Fantasy Kaizoic: Earth Reborn

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo stopped right in front of the establishment, marvelling the sight. It was a quaint building, uniquely sculpted into the face of the mountainside. Didn’t look the most cozy, but after walking for an entire day, the den looked like a gift sent from the heavens. His entire body relaxed when he finally realized the walk would finally be over.

“Please tell me there’s beds in there.” He said. “Maybe a nice fireplace, and a washroom with a hot shower.”

 

[Da Doofus]

"There's fur pelts to sleep on once you dust them off, and a spot for cooking fires." Darrek approached the massive doors and moved the stone block working as a bar to keep them closed.
He pushed against the doors, excerting much effort with grunts and growls, until one of them gave way with squealing hinges.
"That's ok. I got it." He gritted with sarcasm.

 

[Chai_T3a]

“Thank you very much.” Kairo jokingly said, walking inside the den. “I would have helped, but ya know, weak arms.” He shrugged.

After taking a few steps inside, he stopped and scanned the space. He wanted to know what he would be dealing with tonight. Hopefully those fur pelts would be as comfy as he imagined.

 

[Da Doofus]

The state of the den was clearly signifying a lack of usage for a long time. Dust and cobwebs collected in blatancy across the central table and every corner. Still, at least it was dry.
Darrek maneuvered through the hollow hall, his three toed feet making slapping sounds on the cold stone. He approached a round pile covered with a dust-coated blanket and threw it aside to unveil a collection of fur pelts of various animals surprisingly preserved. A few bore resemblances to the bears of the Cenozoic Era.

"Get comfortable, fossils." He joked, hauling the bear pelt off the top and tossing it to the ground. "I'll find the flint to start a fire."

When the saurian began searching, Rufus pulled out his pistol and tweaked with the energy coil for a few moments. He soon popped it free from its chamber and knelt to the stone pit. Exposing one of the charging ports, a spark of energy popped from the casing and burnt away the cobwebs to soon after ignite the leftover firewood.

"Found flint." He smirked in his helmet, plopping on the floor and taking in the warm glow of the flame.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo sat down next to Rufus. His legs seemed to pretty instantly relax, the sore feeling in them only made sitting down even more comfortable as he sat close to the fire. It had been too long since he’d last been able to relax like this.

“Mmmmm. Thanks Rufus.” Kairo mumbled. He could have fallen asleep right there, and he really would have. The only thing holding him back was the prospect of food. Someone would have to cook the meal, and considering Darrek had a bullet still stuck in his hide, and Rufus had to haul an entire backpack all the way here, he should probably take this opportunity to try and do something for the group. He motioned for Darrek to sit down. “Come here and rest. You shouldn’t be working like that with a banged up shoulder.”

 

[Da Doofus]

"Oh yeah . . ." Darrek glanced at his blooded shoulder. "Should probably get that out." He chuckled nervously, and saw a nearby cooking pot. "After a bite, though." The small iron cauldron was plucked up swiftly by the procrastinating Irokai, and he approached a window that still dripped water. He pushed open the wooden-branch porthole and set the pot on the windowsill. Water dripped in the dusted cooking pot, and Darrek turned to set his musket on the ground.

As he did, Rufus took off his helmet and brushed back his matted hair. This had been the first time he'd removed the armor piece since the shootout, and he visibly relaxed at having his face feel fresher air.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo yawned, stretching out his tired body as he did so. After that, he made his way to Rufus’s backpack to take out the dried meat and beans, which he set down next to the flame. Thank gosh the food had been in its own separate pouch, or else he imagined it would have turned out to be as wet as the rest of the contents in the bag.

He glanced over at Rufus, giving the man a tired smile. “Nice to see you out of the helmet for a change.” He said, while setting down his knife and crossbow on the ground. “Beginning to think the thing was a part of your head.”

 

[Da Doofus]

Rufus chuckled and set the helmet by his side.
"We laugh, but it may as well be as much as I use it."

Darrek smirked and scratched his chest, exposed through his stitched vest. His eyes closed in a moment of savore quiet in light of recent events, and stepped away from the wall to stand before the window. "I think you look better with it on." He joked, then jolted. "Ow!" He reached around.
"Something bit . . ." His body tensed, and his face froze in a slow twitch.

Rufus opened his mouth to speak, but Darrek fell forward in a heavy thud. He still drew shallow breaths in his newfound paralysis, and had two colored darts sticking from his back.

From the window he was near, a familiar Vindav was perched on a rock with a blowdart tube in hand.
Rufus jumped to his feet and reached for his pistol.

"Son of a-" he managed to hiss before a dart of similar color stuck itself in his neck, and he too fell over.

From the door they entered, still cracked open slightly, was a second Vindav who bore a resemblance to Gnakib. He wielded a blowdart tube as well, and was already shooting one in Kairo's direction.

Before any sort of reaction could be made, the dart pierced Kairo in the chest. Swiftly, the paralytic chemical on the tip began to freeze Kairo's blood and lock all of his joints.

He only had seconds before he was left incapable of movement. His right arm was already useless.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo laughed heartily at the joke, but his amusement was quickly cut short. Within a few seconds, Darrek had went from joking to fallen flat on the floor, soon followed by Rufus. Kairo barely had the time to react, let alone figure out what was going on, before a sharp pain hit his chest.

Looking down he found the source of the pain to be a dart. Where could that have come from? He tried turning his head to follow the trajectory of the thing, but quickly found it hard to move his neck. This wasn't normal and Kairo did not like it one bit. Despite the increased effort, he managed to look up to find the source of the dart.

No, there was no way.

Kairo almost froze in shock. This vindav looked mighty similar to one of the others he'd seen at the trade post. Could this guy be with Bazin? Glancing over at the window, his suspicions and fears were quickly confirmed. Behind the window, Kairo could make out the faint outlines of Gnakib. They'd been busted.

He made a lunge for his crossbow, instinctively trying to grab at it. But instead, he flopped clumsily onto the floor. Hand just inches away from the weapon. His entire body felt heavy, locked, and it was only getting worse by the second. His body quickly became stone, and there was nothing he could except watch what fate had in store for them.

 

[Da Doofus]

The two small Vindav entered the firelit hall, Gnakib with a stern expression and the second with a prideful smirk.

Gnakib nudged Darrek with his foot, the Irokai growling through gritted teeth, and looked at his sibling
"Gnaruk, gik temb zu'chaku." He said, making a gesture on the humans like a net falling over them.
The second Vindav made a chittering sound and went outside once more.

In Kairo's sight was Rufus's paralyzed face making contant glances at the room, panicking at their situation. Also was Darrek and the window Gnakib entered from.
A brief blur of movement made a treebranch shake in a tree, like a shadow moving from darkness. If he focused enough, he would see new figures in place of the shaded one.

Three familiar, bat-like creatures looked inside the hall with raised ears and curious expression.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo tried his best to stay calm, despite the alarm and fright that was radiating through his body. It was one thing to be in a bad situation, but this was on a completely different level. Still, he needed to figure something out. He wasn’t going to let the two Vindav’s take him without any retaliation, even if he was in so state to do anything at the moment.

Kairo’s eyes darted every way his body allowed, glancing throughout the room for anything that could be of use. On one of those cycles, something caught his eyes in the window. A flash of something familiar, something safe.

Once he realized who they were, he felt his heart skip a beat.

The critters! That meant the feral must have been nearby. He wasn’t sure what that would mean for them, but it still gave the man hope. If he could smile, he would have done so. But instead, his eyes darted to look at Rufus, trying to signal for him to look in the window by looking between him and the window.

 

[Da Doofus]

Rufus's head was faced away from the window, so unable to look or even move his head to do so. Gnakib walked toward the humans and planted his hook-clawed foot on Rufus's back, causing the man's breathing to grow sharp.

"Gotta say . . ." Gnakib spoke in a heavy accent that hissed with his attempts at English. "I am disappointed that this is what Archaic look like.
Nothing but humans with stink of metal and chemical."

Rufus now realized how Bazin and the other Archos knew what he and Kairo were. Their scents stood out since they came from the sterilized environment of the Noah and its technology.
He should've thought of that before coming all the way out here.

Darrek's tail twitched and slapped on the stone, drawing Gnakib's attention away from the humans.
"Should have used three . . ." Gnakib pulled out his blowdart tube again, prepping to hit the Irokai with another dosage of paralysis.
Then he paused.
"You know, I don't have any use for you alive now that I think about it." He drew a small knife instead.
"Khazil'ma, Darrek." The Vindav hopped off Rufus and pounced on the panicking Irokai, his screams of protest muffled by his own teeth.

In Kairo's eyes, once Gnakib had moved out of the way, he'd see that another window further back in the hall had been opened. This didn't have any meaning for Darrek, as the blade's tip reached for his throat.
What would have been a bloodied floor from a cut throat was halted by a charcoal blur tackling Gnakib with a snarling impact of muscle on an unprepared victim.

The shadow of the grisly interventiom was splayed on the walls, lit by the growing fire, as a familiar crested shape snarled and clawed at the smaller, shrieking Gnakib.
In seconds, the Vindav's hissing cries of surprise and pain were silenced when the Feral lunged his open jaws downward and his muffled growls drowned the choking of Gnakib.
Even without seeing it firsthand, the sounds of neckbones being snapped and crushed by powerful jaws was unmistakable.

Soon, there was only the nasal exhalations of the Feral that filled the noise of the hall.

"Gnakib!" The dead Vindav's sibling screamed, clearly just now returning after the noise.

The shadows on the wall were once again a firelit showing of grim, primeval violence when the Feral was pounced upon by the enraged brother.
His snarls were recognizable from their sheer ferocity and wild nature as the scarred Irokai thrashed about with the Vindav clawing his back and sides. The advantage the brother had was short-lived when the Feral bit down on his whipping tail and tossed him away. The shadows flickered, and sounds of wood crackling and fire blooming came before the screams of the brother. He had been thrown into the fire, but his agony was not to last long.
When the disturbed light of the fire upon the wall resettled, the Feral was holding the defenseless Vindav in his claws.
One hand was clamped around his snout and the other was hooked into his neck, this hold left the feathered Archos neck vulnerable, and his death was dealt similarly to his brother. The Feral snapped his jaws over the back of the neck, and twisted. The cracking of bone came once more to Kairo's ears.

When the attack was over, the Feral's foot stomped by Kairo's head as he walked over he and Rufus's forms with a dead Vindav in each of his hands.
The bodies were tossed out the window, and the Feral was visible now. Claw marks fresh from the fight bled on his back, and even more blood dripped from his mouth from the bites he delivered unto his victims.
He turned, and looked at Kairo, his lips crimson and his scarlet eyes flickering with the firelight reflecting off of them. His scars and crooked jaw distinguished his fierce look as always. A snort came from his nostrils, and he approached Darrek.

"Tüv ari'ak harotri iji mol-pas." He spoke softly, and plucked out the darts in his back to lean him against the wall. Seeing them next to each other, the Feral was almost a foot shorter than the silver Irokai, and more leanly built than Darrek or Bazin, who were broader in stature.
Darrek's eyes were filled with terror in the presence of the charcoal colored predator.

Rufus grunted and managed to twitch his fingers, clearly made even more anxious now.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo was thankful that the battle happened beyond his vision, but the shadows casted by the fire still served as a gateway to the violent battle behind him. Every scratch and bite was accompanied by screams, grunts, and the sound of punctured flesh. Just that alone was enough to make Kairo queasy.

Soon those noises would be silenced, with nothing left but the heavy breathing of the Feral. The Vindav’s must have been dead, he could tell by the forms of their fallen bodies casted by the shadows. Their fate was cruel, but Kairo found it to be something he could accept. In fact, he was relieved that they were dead. He didn’t know if he should feel guilty about that or not.

Then, as the Feral dragged their lifeless bodies towards the window, Kairo would get a good glimpse of the siblings dead bodies. If he could, he would have cringed, but the current state of his body wasn’t going to allow for that. The only thing he could do was look away until the Feral tossed them out the window. The Feral himself, looked worse for wear as well. The scratches on his back, the blood in his jaws, it all made him look like a madman. Still, that irokai had just saved their lives, so why was he still in so much fear.

He tried to calm his breathing, and continued to watch the situation from his position on the floor. That was the only thing he could do for now.

 

[Da Doofus]

The Feral called in Frederick, Ezekiel, and Lawrence at the window. The three critters hopped atop the windowsill and bounded inside with happy chittering. All three sniffed at Rufus and Kairo in recognition before gathering together by the fire's edge for rest.

The Feral made a small grin at how quickly the three fell asleep, and shut the window.
"Just lay still." He said as he walked over the humans once more. "Let the poison work itself out of your systems."
The large entrance was pushed closed and locked, and the Feral found a cloth to wipe off the blood from his mouth.

He found a spot atop the pile of pelts, and laid atop it with his tail dangling off the edge limply. His red eyes watched the door, and he was soon still like a stone in vanguard.
**************

None of the three knew how much time passed, but the sounds of the jungle night were about outside when feeling returned to their limbs. Darrek was the first to groan at his sore body, and Rufus followed a few minutes later by rolling onto his back and flex his fingers back to full function.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Before Kairo could do much more, he could feel his mind begin to slow from the combination of the poison and how tired he’d been. He tried his best to stay awake, but he found his attempts to be futile. His vision became blurry, and his began to slowly cause. Thanks to the poison, his sleep would remain undisturbed and dreamless.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Kairo came too, the first thing he noticed was the sound of the night outside. For a long time, his mind was only half conscious. But slowly the stream of consciousness would return to him. Everything that happened before began to come back in, and the panic from the past began to kick in again. Kairo quickly got off from the floor, adrenaline already rushing through his veins.

That was, until he realized that Gnakib and his brother were gone. His breathing relaxed. He noticed that the poison that had locked him up seemed to be mostly out of his system. Around him, Darrek and Rufus were also beginning to wake up. That only left one other person unaccounted for. He lazily turned his head around, looking for the Feral.

 

[Da Doofus]

The wild Irokai was still perched atop the pile of pelts with the trio of critters sleeping against his side. His eyes were wide open, and he continued to observe the poison's effects dissipate from the three.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo’s eyes met the Feral. For a moment the only thing that happened between the two was the gaze. Kairo wasn’t entirely sure what he should do in this situation. It’d been ages since he’d last seen the Irokai, and now he had no clue what to say to him.

“I-it’s been a while.” He coughed out. His throat hoarse

 

[Da Doofus]

The Feral grunted and turned his gaze elsewhere.
"The stew is ready." He grumbled, stretching his arms out and flexing his claws.

Rufus stood up and looked at the Feral.
"So . . . You talk too." He made a subtle sneer. "Fancy seeing you again."

Scarlet eyes made a sideways glare to Rufus.
"You two keep running across my path, it seems."

"Mm-hmm." Rufus squinted, his suspicion clear.

Darrek however, was already snagging a wooden bowl and spoon to partake in the brew currently boiling in the pot.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo could very clearly see the suspicion written on Rufus’s face. The suspicion was well deserved, but Kairo knew the Feral wouldn’t do anything against them. No reason to kill the groups pursuers if he was just going to kill them right afterwards. Kairo got off from his spot on the floor. He grabbed two bowls and along with spoons to go along with it, before promptly filling both of them up to the brim with stew. With both bowls in his hand, he head back to where he originally sat, handing one of the bowls to Rufus.

“Don’t worry, you can trust him.” Kairo said, before taking a tentative sip of the stew. He then turned to face the Feral. “Thanks for the help back there. But what are you doing here anyway?”

 

[Da Doofus]

"Wondering why you're out here." He narrowed his gaze. "And why you dragged another into your troubles."

Darrek had just gulped down his whole bowl, and noticed the Feral's attention was on him.
"Uh . . . I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Who shot you?" His voice became dark and shifted into a quiet growl when he saw Rufus's gun.

The gunslinger noticed this, and took a step backward in a prepped stance.
"Don't start eyeballing me, I didn't shoot him."

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo could practically feel the tension in the air. It was thick and overwhelming, and Kairo did not like it one bit. The two of them looked ready to fight each other, and he couldn't blame them. After everything they've seen the other do, it was only natural.

"Nobody shot anyone here." Kairo put his hand out in front of the Feral, as if trying to stop a fight from happening. "Look, we shot you then because we were scared. But thing's have changed now." He said. "As for the shot. It was someone from the same group that darted us. You know Bazin?"

 

[Da Doofus]

"No." The Feral answered bluntly.

Darrek was taking the opportunity to help himself to another bowl of stew.
"Old Rithian soldier. Got kicked out and started a gang. All in all: a klaktuk."

The Feral snorted.
"You shouldn't be traveling with these two."

"Well, all due respect, not really your concern where I go and who I travel with." The younger Irokai said as-a-matter-of-factly.

The Feral was silent, but not agitated. His position changed as his tail coiled and wrapped around his body.
No words left his mouth, the only action he took was a soft scratch on Ezekiel's head with his claw. The critter twitched in his slumber.

Rufus took a few spoonfuls of soup and looked at Kairo.
"I'm going to keep watch, just in case."

"It was only those two out there." The Feral finally said.

"Well maybe I want to be sure." Rufus nearly snapped back, adjusting his jacket and finding a spot by a distant window.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo only watched as Rufus excused himself from the group. He made a motion to go and talk to him, but decided it was best to leave him alone for now. It was only natural for him to be suspicious about the situation anyway.

Instead, he silently grabbed the bowl of stew and slurped up a few spoonfuls. It provided him with an easy way to avoid any conversation, at least for a few seconds so that he could figure out what to say.

Fortunately it came pretty quickly.

He recalled what the Feral had said a bit earlier, about how he'd been wondering why him and Rufus had been out here. That entire sentence was more than just a bit questionable. He almost choked on the stew, as he realized what that could have implied.

He set the bowl down. "Wait. Have you been following us this whole time?" Kairo asked, his face radiating confusion.

 

[Da Doofus]

The Feral exhaled through his nose.
"Yes." He admitted.

Darrek chuckled falsely.
"Taroz Gharm is following you guys. Mother Kavera, what did I get into?" He laughed again and slurped down his third bowl.

The Feral shot a glare at the young Archo. "Don't call me that."

Darrek hiccuped on his mouthful of stew, nearly choking at the red-eyed stare.

Taroz Gharm; Bom told Kairo and Rufus what that meant in the local Kendian dialect.
Tattered Feral.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo had no clue how he was supposed to react to that. The feral had been following him this entire time? How did he manage to do that without being seen? He had hundreds of questions he needed to ask, but for now, only one of them was registered in his head.

"I..wha....why?" He stuttered out, clearly still a bit flustered over the Feral's answer.