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 Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 7:41 am
 Tierehl was moving fast across the lands. Now that he had gotten away from the mountain, that had been unpleasant at best, he wanted to put as much distance between himself and that dreaded land. Though he had never intended to actually collect the payment he owed to Achilles he had stumbled upon Pirata's land and he would make sure to never do that again. Though he had left that area days ago he could still feel his skin crawl with unpleasantness every time he thought of the mountain or the spider obsessed mare. He didn't care that he had made a deal with Achilles, there was no way in hell he was getting that stupid plant, especially if it meant dealing with that mare.
Though he wasn't sure quite exactly where he was at the moment Tierehl simply knew that he was several days travel from the mountain and maybe, just maybe he could start to relax a bit. His pace slowed a bit as he took in his surroundings, a nice meadow, with some trees off to the left. He would stop to take a rest soon, once he found a source of water. Then he would take to the air and put even more distance behind him today.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 9:21 am
 Achilles circled high in the sky, gliding effortlessly on the updrafts as he scanned the ground below, it was hard to see details from up this high but the painted stallion was looking more for movement then anything else. The stallion he sought had to be passing this way, the few signs he had found all pointed to the fact that he was catching up but it was mind numbingly dull to be endless searching this wooded landscape, hoping to see a flash of brown and white to prove his search was over with.
He supposed that he should be grateful, certainly this task would have taken a great deal more time if he hadn't gotten some information from Pirata and her guardsmen - a task that wasn't entirely pleasant but Achilles had come to know the spider queen enough to get by in her presence - and he had curried her favor enough in the past to get what he needed after promising to help her hunt down her son in the near future. A pity about her son, Achilles had always liked him as a foal but a job was a job and this one was merely a mission to find rather then kill which was dull but differant enough to earn his attention.
But..that matter would have to wait - for now he was on the hunt for Penthesilea's brother and then he would return for his reward before taking up any further missions. The stallions eyes were down to movement down below, something was moving quickly below him, could it be ? The colors were certainly right and swooping down Achilles went to investigate.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 9:54 am
There should be a river, stream or pond around here somewhere. As soon as he could slack his thirst then he could be fully on the move once again. He could take to the air to spot one, but he was feelign a bit lazy. Plus he wasn't sure if one of those winged guards from Pirata's area was still following him, so he was sticking to the ground for the time being until he was satisfyingly far enough away. Surely the mare wouldn't make her guard chase him indefinitely...but then again, Pirata was a very different mare and he wouldn't put it past her to do so.
Just that thought alone made him look over his shoulder. He didn't see anyone behind him...of course he didn't think to look up. Instead he picked up his pace once more regardless. Paranoia was beginning to set in once again. If Tierehl had have looked up, and realized that he was being followed and by whom, he probably would have had a heart attack.
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Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 9:07 am
As Achilles moved closer it soon became evident that the motion he had spotted from above was indeed the stallion he had been searching for, relieved that his information had been correct and that this chase would come to a quick and simple conclusion Achilles tucked his wings and dove, snapping them open at the last minute with a quick downbeat to land at a safe speed.
"You are going the wrong way to be collecting my herb stallion." Achilles stated from behind the other. Sure he could have just attacked him from behind with no warning but Achilles wasn't the type to use such underhanded tactics, at least not with creatures like the one before him who were no real danger to his own well being.
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Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 9:46 am
Just when Tierehl was beginning to think that he had gotten away and was safe he heard another land behind him and then he heard that voice. That voice that he had never expected or hoped to hear again. And in that moment of panic Tierehl was certain that his heart may very well explode in his chest. How had the beast found him? He had been certain he had covered enough distance traveling in the day and the night to try to hide. But clearly he hadn't managed just that. Stopping he braced himself and turned to face the stallion. He didn't bother to give Achilles a once over, he darn well know what the stallion looked like and likely what he was capable of.
He could lie, tell Achilles that he got lost...but he knew that would be a mistake. "You're right. I am going the wrong way, but only temporarily." He began to explain. "This is just a little side trip to get something else before I collect your herb." And there was the lie he hadn't planned on saying. Tierehl couldn't help it, the darn lie slipped out before he could even stop himself. And then he thought for a moment. He only had to collect that herb if Achilles had done the job he had hired him to do. If Achilles was here now looking for his herb...did that meant he stallion had done it? slight thrill ran through him as he thought about a world without his annoying sister in it. "Should I assume that since you are here that my sister is no more?" He asked and couldn't stop the hopeful sound that came to his voice. If Penthesilea was truly gone, then he could be free...well he would be truly free once the herd fell after Penthesilea's death.
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Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 10:30 am
Achillie's brows rose slightly as the other stallion spoke, he could have pointed out that this side trip logically made no sense given that e would have had to walk right past the Mountain in order to get here in the first place but there seemed to be little point in making such observation's, the eager way he spoke of his sisters possible death and the easy way he told lies told Achilles all he needed to know about this stallion and further cemented his decision to follow through with the secondary deal he had made.
"Not quite...it seems that you were not entirely truthful with your information." He told the other stallion "And so a secondary deal has been struck." It was not something that Achilles did often but in the end he was a mercenary and he chose the path that benefited him the most - and in a way he supposed that it would also benefit the stallion before him, perhaps he would learn his lesson from this when nothing else had managed to work. Likely not..but who knew?
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Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 10:37 am
It was Tierehl's turn now to raise his eyebrows. What did not quite meant? Either Penthesilea was dead or she wasn't, simple as that. Unless he was implying that he had somehow botched the job and thus his annoying sister was still alive but seriously injured. Well if that was the case Tierehl would just need to either send Achilles back to finish the job or quickly find someone else to to so. There was always some catch when trying to get his sister out of the picture. He had thought Achilles would be the stallion for the job but now he wasn't certain about that.
He was about to ask how close the job was to being done when Achilles final words registered. Tierehl cocked his head to the side. "What secondary deal?" What the hell was the stallion talking about? Why couldn't these stupid assassins just do the job he asked of him and leave it at that, they always ended up complicating things in some way, whether it was their issue with killing a female or now he was dealing with apparently secondary deals.
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Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 11:14 am
"This one." Achilles told the stallion, giving no indication of what he planed to do until it was to late, not that he thought the stallion before him would be well versed enough to know what was happening - oh sure he seemed keen enough to keep his own skin intact but Achilles doubted the stallion had any formal training, not with the nature of the herd he had come from.
Lunging forward Achilles used his powerful hind legs to propel him like lightning towards the other stallion his teeth snapping at the others muzzle. He would have to be careful - Penthesilea had not wanted her brother killed after all...simply taught a lesson and that would make this fight a touch more challenging then normal, he would have to fight this other stallion as though his intention was to kill without actually doing so...to do anything less wouldn't instill the lesson he was supposed to be learning.
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Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 12:23 pm
Tierehl had barely began to c**k an eyebrow at Achilles' words before the mercenary stallion rushed forward. This was not at all what Tierehl was expecting....though honestly he probably should have seen it coming. Damn this stallion and damn his sister even more. How dare Achilles turn this around on him. But those thoughts would have to wait, for right now Tierehl had his life to worry about. He had no idea whether Achilles would try to kill him or not, so he had to fight for his life. And fighting, was unforuntately one of his weak points.
Snapping out his wings Tierehl leaned back, stepping backwards as fast as he could just narrowing avoiding Achilles' teeth. Though not overly skilled in fighting Tierehl would do what he could to fend Achilles off. With his balance shifting to his back legs Tierehl reared up and kicked out at Achilles, he needed to put some distance between them in order to get better footing and to give his mind a moment to process what was happening.
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 8:18 am
When the other stallion reared up Achilles quickly calculated the most promising way to alter his attack, it was quickly clear that his initial strike would miss but that didn't have to mean the rush had been for nothing. Deciding that he would take the stallion blows Achilles ducked his head and drove himself forward even faster, he took the stallion flailing front strikes on his withers and shoulders, they would have been more damaging if the stallion knew how to fight but while his blows were still painful they were not highly damaging.
His plan was to bowl the stallion over, and turning his head and neck aside at the last moment Achilles attempted to ram the other stallion in his exposed stomach with the intent of knocking him over backwards while he was reared up, hoping that his speed was enough to keep the stallion from escaping to the sky.
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 8:32 am
Tierehl wanted to scream in frustration at how things were turning out. But he didn't have the chance, or true will to do so, right now he needed his full focus on the fight that may or may not end his life. He should have never trusted Achilles and now it was all coming back to kick him in the a**...literally. There was a brief moment of satisfaction when his hooves landed on Achilles but it became almost immediately evident that the blow had done little to the skilled stallion. He thought to perhaps bite down on Achilles to stop his forward motion, but before he could turn that single thought into action the other stallion had moved slightly and then there was the impact of him on Tierehl's chest.
Damn, he had left himself open to that. Tierehl fought to keep his balance, wings snapping out further, flapping to try to push him forward against Achilles. He tried to take a step forward but he wasn't well positioned for such a move. He felt himself slipping backwards. The best thing he could do at this point was to twist his body so that he wouldn't land flat on his back. Tierehl hit the ground on his side, he had folded his wing up just in time. Knowing he was vulnerable, Tierehl gathered his legs under him and pushed up. He wasn't sure where Achilles was now, that moment on the ground disorienting him, but he wasn't about to lay there and find out. Now on his hooves again he spun around looking for Achilles.
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 9:31 am
AS the other stallion fell over Achilles leapt sideways to avoid his flailing form. Knowing the Tierehl would quickly try to gain his feet Achilles considered his next move, typically he would press the fight, try to end things quickly with a quick stomp of his hooves on the others vulnerable and disoriented head .... but he wasn't trying to kill this time around so much as just teach a lesson so several of his normal options were vetoed.
Spotting a nearby tree branch the spotted stallion had a bizarre and he thought absolutely hilarious thing to do, it might be somewhat humiliating as well which was the whole point of this exercise. Grabbing the tree branch Achilles pulled it back as far as he could and then waited patiently for the other stallion to flail abut and get back to his feet. As soon as Tierehl spun around to try and find him Achilles let the branch go, watching as it snapped towards the other stallions had like a multi branched spiny whip. Hilarious!
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 9:45 am
He was spinning around and just caught sight of Achilles a few feet away when he saw something else. It was fast moving and he didn't have time to process what it was or even get out of the way. The slap of the tree hitting Tierehl square in the face echoed out across the area. Pain like he had never experienced before burst across his face. This was so much different than being struck by a hoof or bite, this pain spread quickly and it nearly made him drop right then and there. It was almost enough to make a grown stallion cry. Tierehl sucked in a breath between clenched teeth and tried his damnest to stay vertical. Deer dung that hurt! What kind of sick twisted game was Achilles playing?
Though the pain was still strong Tierehl knew that he couldn't stand there trying to cope with the pain for too long. Lord knows what else Achilles would pull on him while he was distracted. Forcing his eyes open Tierehl looked for the other stallion. "Do you always use such childish tactics?" He asked. Yup insulting the other stallion was about all he could manage at this point. "No wonder you couldn't kill my sister." Granted that same sister apparently had sent Achilles back after Tierehl so maybe that wasn't the best thing to say. Now that he had had a moment to gather his wits Tierehl pushed to attack once more. His face still stung, and he was almost certain that he would find small bits of bark imbedded in his skin later, but he couldn't just stand here and wait for Achilles to land a final blow. Rushing forward he meant to simply plow into the other stallion. It was better than nothing.
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 9:55 am
Achilles couldn't help it, he had to laugh as the other stallion got smacked in the face by the whipping branch, he recalled as a foal playing similar prank on his training buddies, though they had typically attempted to hit each other in the haunches and flanks. The face was far funnier, the look of absolute shock on the other stallion's face was priceless.
"Couldn't is a strong word.... Didn't suits the situation much better." Achilles told the other beast as he finally manage to process what h likely considered an insult, the poke at his fighting tactics he ignored completely, Achilles had long ago learned that there was no true honor in fighting, it was kill or be killed and if you didn't use everything around you to your advantage, including silly tricks like that then you were just stupid. But that thought wasn't really something that could be explained in the midst of a fight and he doubted Tierehl would get it anyways.
Almost as son as he had stopped speaking Achilles could see the other stallion preparing for something and when he finally charged Achilles waited, tensing his muscles until he was sure that Tierehl was fully committed to his charge before moving, Leaping sideways at the very last second Achilles lashed out with one of his hind legs, he aimed for the other stallions knee as he passed hoping to tangle his legs and make him trip.
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 10:02 am
Though he heard Achilles words he didn't exactly fully register them nor did he give them much thought on what it meant. It didn't matter at this point because his own life was in jeopardy. Clearly Achilles was just toying with him, wanting to have some fun before killing him. Obviously trying to run or fly away wasn't going to work so Tierehl just had to keep fighting and hope for the best.
He tried to slow as Achilles stepped out of the way of his charge. Being matched against a Soquili who lived to fight and kill made Tierehl's situation a bad one. Tierehl had little fighting skills, that's why he would always try to get someone else to do his dirty work. Not like he had a chance to learn to fight growing up. He did his best to avoid Achilles' kick but the hoof still connected and Tierehl went crashing to the ground once more. Gods but this was embarrassing. With a grunt Tierehl worked on getting to his hooves once more. Frustrated at what was happening and knowing he didn't have a chance in hell of beating Achilles, he glanced back at the other stallion as he stood once more. "Why don't you just kill me already? Surely you are bored of fighting such a worthless opponent." Not the smartest thing to say but Tierehl wasn't the smartest Soquili out there, but he did know when he was beat - or about to be beat in this case.
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