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 Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 11:45 pm
Harper sighed, and rolled her eyes before calling out, "OBVIOUSLY IT'S HIS! It was his trap, Nina!" The cat wrapped her fingers around the stretch of wrong on his wrists, and concentrated fire on her palms, burning through the magical barrier a little at a time until the rope frayed and snapped. For a moment she had freedom, unlike the cord around her waist tightened and she was dangled from an even odder angle.
The cloaked figure cursed and barely avoided the sword at his back. He spun and grabbed the blade with his bare palm, bringing his free hand up in a punch aimed straight for Nina's face.
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Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 11:55 pm
Nina grit her teeth. ..Her teeth would surely be dull by the end of the trip. "Thank you for stating the obvious, Harper! Now shut up!" She hollered back up, keeping her eyes on the satyr.
"Hey, I'll give it back. All you have to do is ask! ..And promise to not turn it on us after!" Her eyes widened as the blade was grabbed, shocked for a split second. She had trained well though, and recovered quick enough to dodge so that instead of a punch to her nose, those large, knobby knuckles hit her cheek.
Still, she didn't let go of her only defense. Growling through the pain, she shoved her arms forward, pushing the sword and herself at the satyr, hoping to throw him off with the bold attack.
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Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 11:47 am
Harper snarled and twisted, trying her best to swing her arms up high enough to grab the rope. If she could just...get a little...farther...got it! She burned it, just the same as before, and shrieked when she was dropped onto the ground. The cattaur tucked her legs underneath herself, and braced for impact. Just because she landed on her feet didn't mean it didn't hurt, and when she moved in to aid Nina she could see feel the vibrations in her knees.
The satyr rolled with his punch, bracing his legs to pull back on the blade, but he hadn't been expecting her move. He fell back, still clutching the blade in his hand, but instead of landing on his rump, he took the tumble, and landed in a crouch. Slipping the hilt of the sword to his uninjured hand, he waited for the next attack. His hood had fallen back, however, exposing dark skin, dark blue eyes, and hair as white as freshly fallen snow.
"Don't kill him! A-and you! Don't kill us! We have no quarrel with you!"
"You've invaded my home, and try to offer peace?" He growled.
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Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 12:13 pm
Nina growled loudly again. The satyr had started it! ....Then it was up to them to finish it.
Going against every bone in her body, she jumped back away from the satyr and dropped to her belly, her arms held out from her side a little to show she was unarmed now. "We did no invading," she said in a tense voice. She wanted to throttle this guy. "We're just travelers passing through a land to get to a destination beyond here." Despite her calmer words, she was still obviously ready to spring should the satyr decide to make use of the sword he now held. "You sprang an attack without warning. Do you really expect us to not defend ourselves?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 7:20 pm
He spun the sword, and switched it to his injured hand, which had miraculously begun to heal itself. The action caused the runes on not only his cloak, but his blade to glow. "Where is your destination, exactly?" The satyr held his blade a loft when Harper made a move against him, bringing it up to her chest until she stepped back, holding her arms above her head, palms facing forward. "If you were smart you would have seen it as a warning, and fled. I'll ask you again; name your destination."
"That wasn't a question!" Harper snapped. "It was a demand, you ignorant as-" For once, her mouth slammed shut when he turned the sword back on her.
"Last chance."
"Bog of Lost Souls." She blurted. "Now you answer my question. Those branches weren't real; it was an illusion, but your healing wasn't. No true satyr should have the magic necessary to do something like that, much less have an effect on those runes."
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Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 8:17 pm
Nina's eyes widened as she watched the satyr's hand begin to heal. What...? Her teeth bared again out of habit. That wasn't natural. While Harper took up the conversation, Nina pushed back up to stand, to be better prepared for whatever this madman might throw at them.
'Don't push it Harper...' Her eyes rose to look at the branches that the feline had been hanging in. An illusion? "Can't exactly flee when tied up in the air," she huffed, commenting on the first strike of the satyr's of tying Harper up. 'You watch your own mouth, too, Nina.'
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 10:24 pm
The satyr cursed, once, twice, Harper had lost count over the course of their fight. She stepped as close to Nina as she could, moving her paws to defer to the wolf, much like a Gamma might an Alpha. Harper was no fighter and she knew it; if he charged again, she would use her magic to blind him, and flee. Hopefully it would work, if it didn't, Nina would have to try something.
"Shouldn't have been here in the first place. This is no place for the living." His voice...the timbre...sent shivers up Harper's spine. The longer he talked, the worse it became. It sounded as if thousands of bones had been collected in a giant pile and were being scraped together. "Now, why are you going to the Bog?"
"I-"
"Not you." With his sword, he gestured to Nina. "Why are you going? I figured you to the more sensible one here."
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 12:36 am
Sensing more then seeing Harper's movement, Nina felt only marginally better. She didn't know what skills the feline might or might not possess...
When the sword was pointed at her, she stiffened, surprised by the gesture. She kept her eyes locked on the satyr though. "The bog.." she murmured slowly. She considered some long, vague references to their reasons for going, to be elusive and witty... but that wasn't her style. "We're looking for a door that is said to be in the bog. One to lead us to the peak of the mountain to find something the cat here desires." She waved her hand in Harper's direction. "We're not looking for swords or territory or anything of the sort. I have a perfectly good home with my father, where I would much rather be, but I am here instead. Trust me, I want to be through here faster than you want me to be gone, and have no intention of lingering a second longer than I need to."
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 10:03 pm
The satyr nodded, seemingly pleased with her response. "A door in the bog...you'll have to have sharper eyes than the ones that couldn't see my trap." He reached for his side, and as if a veil had been lifted a scabbard appeared, into which he sheathed the sword so that it rested against his hip. "What the cat seeks will bring nothing, but misfortune. You've already seen that for yourselves, though." His eyes turned to Harper. "Why are you here?"
"Glory, of course," she commented snidely. "What else would I-"
"Dodge the question again, and I'll have your throat. Now, speak."
Harper took a deep breath, and closed her mouth in a tense grimace. Should she...? He knew she wasn't telling it all, and if she didn't say something he might kill her for lying. She looked at Nina, then back to the satyr before giving a long, drawn out sigh. "I'm looking for the treasure for my sister. She's afflicted by a condition that keeps her asleep for most of her life, and what time she's awake she's too exhausted to function. I've done enough research to know that whatever is at the peak will be able to enhance my magic enough to cure her of it. My entire family has tried healing her through regular means, but it's all been for naught."
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:47 pm
"Trap." She snorted loudly. "That mean you set the sword over there on purpose?"
Of course, the words that came from Harper's mouth made her turn to stare. The treasure was for her sister? She took a moment to process what was being said, and then impulsively reached out and punched Harper's shoulder. "That's what this is about?! Something to heal your sister?" She threw her hands up in the air, satyr momentarily forgotten. "Why didn't you say so in the first place? I'm sitting here thinking I'm being dragged along by a fool so that you can simply fill your purse!" She growled and muttered under her breath, crossed her arms, and glared at the feline. "The first part of this trip woulda gone a lot smoother if you hadn't passed yourself off as a completely selfish wretch right off the bat."
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Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:45 pm
He merely nodded, content with cross his arms over his chest and giving the two appraising stares.
"Mreowr!" Harper squawked, clutching at her arm with a snarl. "What the hell, Nina?!" She snorted, and mimicked Nina's hands in the air. "Would you have even believed me? Some cattaur being followed by bandits, blurting about her sister, and you'd fall for it? I had no choice! Trusting people is how I got the bandits on my tail in the first place." She let her arms fall and looked as dejected as she was embarrassed. "Look...I'm sorry, okay? I should have told you up front. I just couldn't afford to mess this up anymore."
She gave the satyr a pointed look. "And I still can't. Are you going to take us to that damn bog or not?"
"In the morning. It's too late now. You'd best make camp."
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Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:32 pm
Nina growled back, "you could have tried explaining it first! Either way, I'd still have a bunch of bandit lunatics on my tail that I'd have to follow you to free myself from! I'm not here for your treasure, or even your sister!" She paused slightly. "..Though, now that I know..." She bit her lip and turned her head away. She didn't have any siblings, but what if her father was in the place of Harper's sister? She would do anything to help him...
Her eyes darted over to the satyr, only then remembering his presence. "....Thank you," she said softly to him, hugging her arms around herself against the strange chill she felt upon being brought back to the present. This place was horrible... Who risked their lives to put the treasure way up there in the first place?
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Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 7:49 pm
"Would you have listened?" Spirits above it was like talking to a statue! One that growled and barked every time you threw logic at her face. "What?" She asked in a less accusatory tone, one that spoke of a tired young girl frayed out from not only the days travel. "Just shut the hell up. You'll be out of here in a few weeks, and then you go back to fixing your stupid cellar."
Harper sauntered off to the only thick tree in the area, plopped down beside it, tucked her pack in for a pillow and laid down, back to the two of them.
The satyr padded his way to a stone not to far from Harper's resting place and sat ontop of it, curling one leg underneath his hip. The vast majority of his body was hidden in his cloak, save for his head. "Where do you hale from, wolf?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 9:13 pm
Good gods, the cat just didn't get it! Nina bared her teeth at the feline, but did nothing else. It was like talking to a wall! She stomped in the other direction and sat next to an old trunk that had fallen over long ago. She felt about as rotten as the wood.
Her ears perked when the satyr spoke to her, brown eyes shooting over to the male with surprise. Should she....? Well, what did it matter? "Some miles that way," she said, pointing back the direction they had come. "The nearest village is a tiny place called Battered Run. It looks nicer than it sounds though." She glanced over at Harper, wondering if the cat would get the same question, but didn't say anything. "Been there my whole life. ...Never came this far out before, and nor do I intend to do it again."
She hesitated before looking at the satyr. "So... this is your home. Has it always been like this? Do you get many taur trying to climb this mountain?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 5:49 pm
"I've been to Battered Run. Evelyn's strawberry rhubarb pie is amazing." For the first time in perhaps ages, he gave the hint of a smile. "Life...has a way of making you do things you don't want to do. When it happens, you can either fight it, or go along with it. You've adjusted to all of this rather well, I think."
Harper shifted next to her tree, her eyes staring into the bark. Battered Run? Why hadn't she heard of the place? She sighed and shifted her hip, slightly looking over her shoulder to see the both of them.
"It...has not always been like this." He said at length, seemingly peeling the information out of his very soul. "The Mountain itself is guarding the peak, and deflecting those who would wish it harm. Raflas twisted nature itself ages ago to keep it safe, which is why I've tried to get you to leave."
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