[Mature] Hunting Crocodiles

[Varthakh]

Turns out, the woman wasn't handy with medicine, not at all. The wussie woman even went and puked at the sight. What? Had she not seen bare muscle before? Besides, it wasn't as though it hurt that much. Fridgar pondered briefly how the woman would react to receiving similar injuries when she became overwhelmed with nausea at the sight of a mutilated stranger. It might have been funny, maybe.

This was not the time to be mocking the woman's mental strength, however. Not when this creature was pointing his shitey arrows in places they don't belong. Lightning crackled with threats as he waited for the beast to stand down or strike, though considering the weakness of his bolts, he hoped the creature would stand down. For a trill, it looked as though he would, lowering the bow a little. Unfortunately, the wussie woman now had to deal with the arrow flung in her direction. Fridgar didn't see where it had hit, instead he saw red.

It wasn't so much for the sake of the woman, either. It was more the concept that the feathered fucker had challenged his authority. How very well dare he? Fridgar would just have to remind him who the Alpha was in this situation. Immediately after finishing his sentence, Fridgar threw the bolt at the male. It would have missed had the bolt not been conducted to his armour. Given the weakness of the strike, it wouldn't likely do much to the creature wearing it and would dissipate in the metal. That wasn't all Fridgar had to offer though. No.

Given the lightness of the Chrysalis used, only to heal a patch of skin, he still had some juice for weaker magics. In a split trill, Fridgar threw his open paw forward with a widened stance before appearing in front of the creature and gripping his bow instantly. The birdy would be face to face with a hulking, furious beast. His other paw gripped his same wrist and squeezed, forcing him to either release the weapon or see his arms cave in by the Radius and Ulna. Once he'd managed that and had more than likely pinned the male with overwhelming pain, he turned around, showing his back to his opponent before pulling with his full weight forward.

The creature would be sent flying overhead, tethered by the wrist to the giant Lothar before impacting the ground like a sack of potatoes on his back. The blow would have forced the air from his lungs and likely winded him. If, somehow, he still held on to the bow; Fridgar would snap his arm off and work the flesh free with the splintered bones to take that with him also. While this would normally be the time that he'd stomp on a skull or seven, he'd promised his mate the trial prior that he would change. This dude was a blatant villain and got what he deserved.

He would lean closer to the floored monstrosity and speak. "Do that again and I'll take your eyes." came his words with the showing of his claws. He'd wait for a few trills before getting up and grabbing his bag, blinking to the woman in a split trill once more. That was his absolute limit though, if he hadn't already overstepped. The creature's bow would be slung around his torso by the string before he opened the bag and looked to the woman "Are you alright?" He'd ask, not yet sure if the arrow had hit or not. if she were, he'd set up his cauterising iron and get to work removing the arrow as painlessly as possible while it heated while cleaning the wound with the vial of sterilising alcohol. It would be shoddy work, given his lack of skill in medicine, but she would live.

As for the feathered fuck, once he'd regained his breath, he had the option to try and get up, but his armour was heavy and it wouldn't be easy. The crocodile was even heavier, weighing in near enough to two thousand pounds. Fridgar's dagger was still lodged in its head, however. Still though, given the Lotharen's show of force, the bird would be forgiven for simply laying there in an effort not to provoke any further injury.

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[Danielle Tobelle]

Danielle had not come to the conclusion of hiding behind the Lotharro fast enough. The assailant approached from their spot in the open--it was humiliating to think that she had not noticed him sooner--and made his greeting. A warning was given by the larger man, and by now she had begun to inch her way closer to the burly man in hopes of using him as a shield. She froze as the bow was lowered, but had not anticipated the arrow. She should have anticipated the arrow.

Pain blossomed from her calf as the arrow slid through fat and muscle with ease. For a moment, her vision blackened around the edges. The ground beneath her feet was suddenly no longer there, shock going through her as pain took hold. It filled her senses, blocked out reason. A shriek left her, gurgling down into a softer wail through clenched teeth. Now on the ground, Danielle’s fingers sought to cover the wounds left by the arrow’s journey through her leg. Nails dug into the surrounding flesh as her palms pressed into skin near the entry and exit, a fresh wave of pain hitting her. Warmth trickled down from her palms to her forearms. The arrow remained in her leg, though a good way through. Her wail built up once more into a shriek, smothered as she turned her head towards the ground.

Reduced to a writhing mess on the ground, she shut her eyes. It truly would have been better to have just gone on her way. Maximus wasn’t all that useful, anyways. He never listened; she could not give him commands and expect him to listen. The damn bird was no better than the Avriel that had shot her. Her wails remained steady, subdued only by sharp intakes of breath and panicked hiccups.

Hands were upon her and she flinched, only to find that it was the mage. She did not care to look for their feathered assailant, but grit her teeth as he asked if she was alright. Alright? “Fucking fit as a horse,” she hissed in response. She did not find his question appropriate, considering the arrow in her leg. “Am I alright--there’s a fucking arrow in my leg, you idiotic wall of muscle.” If she weren’t in excruciating pain, she might consider ripping the arrow from her leg and shoving it into his. Or better yet, slitting the Avriel’s throat.

[Noth]

Noth had faced a plethora of fearsome creatures throughout his time in the woods. There were those with gnarled claws and gnashing teeth, and those with ridiculous speed and monstrous strength. Some were truly animals, and others were simply men turned savage by their lustful worship of greed. Throughout all of those vicious encounters, the twilight hybrid had prevailed and achieved victory using his wits and cunning. He prided himself on being a clever individual, and knew that his plans typically surpassed those formulated by the common crook.

Which was why the realization that he had screwed up hurt even more than he might have imagined. It ached with a pain that was blatantly mental, though that would be quickly replaced by a far more physical sort of suffering. He had; for whatever reason, determined that it would be a good idea to strike the woman, and thereby force the massive man’s hand. The analogy fluttered into his mind the instant he saw the giant glare at him, and he realized that he had essentially provoked a bear by harming its cub.

Grand.

Feathered fingers worked swiftly, drawing another arrow from their quiver and placing it rapidly upon the bowstring. Nervous anxiety forced those same appendages to fail as they attempted to notch the arrow, and he felt himself struggling to perform the simple task. He felt the familiar snap of an attached arrow at the exact same moment that the bolt of glowing lightning struck him. It wrapped around his chest like a blanket, and he could feel a tingling sensation as it forced all of his feathers to stand up underneath his armor. It ached, though it wasn’t nearly as harsh a pain as had been expected from the blow. It seemed as though the armor had done its work by distributing the electricity throughout the entirety of his body instead of allowing for it to be pinpointed to a singular area, which meant that he was far less harmed than he might otherwise have been.

Crimson eyes glanced upwards, viewing the opposing beast for a split trill before noticing the slight glimmering mirage of speed blur as his form as it suddenly appeared directly ahead of him. There was a hefty weight attached to his bow that registered before he realized the strongman had taken ahold of it, and he vainly attempted to remove it from his grasp, the arrow falling from the bow in the struggle and landing gently upon the ground.

A similar weightiness took hold of his arm, and he felt himself uselessly grasp against his forearm, attempting to remove the weight. The innate ferocity of his Avriel blood overtook any sense of reason. He was a trapped animal, and like all trapped animals, he responded with an intense bout of violence in an attempt at freeing himself. He leapt upon the man’s chest, using his free arm to wrap around the back of his neck as he felt the intense pressure on his arm continue. His wing shot outwards, sending a surge of air forward with his pounce in an attempt at pushing the giant backwards slightly and relieving some of the pressure on his ailing arm, though if it did succeed, it was only a minimal reprieve.

Talons whirled to and fro against his stomach, apparently content with digging a hole of some sort upon the man himself. The first few swipes simply removed cloth, but moments later, Noth felt the familiar consistency of blood begin to soak underneath his appendages as they continued raking against him.

He might have continued if his arm hadn’t sounded a sickening crackle that resonated throughout his head an instant before a surge of awful pain touched his nervous system. He released the longbow in an instant, letting loose a horrific shriek akin to that of a wounded bird, and didn’t even notice that he was being lifted in the air until it was far too late. He aimlessly attempted to grab onto the man’s neck with his feet as he was thrown, but settled for leaving a final set of cuts across his upper collarbone as he was hurled.

The fight went out of him instantly, and he stared upwards into a sky, observing the many whirling wisps of visible wind as he curled into a ball of pain and attempted to regain any semblance of breath. He heaved uselessly, attempting to force some of the air above into his lungs, but failing several times before he finally succeeded in drawing it inwards. His arm ached with an abominable pain, and he ground his teeth against each other, attempting to stave off another shriek of agony.

The giant came to him, drowning out his view of the sky with his grotesque face. He threatened to remove the creature’s eyes, but those crimson orbs were far more focused upon the way his talons had ripped into the fellow.

He had fought the bear and lived, but he didn’t much enjoy his chances of trying again.

With a sigh, he remained upon the ground, determining that the battle was all but over. Bits passed, and gradually, weakly, the creature attempted to find its strength to walk, choosing to hobble away from the battle before the monster man could decide to steal anything else from him.

He mused, defeat tasted the same as victory; of blood and pain.

[Varthakh]

While Fridgar had anticipated that he would take some hits in his stunt, he hadn't quite stopped to think that the bird creature would claw his guts quite as much as he had. If he weren't as durable as he was, he might have yelped from the sudden burst of agony in deep in his core. Faster than he could register, the creature had leaped upon him, using his solid arm for balance and single wing for upward thrust. He caught Fridgar good with his glorified toe nails, tearing through his clothes with ease before digging in to his flesh with little effort. The nerve of the fucker, he even clawed his shoulder!

Even so, his pointy nails did little to slow down the Lotharro and Fridgar still used the man like a hammer, trying to break the ground. With his medical supplies at the ready, he looked over the arrow wound before passing a glance to the floored beast. Fridgar would be the last to show weakness to an enemy, so he relished in his endurance and occupied his mind while he seeped red with shreds of skin, muscle and organ showing slightly through the torn fabric of his clothes. "Yeah, funny." Fridgar held back a wince. "keep your eyes up here, I don't want you throwing up again." He gestured to his face, but made no eye contact.

He paused as he inspected the wound, then spoke "I'll be honest, I've never done this on someone else before. Have you ever been shot?". Fridgar often yanked arrows from various body parts in Andaris, but he was Lotharen, the woman obviously wasn't; he would need to be careful. He set up a cauterising iron to burn while he snapped the feathered end of the arrow clean off. He held the pointed end firm as to not cause too much discomfort. "I'm no expert at this stuff, so you're probably gonna scar." The scars all over every visible patches of skin confirmed his words to be true. "Hey look! A jacadon!" He pointed to the distance, whether the female looked or not, Fridgar pulled the rest of the arrow through in one swift, fast motion.

Immediately, he discarded the crimson soaked arrow and readied a bandage by bundling it up. Utilising his hefty maw, he pulled the cork free from a vial of sterilizing alcohol and put the bundled bandage at it's entrance before soaking it with the aid of gravity. "I'm not gonna lie to you, this is gonna sting like a bitch." He warned before immediately pressing the alcohol-soaked bandage into the wound. For good measure, he held her by the foot to stop her thrashing as a vicious pain shot through her whole leg. The pain would eventually recede and Fridgar proceeded to clean both the entrance and exit wounds, thoroughly.

Then, if she were still conscious, he'd speak "I'm so sorry, I don't have any painkillers with me." come to think of it, Fridgar hadn't used any painkillers when operating on himself. Fridgar choked as his lightheadedness grew. Coughing threw blood into his clenched fist, he quickly wiped it away before proceeding. "Ready?" He asked, almost appearing to sway. Then, with little space between his question and the action, he pressed the cauterising iron into the entrance wound, holding it there for a few trills. Then, after it was done, he set it back on the burner. Her flesh would explode with pain that seemed to crawl all over her body. She would react in a cold sweat in a futile effort to counter the immense heat that melted her skin together.

Fridgar grit his teeth before looking back to the bird creature, he was gone. Fucking hell. "So glad that cunt is gone." The lothar spoke, holding his throbbing head. "Note to self, don't fuck with an angry bird creature's bow." it would be some time before he could use Chrysalis again without overstepping. Thankfully, gut wounds took the longest to haemorrhage from, but were the most painful. Fridgar was in for a bad time. Once the iron was ready, he held down the woman's leg once more and applied the red hit iron to her exit wound, cauterising the remaining damage. "There you go! Good as new." Fridgar rubbed his head some more in self pity.

Just for good measure, he soaked a second bandage with the sterilizing alcohol and and wrapped it around her calf to promote the infection-free healing of her burns. "Now, the muscle is still fucked, so don't walk on it too much. Hobble if you have to." He looked the woman up and down, was she even conscious still? Fridgar turned off the burner but was careful not to injure himself and packed away his things once they were clean. "You're lucky, you know." Fridgar explained as he tidied up his belongings. "If that arrow had hit some bone, it coulda splintered inside you, not a fun clean up." In fact, if he'd removed the arrow any slower, it might have splintered.

"Just get plenty of rest and eat properly, I think you'll be alright." the bird man was surely in much worse shape. "Etzos is that way for a few breaks, watch your pockets while you're there." He pointed as he helped the woman to her feet, then to her horse. Should she complain about the pain in her leg, he would kindly remind her to man up before speaking some more "It's Fridgar by the way, I'll see you in the city maybe!" before sending her off.

[Danielle Tobelle]

She was going to kill Maximus. Fry him, nice and crispy. All of this was, of course, the stupid fucking bird's fault. She would not have stopped if not for him flying away. If she had simply left the feathered rodent be, she would have been perfectly fine atop her horse. But no--now she had an arrow lodged in her calf.

The Lotharro said something about keeping her eyes up, but she did not need to be told twice. Danielle had already caught the faintest glimpse of red and was not interested in investigating further. She bore holes into the stranger's face, determined to take someone's advice for once. “Only once a cycle,” came her clipped remark when asked if she'd been shot before. Did it look like she'd been shot before? She didn't think her reaction would project that sort of experience. Danielle had the good fortune of never having to see someone get shot or injured in any way. Tales, she'd heard, but first-hand experience was a different beast.

His attempt to distract her was met with a look of disdain, followed by a string of curses. She reached into the depths of her colorful vocabulary to produce something akin to a verbal assault on the man's kin and himself before collapsing back. She was clearly not one with a high threshold for pain. Close to tears and chest heaving, she was not ready for the next wave of pain that came with the sanitation of her wound. Rather than words, another drawn out wail left her. Shame and humiliation were far from her mind as she attempted to kick out at the large man, only for his firm hold to keep her in place.

Despite her swimming vision, she could see that the man did not fare any better than she. His swaying was not a good sign. “Oh, no; don't mind the painkillers. I'll just, y'know, scream and writhe in pain a little more. It'll be fun.” She was tired, oh so tired. The pain robbed her of much of her strength, limbs weak and shaking. The adrenaline had since worn off, knowing that for the most part she would be safe. Or maybe just having given up for the moment was enough for her body to relax slightly. She was, in fact, not ready as he cauterized the wound. It was enough to make her faint, eyes nearly rolling back and limbs limp as noodles.

She was shaken back into consciousness by the Lotharro bringing her to her feet. Delightful; shot and manhandled. This trial was certainly turning out to be a great one. The most interesting injury she'd ever had previously was a skinned knee while playing knights and bandits with Narav. Now, if she ever found him again, she'd have something else to boast about. Danielle hobbled towards her horse, gaze planted firmly away from the man's injuries. Injured animals, she could deal with. Injured people, not so much.

“Danielle, and maybe take the next arrow for me, yeah?” Using her good leg to spur the horse forward, she took off towards where Fridgar had pointed.

[Plague]

XP Award!

Fridgar:

Experience Award:

• Grammar 5/5
• Collaboration 5/5
• Structure 5/5

General Lore:

• Medicine: Treating an Arrow Wound
• King Crocodile: Weak jaw opening strength
• Unarmed: Strategy for Wrestling in Water
• Unarmed: Strategy for Wrestling something bigger and stronger than you.
• Danielle: No stomach for gore

Notes: These points CANNOT be used for magic. While you did use your Rupturing at your level when you made this thread, your current level is such that a single blink is no longer sufficient to advance in competency. Also, two things. First, the King Crocodile is not native to Etzos. It is a Jungle creature from Southern Idalos...roughly a continent away. Take care to study the habitat of your totems before running into them, just a note. Next, you have this habit of writing other people's reactions to the things you do. You teleported, grabbed the bow, threw the character without allowing them proper room to posit their own details. Unless the fight has been discussed between the players beforehand, you should refrain from writing how they would react or not dodge or do nothing to your onslaught. A Blink is surprising, yes, but you vanish in once place then reappear in another and THEN grab the bow, ample opportunity for a battle-tested opponent to react. Just keep that in mind in future threads. Obviously we know that you're a better Becomer than advancing with a single Chrysalis and we already talked about how easy you took down the King Croc (you had a followup thread so we're all good). Excellent use of Alpha, by the by, and it is true that you only need to defeat an opponent, not kill, for that mutation to be satisfied. I refrained from any knowledge on Noth since Frid knows next to nothing about the dude.

Danielle:

Experience Award:

• Structure 5/5
• Grammar 5/5
• Collaboration 5/5

General Lore:

• Fridgar: Hunts for Crocodiles bare handed
• Fridgar: Capable Surgeon
• Fridgar: Mage
• Fridgar: Capable of Self Healing and Teleportation
• Fridgar: Capable of Throwing Lightning
• Noth: Accurate with his bow
• Medicine: The sight of raw muscle

Notes: Lovely work from Danielle. I liked how nonplussed and pissed she was at each new iteration of the situation. Although helpless against these two, she somehow managed to still maintain her aggravated attitude through it all.

Danielle has had her wound properly treated, but the damage was fairly extensive. She will maintain a limp for the remainder of this season and next and only shake it if she avoids injury and extreme stress to that leg during such time. A nasty scar will remain as a reminder.

Noth:

Experience Award:

• Structure 5/5
• Grammar 5/5
• Collaboration 5/5

General Lore:

• Tactics: Knowing when to stay down
• Fridgar: Mage
• Fridgar: Capable of Self Healing and Teleportation
• Fridgar: Capable of Throwing Lightning

Notes: All in all an interesting thread all. I appreciate the work you all put into it. A curious meeting of forces that I would be down to see meet again. Well done all, if you have any questions, let me know.

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