[CLASS QUEST] Rishima

[Suhuba]

This Quest is for Rishima in his attempt to become a Blade.

OOC
||. You may not control any NPCs or other characters; Rishima must face his trials alone.
||. Respond to the prompts given as you would any other RP.
||. Your responses may be as long or short as you feel necessary.

IC
The sun was just beginning to rise. Normally, it would cast a rosy haze across the entirety of Sauti, complimenting beautifully the natural, purple tint of the rocks. But today was different. The sky remained dark, overcast, grey. The air was thick, moist, as though the clouds had descended, weaving their way along the craggy landscape. It was cold. Much colder than it had been on any other day, since the arrival of the Western tribes.

A little girl, a Youngling of the Wind Tribe, made her way along. She looked quite lost, arms wrapped around her torso, running up and down her bare arms in an attempt to warm them.

"Moooommmmyyyy" The little voice rang out, echoing through the landscape. The child looked to be near tears, her bottom lip trembling as the world fell silent around her once more. "Mommy!" She called out again. In her distraction, the child tripped over an especially sharp rock and fell. That was the last straw.

A wail broke thorugh the child's lips as she began to cry, pulling her now bleeding knee up against her body.  

[Orpheus Solon]

Rishima was looking up at the expansive sky, still not quite used to being able to see so much of it, and his antennae gave it twitch. It was rather cold today, wasn't it? More so then the halfbreed was used to or liked, a part of him had been all for sticking close to where his sisters were, to try to keep warm that way, but he remembered what he'd been thinking about before sleeping last night, what he'd talked about with the Shifter and what he'd talked about with Jerarda. He wanted to get stronger which mean moving along to try to work out. It really was a bit boring, doing back and forth laps, but he figured it was something he should do given that it would help his endurance. He was starting to realize that all the running was also helping him when it came to warming up a bit, it all got his heart beating faster, blood flowing, and he was feeling warmer by now.

Of course as he was doing that something else was going on at the moment too, someone lost among the rocks, and he gave pause in his laps, actually rather glad for it, leaning forward to rest his hands on his knees, when he heard the first call of 'Mommy' from off to his side. He blinked a couple times, turned his mismatched eyes in that direction, and then shook his head. Some youngling he thought to himself, most likely Wind Tribe since he didn't think that any of the other groups would bring a youngling as far as they had traveled and if they surely he would have see it? Giving a shake of his head he pushed so that he was upright again, looking around, then was about to start running again when he heard that same voice calling out 'Mommy' again. He looked around once more, antennae twitching, and seemed to pick up where he thought the kid was... but surely it wasn't any of his business, right? He didn't want to get in the way when the kid's mother might be right around the corner.

It was what he figured before suddenly a terrible, wailing cry broke out from the direction of the youngling. Surely the mother of that particular kid wouldn't just leave you youngling to cry? Meaning... what? Should he get involved? He wasn't sure, it wasn't a member of his tribe after all... but then again as far as he knew the Wind Tribe wasn't an enemy like the Shifters were. Not to mention the fact that they were supposed to be moving through Sauti and him not aiding the Wind Tribe might damage the tentative relationship they had with the new tribe. He could also hear Chalcedony's words echoing in his head that protecting others made one stronger. Shifting in place a moment the halfbreed finally gave a nod, "I will be right back, Itzal." He called over to the Radaku who was snoring away nearby, his head laying on Rishima's pack in a protective manner. Whether or not the beast heard him, Rishima wasn't sure, but he figure he wouldn't be gone that long as he went to find the wailing youngling.  

[Suhuba]

The child continued to cry, distressed, tired, scared, and alone. She rubbed at her red eyes with tiny fists, which only succeeded in smearing her face with dirt and grime. Miserable, a few gentle whines and hiccups escaped her throat.

In her distress and distraction, the child hadn’t noticed the creature slowly moving towards her. It was an odd animal, dark in color. Long and sleekly furred, it had a large, pointed snout topped with round, flaring nostrils. Its eyes were thin and dark. A tongue, long and forked, slid from between its heavily toothed jowls, tasting the air. It had picked up the scent of the child’s blood and was being drawn forth by the enticing smell, one that, for the animal, normally meant food.

The creature, clawed feet easily gripping the stony earth, was coming closer. It was only a few yards away when the child finally took notice. Instantly, she grew quiet, eyes wide in fear. She hugged her knee closer to her chest, trying to disappear against the rocky wall behind her, utterly defenseless to the approaching predator.  

[Orpheus Solon]

Upon seeing the large, hungry predator Rishima found himself freezing in place for a moment, eyes going wide, and everything inside of him seemed to screamed that he should run in the other direction. He'd never been in a battle before, never really fought anything but a fish before, and now he found himself wondering 'what would Jerarda do'. He somehow felt that she would likely go crashing along forward and tackle the thing... or get a rock and beat it to death with her bare hands. She didn't really seem the sort that was afraid of anything. Did that mean he should be the same? Common sense said no, but he ignored that voice and found himself quickly looking around for a rock. It had worked effectively against the fish so maybe it would have a chance against the larger beast? Maybe he should have brought Itzal...

Spotting exactly what he needed, a rock that appeared to have one sharpish end and didn't appear as though it were too heavy for him to pick up, the half breed went to scoop that up along with another smaller handful of rocks, all of which he threw at the creature all at once. A part of him wondered why he was doing this, why he was attacking a formidable beast with nothing but rocks, and realized he didn't have any reason other then 'a child was in danger' and 'surely it was what Jerarda would do'. Two reasons that didn't exactly mesh but he didn't care at this point, the gauntlet had already been thrown by now and there was no going back, "Hey! Umm... ugly! L-Leave that girl alone!" He ordered the beast, trying his best to sound confident though he knew he faltered a little bit in that area. In the back of his head he was thinking 'I'm gonna get eaten' but he couldn't let that fearful voice make him freeze up. Especially now when he was trying to get the beast's attention solely on him. Surely if he were able to distract it the youngling would run right? He hoped none of his sisters got upset with him for defending another tribe he thought to himself as he tightened his hold around the pointy rock, waiting on the beast's reaction.  

[Suhuba]

The creature snarled as a barrage of rocks crashed along the length of his body. Shaking his head, he turned, his dark, narrow eyes focusing on the man who had attacked. He was larger than the child and uninjured to boot… not the best odds. He would much rather have taken the Youngling and run, but the man was holding another rock.

Releasing a low growl, the creature leapt at Rishima, claws extended, prepared to attack.

The child on the ground seemed momentarily stunned, both by Rishima’s appearance and the fact that the creature’s attention had been diverted. However, as feeling re-entered her body, she did indeed stand in an attempt to run. The Wind child only managed a few steps before another shriek escaped her lips and she collapsed to the ground. Fresh blood gushed from the wound on her knee, clearly deeper than she had initially realized.

Whimpering, the girl wedged herself into a crevice in the nearest rock, doing her best to hide from the danger before her.  

[Orpheus Solon]

Rishima's antennae twitched like crazy as the creature turned to look at him, looking quite displeased with his interference in the hunt but really eh couldn't have just let the thing succeed in getting it's fangs on a child. Of course now that he had it's attention he wasn't exactly sure what it was that he should be doing at this point. Especially when it came lunging at him, something that drew a squeak of surprise from him and he scrambled back a few steps to try to escape the reach of the claws before he took hold of the rock with both of his hands and took a swing at the beast with it, "B-Back off!" He said, taking a couple more swings at the thing best that he could while slowly retreating...

Though when he realized that he was doing that, taking so many steps back away from the creature, he wondered if that were the wrong thing to do. Should he advance instead? Damn... he knew so little about what it was that he should be doing right now. If only he could have someone nearby to give him pointers... given that he didn't have that he would need to do what he could. Taking a single step forward he took another swing at the creature again, "I'm warning you!" As if he could intimidate something with claws and fangs... but he would attempt to channel some of that confidence that Jerarda seemed to be overflowing with. He figured he'd either succeed or be eaten... either way his sisters wouldn't be able to say he was ran away, right? It was only the slightest of reassurances but it seemed to help the halfbreed a little bit.  

[Suhuba]

The creature continued to snarl, advancing towards Rishima as quickly as the half-breed was moving back. He took swipes at the man with his claws, but seemed slightly off-balance, given that he was also forced to attempt dodges from the pointy rock that the Prentice was wielding.

A loud growl escaped the creature’s tooth-filled jaws as Rishima’s final blow connected squarely with his shoulder. He was already a bit cut up and certainly bruised from the mixed man’s uncertain attacks, and although none of the blows were by any means fatal, he could now smell his own blood, leaking slowly from the new wound on his shoulder.

Snarling, the creature stopped. It glanced over its shoulder at the little girl, still babying her injured leg. He looked at Rishima, glowering unhappily, before finally limping off into the mountains to nurse his own injury. Clearly, this meal just wasn’t worth it any longer…

The Wind girl stared up at the man who had saved her with big, watery eyes, whimpering helplessly, in pain and still quite frightened by the whole ordeal.  

[Orpheus Solon]

Rishima stood in utter disbelief as the creature turned to head on it's way, nursing an injured shoulder, and he felt the overwhelming desire to just faint dead away... though that could also be due to a bit of blood loss on his part. Now that he looked himself over he realized that he'd taken a few blows from the angry predator though not nearly enough to make it stick around or to kill him so this was a victory, right? He wondered if it would count as one if his opponent was allowed to limp off or only if he had a decisive victory. As it was he had no clue, he was just happy to have lived through that battle given if the thing really wanted to it probably couldn't have turned him into snack food.

Taking in a deep breath, hand still clutched around the sharp rock just in case some other hungry beast showed up, Rishima started over toward were the girl was huddled up and crying over her injuries. He felt like doing the same, he was pretty sure that this was the first time that he was hurt like this, having been kept away from the fighting for the most part until now. It was... scary. Why did his sisters seem to be so eager to get into fights? Weren't they afraid of getting hurt? Weren't they afraid of being in pain? He was going to have to as Jerarda about it when he saw here next he thought to himself before lowering himself down to one knee in front of the area the girl was hiding in, "Hey there, you alright?" He asked, looking at her wound for a moment before asking, "Can you stand?" He wondered if he should bring her somewhere. Back to her village? Or to the mother she'd been calling out to? He needed to figure out some sort of next step, up to this point he'd kind of been making it up as he went.

"The beast it gone, you can come out whenever you are feeling ready." He told her, not about to rush her if she was scared. It was after all rather paralyzing felling.  

[Suhuba]

The child simply stared at Rishima, frightened, weighing her options. Leaving the crevice meant that she might be able to go home. This man had saved her, after all. However, it also meant that she might be attacked again. There were more wild creatures out there… all over, hiding.

Another gentle whimper fell from her lips as she pulled herself from the crevice, wincing as she was forced to put weight on her leg. The bleeding had stopped, but a nice, blue and purple bruise had shown itself, covering the entirety of her knee and fading into either part of her leg. She placed her hands gently on Rishima’s shoulder, comforted by the fact that he had knelt, putting himself at her level.

Tenderly, she raised herself into a standing position, the toe of her injured leg placed gently against the ground, allowing her to balance, but not putting any weight on the leg. Unfortunately, she was not a champion of one-leg hopping. Getting home would certainly be a challenge.

The child seemed to realize this. Her bottom lip quivered and she sniffled gently as she looked to Rishima for an answer; the unfaltering trust of a child.  

[Orpheus Solon]

Watching as the girl came out from her hiding spot he found himself starring at the way that she was wobbling about on one leg, wondering if he should tell her to be strong or aid her. It really was a thought he was torn on. Surely if it were an Alkidike youngling, at least one that wasn't him, he could see the mother or fellow sisters telling her to be strong and walk it off. This girl wasn't an Alkidike though, was she? She was of the Wind Tribe and they very well might be a softer tribe, "Hurting, huh?" He asked, pushing himself up to his feet, ignoring his own wounds for now. He would whimper over them later while he was cleaning them up and wrapping them, for now he should likely focus on her since she was the one that was being abused by that beast first.

"Here, how about I try to help you find your mother." He offered her, using his free arm to scoop her up with, still wielding his rock in the other. While it would be easier to carry her in both arms, and likely faster, he figured it would be better if he kept a weapon just in case. After all there was always a chance that beast might come back with reinforcements and then where would the two of them be? Shifting on his feet Rishima said, "I think we should go get my friend, Itzal, he will be able to carry you easier then me." Not to mention that his pack was with the Radaku. He would need what was in it if he meant to clean up and wrap his wounds. A voice in the back of his head said he should probably do the same for the girl as well if she would allow it.

"Yeah, that is what we will do next. Itzal has my pack with him after all." Looking around, antennae giving a twitch, he found the direction he'd come from and started that way with the girl, "If you see anything or anyone familiar let me know." Maybe she would be able to point out where her home was or if she saw her missing mother. Rishima could only hope one of those beasts wasn't after the woman at the moment in the same manner one had been chasing the girl.  

[Suhuba]

The child clung easily to Rishima’s hip, despite the fact that he was only able to hold her with one arm. She was young enough that this was a fairly common scenario, being carried this way by an adult. The familiarity of it seemed to calm her down quite a bit.

She nodded her head gently as Rishima announced his plan of action. She wasn’t sure what an Itzal was, but she knew that “pack” meant supplies. After all, her family carried all of their belongings in bags and packs while they wandered across Sauti. An adult with a pack meant that her leg would be feeling better very soon.

On the other hand, the fact that they were a wandering family, and not one of those settled in the sparse dwellings, meant that very little could ever be deemed “familiar.” The girl pouted gently, resting her head against Rishima’s shoulder.  

[Orpheus Solon]

Rishima gave a smile, looking at the girl that was clinging to him, giving her a smile, "Alright, let's see about getting on our way." Walking along with the girl in his arms, finding that he had to look after her, he couldn't help but to wonder if it were a little like what his mother thought when she was taking care of him when he was little. It was possible, though she was even more protective of him due to the fact that his father had gone missing just before the lotus he'd been born from had time to bloom. Giving a shake of his head, and a twitch of his antennae, before he moved forward on his way. He would worry about stuff like that later, right not he had more important things to think about, like the fact that he the girl he was carrying and himself were covered in blood and out in the middle of... well... he had no idea where. Best that they get back to where Itzal was so that they had a scary looking bodyguard who would at least help counter the other beasts out there as they made their way... somewhere?

As they got closer to where Itzal was sleeping he realized that the girl had never really given him any ideas as to where she had come from or where they might be going. She was little though, maybe she didn't know? That left them both a bit out in the middle of... well, nowhere, "It's going to be alright." Though he didn't that for certain but he couldn't say that, could he? Instead he continued onward until the point where he could see Itzal and he nearly sighed in relief, "See, there is Itzal. Still sleeping away, lazy thing." Alright, that wasn't quite true, was it? He was just a little grumpy due to the wounds he'd taken was all. They were stinging...

Giving a whistle the dark blue Radaku lifted his head up, looked around, then was pushing to his feet to look over toward where Rishima was, a little confusion as to where the youngling had come from. The beast cocked his head to the side before grabbing up the pack and trotting over to where his partner was. As he got close he started to sniffing at the air, giving a little growl as he scented blood, then rushed over more quickly seeming as though he were quite upset over the fact that his master had gotten himself hurt. Dropping the pack at his feet he started to sniff at Rishima before giving his arm a lick, something that made the halfbreed wince, "It's alright. Thanks for my pack." The Radaku was so well trailed, always carrying the pack around for him. Squatting down he sat the girl down next to the pack and set to digging around through it, "Let's see about getting our wounds cleaned up." He said, dragging out one of his pieces of clothing that he figured he could used to wipe the wounds down with, as well as shred if they needed bandages, and one of his water flasks.

"And Jerarda teased me for packing so much." He murmured to himself, giving a bit of a smile. He was glad that he'd thought to do so even though it meant carrying the heavy pack around with him. It was already proving useful.  

[Suhuba]

The child’s eyes widened as they approached the Radaku. She had never seen such a creature before. It was rather ferocious-looking and yet… so… colorful. Such a rich shade of blue. The little girl settled down easily on the ground as Rishima began going through his pack, finding things with which to treat their wounds. Tenderly, cautiously, she reached up, flattening her palm for Itzal to sniff, knowing this to be the best way to approach an animal, if you had any interest in meeting it.

”Adanna!” A voice broke through the area, rich and strong. The Wind Youngling’s eyes widened, a look of relief mixed with shock taking hold of her features. She tried to stand, but finding that still impossible, remained on the ground, strained towards the noise. ”Mommy!” She called back, the man who had helped her and his fascinating pet forgotten.

Within moments, a woman of the Wind Tribe was coming around a corner, laden with packs. Yansa walked at her side, a pace or two behind her. As the woman’s eyes connected with her daughter’s, she dropped her satchels and rushed forward. Adanna’s arms were already raised, prepared to be swept up into the familiar position, resting on her mother’s hip.

Her mother was tearing up, but not sobbing audibly, a strong woman overcome with the relief of finding her daughter. She turned to Rishima and Itzal, no skepticism in either her eyes or words; her daughter was safe, her wound cleaned. She was the epitome of grateful. ”Thank you.”  

[Orpheus Solon]

Rishima's antennae seemed to twitch as he worked on the first cleaning and then wrapping the wound on the girl's knee first. He would see to her first, then he would see to the wounds that he'd gotten. As the girl reached out toward Itzal he gave a smile, "He is really sweet, I am sure he will let you pet him." He said, knowing full well that while Itzal could be intimidating when he wanted to that he would never do anything to a youngling. They were small after all and Itzal seemed to like to protect small things.

Before she was able to really make friends with the beast though a voice calling out the name 'Adanna' seemed to draw the attention of the girl, the Radaku, and the halfbreed toward the sound. It was then that a woman appeared carrying a bunch of packs with her, all of which were dropped and forgotten as she ran over to meet her daughter and scooped the little girl up. He gave a happy smile as the two of them hugged on one another in such a cute manner, rather glad to see that they were back together. Pushing to his feet he looked passed them to where Yansa was and his eyes went wide, antennae twitching rapidly, he gave her a nod before looking at the woman who was thanking him, "You are very much welcome, I am glad that you were able to find us." He said, he hadn't been sure if they would be able to find her after all so he was glad that at least the reverse had happened.

Giving the pair a smile and a nod, "I hope that your knee gets to feeling better." He told the little girl, hoping he'd done well enough in cleaning and binding the wound since he'd never done it before other then for Itzal when he'd first met the Radaku who seemed as though he'd been in a lot of fights when he was on his own. From there, one hand resting on Itzal's mane, he looked over at Yansa, curious as to why she was here. Had she been helping the girl's mother he found himself thinking in a curious manner as he stepped toward her.  

[Suhuba]

The mother smiled brightly at Rishima. ”What do you say, Adanna?” She cooed to her child. The girl blushed gently, hiding against her mother’s shoulder, bashful now that she was back in these familiar arms. ”Thank you…” She finally managed to squeak, barely audible, but smiling, happy with her bandaged leg.

The mother nodded her thanks one more time before the two of them started off, stopping only briefly to re-gather the fallen bags, the Wind Woman expertly carrying all of the packs, while still supporting her small daughter on her hip. It was quite a feat, to be sure.

Yansa smiled after the duo before turning her attention to Rishima. She had a pack on her own back, her usual spear in hand. ”You did well, caring for the child.” She pulled the bag from her shoulders, setting it gently on the ground. ”I must admit, I wasn’t sure you had it in you.”