Chapter 19
Haz'rd Vulp
Prelude
Haz'rd did a strategic retreat with the Aqku coming up from the riverbed. Only a moment later did the river finally return, taking with it hundreds of Maqkumen in a huge surge mightier then most men could imagine. With such force did the water hit so very few of the Maqku remained alive. The few dozens of Maqkumen that made it across turned to see their friends taken away, never to be seen again.
They looked into the woods and could see the eyes of hundreds looking back at them. It had only felt like a short instance had passed, but the tables were now completely against the Maqkumen. They had a four to one advantage, and now their chances of winning were cut to nothing.
Haz'rd called from the mass of eyes to the men near the river, "Throw down your weapons." Immediately all but a few complied with this. Haz'rd could see them clearly and gave the order to his troops, "All of you, drop your weapons or all of you will perish." This got all but one of the Maqkumen to drop their bayonnet to the ground. "Vulpen! Set aim on the Maqku!"
Action
Most of the Aqku around couldn't hear him, but the Vulpens did, "They're not really going to shoot?"
The Maqkumen that he asked shakingly replied, "Just drop the damn gun."
Holding tightly on the gun the man turned and ran towards the river, obscuring himself in the group of other Maqkumen. Haz'rd didn't want to unnecessarily kill, at least not yet.
They heard the splash of a man jumping into the river. The Vulpen circled around the remaining Maqku and waited for Haz'rd's command.
Choices
"Shoot the bugger," yelled Haz'rd to his troops. Many lined up a shot at the man and fired, all missing. The one the Maqkuman had been talking too jumped at one of the Vulpen and tried to get his gun from him. He was quickly knocked to the ground and had a bayonnet in his face for it.
They continued to aim for the man, but at that point he had gotten far enough away and submerged himself enough that the bullets couldn't get to him. The wind was almost non-existant but the river still surged, moving the man wildly around as he struggled in the water.
Haz'rd walked up to the Maqkuman that was on the ground and looked him in the eye, "Your kind came and skinned our people alive. We defended ourselves and skinned those that took our flesh from our bones. They killed our vixens, ambushed our men, and here you are, fighting against us still.
"You're loyal to your people, so I assume you're loyal to your mates here, too. I will let you go, but only to tell your superiors that we've got a few dozen of your people. Follow the river towards its source, and you'll surely find your people sooner or later."
The Maqkuman stood up and had a look of absolute terror in his eyes. He ran as fast as he could away from there, hoping it wasn't a trick and was about to be shot in the back. About a hundred feet away he tripped and rolled a bit, banging himself on a rather sharp rock that cut open his left forearm. Getting back up and continued on at a slower pace, constantly looking behind him.
Semper Fidelis
Prelude
Semper closed his eyes and felt the world slowly dissolve away, replaced with swirling colors like on the wall, though so much more vividly. Then a sucking sound could be heard, so loud, so painful. Semper felt like his eardrums were bleeding when the colors started to fade away and a room started to appear.
The room he was in was a bit smaller then the one he had just been lying against the wall in, though felt much friendlier, where as the other felt desolate and cold with metal texturing every wall. Looking around he couldn't really see anyone, and he decided that sleep was something that should be had.
Action
His eyes slowly opened, then he felt the sharp pain of a light that was too intense. With his eyes closed he noticed that things darkened a bit, so he opened his eyes again. He could barely make out someone standing above him, everything felt so blurry. Another light came on, not too bright, but definately uncomfortable.
Semper muttered out what he could, "What's going on?" With that said the light went off. He could hear talking, but couldn't understand any of it. It sounded just like what the rat creature was saying, but a different type of dialect, the sounds were longer.
Someone walked up to where he was lying, "How did you get on the Kinf's ship." Semper didn't answer the question immediately, "How did you find yourself to be on the other ship?" Still, Semper remained quiet and just help his head. Finally, "Answer me!"
"I don't know," Semper replied, muffled through his arms. Then something dawned on him and he lowered his arms, "What do you mean ship? Ships are supposed to rock back and forth constantly."
The person who had been talking when silent, even though Semper was looking right at them.
Choices
"Why aren't you talking? You had no problem yelling at me, now speak up yourself," Semper found the courage to talk harshly to the person that had yelled at him, now he laid back down, as his abdomen muscles hurt too much from curling up a little ways. "Could you please turn down the lights a little?"
Semper relaxed and closed his eyes a bit, then the lights dimmed, and he opened them back up. "Thank you," he told the people around him, while looking straight up at the ceiling. He noticed the strange thatched pattern that was going on up along the ceiling. Though he didn't know what thatched meant, he thought the ceiling looked a bit like fur. After a few minutes of silence Semper looked at one of the people, that he could now see. Of the two men and one woman he looked the guy he thought had been talking to him, "So, is anyone going to explain to me what's going on?"
They confered between themselves in the language Semper couldn't understand. A couple minutes passed and finally the one he had looked at came up to him, "We will tell you some things, but first, you must tell us how you got onto the Kinf's ship."
"Kinf," asked Semper, puzzled, "You mean that thing that looked like an overgrown sewer rat, and that moved incredibly fast?"
Again they confered in their own language, but the man quicker responded, "Yes."
Semper looked up at the ceiling again and thought about what had happened to him. He remembered getting to ask a village elder about whether or not the Vulpen called themselves "Phren." Then he remembered being let go in the cold, damn cold, snow. He remembered looking up and seeing some figure above him, then being in that small room.
He started, "I was about dead, freezing in the snow in Vulpen territory," he was interrupted by the man.
"Vulpen, what is a Vulpen?"
Replying, "You know, those fox creatures."
They started talking amongst themselves once more then turned to Semper, "You've had contact with the chosen race?"
Giving them a weird look, "Umm, sure?"
Once again the man spoke, "We will be back, shortly." With that the three of them left the room.
Ninja Monkey
Prelude
Walking over and sitting down in the shade of an overturned train car was the only thing Ninja Monkey wanted to do right now. It was blistering hot all around, and the sand getting stuck to his skin was beginning to annoy him. Laying back down he looked up and could have sworn he saw the most peculair thing. It almost looked like a string of pearls floating high in the sky, then just popping after it travelled a short distance.
Melinda had walked near him and looked up, though if she said anything he wouldn't have heard it anyway. The string started to move about, though some of the pearls just seemed to travel on and on, while others did the popping thing. Then another odd thing happened with the pearls. They stopped after shooting through huge orange fireball looking thing.
A minute passed and then it was almost like the train accident all over again. Shards of metal started raining down from the sky. Some were big, most were small, but seeing something the size of a fist cut through part of the undercarraige of a car was a bit unnerving.
Action
"Holy shishkibab," screamed Ninja as his body went into fight or flight mode and decided to take off on him. Damn having injuries he couldn't see, those pieces of metal looked like they could cut from his eyes to his knees within a blink of an eye.
As his thoughts came on the subject of eyes, he found himself covered in a fine red mist, suddenly, as though a pool of blood had appeared just in front of him. Realizing this he stopped to take a moment to recollect things that were happening around him.
Choices
Ninja looked down on the ground and decided, aloud, "This is as good a place as any, I guess." He sat down and looked around and up, noticing the metal streaks were still coming down. One landed close to him and sent up a spray of sand stinging him all along his right arm.
"Shit brick," Ninja yelled into the air, "Mother of pearl!"
He held his right arm with his left and shook back and forth, muttering every curse and invective he could think of. Minutes went on when he started to notice that the metal pieces stopped raining down. He looked up and around and thought to himself, his jaw shaking and a smile forming on his face, "I did it, I survived."
Laying back he stretched out, his arms going up in a little cheer to himself. Then something happened. It felt like a fist had hit his right foot, making his knee jerk straight up from it. He shot up and looked down at his right foot, only to find that, inexplicably, it was gone.
Melinda
Prelude
There was a feeling of relief to be had that Melinda had pursuaded him to stay put. Chances of him having internal damage were likely at an even chance. She could always call the orbiting ship and have them scan him, but that didn't seem like it would be needed. Either he would die with Maqku help, or he'd die since they up there wouldn't do anything to help him.
Melinda saw him walk over to the shade of one of the wrecked train cars and lay down. He was parrellel to the car while he looked up into the sky. Watching him she noticed he had the strangest look on his face while looking up. Turning her attention to the sky she noticed what he must have been looking at.
Recognizing it immediately she put her wrist to her mouth, "Comm open." Pausing for a moment, "Comm open!" Still there was silence from a quiet ship up above. "Damnit," was all she could muster just before she noticed shards of metal raining down from the sky. Then all she could say with a look of horror was, "Oh... no."
Action
She didn't know what exactly had happened, but she knew it wasn't good. Either the ship she thought of as a second home was raining around her, or it went into a battle mode and cut all communications. Either way it couldn't possibly mean anything good was going on if she was still here in the shrapnel range. What could have possibly been going on through the minds of her commanders?
As the shrapnel rained down, Ninja, she saw, ran off a ways. Her thoughts weren't exactly on him at the moment, but she couldn't help but wonder just what the hell was going on in the heavens above.
Choices
Again trying, she put her wrist to her lips, "Comm open. Comm open." Still there was nothing but silence over her communications device. A piece of shrapnel hit in front of her, making her jump back into a carraige that was right behind her. Banging her head she muttered, "Shit."
Just afterwards she could her Ninja yell "Shit brick," followed by, "Mother of pearl!" Walking towards where she heard the sound a rain of increased shrapnel came all around her, and she froze, not knowing what to do. She ran to a carraige and hid by it, covering her head and her eyes wondering why the hell this was all happening.
Feeling the reverbarations of the carraige she moved away from it as it shook too much for her liking. Then, then it all stopped. She looked up and felt it, she was being pulled up into space.
Shinobi
Prelude
It was almost a surprise to Shinobi that the easiest part was not being noticed by the enemy. Not a single one seemed to notice him as he ran. It would seem that he'd be clear, and indeed that line of thought followed him as he ran into the woods, or as far as he could before realizing everything around him was on fire.
At this point Shinobi heard the sound of a crashing wave, and looking behind him he saw the river returning. So peculair, he thought, as it defied nature, rising straight up along the embankment instead of flowing over it. One of the last remnants of his Pious' power, he could only suppose.
Action
Looking across the river after the wave had passed, Shinobi noticed the final group of Maqku had been captured. What Haz'rds plans for them, since he was the highest ranking leader around now, was completely unknown to Shinobi. He hoped that Haz'rd would be a generous leader and allow them to live, but he wasn't quite sure that would happen.
He tried to think back on the stories he had heard about Haz'rd Vulp, and all he could think about was the story of him being around the Vulpen that cut a man's face off and wore it like a decoration. What kind of sick depravity would cause a creature to do such a thing? Shinobi bowed and prayed for other things to come. He was happy that the battle had been won with little losses on the Aqku side, to that he prayed to God for thanks.
A splash, Shinobi heard, coming from the river. Crawling up and out was a Maqkuman holding a bayonnet. Shinobi had his sword in front of him on the ground, but no ranged weapon. "Hold it right there," spoke the man with the gun. There was a click as the bayonnet had its trigger pulled, but no shot came. Shinobi could see the man's heart beating hard.
Shinobi stood up and picked up his sword.
Choices
"You Maqku, never did have much honor," Shinobi said to the man who tried shooting a weapon that was too wet to work. He walked up to him, "Get out of here, go back to your family, if you've got one." The Maqkuman looked at the blood caked sword of Shinobi, looked at Shinobi, then took off.
Watching him as he ran Shinobi noticed a man off to the side from where the man ran. He looked like someone of importance in the Maqku world, and that he was, "You Aqku were always weak, and pathetic." The Maqkuman walked forward, brandishing a sword of his own. "I will cut you down, like the scum your kind is."
Shinobi loked at the man and spoke, "I dispatched a half dozen of your men, and I'm sure all you did was hide in the woods while it happened. You may call me weak, but you, sir, you are a coward." With those words the man pulled out a revolver and shot six rounds at Shinobi. The Aqkuman stood tall while the bullets whizzed towards him, not a single one striking him. Tossing the revolver into the river the commander muttered, "Worthless gun," and held his sword tightly, shaking a little from it.
Clutching his own sword Shinobi ran at the commander swinging hard just before he reached. Metal met metal in a clang that could be heard across the river. Back and forth they went, one swing coming after another. At one point Shinobi got pushed back. Sensing a moment of victory the commander lifted his sword high above his head to bring down in a powerful strike. Instead he felt the loss of feeling in his entire body as Shinobi's sword cut into his throat straight back through his spinal cord.
The commander couldn't even manage a garble before he collapsed to the ground, dead as he would ever be. Shinobi knelt beside the man and gave a prayer for him, "God, be merciful on this wayward soul."
With that he layed the man on his back and took his sword. It was a bit nicer then Shinobi's, but it was something from a victory he won in a fair battle. Getting to the river he took a piece of cloth out and wiped his own blade clean of blood. Then he started his way across the river, making his way back to the others.
Ochi Reci
Prelude
He looked at the man and saw him looking back into his eyes, a look of desperation, but also of pleading with him to do something. Ochi Reci almost felt like he was taking his time, getting his kit out, applying a cleaning towel to let him better see the wound. Moving the man's hand out of the way a squirt of blood shot out, making him seem almost calmer as he stared up into the sky, while his jaw ever so slightly trembled.
Ochi Reci felt something inside him come through his hands into the man's neck. The man's eyes closed and his jaw stopped trembling. The oddest sound came to the back of Ochi Reci's mind. It was almost like a choir of the sweetest voices in the world, and for some reason it caused him to look up along the edge of the forest along the woods. The rain and thunder had stopped, he noticed.
Action
The eyes of the man still watched him, but it was almost as if a miracle had started to take place. As he applied an ointment, the wounds on the man's neck started to heal much quicker then would naturally occur. Flowing through his hands he could feel the power of healing being boosted by what he was applying to the man's neck.
"Yes, all better now," said Ochi with an aire of authority. The man's eyes imparted the knowledge that yes, everything was all right.
Choices
Ochi Reci bowed his head down and prayed thanks to God for giving him this gift. The man floated away to sleep, likely tired from the ordeal he just went through. There was seemingly no return for his prayers, but he knew that what had happened could only have come from God. Right?
Something inside of him, he couldn't exactly tell what, told him something different. It was not something that he wanted to test, but it was still there, just at the edge of reason, waiting the cross the border and make him become a heretic.
Dumbass
Prelude
After looking up at the face of his fellow Aqkumen, Dumbass looked back down at the face of his Pious and could do nothing but weep. He held the body of his Pious close to him and even though he had not known him long he knew that he was a true believer of their God. A feeling of guilt started to well up the mind of Dumbass as he held his Pious. This feeling he already knew he would not be able to rid himself of for a very long time.
Action
His eyes closed, his head bowed down in prayer, Dumbass prayed that the soul of his Pious to have a good journey to the afterworld. He called to a fellow Aqkumen to have the Pious wrapped up. How they would get him back to the lands of the Aqku to be properly buried, they didn't know, but it was something they would surely work on.
Dumbass stood up and layed out the body of his Pious. A blanket was placed on the soaked ground beforehand. Then another placed over the entire body of the Pious. Two men started to sow the blankets closed tightly. They didn't know how, but they would see to it that his body was properly buried in the Earth.
Choices
One more time Dumbass prayed, and a feeling of renewed strength flowed through his body. Lifting up the body of his Pious he walked to the commander of the Vulpen, who was talking to one of the Maqkuman. After the man ran off he went up to him and spoke, "Haz'rd Vulp, commander for the Vulpen kind, I must take the body of my Pious back to my people, so that he may be buried the right way."
Haz'rd looked at the man and nodded, "Will all of your people be going with you?"
Dumbass wasn't quite sure of this, then spoke, "I not sure. I will talk with them."
That he did, and took stock of things said. He felt like he was leading these people now, that these were his men. They went with him, following his lead as he started West, towards the North Central Mountains.
Prelude
Haz'rd did a strategic retreat with the Aqku coming up from the riverbed. Only a moment later did the river finally return, taking with it hundreds of Maqkumen in a huge surge mightier then most men could imagine. With such force did the water hit so very few of the Maqku remained alive. The few dozens of Maqkumen that made it across turned to see their friends taken away, never to be seen again.
They looked into the woods and could see the eyes of hundreds looking back at them. It had only felt like a short instance had passed, but the tables were now completely against the Maqkumen. They had a four to one advantage, and now their chances of winning were cut to nothing.
Haz'rd called from the mass of eyes to the men near the river, "Throw down your weapons." Immediately all but a few complied with this. Haz'rd could see them clearly and gave the order to his troops, "All of you, drop your weapons or all of you will perish." This got all but one of the Maqkumen to drop their bayonnet to the ground. "Vulpen! Set aim on the Maqku!"
Action
Most of the Aqku around couldn't hear him, but the Vulpens did, "They're not really going to shoot?"
The Maqkumen that he asked shakingly replied, "Just drop the damn gun."
Holding tightly on the gun the man turned and ran towards the river, obscuring himself in the group of other Maqkumen. Haz'rd didn't want to unnecessarily kill, at least not yet.
They heard the splash of a man jumping into the river. The Vulpen circled around the remaining Maqku and waited for Haz'rd's command.
Choices
- Go after the escapee.
- Kill them all.
- Let the man go.
"Shoot the bugger," yelled Haz'rd to his troops. Many lined up a shot at the man and fired, all missing. The one the Maqkuman had been talking too jumped at one of the Vulpen and tried to get his gun from him. He was quickly knocked to the ground and had a bayonnet in his face for it.
They continued to aim for the man, but at that point he had gotten far enough away and submerged himself enough that the bullets couldn't get to him. The wind was almost non-existant but the river still surged, moving the man wildly around as he struggled in the water.
Haz'rd walked up to the Maqkuman that was on the ground and looked him in the eye, "Your kind came and skinned our people alive. We defended ourselves and skinned those that took our flesh from our bones. They killed our vixens, ambushed our men, and here you are, fighting against us still.
"You're loyal to your people, so I assume you're loyal to your mates here, too. I will let you go, but only to tell your superiors that we've got a few dozen of your people. Follow the river towards its source, and you'll surely find your people sooner or later."
The Maqkuman stood up and had a look of absolute terror in his eyes. He ran as fast as he could away from there, hoping it wasn't a trick and was about to be shot in the back. About a hundred feet away he tripped and rolled a bit, banging himself on a rather sharp rock that cut open his left forearm. Getting back up and continued on at a slower pace, constantly looking behind him.
Semper Fidelis
Prelude
Semper closed his eyes and felt the world slowly dissolve away, replaced with swirling colors like on the wall, though so much more vividly. Then a sucking sound could be heard, so loud, so painful. Semper felt like his eardrums were bleeding when the colors started to fade away and a room started to appear.
The room he was in was a bit smaller then the one he had just been lying against the wall in, though felt much friendlier, where as the other felt desolate and cold with metal texturing every wall. Looking around he couldn't really see anyone, and he decided that sleep was something that should be had.
Action
His eyes slowly opened, then he felt the sharp pain of a light that was too intense. With his eyes closed he noticed that things darkened a bit, so he opened his eyes again. He could barely make out someone standing above him, everything felt so blurry. Another light came on, not too bright, but definately uncomfortable.
Semper muttered out what he could, "What's going on?" With that said the light went off. He could hear talking, but couldn't understand any of it. It sounded just like what the rat creature was saying, but a different type of dialect, the sounds were longer.
Someone walked up to where he was lying, "How did you get on the Kinf's ship." Semper didn't answer the question immediately, "How did you find yourself to be on the other ship?" Still, Semper remained quiet and just help his head. Finally, "Answer me!"
"I don't know," Semper replied, muffled through his arms. Then something dawned on him and he lowered his arms, "What do you mean ship? Ships are supposed to rock back and forth constantly."
The person who had been talking when silent, even though Semper was looking right at them.
Choices
- Don't press for an answer.
- Press for an answer.
"Why aren't you talking? You had no problem yelling at me, now speak up yourself," Semper found the courage to talk harshly to the person that had yelled at him, now he laid back down, as his abdomen muscles hurt too much from curling up a little ways. "Could you please turn down the lights a little?"
Semper relaxed and closed his eyes a bit, then the lights dimmed, and he opened them back up. "Thank you," he told the people around him, while looking straight up at the ceiling. He noticed the strange thatched pattern that was going on up along the ceiling. Though he didn't know what thatched meant, he thought the ceiling looked a bit like fur. After a few minutes of silence Semper looked at one of the people, that he could now see. Of the two men and one woman he looked the guy he thought had been talking to him, "So, is anyone going to explain to me what's going on?"
They confered between themselves in the language Semper couldn't understand. A couple minutes passed and finally the one he had looked at came up to him, "We will tell you some things, but first, you must tell us how you got onto the Kinf's ship."
"Kinf," asked Semper, puzzled, "You mean that thing that looked like an overgrown sewer rat, and that moved incredibly fast?"
Again they confered in their own language, but the man quicker responded, "Yes."
Semper looked up at the ceiling again and thought about what had happened to him. He remembered getting to ask a village elder about whether or not the Vulpen called themselves "Phren." Then he remembered being let go in the cold, damn cold, snow. He remembered looking up and seeing some figure above him, then being in that small room.
He started, "I was about dead, freezing in the snow in Vulpen territory," he was interrupted by the man.
"Vulpen, what is a Vulpen?"
Replying, "You know, those fox creatures."
They started talking amongst themselves once more then turned to Semper, "You've had contact with the chosen race?"
Giving them a weird look, "Umm, sure?"
Once again the man spoke, "We will be back, shortly." With that the three of them left the room.
Ninja Monkey
Prelude
Walking over and sitting down in the shade of an overturned train car was the only thing Ninja Monkey wanted to do right now. It was blistering hot all around, and the sand getting stuck to his skin was beginning to annoy him. Laying back down he looked up and could have sworn he saw the most peculair thing. It almost looked like a string of pearls floating high in the sky, then just popping after it travelled a short distance.
Melinda had walked near him and looked up, though if she said anything he wouldn't have heard it anyway. The string started to move about, though some of the pearls just seemed to travel on and on, while others did the popping thing. Then another odd thing happened with the pearls. They stopped after shooting through huge orange fireball looking thing.
A minute passed and then it was almost like the train accident all over again. Shards of metal started raining down from the sky. Some were big, most were small, but seeing something the size of a fist cut through part of the undercarraige of a car was a bit unnerving.
Action
"Holy shishkibab," screamed Ninja as his body went into fight or flight mode and decided to take off on him. Damn having injuries he couldn't see, those pieces of metal looked like they could cut from his eyes to his knees within a blink of an eye.
As his thoughts came on the subject of eyes, he found himself covered in a fine red mist, suddenly, as though a pool of blood had appeared just in front of him. Realizing this he stopped to take a moment to recollect things that were happening around him.
Choices
- Stay put.
- Run like mad.
Ninja looked down on the ground and decided, aloud, "This is as good a place as any, I guess." He sat down and looked around and up, noticing the metal streaks were still coming down. One landed close to him and sent up a spray of sand stinging him all along his right arm.
"Shit brick," Ninja yelled into the air, "Mother of pearl!"
He held his right arm with his left and shook back and forth, muttering every curse and invective he could think of. Minutes went on when he started to notice that the metal pieces stopped raining down. He looked up and around and thought to himself, his jaw shaking and a smile forming on his face, "I did it, I survived."
Laying back he stretched out, his arms going up in a little cheer to himself. Then something happened. It felt like a fist had hit his right foot, making his knee jerk straight up from it. He shot up and looked down at his right foot, only to find that, inexplicably, it was gone.
Melinda
Prelude
There was a feeling of relief to be had that Melinda had pursuaded him to stay put. Chances of him having internal damage were likely at an even chance. She could always call the orbiting ship and have them scan him, but that didn't seem like it would be needed. Either he would die with Maqku help, or he'd die since they up there wouldn't do anything to help him.
Melinda saw him walk over to the shade of one of the wrecked train cars and lay down. He was parrellel to the car while he looked up into the sky. Watching him she noticed he had the strangest look on his face while looking up. Turning her attention to the sky she noticed what he must have been looking at.
Recognizing it immediately she put her wrist to her mouth, "Comm open." Pausing for a moment, "Comm open!" Still there was silence from a quiet ship up above. "Damnit," was all she could muster just before she noticed shards of metal raining down from the sky. Then all she could say with a look of horror was, "Oh... no."
Action
She didn't know what exactly had happened, but she knew it wasn't good. Either the ship she thought of as a second home was raining around her, or it went into a battle mode and cut all communications. Either way it couldn't possibly mean anything good was going on if she was still here in the shrapnel range. What could have possibly been going on through the minds of her commanders?
As the shrapnel rained down, Ninja, she saw, ran off a ways. Her thoughts weren't exactly on him at the moment, but she couldn't help but wonder just what the hell was going on in the heavens above.
Choices
- Keep trying to get the communications device to work.
- Attempt to force a teleport.
- Keep after Ninja.
Again trying, she put her wrist to her lips, "Comm open. Comm open." Still there was nothing but silence over her communications device. A piece of shrapnel hit in front of her, making her jump back into a carraige that was right behind her. Banging her head she muttered, "Shit."
Just afterwards she could her Ninja yell "Shit brick," followed by, "Mother of pearl!" Walking towards where she heard the sound a rain of increased shrapnel came all around her, and she froze, not knowing what to do. She ran to a carraige and hid by it, covering her head and her eyes wondering why the hell this was all happening.
Feeling the reverbarations of the carraige she moved away from it as it shook too much for her liking. Then, then it all stopped. She looked up and felt it, she was being pulled up into space.
Shinobi
Prelude
It was almost a surprise to Shinobi that the easiest part was not being noticed by the enemy. Not a single one seemed to notice him as he ran. It would seem that he'd be clear, and indeed that line of thought followed him as he ran into the woods, or as far as he could before realizing everything around him was on fire.
At this point Shinobi heard the sound of a crashing wave, and looking behind him he saw the river returning. So peculair, he thought, as it defied nature, rising straight up along the embankment instead of flowing over it. One of the last remnants of his Pious' power, he could only suppose.
Action
Looking across the river after the wave had passed, Shinobi noticed the final group of Maqku had been captured. What Haz'rds plans for them, since he was the highest ranking leader around now, was completely unknown to Shinobi. He hoped that Haz'rd would be a generous leader and allow them to live, but he wasn't quite sure that would happen.
He tried to think back on the stories he had heard about Haz'rd Vulp, and all he could think about was the story of him being around the Vulpen that cut a man's face off and wore it like a decoration. What kind of sick depravity would cause a creature to do such a thing? Shinobi bowed and prayed for other things to come. He was happy that the battle had been won with little losses on the Aqku side, to that he prayed to God for thanks.
A splash, Shinobi heard, coming from the river. Crawling up and out was a Maqkuman holding a bayonnet. Shinobi had his sword in front of him on the ground, but no ranged weapon. "Hold it right there," spoke the man with the gun. There was a click as the bayonnet had its trigger pulled, but no shot came. Shinobi could see the man's heart beating hard.
Shinobi stood up and picked up his sword.
Choices
- Let the man live.
- Shishkabab!
- Push the man into the river and attempt to drown him.
"You Maqku, never did have much honor," Shinobi said to the man who tried shooting a weapon that was too wet to work. He walked up to him, "Get out of here, go back to your family, if you've got one." The Maqkuman looked at the blood caked sword of Shinobi, looked at Shinobi, then took off.
Watching him as he ran Shinobi noticed a man off to the side from where the man ran. He looked like someone of importance in the Maqku world, and that he was, "You Aqku were always weak, and pathetic." The Maqkuman walked forward, brandishing a sword of his own. "I will cut you down, like the scum your kind is."
Shinobi loked at the man and spoke, "I dispatched a half dozen of your men, and I'm sure all you did was hide in the woods while it happened. You may call me weak, but you, sir, you are a coward." With those words the man pulled out a revolver and shot six rounds at Shinobi. The Aqkuman stood tall while the bullets whizzed towards him, not a single one striking him. Tossing the revolver into the river the commander muttered, "Worthless gun," and held his sword tightly, shaking a little from it.
Clutching his own sword Shinobi ran at the commander swinging hard just before he reached. Metal met metal in a clang that could be heard across the river. Back and forth they went, one swing coming after another. At one point Shinobi got pushed back. Sensing a moment of victory the commander lifted his sword high above his head to bring down in a powerful strike. Instead he felt the loss of feeling in his entire body as Shinobi's sword cut into his throat straight back through his spinal cord.
The commander couldn't even manage a garble before he collapsed to the ground, dead as he would ever be. Shinobi knelt beside the man and gave a prayer for him, "God, be merciful on this wayward soul."
With that he layed the man on his back and took his sword. It was a bit nicer then Shinobi's, but it was something from a victory he won in a fair battle. Getting to the river he took a piece of cloth out and wiped his own blade clean of blood. Then he started his way across the river, making his way back to the others.
Ochi Reci
Prelude
He looked at the man and saw him looking back into his eyes, a look of desperation, but also of pleading with him to do something. Ochi Reci almost felt like he was taking his time, getting his kit out, applying a cleaning towel to let him better see the wound. Moving the man's hand out of the way a squirt of blood shot out, making him seem almost calmer as he stared up into the sky, while his jaw ever so slightly trembled.
Ochi Reci felt something inside him come through his hands into the man's neck. The man's eyes closed and his jaw stopped trembling. The oddest sound came to the back of Ochi Reci's mind. It was almost like a choir of the sweetest voices in the world, and for some reason it caused him to look up along the edge of the forest along the woods. The rain and thunder had stopped, he noticed.
Action
The eyes of the man still watched him, but it was almost as if a miracle had started to take place. As he applied an ointment, the wounds on the man's neck started to heal much quicker then would naturally occur. Flowing through his hands he could feel the power of healing being boosted by what he was applying to the man's neck.
"Yes, all better now," said Ochi with an aire of authority. The man's eyes imparted the knowledge that yes, everything was all right.
Choices
- Pray alone.
- Have the man pray, too.
- Ask for enumeration.
Ochi Reci bowed his head down and prayed thanks to God for giving him this gift. The man floated away to sleep, likely tired from the ordeal he just went through. There was seemingly no return for his prayers, but he knew that what had happened could only have come from God. Right?
Something inside of him, he couldn't exactly tell what, told him something different. It was not something that he wanted to test, but it was still there, just at the edge of reason, waiting the cross the border and make him become a heretic.
Dumbass
Prelude
After looking up at the face of his fellow Aqkumen, Dumbass looked back down at the face of his Pious and could do nothing but weep. He held the body of his Pious close to him and even though he had not known him long he knew that he was a true believer of their God. A feeling of guilt started to well up the mind of Dumbass as he held his Pious. This feeling he already knew he would not be able to rid himself of for a very long time.
Action
His eyes closed, his head bowed down in prayer, Dumbass prayed that the soul of his Pious to have a good journey to the afterworld. He called to a fellow Aqkumen to have the Pious wrapped up. How they would get him back to the lands of the Aqku to be properly buried, they didn't know, but it was something they would surely work on.
Dumbass stood up and layed out the body of his Pious. A blanket was placed on the soaked ground beforehand. Then another placed over the entire body of the Pious. Two men started to sow the blankets closed tightly. They didn't know how, but they would see to it that his body was properly buried in the Earth.
Choices
- Pray before moving the body.
- Start the long journey home.
One more time Dumbass prayed, and a feeling of renewed strength flowed through his body. Lifting up the body of his Pious he walked to the commander of the Vulpen, who was talking to one of the Maqkuman. After the man ran off he went up to him and spoke, "Haz'rd Vulp, commander for the Vulpen kind, I must take the body of my Pious back to my people, so that he may be buried the right way."
Haz'rd looked at the man and nodded, "Will all of your people be going with you?"
Dumbass wasn't quite sure of this, then spoke, "I not sure. I will talk with them."
That he did, and took stock of things said. He felt like he was leading these people now, that these were his men. They went with him, following his lead as he started West, towards the North Central Mountains.
posted by DM at
9:36 PM
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