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Keionx moved through the trees, alert for other movement that would signal success on her hunt. The outskirts of the Swamp, where forest met marsh, were excellent hunting grounds, and far enough away from civilization (or the 'civilization' that was the Outpost) to slake some of her wanderlust. It wasn't that Keionx's desire to move was insatiable, but that adventuring had been a comfort for so long in her emotional turmoil that, though there was considerably less turmoil for her these days, it was soothing. Like an old friend.

She carried a basket on her back, ready to hold any gathered or hunted goods for transport back to the Outpost, and was just kneeling by a berry bush to pluck it's late-fall offerings (not poisonous – her father had made sure she knew which plants were edible and which weren't, after all) when she heard it:

A scream.

Keionx stiffened, listening to the forest sounds as she stood restlessly, looking around her for some sort of clue. Keionx couldn't tell where the shriek had come from, or if it had come from a troll or a beast, but her every ounce of training called her to follow it and find it. It was very frustrating.

And then the cry for help came, and she knew where to go. She broke into a full run, leaping over downed tree trunks and dodging the traps of vines, roots, and mud with ease, propelled forward by a heady mixture of adrenaline and a sense of purpose.

Finally, spying the likely scene of the altercation, she leapt over a tree stump, grabbed a tree branch, and swung forth. She had only an instant to process the scene – a troll, trapped by a claw trap, clearly helpless and alone - and was feeling too heroically charged to think much further than that before she landed in the bog.

”Have no fear, friend,” she declared, ”Help is here!” moving for the trap. It would be a relatively simple matter to undo the trap – she'd come across (and set) claw traps before and she had her ways of opening them...

An angry snort, followed by an irritated bellow, made her stop. There's something else here! she thought, pumpbiscuit pounding in anticipation of a fight. She drew her sword and faced where the beast lurked.

~~~

The snoutbeast may or may not have been minding its business in the bushes. It also might have been hunting the smell of fresh blood, being omnivorous and all. Either way, the shouting had bothered it, and the sudden (and loud) appearance of the other troll only made it more annoyed. So the snoutbeast did what any angry wild snoutbeast would do – it charged.

Destroy the beast that was plaguing this poor troll? Be someone's savior? OF ******** COURSE SHE WOULD. Keionx was already on it.

She dropped her sword, briefly, to duck and grab the beast by it's hindquarters, ignoring it's potentially deadly trotters as she proceeded to suplex it impressively. The throw landed it, squealing, onto it's back, and ended it's charge prematurely. Of course, the fight wasn't over yet. Keionx picked up her sword again as she turned to fight it properly.

It wasn't down, of course, for long. The throw had only enraged it more. As it came at her, she bashed it's tusked face away with her shield, dealing it a mighty slash on it's side that bled a greasy yellow. It attacked her again, trying to gore her with it's tusks, but it's attacks were too wild, too rage-borne. Keionx's attacks were much more precise. She slashed, she stabbed, she flourished, her moves flowing into each other with an easy confidence... She may or may not have been showing off. It had been so long since she'd had a proper audience, after all.

Finally, it reared up for one more full body charge and, as it barreled towards her, Keionx made her final move – she stabbed it, right through it's body, brought back her sword in a single movement (that perhaps could have been smoother), and rolled out of the way as it careened into a tree and fell, unmoving, amidst the shaken and falling leaves.

She smiled in satisfaction at her victory, gave her sword a flourish to rid it of clinging yellow blood, and sheathed it, managing to – unconciously, of course, – strike a heroic pose as she did so. ”There!” she said, turning and walking briskly back to the troll child, ”I hath slain the beast... and now for thee.” She kneeled next to them and started on the trap, working it open with equal parts brute force, tricks she had learned from her experience with traps, and actually finding the hidden mechanism that made it open. ”What be thy name, friend?”

Keionx could have wondered about whether she should help the young juggalo. She could have wondered why a young child was out so far into the woods in the first place without their lusus (though she wouldn't have to wonder long - she herself had been adventurous enough as a child).

But it was not Keionx's place to wonder. Wondering opened the doors to unpleasant thoughts and ideas, ones that she did have to think about at times, yes.

But not now.

Instead of wondering, Keionx picked the troll up in her arms. "Point thee the way, young Jackyl! I shall take thee to him!" she declared.

Saving a troll out in the wilderness? Carrying them, heroically, back to home? This was pretty much making her day.