"Such pearls as to make the sea-king jealous!" he declared with a gallant grin of his own, indeed enjoying the banter but seeking only wordplay, not foreplay. He might not have been a married man, but he was a loyal one, and his heart was held in hands far gentler than the woman warrior's sword-calloused palms. That didn't mean he couldn't appreciate a beautiful face or a sharp wit with which to trade clever parries and ripostes!
But banter was forced to take a backseat to the more imminent interest of the worms, who were quite put-out by the passing of their puddle. They each stopped the initial charges of their unusual opponents, earth and lightning proving to be good companions for the task at hand. Jigano's foe lunged towards his taunting stomp and he slipped sideways, letting it slam its head (well, it was hard to tell with worms, but its front end at the moment) into the tree behind him. Hotaru's prey had already had quite enough of her first shock, and was trying to slither away when she struck it with the bar. There were no bones to stop the piercing of its slimy body, but it twitched and writhed from the first contact of the electrified steel against its skin, and the stake didn't slice cleanly, getting stuck halfway through the worm's flesh, roughly a foot in. The beast keened and thrashed again, tail whipping towards Hotaru as she turned away to try and attack its sibling.
The sibling fared less well, still being dazed from ramming the tree. It, too, sang out like a tea kettle at the boil as the spike sank deep, and Jigano clenched his fists in front of him as his earthen barrier shook, the ground vibrating from the strike of the large Magna Vermis responding to the cries of its companions and throwing itself against the shield Jigano had raised against it. The bard gritted his teeth, holding the impromptu wall together through an act of will as he glanced over at the huntress with a crooked grin. "I think they're starting to get the point, but maybe try to change the thrust of your argument?" he suggested - helpful as only a bard could be when faced with slimy danger. "It's shocking how fragile they are on the inside!"
But banter was forced to take a backseat to the more imminent interest of the worms, who were quite put-out by the passing of their puddle. They each stopped the initial charges of their unusual opponents, earth and lightning proving to be good companions for the task at hand. Jigano's foe lunged towards his taunting stomp and he slipped sideways, letting it slam its head (well, it was hard to tell with worms, but its front end at the moment) into the tree behind him. Hotaru's prey had already had quite enough of her first shock, and was trying to slither away when she struck it with the bar. There were no bones to stop the piercing of its slimy body, but it twitched and writhed from the first contact of the electrified steel against its skin, and the stake didn't slice cleanly, getting stuck halfway through the worm's flesh, roughly a foot in. The beast keened and thrashed again, tail whipping towards Hotaru as she turned away to try and attack its sibling.
The sibling fared less well, still being dazed from ramming the tree. It, too, sang out like a tea kettle at the boil as the spike sank deep, and Jigano clenched his fists in front of him as his earthen barrier shook, the ground vibrating from the strike of the large Magna Vermis responding to the cries of its companions and throwing itself against the shield Jigano had raised against it. The bard gritted his teeth, holding the impromptu wall together through an act of will as he glanced over at the huntress with a crooked grin. "I think they're starting to get the point, but maybe try to change the thrust of your argument?" he suggested - helpful as only a bard could be when faced with slimy danger. "It's shocking how fragile they are on the inside!"
