Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

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A very, VERY large woman approached the conversation. Well more tall than large. Over a full head's height above Qit'ria this woman stood. Qit ignored her for the moment as she badgered the merchant. The merchant was more than eager to be pressed though. He could see Qit was a true hunter, from her furred clothing, Sev'ryn heritage, and scarred up body. But she was already offering up what he wanted, so early in a negotiation? Did she even know it was a negotiation? Probably not.

He feigned annoyance, "Go off, it's none of your business."

Qit, now even more determined, fell for the bait. "I hunt. I bring you skin. Much skin."

The man sighed, "Tell you what, if you promise to bring me the skin, and maybe some of the meat, I'll tell you. Snakeskin isn't worth much around these parts." A complete lie. If anything, snakeskin was worth more as snakes were far less common this far north. Qit readily agreed, and the merchant smiled.

"Swell!" He leaned in close, so only she could hear. He didn't care, but he wanted her to think that he was giving her exclusive information. The reality was far different. He was planning on telling everyone, after making sure they all agreed to give him a cut. Hunters, mercenaries, adventure seekers were all the same. They always cared more for the thrill than the money. Qit'ria wasn't the first to fall for his ruse of a mission in order to make the man some more money. And she surely wouldn't be the last.

"Go east until you reach the coast. Follow south until you reach the crab farm that belongs to Old Klipper. Swim out two spear throws from there. You should see an underwater cave. This cave is known to locals and leads to a tunnel with air. The snakes have been seen coming and going from within there. The tunnel leads to a massive cavern beneath the island. Do be careful. We think they already ate Sherkle, but we've not been able to find his body to be sure. You got all that?"

Qit nodded, and turned away from the man, and bumped straight into the tall woman. She didn't apologize, and simply stepped around her, looking to the skies, seeing the sun, made her way east for the coast.

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Qit'ria made her way eastward as the man had said to do, watching the waves lazily roll in. She could see why city folk liked these types of beaches. They were calm, soothing, easy to deal with. They weren't Qit'ria's favorite though. Even when she was little, and had time to sneak away to the coast while her mother was out on a hunt, Qit'ria preferred the crashing waves that would toss her about over the stony beaches. Sure, sometimes it hurt, getting cut up on a rock, but it was fun testing her strength against the sea, for sometimes it won, and sometimes she did. A constant battle, and one that brought a smile to her face.

As she moseyed along, she began to see tiny crabs scurrying away from her. Hermit crabs, by the hundreds, all minuscule, smaller than her thumbnail. With crabs this tiny, it would take more than the stars in the sky to feed a person, let alone maintain a farm. She chuckled to herself, what a ridiculous idea. How would you even get the meat out of something so small? Better off just chewing up the shell, which probably wasn't as friendly coming out afterwards. Maybe it was some sort of joke farm.

As she went, Qit'ria noticed the hermit crabs were getting progressively bigger and bigger. The went from smaller than her thumbnail, now to larger than her fist. She picked one particularly large one up, hidden inside a conch shell. She held it up, looking at the large claws that now protected its body within the shell. She tossed it about, playing with it, wondering if the crab was confused as to what was happening to it. Growing bored, she tossed it over her shoulder into the sand, and continued onward. At least these ones could be eaten, though still hardly seemed worth it. Though would be nice in a pinch.

Continuing along though, the crabs were reaching surprising sizes. Qit'ria stopped before one whose shell came up to her knee, some sorta fat spiral, grey and yellow. She knelt down next to it, and pushed one it with one hand, finding it not budging. Heavy. She pushed with both hands and watched it rock a bit. She wondered just how much of this size was the crab, and how much was shell. She'd never seen one of these crabs not in the shell, but did know that the shells were not their own. That meant there were ocean creatures out there large enough for these shells too. Qit smiled, finding herself wondering what it would be like to swim underwater for as long as she desired. So much to hunt in the oceans of the world, and yet she couldn't get to them.

Maybe one day she'd figure it out.

She dug her arms beneath the shell of the crab, determined to see how big this crab was. She began to heave upward, finding that the creature was just a hair too heavy to be lifted with just her arms like this. She lifted one leg up, planting her foot down. Using that as additionally leverage, she strained her way upward, bringing the crab with her, filling her arms with it as she rose to standing. Slowly, awkwardly, she rotated it around until the opening of the shell was facing her. The crab's claw, protecting its entrance was as large as her head, and looked as though it could take off her arm. But it also looked as though it would have a fair bit of meat in it.

She dropped it down into the sand, looking further up the coast, seeing boulders all strewn about the beach. She walked toward them, skirting around these large crabs who all were not interested in the least bit in Qit'ria. And soon, she realized those weren't boulders at all, her eyes growing huge. These crabs were massive. Some of the shells stood taller than her! Qit'ria immediately became wary as to just how many of them there were. She moved a bit more carefully now. She approached the first of the boulder sized crabs, it not noticing her, for it was facing away from her.

Qit'ria started to skirt around it, and it began to turn about. Soon, it was staring right at her, claws out in front of it. And it didn't flee, nor hide within its shell. Its claw snapped out toward her ankle, and Qit'ria quickly snatched the foot away, skipping backwards in the process. A low sound resonated through the area, a sort of bubbling chitter. Every crab that was tucked in its shell, popped up and looked at Qit'ria. And the huntress didn't wait around to see them figure out just what she was.

She immediately began to run, eastward, into the thick of them. She'd noticed that they were slow to turn and move, but to get caught by one of the lumbering beasts was death. Yet she'd come for a mission, and she wasn't going to let some over grown food keep her from it. She ran through the sand, eyes scanning her routes as the crabs tried to come toward her. She could tell they weren't coordinated. They didn't try to cut her off, nor work together. In fact, she saw a few bumping each other trying to get at her as she ran. They weren't hunting, they were scavenging, and she was the juiciest morsel. She skirted around one, and saw she'd hemmed herself in, pure, bad luck.

But she was not going to let herself be eaten by giant hermit crabs, of all things. That'd be so embarrassing to have told about her, if anyone even knew. She saw the smallest of the crabs, coming up to her torso, and ran full tilt toward it. She saw as it came toward her, claws extended. Just before she reached it, she stutter stepped, and the crab lunged, striking where she would've been. She smirked, and then leapt forward, going for height over distance, clearing over the claws as the retracted back to their striking position. A foot found grip on the shell, and the creature tilted forward as it moved into hiding, now thinking it was under attack by an unseen enemy. Qit'ria threw herself forward toward the top of it, planting her hands against the shell, and kicking her legs hard up behind her.

She vaulted ass over kettle, in a sort of half flip, legs flailing a bit as she did so. She found herself landing hard in the sand, crouched onto a knee. But she sprang up and kept running, arms pumping. There were so many! She ran again, trying to skirt around another of the big bastards, only to find it turning faster than expected. Her gut crashed into the claw, and she was thrown hard onto her back, the wind knocked out of her. But instinct was already kicked in, and she immediately began rolling away from the creature, as claws snapped at her. The beast gave chase, and as Qit'ria was on her back, a claw snapped toward her.

Unable to dodge, her body moved practically on its own, and her strong hands caught the claw, inches before her, one edge of each pincer in a hand. Qit'ria and crab were both surprised by this. The beast tried to yank its claw free, but Qit'ria held tight, letting it pull her toward it. Using this motion, she was able to twist her body about to stomach down, dropping the claw. She immediately shoved down at the ground with her arms, while whipping her body along its length. This resulted in her shoving off to a standing position, just as the next claw came at her. Once more, she caught it, cutting her hands on the rough edges as she did.

She smiled, for she had a plan this time. She twisted about the claw, keeping it pressed against her body, and she planted a foot against the beast's shell. The critter chittered and bubbled as she pulled, and it tried to pull back. It was a tug of war, until with a tearing sound, the claw ripped free of the joint, and Qit'ria was sent sprawling backwards on her ass. She didn't wait to revel in her victory, as the crab disappeared within its shell. She grabbed the claw and ran and ran and ran some more, until she was finally gone from the crabs. The claw would feed her well, and she was so excited to eat it, she forgot all about the snakes or the farm. The thought off falling asleep with a gorged belly brought the best smile to the huntress' face.