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 Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 6:27 pm
Bodhi was frustrated. Her angeni stallion, her beautiful angeni stallion... was nowhere to be found. She had the sneaking suspicion that he had left the area without telling her, a suspicion that left her roiling with anger. How could he? She had thought herself important to the stallion but apparently wasn't.
She blew out a huffy sigh and lifted her head back up high. She hadn't been going to come back to practice again... but the lack of angeni stallion in her life had convinced her. She wanted to be able to kick him properly in the nose if he dared show his face to her again after abandoning her like this.
Gliss and Padma came together again. Padma had certainly been angry at her friend after the last session, but a few days in the rain had helped with that. The rain suited her. She liked the gloomy mists and the chill that came with it. Gliss on the other hand... she had gotten to witness him moaning and complaining about it for days and being generally miserable. Somehow, watching him be miserable for a while made forgiving him a lot easier. So, today she had come along. She still stuck with her original motivation for coming. She wanted to be able to defend herself, or at least make herself feel a little tougher.
Gliss was indeed still recovering from his aggravating few days spent in the rain. He had managed to get the worst of the mud out of his blue fur but it still clung itchingly in some places. He lifted a hoof to scratch at a leg. The mud still clung. He bit back irritated grumbles and waited for the half-kalona to make his first instruction.
Nirvana didn't really have a profound reason to come back... but he didn't have a profound reason for coming in the first place, either. He liked doing something with two of his children, even if they mostly ignored him. Besides, it was only a couple hours of a day and there were so many days in a lifetime. He might as well spend some of them doing something unusual!
Sam lurked near the back, hoping that Bodhi wouldn't spot her. It didn't work. Though Sam could swear she hadn't met the other mare's eyes she came over all the same. Soon she was talking Sam's ear off about that stallion of hers... wait, no, not hers anymore. Talking about that stallion who had apparently found another mare to fawn over. Great... Sam looked at her father hopefully. Maybe he'd start soon and end this enforced interaction.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:42 pm
The second lesson went more smoothly than the first, but it wasn't as smooth as it could have been. There were some bumps and bruises, as to be expected from a combat training course. However, some of his relatives seemed to take it better than others. Padmasambhava in particular surprised Haya with her resilience. As if to make up for last time, she took some very solid hits from her various partners and only seemed to try harder for it.
Nirvana on the other hand... Haya had to admit that he didn't quite understand why the half-angeni was present. He didn't seem to enjoy the idea of attacking someone and didn't seem to enjoy being attacked. His efforts were half-hearted at best... almost a parody of the other students at worst. Haya shook his head while watching Nirvana flick a hoof at his daughter and laugh at his own ineffectiveness.
They'd never be able to fight off a skinwalker like that... not that Haya hoped any would show up anytime soon...
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:52 pm
A skinwalker didn't turn up, much to everyone's relief. But a kalona did. 
One of Xelloss' eyebrows quirked upwards in bemusement. Was this halfbreed really trying to menace him? His mouth was pulled into a snarky smile, showing just enough fangs to give it some danger. The young stallion blustered and muttered in front of him but Xelloss couldn't bring himself to take the kid seriously. He obviously had barely ever even seen a kalona let alone faced one. Xelloss wondered vaguely what the bravo would do once he was a little bloodied and bitten. Cry for his mother perhaps? He could hardly wait.
"If you really want to attack me then feel free. I'll even be courteous enough to give you the first move." A smirk came along with his words and Xelloss watched his adversary, curious as to how this would play out.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:58 pm
Glissando's hooves stomped aggressively into the grass beneath them, churning it steadily into a green paste. His nostrils flared. His feathered tail behind him was completely flared. The kalona was larger than him but not by much. Glissando had angeni blood in him and carried some of the size that came with it. He might not be quite as big... but he was willing to bet that he was faster.
"You should have never come to Padmapani lands," he growled to the intruder. "We don't allow your type around here!" The arrogant smirk on the kalona's face infuriated him... but Gliss knew he would soon wipe it off his face. He had found the kalona and it fell upon him to keep him away from the herd! Glissando wasn't about to let fall that responsibility!
"You want to let me attack first?" It was his turn to be prideful now. "Fine. But don't think that you won't regret it." He could hear Haya's voice in his head, telling him how to attack and how to avoid the barbed kalona tail.
"RAAAAAAH!" He launched himself at the kalona, aiming for his belly. It was time to put what he learned to use!
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:01 pm
Xelloss evaded easily. It was as he thought, the hotheaded stallion didn't seem to have any experience whatsoever.... not that it necessarily would have helped him. Xelloss prided himself on being a very cunning fighter. He was fast, far faster than soquili that were a fraction of his size. What he perhaps lacked in brute force he made up for in speed.
He spun around to dodge the halfbreed's first kick. His wings flared out around him, serving to mask some of the movement of his body. From behind his masking wings his tail waited... and then snapped outwards.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:03 pm
The first slap of the kalona's tail left Glissando staggering and his head reeling. Haya had hit him in their practices... but never like that. Glissando had a brief moment of sudden clarity of how easy the half-kalona had been going on his students all this time. Had he ever showed them even half of his abilities?
That thought was cut off by a second swipe of the tail. It caught Gliss on the chin and his head snapped backwards and away from the kalona in whiplash reaction.
He took his eyes off the kalona, and that was when the kalona made it's move.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:10 pm
Now was when a little brute force helped. Xelloss flung the full weight of his body against the smaller stallion and staggered to a stop. The younger stallion did not. He had obviously been unprepared for such an attack and he toppled over, on his side in the grass and completely helpless.
That was when Xelloss' smirk became wider... wider and into something that didn't resemble a smile any longer. There were far too many sharp teeth showing for the expression to convey anything other than predatory delight.
"My my. Looks like I caught you." He easily sidestepped the stallion's lashing hooves and delivered a sharp kick to his belly. "No more of that. It's not time to fight anymore... don't you see? It's time for me to find out what you taste like!" The terrified look in his prey's eyes filled him with such joy... Xelloss could hardly wait for what would come after...
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:19 pm
"STAY AWAY FROM MY SON!"
Filled with an rage that he didn't know he was capable of, Nirvana crashed at full gallop into the kalona. The kalona in it's reverie of attack hadn't noticed him in the shelter of the edge of the nearby forest. That was the kalona's loss, Nirvana's gain.
The two of them crashed to the ground in a pile of flailing limbs, wings, fur, and feathers. The kalona screeched in anger and lashed Nirvana's legs with his tail. Nirvana, never a fighter, was unfamiliar with the striking pain that followed... but he was also unfamiliar with his children being in danger, and that was a far more powerful force.
Though curses at the evil creature he was battling roiled in his mind none quite seemed able to rise into words. Instead Nirvana did something he had never done in his life. He drew back his lip and bit as hard as he could.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:26 pm
Glissando could only stare at his father in shock for a very long moment. He had never seen his father really angry. Had he ever even heard him raise his voice? How could the absentmindedly smiling father he had known all his life be the one rolling on the ground locked in combat with a kalona right now? His confusion was almost greater than his lingering pain. What had possessed his father to this state?
He would have remained in that state of shock for longer if his father hadn't released his grip on the kalona long enough to shout. "RUN! Get help! The herd! GO!"
Glissando hesitated for a moment, only a moment while his shocked brain kept trying to understand what was happening. Then he stopped bothering. He let instinct kick in and scrabbled back upright. As soon as he had all four hooves beneath him he took off at a bolt towards where he had last seen the bulk of the herd.
His father and the kalona behind him, Glissando ran.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:31 pm
"Where are you going?" Padmasambhava had spotted the familiar figure of her friend and ran up to join him. Or tried to, anyways. He was running like his tail was on fire. "Hey! Gliss! Where are you going?" She shouted at him and galloped after him but he still didn't slow.
What was wrong with him?
She noticed something darkening his flank... something like a smudge of red... Abruptly she skid to a stop. Blood? Did Glissando have blood on him? Suddenly filled with fear, she jerked to look backwards. There was no monster in chase... but what was it that he had been running from?
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:35 pm
Not even the voice of his best friend could stop Glissando's fear-driven spring. A kalona. A kalona was maybe eating his father right now. He needed to find someone who could help. Find someone who had a chance of stopping a kalona. Where was Scythe? His great-grandfather was the protector of the herd and was big and fearsome enough to take down anything. But where was he? Could he be found in time?
He rounded a bend in the wooded path, still going top speed. If he had been going a little more slowly it doubtlessly would have been much easier to dodge Haya, who was standing directly in the path in front of him...
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:45 pm
A combination of Hayagriva leaping out of the way of the charging stallion and Glissando's own evasive maneuvers let them avoid what could have been a very painful collision. Haya still had to force his way into some slightly thorny bushes to make his escape, but at least he wasn't being smashed between a tree trunk and his family member instead.
"Watch where you're going!" The words snapped out reflexively in shock and aggravation but the look on Glissando's face silenced him.
"What happened? What's wrong?" Haya asked while pulling himself out from the brush.
"Kalona!" gasped Glissando. "Kalona attacking Dad! Need help!"
Kalona. The word sent a chill straight to Haya's heart. He had dealt with kalonas before, but it was never a pleasant business, physically or emotionally. The scars that marked him attested to that.
"Scythe?" Fighting off kalonas really was the job of the herd protector, but a shake of Gliss' head told Haya that waiting for that rescue might not be an option.
"Where?" In response to his brief question, Glissando jabbed his nose back down the path.
"Near where the forest splits. Down the path. Not hard to find." Glissando was barely gasping the words but it was enough for Haya. He tore off down the trail. Apparently, he had a kalona to fight.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:06 pm
Padmasambhava found Glissando still standing where Haya had left him, looking half-dazed in the middle of the forest path with blood slowly clotting on one leg. She had seen Haya go charging off in the direction that Gliss had run from so could only assume that he was going to take care of whatever baddie there had been. That was a relief to her pounding heart, at least. Haya was big and tough. He wouldn't get beat... right?
"Hey Gliss! Are you all right?" She stopped in front of him and peered concernedly. "Your leg! We need to get you back to the rest of the herd. Do you need help?" Thinking about helping Gliss made her feel a bit less frightened for her own safety somehow.
"Dad..." Gliss croaked out hoarsely. "The kalona is attacking Dad."
"What?!!" gasped Padma in horror.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:13 pm
When Haya first saw the scene before him he worried that he had been too late. There stood the kalona, blood dripping from his fangs with Nirvana laid out on the ground unmoving. Haya charged forward but the kalona was already lowering his head again. Would he tear out Nirvana's throat? Had he already done so? Haya thought of Nirvana's grown children and mate and for a long moment imagined himself telling them that their father was dead.
Then Nirvana kicked.
The kick obviously surprised the kalona as well. It caught him in the nose and he staggered backwards with a cry of obvious shock and pain. Nirvana was yelling something now, but the wind rushing in Haya's ears didn't allow him to hear it.
Well, the kalona was about to get another surprise. It looked up to see Haya charging at it and flapped its wings, preparing to meet him.
This will probably hurt.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:34 pm
Xelloss had been intending on playing with his prey a little longer when the damn stallion kicked him in the face. That irked him. Xelloss had just resolved to kill him even more slowly when he caught sight of the gold blur headed his way.
Another challenger had shown himself, it would seem.
There wasn't much time to react but Xelloss used that time to his best advantage. In one smooth movement he rocked low and waited for the exact right moment. The gold stallion was close enough now that Xelloss could see the color of his eyes, silver.
The time was right.
He sprung, not forward but to one side. His large leathery wings flapped and gave him an extra boost of speed and maneuverability. Following the momentum, his barbed tail lashed around... and caught the gold stallion directly in the chest.
A third stallion's blood was now upon him and Xelloss was alight with pleasure. What a rare treat it was, to destroy so many.
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