AERONA SCRALL and LUXARA SELENI, you break free of the narrow passages and encroaching footsteps. Continuing forward, the only way possible, you trek on. For the first time in a while, you feel as though danger is not biting at your heels, and that you are safe from pursuit.
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Your TPS has died again. You get ready to give this legendary piece of s**t another shake/wave combo and get it working again, when you notice a red light coming from the back.
Thanks, mystery troll for giving you the largest piece of garbage you've received all sweep. You can't really do anything about it though, as turning back is so beyond not an option, that you don't even consider considering it. As you press deeper into the swamp, the light on the back goes black, and the machine ceases to respond at all. Hoping against hope that you're not going to start travelling in circles, you push deeper into the swamp. After a while, you don't even remember which direction you were coming from. Completely lost. Your only ray of hope is that if you keep going, you'll be bound to run into something - the edge of the swamp, a landmark, anything to get you out of this twisting labyrinth.
Your TPS don't seem to be detecting any trolls in it's range anymore. It seems all the rebel trolls have managed to outrun you, for now. After all, you can keep going! It's not like this will stop you, right? All you have to do is keep at it.
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Your TPS has died again. You get ready to give this legendary piece of s**t another shake/wave combo and get it working again, when you notice a red light coming from the back.
How the glub is this thing suffering from a low signal? Isn't all military technology supposed to be made to work in space? Is the foliage of the swamp so thick that it's managing to cut a signal that should transmit from ship to planet? Maybe they just gave you a piece of garbage. It's possible. Whatever the reason, it seems that if you press your chase any further, you risk loosing signal, and your only map of this unexplored, maze-like swamp altogether. While you were promised wild rewards if you succeeded, there wasn't any special handouts promised for dying alone in a swamp, or some creature's stomach. Unless you're really, really jonesing for some up close nature adventures, it'd probably be best to turn back now. If you retrace your steps, then head directly south, you should arrive back at Four Fronds before the sun starts to show itself on the horizon.
Leeroi screamed. No, screamed was not strong enough of a word for it. Leeroi used every ounce of air in his tiny little body to exhale the angriest shriek that any beast in this wretched swamp had probably ever heard in their short lives. "WHERE THE ******** DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING," He shouted, clambering quickly onto Glitch's back. There was a rebel, he had one more chance! He could catch up! He could win this! He had one last chance to prove himself. He charged.
Leeroi rode up alongside the rebel, aiming to cut her off. Trudging through the swamp was difficult, but he was determined. Even more, Glitch was determined to bring him victory. She knew that a loss would be far more dangerous. Leeroi kept his eyes on the prize, not letting the rebel out of his sight. He approached ever closer, more and more details coming into view. His eyes widened dangerously.
He'd know those dumb horns anywhere.
His body took over. He jumped for her, shouting inaudible profanities. Aerona was dead meat if she thought she could get away with this. Hell, it was probably fated that he best her like this. He'd settle once and for all that he was better than her in every way.
The next thing he knew, Leeroi found himself in the mud. He- He missed? How could he have missed? She was right there, right under his thumb. It should have been easy! He wiped the gross muck from his eyes, looking up to find no trace of Aerona. He paused, dumbfounded. Then, he screamed. He screamed until he cried.
He fell back into the mud, curling in on himself. How could he have failed? He was better than Aerona. He had done everything right to win. He had experienced this kind of scenario dozens of times in video games. Leeroi sobbed, watching his crying, embarrassed reflection as he sank into the swamp water. He knew he wasn't a failure. He was a winner. He always did everything right , but this wasn't right! He refused to believe that this was his fault.
Because it wasn't his fault. Leeroi stopped, turning his head sharply to where Eridia and Azrael were. His plain, gaping expression quickly turned back to rage. He balled his hands into tiny fists and shook. He knew he shouldn't have let losers like them into his party. They had plenty of chances to prove themselves worthy, and failed every time. How could he have been so foolish? Letting Eridia think she was the leader. Her failures were going to make him a mockery.
He ran quickly at her, mouth open wide to bare his teeth, screaming for blood. He thought he had gotten his loudest scream out earlier, but now he easily proved himself wrong. His eyes filled with blue as he locked onto the purpleblood, splashing through the swamp with surprising speed. He leapt at Eridia, bulldozing her into the swampy water.
Sitting on top of the struggling purpleblood, Leeroi moved to stand. Wrapping his hands around Eridia's pigtails for support, he pressed his foot down on the back of her head and pushed, holding the highblood's head underwater. He wanted to list all the things off that she had done wrong, all the things that led to their downfall. "You're the worst!" He yelled, voice cracking, "You ruin EVERYTHING!" It was all he could manage to say. His head was in a tizzy, barely able to form words. Snarling, Leeroi pulled harder on her pigtails, attentively watching the bubbles around Eridia's head.
I... Messed up.... She couldn't believe her eyes. The purpleblood sank to her knees, eyes fixed at her traps. Her mind ran nonstop-- she had failed twice. She wasn't going to admit anything. No way in hell she was. Her plan, seemed oh-so perfect, why did it fail? Eridia couldn't face her so called team, neither their commander and especially the queen. She is a purpleblood, she is high up the spectrum, she was better than her opponents.
Eridia closed her eyes, not wanting to look at anyone at the moment. I have to think of something, I have... Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud and similar shrill. Not a moment to soon she was pushed into the murky waters, head first. The child screamed and gasped violently for air, trying to get away from that dangerous blueblood. This wasn't just like when they first met. No, this was a different Leeroi. A more murderous one. Now, did she deserve all of this? Certainly not.
She could feel her air sacs filling with water and with every pull on her pigtails, Eridia attempted to gasp for air. Tears mixed with the water as he attempted to drown her for good. It's not my fault!
Not my fault.....
Spit, tears, heck she didn't know what else she had in her mouth, she spitted. "AZRAEL--" She managed to scream. "DAD, AZ--" Every word was cut off by painful coughs. Someone had to do something before he tear her apart. Her head hit the waters with a greater exertion each time she felt Leeroi's foot force her skull down, her vision was blurry, she felt her throat seal up to avoid more water entering her lungs. She tried escaping his grip but it was impossible. "AZRAEL! HELP!"
Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 2:53 pm
There were wigglers, wigglers after them! Good old snotty highblooded babies, to boot. And here she had bothered to think they might send something worth her time. Disappointing. Luxara watched Aerona with a grin, although the events unfolding weren't quite her style. Ace was lying. Subterfuge! Luxara herself would've never contemplated the approach. Did they really need to lie of all things? It seemed kind of cheap.
Luxara followed. It wasn't like she was going to drop from behind and take out some kids. That was just low. Any royalist was dangerous, to a degree, but there were limits here.
God, was it fun to watch the purpleblood have a total fit, though. Following Aerona, she couldn't help but say, "Maybe next time you're sent out on a job, you'll wear something a bit more..." she looked Eridia up an down, "professional. Just some advice, kiddo." With that, she chased Aerona down until they spotted another new figure. Rats!
"On it." The redblood was amazing at taking point. Luxara veered off, hoping that Aerona would make it through okay going solo. Who knew if the baby brigade had actual back-up just waiting to snatch them up. Rasali and Forera had disappeared after their little debacle, and hopefully the team would regroup soon.
Azrael was wiping himself off from his encounter with the older troll girls. He had mud everywhere. The once pristine white fur oh his hood and boots were now a brown color. His face was streaked in mud and leaves with odd globs here and there in his hair and on his coat. From the outside he didn't seem the least bit concerned for the loss of the rebels, actually he wasn't. He was planning to go chasing after them after he got unstuck from the muck that he'd found himself in. He'd been scouting around planning his route when he heard the most beastly screams coming from the other direction.
"AZRAEL! HELP!"
The scream was gut wrenching as it reached him and he swiveled around to see the sight of Leeroi brutalizing his master. Without much of a sound Azrael looked around, he had to distract the brute somehow. Finally he grabbed a handful of the driest mud he could find and lobbed it at the blueblood's head followed soon by a fist sized rock. After the two projectiles were shot Azrael got straight to slopping into the water to try and get at leeroi, "GET OFF OF HER, HOW DARE YOU!" Azrael figured he was already making enough noise, so let out the scream as loud as he could. And shockingly, all the frustration he'd had since the team had met back in the rebel's HQ. When he got close enough he leaped at Leeroi and tackled him. "HOW DARE YOU HURT HER!!!!" Azrael snarled with force that even surprised him. "YOU ARE NOTHING SPECIAL! AND YET YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH THAT, YOU WORTHLESS DESERTER?"
The rocks did little to phase Leeroi. It was only until Azrael had thrown all his weight onto the furious blueblood, that Leeroi lost his grip on Eridia. He stared face-to-face at the snarling blueblood, matching his growling with equal fervor. This mess was almost as much his fault as it was Eridia's. Az's argument was lost on Leeroi, who didn't yell back but instead bared his teeth, struggling to throw Azrael off and get back on his feet.
Leeroi gripped the collar of Azrael's coat hard, pressing his fist into the underside of Azrael's chin. He yelled, bringing his other fist up to swing at Azrael's face. Then he punched him again. And again. Leeroi punched him five times before he took a breath, eyeing his bloody fists in the corner of his vision. Was that his blood or Azraels? It was nearly impossible to tell. And he really didn't care, he realized, trading punches with the blueblood. He was determined to win, even in a fight with his own teammate.
Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 4:03 pm
The fifth punch or so made Azrael see stars but he did his best to hang on to the outraged blueblood idiot. The fist pressed into his jaw made any form of talk impossible. He let go of Leeroi with one hand to knock away the hand at his chin. When that was out of the way the blueblood lifted his head back and slammed it as hard as he could against Leeroi's. Whether it connected with his rival's head or with his face Azrael didn't know. He was back to seeing stars and could taste the irony flavor of his own blood in his mouth. He changed his position so that he was straddling Leeroi and began his own series of punches to Leeroi's face.
The surge that had suddenly overtaken Azrael seemed to become more prominent. Azrael grabbed his rival's horns with both hands and pushed on them to try and force the troll's head under water. He let out a shout at the blueblood.
Eridia's head fell down with a loud thud, as Leeroi let go of her. She whipped her head back, she fell on the dirty grass and tried regaining her breath. The purpleblood coughed out more water, her head spinned, she was out of it sure but, she wasn't going to let that savage get away with that. Bitterly, the highblood dried her tears and clenched her fists. She dug her nails on her palms. They were pretty sharp.
She looked at the two bluebloods fight. Although Azrael got some inner strength somehow, he alone would not beat the crap out of Leeroi. It was his fault they fail, surely it was. Her eyes slowly widened as he punched her pawn. One, two....
With every punch she twitched. Ruining her private property and her precious face meant crossing the line. He said she was the worst, but was he was in need to look at himself at a mirror right now. Azrael did manage to pin him down, but she wasn't going to go down his level, no. She was aiming lower.Eridia took one of her ribbons with a disgusting smile and charged at the two. The ribbon intertwined with her fingers as she punched Leeroi and accidentally Azrael. Right, then a left hook-- One to keep Leeroi in check and the other to knock her pawn out of the way. She would be the one to straddle him and arouse the pain.
"HEEEEY LEEEEEE, WHAT'S WITH ALL OF THOSE SCARS?" She shouted rather maniacally, slapping and scratching him mercilessly. "YOU ARE SUUUCH A DISGRACE LEEEEE. TO THINK YOU ACTUALLY HAD SOME WOOOORTH! ALAS YOU SUCK, NO WONDER YOU'RE NUMBER TWO, THE WEAKEST." Eridia pulled on his hair, slamming his skull repeatedly with the ground.
"OH MY, OH MY!" She gasped exaggeratedly yet she didn't take her grip off him. "I HOPE I DIDN'T HURT YOU AS MUCH AS YOU. HURT. MEEEE!"Taking the ribbon, Eridia wrapped it around the blueblood's neck."LET'S SEE WHO'S THE WORST NOW!"
Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 5:29 pm
Psykgi Mentha
Lee was clearly feeling better, and so Psykgi had decided to do some scouting by investigating something suitably track-like in the mud, off of Glitch's back. Leeroi had joined her for the moment, but, fortunately, she was safely away from Glitch's hooves when Leeroi made his battle shriek and found his prey.
”Whoa!” spattered with mud and suddenly alone (save for the many little beady eyes and carapaces of her lusus) she blinked, and shrugged. Well! she thought, trudging in the now churned mud, Lets go see what he's found... from there, she could support him, and so forth.
There was a particularly awful area of mud, a narrow tunnel with mud that sought to absorb her if she stood too still. As she struggled through it, she became aware that her TPS was registering that there were no more unregistered trolls... had the rebels moved on? Ah, well. That would explain Leeroi's screaming. She moved a little faster, as fast as she could, and finally emerged onto a scene of, well... Eridia being drowned.
Psykgi took a moment to watch the bubbles from the struggling and helpless purpleblood's downturned face, and to note the absolute twisted rage on Leeroi's face as he shoved her into the murk with his foot. It was a fascinating interaction, one she was surprised to be enjoying. Interesting and mysterious feelings fluttered inside her – glee, perhaps? Certainly she wished she was the one slamming Eridia's face into the mud. Just a little.
That aside, she didn't want Eridia to die. Fascinating subjects like her were hard... well, no, actually, they were pretty easy to find, but few were as hilariously foolhardy as her. So, despite how amusing it was to see her this way – with her pigtails being pulled to boot, goodness, Leeroi was really angry at her – Psykgi supposed she should intervene.
She squelched forward towards Leeroi, ready to pacify him with some carefully chosen words, when Azrael – to her surprise, shock, fascination, and vague concern – decided to take matters into his own hands. ”Now just a moment, Azrael!” she protested, moving in on the fighting trolls. She proceeded to try to pull him away from Leeroi's horns. ”We're not deserters, no, goodness no! And I'm sure you two aren't either.” She pulled at him harder – it wasn't working very well. ”Get... off....!”
Psykgi gasped and was forced away as the purpleblood roused and began to really attack her moirail and beat him and... strangle him. Leeroi getting beat up was all a part of being Leeroi, and he liked to fight, but this was going too far.
”Get off of him.” Psykgi growled, lunging forward to punch Eridia. She'd left her weapon at home, and it would have been absolutely ruined from the mud anyway, but she could still grab, shove, and punch, even if she wasn't very good at fighting. Her fist met Eridia's face, and though her fist hurt from the blow, unaccustomed as it was to such violence, she punched again. ”I said,” her voice, now, had a very uncharacteristically murderous tone to it, narrow and cold; ”get off!”
It had gone too far for Ma'am too. Could the children not see that their quarry had gotten away? Could they cease fighting for a moment and chase them? Morever, could they not ruin her troll's potential chances at a productive and respectable future? The swarm practically boiled from the trees and mud, having summoned more of itself in the interim time. Gathering into a solid mass of roaches, she was quite ready to push trolls out of the way and take charge up in this swamp.
Glitch paced nervously. She knew better than to get herself involved in a situation where Leeroi was so incensed. If she stepped in, he'd direct his fury on to her, but if she didn't step in... She didn't like to think that far. If things got too intense, she had to step in. But when did things get too intense? It was hard to tell.
Or sometimes not, she realized, charge struggling in the purpleblood's grasp. She moved to ram into the assailant, stopping dead in her tracks as Psykgi took up his defense. Amidst the chaos, she felt a tinge of happiness, and a sense of gratitude. Psykgi, the good egg, she would help Leeroi out of this mess. Glitch only hoped he wouldn't be cross with her like he would if she herself stepped in.
Leeroi hoisted himself up. He coughed up the murky water he swallowed, trying awkwardly to regain his composure. He was a sad sight, drenched and dirty, barely able to see past his wet, unmanaged hair and a swelling eye. But he could see Psykgi well enough, the little blur of red defending his honor. Silent sans his gasping breaths, he trudged closer to the action, closer to Psykgi. He came up next to her but didn't pass, as if some invisible wall was stopping him. Defensively, he took hold of Psykgi's arm, staring down the other two trolls. Eridia and Azrael could hurt him all they wanted, but they weren't touching Psykgi.
Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:33 pm
Azrael was getting to his feet after being knocked in the head by Eridia. He was dizzy from all the blows he took to the face and head. But he felt himself calm down well, he got Leeroi of Eridia, that is all that mattered. His head was... ringing? he felt a very light weight land on his head. Scarfettle had been watching from a bramble nearby. The small dragon looked at Azrael and then at the skirmish next to them. He then looked at glitch and flicked his tail, examining her.
Azrael stood until he could finally see and watched as Psy attacked Eridia. OH THIS WAS NOT GOOD IN ANYWAY! Her anger was going to turn to Psy next and that was the last thing he needed. He actually liked Psy and didn't want to see her get hurt. He grabbed Eridia's wrist and just ran without looking where he was going. He didn't stop or let up on dragging her until they were safely away where he panted heavily still clinging tightly to the purpleblood's wrist. He felt sick to his stomach. His face was swollen from all the hits he'd taken and he had a swelling bump on his head.
Eridia refused to let go of the ribbon, even if Psykgi started punching her, she wanted to hurt Lee both physical and emotionally. Her malice made her smile get wider at that thought. Yes, let me hurt her too... When she was about to return the favor to the redblood, Azrael had taken her by the wrist-- they were retreating. What?
She dragged her heels all the way and struggled. "Let me go! I still haven't gotten even!!!" Eridia struggled, she even scratched him a few times to get away from his grip. She shouted, she squealed, nothing worked. "DAMN IT AZRAEL, YOU'RE IN FOR A BEATING! LET GO LET GO LET GOOOOO."
Once they had stopped, Eridia looked down at her wrist and back at the injured blueblood. She slowly regained her breath, still with that murderous smile of hers. "What were you thinking? We had them right were we wanted! Let's go back and win!"
