[Kiel]

Spoiler

"I've got a packet of stymphalian feathers for a guy in Hesia but I sprained my ankle and can't take them myself. He's in a hurry, apparently, so would you mind taking them for me? You can have whatever the guy would have paid me for courier services. Remember, though, they're sharp and heavy!"

Employer: Micah Drambuie
Start: Any town (other than Hesia)
End: Hesia
Objectives:

• Either:
  
  • Deliver the feathers to Micah's customer.
  
  
• Or:
  
  • Keep the feathers for yourself or to trade.

Minimum reward:

• Either:
  
  • +1 from Micah
    
  • ζ150 from Micah's customer
  
  
• Or:
  
  • -1 from Micah's employer
    
  • A bundle of stympalian feathers

“And, like, it's not like it's my fault the guy was unconscious most of the trip, you know? I would have found my potions sooner but, like, the crew worked us to the bone when we weren't being all, like, eaten and attacked and stuff. He should be grateful I saved his life, you know? Grateful!” Kiel had spent most of the half hour trip from Zeph's, through the portal to Hesia, telling Lee all about his adventures. Like, there was actually a lot to tell, you know? Anoria and Dionica were the big things but, like, they weren't even it. He kinda surprised himself, really.

The 'Varian destined for the League of Protectors didn't look impressed, though. Like, if anything, he looked like he was at death's door. Kiel had asked him if he was sick, but Lee just stared at him like he wanted to burst into tears. Figuring the guy was having problems at home or something and that that was why he was being all, like, moving to Hesia to escape, he let the guy have his space and filled the silence the only way he knew how.

“Don't forget those feathers. You should go deliver them like you promised.”

“Oh, yeah.” Changing direction and heading towards the Clay Pits where Micah directed him, Kiel shrugged to redistribute the weight of the stymphy feathers in his backpack. Like, Micah was another courier at Marty's, so when they bumped into him on the way to the portal and the guy said he'd sprained his ankle, Kiel immediately offered to deliver his packet for him. Micah had been dubious, like, even when Kiel assured him the weight wouldn't bother him, but he'd handed them over eventually. “So then--”

Before he could get going again, Lee stopped. “I'll go on ahead.”

“Oh. Like, okay, man. Tell 'em I'm coming, too, okay?” He didn't know what to expect but he didn't want the League to get started on anything without him.

“Yeah, sure.” Lee lifted a hand in salute and wandered off, leaving Kiel to talk to the shadowkin curled up in the huge pocket on his leg instead. He'd gone several feet before he realised the bag on his back suddenly weighed much less than it should.

[Faris]

"Tch." Gingerly sucking on his cut finger, Faris stared at unusually heavy feather he had picked up from the ground. It was white, with a soft pink hue that grew gradually stronger towards the edges. The sharpness of the feather tugged at something in his memory, of an Elysian creature that was covered in heavy protective armour. Since it was a feather, the creature would have to be part-bird, at least. And a flightless one, if all its feathers were this heavy. What he did remember was that such blade-like feathers fetched a high price in Elysia.

Never one to let an opportunity slip by, Faris stepped off the path with the feather in his hand. He moved carefully; the beasts whom these feathers came from could very well still be in the area. After a bit of searching, he found a branch about the size of his lower arm. He sheathed the feather into the wood much like a knight would keep his sword, the material parting easily before the fine edge of the feather, so that only the one third close to the feather's stem remained outside. Now he would not have to worry about cutting himself on the thing.

Gently adjusting the strap of the haversack he slung across his chest, Faris returned back to the path. As he continued walking, Faris found a trail of feather. Though he continued to pick them up and slot them into his collection, Faris felt uneasy. It was almost like a trail of bait that had been left by someone. And matching his suspicions, the trails eventually ended in a small pile of five feathers, all in the same spot.

Faris looked around, there appeared to be nobody around. He crouched down warily to gather the feathers.

[Kiel]

“Wah! Wah, wah wah!” Kiel spun and, like, yanked his backpack over his shoulder the second he realised it was too light. A feather on its way through a hole in the fabric of his pack totally sliced his palm as he attempted to catch it and he wailed. The feather hit the dirt with a dull and heavy thud as he, like, dashed his hand to his mouth and sucked on the blood seeping from his fingers. “Owie owie owie owie owie!” Having established that the cut hurt, he mourned the loss of the feathers all over again. “Wahhhhh. Like, dude, man, Micah's gonna freak, for sers.”

The shadowkin in his pocket chirped. She was in her monkey form and squished into the leg pocket of his pants 'cause it was, like, the only way she could travel with him during the day and they hated to be apart. “Wahh. Dude. This sucks, it sucks!” He stooped to retrieve the feather, gingerly plucking it up from the ground and shoving it back in his bag. It immediately fell right back through the hole. “Dude! Like, dude!”

Dumping the stuff from his pack on the ground, he totally emptied his lunch from its metal container and, like, let the sandwich dangle from his mouth while he put the feather inside the box. A couple of bites of bread, lettuce, tomato and ham later, the bag was repacked and his belly had stopped, like, groping at his throat and the feather was safe. Unfortunately, the bag was also, like, devoid of about ten zillion other feathers, so as soon as he was back on his feet, Kiel started back down the trail to find them. “Like, they gotta be here, okay? Like, Micah will string me up for beans if I don't find them. Like, you think the stymphy came to get them back?” Even he thought that was a ridiculous notion, but, like, you never knew, you know?

“Wah! There's one!” Reaching a corner in the road, he pounced on a feather that lay gleaming in the sunlight and speared it to the sky in triumph. “Wahahahaha! One down, like, a bazillion to go! Dude, my fingers hurt.”

[Faris]

Amazingly enough, nothing happened at all happened as he slotted in one feather after another. Faris straightened slowly, stilling as he reached his full height. His eyes flicked from side to side, scanning the area. Nothing. He took a step, then another. Nothing. Faris was frowning now, and begun to walk briskly away from where the pile of feathers had been. He half-expected someone to slip a blade between his ribs from behind, but still, nothing happened. The woodland critters continued chirping and squeaking and rustling and whatever they did, the sun was bright in the sky and there was no sign of impending doom in any form.

Ironically, Faris heard the presence of another person just when he had begun to relax. He slowed his pace; waiting to see if any information about that person could be garnered. The person, a male, spoke rather quickly, and Faris kept hearing the word "like". It took a bit of internal processing to understand that the stranger was in some sort of trouble. And that he was looking for something. Faris looked at the branch he had adorned with the feathers. He looked around himself, then back down at the branch and its feathers.

Unwilling to slice up the contents of his haversack, Faris continued to hold the feathered piece of wood in his hand as he resumed walking. He saw, not too far away, a brown-haired man who was the source of the nattering he had heard. Steeling himself, Faris continued his approach, fully intending to simply walk past the stranger, if he was not stopped.

[Kiel]

Kiel didn't notice the Zanaryan at first because his gaze was totally fixated on the ground and, like, his mouth was flapping. “Wah, man, I don't wanna be glue.” But then, like, the telltale smell reached his nostrils and he was all, like, sniffing and trying to resist the urge to, like, cover his mouth and his nose 'cause that'd be way rude. Shane gave a plaintive yowl from his pocket and dug her claws into his leg but, like, “What do you want me to do about it?” Like he could magically stop Zanaryans from smelling when even Xanth couldn't do that. Like, duh.

He lifted his head and beamed in greeting, about to launch into a query about his feathers when he spotted them, like, right there right there! “Dude! Wah, dude, you're a lifesaver, man, for sers! Like, I can't believe you found them! You're awesome, man, for sers!” Instead of asking a bunch of questions about where they might be, he instead gave a detailed and lengthy explanation about how he'd lost them. Without coming up for breath. Like, ever.

Still beaming, the smell forgotten as he basked in the Zanaryan's awesomeness, Kiel held out a hand to take the stick. “Like, dude, man, that's awesome, you know? Totally genius, like, right? I never would have thought of that! I had to put the ones I found in my lunch box but I think they're starting to cut through that, too. Like, how do birds even fly with feathers that heavy? Well, like, they don't, but if I was covered in those things, I wouldn't want to leave the nest, wahahaha! I'm Kiel. I'm headed over to join the League. Like, are you going that way? Maybe you can join, too.”

[Faris]

Had Faris been a lesser man, or a more upright one, he would have balked and handed over the feathers. As it were though, he simply leveled a frosty stare at the stranger's matter-of-fact tone, one which would have made his elder sister Firuza proud. Unfortunately the stranger did not seem to get the hint, and continued rattling on, even going so far as to crack a joke before introducing himself and saying that he could consider joining some 'League'. Faris concluded that the man would make a good diver but a poor guide. As much as he would have liked to pretend he had not heard Kiel and continue walking, Faris was compelled by courtesy to give a reply. One which would be decidedly less verbose, and less effusive.

"And I am Faris; seeing there are few other attractions about, yes I do believe I am headed to Hesia as well." Faris ignored the comment about the 'League' the stranger mentioned, convinced that if it was a league that had recruits like the scatterbrained person before him, it was not a league worth joining. The branch remained in his hand, the grip tight enough to prevent it from being snatched away. "The feathers are currently in my possession. Seeing as there are no marks of ownership on them, they shall remain thus." Short statements, all of which were true except for a few important details that had been deliberately left out. Like how he had only come across them mere minutes ago, for one. Faris only felt the slightest bit guilty; it was the stranger's own fault for not taking care of them.

His gut feeling told him that an argument was about to commence, and that his opponent was not one to give up easily. It may even descend into a brawl over the feathers. They would be evenly matched; he was armed with both a trident and a stick decorated with pointy and sharp feathers while the stranger had some sort of wailing animal in his pants. Faris wondered if the feathers were worth it, but judging by how desperate Kiel had sounded, it probably would be.

[Kiel]

“Hi, Faris. That's awesome, we can walk together.” Kiel's outstretched hand was getting heavy. He thought maybe Faris hadn't, like, seen it or something, so he thrust it forward a bit more, then took a step closer. The movement jostled the katana dangling from his hip, the two hook swords criss-crossing his spine, and the five throwing knives (like, he really needed to get Zeph to make him some more, man, for sers. A freaking hydra ate what remained of the pack of twenty) strapped to his belt opposite the sword.

It didn't even occur to him that he was being, like, burglarised, and it took him a second to wade through the Zanaryan's formal language. “Wait, like, wah? Possess...? But, like, they're not yours?” He frowned. It had turned into this, like, question even though he knew the feathers weren't Faris's, because, like, he wasn't sure he'd understood properly.

“Like, maybe there's a language thing here, man, 'cause, like, I'm from Dardanos and you sound, like, Zanaryan Zanaryan, okay, and, like, I'm pretty sure you're speaking Elysian but I don't think you understand. Those feathers.” He pointed and spoke slowly. Or, like, as slow as Kiel could get. “They're not yours, they're mine, okay? Like, well, they're not mine, either, but, like, it's okay, right, 'cause I'm delivering them to this guy in Hesia for this other dude in Alexandria. Like, Micah's gonna floss me if I don't get them to this guy, like, right? So can I have them back now?” He thrust out his hand again and arched his eyebrows expectantly.

[Faris]

The sound of jostling metal alerted Faris to the blades the stranger carried. Maybe not so much of a tie, thought Faris as he reassessed the competition. He wondered if the man actually knew how to use the weapons. Or perhaps the person was a weaponsmith, which did not make sense either unless he was a weaponsmith's apprentice. Even then it was rare for one to venture this far outside a forge. Anyhow, Faris stood his ground, both his hands girpping the items they held firmly. Start an argument looking like a loser and chances are you will be the loser, his mother always said.

His tone was flat as he tried to use as simple words as possible; Kiel's comment about language worried him. Was he mispronouncing something? Mimicking Kiel, Faris spoke just as slowly as the man had done earlier, "No you may not. I understand just fine that these feathers are not yours as you have just said, so please stop trying take the feathers away from me." Staring down his nose at the outstretched hand like there was a horrid tepua growing on it, Faris felt quite assured of the superiority of his argument. There was little the stranger could do short of resurrecting the metal-plated bird these feathers had come from, getting it to say the name of hunter who'd plucked it, and then following the trail as the feathers changed hands.

[Kiel]

Kiel's mouth formed a small 'O' as he started to say "What?" but stopped on the 'W'. Like, he was seriously stumped here, man. For sers! “Buh?” He glanced at his hand to make sure there wasn't, like, some creepy crawly or something dangling from it 'cause, like, maybe that was why Faris didn't want to hand over his stymphy stick. There wasn't anything, so he sniffed it in case he smelled of, like, 'kin pee or something. Not that he stuck his hand under Shane's butt or anything, and she was independent enough that she phased outside when she needed to go potty, but he spent a lot of time with her and she was kinda like a cat, and their pee could stink, you know? And, like, he'd had fish for dinner at least three times this week, and, like, he'd gutted the things himself so maybe he stunk, too.

He couldn't tell if his hand smelled, though. Like, but maybe he wouldn't notice, and maybe that was why Lee was kinda eager to leave him, you know? So he wiped his hand on the seat of his pants and, like, tried again. His voice had just the tiniest hint of a whine. “But they're not mine and, like, Micah's gonna garotte me with a fish if I don't deliver them.” A thought occurred to him, then. “Hey, hey, why don't you come with me, man? Like, I'll tell the guy that you rescued the feathers and, like, he'll probably give you, like, a reward or something!” The fingers of his hand waggled in Faris' direction from where he still held it out, still expectantly waiting for the Zanaryan to get with the programme and, like, hand them over.

[Faris]

"Hmm." Kiel's suggestion gave Faris pause. A reward, was a reasonable bargain chip to use. And depending on how effusive the reward was, it could be reasonable enough compensation for all the bending down he had to do to collect the feathers. His dark grey eyes were fixed upon Kiel's reddish serpent-likes ones, attempting to deduce if the courier was being truthful. Despite nothing to the contrary, skepticism still won over trust. Shaking his head at the wriggling fingers, Faris stepped away from Kiel, but not run away. Running off with the feathers was not an option since one, the Rutilus was likely to outrun him and two, running away meant admitting defeat. Defeat and Saab were two mutually exclusive words. Faris simply wished for a little more personal space before continuing the verbal warfare.

"And what is assurance do I have that your employer will reward me? It would be poor business sense to do so, since he'd be paying extra for the same thing. In fact, how do I know that you're not leading me into a trap?" As he gave his reply, Faris arched his left eyebrow with practised ease. Practised ease, because he had spent many a childhood afternoon attempting to mimic that perfect expression of 'Oh really?' his father used on others. "As a sign of goodwill, how about a deposit? You give me fifty xanthai for each feather I currently possess. A discounted price already, since I usually go by the hundreds; take it or leave it."

[Kiel]

“Fif... Fifty?” Kiel gaped. Like, he might have fifty on him, but that was earmarked for, like, lunch and snacks for the next day or two in case this thing with the League took more than a day, and, like, no way he had enough to pay fifty per feather! “D-dude, do I look like a coin shop?” He meant mint but, like, the concept was pretty new to him. He'd lived in Dardanos for four hundred and, like, seventy plus years, you know, and they'd always bartered what they needed. For the longest time, he'd kind of just assumed that money grew on trees, 'cause, like, the peddlar that came by the farm always spent, like, half an hour telling them things would be so much easier if they used real money.

“There's no way I can—like, I mean, I'm just a courier, okay?” He had come away with a pretty nifty reward from Dionica, but, like, did the dude think he was going to carry all that gold and stuff around with him? Besides, like, most of that was jammed into Zeph's safe so he could give it to Pria. He would have just, like, dumped the lot in her lap 'cause he didn't know what the heck to do with that much stuff, but, like, Zeph had insisted he be smart with it and his folks had backed him up.

“Ummm. I could maybe go fifty for the lot...” He tipped his hat back to scratch his head, eyeing the stick and scrunching up his face in thought. “Well, but, like, lemme check.” Pulling out his wallet, he yanked it up as far on the retractable chain as it would go so he could count out what he'd got on him. Like, he might have some loose change in a pocket too, but, like, the Zanaryan didn't need to know that. “I can go to, like, seventy, okay? But then I have to go home 'cause I can't afford an inn or food or, like, whatever, okay, so that's it, like, okay?”

[Faris]

Kiel was either a very dedicated courier, or an excellent actor. Faris had not thought that his offer would be taken seriously, having made it in an attempt to get the man off his back and feathers. If this had been another Darcovarian faris was an acquiantance of, the deal would be rejected without even a moment of consideration. Or prehaps Kiel was being paid extremely well for the job, and had a lot of spare cash.

Faris did not attempt to push his luck; being paid fifty xanthai upfront for just picking up the feathers was not too bad a deal in his opinion. He feigned a reluctant sigh, softly grumbling, "Fine. Fifty xanthai it is." He brought his hand out, in an unspoken 'give me the money'. But as he was begun to hold out the feathered branch, the exchange was interrupted by a loud "No need to argue or count, we'll just take all that you have!" Shadowy figures moved at the edges of Faris' vision, moving out of the shadowy greenery and onto the path they were on. Footpads. At least four in total.

OOC: Sorry for the short post, my muse is on strike.

[Kiel]

OOC: No worries, P! :3

“Dude, like.” Kiel froze with his hand wrapped around his wallet and a twenty-xanthai note slid half out. “Shane, man, like, aren't you meant to warn me when people are being all, like, sneaking up on us and stuff?” The 'kin mewled from inside her pocket, but it just sounded weird since she was still in her fluffbomb monkey form. Kiel deftly slid the twenty back into his wallet and then patted her through his pocket with his free hand. Like, he couldn't hide the wallet now, but at least it was attacked to him, you know? Not like when that stinky Zanaryan snatched it when he first came to the mainland.

He loosed a surprised, “Wah!” when he let go of his wallet to grab the hilt of one of his hook swords over his shoulder and it, like, retracted right into his thigh. “Dude, man, that stings.” But, like, no way he was going to give up those feathers 'cause, like, they were even his, you know? And, like, he'd been through worse pains than a wallet to the thigh, so he grabbed for his other hook sword too, and drew them down in front of him to take up a loose stance as he offered to the Zanaryan in a stage whisper, “Like, we can trade later, okay, just lemme, like, kick their butts back to, like—” Distracted, he turned to the would-be thieves to ask, “Like, where are you guys from, anyway?”

The first one scoffed and lunged right for him, a scimitar made of shadows arcing down at his head as a second retored, “Like we're going to tell you that?” Kiel hopped out of the way of the attack and pivoted, swinging one of his hooks up to meet the shadow weapon — only for his chunky blade to sink right through the darkness, setting him off-balance.

“Wah! No fair, no fair!” He couldn't even ask Shane for help. Like, she'd kick their butts six ways to Sunday if it was night time, turning their own shadows against them, but, like, it was daytime and he didn't want, like, barbequed 'kin in his pocket, okay? So, like, he spun into a punch and elbowed someone in the face and yelled at the Zanaryan, “Like, dude, throw the feathers at 'em!” With his free hand, he made clubbing gestures, but his words didn't match up to his actions. “Stab, stab!”

[Faris]

Just like Kiel, Faris was under attack from the men who were using mysteriously matte weapons. With one of his hands occupied by the feathered branch, Faris could only wield his trident single-handedly. Knowing that he would not be able to perform a proper block with only one hand, Faris chose to dodge the incoming attacks instead. He barely had any time to pay attention to Kiel, but the Darcovarian's cries further alerted him the possibility of some unpleasant surprise. And what a surprise he got, when his attempt to trap his opponent's sword completely failed. Wide-eyed, Faris watched as his opponent's blade passed through the prongs of his trident like they were made of water.

Quickly twisting himself away from the blade's continued trajectory, Faris managed to reduce the severity of the gash the shadow sword made on his upper arm. He quickly backed away from his opponents, hoping that the shadow blades were at the very least, not extendable. Kiel was shouting again, prompting Faris to glance over at the Darcovarian. This time the courier was saying something contradictory about using the feathers as weapons. Though Faris got the general idea, he still could not help but give a sharp retort. "Make up your mind, do I stab or throw or club?!"

The footpad that had nicked him rushed forwards, his shadow blade ready to draw more blood. Timing his movements, Faris feinted towards the right before delivering a hard kick at the robber's shin. It was with a vengeance that the feathered branched with swung at the man's sword-hand while he was stumbling from the kick. The feathers were indeed sharp, digging deeply into flesh without pause. Faris' assailant dropped his weapon, howling in pain as he clutched his bleeding hand. The dropped shadow blade was quickly kicked away, before Faris continued to club the man. It was not a pretty sight by any means; blood jumped out from the man's shielding arm with his swing.

Faris winced; his own arm was bleeding as well; the light wound was a stinging one. And then he stopped his clubbing; the other accomplices of the injured footpad had sprung into action, coming towards him with their weapons raised. Switching back into defence, he called out to Kiel. "Do we continue fighting, or shall we make a run for it?" Faris liked the idea of counter-robbing these footpads, but their weapons were making things difficult. He would have little chance against them should Kiel decide to run away from battle without informing him.

[Kiel]

“Uh...” was all Kiel managed in response to the Zanaryan's request for, like, clarification or instruction or something. Personally, he would have tried all three.

When Faris asked if they should make a run for it or, like, keep fighting, Kiel was already launching himself, like, bodily at a bandit. The guy totally caught him automatically as he wrapped his legs around the dude's waist, and his eyebrows pulled together in surprise. Before the Skotados could, like, try to drop him, Kiel whacked the butt end of his sword against the guy's neck and they tumbled to the ground in a tangle of limbs. “Wahahahaha, didja see that, didja see that?”

He rolled away, and then grimaced when the blob in his pocket squished between him and the ground. “Sorry, sorry!” he yelled at the shadowkin clawing his leg. He hopped, ducked under a shadow sword arcing over his head, and then jerked back with a squawk when the lights went out. “Wahhhhh, I'm blind, I'm blind! I can't see!” He clawed at the shadow wriggling across his eyes and staggered to one side with his katana swinging, like, totally haphazardly.

[Faris]

"Honestly speaking.." Faris pirouetted on one heel, turning his body sideways to evade the incoming lunges. Unfortunately the footpads knew better than to overextend themselves, and Faris had little opportunity to counterattack. Out of options, he could only continue to back away in a bid to create more distance, and more possibilities. "I have no idea what it was I saw." Kiel's fighting style was unorthodox, to say the least. If allowed to observe the rutilus' movements with leisure Faris could evaluate the style from his footwork, but at the moment he had enough on his mind already. Dealing with two skotadi was tricky, especially with their ability to manipulate the shadows. Even though Faris had his own similar skill, the area they were in had insufficient amounts of his source for his elemental manipulation to be effective.

Looking up briefly, he caught a glimpse of the sky through the overarching vegetation. It was clear, and bright blue. Without needing to check further he knew that there would not be a single dark cloud in the vicinity. Bereft of help from above, Faris had no choice but to make do with what little he had — a one-handed trident and a poor imitation of a kanabo^[1]. More reason to get myself some iron maidens, even if they are fairly expensive. Ironic that I should catch water elementals for a part of my living, yet not have any in my personal possession. Faris barely managed to keep his attackers at arm’s length with his trident, switching over to his make-shift club whenever they entered close-range. He got in a few hits while remaining mostly unscathed by doing so, but things were rapidly heading into a stalemate.

At least up till the point Kiel wobbled right in between the three of them, swinging his katana without any noticeable pattern, his behaviour explained by his cries of blindness. Another skotadi was hot on Kiel’s heels, about to enter the fray with just a couple more steps. The change of events alarmed Faris, but he was also quite relieved at the unexpected intermission; a stalemate would have equated to an eventual loss on his end. Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, Faris threw his trident at Kiel's pursuer. His aim was true and the heavy projectile knocked its target down with an audible thud and rustling of the undergrowth. A one-handed throw lacked the power to disable the skotadi, but was more than enough to create a lapse in concentration. A break that would hopefully restore Kiel's sight. Just to be sure, and also needing to retrieve his weapon, Faris rushed towards the fallen Anyeli to finish the job.

Needing to confirm, and also trying to intimidate the other footpads into giving up, Faris called out loudly, "That's as good as three down; how many more are there left? I forgot to do a headcount at the start."

---

^[1] A spiked baton used by the samurai in feudal Japan. Think spiky baseball bat.

[Kiel]

The shadow disappeared from his eyes in, like, a blink, and he had to wince at the sudden burst of light. Like, dude, that stung.

“I think there were six. Like, maybe. Like, yeah, six!” Spinning under the arc of a real sword, Kiel used one of his hooks to snag his attacker's knee and used his turn to pull the guy clean off his feet. “Woohoo!” Other warriors would have totally, like, stomped on the guy's throat or something, and Kiel even tried to do the same but pulled back at the last second so the guy could roll away. Advantage lost, Kiel, like, yelped and backpedalled, ducking so the next attack totally sliced into another bandit's arm instead of his own.

“Wahahaha, oops.” The injured bandit glared at his buddy, one hand cupped over the cut. The other shook his head and frowned. His wings were grey so he wasn't factioned yet, and it looked like they'd taken out the most powerful Skotadi. Two against six was pretty awesome odds, you know, so the remaining robbers were, like, trying to decide if it was worth the hassle just for a bunch of feathers and some pocket change.

Like, now would have been a totally awesome time for Pria to suddenly just, like, poof in behind him, but he hadn't summoned her 'cause, like, they were doing pretty well, you know? Instead, he scrunched up his face in his best imitation of Zeph-glare that he could muster, and, like, hoped it wasn't the pouty-kid thing he usually managed. Arms flapping wide so his swords glinted in the sunlight, he let loose with a high-pitched yell that was meant to be intimidating. “Like, raarrrrrr, you know?”

[Faris]

The whole group, Anyeli and sole Zanaryan alike, were silent. Faris, with his trident back in his hand, struggled to find a way to break the silence. Not a difficult task, except he was attempting to do so without blatantly ignore Kiel's attempt at a roar or bursting the Dracovari's bubble. He eventually settled for a somewhat constipated, "...Ye-ah. I...guess we get what you're trying to...convey." He punctuated the end of his sentence by brutally jabbing the blunt end of his trident into the abdomen of the fallen Skotadi next to him. The abused footpad gave a grunt of pain, and promptly stopped trying to get up once he realised the trident was not budging. The act made Faris feel mildly better, and he continued speaking with much more smoothly.

"At this point I think the outcome should be clear. I advise you to minimise your losses while you still can, and retreat. Surely the lot of you are cleverer than the Apali you loathe and will not blindly fight a battle that will only give a loss? You have ten seconds to get out of our way. Any who remains, or has the poor luck to bump into us again.. We will defeat you, loot what miserable possessions you have and turn you in to the Hesian Town Guard under multiple charges of robbery and assault."

Maintaining a pokerface, Faris added a boot to the fallen Skotadi's neck in addition to the trident on his lower chest. The pressure was light, just as a precaution to make sure the footpad did not try anything. With a tone as bland as his expression, Faris commented, "Eight seconds left." The remaining Anyeli scattered.

OOC: Feel free to timeskip now or later~ \o/

[Kiel]

Kiel, like, totally deflated, man. Like, for one glorious, shining moment, he totally thought he'd got it, you know? And then, they, like, just gawped at him and then flicked sideways glances at each other like they were trying to figure out, "like, is this guy for real?"

“Weh.”

But, like, hey, hey, at least it had stopped the bandit guys from attacking them, like, right? And, like, the Zanaryan had seized the opportunity like a good warrior, so, like, it was all good, like, right? And, like, he had a billion years before he was as old as Zeph, so he had plenty of time to practise and be all, like, "rawr", like, right? So he stood there beaming while the bat-winged dude did his thing, being all, like, the back-up guy and stuff with his chest puffed out and his shoulders squared, and then, like, as soon as the criminal thugs did a runner, he turned — still in that peacock pose — to the Zanaryan and giggled triumphantly.

“Like, dude! Did you see the way they— And then they were all, like— And then you were all—” His arms airplaned and his hands dove and he made weird screeching and clacking noises that were supposed to be, like, imitate the fight and Faris' intimidating-face tactics. “Dude!” He stomped a foot, still grinning. “You were, like, totally awesome, man! Where'd you learn to do that face thing, man, I've been trying to do that for, like, ever, man, and, like, can I have my feathers now 'cause I'm, like, so totally late it's not even funny and, like, Micah's gonna turn me into Kiel pie, okay, and I don't wanna get eaten in a real sense like that, okay, but if I don't get them to his customer they're both gonna be all, like, "rawr"—” He curled his fingers and purred as he skipped closer to the Zanaryan. “— And I kinda like my guts on the inside, you know, so can I have my feathers now?”

[Faris]

Faris silently added "actor" to the list of professions Kiel was not suited to. This time though, he held out the feathered branch for Kiel to take. "Careful of the feathers." Faris' good mood was evident, just not on his face which was as bland as ever. Replacing his boot on the skotadi footpad's neck with the space between the prongs of his trident, Faris pushed down on his weapon hard, leaving just barely enough space for the Anyeli to breathe without scratching his neck. He then half-kneeled next to the prone footpad, and begun to search his body.

Ignoring whatever protest Kiel might have given, Faris felt up and down and around the Skotadi's body. He forcefully tugged the Anyeli's boots off, finding a dagger and adding it to the small pile of items he found. When he was done, there were four blades of varying length, a length of wire, two throwing knives and a long length of thin but sturdy rope attached to a dart lying on the ground. He had already pocketed three jademine vials, as well as a small book written in a language he did not recognise. After a bit of consideration, he picked up the dart and rope as well.

Finally satisfied, he turned to Kiel, "See anything you like? I got a few healing vials off this birdbrain, so speak up too if you find that you're bleeding from somewhere. If not, let's get going. The sooner we get to Hesia the sooner I can get my reward, no?" Even after a skirmish with Anyeli highwaymen Faris still had not forgotten about the xanthai Kiel had promised him.