Chapter 20: Ambush
“Thank you.” He said as he accepted the cooked meat from Harrow. The steam from the meat was thick in the frosted air, wavering in the still breeze that only pushed the vapour slightly. The fire popped, shooting an ember outward as the built-up pressure expanded through a crack the burning had caused. Joseph laid a foot on it, scuffing it into the dirt to extinguish it despite no real danger of allowing it to exhaust itself naturally. He was on his last pair of shoes, so perhaps he shouldn’t risk damaging them when not necessary, but it felt wrong to leave it.
They sat quietly. Pan handed Harrow another cube of meat to cook over the fire, this time for her. The pale moonlight washed over the dying grasses, the slow change in seasons wearing upon the plants. Deep shadows were cast towards the building from the patches of trees and forest, obscuring large swaths of the property.
He shuffled to the side on his stool, feeling one section of his leg colder and in need of the fire’s warmth. Slowly rising clouds puffed from them with each breath, only dissipating after lingering in the air for a while. He knew Mama and Violet were resting inside since it was far too cold, and later too dangerous, for them to be out, but he would like to share moments like these with them again soon. In an odd way he longed for the simple days of the cave, just the three of them cuddled together as they watched the smoke dance before the stars.
Harrow tried to speak to him, choking on some words before she could get a sentence started. Pan had explained that the silent speaking she had been doing for a while before she spoke to him proper was merely practising all the foreign movements that would trip her as she tried to speak, much like Harrow was experiencing now. She assured him that Harrow and Nalah likely understood most if not all of his own words at the moment. Any missing ones would be filled in by context or a quick explanation. He didn’t mind. More people to responding to him without needing Pan to ‘sanitize’ his language was easier on both him and her. She had taken it upon herself to boil down his longer tirades and irritated grumblings to their more basic components and rephrase them.
Joseph couldn’t find it in him to blame her for it. He swore a lot when he got heated and often spoke in metaphors and similes to blow off steam in his frustration. All of which would make parsing a direct translation borderline impossible. He did find it curious how she would pause for a while whenever he finished ranting, but assumed it was a normal adjustment between languages or that she was trying to connect similar concepts without the exact words.
Nope. Too many F-bombs that needed to be mentally removed. Funny in a way. If he wasn’t straining his ears to listen to even the slightest oddity, he would have experimented to find out how it sounds to them before their translators fully kicked in.
That was another thing they were allowed to share since he was there when Nalah announced her sudden understanding of a previously alien language. They had twice-stolen and twice-reverse-engineered translation tech. No one could really say how they knew it was a prototype of a prototype besides Sahari, but their pack leader wasn’t here and no one had thought to ask about it before now. He understood, it was pointless knowing specifics that you yourself would never exercise.
He stared at the stars that were only mostly obstructed by wandering clouds that slowly rolled over the landscape, the nebula of colours piercing through the black eased his stress slightly. He took a deep breath, letting the air seep out until he released it all at once, just to watch the fog roll gently away.
“Nervous?” A soft voice directed at him. He turned his eyes, head lazily following after. Pan had looked up from the fire, her stare worried yet still. He closed his eyes, stretching and grasping his fingers as he worked them over the flame.
“Chilly.” He held both hands over it, flipping them over once feeling began to return to his fingertips. Her stare didn’t waver, her eyes remaining fixed on him. He cycled a deep breath, mildly annoyed that it would be pretty difficult to hide anything from her, but also somewhat thankful too. “Yeah. Kind of nervous.”
“That he won’t believe you?” She asked, head tilted while one ear pivoted aimlessly. She always picked up one twitch or fidget when his emotions passed an arbitrary threshold. Seems restlessness meant her ears pretended to be a radar dish.
Joseph shook his head. “I doubt he will. I mean, great if he does! But...” He let the implication of a confirmation hang.
“But it’s best not to rely on it.” She concluded understandingly.
“Yeah. We’ve been out here a while, maybe he decided to call it quits?” He asked hopefully, his tone devoid of confidence as he shrugged. He knew that it would likely happen. Someone who spent so much time talking about honour would either back down when they realized that they couldn’t do anything, or they would tear the universe a new asshole just so they can shove their boot up it. It all depends on the culture and the person it shaped. If someone getting the chemical version of divorced drove them to suicide or terminal risk-related behaviour, then failing to complete a task you swore your life to do would likely end up the same way.
Jax has, in his mind, two options. Either ‘rescue’ his pack so that he could complete his oath, or die trying so he could gain access to Lilhun Valhalla. Sure, there was wiggle room on a time frame, but he left with a head full of assumptions and none of them related to Joseph doing anything besides poking everyone with a pointy stick while laughing like a super villain.
Personally, he would have attacked while everyone was out and about doing their tasks. The windows were reinforced, sure, but they weren't indestructible. Find the ‘hostages’ and have the other pack members exfiltrate them while the he ran distraction away from the noise. Jax may have a lot of security training, but it seems that he has next to no infiltration training. Joseph didn’t have much of either, but he did stir up trouble as a teen.
“Harrow wants to know if you’re ready?” Pan informed him. He did a quick check of his equipment, double checking the straps on his armour that sat above his leather vest and making sure his spear hadn’t fallen over. He wore a baggy sweater over everything to conceal that he was able to take a few hits if needed. The armour was still marred from the wolf attack on their way to the pod, never having been replaced, but it should stand up to an untreated spear. Long enough for him to break it, anyway. After that, it was all luck and wagering that his hours of punching air won out over crappy hand-to-hand training. Paw-to-paw? Claw-to-claw? Hmm.
“Yeah. All good here. Wish I had a better weapon for close quarters though. Punch-daggers or a karambit. Katars. Maybe some arm and leg armour.” He lamented, raising an arm to confirm the lack of protection.
Pan nodded. “Vambraces would be suitable against his claws, yes.” Joseph raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“So, that’s what they’re called. Neat. Where’d you learn that?” He asked, only moderately invested in an answer.
“Robert called yesterday. You were in the shower.” She answered, a slight smirk playing at the corner of her mouth.
“Rob called? Aw, man... How is he?” Joseph slumped on his seat. The calls were supposed to be done at roughly the same time each week, but the different solar cycles had slowly skewed the time difference to be somewhat unpredictable recently. All the hubbub today had really removed the thought from his head.
Pan broke into a full smile. “He’s doing okay. He was a lot more interested in your... I think he called it ‘humanitarian’ work.”
“Lilhun-itarian? Cat-itarian?” Joseph suggested, flopping a hand to the side and letting his head roll towards her. “How about his contact?”
“Merging wormholes is already considered impossible for Lilhuns to achieve. The fact that you are trying to at all is impressive. More so that you’re doing it on such a small scale. Robert says that the extra system he gave her will take some time to blend in. More than he suspected.” She reported.
“Her? His contact is a her? Is my brother talkin’ to a lady?” He asked, pitching his voice up as he leaned in. Pan laughed, pushing him away.
“He did not mention his relationship with her besides. Merely used a gender specific pronoun when I asked. He seemed frustrated that it was taking so long, so I guess it slipped his notice.” She shrugged.
Harrow asked a question, handing Pan a cooked cube of meat in exchange for a raw one to add to her skewer. “Robert is Joseph’s blood-kin. His ‘brother’. He is... Nice. If a bit too eager to talk to me.” Pan answered, glancing at Joseph with a silent question of her own. He stared at her, confused, until it clicked for him.
“OH! Yeah. You guys look a lot like a creature from an entertainment franchise. He’s a nerd, don’t worry about it. I think he’s mostly just excited over the whole thing.” Joseph answered with a laugh and a dismissively waved hand. Pan opened her mouth to speak again but was silenced by Joseph holding up a finger. His eyes rolled slowly as he soaked in the environment. A few moments pass before he spoke. “Hey, Tel! Did you bring your boss?” He asked, turning around to see the Lilhun sat on the sat on the roof of the building, legs dangling off the edge.
Pan repeated the question after a moment of surprise, getting a reply from Tel who had flopped onto her back in protest. “She said Sahari’s on her way, she should be here soon and that Jax is making a move. She also asked how you always know she’s around, but I think that was rhetorical.” Pan relayed.
Joseph shook his head. He couldn’t explain how he noticed all the subtle differences either. The fact she smelled like peppermint helped, but he wasn’t about to mention it. He liked peppermint and it would be a shame if she stopped whatever it was that made her smell like it. “Give her the cliff-notes then get her to Sahari and hide, we don’t need Jax falling back to more brutal tactics because he thinks I brainwashed everyone.”
Pan got up to give Tel the condensed version of the plan to bring her up to speed. It wouldn’t take long. Not much to say besides that they were going to try to talk to the man on a murder-mission to hopefully turn the ‘murder’ portion into ‘friendship’. At least change it to ‘not being an asshole’. Small dreams. He shifted in his seat when a black figure caught the corner of his eye. Were it not for Harrow giving a small wave, he would have jumped into a battle-ready stance.
The black-furred Lilhun almost absorbed the moonlight around her. Her rapid panting breaths left a steady stream of vapour trailing from her as she sized him up from a distance. He returned the motions, scanning for any weapons on or around her. She stood relaxed, if a bit winded. Her full height likely passed his by a few inches. Any other details were muted by the lack of lighting, but given that the only color on her besides the yellow of her irises was the deep black of her fur, there wasn’t a spear involved. Satisfied that nothing about the new person matched Jax’s description besides the color, he looked to ask Harrow to say hello for him since Pan was preoccupied. He was pretty damn sure the curves spoke to the femininity at great volume, but it was better to be safe when he was being targeted.
A flash of silver dominated the vision of his right eye as he turned his head, a sting of cold pain tore from his nose to his ear.
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Pan heard Joseph swear from the fire. The brief moment it took her to glance around the corner of the building was long enough for Tel to disappear, as Pan was about to excuse herself only to be met with no one to request their pardon. It was no matter; she had relayed the plan as requested and was free to assist Joseph in talking to Jax. Assuming he hadn’t already engaged in his assault.
Unfortunately, Joseph was already injured. Blood was running down his face in worrying amounts from a large gash that spanned from his nose to his earlobe. A crude silver spear that looked to be hastily honed laid several feet beyond the fire, likely having been thrown. It wasn’t impaling Joseph, so Jax had to have missed. She glanced from the spear in time to watch Joseph dash for his own spear and take a defensive stance between the group and the direction the spear had come from. His arms were higher to block his face and shoulders raised to protect his jaw and neck. He was on high alert, looking for the origin of the attack.
Jax walked from the shadow of a tree, having been using the natural cover of darkness to hide himself. Even at the distance between them, Jax towered over Joseph, though Joseph didn’t seem to care.
She walked back towards him, hoping that they could stop this from escalating further than it already had. She felt her claws retract and extend as her paw idly twitched. Her worry remained but was accompanied by a moderate fouling of her mood. Like someone had ripped fabric she had been looking forward to using, but wasn’t dependant on. She knew she experienced a portion of Joseph’s emotions when she was close enough and they were of stronger origin, but this was a bit more than she had previously experienced. Given her already insensitive receptors, he must be very upset that Jax had taken the first strike.
Harrow looked at her as she got within twenty legnths or so, glancing at Jax and silently asking permission for something. Jax started walking towards Joseph, drawing Harrow’s attention before Pan had a chance to respond. She hobbled off of her seat, limping lightly to stand between the two.
“Jax! We... We’re okay! They took us in when we asked for-” Harrow’s weak plea was cut short when Jax grabbed her by the shoulder. He looked remorseful, a deep regret staining his otherwise stoic visage as his nose twitched. He whispered some quiet words to the female. “Jax... Stop this. He didn’t do anything wrong, okay? Just put down the weapo-”
Jax’s face flashed with rage as he shoved her to the side behind him, off balancing her. She landed on her rear, more shocked than anything else. Pan quietly cursed to herself. Harrow was shaken by the surprise attack, of course he would notice how stressed she was. The entire plan rode on Harrow being somewhat calm when they tried to communicate. Pan resolved to watch from the sidelines so as not to distract Joseph.
Until the rage kicked in.
It hit her like a gunshot to the chest as her mind emptied almost all thoughts besides violent vengeance. She felt her fur bristle in waves. Muscles tensed as she threw herself into a wide and wild stance, every claw extending fully. Her ears pinned themselves back while her vision narrowed, adrenaline flooding her system and scorching her veins as it roared through her.
She dropped herself to the ground, one fore-paw clutching the frosted ground to launch herself forward as the war-drum of her heart resonated throughout her. Each beat increasing in frequency and intensity as blood surged to her limbs. Her snarl exposed her canines, jaw preparing to gouge out flesh in mere moments. Her energy built, leaning into the prepared legs for the launch.
And then it stopped. A single blink and every function her body had prepared for a fight to the death had simply aborted what it was doing to return to normal functions. The shift almost gave her whiplash, confusion at the rapid change dominating the remains of anger. It was still there, just reduced to what it was before. Unpleasant, but manageable. It took a moment to dawn on her that it was a sympathetic response from her bond with Joseph. She studied him as he held his spear forward to match Jax’s approach, no visual change in his composure. A flash of anger, yet he looked the same as he did before Harrow was pushed aside, as if it wasn’t even close to his limit.
Pan swallowed deeply.
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The rage was hollow, but potent all the same. Sahari’s nose twitched as the scents of two emotions raged for dominance. Joseph’s anger flash boiled for but a second until it receded back to even with Jax’s. She caught a glimpse of Pan throwing herself into a primal combat stance of pure instinct, then blink and seem dazed by the movement.
The Huntress raised an eyebrow. That was a bonded response, no question. Problem was, Pan should be incapable of bonding to anything. The only thing she ever seemed to respond to was the overwhelming terror during the beast attack on the camp and even then, she barely noticed it.
She was glad that Joseph was getting so angry for her pack, but it was worrisome that he would lose so much self-control so easily. She wanted Jax subdued, not dead. He was far too valuable in an established settlement to kill off because he was overly zealous in his vows. If anything, that was a virtue. It was her reluctance to merge her pack that had caused this, he need not pay that price for her. Perhaps it was a foolish whim, but she had promised to lead all of them to stability.
It seemed that her worry would be put on hold, however, as Joseph did not blindly rage into battle as Pan’s reaction suggested he would. He closed the distance carefully, leading Jax to circle each other instead of recklessly attacking. His stance was wrong for a pole-arm weapon, but it was much more than a brand-new spear user would accomplish. She just hoped his plan worked.
Her recon had relayed the details quietly, but it still seemed like a long shot. Jax may have a weaker weapon, but he has mountains of experience with stun rods and the like. The two cautiously sized each other up, steps in and out of range to bait the other into attacking with neither committing to anything. Joseph knew this part of the game, if nothing else. He would feign a thrust before stepping out of retaliation, testing the reaction time and distance that Jax could attack him from. Jax returned the prodding, stepping into range and waiting for Joseph to attempt to swat him away. The two ebbed and flowed, slowly confirming their effectiveness.
Jax broke the stalemate. He slapped Joseph’s spear out of the way during an extended step and used the time it took for him to reset his spear to a usable position to shoulder-check the biped to the ground. Joseph landed heavily on his back, barely rolling out of the way of a piercing thrust to his chest. Two more followed before Joseph slipped himself to his feet, managing a glancing blow to Jax’s shoulder. Too shallow to impede him, but enough to make him hesitant. Unfortunately, Jax was no stranger to trading wounds in a fight.
Jax distracted Joseph with a wide sweeping strike to the head, using the moment Joseph blocked the hit to deliver a heavy forward kick to the ribs. The rib cage flexed inwards slightly and the sound of splintering wood could be heard with the thud.
Splintering wood?
Sahari narrowed her eyes, focusing on the torso of the biped. His outer clothing betrayed a wooden chest piece below through a tear in the cloth. Clever male. He hid that he was armoured. He didn’t even need to dodge the chest strikes from the spear, but likely wanted to keep that secret as long as he could. She was impressed.
Jax was oblivious to the lack of effectiveness in his kick, thrusting his spear twice to Joseph’s face instead of taking a moment to confirm the damages. The first strike was parried, the second adding another wound above his right eyebrow. The blood flowed down his brow, building on the fur above his eye. Growling to her right drew her attention. Pan was crouched slightly, her canines exposed. It lacked the same mindless drive of her earlier outburst, however. Joseph was a little more upset that he was about to lose vision, but less than when Harrow had been displaced forcefully.
Interesting. Very interesting.
Jax took advantage of the blood spilling onto Joseph’s right eye by targeting that side. Each strike to the head was parried, but the body blows were absorbed by the armour. Chips were starting to litter from every impact as the chest piece gave way under the abuse. Pan eased on her aggression as the assault continued, cracking a small smile and a huff of laughter after the fourteenth strike to the body. Sahari furrowed her brow, staring intently at the onslaught to find where Joseph was finding the confidence that Pan mirrored.
The fifteenth strike was a sharp and straight thrust to the chest, barely avoiding a lethal strike by Joseph spinning in place. The spear punctured the armour at a shallow angle, lodging into it as the torque locked the weapon in place long enough for Joseph to bring his own spear down and crack it close to where Jax was gripping it. The armour dropped from below the cloth shirt, several straps having been torn or ripped apart with the action. Jax’s broken spear clunked to the ground while still embedded into it.
Joseph didn’t have time to capitalize on being armed against an unarmed opponent as Jax kicked the weapon out of his paws and deeper into the meadow, disarming Joseph in a single move. He could still get the weapon, but it would mean turning his back on a foe that was never truly weaponless as he was now. Sahari expected fear to show on Pan’s face, maybe more blind aggression. What she saw was Pan with her paws clasped behind her back, tail swaying carelessly behind her as she rocked side to side with a grin. What, by the Hunt Mother, was going through that male’s head? Was it just Pan’s confidence in him?
Joseph bounced backwards several paces, taking off his tattered outer cloth and exposing a leather vest as he assumed a melee stance, his body dancing as he bounced on his toes. More armour? How prepared for a fight was he? How did he managed to hold his own for as long as he did with TWO sets of restricting layers? Pan’s reaction shifted from a mirror of confidence to genuine wonder, the ear twitching as she leaned in tipped Sahari off that this was her actual mood. Why was she so interested in watching her bond get shredded by claws?
She got her answer instantly.
Jax bounded forward, throwing a wide and heavy sweeping claw to Joseph’s face. There was a soft ‘crack’ as Jax’s head recoiled backwards, his arm swinging wide above its target, Joseph bouncing back from his right side. When did he...?
Jax shook off the strike and refrained from using any heavier hits, presumably until he understood what hit him. They circled each other again, Joseph retaining his bouncy forward and backwards shuffle. Jax fired off a quick left spear-paw to Joseph’s face.
A sharp smack sounded out.
Jax’s face recoiled to his right. Sahari only really noticed that Joseph had leaned inwards and his built-up weight on his left leg was in the process of being released. Another, deeper, thud resonated through the air as a breath was forcibly exhaled from Jax, Joseph’s fist connecting just shy of completely sideways below the ribs. Before Jax could respond, Joseph used two weak hits to the snout to stun Jax and gain distance, bouncing higher for a moment before resuming his stance. Jax shook off the attacks and adopted a stance for use in multiple-foe encounters. Left foot extended forward, right foot holding the weight between movements. He peeked over his left shoulder as the arm guarded his front, leaving the rear arm to respond to off-axis attacks.
Joseph stopped bouncing for a moment. Pan tilted her head in mirrored intrigue before chuckling. Joseph relaxed, lowing his right fist to below his jaw and raising his left to his brow, cupping his paw to see through it. His feet stayed more in contact with the ground as he approached, no longer shifting himself at blinding speed but progressing as a steady stone.
Jax whipped his left claw forward, Joseph parrying it with his right fist to offset him. Jax used the momentum to swing a compacted kick, extending the ankle at the last moment to extend the range and force as it neared the ribs. Joseph slid his rear foot far behind him, crunching himself with his abdomen and bending his forward knee. The foot skimmed over him as he released the built-up tension into a left fist into an upwards strike, aimed squarely at Jax’s...
Joseph stopped the strike short while barking something, allowing Jax to recover from his strike as Joseph retreated with a smirk. Pan stared for a moment before bursting out with un-linked laughter, followed by a clicked chitter to Sahari’s left. She turned to see what the source was only to be met with the purple insect that had joined them at some point, covering its mandibles with a rounded joint and... laughing?
“What just happened?” She asked, somewhat dazed by the reactions around her.
Pan caught her breath as the two fighters continued their circling. “He called his hit.” She giggled as soon as the words left her mouth.
“Called his hit?” She asked, stunned. What? What was this biped doing? This is a fight to the death! His opponent is out for blood!
“He elected not to commit to a strike that would do unjust lasting damage for its effectiveness. It’s a ‘sportsmanship’ thing.” Pan explained before shushing Sahari as the two fighters continued. Harrow used the break in the action to hobble back towards the group, away from potential danger.
Jax used his front foot to poke and prod at Joseph, forcing him into a specific range. When Joseph stepped in to slip the kick, Jax spun his torso to deliver a swipe to his stomach. The attack landed, embedding an inch of each claw into the armour and flesh beneath it. Joseph grunted in pain when Jax withdrew the claw, swapping his right paw for a right kick into the same spot. The force sent Joseph tumbling, blood seeping through the tears in the leather vest. He worked his way to his feet, barely in time to avoid another spear-paw and trade with a punch of his own. The injury had severely degraded his power as Jax shrugged off the strike to the jaw in short order. Pan’s tail stiffened and her ears pinned themselves with a snarl. The purple insect took several steps forward, fidgeting with its blades as it watched.
Joseph clutched his wounded stomach with his left paw, applying pressure to stymie the bleeding, using his legs to slip around the kicks and thrusts thrown at him. The glancing blows and small cuts were building up. Joseph occasionally countered while he dodged using his right paw and legs, but each blow lacked the power it needed to finish the fight.
With a heavy huff, he raised both fists into his first stance, a light bounce to keep him light. His left arm was coated in a thin layer of sticky blood, the flow from his brow had slowed. Jax rounded him until it was his back facing the group of spectators, Joseph wincing with every movement. The smell of triumph was building from Jax. Although Sahari could understand why, Joseph was still standing and willing to keep fighting. She glanced around, Jax was up to something.
There. Joseph’s spear lay directly behind the biped now. That won’t help unless Jax jumps over Joseph. And that’s what Jax did. He crouched with a snarl and pounced at Joseph’s head. The reaction was delayed, but Joseph dropped to his back, rolling until his knees were in line with his face and his feet below Jax. With a full body extension and a cry of pain, he delivered a two-footed kick straight into Jax’s ribs. Sahari could hear the cracking of bone from her spot as a spectator. The added momentum sent Jax over his expected landing point as he crashed into the ground on his left shoulder, another crunch of bone and a sick pop sounded as the joint dislocated from the impact.
Jax rushed to his feet, left arm hanging uselessly and broken. His own claws barely avoided gouging out his left eye in the impact, leaving blood blinding that side. Joseph raised his left leg after adjusting his stance to better cradle the stomach wound, swinging the sole of his foot covering to impact the left of Jax’s face now that he couldn’t see the attack coming. Regardless of if it was the stance switch or the lack of preparation, Jax took the full force of the hit, sending him sprawling to the right, on top of the spear.
Pan’s silent cheer quickly turned into a defensive posture as Jax steadied himself on his feet, spear in paw. Several spectators were gearing up to lunge into the battle to subdue Jax, herself included. They each twitched, all held back by a wavering uncertainty. All waiting for a clear moment to proceed.
Joseph re-centred himself in front of the group quickly, dodging and absorbing pokes from his own weapon. A single wild thrust allowed him to kick Jax’s knee at full force, buckling the joint under the sudden pressure in an unnatural direction. Jax braced on his right leg, the left lacking the strength to support his weight. Joseph tried for another kick to disarm Jax, but short stab to the leg caused his to retreat back several paces with a limp. His mirror seemed frightened and uncertain, though how much of which belonged to her was a mystery.
Jax heft the spear back after a long moment of a frigid stare, throwing it squarely at Joseph’s head with startling accuracy. A snap of his neck to the left barely avoided it this time, the weapon flying past his face. Jax stared wide eyed at what was happening, paused with his arm still recovering from the throw. Sahari could watch Joseph’s left eye follow the spear on its path, the right glued shut by blood, tracing it as it travelled and slowly widening as he made the millisecond connection.
It was flying straight towards the purple insect’s chest.
Sahari felt her blood freeze.
And then the world.