Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rob eyed the skies as he stepped outside, hand over his shoulder on the hilt of his greatsword. The Chosen had put a hurt on the flocks of monster birds that had been plaguing them and the people hiding in the hotel, but there were still plenty of the things left to kill. He was getting to the point of being tired of the battle, though it was still gratifying to dispatch one or more of the birds. Maybe he was becoming like Legolas or something. The thought made him snicker; he wondered if Mercy was going to call him that when she arrived to fight with him. Probably.

The snow outside the hotel was littered with bird carcasses and Chosen fighting some of the remaining monsters. He and Mercy wouldn't have to wait too long for a battle. Unsheathing his big sword from the sheath across his back, he practiced a few swings with it while he waited for her to show up. He looked to the skies again and saw a group of the birds circling almost overhead. Hopefully she wouldn't be long.

He'd guessed right. Rob couldn't help but smile at Mercy as she called him Legolas. She was quickly becoming one of his favorite people in general, but especially in battle. He hoped they could carry the friendship back with them to the Prytaneum once this was all over and done with. "Ready as I'll ever be," he replied, glancing up at the sky. Sure enough, a group of birds circled lower, and as they grew closer, one of them separated from the group and dove at them. "Here they come!"

Brandishing his greatsword, he swung at the bird, but at the last moment the creature flapped out of the way of the heavy blade and launched its feathers at him. "Well, s**t," Rob muttered, raising an arm to deflect as many of the sharp metallic feathers as he could. Still, some embedded in the now-shabby fur coat, slicing through the fabric and nicking his skin. Hopefully Mercy could do better.

Rob grinned in appreciation of Mercy's skills with the big warhammer. Must have been that Ares-Chosen thing, a natural ability with massive weapons. He almost wished he had the same ability, though in retrospect he hadn't done too badly for himself. He was still alive, wasn't he? No, he was happy being Chosen by Dionysus -- it gave him an excuse to party.

"No, I definitely don't want to damage the merchandise here. Too bad the birds don't feel the same way, innit?" He tossed her a wink and readied his greatsword again. He'd get those bastards.

One of them swooped down on him and he swung at it, missing it completely. "Bloody hell!" he swore, furious with himself. The bird made a noise that could have been a squawk, could have been a laugh, and flung a talon-full of dung at him. He tried to evade it, but it still caught him on the leg. Muttering under his breath, he immediately grabbed a handful of snow and scrubbed at the nasty mess. He just wasn't having a good day.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rob finished cleaning the toxic bird s**t off his leg. "This flinging poo crap is getting old, though." He straightened and glanced over at her, giving her a small smile. "I feel your pain about the hair. Already lost the end of one dread to those bloody feathers." It could have been worse, he supposed -- the feather could have gotten him on the face or taken out his eye. He didn't want to think about that.

Backing up, he grasped the hilt of the greatsword in both hands and swung at the first bird that came close. He wasn't in range to really hurt it, but he did hit it, the end of the blade catching the bird across the breast and leaving a deep gash. With a shriek the bird braked in mid-air and flung its feathers at Rob. He ducked his head and raised an arm again to shield himself from the projectiles, only to have one embed itself in his ponytail of dreadlocks.

He almost reached up and removed the feather, but that was probably too risky right now.

Rob watched as the bird went flying, not of its own volition but from Mercy's thunderous blow with the warhammer. "Crikey, love," he exclaimed, wide-eyed. He reminded himself to never get on her bad side, at least not while she was armed and dangerous. Probably not under any other circumstance, either.

Determined now not to miss again, he brandished the greatsword and swung at the next bird that approached. And missed cleanly. "What the hell?" He was getting beyond frustrated at himself; he KNEW he was better than this. The monster swooped down on him, attacking him with its talons and beak and battering him with its wings. Fighting as hard as he could, he managed to shove it off with only a few more scratches and scrapes on his face to show for it.

It was fatigue, yeah, that had to be it. Rob could think of no other reason for consistently missing like he was. "Yeah, you're stronger than you look," he grinned, pushing the worries to the back of his mind. He had to start pulling his weight in this fight, or they were going to find themselves overrun by the monster birds. Besides, he didn't relish the idea of Mercy carrying him back to the hotel.

Raising the sword, he swung it at a bird, and caught the thing in the wing, nearly severing the limb. The creature shrieked and flapped about, spraying blood everywhere, but Rob didn't care. "Yeah! That was a palpable hit!" He pumped his fist in joy. Maybe he was catching his second wind or something.

"Oh thank god," Rob groaned. He hoped that was the case, that the small flock of birds they'd been battling had thinned out and wouldn't seek reinforcements from their brethren. Readying his greatsword again, he took aim at one of the remaining birds and swung. He hit the thing hard, lopping its head clean off. The headless carcass fell to the snow and twitched a few times.

"Yes!" Rob shouted with a leap into the air and a fist pump. "Take that, you rotten b*****d!" He grinned at Mercy. "We've got 'em against the ropes now!"

Rob grinned at Mercy. "You know, I'm rather hungry too. What d'you say we go back inside and see if we can find anything to eat?" Surely there had to be something -- didn't they pack provisions in their bags before they were sent here through the Hearth? He hadn't even looked inside the backpacks they were given.