A thin, bony spike jutted from Nell's back, as he twisted around and raised his sword he felt the wound tear as the point was jostled around. Fuck fuck fuck. "Hey! Someone grab that cloth! And cover the hole!" He used his free hand and ripped out the bone, yelling at the explorer group over the pain. A sharp crack and reverberations sounded out as another projectile met the blade, but the metal held firm.
The woman had already grabbed the cloth, pressing it again the torn leather, he could feel the skin begin to stitch back together, but it was far too slow for his liking. Damnint, two times in a row is pushing it... FUCK! Nell shrunk the weapon, flipping it to face the ground and sliding it across his arms. He wasn't focusing enough to hear the cries of protest from the explorers, nor could he see the sizeable graceful creature darting from branch to branch, he sliced open his arm and thrust it skyward, the blood pouring from the deep incision.
Nell swept his hand out in a wide arc, sending spatters of blood out to the trees, reaching the end of the motion he clenched his fist, and the crimson liquid thinned, forming a sweeping blade sent crashing through the trees, a loud yelp was heard just above the crack of trees tumbling down, ripped from their trunks with the force of the razor's impact. The next minute or so was hazy for Nell, he grabbed his sword once more, taking the cloth and wrapping it around his open arm while walking to the source of the pained cries. He reached the battered body, finding a deer-sized creature covered head to toe in gnarled bony thorns, with two extra legs awkwardly spaced along its chest. The six eyes adorning its spiked face threw silent pleas at Nell as the boy approached, sword in hand. one leg was nearly severed, hanging on just barely by the skin, while both its hind legs were tightly held to the ground by a thick trunk. Nell barely waited and obliged the beast's request.
He didn't remember the short walk back, or the fifteen or so minutes after preceding his supposed collapse, yet he was conscious by the time of the next morning, laying in his hand-crafted hammock, the hole now covered in a neat grey patch. He swung his legs over the edge and thrust into the ground, hoisting himself up unsteadily, still weak from the blood loss. "Hey! You guys alive?"
"Sure are, unscratched, see?" The woman spoke up again, I'm getting tired of her voice. She gestured to the two men, both unharmed as she claimed. I thought the buff one got his arm impaled... whatever. Nell had neither the strength nor will to worry about that minor detail, instead focusing on the more important matter of his job.
"Are we heading to the structure today?" She eyed him up and down.
"Are you capable of going with us? You look a bit, weak, right now."
"Are we?" He said nothing further, making it clear his only question was truly final.
"Indeed, we're leaving shortly, you can eat on the way, we don't have much time, and our resources were cut by that attack, so we have to leave earlier than expected, we will scout the exterior and then begin heading back, camp is already packed." Indeed it is. Nell was beginning to get bothered, something about all the small inconsistencies was off, way too off, and if it weren't for the hyper-focus on the beast from earlier, he would've written it off. but something was, indeed, off.
"Where's the body?"
"Disposed of, the hell do you want to know for?" The buff-er man spoke up, with more obvious hatred.
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"I need to determine what the hell it was, and gather materials." Fucking dumbass. He leaned against a tree, the wooziness was getting to him badly.
"Well, if you need to know boy, it was a Pixon, a Helia specifically, nothing of use on it." His reply was sharp, and Nell nearly missed the flash of anger on the woman's otherwise unnaturally calm exterior. What the hell is that for? Wait, what did he say? The Pixon part made sense, anyone can determine a creature's species. But the Helia, that was the Hunters class system, one of the things the Association kept to themselves, no way someone with the Explorers would know. And there is no way ever that was just a Pixon. Hell, that wasn't even a beast, that was a fucking monster.
"Who the fuck are you guys!?" Nell's blade was in hand, but his grip was sloppy, all of them knew that, it was written all over his posture.
"You goddamn moron, stop opening your fucking mouth you walking waste of space." The contrast of the words and tone was unsettling, the woman's outburst of anger should've been undermined by the calm facade, yet it only amplified the fear emanating from those words. It sent chills down Nell's spine.
"I asked a question!" Fuck, gotta stop yelling, oh fuck... Fuzziness clouded his vision for a moment, then subsided. How much did I use, not that much, surely... The cloth! If they truly were what Nell feared, then when she grabbed the cloth she likely laced it with some toxin. Not good, not at all... His thoughts were getting sluggish, his brain slowing to the pace of his faltering body. He saw the slighter man rise, and take a single step forward.
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God, that never gets old! A flash of white as the sun's early rays glinted off swinging metal, that whisper of breath following its path. The yell of pain as the single-edged blade bit into flesh. The fall of the man, now with a long ornate ebony pole jutting from between his shoulder blades. None of it ever gets old.
"Fuck you, you bastard!" A muscled beast of a man charged the direction of the pole's origin, collapsing into the dirt a few paces from the shadowed grove.
"I don't think so." A thin needle, about a foot in length, protruded from his throat the behemoth sufficiently dealt with, and a lithe figure exited the close-by treeline. "Good evening there, sorry to barge in, but it appears you aren't as sneaky as you'd like, eh, Merise?" A tall woman stood from her cross-legged sitting position, turning from the hunched-over boy before her and facing down the lightly armored man.
"Fuck right off, Little Puppet." a true smile danced on her lips, her eyes filled with joy.
"I'll pass, thanks." A bright flash erupted from the first man's back, the pole was gone, now appearing in the hands of the slender man, a glaive, beautiful ebony-colored handle, topped with a light grey straight blade. A glaive. He twirled the pole, pointing the tip of the single-edged steel at his foe, lowering into an athlete's stance. "We've fought before, but I assure you we won't fight again"
"Die for the last time Jace!" She lunged forward, dark overcoat billowing out around her form, she landed a solid hook into Jace's face, his head snapping left, then right, left again. A jab to the chest sent him sprawling back, landing on his chest, glaive thrown aside from the tumble, and quickly getting back to his feet. Don't ruin my fun! How could you have gotten worse?! His eyes flashed with momentary anger, raising his left arm at the rapidly approaching Merise he closed his fist, leaving the last two fingers extended.
"You make this so boring, go to hell where you belong, vile woman." Burst. As the waste of light and distorted air reached her frame Merise was thrust back, seemingly yanked by an invisible hand, her tumbling body producing faint smoke and the smell of scorched meat. Still, she tried to stand, broken limbs struggling to find purchase in the dirt with the rapidly draining energy at their disposal. she only lay there for a minute, before the spasms calmed into twitching, then to stillness. Approaching with his glaive in hand Jace stared down at the burnt body with contempt. "Each one of you disgusts me." A sickening crunch echoed through the silent grove as Jace dealt an ensuring blow. Turning to the boy he flashed an apologetic and sincere smile. "I truly am sorry, I try to keep the violence to a minimum around others, please understand it was do-or-die, for you especially."