Raid the Forest

Aktlass started to let out a hissing growl as the party approached the camp, letting his tail grow out and slide across the ground. As soon as they make it to the edge of the camp, he creeps his way around to a different spot away from the party. it was easy to tell he was uneasy from how impatient he seemed. his aura could easily be mistaken for raging hunger from the way he stalks the camp.

He eyed his first pray and doesn't hesitate to pounce his victim, His claws catch the back of the first bandit, slamming him to the ground with a heavy thud then quickly takes chomps down in the back of the Bandit's skull before he could even scream. The rest of the camp see the horror take place before them and back off in fear as soon as Aktlass lifted his now blood drenched body. he spits out the cap he bit off along with loose hair and bone, then stands, wiping the blood from his face.

Vajor slips around behind the men while they're distracted by the carnage in front of them and trots into the camp.

VAJOR:

"Hello, lads."

Vajor spins his greataxe down into the crook of another bandit's neck, cleaving him halfway down his torso. He rips his weapon free, kicking the corpse to the ground, as a wolf rounds on him. It lunges, fueled by fear and anger at seeing its master slain. Vajor quickly swings his ax up and into its throat, blood splatters across the ground as its head rolls a few feet away. The wolf, headless, body slumps to the ground, its legs still twitching in the aftershock.

VAJOR:(scoff)

"Too easy."

As soon as Vajor got his kills, the large tent suddenly lights up and five more bandits rush out to see the carnage. Karma takes the opportunity to rush in at full speed and facepalms a bandit, sending a spark of electricity through her head then uses their double-bladed scimitar to cut into her side with a dramatic spin of the weapon. The bandit collapses to the ground and bleeds out as she reaches out to the five that came out of the tent before blacking out and dying.

Sarale sees the bandits rushing out of the tent and vanishes, becoming a puff of green mist. She reappears behind a bandit and her blade burns white hot as she pierces them through the chest. They ignite in flames. The smell of burning flesh and sizzling skin and blood fill the clearing, as the corpse crumples to the ground. She pulls the blade free and blocks an attack from another bandit. Sarale shoves her back with her shield and swings her blade down cutting across the bandits chest. The woman yelps in pain and looks down at the wound, she growls as she glances back up at Sarale. Her eyes full of furry, Sarale smirks.

SARALE:

"Let's dance, princess."

A sling bullet suddenly goes through the head of the bandit Sarale was facing and gets lodged in her nose, making her roll her eyes back and bleed from her nose and mouth as she collapses in front of Sarale.

TUNDA:

"yeh nah, I don't think we have the time for a dance, sis."

Tunda looks at one of the wolves that was growling at him and it whimpers and lays down. the other wolf backs off and starts whimpering as well.

SARALE:(snicker)

"You have to admit, it does sound fun though."

The bandits back away in disbelief from seeing the party slaughter their camp with ease. Tunda suddenly appears behind one of the Bandits and plunges a hand through the captain's shoulder, making him drop his weapon as he wails in pain from the sudden burn of the corrosion of his flesh and bone. He drops to the ground as his shoulder melts off of Tunda's hand, his now long claws painted a toxic green and coated in tar and blood.

TUNDA:

"yeh, yeh. you can dance with the pups over there once we've cleared out the toxic waste."

Tunda stands over the captain who was now on his knees holding his disconnected shoulder in tears as the last two back away in horror.

SARALE:(giggles)

"oh come now brother, you won't dance with me?"

TUNDA:(snickers)

"Sure, you can have a dance with me. If you're fine with a man with Two left feet."

Sarale shrugs with a smirk as she looks down at the Captain.

SARALE:

"Left feet are better than no feet."

She saunters toward him and drops her shield to grab her sword with both hands. She brings it down full force on the captain's ankles removing his feet in one swing. He screams in agony as blood begins to pool around his nubs, tears streaming down his face as he begins to beg for his life. She straightens and tilts her head, her expression now void of any emotion.

SARALE:

"like I said, better than no feet."

Tunda taps her shoulder with a backhand.

TUNDA:

"Aye. don't go losing to darkness. I had enough of that with your jokes."

Sarale looks at Tunda and blinks in confusion.

SARALE:

"Huh?"

TUNDA:

"That's better."

The last two Bandits drop their weapons and run for their lives from the horror they just witnessed. Aktlass, still in his primal rage, charges after one of them with a roaring hiss and crushes the bandits body under his open claws against a tree, completely destroying his torso and painting the tree in blood and torn flesh. A growl escapes from Aktlass' chest as he pulls his claw away from the tree, leaving a broken dent in the trunk. He walks away from the plastered body, looking at his hand in disappointment as he pulls pieces of shattered bones from his palm. Vajor watches Aktlass and chuckles as he drops his greataxe and pulls the bow from his belt. He turns his gaze to the other bandit and notches an arrow, aiming, and letting the arrow fly. It soars through the air and pierces through the bandits neck, causing them to stumble and reach back at the arrow. They grasp it and flail, trying to remove it as they fall to their knees, blood gurgling and sputtering up from their mouth and running down their chest. Vajor watches them drown in the thick fluid before picking up his ax and going to retrieve the arrow.

KARMA:

"Hm..."

Karma walks up to Sarale and Tunda and puts away their Scimitar while watching the quivering wolves stay in their places, tails tucked between their legs and heads low to the ground, still whimpering.

KARMA:

"Well, that was less eventful than expected."

TUNDA:(scoff)

"yeah. That's evident by your husband's disappointment."

Aktlass approaches them after Karma. He tilts his head to Tunda's statement.

KARMA:

"Yeah, well, My husband is quite the hunter after all."

Karma says. Aktlass looks at Karma in bewilderment from their statement and perches his lips in embarrassment after realizing what he looked like. Vajor follows after Aktlass and looks around the clearing with a frown, blood and bodies littering the clearing.

VAJOR:

"He's not tha only one disappointed."

Sarale looks down at the trembling captain.

SARALE:

"We should probably finish this guy off and clean up camp before it gets too late. I'll rekindle the fire so we can make something to eat. I'm starved."

Tunda raises his hand to her.

TUNDA:

"Hang on a sec. Hey, Fat ass."

CAPTAIN:

"HEEEH!!"

The captain panics and falls to his good shoulder, guarding his face and shutting his eyes.

TUNDA:

"Which way is the trail?"

CAPTAIN:

"t-tt-t-th-the t-trail is 10 degrees south-east!! P-pl-please... help me.... I-I-'ll even... show you the... the way to..."

TUNDA:

"Nah, we're good. Tell me where the other camps are."

CAPTAIN:

"M-m-map in-in... the tent..."

TUNDA:

"... Thanks for the intel, mate."

Tunda pulls his Mace from his back and slams it down on the Captains head, Crushing with a gong that resonates throughout the clearing and making the wolves howl in response.

SARALE:

"... That works."

She hears movement to her left and looks to see the dire wolf dragging a body into the forest. She snickers and glances back at the group,

SARALE:

"looks like I'm not the only one that's hungry. Can we eat now?"

Vajor chuckles and hands her back her bow.

VAJOR:

"we should rest too, while we have tha chance. We can always head out during tha day."

KARMA:(giggles)

"yes indeed."

Karma yawns and stretches their body out.

KARMA:

"ugh... this is gonna be a pain..."

The party starts cleaning up the area while Vajor cooks their previous catch that he prepped. Tunda looked through the maps he got from the captain's tent for a while to study the terrain they were in. One of them was enchanted with a spell that made the images move. The movement of the images made him disoriented and he put it away to rub his eyes from the pain. Tunda quickly got dizzy and stumbled out of the tent to rush into the woods and vomit behind a tree. Once his dizzy spell wore off, he heard a chirp from the tree he was next to. A little yellow bird sat on the branch over his head and flew off as soon as he spotted it.

Aktlass suddenly rushes over to where Tunda heads to find him calming his breathing. Sarale was hot on Aktlass' heels after seeing Tunda scramble into the forest.

SARALE:

"you alright?"

Tunda holds his head back in silence for a moment before answering.

TUNDA:(sigh)

"... yah... I'm good now."

Tunda turns to face Sarale and Aktlass and leans against the tree, his head now clear of the dizzy spell.

TUNDA:

"One of the maps has a charm on it that makes it move in time with the territory. I think it's a fae realm item... those are more rare and indispensable than mithril. hell, any item made by fae is rare and indispensable. how the hell did these fuckers get their hands on one??"

SARALE:(surprise)

"That's a good question and even better news. It means we have an accurate map on how to get the fuck out of this forest. First, we need food and rest. Especially after you just got sick. Like I said before, I'll take the first watch with Vajor. After you eat, you guys get some sleep."

She gives Tunda a motherly look.

SARALE:

"Especially you. Let's head back. We can talk about the map more there. I still need to help Karma clean up the rest of the camp. We'll keep a few of the bodies for Loonu. Vajor told me about the one that was in the bag. I can't believe she ate that."

Sarale's nose crinkles and she looks grossed out as she shakes her head and turns to lead them back to camp. When they got back, Vajor had finished the food and was helping Karma shove the last body in the bag of holding. He looks up at them holding the feet of the bandit as Karma holds the bag open.

VAJOR:

"ya alright? Ya looked a little green when ya took off."

TUNDA:(tiredly)

"one of the maps was enchanted with fae magic. Moving pictures got me disoriented. I think I'll just tuck in for the night. Getting sick just from moving pictures... I'm going to bed."

Karma rushes to Tunda with a waterskin.

KARMA:

"Here, so you can rinse off. You're next, big handsome."

Aktlass nods scratching flakes of blood off his face. Tunda takes the waterskin and rinses his mouth out then hands it over to Aktlass to do the same and wash his face.

Karma gives Tunda a big hug before sending him off to bed.

TUNDA:

"See everyone in the morning."

Tunda goes to hide in one of the smaller tents for the night. Sarale watches him, concern written on her face. She goes to sit next to the fire and rests her elbows on her knees. She can feel the cold chill snaking around her and a weight on her shoulders.

SARALE:

"this isn't going to be an easy journey. **sigh** I just hope we can all make it out with our heads on straight."

VAJOR:(smiles)

"it's alright dove. We're all here ta watch each others backs. We'll make it out as long as we stay together."

KARMA:

"and so long as you rely on us as well instead of jumping into mother hen mode."

Karma munches down on food then yawns and rubs their eyes.

KARMA:

"ugh. so tired... but I wanna eat~"

SARALE:(smiles)

"I make no promises, but I'll try."

Aktlass looks at Sarale for a moment with an unnerved expression.

AKTLASS:

"... why do you say that as if we should be the only ones protected?"

SARALE:(confused)

"I didn't mean it like that. It's also why I said I hope we all make it out. I know I can rely on you guys. I'll have your backs if you have mine. I just.. might forget that sometimes. I worry."

Vajor rests a hand on Sarale's shoulder.

VAJOR:

"We all worry, Dove. It's part of bein' a family."

KARMA:

"and being family means relying on each other like you always say, right?"

Karma says and yawns again, slowly nodding off as they teeter back and forth. Aktlass catches Karma and supports them on his side. Sarale watches Karma.

SARALE:

"Get some rest. When you wake up, we'll take a break."

Vajor squeezes Sarale's shoulder reassuringly.

VAJOR:

"They'll be fine, dove. They just need rest. We're all tired after taday."

Aktlass finishes his meal and keeps Karma awake long enough for them to finish before carrying them to a tent.

AKTLASS:

"come for someone to take your place in the night so you can sleep as well. rest well."

VAJOR:

"I'll make sure of it. You rest well also."

Sarale smiles at Aktlass and nods. Sarale sighs and shifts uncomfortably as nocturnal animals greet them. Flying through the clearing or stalking the shadows just outside of the lights glow. Their eyes glimmering against the backdrop of darkness. When the cold chill curls around her, she shivers and Vajor wraps his arm around her shoulders.

VAJOR:

"ya know… If ya keep jumpin' at every hoot and howl, yer gonna drive yerself mad dove. It's alright. We're all here. We're safe."

She glances up at him and snuggles closer to his side. When she looks out into the forest she spies a familiar shadow lurking there. Tendrils and tentacles darker than the night itself.

SARALE:

"I know.. but for how long?"

VAJOR:

"As long as we need ta be."

Vajor tilts her chin towards him and leans forward.

VAJOR:

"I'm not gunna lose ya again, dove. I'm not lettin' go that easily."

SARALE:(smiles)

"Vajor what happened before isn't your- hmph."

He cuts her off with a gentle kiss. Her eyes go wide before she relaxes into him. He pulls back and grins at her.

VAJOR:

"I know. It wasn't anybody's fault. The horses got spooked and.."

Sarale stands up straight.

SARALE:

"shit! The horses!"

Vajor grabs her before she can run off and pulls her back to his side.

VAJOR:

"will be fine. They're not far, we'll hear anythin' before it becomes an issue. Now relax. Can ya do that fer me dove?"

Sarale glances back in the direction they came from.

SAARLE:

"yeah. I'll try."

Vajor sighs and shakes his head with a chuckle/

VAJOR:

"hey."

SARALE:

"Hmm?"

VAJOR:

"I made somethin' fer ya."

SARALE:(surprised)

"you what?"

Vajor pulls an amulet from his satchel and dangles it in front of him.

VAJOR:

"I.. uh~ heh. I wanted ta give it ta ya in different circumstances, but it seems now is tha best chance we got."

Sarale eyes the pendant and her eyes grow misty.

SARALE:

"I.. thank you."

VAJOR:

"May I?"

Vajor holds the two thin straps of leather and she nods turning so he can tie them behind her neck. His warm hands feathering lightly over her cool skin and she shivers. He chuckles and she looks down at the winding pattern.

SARALE:

"It looks like branches. Is that Lepidolite?"

Sarale glances back at Vajor.

VAJOR:(nods)

"yes'm. Known as tha grandmother stone where I studied me craft. It's supposed ta help calm anxiousness and stress. Let me know if it works."

Sarale giggles and looks down at it again.

SARALE:

"it's beautiful, Vajor. Thank you."

He nods and presses a kiss to the nape of her neck.

VAJOR:

"yer welcome, dove. I hope ya like it."

SARALE:(smiles)

"I love it."

Vajor grins at her and gives her a peck before they go back to their watch. Half the night had passed before Vajor stands and stretches.

VAJOR:

"We should wake Aktlass and Karma. Then get some rest ourselves."

Sarale nods and a yawn creeps out as he goes to the tent Aktlass had carried Karma off to.

VAJOR:

"Aktlass. It's yer shift ta keep watch."

Aktlass wakes and sits up from his bedding, the covers unravel with Karma tied in the rope they used earlier.

AKTLASS:

"Coming."

Vajor quirks a brow at Aktlass as he eyes Karma's state.

VAJOR:

"Well alright then."

Vajor turns around and walks off. Aktlass watches him for a moment before calling to him.

AKTLASS:

"Vajor."

Vajor turns towards Aktlass when hearing his name.

VAJOR:

"Aye?"

AKTLASS:

"Have we not told you of Karma's sleeping habits?"

VAJOR:(*snaps fingers*)

"right. I forgot. They sleepwalk. That explains it."

Aktlass nods and heads to the campfire. Vajor turns to Sarale and catches a glimpse of two glowing blue orbs in the tree line. He frowns and removes his glasses to rub his eyes before perching them back on his nose.

VAJOR:

"dove?"

Sarale turns to Vajor.

SARALE:

"hmm? What's wrong?"

VAJOR:(*points to orbs*)

"do ya see that? Or are my eyes playin' tricks on me?"

Sarale turns and notices the orbs. Her expression turning to one of shock as she places a hand on the hilt of her sword.

SARALE:

"those look like eyes."

Aktlass looks to where they saw the strange pair of bright blue lights staring directly at them. Aktlass quickly draws his hand axes ready for a battle on high alert. The call of a raven suddenly caws loudly over the camp and the bird's shadow cast past the place they looked and the two light's vanished from existence. Aktlass rushes to the trees and looks around to find tracks only to find one set of footprints that seemed to be in a stationary position, as if someone simply stepped forward once and stood there. they didn't go anywhere.

AKTLASS:

"... What???"

Sarale and Vajor join him next to the tree. Sarale bristles as she looks around scanning the area, Her weapon heavy in her hand.

SARALE:

"There's residual mana around. I can feel it, like the air before a lightning strike."

VAJOR:

"great. That's all we need right now."

AKTLASS:

"So a mage is near?"

Sarale nods as she squints into the darkness, struggling to see through her blurry eyes.

SARALE:

"Yeah, it would seem so."

VAJOR:

"Why, though? What's... dove, ya good?"

SARALE:

"Hmm?"

Sarale glances at Vajor and sways on her feet, stumbling and reaching out to catch herself on the tree's trunk.

SARALE:

"I.."

Sarale's eyes go blank, and she falls to her knees, gasping for air. Vajor reaches for her, his eyes wide in panic as he staves off the sudden rush of exhaustion that slammed into him.

VAJOR:

"Dove?!"

Aktlass drops to her side and helps her stand again from the shock of watching her fall. Vajor stands at her other side helping her also. His voice quivering.

VAJOR:

"Dove, talk ta us. Please."

Sarale shakes her head and sways on her feet.

SARALE:

"I'm.. I.. what?"

The expression she wears is one of confusion and terror. Tunda suddenly wanders out of his tent and stumbles towards a tree in huff ready to vomit, but his constitution holds strong as he takes steady breaths. Once he collects his composure, he looks up in the distance to see the party without Karma standing by the woods helping Sarale to her feet.

TUNDA:

"... guys?? 'de hell... uhb... bluh... What happened?"

SARALE:(*stumble*)

"I-i-I'm sorry. I.."

Vajor grabs her weapon and hands it to Aktlass, before lifting her into his arms, and carrying her back into camp. His brows creased with worry.

VAJOR:

"Dove. It's alright. Just rest. I've got ya."

Vajor sits with her next to the fire and brushes her snowy hair from her face. Her skin feverish as her eyes roll back in her head and she falls limp in his arms. Vajor panics, pulling her close to his chest and whimpering.

VAJOR:

"Dove?"

Every part of him sags with dismay as he holds her sleeping form and fights off his sorrow.

VAJOR:

"Sarale? Please."

Tunda looks at them and carefully approaches the trio to examine her condition. He pulls a bottle from his pouch and pops it open to drink half of it.

TUNDA:

"... She's having an adverse reaction to fae energy. whatever power she has is colliding with it and making her sick. Take this an'- bleh... hm! make her drink it." Tunda hands over the rest of the bottle and lays down by the fire. "*yawn* *berp* uhk... fuck. I am too. Gods, this is awful."

Vajor takes the bottle and pops the cork, his nose wrinkling at the smell.

VAJOR:

"Come on Sarale. Drink, yer gonna feel better when you do."

Vajor tilts her head and presses the bottle to her lips. She tries to turn away, her brows furrowing, but he stops her and pours some of the liquid in her mouth. He places his hand over her mouth and holds her nose. Sarale squirms trying to get away, weakly, and Vajor hears her gulp before he removes his hand. She gasps for air and he waits till her breathing returns to normal before giving her more. The repeat this process till the rest of the liquid is gone. Sarale whimpers in his arms and he pulls her close.

VAJOR:

"Sh~ it's alright dove. Yer gonna be alright."

She quiets, her brow easing from discomfort, and Vajor looks up at Tunda.

VAJOR:

"Thank you, Tunda."

TUNDA:

"*blup*... yeh, whatever... I need a fucking drink, man. I shoulda bought some soju or something from that goblin place back at the neutral market..."

Tunda stayed staring at the fire with a worn out look and hunched forward but he seemed fully alert.

TUNDA:

"getta' to bed. she'll a bit better in the mornin."

Vajor nods and stands, lifting Sarale with him. He glances back at Aktlass, then to Tunda.

VAJOR:

"Ya two gonna be okay?"

Aktlass nods and sits across the fire facing Tunda. Tunda didn't seem to care for his presence.

AKTLASS:

"We'll be fine."

Vajor nods and carries Sarale to one of the empty tents to rest.