Fantasy The Deadlands

[ArcticFox]

"Hello." Dynis greeted with a tired smile. She stifled a yawn and got up only to plop down on her bedroll next to Colter. She needed a bath or a nice strong tea to wake her up. The desert heat was starting to get tiring. "How are you wounds?" She asked, turning toward him and placing a palm on his forehead to check for fever. "You look better."

 

[Cartoonicat]

Up close, Colter's blue eyes were impossibly blue. They also seemed a little less morose than when Dynis first met him; he looked more open, though he did not greet her with a smile. He was a bit warm but nothing alarming. If he was well enough to converse and sit up on his own after night, perhaps he might not need Helen's healing. It seemed the poultice and bandages did wonders. He glanced down at the bandage wrapped around his midsection. Blood had soaked through enough to tint it pink. "Healing. I think the bleeding stopped." Had it not, the bandage would have needed changing halfway through the night.

Helen was due to arrive late that evening but if Dynis wanted, she could offer him more first aid. Healing magic, her last poultice, or another half a cartridge of bandages. Or all three.

- Heal Colter
- Use another poultice
- Change his bandages
- Apply all three
- Wait for Helen
- Go train
(Optional): Get to know Colter

 

[ArcticFox]

"I can try to heal your wound further today? Perhaps, if it's healing from the poultice already, my level of magic will be enough to speed up the process. If you don't mind?" And it would be good practice for her. And she was kind of starting to like having him around. Chatting with him would take her mind off of her own troubles. Maybe she should also keep it in mind to train a bit with Daria later, she didn't want to forget what little she knew.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Colter nodded. Set down his journal and moved his arm to give her a better look at the wound. When she touched the bandage she felt him tense under her fingertips, but if he was in pain, he made no indication. He did not relax even when the healing began; a soft green glow that grew bright with time. During the process he had looked away from her, eyes focused on the sand as if they held secrets to the universe.

The silence was a bit awkward considering he refused to look at her and was more or less shirtless, but Dynis was nearly done healing him anyway. She could prolong the process a little longer if she wanted and break the silence or leave him be.

- Ask if he is okay
- Make a joke
- Heartfelt comment
- Leave him be
- Something else

 

[ArcticFox]

"I'm sorry." Dynis said seeing the uncomfortable expression on his face. "I didn't mean to inconvenience you." She finished the process and moved a bit away. "Can't say I didn't enjoy it, though." She added with a smile as she stood up.

 

[Cartoonicat]

While Colter remained silent, she could see the corners of his lips twitch upwards in a small smile as response to her own. He wasn't much for conversation - that much had become obvious - but he seemed more expressive in other ways. The small details.

Dynis had plenty of time to kill before Helen and Mariella returned, hopefully with Kailu alongside them, so she could choose something to do for the remainder of the afternoon. Kota still did not look up for chatting.

- Train alone
- Train with someone
- Read
- Relax
- Something else

 

[ArcticFox]

Dynis walked up to Daria. She needed to work on her motor skills a bit, she couldn't rely on her magic all the time.

"Want to try a new sparring partner?" She asked the woman, getting the knife ahe bought out of her pack. "What better to use, a knife or a sword?"

 

[Cartoonicat]

"Sure," Daria's eyes seemed to light up at the prospect of a new partner. Zee dipped his head, offered a "Good luck, she's fast", and stepped off to do something else while Daria procured not one but two swords from the package of weapons. She grinned. "How about two swords?"

Dynis could start developing a skill in dual-wielding swords or stick to only one for now if she didn't want to use another weapon from the package.

- Learn Dual-Wielding
- Stick to one weapon

 

[ArcticFox]

"I'm sticking with one for the moment. I know the basics of that, so I don't end up embarrassing myself." Dynis said taking the sword she used against the slavers before. It was better not to add to the pile of used weaponry as well.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Daria nodded, but did not sheath her second sword. "Well then, let's up the ante, shall we?" Twisting them by the hilt, she grabbed each handle and adopted a loose battle stance. Dynis could see her fidgeting. Daria's fingers constantly shifted on the handles as though she itched to swing the blades. Back and forth she distributed weight between her feet, ready to spring. "On the count of three," she said. "One... two..."

- Attack
- Defense

 

[ArcticFox]

Well, if she was itchy to attack, Dynia just had to weather it out. She held firmly on the defense, sword raised in front of her chest.

 

[Cartoonicat]

When Zee said she was fast, he hadn't been kidding. In the blink of an eye Daria reached her, one sword swinging through the open side of Dynis' defense. It stopped just short of the fabric of her clothing. She grinned. "And here's where ya would bleed out," she said. Dropped one sword hilt-up in the sand before reaching for Dynis' hand and placing the edges of Dynis' cloak in it. "If ya wanna survive combat with a dual-wielder, ya need to use both hands. Even if it's a piece of fabric, it'll slow the momentum and possibly knock the swing off track."

Throughout the whole thing the two had ended up standing quite close. Daria did not move away nor release Dynis' hand despite their lack of privacy; Wendel, Zee, Colter, and Kota could all see them if they looked over. Instead, her smile softened. "Might save yer life."

- Intertwine your hands
- Kiss her
- Request she stay professional
- Continue practice without a word
- Something else

 

[ArcticFox]

"Thanks for the tip." Dynis said with a smile. She was used to Daria's 'hands on' approach. And while she did not want to pursue that opportunity at the moment, she didn't mind her flirting. It was all fun and good as long as it was not concentrated on Helen.

"Let's continue." She said disentangling from her grasp. "Here to practice, not to flirt, woman." She said with a playful smile.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Daria laughed in response. "Fair. I doubt yer opponent will be as interested in chatter," she said. Stepped back and adopted the same stance as before. As they sparred, Daria showed Dynis how to use her cloak as a bit of a makeshift shield. Holes and small tears ripped the fabric but, after a while of practicing, Dynis was able to deflect most attacks without much damage to her garment. They trained together for a good hour, maybe more. Time seemed to fly by.

When she focused, Daria turned out to be an excellent teacher.

"Yer not as fast as me but still light on yer feet," Daria said. "We should work on yer agility next."

- Continue practice
- Do something else

 

[ArcticFox]

"Alright." Dynis nodded with focus. "Let's see what other tricks you've got up your sleeve." She was satisfied with the progress and more than a little surprised that Daria actually had something useful to teach.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Daria hardly had a chance to smile before they were showered in her trap's fake arrows from both sides. An arrow, sharp and true, embedded in her shoulder. Another in the sand beside her. Daria stumbled back with a pained inhale. "W-Wendel!?"

"It wasn't me!" Zee and Wendel sprang to their feet. From Dynis' cot, Colter sat upright, eyes wide. Cecily was quiet.

The ground beneath them began to shake. Growling, a large creature with scales for skin and a weighted ball at its tail stepped into view. It charged at them. Behind it, a crowd of soldiers in red armor with plumed helmets.

"What is that?" Zee turned a particularly pale shade of green.

Wendel readied an arrow. "Like I know?"

"You live out here!"

"Never seen that before," he let an arrow fly.

Disorient, intimidate, and charge. Dynis knew this strategy; it was their own. How the cultists had known their whereabouts, much less the locations of their traps and way of fighting, was unknown. They'd managed to kill all of the soldiers save Colter and tie up Kota. There shouldn't have been any means of communication.

- Fight
- Run
- Something else

 

[ArcticFox]

Dynis stared for a moment, eyes wide, not comprehending what was happening. More of the slavers. They had nowhere to run. Not unless they would abandon Cecily. But this time there were more of the enemies and they had a frigging monster with them.

"We have to fight!" She shouted, though she first stepped to Daria to pull out the arrow and shove a healing poultice in her hands. "Get some cover, use this." She hoped it would be enough for the moment. It would have to be enough. They needed Daria to fight as well. Their chances were slim either way.

 

[Cartoonicat]

"Ah, shite!" Daria scowled as Dynis pulled the arrow out. Fumbled with the poultice. She looked panicked, distracted, and whatever playful pride she exhibited during their training session was gone. Grabbing her swords, she headed towards one of the alcoves they'd hid in before.

One of Wendel's arrows shot past Dynis and bounced off the scales of the beast. She heard him curse behind her. "That's not good."

"Gah!" Zee narrowly dodged another incoming arrow, this one from the same quiver that shot Daria. "There's an archer up there!" He shouted. A flicker of movement between the statues indicated he was right. "Someone-" He trailed off as he swung the mace at the beast, knocking it upside the head but doing little to slow it. At the last second Zee leapt out of the way of wide, snapping jaws that looked large enough to grab even him by the entire midsection if they'd successfully made their mark.

Another arrow shallowly sliced Dynis' cheek, drawing a trickle of blood before sticking in the sand. Someone needed to take out the archer, and fast.

- Send Wendel after the archer
- Send Zee after the archer
- Go after the archer yourself
(Optional): Call for Cecily

 

[ArcticFox]

"Shoot the archer down, Wendel!" Dynis shouted before scrambling to find some cover. "Cecily? Can you take control of the bear-man again? Or anyone else? We'd use any help we could get."

 

[Cartoonicat]

"On it!" Wendel said. Trained his bow at the statues instead of the beast. Daria hurried past him with one sword, the second sheathed, and joined Zee in his fight against the beast. Her attacks were still quick but significantly slower than before. It did not take long for the Bleeding Suns to swarm them.

Surprisingly, Dynis saw Colter enter the fight. He had a long, thin polearm with a jagged blade on one end and a spike at the other. After striking the back of a Bleeding Sun and throwing the soldier away from Daria with a swing of his weapon, he winced; Dynis could see the bandage on his torso turn red.

Meanwhile, Cecily finally spoke up in her head. She sounded groggy. Tired, as if she'd just woken up. "Wha... Oh, gods! What's happening?" She went completely silent for a second. Upon her return, she sounded frantic. "I can't pinpoint him, there's too many people!"

It was then Dynis noticed Kota was gone.

- Look for Kota
- Ambush a soldier
- Attack the beast
- Something else

 

[ArcticFox]

"Keep looking!" She said to Cecily as she focused her attention on the creature. This had to be their main target. If she could somehow het underneath it, perhaps all those scales were actually hiding a sofy belly. She got out of cover and rushed at the beast, the sword she trained with still in her hand.

 

[Cartoonicat]

As Dynis approached the beast, she could see on the side of its head what looked to be a small eye socket partially covered by scales. It probably did not have the best vision and likely relied on its other senses to navigate. Dynis could try attacking the eye socket, which would take great aim considering its size and how much the beast thrashed around trying to grab Daria with its teeth, or she could go with her original plan and try sliding under the beast, though that would pose risk of being crushed.

The beast was much larger and stronger than the bear, but Zee was strong, too. He might be able to help hold it down, but that would leave him exposed to attacks from the Bleeding Suns.

- Attack the eye socket
- Slide underneath
(Optional): Have Zee try confining the beast.

 

[ArcticFox]

She did not want to expose anyone else to more danger than they were in already. She would stick with the plan. Jusr slide across the sand, slash through its belly and slide out on the otherside. What could possibly go wrong!

 

[Cartoonicat]

With sand slippery under foot, Dynis dived under the beast and dragged her blade across its belly. She'd been right about the soft underbelly; as skin ripped overhead she found herself showered in blood. The beast roared and stomped its feet, which became wobbly.

While Dynis dealt significant damage, she could not scramble out from underneath in time. One of the beast's heavy, clawed feet landed on her leg. She felt a snap.

Then came the white hot pain.

The voices of her teammates sounded far away, replaced by the sound of blood rushing to her head. A hand, strong and calloused, hauled her out just as the beast collapsed into the sand. The last thing she saw before black flecks overtook her sight was Kota's terrified face staring down at her, mouthing her name, and then a massive wall of fire raging down from the entrance to the ruins.

--

She woke somewhere completely different. Surrounded by stone and clay, the atmosphere was cool despite the rays of sunset shining through an open door. Two statues stood on either side of the room while scribbles and doodles decorated almost every hard surface. A pile of debris in the corner gave way to a small hole - a skylight - just big enough to put a hand through.

Looking down, Dynis saw her leg. Bruised from ankle to knee and extremely swollen, set with a normal bandage and one of Daria's trap pegs. A sharp pain in her leg, throbbing like a heartbeat, crept up on her. Walking, much less running or jumping or kicking or swimming, would not be an option. Not for a long time.

- Panick
- Cry
- Be calm
- Call for someone
- Try walking anyway
- Something else

 

[ArcticFox]

"Kota?" She called, looking around. He was the last person she saw before she fainted. Did he actually help her? She looked around utterly confused. "Cecily? Anyone?" She wanted to stand up desperately but seeing her leg like that only made it feel more painful. Perhaps shw should try healing it a bit to ease the pain.