
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