The ambassador was relieved to hear that the drow at least had some extra provisions for herself, but the girl was going to be slightly problematic. At the rate that they were adding people, they might not have enough supplies to feed everyone for the rest of the day--or at least, make sure they had somewhat full stomachs in order to feel comfortable. Still, Ivorygate was not about to leave someone out in the middle of the plains who required help; that would be too cold and cruel, even for the vyldkin. The guard, as correct as he was in his assertion that they could not sustain many more mouths especially with their already-limited supplies, did not seem to realize that being cold-hearted was making them more and more like the war-faring beasts that they did not want to emulate.
Geoffrey smiled as he heard the
dwehga tell the young girl about the dangers of travelling on the road. At least someone else was trying to bring a bit of logic into the girl's mind, even if Jura was not going to pay attention to the sage words of wisdom that were being imparted by two elders. There was, however, something to her enthusiasm that Geoffrey enjoyed... Perhaps he
did take his job a bit too seriously at times... But with the fate of the world at stake, there was no time to shirk off in his duties to the Hold.
He led the others back to the circle of horses, nodding to the guards. "Men, this is Lady Jura Darling and Lady Talael Tamira. They are travellers who I have offered protection to for the time being. Men, you are to treat these two women with respect and dignity at all times, understand?" The guards saluted in response, although Ivorygate could see a bit of apprehension in the mens' eyes.
"Find a guard to sit with, ladies--if they give you any trouble, feel free to call out their attention to me," Geoffrey nodded before climbing up onto his horse. "Men, we ride to the Bloodrazor Grounds." With that, the captain led the way to the east, heading out toward the Badlands.
An hour passed. The group found themselves in an area with quite a bit of overgrowth. It was not long before the travelers came across another group of people--these were rather poor-looking fellows that seemed to be gathered around a slender man...
"Bandits!" Geoffrey exclaimed to no one in particular. "Men, you know what to do." With that, he stopped his horse and dismounted, walking toward the group before watching the bandits suddenly collapse onto the ground as a tremor shook through the immediate area.
"What was that!?" one of the guards exclaimed as the not-bandit of the group seemed to get back up without so much as a scratch on him.
"...must be some sort of magic, I believe..." Ivorygate's voice seemed slightly distant. "Men, make sure this man is able to fend off the rabblerousers. When you've finished, I'd like to speak with the mage."
"...Sir, with all due respect..." the captain muttered through gritted teeth. "We are already behind schedule and overburdened with extra people. Do you really need to talk with this man?"
Ivorygate turned to the cynical captain, a glint in his eye. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I'd like to. It
is your job to guard those that require protection, no? If he attacks you, feel free to arrest him in self-defense."
A few of the guards nodded in compliance and ran out to assist the young man with his battle. Geoffrey, in the meantime, watched from the sidelines, giving an occasional glance back to the newcomers. After a few minutes of fighting, the attackers scattered back into the woods, rather infuriated that they could not get their money or goods or whatever they were looking for. Satisfied, the ambassador approached the remaining figure, who he realized upon closer inspection was an elf much like Talael except for the lack of dark-blue skin.
He bowed his head in respect toward the stranger. "
Andaran atish'an, fheyga'mal", he greeted, using the proper greeting toward males of this particular race. In the limited time he had spend living and observing the elves, he had picked up snippets of their language. "Are you alright? Who were those men that attacked you just now?"
The vyldkin on the ground looked up toward her compatriot, catching his smirk out of the corner of her eye. While the first two choices sounded legitimately plausible, the third she knew was a joke--it had to be! How could Ahn say something as ridiculous about her as that? After she had talked up such a big game, too?
"You imply you even had a chance in the first place," she growled back to the silver-furred vyldkin beside her, more of a joke than anything else. Feral knew that she had a tendency to come across as a bit aggressive at times, and she figured that Ahn would have enough common sense to understand that. She
had, after all, noticed him watching her when she had sparred with other vyldkin and he
had conversed with her in the past. Besides, he was a blade-brother--how could she
not joke about this sort of thing with him, despite the fact that it was more than a joke to her?
"Of course I have a chance, battle-sister," he grinned a her, "I have to make it hard for you, otherwise it would not be challenging. Besides, you wouldn't have it any other way, would you?" He asked her as he strode next to her. He looked down at her, his grin reflected in his silver eyes. How he couldn't wait to see her in action once again. It was always entertaining to watch her during her sparring matches.
"Please--you have strength, I give you that much," Feral shot back without missing a beat. "I, on the other hand, can rely on more than my blade. A true hunter must be stealthy, agile, and ruthless. With a huge blade like that, you can be none of those things. If, however, you relish the thought of hunting through instinct and natural prowess alone, well...
that is the embodiment of the hunt. It's how our ancestors would want us to hunt--besides, it's more satisfying this way." She managed to keep her pace consistent with the others despite being on all fours. For whatever reason, some vyldkin were more naturally adept in this particular posture; Feral just happened to be one of these hunters.
"You do not think that I am capable of stealth? Or agility? My blade is all that I need, dear Feral. I'm willing to bet that I am much quieter than you," he teased. However she had one thing right: he wasn't agile at all without his weapon and became a lumbering mess of muscle without the blade. Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to learn a few things from her in the future, but until then, he would be just fine with his sword. "Our ancestors run deep in us all. I think a bit deeper in you," he suggested, referring to her tendency to be overly excited when hunting. He tried to hold back the chuckle that threatened to ruin the mood, but it slipped out just a bit before he caught it.
Feral crossed in front of Ahn, a bit of a smirk creeping across her face as she listened to Ahn's counter-argument. "I never said you
lacked those capabilities, but rather are hindered by your reliance on that blade. You need to become...
versatile if you want to catch your prey off-guard. If you're disarmed and rely only on your blade, what then?" She looked back up at Ahn, presenting vicious-looking teeth toward him. "This is where your true strength and inner fire comes to the front, Ahn. It's in this moment where you feel most alive. The ancestors know it and bless us with their prowess."
Ahn watched her as she shifted to walk in front of him, moving her body backwards and yet still keeping pace, a wonderful trait if he said so himself, "Versatile, hu? I can show you versatile," he said with a laugh. Unhooking his blade, he let the weaon drop and fell forward, tackling her suddenly in a playful manner. Ahn growled at her and nipped at her as he rolled forward, trying to bring her down.
"Really... you want to do that now?" Ahn heard Gnash comment from the front of their party. Ahn ignored him and kept up his play.
Feral was, admittedly, caught off-guard as Ahn slammed into her side, causing her to shift off-balance and nearly fall to the ground. She felt the silver vyldkin biting at her skin in almost a playful manner. Without hesitating, Feral scratched at Ahn's chest with one claw as she threw her other arm around his shoulder, slightly digging into his flesh and possibly drawing a bit of blood. She mustered a powerful kick with both of her legs as she found her opponent's other shoulder and bit into it, letting her teeth bite down on his skin without drawing any blood this time. With a grunt and a growl, she attempted to flip him onto his back, where she knew she would have the advantage.
"Save it for the beasts, you two!" Bane growled, turning around to attempt to settle their mock fight. "If you really need to do this now, head back to the clan--we have no need for distractions like this on the last hunt before the exodus. You both know how serious this is--are you two even listening to me!?"
Ahn grunted as Feral was quick to retaliate against him. He felt her claws digging into his back as she attempted to roll him to get on top. Only there would she have the advantage. Her jaw locked over his other shoulder opposite to where she was gripping him, but she did not bite down hard enough to break the skin. Ahn grinned as he let her kick roll them. If she thought that he would allow her to take top, she was very much mistaken and he used the roll to continue across the grass until he pinned her, and leaned up with a broad smile.
"Heard, yes. Listening, no," Ahn answered Bane who had yelled at them.
Feral was not one to take this pin lying down. In his moment of distraction, she placed both of her hind limbs square on his chest and kicked him hard enough to break his grip on her arms. She quickly got back onto all fours and smirked.
"You know I am not the largest prize of this hunt, Ahn..." she growled through a bit of a grin. "We have bigger prey to find..." With that, she followed behind Gnash and Bane, eager to get the hunt underway once more. "They're right, though--we'll settle it later at the camp if you would like..."
Ahn fell backwards, knocked off of her completely and the wind taken from his lungs as he hit the ground. With a cough, he regained the air needed into his chest and rolled over to his stomach to pick himself back up. Growling lightly, Ahn picked up his weapon and followed after her, "You may not be the largest, but you're a prize to hunt," he commented, "If you think you can handle it, I would be pleased to finish back at camp."
"If you two are done, we have a herd to find..." Bane muttered once again, turning his attention toward the the north. The four wandered for another fifteen minutes or so before coming across a herd of gray-skinned beasts, each with four horns curling from atop their heads. They contented themselves with feasting from the grasses that grew sparsely across the badlands. A few of the larger beasts, however, decided to display their strength to the others of the herd by charging at one another and locking horns in combat.
Feral smirked as she felt a glimmer in her eye. She looked back toward Ahn, displaying a bit of her jagged teeth. "The big one's mine..."