Monkey X DRAMA

[Monkey]

Jktral barely flinched as his shoulder bounced off the branch of a young sapling. Despite his size the Half-Orc was quickly weaving his retreat through the trees. With the rise of the slave trade in the land there were more Hunters roaming the land than ever before. The sudden appearance of a cliff sent Jktral tumbling over the edge. He quickly pulled his chin down, his forearms covering his face as he rolled down the rocky drop-off.

His body felt like he'd just been put through one of the training regiments from his temple. There wasn't anything left of the place he once called home. Twelve years he'd spent living with his brothers at the monastery. Learning both the physical and mental disciplines. But ten years ago his life was thrown into turmoil when his monastery was raided by bandits. Not many survived the onslaught. Only he and a few others managed to get away as their home and everything they knew went up into a crimson hellfire. For a while they survived by helping each other, but eventually their naivety of the world had begun to take it's toll on them. The education gave way to the lessons he learned on the streets, and the elegant physical exercises had turned into a rougher and more brutal fighting style.

Picking himself up Jktral started to continue fleeing from the Hunter, only to find that his ankle had been twisted on his way down. With the threat of slavery looming behind him Jktral did the only thing he could do, pick himself up and continue running. Out of the corner of his eyes Jktral was able to spot a crevice just large enough the thought he could get his large frame through. Limping over to the darkened portal he dragged his injured body into the cervices.

[DRAMA]

The day had started out with a good lead. The watering hole the hunting band stopped at had a less than confident human who was more than willing to spill his guts to save his hide. He told of all the worthwhile heads to hunt. A particular half-orc stood out from the line up. Currently, strong strapping lads were top dollar. Their employer was out for muscled workers for a government contract. They'd be charged with false crimes and forced into labor camps, either making goods for the 'innocent' citizens or working the fields.

After hours of tracking, Thornmaw had finally picked up a scent. Lianna, a black dragon blooded elf, used the animal's druidic connection to see through his eyes. Taevillis, a skilled sun elf, followed close behind the elven dog. They had darted through a dense forest and headed close to a rocky outcropping with some cliff faces. Thornmaw wasn't far behind the mark, but paused at the cliff face, nose in the wind. Tae stood behind the animal, walking slowly up next to him.

"Where'd he go, boy?" she asked quietly. It was just a question to soothe the beast as she was already looking out off the cliff face. Studying the scenery before her, she slowed her breathing and beating heart (a useful skill picked up over the years of training with assassins). Looking out at the rocky cliff face, she noticed a small disturbance in the dirt and rocks, some of which was still settling. This was his fall and he had taken off down the ravine. Pointing, she ordered the elven dog down the cliff and waited. She prepared a trusted blow gun with laced darts. It was only a matter of time.

Thornmaw jumped and slid down the cliff face, reinvigorated by the thrill of the hunt. Coming to a stop, he sniffed at the ground. Finding his scent again, he lept to a few higher ledges to get a better view for Lianna. The dragoness compelled the beast to inch forward some as she needed a better view. There were plenty of crags and caves where the orc could have hidden himself in. Once he was perched in a good spot, the cooshee froze. Panting slightly, he scanned the area, meanwhile Tae was lining up a shot where the dog's vision laid. They had become excellent hunting partners over the past few years.

[Monkey]

Jktral took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. He barely leaned forward, catching just a glimpse of the hellish hound that had been part of the problem plaguing him. Slowly he sank back, not drawing attention to himself. For now it looked like he'd be safe. The hound had yet to spot him, yet he knew it was only a matter of time before his scent was picked back up.

Even with the hound out of his line of sight Jktral didn't dare to make much more noise than a fly farting. He had proven to be able to out run his pursuers, though just barely. If only he could find a place to rest for a few hours, he'd be fine. But with the hound dangerously close to discovering the hiding spot. Taking another cautious step back Jktral's foot instantly jerked back up when he couldn't feel any earth beneath his heel. Looking down he could make out another cavern below him. Unfortunately it didn't look like the crack was large enough to fit through. Turning around to stare at the back of the cavern Jktral could see that after the crack it continued.

With the possibility of the dog and it's masters getting close to him, his options were quickly running out. There wasn't much he could do. Taking off the rag that he wedged it in side of the hole. At least it was just wide enough to make it look like he could have gotten through it. He hoped that they'd stumble across the rag before him and assume that he went down the fissure. Pressing his back to the wall Jktral inched his way pass the chasm. When he reached the otherside Jktral continued to lumber on as fast as his injured ankle would allow him, hoping to find a few moments respite.

[DRAMA]

Thornmaw scanned across the ravine, looking for both he and his druid mistress. His senses were keen and ready for blood. The emerald furred beast slowed his panting and smelled the air again. He could faintly smell the orc's sweat and skin oils. Pausing, he sniffed harder and more often trying to narrow down the direction. In between gentle wisps of wind, the beast got a bead on the scent and jumped down the cliff side, sliding to steady himself.

Tae watched the dog. It hadn't thrown a signal for back-up, but he was on the trail again. Following suit, the orange skinned sun elf crawled down the cliff face quickly to catch up to the dog. She could see the dusty footprints in the dirt below. She also saw the male was running on a bum ankle now. Nodding with pleasure, she picked up her pace. Catching up to Thornmaw, she peered into the small cave where he was furiously sniffing a soiled rag.

Looking at the cave, she knew the half-orc was far too large for him to squeeze himself into, according to what the human had told her. His shoulders would have been far too wide. A decoy was all the rag was. Her eyes immediately looked around the ravine, looking for signs of the man dodging capture. A few silent seconds passed before she caught sight of him. He was clamoring up and over another rocky out cropping. Pointing out the orc to Thornmaw, she shooed him on in encouragement.

"Got you now, piggy." she whispered to herself. Jumping from a few rocks, Tae launched herself to a higher vantage point and waited for the elf hound to flush out the game. It would be only minutes before she would call in the chains. Raising the blowgun to her mouth, she followed the cooshee's path, waiting.

[Monkey]

Jktral cursed as he stopped himself from sliding down the rocky ravine any further. He'd barely managed to pull himself up the cropping just as he heard the hound baying. Looking back he could see beast and mistress running after him. There wasn't enough time to take care of his ankle, which meant that he had to suffer through the pain for a while longer. Sliding down the opposite side of the cropping Jktral took a deep breath and closed his eyes for just a second.

While he wasn't privileged to enough time to fully heal his ankle he did have the few moments needed to stop the pain. When the throbbing of his foot ended Jktral had just enough time to dodge to the left as the dog leaped at him. He could tell that the dog was trained to take down his prey, which unfortunately was him at the moment. Jktral kept his fighting stance light, preferring mobility and dexterity over strength at the moment.

Jktral's hand pushed on the side of the dog as it leaped at him again. His first thought, even after all these years, was only to put the dog out of action from pursuing him. Even after ten years he'd yet to take a life other than to eat. His great strength was more than enough to push the airborne dog away, and as long as the canine didn't get his teeth locked in then he would be fine. Taking a more solidly rooted stance Jktral waited for his chance to strike. As the dog lunged into attack Jktral braced himself as the mutt sank his teeth into his leg.

Jktral's leg tried to jerk and follow the directions of the dog's jerking head. Lifting his leg up he pulled the dog off of his legs lightly before stomping down on the mutt's left front leg. Beneath his large foot he could feel the dog's leg break. The shock was all that he needed to get the pup to let go. He looked up to see the hound's mistress catching up. "Now we're even."

Jktral focused his chi, his body began to waver as he began stepping through time. One second he's standing before the beast and hound, and the next he's some distance away. Looking around he could definitely tell that he was back in the ravine, but with the scent ending at where he stepped through time there was no way for the dog to track him here any more. With his safety looking much more secure Jktral looked around. He could spot another crevice to hide in for the time being. For the moment he would wait them out, moving when the sky heralded in the darkness of night. Taking a seat well from the entrance of the small cave Jktral carefully pulled his pained leg and ankle up into his lap. One hand went on the injuries while his other was held open vertically in front of his chest. With his eyes closed Jktral entered his trance, meditating as his chi began repairing his body's damages.

[DRAMA]

Tae saw Thornmaw go in for the take down and seemed to have a little trouble. Seeing him like that, she began to run up on the situation, her vantage point be damned. However, she was too late to prevent the elven hound from being seriously wounded. The orc seemed to disappear from sight for a moment. Her first instinct was to follow the orc, but knew if she didn't check on Thornmaw, Lianna would be more pissed than she already was.

The cooshee came limping to Tae, whimpering only a little. The animal had been trained to ignore all but the worst of pain, so she knew it was suffering. Pulling the dog's face to hers, she spoke to Lianna through the animal.

"Looks like Thornmaw is gonna be down for a little while. Gonna sleep him. Send Nimbus." she spoke clearly to the druid. With that, she patted the dog's green fur before pricking it with a blow dart. A small yelp and then the animal lay sleeping moments later. Now with Nimbus on the way, the orc would be hard pressed to hide. Hiding from a Hawk Clan harpy would prove to be difficult.

On her feet again, now much more focused, Tae lept up to a higher point in the small ravine. Nimbus would be a few minutes out, but she should go ahead and talk to the soon-to-be captive.

"It's not a great idea to run and injure a Hunter's hound. It's far wiser to come out now and avoid all this energy wasting while running on a bum foot. I know you're not going to, but I figured I'd give you the opportunity to lessen your... punishment." the sun elf shouted out to the rocks. Jumping a few more rocks to get a better view, Tae closed her eyes and focused her senses. Unbeknownst to the half-orc, she also had received an amount of training in a monastery for a few decades... before she wiped them all out once their usefulness ran out.

Meanwhile, Nimbus received her orders and immediately took to the skies. With her goggles on, she began to work her way over to where Lianna described. She was glad to leave the druid behind. The foul mood the dragoness was in surly was the sign of something bad. The harpy didn't want anything to do with her once she was in one of her moods. In the air, she scanned the ground looking for the landmarks given to her.

[Monkey]

"It's not a great idea to run and injure a Hunter's hound. It's far wiser to come out now and avoid all this energy wasting while running on a bum foot. I know you're not going to, but I figured I'd give you the opportunity to lessen your... punishment."

Jktral could hear the words echoing around the ravine, but he didn't pay any attention to them. Instead he concentrated on the wounds in his leg. Already he could feel the injuries healing themselves with the help of his chi. It was while but the presence of something overhead snapped him out of his trance. He could see a large shadow circling the ground just before his hide out. A few choice words slipped out of his mouth in Orc under his breath. There was a second's hesitation as Jktral thought about finding someway to seal the entrance. But he didn't have enough chi built up to perform another Time Step.

Standing up he tested his leg. The bite wounds were only remembered by the faint scars that now adorned his leg, lightened patches of skin covering his greenish flesh from where the fresh wounds had been minutes before. Placing weight on his ankle Jktral found out that while it was still sore, it wouldn't hinder his movements any longer. He lightly bounced on it a few times to make sure that everything was working fine, pleased with the small amount of pain in his foot.

Jktral unfurled the only thing he had left from the monastery, four sliver bandages that had been wrapped around his waist. With practiced ease he fashioned them into hand and foot wraps. He felt a slight tingle as the hand-and-foot wraps settled into place. There wasn't time to see if they worked, otherwise his position would be forfeited. But it looked like he was found anyways.

Jktral rushed out of his hiding spot, knowing that he was either going to be captured or killed. His size hid his speed. Sprinting he showed just how he was able to keep away from the four-legged pursuers for so long. Looking down he could see the shadow growing darker. Jktral used a boulder to propel himself upwards towards the ravine wall. Planting his left foot into the wall he turned around and leaped towards the Harpy. The handwraps on his fists were silent until the made contact with the feathers. It was just a glancing blow, but the hit was enough to cause thunder to echo around them as the electricity charged in the wraps was discharged.

[DRAMA]

Tae saw the harpy after several minutes of observation of the ravine. She was slowly riding down the pockets of hot air to circle the rocky outcroppings, but was soon taken off guard. Tae saw the orc leap and connect with the feathered hunter. The elf knew the harpy wouldn't be the best of her game on the ground. With new heat in her step, Tae began to run and leap to close the distance between her and her prey.

Nimbus, on the other hand, totally did not see the orc coming. She was scanning the ground for the sun elf. Before she had laid eyes on her, she was suddenly whacked in part of her wing, close to her body. The sound, however, was far more sudden and frightening than the blow. With those feathers disturbed in such a way, Nimbus couldn't keep aloft. Forced to make a terribly ungraceful landing, she came to a stop on her left wing and part of her chest. A moment passed and she got to her feet, steadying herself from the spontaneous attack.

Shaking her feathers for a moment, the harpy caught a glimpse of the sun elf rushing to the scene, but between them laid the half-orc. Grabbing the dagger at her side, Nimbus fluffed her feathers up to make herself look bigger. It also served a purpose to confuse the attacked to miscalculating their strikes.

"Greenskin, you'll pay for that! Ya hear me, boy? And it ain't gonna be pretty!" she said being hot air more than a serious threat from herself. She knew her prowess was in the air, but she could use a dagger fairly well. The orc needed to focus on Tae as she was definitely the more deadly fighter of the two females present. However, that wouldn't mean there wasn't going to be an opportunity for the harpy to mix things up. If done right, this would be a quick take down.

[Monkey]

Jktral unclenched and clenched his fists nervously as the odds stacked against him. There was another woman after him, a golden skinned Elf. And despite being able to hear the shouting, the Half-Orc was to focused on the two in front of him. The Harpy didn't look like she was going to give him much more trouble. Her talons looked like they were not only impractical on the ground, but she didn't seem to have much experience in walking neither. The new arrival, however, didn't seem to share the inhibitions of his areal adversary.

Jktral snorted as he realized his focus was slipping from his fight. Glancing down at his hands and feet Jktral started to wonder if he should retreat. His chi was slipping furiously, the hand-wraps and foot-wraps draining what chi he had left quickly. Using the Time Step in conjunction with healing himself preceding the wraps were quickly depleting his chi, even for someone that had a reserve as massive as his.

"What do you want?" Jktral probably already knew the answer. He'd been dodging Hunters for almost five years now. The Slave Trade was on the rise and he apparently would make a fine one. There was a problem though. He was sure that there was at least another out there, one that handled the dog. Otherwise the Elf before him wouldn't be after him this quickly, she'd be taking care of that hound.

[DRAMA]

The harpy snorted and chuckled a bit as the orc questioned them. Tae closed enough distance to feel safe and stood opposite of the harpy with the orc in the middle. She smiled, revealing her pearly teeth, with one off to the side visibly missing. Placing the blowgun back in its holster, she freed the barbed whip at her side. The elf didn't want to mung up the green skin too much, but hopefully he's cooperate more than what he was showing off currently.

"What do we want? You must've bonked your silly pig head somewhere. Obviously, we're not law enforcers of any sort." the elf joked. She gave the orc a sly grin. "Now, you know what we're after. You can make this easier on yourself or you can wait till Lianna gets here and pays you back in full for her hound. And I'll tell you what, boy... she'll break more than a leg by the time she's done with you." she offered to the orc.

Uncoiling the whip, she let its length fall to the ground, allowing the sun to catch the small black metal barbs in its braided leather. Tae changed stances to prepare herself for an incoming attack or to sprint after the orc. Nimbus, on the other hand, backed up a little and leaned forward, waving the dagger about menacingly. The clock was ticking against the orc as Lianna murderously approached on quickened druid feet. The half-dragoness was livid and out for blood.

"What'll it be, orc? Surrender yourself now and avoid some mighty nasty... play time with dragonbreath or see what she's got up her snout for you. Your choice, but it better be quick." Tae offered once more. She could bargain with the druid once she showed herself, but only if the orc was fully captured and restrained. She hoped he'd be much wiser than he had be before.

[Monkey]

Jktral was running out of chi and fast, and his options weren't looking to bright. He could stay and fight to the last breath, but that would only allow him to die tired. He could have escaped the slavers after they sold him, but now that he'd shown his Temple's wraps he doubted that they'd let him go. Taking a deep breath he allowed himself to calm down just a bit. Getting this high strung over being called 'piggy' and 'orc' wasn't helping. But just to set the record straight, "I hope you know that I'm actually just a half-Orc."

He doubted that she'd care, but as long as he can claim that he told her he'd be fine. He quickly assessed the situation when he saw another figure coming up to join his adversaries. He was still trying to nurse his injured leg, his hand-wraps were draining his chi like a hole in the bottom of a pail, and his pursuers were all well to organized. All in all it wasn't looking to good for him. 'Energy starts with the breath,' taking a deep breath Jktral brought his hands together as he adjusted his stance, 'the breath becomes energy in the body,' exhaling Jktral could feel a slight surge of power spread through his torso and limbs, 'focus the energy, allow it to consume you.' Exhaling again Jktral remained silent and still until the third party arrived. "I'll surrender.

[DRAMA]

Nimbus shuddered and fluffed her feathers a little more. Tae knew what that meant. Lianna was closing in and the evil and hate that flowed from the half-dragoness crept through the air. The sun elf's skin crawled with goosebumps as the noise of her destructive treewalking crashed louder and louder. It wasn't long until the enraged druid stood only a few yards away from the group in the shallow ravine.

Lianna stood at the edge of the small cliff, porcine nostrils flaring in anger and pain. Her gray and white hair had sap-covered splinters clutching to the dreadlocked mane upon her horned head. The pair of obsidian horns jutting from her temples were just as bent and ribbed as her father's full blooded rack. Her black scaled skin was taut over enraged muscles, twitching under a tight linen body suit. Most remarkably, her algae green eyes seemed to burn in her vaguely human skull.

With a growl and a violent lashing of her tail, Lianna leapt down into the ravine, closing the gap between the group and herself. Her digitigrade legs ended in draconic feet, including the same obsidian claws her patron blessed her with. Upon closer inspection, Lianna also came equipped with a fantastically and artificially sharpened barb at the end of her tail. As she approached, she began to crush several rocks with said barb in murderous rage.

Tae let out a hesitant breath, knowing that with the orc free and capable, she would suffer a modicum of Lianna's wrath. Nimbus, however, was seen as a favorite of sorts and knew it. Her failures rarely were noticed or acknowledged, but the harpy knew not to press her luck or abuse such a privilege. The elf knew it was only due to the druid's love for the bestial kin who roamed more openly these new and strange days.

"Thornmaw was one of the best bred cooshees that platinum can buy. Do you realize what grave error you've made?" Lianna spoke in a cool, yet dangerous low tone to Jktral. "I can understand one of your kind being unable to grasp reality, but by the gods above and below, your soul is now mine to devour and vomit for as long as I care to humor myself. Bow you petulant piece of filth." the druid spoke then growled.

A reptilian hiss developed in her voice as she commanded the monk. She was obviously furious over the injury to her prized hound, but made an attempt to calm herself. Adjusting her posture, she raked her clawed hands through her matted locks before waving a finger at Nimbus. The harpy hesitated for a moment before unlatching a pair of highly polished metal restraints from under her deceptive plumage.

"Now, no troubles, you hear?" Nimbus said with a shiver in her voice. Tae readied the whip as she studied the half-orc's posture. Everyone was tense as he'd put up a much more challenging chase than most targets. No one knew what to expect. The druid flicked her tail, very much impatient and livid about her animal. Her thoughts were on how to salvage the beast from such an injury as most cooshees never fully recovered from that level of skeletal trauma.

Nimbus fiddled with the locking mechanism for a few moments before having them open and ready. She approached the monk carefully with each steap making Tae's body loosen and tense in anticipation of the worst. A small grin crossed her face, hoping the half-orc would pummel the deserving harpy, but laid in waiting for anything. Closing the gap between restraint and monk wrist, Thornmaw could be heard baying in pain randomly. This only seemed to make the druid more tense.