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Post by JezusBagels on Nov 29, 2009 16:00:19 GMT -5
Monkuta took a bit longer to regain his footing, having taken a rather nasty fall when a teenage girl flew head first into his stomach not a full minute earlier. He followed behind Marina as she ran for the entrance that he'd come through before. No good. That girl was in the way. Thankfully, his apprentice had the right idea. He watched her turn and move for another way out.
He faced the girl with the sword and, only after planting one hand firmly on his throwing knife, backed away from her in the direction he'd seen Marina go.
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Post by ivory on Nov 30, 2009 19:55:33 GMT -5
Kieren's eyes gleamed in wickedness as she spotted the other two people in the arena. A snarl etched itself onto her lips as she deliberately followed suit. She didn't run, simply walked like a stalking predator, taking one confident step at a time. She wasn't worried about them escaping, knowing full well that the gate would slam shut to keep them from leaving. And so it did, sliding down with a solemn oath, shaking the ground on impact. Kieren's snarl widened a second before she dashed foward in an attempt to slice open the man's chest. ~ * ~ Marina skidded to a halt in front of the gate and gripped two of its bars in her hands, shaking them wildy in an attempt to free them, but with no such luck. She whirled around, eyes seeking another possible exit, but the seats were too high for her to climb over the wall and into the crowd and the only other exit was blocked by the crazy psycho. Damn, she wanted a weapon. Her eyes went automatically to the man downed, wondering if she had time to grab his sword...not like she actually knew how to use it, but it'd be nice to at least have. Eyes on the snarling woman, she began to slowly inch toward it, hoping she didn't seem like much of a threat. And as their opponent charged Monkuta, so Marina up and left him to charge toward the sword, hoping he'd be able to hold Kieren off long enough for her [Marina] to arm herself.
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Post by JezusBagels on Nov 30, 2009 21:22:08 GMT -5
Monkuta didn't need any more provocation. Using more instinct than thought to guide the motion, he drew and sequentially cast his throwing knife at the little monster. He simultaneously drew his saxe knife, readying himself for a fight. Out of the corner of his vision, he spied Marina running towards the fighter's corpse. Going for the sword, no doubt. Good instinct, but there would be time for praise later.
He returned his focus to the little girl hell-bent on killing him.
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Post by ivory on Dec 1, 2009 15:13:01 GMT -5
Kieren actually let out a growl as the knife slashed into the fleshy part of her shoulder. She'd hardly seen it arc through the air, but had instinctively pivoted to the left enough so that it'd miss anything major. Melody seemed to be screaming inside her, but she easily ignored the girl, too used to it to be annoyed.
A snarl settled back on her lips as she took a more cautious approach at the man now armed with a saxe knife. Clearly, he knew how to use it, but she doubted that it'd stand up to her sword. She lunged foward, point leading for a clear, simply jab to his chest.
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Post by Brandwyn on Dec 2, 2009 15:10:35 GMT -5
The barkeep didn’t give Lea much of a breather as he flung the table between them to one side and ignored it’s smashing against the wall. He lunged forward and thrust the sword point straight at her heart, intending to skewer her and end the fight quickly, rather than try to take her prisoner.
At least that is what Lea thought. Little did she know that he was only trying to scare her to cause her to make a mistake. She reacted instinctively as she had learned to do during the grueling training in the SWC. The knife in her hand, though too long for a proper throwing dagger, arced across the short distance, flashing lamplight along it’s elegant side as it flew tip over hilt and buried itself deep into the barkeeper’s chest, nearly up to the hilt.
The barkeeper looked down in surprise as blood bubbled up through his lips and his sword clattered to the floor. Lea stepped forward, snatching the knife out of his chest as he grabbed for her with his last feeble attempt to kill her. She jumped backwards then out of his reach as he fell to the floor and didn’t move, his eyes staring unseeing at the wall.
Lea looked at the corpse as she absentmindedly wiped the blood off the blade on her tunic hem. “Damn! I wasn’t planning on killing him.” She muttered to herself, then remembered the giant. She wasn’t out of danger yet. She edged backward toward the door, unsure if he was going to let her go or not. She looked up into his eyes and said, “Sorry about that. I hope he wasn’t a good friend of yours.”
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Post by JezusBagels on Dec 2, 2009 23:19:47 GMT -5
Monkuta knew that this girl was strong. She had a blade in her shoulder and still managed to run at him with a sword. That took some chutzpa. He had to get his throwing knife back. Wielding only the saxe knife, Monkuta supposed that he could, if nothing else, temporarily disable this weird little creature, but now wasn't a time to be taking chances.
He waited for as long as his own feeling of self-preservation would allow and then raised his knife to deflect the girl's sword, almost simultaneously reaching out with his free hand and yanking his throwing knife from her shoulder. Then without waiting for her to get a chance to retaliate, he raised his left leg and shot it forward, hoping to send a good kick into her a face; an easy target due to their height difference. __________________________________________
Wesley grinned, unmoving from his seat by the fire. He watched the woman back away towards the door and said, "No harm. There are many inns here. All of them have chairs and fireplaces and ale. And someone will take his place. They always do." He stood and lifted his axe, carrying it with him as he walked across the room so that he could talk to her without yelling across the room. It seemed polite, he thought, and as he grew closer to her, he said--without any change in volume--"You have won. This is good. It means you are not dead. What will you do now?"
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Post by ivory on Dec 9, 2009 13:39:16 GMT -5
Marina wrinkled her nose at the dead body before reaching down to take his sword. It was a lot heavier than she expected, but she was able to lift it high enough so it wouldn't drag in the dirt. She was a lot stronger than when she first began her apprenticeship, but the last few days had drained a lot out of her. She moved to head back over to the two in an attempt to help Monkuta, but in her haste, she'd forgotten about the dead body and tripped over it, the sword flying out of her hands. She instinctively moved to catch herself and yelped when her hand slipped in blood, sending her crashing to the ground. ~ * ~ Kieren howled as the knife was jerked out of her flesh, sending ripples of pain shooting through her body. Tears watered her eyes and she almost missed the quick snap of her opponent's leg. She attempted a wild jump backwards and thus missed the force of the blow though he'd still managed to graze her. Blood was running down her nose as she once again darted foward, directly into the path of a flying sword. It pierced her side, but she managed to deflect it before it could do any massive damage. And in her attempt to save herself, she'd left her other side largly unguarded.
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Post by Brandwyn on Dec 10, 2009 22:17:30 GMT -5
--"You have won. This is good. It means you are not dead. What will you do now?"
Lea stopped moving toward the door and smiled at Wesley, though she didn't really let her guard down.
"Oh, I don't know... I need to find my friend actually..." She wasn't sure how much to tell this man, but perhaps he had some clue where to find the girl. "at some point, but I suppose there is no hurry."
She would have felt a bit more comfortable talking to him if he put that humongous axe down. She tried to appear at ease and turned on the charm.
"Of course I promised I would let you go back to sleep, once the fight was over, so I should probably leave and let you continue your nap." She stood her ground though, letting him make the move as to if he wanted her to go or stay. Or if he was going to try to capture her himself. She wouldn't go without a fight. It was doubtful as to the outcome of a fight with him though, so she would prefer to avoid it.
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Post by JezusBagels on Dec 12, 2009 0:04:56 GMT -5
Wesley nodded. "I am tired," he said in a low rumble. "Go find your mate. I will sleep."
He didn't wait for an answer. He simply turned around, walked back to the fire, dropped into the giant armchair and awaited sleep's sweet embrace. He knew he would likely be blamed for the bartenders death, but Wesley didn't really care. It wasn't like it would be the first time. ___________________
Monkuta saw his window like the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. As quickly as his body would allow, he flipped his grip on his saxe knife and lunged forward, connecting the base of the hilt with the girl's head with all of his strength.
If this doesn't knock her out... he thought in despair. He knew that the only way to stop the little creep would be to knock her out or kill her. He would try to avoid the latter. She was a little death-machine, without a doubt, but she was still a little girl. The thought sent shivers down his spine.
And for the first time, a thought occurred to him... Who had done this to her?
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Post by Brandwyn on Dec 12, 2009 20:15:32 GMT -5
Lea nodded, and sighed to herself. She had been hoping that he would want her stay so she could pump him for information, but having just got an indication about what it was like to anger the giant, she knew she had better just leave him alone at this point.
Besides, maybe Monkuta was having better luck. She gathered her weapons and saluted the giant. "Another time perhaps, big guy!" She smiled her quirky, lopsided smile and flitted out of the tavern, hoping he wouldn't get blamed for her mess. Well, if he did, and she found out about it, she would correct it, until then there wasn't much she could do.
Apparently the fight hadn't attracted any attention. She noticed a bar fight involving nearly a dozen people down the street and understood why. Apparently it was a very common occurance in a city made up largely of warriors, bandits, slavers and low-lifes.
She followed the street until she heard a crowd cheering. Following the sound she finally made it to the arean and managed to make it to the stands, after paying admission of course. The thought of people fighting for sport and dying for the sport of others sickened her. She didn't want to even look into the arena. She scanned the crowd in the stands, but didn't see Monkuta or his apprentice there.
"Use your brain, Lea" she mumbled to herself. The girl would likely have been taken to the slave auctions. Surely they wouldn't put her in with the gladiators. She heard a howl from the arena that sounded like it came from a female and forced herself to look at the drama unfolding below her.
She did a doubletake as she noticed Monkuta in the arena trying to knock out a woman with the butt of his knife. Then she saw the girl struggling with a sword near a dead man.
"Oh great!" Lea muttered, wondering just how she'd gotten into this mess. She looked around and noticed a man standing out from the crowd. Everyone seemed to defer to him. She made a note of his features, figuring he was one of the operators of this place. She patted a man standing next to her on the shoulder, "Excuse me sir, can you tell me who that man is?"
The man glanced at where she was pointing and then looked back at her in surprise. "Why that's Rikan. He runs the place. Everyone knows that!" He looked at her suspicously.
"I am new here. Just got here a couple of hours ago, in fact. Maid servant to a minor Lord who likes this type of- of- entertainment." She smiled sheepishly. She didn't stick around for his answer though, but headed back out of the stands via a stairway she'd seen several men just enter.
She followed them down into the undercroft, hanging in the shadows as she tried to determine which way lay the arena doors.
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Mri
Apprentice Scribe
:)
Posts: 207
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Post by Mri on Dec 20, 2009 21:36:04 GMT -5
Kieren felt a jolting pain in her temple seconds before her eyes rolled back in her head and her legs gave out beneath her. She slumped to the ground in unconsciousness, hearing the voice of Melody rising in her ears. She tried to fight her off, not wanting to relinquish her power over their body, but she was drained of energy. ~ * ~ Marina picked herself up a with a look of triumph on her face, as if she'd slipped on purpose and had had this all planned out quite well. She doubted Monkuta bought it, but unless he called her out on it, she wasn't going to admit it. Not even waiting for him to open his mouth to do so (if he was), she streaked toward the nearest exit, yelling over her shoulder, "Come on!"
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Post by Brandwyn on Dec 25, 2009 12:32:32 GMT -5
Lea dodged through the undercroft, keeping to the shadows and went unnoticed until she approached two huge doors at the top of a slight slope. They were locked on this side with a heavy bar and two burly men stood in front of them.
They looked at her as if she were candy or a new toy as she debated whether to try to take them by force, or by other means. One of them smiled at her, "What ya want baby? You come lookin for a real man?"
Lea smiled at him and swung her hips as she approached. "As a matter of fact I did!" She giggled and pulled her hair back out of her face, running her fingers through it seductively. "And I wanted to see the arena from this level." She smiled as the two men smirked at her.
"You'll have to wait for Biden to tell us to open the door." The other man growled, not as friendly as his mate.
Lea pouted cutely and sidled up to the friendlier man, "please? can't you just open it a sliver so I can peep through before the fight ends?" She ran her fingers up his chest. "Pretty please?"
The man ran a beefy arm around her waist and said to his friend, "Come on, Mac. Rikan won't see, we are directly under his stand here." He reached up to remove the bar across the doors.
"This is a bad idea." Mac said, but helped him anyway, glancing at Lea. "You better be worth it, Wench."
Lea smiled sweetly at him and helped them pull the doors open just a tiny bit. She peeked through and saw her friends running toward them. With a twinge of regret, she jammed one of her daggers into Mac's eye, piercing his brain and killing him instantly.
The other guy tried to step back from her and call out for help, but she lashed out with the dagger in her left hand and slit his throat. He sunk to the floor trying to stop the bleeding. Lea pulled on the door, opening it farther.
"This way!" She called to Marina and Monkuta and stepped back so they would have room to get out of the arena. Then she turned to see if any other guards were going to give them any trouble. At the moment the coast was clear, but the prisoners in the cages were setting up a clammor.
Lea grabbed the ring of keys from Mac's body and raced to the cages and started to unlock them, thinking that if there were many prisoners to be tracked down, maybe they could escape in the confusion.
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Post by JezusBagels on Dec 25, 2009 14:36:48 GMT -5
Llane frowned as the combatants fled the ring. How had they gotten the door open? Oh well, no time to worry about that now. He calmly stood, lay Krogel on his throne and exited the arena. On his way out, he said to the guards, "I'm going downstairs. Get twenty armed men and follow me."
As he entered the dark tunnels, he lifted a large mace that had been leaning against the wall. One could never be too careful. _________________________
Monkuta had never been so thankful to see another person in his life. He grabbed Marina and pulled her along as he raced after Lea. He stopped and waited, pacing as she started unlocking cages.
"Your timing is impeccable," he said with a smirk. But no sooner had he turned to speak than another set of doors burst open, slamming against the wall on either side with a loud 'CRASH!' Twenty or so men flooded the room, surrounding them. Swords, bows and maces all pointed at them. Not good. He drew his blades and pulled Marina and Lea towards him. He was ready for a fight, but the men weren't moving. An opening in the circle appeared and through it stepped a large, aged man with a giant mace over his shoulder.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the man said. "I am Llane Rikan. I am in charge of the wonderful arena around us, as well as the town outside. And you, judging by... everything, are a Ranger. You're no doubt here to uncover the great mystery of the Southern Cliffs and bring the army of Araluen down upon us." An eery grin never left as he spoke, until he said, "You will do no such thing. You are outnumbered and surrounded. I decide whether you live or die. But you're in luck, for I am a gambling man... Care to make a deal?"
Monkuta swallowed hard, looking over his shoulder at Lea with a raised brow that said, Anymore great ideas?
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Post by Brandwyn on Dec 26, 2009 21:49:31 GMT -5
Lea jumped when the doors opened and the man she had seen above the arena stepped into the cellblock. A look of fear crept into her eyes as she saw the huge mace on his shoulder. Her first thought was that she didn't like this man and that she woudl probably be doing everyone a favor if she tossed one of her knives through is throat right now.
But if she did that, they would never make it out alive and she wasn't ready to die just yet. She looked around at the men she had just released and they all had the same fear reflecting in their eyes. What she woulnd't give to Wesley right now to have the giant come in and save her life, she thought, looking to Monkuta.
It seemed he was expecting her to think of something. She took a step closer to him. If they were going to die, at least they would be doing it together, she supposed.
When Rikan talked about making a deal, Lea went cold all over. The last thing she wanted to do, was to make a deal with him - well next to last thing that is. The last thing was dying.
Maybe charm would work better in this situation, because it was obvious that force was not the answer. She lowered her knives to her side and smiled sweetly at the engineer of the Arena. "What kind of deal did you have in mind, sweety?" She asked brightly.
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Post by JezusBagels on Dec 26, 2009 23:40:57 GMT -5
Llane grinned for a moment and then laughed. "Please, woman. Don't try that act on me. I know all about your little run in with Wesley. Nothing happens in this place without me hearing about it. It's one of the perks of being in charge," he said smugly. He lowered his mace from his shoulder, letting it the head drop to the ground with a loud 'THUD!'
"However," he continued, "If you're really interested, here's the deal. I can't have you leaving. Just as I know that you," indicating to Lea," have a way with giants, I know that your two friends are Rangers. At least, he is. She just dresses like one. If I let you leave scott-free, you'll no doubt report my operation to the king or the oberjarl, or whoever it is you take your orders from nowadays."
He started pacing back and forth, always keeping one eye on the threesome a few yards away from him. "So here's how this is gonna work. You fight a couple rounds in my arena, keep the crowd happy, make me some money and I'll consider letting you leave, on the condition that you swear never to tell anyone of your time here. And I mean anyone. You know how they say that any publicity is good publicity? They're wrong."
He stopped pacing and turned to face them. "So what do you say?" he asked, extending his hand. "Do we have a deal?" ______________________________
Monkuta listened intently as Llane explained the bargain. It's not like they had a choice in the matter. If they were going to die here, at least this way would let them fight it out. He shot a decisive glance at Marina and then to Lea, nodding. Then he stepped forward and gripped the old bandit's hand hard, shaking. "Deal."
No sooner had the word escaped his mouth than the mob of bandits around them condensed and herded them up the stairs and back into the arena above. The door slammed behind them. Monkuta heard it lock. He looked around grimly. The girl and the man were gone, or their corpses were. The blood splattering the rocks beneath their feet was the only evidence that their battle had ever taken place. He thought for a moment about what they might have done with the bodies, alive or not. It wasn't a pretty scenario, so he shunned it from his mind.
Monkuta wasted no time in opening his sack and replacing his cloak and double-scabbard on his person. He then hastily stringed his bow and tested it. It would do for now. He looked at Marina and Lea. Now would be a good time for a little pep talk, he decided.
He huddled them together and said, "Here's the plan..." He paused. He had no idea what they were about to face. He had to plan. So he finished the statement the only way he could. "Don't die."
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