[Woodlands] A walk in the woods

[Rey'na]

Before Rey could land the finishing blow on what she saw as the animal in front of her, the man's wounds started healing. She felt the air start to twist around her, so she took a step back and planted her feet, gripping her dagger tight. It wasn't enough. Within Trills, she found herself knocked back in to the snow. Her dagger was just beside her, so without hesitation she picked it up and got back to her feet. She was cold, uncomfortably so. If she didn't warm up soon she knew it would be bad for her. Fortunately her mark made her slightly more durable to the cold, but it wasn't enough.
Rey looked to the woman with disgust. Whoever she was, she was strong - that much was evident. But she was also somewhat hideous compared to Rey, she thought. Yet here she was, talking down to her. Sword or not, she was now in between her and her new target - and she wouldn't stop just for some random bitch.
"Perhaps my 'mistress' would be unimpressed, yes. But you underestimate her. Unlike you, whoever you are, she has a close eye on all of her followers. We're more than just a disposable weapon, don't underestimate that" she taunted, holding her dagger in a combat ready stance. "and I'll bet you every nel I have that she'd obliterate you in seconds."

Rey looked at her with blank eyes for a second as she told her what she would do with their corpses. A smile crept across her face. This woman was evil, pure evil without a doubt - and Rey wasn't scared. Because Rey had looked pure evil in the face before, she'd stared in a mirror at her own blue eyes after murdering without care. She'd stabbed a man to death for bleeding on her dress, poisoned someone for taking her home for the night and felt nothing but joy from knowing they died screaming. This was not a scary as that.
Before Rey could speak, a man came from seemingly nowhere. Without a doubt, he was on there side - and was as tired of this womans' ego as Rey was. She looked to him and smiled a little, before her glance came back to the Mortalborn. She had no doubt that, healed or not, the brute was no issue. That left three against one. She could fight decently, and Fridgar was beyond strong. Whoever this man was, he seemed confident in his abilities. In her eyes, this was game over - and they'd won.
"I have no doubt you're strong, truly I don't" she said honestly. But then she giggled herself. "But you will die here today. By Lisirra's name, I will have your head."

As Rey lunged straight for the woman, she was ready. Ready to die, to be slain like a dog. But it gave the other two a chance, a chance to either run or to ambush. Whichever they chose, she wouldn't care. She just had one regret, and that one regret was a bear behind her that she couldn't stand to look in the eyes. She wished she could have told him the truth, how she realized now that she had never loved - until meeting him. But it was too late. If she was lucky, she would survive - but luck wasn't ever in her favor.
'Lisirra' she thought in her head, hoping her mother would hear. 'I hope I made you proud...I love you.'

[Varthakh]

The Lothar fell easy, easy enough anyway. There hadn't been much to him in the first place, maybe he'd overestimated him? Or caught him good with one of his clawed strikes. Whatever the case... he certainly didn't look to be in a good shape to run. Fridgar's expression drooped as he came to terms with just how bad the Lothar's injuries were. Nothing could be done for him, Fridgar had properly broken the man. With a heavy heart, he took a step toward the broken man. He'd only ever mercy-killed animals, but never a person. Even so, he had to clean up his mistake.

Then, without explanation, the male's wounds began to heal. Fridgar hesitated 'What the hell?' he took a step back before a ripple of energy knocked Rey'na to the floor. He even drifted through the snow a little - whatever had done that, it wasn't about to knock the lump of muscle, just shy of a ton, to the floor with any amount of ease. Its cause revealed itself in the form of some kind of mage. 'Yeah, she wants a fight. She looks kinda strong though, dude.' he thought to himself as she spoke. Rey'na spoke back, of course. Her mistress? What does that even mean? He thought to himself for a trill before standing up on his hind legs, 10 feet tall.

Before he could roar at the woman's threat to turn him into a blanket, a man stepped out from seemingly nowhere. He began to stir his ether, preparing to unleash. With the man's hood being up, the only detail that had given away the man's gender was his voice - his identity was otherwise unknown. By the way he spoke, it was made obvious enough who's side he was on, and it wasn't the 'Haughty bitch's' side, for sure. Good enough for Fridgar. This looked like it was going to be intense, was now a good time to use the trick up his sleeve? 'Fuck it.' he turned his attention from the man and to the woman and roared Fiercely before slapping his claw to his Lothar totem and closing his eyes with a single command in his head 'Blend.'.

Transforming in trills, the bear shrank and bubbled under the fur slightly, shrinking to about eight-foot-tall and losing much of its mass in fat, only to have it replaced with muscle. it's teeth and claws appeared more prominent as it's face sunk inward slightly, less elongated than a normal bear, but not human in appearance, certainly.

He fell forward on his front paws... hands? Whatever, it didn't matter, they were awesome none-the-less. It had been some time since he'd last used this form, but it was certainly appropriate. he looked up from the snow with a vicious snarl, his hulking, beastly visage focused solely on the female that had offended Rey'na and threatened to turn him into a blanket. "Shhh... S-shuck... " He spoke through a low growl. His vocals were difficult to control when blended with a bears, he tried once more "Shi... -ick". Nope, not quite, one more try. "Siiihiiick." Close enough.

Talking wasn't much of an option if he couldn't speak the word 'sick' properly. He reared into his hind legs yet again with his body lowered, feral and beastly. Suddenly, taking his expectations by storm, Rey'na lunged at the woman with only her knife. His eyes widened with surprise "REEEY!" he roared, bounding forward with immense speed on all fours. Rey'na was already there, if he couldn't snatch her out of the way, then he'd just have to join in on the fight. Dammit. Why did she have to be the one to initiate it? Panic overcame him. Rey'na was in serious trouble, if he didn't do something, she could very easily get hurt. Silently hoping beneath his frenzied exterior, Fridgar slashed wildly for any exposed skin of the forward woman.

► Show Spoiler

I haven't really had much information given to be regarding blending, so I've gone off the very brief description in the skill write-up I present to you, the Werebear. (If I've mucked it up somehow, let me know and I'll amend it.)

[Sky]

In one moment he accepted his death, and spoke with a venomous tongue to the pair who attempted to slaughter him. Yet, in the next his “God” came to answer for him rather than allow him to die, and spoke of how she could need him in the future with a wave. Sky watched as the skin that had once been torn from his body, and his flesh that was opened began to close, and the pain subsided swiftly. Heavy breaths accompanied the rapid-pace healing, and in a split-trill he sat upright only to stand a moment later. He gazed upon her, and she too wore the metal skin much like that band of Knights he encountered in his territory. The Savage parted his lips, and spoke to her slowly only to voice his thanks and praise.

“My lord, My mighty God.... Thank you... What is your wish?” He spoke slowly as to help her understand him, and knelt down at her feet. Sky was so thankful in that moment that he did not care whether or not his “God” came in the form of a barbarian. In an instant he came to love, respect and fear her all at once only to be interrupted in his thanks and praise for her. The Savage immediately sat upright again and turned his head so quickly that it appeared as if his neck would snap. Someone; a foolish yet brave newcomer decided to challenge her.

“ I will fetch my bow.” He spoke as he charged off a very short distance into the brush, and within two bits he arose with his longbow, and the four arrows that he carried when he encountered the bear to begin with. Off in the distance he remained apart from his savior, and grasped hold of an arrow only to load the notch onto the string. With quite a bit of effort required he yanked back the bow-string until his fingers made contact with his visage. He barely managed to do so due to the newly formed scar-tissue he found to litter his midsection, chest, back, arms and even his thighs.

The moment that the blue eyed horrific looking barbarian charged he loosed an arrow toward her leg. Sky was not the best physical combatant, but if he was given range and some distance to hide; he was in his element. If the arrow struck he would switch positions as not to continually be seen or reveal himself again; the bear took up a new form and only one explanation was left. “Have I just seen two gods.. Three?” He thought to himself as he loaded up yet another arrow and watched as the other sailed through the air.

[Basilisk]

Valtharn looked down at Sky as he knelt at her feet and smirked, pleased with his submission to her. Then she turned to look at the plaguedaughter before her and grinned at her attempt at a comeback. "Oh you poor, naive little child. I know full well what your mistress can do, as I share in the power of the Immortals myself. Honestly though, I commend your attempt at wit. However, you made two crucial mistakes. The first is assumin' I would ever want to control my servants." she said, before a demented laugh escaped from her lips. "After all, what I want is chaos. I want to see pain and misery spread like wildfire. My servants are the bandits and pirates, murderers and rapists, torturers and slavers! I don't want my servants controlled, I want to see them covered in blood as their victims beg for death!" she said, her voice rising as she spoke, before she broke off into a peal of mad laughter.

Then a new man arrived on the scene and gave his attempt at taunting her, though before she could respond the bear changed, becoming something more human, though still very ursine in appearance. "A becomer, are you? Interestin'. I've always wondered, does your brain look different in animal or blended form? Perhaps we'll find out." she said, her tone cheerful before she looked back at the hooded man as her servant ran for his bow. "As for you, if you desire my tongue, you're welcome to try and claim it. A little work and your skull would make a fine soup bowl and your spine a wonderful curtain rod." she said, her tone still one of affable amusement.

Then, however, the plaguedaughter charged her. "Ah, I forgot the second mistake you made, lass." she said cheerfully, only moving enough that the womans dagger impacted harmlessly on her armor, not even scratching the black metal. "I've no doubt that Lisirra could slay me, I admit." she said, before glancing over at the wearbear and raising her arm to block the beasts wild slashing. She bent her knees to absorb the weight of the bears attack, but the claws left no marks on her armor, nor did the weight of the bear cause the metal to give. "But even the Lady of Decay would have to put in no small amount of effort to do it." she said, before laughing as the air about her shimmered a bit before blasting outward again, the same force as when she had made her entrance. As the force hit, she saw her servant start firing into the battle and she grinned, drawing a dagger from under her leather tabbard. "I don't have too long to play with you lot, but this should amuse me for what time I have." she said, laughing madly.

[Alistair]

The man couldn't help but roll his eyes at the... entity's megalomaniacal speech. The only noteworthy portion of any of her droning was that she 'shared in the power of the Immortals', which brought inquiries to the fold. Was she an Immortal? He doubted it -- it was unlikely that an Immortal would spend such time merely playing around with some peasants in the woods. Was she... one of their spawn? A Mortalborn? Potentially, though he knew little of them, other than that Ellasin had sought one for some reason he did not know.

A marked? Another possibility, though by his experiences with his own mark, she'd have to be fairly beloved by whatever deity she served to gain any significant degree of power from their blessing. He had no idea what she could have been, or who she was. Nor did he know anything about any of these people. As far as he was concerned, they were all enemies, and so their assumption that he was here to rescue them was misled. Alistair did not have any desire to protect others, unless they deserved such protection. Whether or not they did remained to be seen.

The black haired woman with the blue eyes was the least likely for him to aid, among all of them, for she seemed to serve one of the malignant Immortals - Lisirra. The mage had little interest in pointless ideals, like serving a power that only wished to wreak havoc on mankind, aimlessly. While he wasn't an all-around humanist, he was certainly not on the side of the Immortals in this war, and so the servants of the wroth deserved no pity. He did not make any effort to deflect the Lotharro's arrows from hitting their mark, though he very well could have done so.

The bear, well - the Becomer - was a far more likely target for his protection, as the man was another mage. Mages were few and far between, especially in Rynmere, and such a thing could immediately codify some level of kinship between the two... so long as he served the right masters, or none at all. Even so, did he need his protection? Did a mage need the aid of others to do what they could do for themselves?

No.

Alistair determined one thing: he was not here to protect anyone. He was here, first and foremost, to dissect and examine the corpse of this naggy, wailing hag that had been shouting of her power for all this time.

First, a test blow. Alistair cocked his wrist, and around the Mortalborn's neck formed a bondage of energy, a void of space that was - in simplicity - a portal that had begun to form. She would have only a brief period of time before it enclosed inward and then destabilized, effectively rending her head from her body if she did not very quickly react. In his other hand, he crafted a field of condensed space via Abrogation, forming a magical shield that he had begun to tweak for the sake of expansion -- into a barrier -- or protection against more concentrated harm. The man's position shifted, and he moved to the tree line to avoid being caught in the crossfire of the archer, who he intended to keep an eye on. If this man planned to serve Alistair's intended target, he would need to be dispatched, lethally or otherwise.

[Rey'na]

Rey couldn't hold back her laugh when the woman spoke. It was genuine amusement, the way this woman portrayed herself as if she was anything above the others here. Rey had no reason to think this girl was anything more than mouth and pride. Her chuckle died down and turned to a sharp look.
"Share in the power of immortals? Then why am I still standing? Immortals have the power to ruin just a mere mortal like me. It's a little upsetting, actually, that you feel the need to place yourself on a makeshift podium just to have some worth. Not surprising though, if I looked like you I'd need something to compensate for the self-esteem problems your hideous appearance must bring."

Rey looked as Fridgar transformed. She didn't know what he had turned in to, nor did she care. He was big, he was strong, and he had claws. Together, with the help of this new stranger, she had no doubt this would work. The woman would fall, then her follower. She would massacre them, if it cost her life. Nothing was going to stop her now. Nothing.
Except from a blast of whatever this woman kept launching at her. She felt herself knocked back again, flat in the snow. This time, her dagger was as good as gone, buried out in the snow to be potentially never found again. She knelt up, her head dizzy from the air blast. It felt as if everything was spinning. Just after being knocked she could have sworn she'd seen an arrow launch at her, making her eyes fall to the bushes. The brute, of course.
Rey knew the situation was dire. This woman might be nothing special, but neither was Rey. With her dagger, she was near useless. But without it, she was useless. Her mind raced, and what felt like a bit was just a trill. She reached a conclusion, one that she knew it would come down to. She stood, running to the woman in front of them.

"Lissira, if you do anything for me - do it now. Take whatever you want from me, my life included. Just let me save my Fridgar" she prayed aloud. She was willing and ready to die if that was the cost. She needed Fridgar to live, he had to. He had potential, potential to be incredible. Potential to become a legend. She saw it, and she wasn't going to let herself cause that legend to end before it even begun.
"Please" she begged in her head as she threw her body at the woman. "Give me your strength."

[Varthakh]

The Lothar got up and ran as soon as he'd healed enough, this came as no surprise to him. What did come to a surprise to him was that the woman before them hadn't realised he was a becomer until he blended, had she seriously threatened what she assumed to be a bear that didn't understand her? He cast his eyes to the snow, deep in thought - whoever she was, she was either thick or a bit of a loony. The latter became a bit more apparent as she spoke of turning each of them into various food items.

Fridgar didn't manage much before getting pushed back once more, he'd braced for it this time around and merely slid across the snow a little. His attention immediately shifted to Rey'na "Rey?" he growled, a hint of worry in his tone as he looked her over, she'd lost her knife but was otherwise okay. His attention turned to the bushes in the distance as an arrow flew by. With it, he inhaled through his nose, painting a picture of scents in his head. The Lothar's scent was as clear as a candle in the dark, putrid and all. His ears flicked as the scent moved from brush to brush - he knew exactly where the Lothar was and where he'd been, all thanks to his echo ability.

He'd have to deal with the meddling Lothar after the woman had been dealt with. with a push from his front claws, he stood up onto his hind legs once more, hunched over and ferocious, prowling before the woman with vicious intent. He'd managed to put her on her knee without trying, but her armour had protected her from what he'd intended to be a clawed strike. If nearly a ton of his body weight could force her to the floor, even if it was briefly, then his added strength should do him wonders.

His yellowed eyes met the male for a trill, he appeared to be considering him and Rey'na - that didn't last long. He'd soon started messing about with his wrists, with his movements came a band of energy around the neck of the black armoured woman. His snarl shifted to a look of commendation, the male was another mage. While he would have loved to stop and talk to him after the fight, it would have been chilly without clothes on and Rey'na didn't much enjoy having strangers in the house.

Speaking of Rey'na, she'd gone and charged once more and addressed him as hers again, too. The first time had been to disguise that he was a Becomer to the Lothar, but the second time around - his magic was all but revealed. More importantly - she was offering her life to this 'Lissira' person? Umm, no. No she was not. Whoever this 'Lissira' was, she'd have to fight her way through him before laying a finger on her - the same went for the psycho whore before him. His eyes fell to Rey'na as he took off with her, she'd been acting strangely in recent trials. Nursing him back to health, following him through the snow just to make sure he was safe, offering her life to some strange woman to protect him even when he was perfectly capable of handling himself - strange behaviours indeed.

If male's attack hadn't been successful: He'd bolt and channel his adrenaline as he would normally do as a Lothar, passing Rey'na with ease and backhand with incredible force through the sides of her knees. If the attack had succeeded, she'd likely have had her legs taken out from under as he'd demonstrated his ability to move her in his previous attack. Even if she'd stuck him with her knife, his hide and layers of muscle were thick and he'd be able to fight go on for breaks without haemorrhaging - if her dagger had been big enough to even cause serious damage. If she'd been floored as he planned, he'd stomp his clawed foot into her throat or face and hold before slipping his claws into the seams of her plate armour and pull. Whether her skull or windpipe gave in before he'd managed to pull free the breastplate did not matter, if neither did, then he'd simply pull her armour free and leave himself an opening for his next attack.

► Show Spoiler

Okay, I'm not gonna even try and pretend I know what I'm doing with this Lothar/Bear form. I'm kinda going off what I imagine such a creature would be able to do by mixing facts from google and my good pal Jedith Skylar or (Jon) about bears along with Fridgar's skills.

Basilisk - If you decide to let me get as far as i tried with Valtharn, consider that it takes 520lbs of pressure to crush a human skull and Fridgar weighs in at about 800 in his current form, not sure how those stats compare to a mortal born, but felt that I should add that

[Sky]

Sky watched in horror as the events unfolded, and noticed that something powerful surrounded his “God” prior to her forcing the two barbarians backward. The Bear that he once thought to truly be a bear no longer existed, and when the new individual arrived on the scene he mentioned something about “Becoming.” There was obvious magic going on here, and Sky had no clue as to what would go on with his savior. Yet, he sure as hell was not about to stick around to find out what would happen next; he looked to the forest where he saw the corpses of several Animals that he hunted on the way to this particular location. His heart raced, and his chest rose and fell at an incredibly rapid-pace as he watched them attack Valtharn. However, part of being a combatant, or as he calls himself an “Ambush Predator” he knew when it was time to fight and when it was time to run.

He turned around swiftly and without a second thought, and used what remaining adrenaline he had to get a head start on the opponents that viciously attacked him. The Savage slung his bow over his right shoulder only to take off in a sprint within a split-trill at full speed. Although Sky lacked the endurance necessary the only thing that kept him running was the stinging sensation as his heels impacted the snow and reintroduced the cold temperatures. He slipped within the first bit of his run, but quickly got up again to take off further so that he could reach one of the larger animal corpses that he previously hunted. He found that sleeping inside them after removing their intestines was an effective method of remaining warm.

Several trials in a row he made note of the fact that not even the larger predators could truly smell him when he hid inside of one for a somewhat extended period of time and such a thing was just what he would do in this case. By the time the battle was over the savage would be long gone, and likely inside one of the several Bear corpses that he slept inside for warmth prior to the events that occurred here.

He walked into the location an unscathed man, but by the time he took off and left he was riddled with scars, and had witnessed some of the strangest things he likely ever will in his lifetime. He could not wait for the opportunity to tell Alexa this story. He had finally gotten a comfortable distance away, and knelt down toward the corpse only to open its parted gut, and slip his frame inside to overlay the skin so that it looked like nothing more than another animal carcass on the ground.

[Basilisk]

Valtharn did notice her new servant fleeing the battle, but she was more concerned with more pressing matters. Her first action was to dispel the portal forming around her neck, an act she performed by simply reaching up to the nascent portal and using one of her own, inherent abilities to interfere with the mana forming the portal and dispelling it, though the process also cancelled out the bit of Power she used to dispel it. "Well, that was a waste of energy, mageling. Tell me, did you teacher claim you were now a being of Power? It will take more than that to make you a threat, lad." she said, grinning slightly at the hooded man before turning her attention to the Plague-Bearer and the Were-Bear.

The bear, naturally, reached her first and moved to swipe at her legs. This time she used a more typical form of her magic and the bears paws impacted on the Abrogation shield she threw up to intercept his attack. The way her shield manifested made it look rather as if Fridgar had slammed his paws against a plane of sapphire glass, though no cracks formed. As the other woman approached, Valtharn made to swing her dagger knife at the woman, as she figured that she had the best chance of injuring the woman physically, and that it would also emotionally and mentally injure the bear.

However, before Valtharn's knife could connect with the womans flesh, there was a twisting of the air between the two women and from this warp emerged what could only be described as a swarm of wasps emerged, moving as a single entity to encompass the black-armored Mortalborn. "All you, leave. Now! You are not ready for this one yet." Lisirra commanded, though her physical form could not be seen.

[Alistair]

Alistair's eyes rolled. A waste of energy? No. He was near to his Revelation, at this very moment -- on the very cusp of his transformation into a being that far transcended what Valtharn imagined him to be. Even nearing this great leap brought benefits, and Alistair's energy -- at present time -- was nearly endless when it came to producing these portals. He would tire out Valtharn before she tired him out, he imagined, and would evade her assaults so quickly that she could never imagine finishing off her prey.

He stepped forward and spoke to her, eyes lighting up a violet hue - the Revelation would arrive soon, and his energy and even his demeanor was changing rapidly. "Mageling? Teacher?" He laughed. "No, creature. I was not given words of acknowledgment by my teachers, but instead by my own understanding. I was reminded of my greatness as a result of my own display. Shall I show you?" His body began to transform. An ethereal shell, almost transparent in appearance, began to form around him. He was beginning to meet the apex of his cycle, which explained his violent behavior thus far. Alistair's mind was deranged when he became revealed. He was not senselessly violent, but by calculation, he became violent.

And his ability to use Rupturing became akin to his ability to breathe -- utilizing its power was as if nothing to him, capable of being performed over and over in vast amounts without tiring the self. Yet, as his power waxed to a penultimate state, an entity appeared between Valtharn and her prey. Something even greater than Valtharn herself, though he knew little of the names of those before him, only their relative levels of power.

Wasps. A powerful voice. A spontaneous appearance.

Who was this creature before him? Her presence reminded him of something before, forty trials ago -- the moment upon which Syroa visited him, and the day that everything in his life had so greatly changed.

An Immortal. It had to be. The stakes had suddenly gotten too high, and Alistair found his desire to kill and flay Valtharn flickering. Even if he managed to slay her, in all likelihood, this Immortal would follow upon his actions and do the deed herself. They were opportunistic in that way, and Alistair did not intend to be smote by a foul apparition on this particular trial. He was on the verge of becoming revealed, and if he decided to fight Valtharn now, he knew that such a declaration would lead to a battle to the death. His mind did not work so logically when it was distorted by the Revelation, and his mass of power.

And for what benefit?

"Fine," he said, shrugging his shoulders, sparks of energy flying across his form. His appearance was nearly alien, though his Revelation had made only half its progress. "Who am I to defy the commands of a bunch of over-sized bees, anyway?" he spoke, sarcastically, before vanishing into a swirl of black.