Isamu stabs forward just as the orc is readying to bring its spear down on Lily Shadow from behind. His blade slices neatly between the gangle's ribs, eliciting a choked shriek.
Lily nods at Isamu, then moves around to help him finish off the newcomer.
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Yeldrid, seeing the bow wielding orc, decides that she is probably his safest bet of acquiring a decent weapon. He takes a boxers stance and begins bouncing on his toes towards the gangle, launching a jab as he gets close.
He biffs her on the arm, but lets out a yowl and shakes his hand in pain, hurting him more than he definitely didn't hurt her. He's really not good at this.
The orc nearly keels over as Lily's dagger slices into his gut. He hisses, eyes blazing as he stares down the little spiderling.
"They are coming," he rasps, clutching at his gut as he raises his spear to strike again. "Old Wolf shall feast!"
Meanwhile, Yeldrid gives the archer a good slap. She seems offended.
With one last fell swing, Rex dispatches the orc he has been facing and turns to face the newcomer with a growl.
A goblinoid curse signals the arrival of a tall, hulking creature brandishing a shortspear. They would stand nearly seven feet, but their form is hunched, as if their bulky, muscular build is almost too heavy to bear standing upright. They wear no shirt, just a pair of baggy pants, and a thick coat of dark fur covers them. They have tiny, milk-white eyes and long, curved, needle-like teeth.
Clinging to each massive shoulder (and flapping with every great bound the creature makes) is a gray shorebird with a bronze collar inscribed with what look like pictograms.
The hulking creature gathers up the two fleeing shorebirds in their arms.
As the berserking orc facing Lily lunges in retaliation, Rex's foe attempts to skewer the corgyn through the leg. Yeldrid's enemy snorts and sweeps her bow beneath the sad unarmed catgirl's legs.
Rex nearly dodges, but suffers a bloody gash along the side of his left hind leg that nearly drops him outright. Lily, meanwhile, narrowly avoids getting speared through the throat, and manages to escape with only a nasty graze along her neck.
Isamu takes another stab at the gangle between him and Lily, trying to use its distraction against it.
Yeldrid resumes his fighting stance, feinting a few times before going for another slug.
Yeldrid strings wide enough to allow the orc to easily duck away.
As the gangle is distracted in his single-minded assault on Lily, the newly-arrived kitsune stabs into the orc's ankle, causing the orc to collapse, twitching. Meanwhile, Lily rushes to aid the badly-injured corgyn.
She successfully earns its attention with a wild slice. The gangle glances down at her with a snarl, and Rex takes advantage to swing in a vicious arc, nearly severing the orc's left arm.
The gangle lets out an ear-splitting screech.
[ooc]Round 4: The Birds+Friend
Having ensured the safety of his feathered friends, the very hairy man comes bounding up to join the fray, spear raised in the air, birds clinging to his arms and flapping frantically to keep their footing.
The gangle facing Yeldrid glances over at her screaming compatriot, and her fallen allies, and seems to decide that discretion is the better part of valor. "Goodbye, garbage shooter," she says with a sniff, trying one last time to trip the catgirl before taking off at a run.
Meanwhile, the screaming gangle is bleeding horrendously, but he tries to outright skewer the little corgyn. In the shape he's in, it doesn't go very well.
Yeldrid is shoved to ground with a loud 'oof!'. From his position on the ground, he yells after the gangle "Bye."
Yeldrid rolls over onto his side to watch the fight, picking and chewing a blade of grass.
Isamu darts forward, rapier leading, as he tries to finish off the remaining gangle before he skewers anyone. He'd try to reason with him, but the screaming seems to suggest it'd be pointless.
Isamu cuts the last orc down mid-scream. The gangle collapses in a heap.
"Yeah, you'd better run away, and you can tell your friends they'd better not mess with us either!" Lily shakes one of her fists at the last gangle as she yells after him.
"Whew." The hairy man comes lumbering up, lowering his spear as he sees that his job is done for him. "What the hell were these nasty li'l spiders thinkin'? Somethin' mighty funny about today, eh, Isamu?" He glances between the arachna, the catgirl, and the corgyn. "These your friends?"
Isamu nods. "These are Lily Shadow, Rex, and Yeldrid. My friends, this is Ragnok."
He looks at the dead gangles. "Have you heard of the one they call Old Wolf? The gangles chasing us are his fault, from what I understand."
Yeldrid lazily waves a hand from the ground. "G'day."
Yeldrid sits up to go retrieve his gun parts from Samuel and invite over Trin, who is probably pretty worried right now.
"Hello! I'm not sure how you two know each other, but would you know a safe place we can hide out before he comes back with friends?" Lily stares at the newcomer a bit hesitantly before holding out her hand in greetings.
Isamu nods. "These are Lily Shadow, Rex, and Yeldrid. My friends, this is Ragnok."
He looks at the dead gangles. "Have you heard of the one they call Old Wolf? The gangles chasing us are his fault, from what I understand."
"Yikes. Gettin' mixed in with politics, huh?" The hairy man gives an odd whistle through his needle-like teeth. "You'll regret that, y'know. If I was you, I'd just give 'im whatever 'e wants." He points after the departed orc with a grimace. "'Cause one way or another, folks got a tendency to go 'long with what that old man says. He's a smooth talker, alright."
As he speaks, Trin and Samson cautiously approach. Trin grimaces and avoids looking at the bodies, instead looking concernedly at the injured Rex and Lily.
"Hello! I'm not sure how you two know each other, but would you know a safe place we can hide out before he comes back with friends?" Lily stares at the newcomer a bit hesitantly before holding out her hand in greetings.
"Hide from Old Wolf?" Ragnok pets one of his birds, appearing to think hard. "Hm! Hm. Y'know, as soon as he gets word of all this bloody business, he'll know what part o' the forest y'all are in. Not a ton of paths from here for you to take, and he'll know that, too. Headed west, right? Yeah. You got, what, one or two choices left? Hm. Yeah.
"So here's what I'll do for ya: I'll getchy'all to my bug-grotto for the night, and in the mornin', we talk about how y'all can make it up to me. Deal?"
He holds out a hairy hand to shake. The birds on his shoulder squawk loudly.
Isamu frowns slightly. "To be honest, I'd rather keep moving," he says, looking over at the others. "I don't think hiding will be advantageous to us. It'll probably just mean more gangles."
"Alrighty." Ragnok chews on the haft of his spear thoughtfully (the sounds of splintering wood can be heard). "If yer gonna keep runnin', I ain't comin' with. Don't want nothin' to do with all that." He peers at Trin, head tilting to the side. "But I'll give ya some advice. You're not far from the edge of the forest, an' I don't think Old Wolf will try to follow ya into the ruins. His gangles sure won't, no matter what he says.
"The path splits three ways up ahead—y'all wanna take the middle path if you're lookin' to reach the ruins an' the ghost children. It'll take ya to an old covered bridge runnin' over Neragu. The bridge is spelled—real proper Bridge and Ladders Merchants Guild-certified work, y'know—to, uh, flip your way of things every time you try any kinda violence on it." He scratches his head. "Like, your gravity shifts. My feelin' is he'll try to keep you from getting on that bridge, but it's mighty hard to cross without an' not get all tangled up.
"One more thing. Hey, you! Lily Shadow, right? Infamous gooder, an' all that?" Ragnok's hand digs into the fur around his neck and breaks off a small silver necklace. He tosses it to her. "You four saved my birds, and so by the Fisher's Laws, I owe you a debt. That necklace will let you ask a question of the Winds once a week, as long as you're polite about it with 'em and address 'em properly—not askin' the West Wind what's goin' on north of here, an' all that."
In the great distance, the group hears a wolf howl.
"That's their signal! They're callin' for Old Wolf!" Ragnok gives a hiss, hefting his dead bird as he turns to sprint away. "If'n you got any more questions, ask 'em quick, 'cause it's time for us both to get moving!"
"Oh, um, t-thank you..." >///> Lily suddenly seems very shy and unsure of herself. "...just doing what I always do, hehe, um, it's very pretty though and that sounds pretty useful, and thanks for telling us about the bridge too." Lily looks around at everyone "I guess we should head out then?"
Isamu nods. "I don't think we have any questions that are more urgent than getting moving right now," he agrees.
As Ragnok runs off, the party takes off for the bridge. Time is running out. Rex is already sucking on one of the cherry drops as he passes two to Isamu and jumps onto Samson's back with Trin. "Let's go!"
As the party rushes forward, they indeed come to the branching paths. They can hear howling in the distance, and the creatures of the wood have gone very quiet. The hunt is on.
The rightward path is bright and sunny, and covered with wildflowers. The leftward path is grassy, and the party can hear the Styx roaring off in the distance of that direction. The middle road is largest, and lined with old white oaks that curve over the path, forming a sort of tunnel. In the distance, the keenest-eyed of the party can just make out an old covered bridge—ten minutes' walk away, maybe.
Leaves rustle overhead in an unfelt wind, and a few browning oak leaves land at Yeldrid's feet. Yeldrid looks up, and for a moment could swear he sees a plain brown songbird hopping about in the branches, watching the party with beady little eyes. But the leaves settle back into place, and the vision is gone.
Isamu thanks Rex and sucks on a couple drops himself.
"I think we need to pick up the pace here," he comments as they reach the crossroads. "If we can get to the bridge we'll have a decent chance of escaping, from the sound of it, as long as we avoid doing any fighting on it."
Yeldrid nods. "Sprint, fellas. We've gotta go."
As the group is moving forward, Yeldrid asks Isamu, "Hey, I don't suppose you have my knife, do you? Apparently that knifes pretty good at killing certain, weird things. So maybe keep it at the ready."
Yeldrid also pulls out of his bag what looks like a small, oddly damp bag. it emits a cool, yellowish light.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Lily leans forward, preparing to join the others in their dash to the bridge.
As the group draws near to the bridge, they see that it is an old and rickety thing, covered in moss and mildew and lichen. Into the eastern side of the overhand are carved these words: It that seeks that blood be shed shall find the world turned on its head.
The bridge passes over a steep gorge. Down below, the group can hear a rushing creek. Thick spiderwebs fill the air around the bridge, perhaps explaining why Ragnok did not recommend trying to bypass the bridge itself.
There is blood pooling around the entrance, but there are no immediately apparent signs of a body.
Isamu frowns at Yeldrid's question. "You know, after my unfortunate near-drowning, I haven't checked. I hope it didn't fall out of my pack..."
He checks his pack for the dagger.
****
Isamu stops and looks around warily as he sees the pool of blood. He keeps his sword sheathed, but his hand hovers near it.
"It is still here," Isamu says, putting his pack back on properly.
*********
Isamu slowly, cautiously begins to advance towards the bridge.
"What lovely webs." Lily suppresses her instinctive flash of jealousy at the sight, approaching the bridge half distracted by the shimmering spans of webbing.
She glances towards her companions
"If it comes to a fight, leave it to me; I'll likely fair better in those strands than you."
"Remember, no fighting on the bridge. If the wolf wants us, then more than likely we can let the bridge do the work."
Yeldrid follows behind Isamu, looking cautiously to ensure there aren't any nasty surprises.
There is the creaking of a trapdoor hinge.
"Oh, now, what's got every all off-ease?"
Cappy leans against a young oak, his cap as gaudy red as ever and his eyes just as bright—maybe a bit brighter, come to think of it. He stares at the party, his expression virtually unreadable. "Now, you don't really to cross this bridge, do you? In such a hurry to leave? You just might hurt my feelings there."
Isamu's hand switches from hovering over his rapier to hovering over the dagger Yeldrid had given him. "Who did you kill?" he demands.
Lily slowly moves to put herself between Trin and the madman. "Why are you doing this?" Lily's arms twitch, ready to pull one of her daggers at a moment's notice.
She whispers to Trin:
"Get ready to go across that bridge, I'll hold him off."
Trin gives the tiniest of nods, but they seem hesitant. Their eyes flicker to Isamu, who stands closest to Cappy right now.
"Aw, Old Wolf just had little, ah, turtle soup." The goblin gives a high-pitched, almost dolphin-like laugh. "He get hungry, he does. And if you ask me, the boy here just didn't when to quit."
At Lily's question, he glances her way, adjusting his cap slightly—the sudden movement almost sends Isamu and Lily to their knives, but they manage to stop themselves before he notices. His eyes glimmer a brilliant, sickly yellow, like the outer edges of a wild flame. "I never know how to answer that question. Why the scorpion sting? Why do you to stop Old Wolf's eating? Now, that is a question would like to hear an answer to!"
"Because eating a child is just about the worst evil of which I could conceive," Isamu answers instantly, "And I've always striven to stop evil when I find it."
He starts slowly sidestepping, circling around to one side of 'Cappy'. "You know, I don't seem to recall Cappy having just that kind of difficulty speaking properly..."
"Because eating a child is just about the worst evil of which I could conceive," Isamu answers instantly, "And I've always striven to stop evil when I find it."
He starts slowly sidestepping, circling around to one side of 'Cappy'. "You know, I don't seem to recall Cappy having just that kind of difficulty speaking properly..."
"Oh, very sorry." Cappy grins. He has noticeably slowed down his speech. "Sometimes I just get excited and skip every now and then. But tell me, Isamu—fighting evil is one thing, but you won't win this fight. So why not cut your losses?" He gestures to Trin, who has gone very stiff. "Old Wolf doesn't have much of an appetite for mortal meat. He'd likely not care if the lot of you skedaddled. Why go for a pointless death here? You could do so much more good if you lived to fight another day, yes?"
His eyes gleam. "Isn't that what is about? Doing good?"