In any way you looked at it, despite her presence up on stage, the half bird was nowhere near happy with the actions taking place. Her mind continued to run over the scene again and again where the pair of guards had ripped the mutants off of Storm's back before she could respond. She would have tried to fight back, but they were guards and the half-breed was nowhere near strong enough nor influential enough to fight back against guards. All she could do was weakly cling to the one mutant she had slung across her back, and even that had been yanked off of her. Storm had of course been confused as to why neither of them fought back, but Night lacked the over all courage to counter the ruling of a guard. Perhaps one day when she had a better variety of weapons to use and a bit more sway to her words. Certainly, with enough effort, she could win over the hearts of the Etzori enough that they'd at least listen to her. She'd already seen such effects in her recent life. A sweetening to the words of those who frequented bars, a gentle nod from one of the guards, even from time to time a little consideration from her boss. And yet here she was now, completely helpless as the guards practically stole the mutants from right off her back. Of course, it wasn't stealing because they tossed her a couple hundred gold. "Only two hundred since one of these is dead," they'd said. "Oh come on, what's that look for. You don't have to deal with them anymore," they'd questioned.
"You're selling them into slavery," she'd countered since that was practically what they were doing.
"What's wrong with that? You're an Avriel, why should you care?" And with that, the guards after taking her mutants had left.
Which led her to her current position on stage now. It was obvious to anyone who looked at her for more than ten seconds that she was arguing with the guards, which was why Mal who was lacking intelligence at the moment and Doran who wasn't paying much attention to her didn't seem notice the fact. "This isn't right and it isn't legal since I was the one that caught them!" She growled angrily at the guards who were selling the mutants.
"It's not like you owned them or anything. Besides, what's wrong with it? They aren't intelligent enough to be protected as a higher race. They aren't even their own race. They're just some freakish creatures that popped up along the way. Besides, why should an Avriel like you care? I thought your kind like this kind of thing?" The guard asked. Obviously, he was an idiot who'd never seen a pure Avriel before. Of course, most people in Etzos wouldn't have. Avriel, blessedly enough, seemed to be something of a rarity in the city. And it just so happened, that meant most people that saw something winged jumped to the assumption that it was an Avriel without any questions of breeding or what ifs. Unfortunately on the other hand that didn't mean that no Avriel at all showed up, meaning that on great occasion Night was antagonized by the other half of her breed for her disgraceful blood.
The half-breed, knowing she could do no more (and if she tried would end up jailed or worse), jumped off the stage right as her own mutants were brought out.
The first of the creatures was more animal like than the rest, now standing on all fours it had large claws and giant fangs which protruded from slightly parted lips. The guards had done the populace a favor by muzzling the beast and trying to keep it chained up as best they could, though on occasion it was allowed to quickly rear up on its hind legs, much like a bear, and bellow at the top of its lungs. Its cries were quickly silenced by being yanked back down and whipped. They whipped with abandon as it was hard to get enough damage through the thick white fur that coated its body. At the end was a long hyx like tail that lashed with anger and disgust. Though it didn't seem intelligent any long it looked out at the crowd of spectators with something akin to outrage and disgust. One might have thought the figure of the beast male, if it wasn't for the large bulge of its stomach that was obviously a child, implying its feminity as well as its pregnancy.
The second creature to be paraded around was relatively small compared to the others, only the size of a young child. 10 arcs at most? Its skin had turned a deep brown, somewhere between scaly and furry. Attached to each finger were scoop like claws that almost dwarfed its hands. The "eyes" were closed and apparently always stayed that way as it looked around blindly, two large and bat like ears panning around and a nose something like a star nose mole seemed almost to wiggle. The nose was slightly bent looking, possibly from the means of capture if the fight taking prior could be called such.
The third beast looked like someone had allowed an octopus to impregnate a sheep. It was a large beast with ram like horns, a low stooped body, and cloven feet. Its 'hands' if they could be called that were a mangled array of 'fingers' that wiggled and occasionally cracked. Coming from various random places on its body were strange tentacles, covering in the furry wool of a sheep or perhaps a mountain goat. The rest of its body was completely bare with pale greenish skin. Under the wool, the fur of the tentacles was a similar sickly green though a shade or two darker.
The final living monster was easily the largest of the group, though not too much larger than the Zelroux that had been on stage with its master but a couple trills before. It was an ape like, standing on its hind legs with gargantuan fists that dragged on the ground as it walked. Some of the people were whispering jokes, saying it was the common ancestor to the Immortal created races. Much like the first it had fangs which escaped its mouth.
The last creature was little more than a corpse by the time it got to Etzos. It was a mangled thing with two stab wounds. One through one of its many eyes and the other clean through its head. It was obvious which one had been lethal. Two pairs of leathery almost bat like wings jutted out from the back of the creature. When it was alive it had barely been able to fly using such appendages. All over its body were large, similar, almost fly like eyes. The only place it didn't have any was the bottoms of its feet. It was impossible to tell how many of them had actually worked in life, but during the fight with it, Night had been fairly sure not many.
Not long after Night had jumped off the stage and the mutants were brought out a new creature had appeared to wreak havoc, none other than Mal. Though Nightshade had no idea that it was actually Mal. She didn't hear the cries of Padfoot and even if she had she barely remembered that old nickname she heard once or twice. In her mind, the great hyx like beast had been Mal and only Mal. So of course when she saw the creature that seemed intent on attacking someone she was going to try and help out, until she saw it was attacking Doran and that cause her to change her mind. The 'hero of Oscillus' could get bent for all she cared. He tried to kill Xuir of all immortals, didn't even succeed, and he gets treated like a god. While Nightshade, the woman who incapacitated and caused the temporary downfall of Lissira, the damned Immortal intent on destroying Etzos, didn't even get a pat on the damn back. There was so much in that statement to be bitter about, Night would just get the guards handle it. Hell, if he was so great then he could take care of himself. Of course, if she knew it was Mal she would have stepped in and perhaps tried to save her favorite hyx instead of letting Doran possibly get a hit in, but she didn't know whatever that creature was happened to also be Mal. The one thing she took note of was the metal wings, watching how they glinted in the sunlight. It would be nice to have something like that.
That was when her attention got turned to another source of ever lasting annoyance and animosity. A pure breed. Nightshade had no problem with pure bred Avriel, her father was one and he was an amazing man! But Avriel like this one were exactly why Nightshade had contemplated joining sides with Noth and committing genocide. But Night wasn't even near as twisted by the Avriel hand as Noth, so that was something she'd never be able to find it in her heart to do. Even if she thought she could, Eth...
She smirked as the prideful little chick made his speech. While he was talking she ignored just about every word and took stock of him, knowing exactly what he was saying. She'd heard this song and dance one too many times before. The first thing she took note of was the barbed spear, the likes of which would wreck her day if she allowed it entrance into her flesh. It would be best to try and avoid whatever attacks he tried, at worst she could always parry but she'd rather not come that close to getting one in her body. She'd rather not like to go pestering Alex today. She'd done that one too many times for her personal liking. The second thing she noticed of was his wings, or more so her inability to see them through the sheet of metal similar to that of the monstrosity she'd seen moments before. It was obviously the same material judging by their sheen, a hard metal with feathering that could cut. Was it some kind of armor or was there actually a breed of Avriel with metal wings? If so had that creature earlier been one, and what in Ethelynda's name was its mother for it to be so strange?
She gave a breathy kind of laugh, figuring she might be able to play his pride to her advantage. Knowing the Avriel mind he was already underestimating the prowess of her skills, downplaying it in regards to his own. Not a deadly mistake, but a dangerous one for those fighting opponents who knew how to manipulate it. Taunts would certainly come in handy, Pure's tended to be easier to taunt, especially when she compared them to herself. Some were able to keep their heads, but most flew into rages (both figuratively and literally) that were easy to manipulate into her benefit. Perhaps if she was even luckier he didn't understand quite how legendary her abilities with a blade and a wing were. But she wasn't about to boast or sing her praises. She could still be stronger, faster, and a bit better with other kinds of weaponry. If she had the skill she'd try to use something that could better deal with the spear, something longer or something that might be able to break it easier like a spear of her own or perhaps a hammer. She analyzed her opponent as if she was looking at someone on her level, being careful not to over judge as that could be just as dangerous. Sometimes over playing someone's abilities could leave you expecting one things and getting another, crude, but effective attack.
"Bring it on brother," she said beckoning him like a dog and referring to him as brother from the extra insult. But that wasn't all the did. She beckoned him with her middle finger, effectively calling him like a mutt while flipping him the bird, adding as much insult to the action as she possibly could. Giving him the first move would be the best course of action for herself, it would allow her to judge his speed and depending on how obvious his attack was she might be able to predict what he was going to do next. She knew enough about tactics and battle that it wouldn't be beyond her skill set.
It was a good thing she'd picked up Red Brand on the way to Etzos. She had a feeling she'd need to be using both her blades for this.
