[Global Event] The Humble Son

[Quio]

He had been fighting and slashing. Fighting and slashing. Once or twice the things had got at his clothing, gripping with claws, and he had torn from their grasp. The Yludih was only glad that it didn't seem like he needed a lot of skill to kill the things. They were so dense on the ship that if he swung his sword he was as likely to hit one of the beasts as he was to hit air.

The bellowed orders were mostly lost on him, a wash of sound in the rush of battle-- though he did hear something about the captain. He glanced that way, to make sure the blind man was still standing--

And felt a hand touch his shoulder. Human, not shadow. Immediately he turned around to help.

But there was nobody there.

And suddenly the shadowbeasts weren't there either.

Someone crashed into him from the side, and he felt something, a blade, thrust into his flesh, near his hip, and he screamed and lashed out--

The man --a sailor-- was on the ground in front of him and Quio could feel himself shaking, shaking, and he couldn't think, he couldn't tell if it was rage or fear or hate or pain or what it was, what was it--

What was happening? Another person, two, leapt at him, weapons raised, and with his own he barely fought them off. He just wanted to stop them but then he slashed out, sideways, and caught one of the sailors in the side. He had hurt the man, the sword was in his hand, red, and he wanted(?) to hurt them, hurt them badly. He drew his blade back and stabbed forward again, into the man's body where he had fallen to stain the deck, Quio's free hand going to the knife at his hip. More weapons, he needed to stop them --kill them?-- and he didn't know what he was doing--

The Yludih gripped his sword tighter in his hand. Dagger in his other hand. And leapt forward into the fray.

Attacking. Tearing. Biting if he needed. Clawing if he ever dropped a weapon. People were falling in front of him, one, two. More, more. Mauling mauling mauling. Stabbing into them again and again. He had to make sure they were dead. Blood rage. Fury.

Angry. He was just so angry. So angry. It filled him up. He stabbed with the sword, and when the person jumped back he ran towards them, not caring much about the weapon that was pointed at him, not caring much that it would hurt him. He felt their blade cut into his side but it didn't matter because his dagger was buried in their throat. Blood on his face. On his hands.

Angry. He had helped these people, worked with them, trusted them. He had never done anything wrong, and they had lured him here. U'frek --help me-- U'frek had lured him here, liar, how could he have done that, betrayed, he had been betrayed, and right when he had least expected it the claws had come out--

--just like those men who had killed his mother--

He was so angry that his face felt hot, he felt like he had a fever, he was going to be sick, he wanted to cry. He let out a noise like a scream that he hadn't known he could make. His throat burned. He was all burning up. Fear rage grief.

He kept fighting. Heartstone pounding pounding, vitriol in his blood. With every stab he felt himself tear up more inside.

No matter how many people he hurt --and it was all for U'frek, U'frek, he wanted to taste the immortal's blood-- no matter how many he cut into he was outnumbered. They were all around him. All around him. Shouting. Running. Terror madness frenzy. Knives and swords. He felt someone hammer into him from behind. Reached around and felt something-- pulled a weapon, some sort of ax, from his back. His body shaking. He stumbled forward a step and thought he would fall, but then regained his strength. Kept on.

Because of these people he would die and he would never see Hart again.

No no no no no.

The Yludih screamed once more, lashing out, again, again, tears burning in his eyes. Howling. Someone had fire and he dodged around that one, fire had taken his childhood home. Slowly he began to fight his way forward. Towards the immortal that he would kill. U'frek would die and Quio would be set free from this awful anger inside him, and the sea would run red and he wouldn't care. He wouldn't care.

And then they all would die.

Because they all deserved to die. Because of what they had done to him. Because of what they had made him.

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Ulehi"

[Lei'lira]

It felt as though she had been fighting forever. The shadow creatures were easy enough to kill, even for someone with as little experience as she had in fighting. A blow or two at most with her katana was enough to disperse them. But for every one she "killed," three more would appear, and she was quickly growing tired.

All around her, others were fighting as well. Some seemed better at it than others. And some seemed to have a plan, while others seemed to be fighting randomly. But it was all Lei'lira could do simply to fight the creatures that attacked her directly. She didn't have the skill to direct the fight, or to protect anyone else, as others were doing. So she fought as best she could, hoping that the creatures would give up before they overwhelmed them all.

And for a few trills, it appeared that they would. There was a pause in the fighting, and Lei'lira hoped that it would mean the end of the battle. Instead, the largest shadow creature she had ever seen appeared not too far from where she was fighting. For a trill, all she could do was stare in shock. Some tried to fight the creature. Lei'lira knew that there was nothing she could do to help those that did so. It was all she could do to fight the smaller ones. If she tried, she would only be a liability.

So when the shadow creatures resumed their attack with renewed vigor, she stayed where she was. She would continue to do what she could to fight the smaller shadow beasts until her strength ran out. And as she did so, she would try to keep an eye on the larger shadow beast. Even if she couldn't fight the creature herself, she could at least try to stay out of the way of those who could.

[Tristan Venora]

I’m not a hero! Tristan thought desperately every time another shadow creature approached Faith and him and stabbed and slashed and cut and executed whatever other attacks one could execute with something that was more of a glorified fashion accessory than a proper weapon. I’m just not! He glared at a shadow creature that appeared in front of them, as if he could make it turn around through sheer force of will. Go away! he thought and raised his weapon. The real heroes are elsewhere! I’m a coward, and I don’t taste good either. I’m so skinny that I barely have any meat on my bones!

The next time I hear a suspicious sound, I won’t investigate. I’ll just hide under the bed until the worst is over, he decided as the creature let out a terrifying scream and jumped. He momentarily closed his eyes because the sight was just too much for his poor mind. When he opened them again, the monster was gone. Apparently it had impaled itself on his blade. It was a good thing that he had sharpened it before he had left his house.

Maybe I could just run back below deck and hide now! But if I hide under my bed, he realized. Nobody will be there to protect Faith, and I still need her. She cooks for me, she mends my clothes and shares my bed. I’d miss her terribly if something happened to her. Besides, if I leave, the captain won’t have enough protection either, and without a captain the ship will sink.

He let out a deep sigh. It seemed as if he had no choice but fight the creatures if he wanted to reach Ne’haer alive and in one piece – and return home again, hopefully together with Faith.

---

For a moment it seemed as if the battle was over. The shadow creatures seemed to pause, and he lowered his sword cane and smiled at Faith. He was about to extend his arms and hug her because he was just so very happy that they were still both alive (and fek the people that took issue with him being affectionate with his slave!), when it appeared.

He didn’t know what exactly it was, but it was bigger than any of the other monsters, and it looked most frightening. Even worse, it seemed to be moving straight towards the captain – and thus them! “Faith!” he said and nudged her in case she hadn’t seen it, and then he repeated, a bit more loudly, “Faith! Look at that!” He raised his blade again and moved closer to the captain. “Sir!” he called out to him. His voice trembled slightly. “Sir! You may want to stop the ship and turn around! I think it wants to kill you!”

[Padraig]

Chances were, Padraig wasn't going to be dazzling and disarming the shadowbeasts with his academic prowess. Which meant that his fledgling fighting skills, and the beasts immediately surrounding him required his full attention and focus. Multi-tasking seemed out of the question. Slashing, jabbing, where one was dispatched, then two, three, more, emerged to replace it. None seemed as much of a threat as he'd first assumed they'd be. But altogether the horde was enough to cause an awful lot of trouble. Since he'd be of little use trying to defend anyone further away from him, he could only concentrate on trying to carve something of a path through them.

And then suddenly it seemed they'd gone, or at least taken a breather. The young man straightened just long enough to take one of his own, and surveyed the deck. That's when he laid eyes on a monstrosity that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Something that made the shadowbeasts seem tame in comparison. Where had that come from, when he wasn't looking? He didn't have long to wonder. The thing started out on a rampage and others in its path were falling. His own eyes darted round the deck, looking for those very few he knew personally by now. And there was Faith where he'd last seen her, near the captain. He wasn't sure how much the captain needed defended. But Faith seemed to have her hands full, defending her own master. A man who by the looks of him, was one of the very few with less fighting skill than Padraig.

Taking on that abomination head on, was the last thing on the young man's mind. But staying out of its way, much more appealing. And meanwhile the shadowbeasts had resumed rising up. His aim was twofold then. Continue clearing the deck of shadowbeasts, and keeping the new arrival at substantially more than an arm's length. Suddenly a torch was more appealing, and the small risk of fire less concerning than it was before. Which was worse, perishing aboard a burning ship, or being torn limb from limb? A draw, really. So instead of remaining in one spot, he began using his blade to carve through the shadowbeasts as they rose up, and followed the path that he'd created himself, in order to find himself a torch to drive off the larger threat, should it venture too close.

[Faith Augustin]

They fought, and they continued to fight and Faith did her best to protect the Captain, and Master when he arrived. Faith looked at him as he rushed over to her and she shot him a quick smile. "Be careful!" she called to him as he made his way to her and then had a look of obvious relief on her face when arrived next to her. She felt much safer knowing that she could, at least, protect him. The shadow beasts kept coming and she kept doing her best to stab and slash. She missed as much as she hit but she was pleased that this variety seemed to be somwhat easier to kill than the ones that she had fought on three separate occassions now. Which perhaps was why, for a few blessed trills, it seemed that maybe they had won. She put her hand out to Tristan intending to just check that he was alright, her smile meeting his as she saw him start to move towards, but her smile, and her movements, stopped mid-air as Something Very Bad Happened.

"M...M....M" was all she managed to get out, trying to warn Master that this was here, trying to point, trying to do anything, anything at all. All colour left her face and she felt her entire body start to tremble. She wanted to run, to hide and to not come out until this dreadful creature which was heading directly for them had gone away. As the adrenaline coarsed through her system her fight or flight response kicked in and she wanted very much to land on the sid of flight.

And then Master stood forward, raised his sword and took charge. Faith had never seen him like this and she knew that she could not leave him. His voice shook with fear and yet he raised his sword and shouted to the Captain (who Faith still hadn't pegged as either an Immortal or the person that the Big Monster) was targeting. So, holding her own sword in the mirror movement to her owners, Faith stood next to him and braced herself. She didn't see any of the other people that she knew, rather she focused on the Big Bad Nasty and staying alive.

[Rita Fenyo]

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Rita was no warrior, she wasn't even a healer not anymore, so it was no surprise that even though she managed to get the beast off guard that it was soon bearing down upon her. For the most part, her armour kept her safe but any exposed flesh was cut by the razor-like claws, her dark ebony skin stained a deep crimson. By all accounts, the beast had the upper hand with the Ithecal being forced back up onto the quarterdeck. She was unable to deal any substantial damage to the beast, fighting at a crouch to the dog like creature, it being much more nimble than she. Swearing in her native tongue, she dropped to the deck, the beast taking the chance to go for her soft underbelly. As it leapt on her she struck, coiling around its midriff and muzzling it with her makeshift mace. Again swearing at the creature as she crushed it under her vice like grip and bludgeoned it till it went still and dissolved.
Panting heavily the Ithecal moved to the railing watching the battle bellow. The crew were doing quite well and she was one of the few non-combat trained on the deck fighting. She could have sworn she saw something out the corner of her eye but there was nothing there when she looked. The shadow beast vanished and there was a moment of relief quickly followed by confusion as one of the group, Quio if she remembered correctly, suddenly vanished in a cloud of smoke to be replaced by a large monstrous shadow beast. The Ithecal watched helplessly as the main deck descended into chaos,they charged at the beast with anger and fear, the beast itself was. She remembered a similar incident back home, a combat drug that had the possible side effect of sending them into an unrestrained fury fighting foes and allies alike. It was possible the man had taken the drug to fight the beast and succumb to its vicious grasp. There was no way she could fight the man or even get close enough to subdue him. However, being the only medically trained, she had both an anaesthetic to subdue him and hopefully find a way to cure whatever was affecting him. Failing that she was the only Ithecal and could just bite him into submission.
With a deep sigh she moved down onto the main deck. An Eídisi passed her, Saeri was it?, yelling something about the rope. Rita found a number of colourful words about the idiocy of what she was about to do.
"I'll distract the beast giving you an opportunity to strike from behind. Then I need you to cover me and so I can get in and subdue him." She yelled out pointing at some other crew members and hoping someone would try and help. They’d think her crazy if she mentioned he was transformed. With a few straps she removed her chest armour and did, what she would reflect on if she survived, the stupid action in her life. She removed her shirt, her torso naked and exposed and stood in clear view of the shadow beast, belaying pin in one hand, coiled ready to attack and fangs visible as she yelled.
"Hey Fish breath. Come get the defenceless healer why don't you. All exposed for you to slay." No going back now, What in damnation am I doing However, he didn’t react, which surprised all watching. Those watching him at least and not the now topless dark skinned woman. A barking brought her attention away from him and to a confused dog, smelling its owner in the shadow beast and trying to protect him. She picked up the dog and held it high above her head as it squirmed.
“I got something of yours” That got its anger.

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Template made by Aelius for Rita

[Alys]

Alys had taken sensible shelter behind the barrels. Only to realise that a tall, and somewhat handsome bearded man had taken up residency on the other side of the barrier. She found herself watching his movements and convinced herself, in this time of need, that he was as good a warrior as any. She edged out from her hiding place but remained quiet in the half-shadows. The ship rolled on the waves and she stumbled, catching hold of the railing. Her knife though, dropped over the edge and vanished into the ocean.

It then became clear that whatever Immortals had accompanied them thus far on their journey, had abandoned them. One of their own turned snarling and dove into the fray. Arms and legs flying he stabbed, kicked and hit out without mercy. Determined to see the death of them all. Alys pressed back against the support of the barrels, the torch still gripped in her fingers. She scanned the deck for any hope of salvation, eyes growing wide as a dark-skinned woman stripped off armour and clothes and shouted at the creature. Alys gulped and watched its steps the insane ladies direction. Was anyone going to act?

She would never know what prompted her next actions, but with a shout the slender woman ran forward at the creature. She lunged at him, swiping with the burning torch. The brand of flame swept back and forth in front of her. She tried smacking him with the fire or the heavy wooden pole itself. With the uneven motion of the ship though, and without much experience in combat, her feet were soon tangled beneath her and she fell. Stumbling she slammed onto her side. Her head hit the deck and she groaned, stars danced before her eyes accompanied by a slow throbbing on her temple. She rolled along the deck, torch discarded. Lurching in her attempt to get away and find safety.

[Quio]

He needed to hurry. He was not certain how much longer he could hold out. More than once now someone had bashed into him, fist or weapon, and he had stumbled. Not good. He could not fall, not yet-- first he had to dispatch U'frek. He had to make the immortal feel even a small portion of the pain that the Yludih felt right now--

Why was everyone against him?

He barely paused when Faith and Tristan stood in his way. Even as he thought not them he was stepping forward, blades ready to strike. To kill. The rage thrumming inside him soon drowned out any inkling of mercy. Liars. Betrayers. Why did they oppose him? He had shared a meal with them, a drink. He had been to their home. He had been welcomed by them before, and now this--

Why? Why? Their treachery hurt him. It hurt badly. More than he'd expected, like a punch to the gut. He had trusted them.

And then, through his misery, he understood.

Hart.

Thieves, he thought, snarling, and with renewed frenzy sought to destroy them. Murderers! He could not believe it, he couldn't believe they would do something like this-- but it had to be true. There was no other explanation. He understood. Trickery! He would die here on this ship, and Hart would be left, lost without him, and he would turn to Tristan, not knowing it was Tristan who had helped to kill the one he loved--

No! Quio might die here but he would not let that happen. He would bring both of them --master and slave-- down with him. If it was the last thing he did.

With a scream he brought his sword down at Tristan, trying to strike the young man straight through the head, quick, before Quio could think--

--think that Tristan looked too much like Hart, and even in his rage he couldn't do that, and so at the last moment he angled the blade and tried to hit him in the skull with the pommel instead. A mockery of the first time they'd all met.

Following through with the blow he stepped again and brought his elbow forward, hoping to bash Tristan square in the face, knock him down, get him out of the way--

So he could deal with Faith.

The slave was there, right there in front of him, and with his left hand --his weaker hand, he regretted that, he would do less damage-- he cut out at her, trying to hit her in the belly. She was so frightened and pale, it looked like he would be able to do her in, but he remembered something she had said before --pin you to the wall by your entrails!-- and he knew to be wary.

If the first strike didn't hit then he would bring the sword to bear upon her-- finish her quick as he could and then back to Tristan--

Until, from behind, he heard a taunting shout, heard a familiar yelp, and he turned.

And saw the snake-woman holding Jack above her head. The little dog was kicking and squirming to get free of the woman's grip. And Quio saw red.

He forgot everything. Forgot that he needed to finish with Tristan and Faith, forgot even U'frek for a moment. He turned towards the woman, the soon to be dead meat, and charged.

Someone got in the way and he shoved the man aside, and then he'd hit the snake-woman in the stomach with his shoulder, driving into her. The sword was knocked from his hand with the impact and went skidding; he didn't care, but he needed her down, on the ground where he could get on top of her, stab her, strangle her. Get Jack free--

But before he could do anything more there was a flash of fire in his face and he reared back, away from his target, swiping out with his free right hand as if to knock the fire away. Too many enemies. Too many people to fight. He was getting overwhelmed. How could he fight them all? A girl was swinging a torch at him and it knocked him in the shoulder, a quick firework of burning pain, and he cried out in frustration because he couldn't get to the snake-woman, couldn't get to Jack with this girl in the way.

But then she had fallen --he didn't know, had he pushed her?-- and he lashed out a foot at her. Trying to catch her in the ribs, trying to make her hurt for stopping him, for daring to use fire against him.

Then he would turn once more, switching the dagger from his left hand to his right, in order to gut the snake who had put her hands on his dog.

OOC: If anyone's wondering, I imagine that even though Quio is using sword and dagger it probably just looks like the large shadowbeast is striking out with its long claws. In case anyone was confused.

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Ulehi"

[Rita Fenyo]

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There was just enough time to severely regret her decision. Mainly because she realised that if she told everyone then this could probably have all been resolved. A man got in the way slowing the beast down as it charged, full force, into the Ithecals stomach. The pair went skidding along the deck, letting the dog go lest it be hurt, and coming to a stop against a mast. Her head bashed against the deck on the way down, she was still hurting from the last fall. Gasping in pain as a claw made easy work tearing through her soft underbelly. If Quio was still in there he probably wouldn’t have known. Dazed and in pain, Rita was lucky to have another girl attack him with flame. The cut wasn’t bad, in all sense of the word, but would need stitches and be sore for a while.
She saw the shadow beast kick out at her saviour, not sure of the damage it had caused. This gave her opportunity, though. With a swift movement, the Ithecal wrapped her tail around the beast, bringing herself upright, creating a strong grasp, slowly tightening but as not to hurt the beast. The thrashing was hard to control and at any moment it could get free. Finally, she yelled to anyone that was listening.
“It’s Quio, it’s Quio. He’s been turned into one of those monsters.” Whether anyone heard or heeded was another question. In a way, she doubted that herself even though she had seen him change into the monstrosity.
The beast, however, was too high in her tail. Rita was scared because at any moment it could gut her, one of the vicious claws free and scraping her scales. Any moment and the beast would be free. She lost the anaesthetic in the fall, only one thing left to do. She wrapped tighter and leant in to bite the beast. It’s thrashing caught her square in the jaw and the squeeze made it slip further out. The reflective relax gave it every opportunity it needed.
“Quio you need to stop, you are not you!” The last cry of desperation, she couldn’t adjust her grip and all concentration was on the beast so she did not know if others came to her aid. Again she went into bite him, a last desperate effort to subdue her comrade.

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[Djinn]

The Humble Son

The curse wears off.

Everything on the ship was chaos. Quio became the target of not only aggression, but suspicion, and multiple plans unfolded at once. Tristan, who was ill-equipped to handle the shadow creature alone, was smashed in the face by Quio's elbow after the sword missed, blasting warm red blood all over Tristan's face. He crumpled like a sack as Quio moved through, slamming into Faith and knocking her far off to the side. She bounced off the railing of the ship, hitting it side-first. A rib or two cracked, and she was on the deck of the ship. Quio's rage couldn't be sated, and attempting to distract him hadn't been the best plan either.

--------

Through the portal, Kata and Mastes watched the fray on the ship heat up. When Quio's elbow splattered Tristan's nose, Kata moaned in delight. Mastes, who was enraptured by the scheme he'd unleashed, never even gave her a glance. Instead, his eyes were glued to the portal, and he was nearly salivating with pleasure.

"Oh, please... Kill them, please." Kata's tone was a pleasurable begging, as a lover mid-deed. She knew that Quio couldn't hear her, but she wished it into the world anyways. Mastes finally cast her a sidelong glance, only to snap his attention back to the portal, addicted to the chaos he'd set free.

--------

Quio's blind rush into Rita was one of pure fury, and nothing the woman could do could stop him. As he bowled into her, he hacked and slashed at her. The dagger slashed into her stomach, creating a nasty cut. It wasn't fatal, but hurt worse than anything Rita had ever experienced. If not for the flame, he'd have killed her. Fortunately for the Ithecal, his attention was redirected, and she got the jump on him.

Quio's insatiable inner fire kept him swinging. Rita's tail, the fire... Nothing could quench the flames of his rage. Though he didn't know it, the bloodlust was only growing steadily. The blood on his elbow from Tristan's face, Faith's cracked ribs, the gash in the Ithecal's stomach... They weren't sating the appetite. They were fueling it.

---------

Mastes' wicked grin spread further as the snakewoman was cut. His eyes shone with a passionate fire, like a man looking at his lover for the first time in the nude. He turned to Kata and kissed her, desperate and passionate. When he yanked away, leaving her mewling for more, the scene had changed. Quio was wrapped by the beast and burned, but still fighting.

"The end is nigh, my love. One of them will die here..." The moan from Kata almost drew his attention back. Instead, he watched the scene unfold, suddenly overcome with a boiling rage. "NO! He screamed at the opened portal, and his voice echoed through the planes, fluttering faintly across the deck of the ship for them all to hear.

Kata stopped purring immediately and gazed into the portal, and felt the same emotions swelling in her. She kicked her feet, screeching, though Mastes was already closing the portal. She dropped to Mastes' feet, a ball of pitiful crying. He kicked her, hard. It sent her scurrying away, and Mastes paced back and forth.

"Nevertheless. It distracted them enough. And they will need medical attention. It has slowed them... It has fulfilled its purpose." His logic was begrudged, but true. Kata looked up at him, dark black streaks down her face, lining the tracks the tears fell.

--------

As Rita screeched that it was Quio, not some real shadow beast, the air on the ship seemed to go stagnant. Everything moved more slowly, and Quio reverted to his "human" form, appearing on the deck of the ship on his hands and knees. He was out of breath from swinging his weapons, but was not truly hurt. The burn on his arm was in the shape of a sickle, high on his right shoulder, and stung. Rita, whom he had tackled, was not far away, slashed and jarred from Quio's tackle.

And then, all of a sudden, everything was normal again. Quio lied on the deck, gasping, while the people he harmed gathered himself. The whole ship seemed to gather around him, staring at him as he recovered. Tristan and Faith, off to the side, were no longer dazed, and Rita was simply bleeding down her front. The whole ship was shocked, and the time for recovery was at hand.

► Show Spoiler

QUIO has SURVIVED the trial set upon him by Kata. For his efforts, he's received a rather gnarly burn on his right shoulder, in the shape of a sickle, and the surprise of the crew of the ship.

TRISTAN has a broken nose, but the bleeding is under control. He will suffer no lasting damage. And the nose may look more distinguished after. Bonus.

FAITH has two cracked ribs. She is going to have minor difficulty breathing, but should otherwise be okay. There is an increased chance of being injured further.

RITA has sustained the most serious wound. Though not life-threatening, the wound does hurt and runs a high risk of infection if not cleaned and treated within SIX trials.