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After his encounter with the Sand Whale while retrieving a Wyvern Egg, Dekana was curious about the massive creatures and readily accepted the request to repell one when it came down the line. Apparently this was a common occurrence, with one side of the village facing out on a sea of endless sand and all. It made him wonder what was over here that the Sand Whale was so desperate to either crush or obtain... had anybody thought to figure that out?

It wasn't his concern either way, he was simply excited to be using a ballista. The great arrows were nearly as tall as him with large, heavy tips sharp enough to cut a hair in two. The device itself was a formidable apparatus, clanking and hissing with the motions of use, a beast of a weapon.

With the ship ready and his arms full of ballistas, Dekana eagerly boarded the ship. However, a wobble in the sand, and consequently the ship, caused him to stumble and all but two of his ballistas fell to the sand sea below. Cursing immensely, the shadow panther stomped the final distance onto the deck and plunked the ballistas into the quiver barrel.

“I hope somebody else has enough ballistas!” He called back, half jovial but mostly demanding. He wanted this task done, and done well.

After the others had boarded and the ship was underway, he found they were one of a few different ships out to meet the whale, each equipped with ballistas. It felt very much like a race as he ran to and fro on the deck, watching the ships then watching the Sand Whale surface, it's great back a rushing island in the dunes, clouds of sand kicked up in its wake as if it brought a sand storm with it.

The ship peeled away, arced and came alongside the whale. He heard the ker-thump of a ballista hitting it from the other side and the whale whined in response, a deep, haunting thrum of a sound that set the youth on edge. A shouted order came down from the captain of the ship, an urgent call to arms, and Dekana, flashing a grin at those around him, dashed to the ballista to be the first to shoot. He only had two shots and he would make them count!

However, before he could even get the first shot off, the whale dove, swift and smooth beneath the sand sea's surface, only a faint echo of its haunting cry lingering. Confused, Dekana leaned over the edge of the ship to look at the sand sea below, wondering where it could have gone.

It was then that the whale erupted from the sand, breaching, rising into a towering monolith of flesh and bone that threatened to squash the ship. The arc of its leap, thankfully, brought it over the ship's mast and landed heavily in the sand on the other side.

If Dekana had been listening at all, he would have heard the captain's shouted demands to shoot it while it was in the air. Sadly, he hadn't been... he'd been too mesmerized by the sheer power observed in such a stunt. If it could that, imagine what it could do to the village!! Snapping out of his awe-struck moment, Dekana retrieved his ballistas and ran to the other side.

He loaded one, aimed, and fired. The heavy weapon jolted in his hand and he fell back as the iron arrow arced through and hit the whale's shoulder, ellicting another cry of pain. Instead of diving, however, the creature hip-checked the boat and sent Dekana flying again, forcing him to scramble and hold on to something or risk falling into the sand below.

Tail lashing, he dragged himself up, bruised and full of splinters, to run back to the ballista just in time to suffer a sonic attack as the whale screamed, a piercing, overwhelming sound that made Dekana flinch and cover his ears in pain. The ringing lasted several heartbeats before he could take his hands down.

He had one projectile left... and he would use it. Hopefully it wouldn't scream again. Dekana loaded the bolt, cranked back the chains and gears, and aimed but a jostle in the boat made his shot go wide of the target, hitting somewhere along the side rather then the shoulder he'd been aiming for. Cursing, he shook his head and glanced at his friends, “I'm out of shots... it hasn't gone away yet! Somebody else shoot it!”

He stepped back and found a corner to hold on at. If it rammed the ship again, he wasn't going flying that was for sure!



Sand Whale: 180/200

Vaudrey had also been dragging his feet the entire time, because dealing with the rock had been exhausting, dealing with the egg had been exhausting, and by this time, he just really didn't want to deal with anything. Except he had to put on a good front, had to act like he was totally in control of things (he wasn't), had to remind everyone that he was definitely The Best at what he did and was Fully Capable of handling things (he wasn't for either of those things.)

So he was endlessly grateful when he found out that Hymn and Dekana had already taken care of the whale for him, Vaudrey perking up considerably as he watched it swim off, trying to hide the look of relief on his face.

"Well done, chaps, well done!" he said brightly, clapping them both on the shoulders and beaming brightly. "You have clearly indicated that you are both fully capable boils that are incredibly strong and confident! You both have my loyalties, sirs!"