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 Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:39 am
Holy hell! It was big! It was fast! And it was trying to eat him! So okay he was a member of the Streeakh, bluntly, the suicide squad of the Underdark, but that didn't actually mean that he wanted he just had less reasons than most to care if it accidentally happened! He was an oddball you see, taller then he should have been, with unusual eyes and very strange hair, black with a blue shine rather than the bright white he was supposed to have. His brother, the captain of his unit was the same, only he was even weirder if he was honest...
His name was Zakn'fryn De'Faer, his brother, Nath'ynda hand sent him on a brief re-con, just to ascertain whether or not some strange rumours of an oversized drake like beasty roaming the tunnels were actually true... well, he could honestly say they very much were! Not that many of the Underdark folks used this particular set of tunnels, the only people you were likely to run into were warriors on their way back from training, or people who thought the particularly dark section of the Underdark was a good short cut home. Right now he was hoping not to run into anyone. He had this bad habit you see of trying to be a hero, and that wasn't so good when it came to keeping ones own skin intact, as his eye had very nearly found out the hard way.
Right now he was running for his life. The creature, whatever the hell it was was large, and apparently pretty hungry, he couldn't blame it... there wasn't a lot to eat in the Underdark at the best of times, and these barely used tunnels didn't exactly attract the most nourishing fare... even the salamanders avoided them for whatever reason.. but this monster had apparently found its way down here, and the damn thing sure didn't make much noise as it moved, it had surprised the crap out of him when he finally saw it... its teeth, by that point were only about a foot away from his face... since then he had lost all perception of how far away from him it was...
by Lloth he hoped it was a damn good way away..
He'd be happy to take it on with just one or two more people there with him... but you couldn't be both weapon and distraction all at the same time. It just didn't work. So for now... He'd run.
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:59 am
He pulled a ragged strip of cloth from his pack to wipe at the muck he had inadvertently smeared over his face, though he only spread the grime further rather than clearing it much as he grumbled under his breath.
It took him longer than he ordinarily would have like to hear the sound of footfalls.. Rapid footfalls at that and they did seem to be getting louder. He dropped the rag, narrowing his eyes a little, reaching up to let his fingertips touch the hilt of his sword as he readied himself should he be discovered. Should he have called out..?
Part him desperately wanted to, but if they had more unsavory intentions than he did, it would have been best to stay quiet as he crept forward into a convergence of passages within the outer tunnels.
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 12:28 pm
Zakn dared a glance over his shoulder... good... the creature was nowhere in sight now, but down here that didn't mean much. Some of the besties could do the most unusual things, and he didn't want to bet that this one couldn't make itself invisible if it wanted to. Damn the dangers of the Underdark were countless if you actually stopped to think about it. When he finally turned his very bright blue eyes back to face the way he was coming he had to make a very very snap decision.
There was someone. In the path.
Now this could go two ways...
He could try and stop to explained to them that they needed to leg it from the potenially invisbible but really hungry thing that was chasing him and potentially get caught... them too... and end up eaten...
Or he could just run on past with a yell....
Stop or yell, stop or yell... why did this have to be so damnably complicated? Argh!
Eventually, he went with option number three... it came to him as a flash of genius just as he was getting potentially too close to the other Drow to actually stop himself from colliding with them unless they move very swiftly... and he didn't think they were going to do that. With the way the other had his hand raise he was poised to attack, or defend... not to jump. So the answer was simple...
Not breaking his pace in the slightest he ducked himself forward a little, bracing his un-armoured shoulder a little as he kept running, literally into the other Drow, straightening up as his shoulder connected just below the others ribcage. "No time! Explain later!" He stated in a quick, light hearted voice, he managed to sound at least slightly cheerful despite the fact he was running for his life just now. "Sorryifthat...hurt!"
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 12:42 pm
He honestly wasn't too sure why he hadn't reacted faster when he finally pin-pointed where it was this figure was coming from, and when he had clocked onto the fact he was running right for him. He was clueless, it had to be said, why he hadn't even drawn his sword at that moment, it shouldn't have been a shock to have another drow run at ou within the underdark, not at all.
Maybe he really was only good for fighting on the surface now, he hoped, for a moment that he was still good to do that.
The thoughts however were brief and all but emptied from his troubled mind as he was winded quite spectacularly, a shoulder to his semi-bare stomach.
Kalan wheezed rather audibly, the fingers that had curled around the hilt of his sword to pull the blade free and swing it, joined his other arm, trailing behind the incredibly tall drow that had grabbed him as he fled at speed.
What on earth was going on..?
He wheezed again and managed a small flail as he regained some of his forcibly exhaled air, "Wha-.. Wha!?" He flapped a little again. managing with a marginally more angry tone, "What in the hell are you.. You doing!?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 12:49 pm
"Isn't it obvious..?" Zakn asked as he rather swiftly rounded a rather tight bend that curved off to the left. "I'm running like the fiends of Lloth were after me. Because by the spider they bloody well are!" His breath came in short bursts between words. Surprisingly, it wasn't as laboured as it might have been concidering he was running with a burden on his shoulders now. It was mainly thanks to the sheer levels of adrenaline the sight of those pearly whites so close to his face had given him... damn that had been a close one.
"If you'd care to keep watch!" He called back over his shoulder, looking back for just a moment, "I'd appreciate a heads up if you see anything large and hungry after us!" He was convinced it was still there... no matter that he hadn't heard it, hadn't seen it for a while... it was there... "The name's Zakn'fryn, by the way! Sorry for this sham of an introduction!" He actually chuckled slightly at that before falling silent again, he needed his breath for running...
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:17 pm
"There.. THERE'S NOTHING THERE!"
The smaller male finally managed, re-finding his feet and indignitiy at the situation he was in with a small snarl to his expression, not that his taller, forced companion would be able to tell. Kalan gripped at the back of this.. Zakn'fryn's shirt and sword as he tried to push himself up a little to ease the pressure on his slightly sore belly and to give him,self a little more wriggling leverage.
"I don't see why you're laughing you spooked buffoon, you've only gone.. And.." He trailed off ever so slightly and relented his squirming for a moment.
"There.."
Suddenly he was almost going into overdrive himself, his pale eyes wide as he was grabbing at Zakn's shirt and sword again as he seemed to be scrambling backwards up and over the other males back, giving him a bit of a boot in the side,
"Go faster! GOFASTER!"
He was certainly getting a bit of idea as to what these.. HOards of Lolth were looking like.. Well, their teeth and tounges at least.
"ITLOOKSHUNGRY!"
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:30 pm
"Oof!" Was the initial reply at the sudden boot to the side "This running would go a damn sit faster if you tried not to wind me you know!" Regardless that he'd done just that to Kalan only a few short minutes before. He did however kick it up a notch, on no level did he want to be dinner, hell no! That was a wussy way to die, in the belly of some beasty, if he was going in any way at all it would be taking out some foolish elven general or something along those lines! He'd be a hero damnit! He would! "Im sure its damn hungry! You would be too if you lived in this damn tunnel!"
The careening chase soon took Zakn to an area he knew somewhat better than the ones he had been in thus far... it was one he spent a fairly large amount of time training in when he was younger, and he knew very well that if he flung himself to the right shortly after rounding the next corner he'd skid, well out of control of course, down the remnants of an old rockslide and end up in a passage on the level below... the slide was narrow and there was no way in the Underdark that beasty could get down there as well. So that was the plan..
"HOLD ON!" He yelled as he set the plan in motion, skidding to a sudden halt, tightening his arm around Kalans legs and diving suddenly to the side, his feet acting like a makeshift surf board as he crouched a little, skidding down the uneven surface of the rock slide, occasionally flinging the studded side of his glove against the wall to keep his balance.
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:49 pm
Continuing to try and move further away from those impossibly sharp and pointy teeth, Kalan made a series of somewhat distressed noises, pushing up from and against the sword, "I'm NOT trying to wind you you're just not as fast as you think you are!" He half whimpered, half snarled back to his kidnapper come savior. He did however, make a small note to endeavor not to plant a heel or toe into his side again, though he did try to get a good grip on his with his legs as well to attempt to haul himself off that shoulder and put said taller drows back between himself and the rampaging beastie that was following them..
When all of a sudden he'd lurked to the side, and felt something whoosh past his ear. He really couldn't stop the ridiculous little shriek of shock at the sudden change of direction and momentum as they traveled down rapidly.
"L-Like I can do a-anything else!" He hollered back, losing his grip on the shirt and sword and flopping heavily, for such a slight male, down onto the broad shoulder he was being carted around on.
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 2:00 pm
He had just about managed to adjust to the other male pushing himself up when his full weight, though not as great as it might have been, flopped back down onto his shoulder, causing him to slump to the side for a moment which caused an instant reactions. The slight change in angle caused his path down the rockslide to waver slightly, which in turn caused him to almost spin around on the spot as his foot caught a rock at an odd angle.
Luckily though, by the time the odd angle took affect and sent him literally flying around in a circle they were pretty well at the bottom of the slide, and the end result was that the oddly tall Drow was send flying out of the mouth of the almost blocked path backwards. He was exhausted by this point, definitely, but not quite to the point where he because insensible to this angles risk to the smaller male he had thus far saved. Crushing him now would definitely not be worth it...
However.. had the situation not been so dire he would definitely have spent more time reflecting on how cute that little yelp had been...
Shifting his arms slightly as he tumbled down, he grabbed a hold of the other's hips and pulled him down quite sharply, aiming to slip him off of the shoulder he was currently draped over and instead, onto his chest... he hoped he'd make it, by Lloth he did as no sooner had he stopped his tugging than his lower half collided with the floor, and his back met his sword rather painfully... the pair of them skidded noisilly across the passage for a while before finally skidding to a halt..
"You know..." Zakn said thoughtfully, his voice slightly pained... "I usually get to know people a little better before I wind up like this..."
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 2:26 pm
Kalan simply couldn't repress the shocked, distressed noises he made at the rather.. Precarious descent continued and started to come to an end, and the more he looked at those lumps of rock they were sliding and bouncing over, the louder the noises of distress became. Damn he was already back to acting like such a weakling little kid, not something he liked to hark back to in particular.
It was all a bit of a blur, quite literally, as he pinched his eyes closed for a moment.
Well.. It seemed like a moment.. When he opened them again, everything had gone quite still. And there was this.. Murbled sort of noise next his ears, or was that above them?
He made a slightly strained little noise as he finally managed to start making a little more sense of his situation, removing his face from the shoulder he appeared to be partially peering over to lean up a little and give the.. Dark haired person below him a slightly befuddled little look as he flopped his slightly scraped hands down on his shoulders, eyebrows raised.
"You.. What..?" Was all he managed, blinking a couple of times as his stunned brain slowly re-booted itself. "Blue.." He mumbled after a moment more, and a moment after that, one of his eyes twitched a little as he startled quite suddenly to looks over his shoulder with a slightly garbled noise as he tried to discern where that horrible creature had gone to.
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 2:40 pm
Zakn simply smiled slightly groggily at the others little noises. God his back hurt, his a** to if he was honest, he'd landed on it pretty soundly... but that wasn't really that important just now, he'd taken a damn worse knock the first time he dove down that slide, head first no less... it was shockingly useful he had to admit.. probably because it looked so sheer at the top that no one in their right mind would actually try to jump it... luckily for him he wasn't exactly in his right mind most of the time, it seemed to be helping him live longer. "Yes... Blue.. yours are too..." the other comment made him chuckled... he took it to mean his eyes as well, most people blinked at them a goodly deal.
"Hey... it can't get us down here..." he stated, his voice still a little strained, and his arms still wound protectively around the smaller figure that he'd pulled on top of him.. "It wouldn't go near that slide, not even for a good meal I wouldn't think." He was still laying on his sword, somewhat awkwardly as well... he'd probably nicked the blade too. It didn't matter too much as honestly.. the sword wasn't that sharp.. but Nath would still nag him senseless until he actually got it sorted out. Oh well... there were more important things to be thought about just now... "Are you okay, by the way..?" He asked, those very blue eyes fixing on Kalan.
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 2:56 pm
Kalan tried to arch up a little more or at least try to wriggle off the taller drow below him.. TO no avail, however and it didn't take too long for him to give up on trying it, the surge of adrenaline wearing off and making him crash ever so slowly.
Blue too..? By Lolth he can't have been with it, commenting like that to this stranger..
"Uhm.. Yeah.." He mumbled a little back, attempting to subtly look anywhere but back at the other males face, and those damn blue eyes.
"Su-.. You sure though..? I mean.. I looked damn angry, I'm pretty sure that if it wanted to that badly.." He motioned towards the rock-slide with a scraped up thumb then trailed off, going a little wide eyed as he noticed the grime on his hands.. Then recalled what he'd rubbed on his face.. Then proceeded to flop his face down again quite suddenly.
"I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine." He spoke into the solid shoulder his face was against now, feeling.. Oddly self conscious, actually.
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 3:06 pm
The reaction to his simple question made Zakn chuckle a little, just a very little. A slightly rumbley noise in his chest more than anything else. "I believe you." He stated in the same, friendly voice, "You really do seem to be, quite fine." He did however finally decide it was a good idea to loosen his arms, he'd just gotten so used to holding onto this other Drow, that it had seemed rather risky to let him go.. but everything was fine now, there was no danger at all.. they were safe. "I know he won't come down here. That fall gets too narrow in the middle. Even if he tried he'd stick fast at that point, we barely got through together... but we made it. That's all that matters..." he lifted one of his gloved hands, and absently ruffled the shock of white hair that was hovering rather near his face just now.
"You know.. It's not every day you do something like that huh..?" He queried after a moments though, "Could have gone worse though, despite the fact your hands'll need some attention, sorry about that.. I should have pulled you over sooner, I guess I wasn't thinking.." he seemed to notice a surprising amount for someone who flung himself down rock slides. "Could I possibly get a name as well..?" He queried, "I just like to know the names of the people I just barely avoid crushing..." he chuckled. "I'm pretty sure I gave you mine earlier..."
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 3:23 pm
The smaller male grumbled quietly against the rumbling chest, making a series of disgruntled noises and tried for a moment to slide off the chunky male again, but once more to no avail, even if he had been granted just a little more breathing space.
"It'd better not.. If it does get stuck I'll go and give it a piece of my mind, for.. For.. Interrupting my tracking.." He grouched, talking for the sake of filling the quietness that surrounded them in the darkness, motioning a little with his hand, still refusing to pull away from the shoulder, though his face burned just a little bit with the notion he was quite probably transferring the grime from his face onto this.. This Zakn's, was it, top.
"No no it's not like that happens all the day either when you're.. You're just out trying to find a stupid pet.. And then you get winded and carted all over the damn tunnels.. Unfamiliar tunnels at that, and then you're.." he spoke with a slightly smaller voice, "Realise you're covered in dirt and rubbing if off on someone who's.. The CAUSE of nearly getting yourself eaten.. But also stopped it happening too.."
He resisted the odd urge to chew said fabric.. It was covered in dirt after all now.. Yes.. Dirt..
"Kalan'afae.. And.. I can't remember your name but.. Aren't you uncomfortable lieing on your sword after I pulled it around a bit..?" Face STILL burning with embarrassment, he managed to turn it just a little to ry peeking at Zak once again.
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 3:34 pm
"Zakn'fryn." He stated, once again smiling slightly. "I am terribly sorry for leading that thing towards you, and winding you.. and jostling you, and flinging you down a rock slide with me." he paused, tilting his own head down a little so that he could peer at Kalan... Kalan'afae... it was a pretty cute name if he was honest.. and, now that he really thought about it... the guy was pretty cute himself. He'd not met anyone this small in quite a while.. not that he was going to say anything about it. "In fact, after all the trouble I've caused you, I probably deserve to lay on my sword for a while... don't you think..?"
A moment or two later however, he did shift, his hand moving to rest flat against the others back as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. Well.. not fully, but slightly more so, his shoulders were now leant up against the wall as he pushed off the shoulder armour that also, at the back, formed the rather daintier that it shoulder be clip that held the ridiculously large sword to his back.
"That's a bit better.." he mumbled, yes, he'd potentially taken Kalan with him for that little fidgeted adventure as well, but what they hey... "So.. you were tracking something were you..?" He queried, looking down at the paler eyed drow with some curiosity. "What pet could be important enough to come into this section of the Underdark for... rough country down here... they don't usually send the valued folk anywhere close to them..." It was true. The number of lived this area had claimed with cave ins and rock slides was notorious. "Not to mention its worse than a labyrinth down here..." he stated thoughtfully. "But not to worry... I've been here enough times to know my way round!" He smiled, a rather bright grin.
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