The Forest

In the forest of Calm, a trio is resting from their first long journey together. The Drow Paladin, Sarale, her flamboyant tiefling friend, Karma, the fighter, and a half-orc, half-yuan ti barbarian thief, Ootashi AKtlass.

Aktlass sat against a tree fiddling with something that took Sarale's interest. She hasn't really trusted him much since they met and his uncomfortable presence has alway unnerved her, but after a good month of him being part of their small party, Sarale had grown used to him and came to understand he wasn't as bad as he seemed.

Sarale approaches Aktlass curiously.

SARALE:

"What are you up to?"

Aktlass stops and looks at her, flicking his tongue. He lifts his hand to show her a small pouch with an unfinished embroidery lining the edges.

SARALE:

"It's pretty. Are you making it for anyone special?"

Sarale side glances at Karma who was polishing everyone's tools and weapons as she asked. Aktlass simply smiles at her with a relaxed expression as he speaks. He seemed more bored than anything.

AKTLASS:

"Not really… Would you like it?"

SARALE: *Chuckles*

"I have a better idea. Why don't we do some training? Might help cure our boredom."

AKTLASS:

"Sounds like something to do."

Aktlass puts away the pouch and towers over Sarale with a curious gaze.

AKTLASS:

"There's a clearing nearby, yes?"

Karma suddenly jumps at his question in excitement.

KARMA:

"OH! I wanna be Referee!"

Sarale chuckles at Karma's excitement.

SARALE:

"Yup. let's go."

Sarale leads everyone to a small clearing not far from their camp. Karma takes a seat on a nearby stump near the woods and sets everyone's things down by them. Sarale and Aktlass step into the center of the clearing and fix the distances between themselves.

SARALE:

"So what sort of training? Hand to hand, weapons? I'm partial to weapons to be honest. I don't think I could take you on in a hand to hand spar… well, actually, I know I couldn't."

AKTLASS:*chuckle*

"Well, I prefer hand to hand for spars since I only wish to put blood on my blade."

Aktlass takes his stance and waits patiently. Sarale does the same.

SARALE:

"Very well. Hand to hand it is. When you're ready."

AKTLASS:

"Ref?"

Karma's tail whips around excitedly ready to signal them to start

KARMA:

"Ready~! Start!!"

Aktlass starts them off, sprinting off to close the distance between him and Sarale and swings at her. Sarale side steps the swing, shoving his hand away and using the momentum to spin behind him, hooking her foot around his ankle and sweeps at him to catch him off balance. Aktlass lets his foot slip and uses the momentum to spin a fast roundhouse at her. Sarale ducks, feeling the air from his kick as his leg passes over her head. She lunges forward as soon as his foot lands and brings her fist up towards his stomach. He quickly catches her hand and pulls her into a throw. She uses the chance to grapple his arm and uses his momentum to slam her knee into his side.

He grunts from the shock of the impact then quickly takes hold of her leg with one arm and grabs her shoulder with the other and slams her to the ground. She squeaks as the air is knocked from her lungs. Sarale brings her elbow down into the crook of his arm while grabbing the pressure point in his wrist to break his grasp on her. She brings her feet up to kick at his chest and launches herself away from him, flipping over her shoulder and onto her feet as she stops several yards away from him, staying low to the ground. Her heart racing in her chest as she watches him for his next move.

Aktlass stumbles back and catches his breath with a hiss and a flick of his tongue as he looks up at Sarale, studying her stance. He stands straight and cracks his back with a roll of his shoulders then hangs his body low to the ground. He rushes to Sarale ready to send a low punch to her stomach. She kicks forward into his rushing fist and dips under his swing at the last second, slipping past his arm. She takes the chance to spin a kick into the back of his thigh. He takes a step to her side then suddenly ends up behind her.

AKTLASS:*soft*

"Careful…"

Aktlass grabs her waist and lifts her off the ground ready to suplex her. She grabs his top hand and shoves her thumbs in between his, shifting her hips forward to break his hold. She grabs his wrist, twisting it behind her and spinning away, using her motion to pull his hand down as she lifts her leg kicking at his face. He stumbles back then suddenly sends a swing into her stomach as she was falling, sending her back a ways. She takes the hit with a gag and rolls a few feet away. Coughing as she rises and takes her stance. She huffs a laugh and charges at him full speed. Aktlass waits for her where he stood, ready to catch her. She turns on her feet, making sure to see him before raising her knee, and does a spinning roundhouse kick at his stomach. He catches her foot and starts to spin a few times before throwing her into a nearby tree.

She catches herself before hitting the trees and flips, landing on her feet. She shakes her hands and cracks her neck before walking back into the clearing and taking her stance. He charges her and jumps as he shouts, ready to slam his cupped fists down on her. She darts out of the way using her smaller size as an advantage to go under him, twisting on her feet and kicking at his back. He buckles back from the impact and catches himself before falling forward. He quickly turns around and tackles her into the ground and catches her in a headlock, arms at her head and legs around her hips. She tucks her chin, shoving the heels of her palms under his arms and pushing up with one hand. The other grasps at his wrist and pulls his arm down beside her chest, trapping it in her grasp. She then twists her other hand to grab his wrist and pulls it down latching onto it with her other hand on the way down. She ducks her head as she shoves up on his elbow maneuvering her head on the opposite side, effectively locking his arms at an awkward angle on the same shoulder. She shoves at his leg enough to pull one of her legs free and wraps it over top of his, pushed up with her feet and forcing her shoulders against his chest to pin him to the ground. She swings with her free hand at his face and wrenches her arm out from under his, shoving at him with both hands and twisting in his grasp to break her other leg free, rolling out of his reach. She pushes up onto her feet and launches at him ready to throw her knee at his head.

He catches her knee with his left and swings at her thigh with his right fist. She braces for the impact, deflecting as she twists her hips and jumps back. She takes a steady breath and watches him as he stands. Her ear twitched at a sound in the trees. Her head snaps in the direction it came from, eyes widening as she tenses and casts misty steps. She appears in front of Karma, just in time to intercept an arrow. It wedges between the folds in her armor and she stumbles grunting at the sharp pain, before turning towards the direction the arrow came from with a growl.

Aktlass sees the arrow and watches Karma stumble off the stump and scamper to the weapons. He rushes past Sarale and goes into the trees. Sarale reaches back and wretches the arrow free. She grabs her shield and sword and darts into the trees after Aktlass, her ears and eyes scanning the forest for intruders.

A twig snaps as a woman drops from the tree above her. It was a rogue human. Sarale turns around, raising her shield to block the hit and shoving the woman away. Her sword arching through the air to slam into a tree near where the woman once stood.

ROGUE:

"Too slow~."

The woman flips a blade nearby and grins, takes a few steps back, and runs further into the trees. Sarale growls and gives chase. Aktlass sends a man with a bow at the woman as she flees, stopping her from running farther. The man was missing an arm.

AKTLASS:

"Too ssslow."

Karma throws Aktlass's two axes at him and he catches them, twirling one in his hand ready to swing it down on the two. Karma grabs their longsword and waits in the field for whoever comes next. Sarale chuckles at Aktlass' cheeky comment as she hears movement in the trees. She misty-steps next to Aktlass, her hand tapping his shoulder as she casts shield of faith bolstering his defense. A divine radiance shimmering around him faintly before fading.

A Goliath charges for them and tries to tackle Aktlass. Sarale's weapon glows green as she dances around the back of Aktlass and slices at the back of the goliath's knees. He stumbles and catches himself, looking up at her with a bloody thirsty glare. She raises an eyebrow and gives a cheeky wink.

SARALE:

"Come on, big boy. Let's dance."

He lunges, his legs getting caught by the thorny vines curling around his legs and up his thighs. Aktlass Hears Karma shouting and swords clashing in the distance and doesn't hesitate to rush to them, but the woman grabs his attention with a dagger getting sent past his head and nicking his cheek. she rushes him and starts swinging at him feverishly as he dodges her dark green daggers. He counters her with his axes and swings back at her, getting parried and fended off.

Meanwhile Karma clashes with two other opponents. one a gnome wizard and the other a cheetah tabaxi fighter. The tabaxi uses its racial traits to rush Karma continuously daring to aim at their joints as Karma swiftly parries each attack as if putting on a spectacle for an audience.

KARMA:

"haha! very fast, but not fast enough, pretty kitty."

the gnome casts an earth spell under Karma to capture them. karma jumps as soon as they feel the earth beneath them shifts and out of the tabaxi's encirclement of attacks. The tabaxi stops and lets the gnome step next to them as Karma lands a good few feet away from them.

TABAXI:

"grrr! damn thing is more slippery than slime."

Sarale looks towards the two, her eyes flashing entirely black as a magical darkness surrounds them. Rendering them blind to the world around them.

The Goliath tears through the vines and charges Sarale, slamming into her and sending her flying. She rolls to a stop and groans. She shakes her head and looks up in time to roll out of the way as he goes to stomp on her. She pushes up onto her feet and dodges his next attack, arching her blade down across his back and plunging it through his chest, the radiant light bursting through as she tears her sword free. The heat from her sword cauterizes the wound and he falls to the ground. The life leaving his eyes.

She readies herself to help Karma, knowing Aktlass can handle the rogue on his own. Karma quickly stabs the ground with their longsword and chants. they start to glow in a soft blue aura with sparks of lighting gathering through the blade of their sword and calling out.

KARMA:

"Witchbolt!"

They raise their sword, pointing it to the cloud and a crackle of blue lightning shoots from the blade and into the cloud of darkness, striking the tabaxi and gnome in a lightning chain, frying them dead. Sarale smirks and shakes her head, turning to watch Aktlass and the rogue, ready to step in if the need arises.

Aktlass seemed to be toying with the rogue as if the acid that struck him from her blades did nothing to him, they were healing instantly from the protection he received after all. The rogue seemed to be getting impatient and uneasy the longer he let her attack. He finally grabs her arm and headbutts her, a crack echoes out to the clearing getting Karma's attention. The rogue swings her other dagger at him in panic from getting caught. he catches it in his hand, letting the blade pierce through his hand as it healed and burned at the same time. he closes his hand around hers, digging his claws into her and shattering the bones, making her scream.

He finally pulls her close as she cries out to be released, opening his mouth as she begs for her life and bites down on her frontal lobe, taking a good chunk out of her and letting her body drop afterwards. He spits the chuck out and releases the dead rogue's hand, letting it fall to the ground. He pulls the dagger out his hand as he walks back into the clearing to the others, letting his hand heal. He looks at them with a calm expression of loss as he sees their reaction to him.

Sarale nods at Aktlass as she walks past and flexes her shoulders, feeling the arrows puncture wound as she walks towards the man missing his arm. She sheaths her sword and stands over him, her expression blank.

He clutches at it and whimpers, his eyes widening as he looks at her in fear. She kneels down next to him and heals the wound.

SARALE:

"Don't want you bleeding out before we get the answers we need, now do we?"

She jerks him to his feet and drags him towards the others, keeping her hand on his shoulder.

SARALE:

"Who sent you?"

MAN:

"Heek!! AAH! No! no no! wait! Please!!"

The man panics as Aktlass and Karma wait for her. It was Aktlass that scared the man and made him panic as he was forced closer to them.

MAN:

"I don't know! I don't know! I don't know anything!!"

SARALE:

"Liar. if you can't tell the truth then you're of no use."

Sarale raises her blade to his throat.

MAN:

"NO NO!! PLEASE I SWEAR! We were only given instructions from a second source!! a carrier bird came to us with platinum for that Tiefling to bring them back alive!! We were told to bring 'em to an auction house in the next city if we capture them!"

SARALE:

"Hmm. Where is this letter?"

MAN:

"I-it was cast with a spell after opening it to burn! We don't have it with-!!?"

He stops as he spots a large bird in the sky with a compartment attached to its leg. Aktlass follows his gaze, pulls a small Javelin from his belt, and throws it as hard as he could at the bird. It pierces its wing, throwing it off course as it falls to the ground a few yards away in the clearing. The bird squawks and flips around making Sarale frown. She looks at Karma and shoves the man to the ground in front of them,

SARALE:

"He was after you. His life is yours to do with as you please."

She then turns and walks to the bird, she kneels next to it and talks to it in a quiet and calm tone.

SARALE:

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. Shhh-shhh."

The hawk snaps at her fingers and she lets it bite her, wincing.

SARALE:

"See, I'm not going to hurt you."

The creature blinks at her and bites down harder, when she doesn't react, it lets go and tilts its head curiously. She strokes its feather gently before holding it still.

SARALE:

"I told you I'm not going to harm you. It's going to be okay. I have to remove the javelin. Then I can heal you, okay?"

The hawk squawks at her and she chuckles holding it still and pulling the javelin free. It flails under her grasp and finally stops allowing her to heal it. Once healed, it tilts its head at her and nuzzles her hand.

SARALE:

"What have we here?"

Sarale unties the compartment attached to its leg and pets the bird's head before looking back at Aktlass and Karma.

SARALE:

"shall we have a look?"

She nods at the one armed man and raises a brow and she turns back and checks the chest for traps or spells.

SARALE:

"Just gonna leave that one on his own?"

Aktlass stops and goes back to get the man and drags him back then drops him in front of himself. Karma decides to sit on the man's back cross legged waiting for Sarale to read it to them.

SARALE:

"My dear and loyal associates,

I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. I am pleased to inform you that our target, a troublesome tiefling fighter, has been identified and located. As per our previous arrangements, I am entrusting you with the task of apprehending this individual and bringing them to me, unharmed but subdued.

The tiefling in question is known to be highly skilled in combat, with a penchant for causing chaos and disrupting my plans. However, I have taken measures to ensure that this task will not be easy for them. The target will be alone and unarmed at the specified location, but I have also arranged for a few distractions to keep them off-guard.

Your team should consist of at least four members, each trained in different combat techniques and armed with a variety of weapons. I expect you to work cohesively as a unit, utilizing your strengths and coordinating your movements to quickly and efficiently apprehend the tiefling. It is imperative that you do not underestimate their abilities and remain alert at all times.

As our previous arrangements dictate, the tiefling must be brought to me alive and unharmed. I have plans for them that require them to be in a certain condition. You are not to inflict any permanent damage or harm to the target. However, I do understand that some level of force may be necessary to subdue them. Be mindful of this and exercise caution in your approach.

Once the tiefling is in your custody, you are to bring them to the designated drop-off location. I will have my representatives waiting there to take custody of the target and bring them to me safely. You will be compensated handsomely for your services upon successful completion of this task.

I trust in your skills and professionalism in carrying out this assignment. Failure is not an option, and any deviation from our agreement will not be tolerated. Remember, the identity of your employer remains confidential, and any information regarding our arrangement is to be kept strictly between us.

I eagerly anticipate the successful apprehension of the tiefling fighter and the fulfillment of our agreement. May the shadows guide your steps and bring you success in this endeavor."

"Huh… Apparently they didn't realize you have friends."

KARMA:

"And apparently they think I'm easy too."

Karma steps on the man's good hand, cracking the knuckles beneath their heel. Sarale cuddles the hawk as it nuzzles her and giggles feeling its beak nibble at her ear. She turns to look at Karma and raises a brow.

SARALE:

"I mean you kind of are, just not in the way they think."

She looks Aktlass and then goes back to nuzzling the hawk.

KARMA:

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

Aktlass simply smirks with a reptilian gurgle in his throat.

SARALE:

"If you don't know then you don't know. What are we going to do about that? I'm not letting anyone take you and I know Aktlass will tear them apart if they try."

The letter suddenly starts to burn at the ends and a small black fire eats away at the content. leaving an address in the remaining smoke until it dissipates to nothing.

SARALE:

"... I mean I was just going to ask Talon for directions, but that works too."

Sarale picks up the hawk as she stands. Karma stands and stabs the man in the head with their longsword without a care.

KARMA:

"Looks like we're all going to Semalah near the capital."

SARALE:

"Urgh, I hate that place."

AKTLASS:

"The dark market… My second home."

Sarale and Karma look at Aktlass and raise their brow at him.

SARALE:

"Well, okay then."

Karma steps away from the dead body and trots back to their bag, and picks it up as they sheath their sword. Aktlass tucks away his axes and grabs the javelin to wipe it down and put it back on his belt as he follows after Karma. Sarale sheaths her blade and ushers Talon, her new hawk friend, onto her shoulder, before checking over the bodies for any loot to sell once they reach a town.