My fists are fine, it's just my soul's a little bruised

Time has stopped before us The sky cannot ignore us Unaware of any other intentions, the Sword’s thoughts remained firmly on vehemence and violence; an outlet for the restless endeavors. The feral beast in his clutches squeaked again, but then drew silent as he grasped firmer, overcome by strength and incapable of hampering Colt below as she worked upon the rat he’d already intended to fell. Briefly amused that she might be striving to take his kill, he waited until her arrow surged further into the little monster, and the Accepted firmly out of the way, before unfurling another pinpointed gaze upon the fourth rat. The lightning surged, crackled, and rippled through the blind cretin, and then it was no more – another piece of the boggy backdrop as it twitched, fell, and succumbed. Its brethren, despite looking like a pin cushion by the weapons sticking out of their sides, didn’t seem wholly bothered by the loss of their kin nor their own pain – and had surged across the quagmire, rampaging closer and closer to where Colt stood. Rat 1: 250/356 Rat 2: 326/356 Rat 3: 326/356 Rat 4: 0/356 the Resurrected Sword No one can separate us For we are all that is left

She figured at the very least, tagging them all would slow them, and provide some manner of hinderance. A helpful way to keep track of their scurrying frames too. She’d not test her aim against the range of his claws though, and she ought to have held her shot a bit longer to let his lightning fell the other one. These thoughts churn distant in the back of the mind, noted, but not dwelled on, not when they continue to advance. Either way, overkill or not, it was one less.

Not celebrating beyond the stretch of her smile and the loosening of some tension in her chest, she continues on with the face off against the others, still edging away. Her next arrow sails after some steadying, movement and terrain adding layers of challenge as opposed to target training. Not that Colt just stands still and shoots a solid dummy all day long, but it is always easier to do so. Her sharp shot comes in a rapid form now, quickly sending one arrow after the other towards the third rat.

---

The Pencil Sharpener | An earthen quiver that sharpens any arrow placed inside.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Upgraded | Cost: Action

The Wildwatch: Hunter’s Presence: Rolls with advantage against regular creatures (anything marked with a difficulty of Normal or below).

 

Colt

Time has stopped before us The sky cannot ignore us Continuing the plunge, the rats had yet to notice they were in any sort of plight. While their wounds must’ve been agonizing, their minds certainly hadn’t appeared to process the information, and the second one, despite the marring of an arrow at its side, advanced, striving to sneak around rock piles and boggy portions, yearning to sink its teeth into Colt. Her armament still stuck true and held fast in its accuracy (if Deimos wasn’t surprised, he wasn’t going to utter anything about it), puncturing into the third rat’s shoulder with ease. The beast gave a guttural moan and groan, rolling to its side. It only seemed mildly deterred, however, but struggled to get up due to the impact of the arrow. Deimos, for his part, continued to maul the rat in his clutches out of existence, while unfurling towards the second rat, intending to block its impending reach of the Accepted with a well-timed pulse of lightning before it could make a stumbling, bumbling climb her way. Rat 1: 142/356 Rat 2: 218/356 Rat 3: 296/356 Rat 4: 0/356 the Resurrected Sword No one can separate us For we are all that is left

Her arrows are landing, but the rats don’t feel them as much as she’d like, and she clenches her teeth. A reminder, not that she needed the nip of it, that she needs to finish the tasks Frey provided her to make her edge more substantial than this.

Deimos’ might is her shield yet again, and she doesn’t begrudge the shelter of it in the least. She sees the way her mark staggers, but still crawls, and how he twists to lend lightning to it, as much assault as distraction and deterrent. Shaking out her arm for a minute, and focuses on moving further away than her slow creeping pace, she tries her best to maintain distance.

She glances at the magnificent bird, grateful they seem to be able to cooperate seamlessly even in silence. She’d have raised her voice to offer some of her motives, but the rats need no further reason to pursue her. So, just keeping an eye on where the Sword is at, Colt again nocks a sharpened arrow and fires two quick successions of pointed shafts towards rat 3.

---

The Pencil Sharpener | An earthen quiver that sharpens any arrow placed inside.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Upgraded | Cost: Action

The Wildwatch: Hunter’s Presence: Rolls with advantage against regular creatures (anything marked with a difficulty of Normal or below).

 

Colt

Time has stopped before us The sky cannot ignore us Colt maintained her distance, but it didn’t seem to be coming at any cost. With two quick draws of her quiver, the third rat felt the plunge of it sinking into its legs and back. It shifted momentarily, shaking its head, senses all in shock and surprise, losing her scent momentarily to the overwhelming semblance and sense of pain. It’d give her an instant to gain more traction, before it seemed to quantify the meaning of why it still roamed, turning and twisting the angle of its slower, hampered movements. Well versed in working independently or within a group, given how many wars he’d been immersed within, the Sword continued to ensure neither of them were locked in deadly stakes or menacing proportions. A careful balance, considering the lack of communication between bird and human, but he knew enough to watch, to witness, to take plans and alter them if need be. So Deimos wasted no time in unfurling more catastrophe upon the beasts. The one in his talons felt the last clutches of life as he clenched his grasp into final breaths of air, and then, on another thought, threw the little cretin downwards with a powerful, potent motion of his talons, where the creature eventually hit murky rocks with a devastating thud of broken bones and splattered remains. Two down, two to go. With that thought, he pierced his sight directly upon the second rat once more, and it squeaked with horrifying nuances the moment the lightning split into its skin. Rat 1: 0/356 Rat 2: 110/356 Rat 3: 236/356 Rat 4: 0/356 the Resurrected Sword No one can separate us For we are all that is left

Content that her arrows are at least landing, that her distance keeps her back from their vicious teeth and wicked claws, Colt persists. She has never minded chipping away at success, a patience born of seeing things change slow and steady into something better. A quality that has served her well plenty, but not without the drawbacks of weather other storms she should have run from. It’s a difficult line to walk sometimes, knowing when to maintain and when to retreat, although typically it’s her heart that can’t properly decide.

Here, now, with this, she knows the answer plainly. She nocks another arrow, this time purposefully selecting the same target as Deimos. The rat squirms and cries out against his abilities, but she sees its will still flaring, and she means to cut that away. Her arrow flies, serving to punctuate Deimos’ statement.

---

The Pencil Sharpener | An earthen quiver that sharpens any arrow placed inside.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Upgraded | Cost: Action

The Wildwatch: Hunter’s Presence: Rolls with advantage against regular creatures (anything marked with a difficulty of Normal or below).

 

Colt

Time has stopped before us The sky cannot ignore us They both had enough patience to continue the hunting and mauling of the beasts. The Sword’s coldblooded calculations, combined with determination and effort, matched with Colt’s own steadfast portions – neither of them fled, nor sought retreat. The last time he’d done so had been amongst Starfall, and only so that they could return at a later point with better ideals and plans, purpose in mind. Sometimes there were moments where one had to look at the bigger picture, find footholds and machinations at a later juncture (there'd been many times in the Grounds where they'd made too large of an error); but this wasn’t one of those hours, not with limping rats, arrows, and lightning sizzling into the proportions. As her arrow flew, so too did his shift’s incantations, and between their accuracy and power, it was enough to destroy and distort the thing into naught more than a simmering carcass, joining its brethren in the descent of demise. The last, lingering gigantic cretin didn’t seem particularly bothered or outdone by its kin being massacred around it though, clambering and climbing through muck and mire just to see if it could reach Colt – venomous bite intending to gnaw and grab and slash if she didn’t keep maintaining her distance, or find another method in the madness. Rat 1: 0/356 Rat 2: 0/356 Rat 3: 236/356 Rat 4: 0/356 the Resurrected Sword No one can separate us For we are all that is left

They've whittled them down little by little, until just the one remains. She'd be in far worse condition were it not for his strength sending them permanently into the mire, for even with her accuracy, she has no fantasy over who's might is proving better equipped. Which is not surprising, given how long Deimos has been honing her craft, while he's had only been taken up in response to the alien threat.

Her reach for another arrow falters as she rat lunges. Colt yells, quickly side-stepping and turning to sprint further down the swamp lane, though the going is wet and sticky again, having run out of the firmed portions of ground that Deimos had previously made. "Vicious little fucks aren't they," she snarls out, no longer fearing that her voice would draw attention when she's so clearly got it already, and only one left to disperse distractions to. Grimacing, she grabs another arrow and fires at it, walking back as she does to keep the length she put between them.

---

The Pencil Sharpener | An earthen quiver that sharpens any arrow placed inside.
Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Upgraded | Cost: Action

The Wildwatch: Hunter’s Presence: Rolls with advantage against regular creatures (anything marked with a difficulty of Normal or below).

 

Colt

Time has stopped before us The sky cannot ignore us He loosened one snort from his frame at her retort; it’d been why he was hunting them down in the first place. One less horde of blind swamp rats was enough of a satisfaction to him; piercing their menace and might into the vicious group served multitudes of purposes. With only one remaining though, the determination persisted, and he flew over as she rendered another arrow into its sides. There was a gasping, flailing motion from the blind rodent, but hostile and unrelenting, it still persisted and pursued. The thunderbird swooped down and delivered another vicious blow of lightning; accuracy pinpointed squarely from his sight, and the absorption of shock and sparks and anything else (he could imagine a few heartbeats gone very awry) sent the rat into a slower prowess, struggling to grapple with its movements. It’d likely be enough time for Colt to find a greater vantage point, and then they could finish it off. Rat 1: 0/356 Rat 2: 0/356 Rat 3: 98/356 Rat 4: 0/356 the Resurrected Sword No one can separate us For we are all that is left

The sickening rancor of the beast reminds her of the Family’s viciousness, of corrupted animals prone to flinging themselves into ruin rather than the sense of retreat and survival. Its violence feeds it more than anything else, it seems, and she has to wonder if living in a place like this isn’t the cause.

A tree nearby is where she turns her attention as the distance between them falters again. Maybe an obstacle put in its path would help slow it down. She grunts as she turns, wading through the muck and reaching out to the branches to haul her through it that much faster. Her fingers curl against the bark as she passes around it, going for a little ring-around-the-rosy if need be.

Unfortunately, this adds more difficulty to her bow and arrow use, but in close range now, she still has some use. Withdrawing a knife from her boot, she flicks it open. ”Just die already,” she grumbles to the beast, flicking the blade towards its ugly body.

---

The Wildwatch: Hunter’s Presence: Rolls with advantage against regular creatures (anything marked with a difficulty of Normal or below).

 

Colt

Deimos

Deimos knew a thing or two about the never-ending cycle of violence – war spurned war, battle prompted battle, crusade after crusade after crusade. Some necessary, some not, and some left nothing more than a multitude of scars upon those who’d survived and those long since gone, buried, beneath the works of stone. But then again, did one blame the animals for their instincts? Unfortunately, much of the beasts within Caido were tenacious and vicious, Family impaired or not – but then again, so was he, and he suspected Colt was much the same. Determination could tip the scales even when might and strength were suitable matches. Alas, for those already deceased, they should have taken some anecdotes from their fallen comrades, and hastened off before the straggling, blinded glances left nothing but emptiness behind concaved nerves and severed spines.

So as she grumbled and fled from one stretch to the next, she’d likely finally have her command answered. Her arrow struck true, right into the denizens of its left foreleg, and it screamed, screeched, for its brethren that wouldn’t be coming. A finishing blow from the thunderbird ensured it dropped dead soon after; and with a shake of his head, he was landing, human again.

“Thank you for the help,” he extended, kicking at the nearest one with his boot and sending it into the muck. “You see why they are a problem.” Shrugging his shoulders, having done this on many an occasion and remaining wholly unbothered by it all, he gave her half a moment to return back to pictures of normalcy, venues of calm, as the peryton extended messages from above. “Belial did happen to see a horse about a hundred yards that way,” pointing north, “If you want some help.”

we exhume our enemy's bones
we are battling, hungry beasts

There’s no denying the instant flood of relief when she sees its body squirm into stillness. While no lumberingly large and impressive thing, their viciousness is almost made worse for their smaller stature, and the incessant press upon her, here in this bogged down place, felt like ground just waiting to trap her for their teeth. It would only take a time or two for the venom to set in. Not for the first time, she’s grateful to the strength of others for surviving another day, and though she’s no delusions of grandeur, it spurs her onward to improve herself so she might stand alone more safely down the road.

Loosening the tight coil in her spine, Colt steps from around the tree, features pulled into something grim as she watches Deimos kick the corpse away. She feels no remorse or guilt. This world is as violent as those rats. ”Their size comes from numbers,” she remarks, a thoughtful edge of consideration. How much easier this would have been against only one. ”I’m glad we’re rid of these few now.” More surely to come, in time. Let someone else deal with those, she’d be finding a bath.

As Belial recounts some new scouting information, she brightens further. ”Oh, finally,” she sighs, head tipping back with a mild smile. ”I would be grateful for your continued support,” she says with a glance shot his way. Traversing the ground alone is far improved with him, nevermind his defense against whatever other vile things lurk. Without delay, certain he also wants to bathe, she sets out where he directs to reclaim the idiot horse.

[FIN]

 

Colt