Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 10, 2020 16:05:34 GMT -8
Name: Lineage Behind Type: Episode Requestee: Condor Difficulty: 1 Significance: 2 Objective: Deliver Shamar Fri to a safe haven on Dulan Island. Sub-Objective: Learn from Shamar how his grandfather created a country. Plot: Shamar, a simple wayfinder, has been discovered by CP4 to be the great grandson of Adamma Fri, the original conqueror of Dulan Island. The man has become an instant celebrity, sought after by different factions. Rigel agrees to protect Shamar, delivering him to a safe haven on the island. In their way stands a vengeful woman, seeking justice for Shamar's past failures. Wishlist: +NPC Coins +Trait Points Cast: PC: Rigel Larrat NPCs:
Type: INPC Rank: D Name: Shamar Fri Age: 32 Gender: Male Race: Human Height: 6'4" Weight: 215 lbs. Appearance:
Personality: Shamar is a pacifist, a free spirited non-confrontational person. He's always more likely to avoid conflict and high tension situations, preferring to run away from them. He likes to read and travel the island in his skimmer, even if it's only in solitude. Shamar tends to avoid the spotlight and get away from attention upon himself to avoid his true identity being discovered. Though he was raised a fighter, he's come to much prefer more passive activities like reading to occupy his free time. Unlike many people on Dulan, he stays afloat of current events and watches even the smallest developments very closely. With his strong memory, this means he's adept at memorizing and keeping track of celebrities of any magnitude. Aspirations: To live free of his family name.
Home Island: Dulan Island
Faction: Unaffiliated Background: Sakeith Fri is the great grandson of Adammu Fri, the original conqueror of Dulan Island, who later changed his name to Shamar. His parents were the first true leaders of Dulan, that settled and tamed its land for more normal people instead of the powerful warriors that originally called it home. Shamar grew up in that peaceful era, when people flocked to the island in droves, heavily populating it in a few generations and creating a culture of freedom and strength. His family has long been defined by its strength, and Shamar was poised to join its ranks with his own immense power. He grew up with a great deal of talent for fighting. He lived his childhood as an explorer, venturing about the island and learning to love it. When he was only a young teenager, the World Government found their way towards the island with plans to take it for themselves. Shamar's parents, uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents all dedicated themselves to repelling their invasion. In the ensuing battle, the Fri family was nearly entirely killed, Shamar being the only survivor as a boy. He was pressured by different factions of the island, some pushing him to continue the fight and seek vengeance for his family, and some trying to convince him to seek compromise as the impromptu leader of the island. Unable to decide the fate of the island as a boy, he fled their pressure, and escaped into the hidden depths of the island, living on his own for a short while. He re-emerged as a loner into society, taking up business as a river guide and living humbly, with a new name. Relations: Meyye Cheihine - 65 Bounty: N/A
Type: INPC Rank: D Name: La "Lord La" Baris. Underworld Alias: "Jukebox" Age: 26 Gender: Male Race: Human Height: 5'11" Weight: 140 lbs. Appearance:
Personality: Lord La is a results-oriented man with a keen sense for value and pragmatism. What something or someone can provide for him is where his values begin and end. He holds great stock in contracts and little promise in loyalty. To him, information is the greatest power one can wield in the tumultuous seas. Though he can appear laid back and laissez-faire about matters, this is just a front he poses. In truth, he's a very stressed man, often overthinking things and mentally exploring many different avenues and choices. This is also why he appreciates information so much, as it helps to alleviate his stress and worry. The more he can know about something and the more he can uncover about them, the less worry they bring him.
La has no hesitations about killing or hurting anybody in the way of his goals. He seeks his own happiness and will go a great ways to ensure that he gets that. By accumulating a net of safety through political power and allies, and surrounding himself in material pleasures, La is sure that he'll bring himself safety. He's also a very proud man, seeking out expensive foods and fine-looking company to better his outward image. Aspirations: Lord La wants to become the most powerful Underworld broker in the Four Blues.
Home Island: Targe Island
Faction: Underworld - Lips Background: La Baris was a poor young man in the South Blue before joining a gang of mercenaries, invited as a result of his cunning, ruthless nature. After first getting close to the Underworld system, he became completely infatuated. The Underworld didn't fight for high minded ideals or collective goals. Its members had each banded together to seek their own fortune and satisfaction. La wanted to be a part of that system and carve out his own piece of desperate happiness, regardless of the incidental cost to others. He quickly left the fighting side of the business, not eager to risk his own neck. Instead, he set up shop on the contentious Dulan Island with a very small group of spies. While their presence was initially thorny towards the BBG, their information network proved more valuable than the bounties on their heads. In a back alley deal, Lord La found protection for his information houses, safehouses and brothels known as Bird Houses on the island. His business has flourished under the protection of the island's rulers, and Lord La has become a popular success story among Underworld brokers. Relations: Underworld - 80 Barroso Bounty Guild - 70 Bounty: 10,000,000 Beli
Items: D-Rank Pearl Cutlass. Job: Underworld Broker Traits: Swordsmanship, Cooking Proficiency Attributes: S&P: 5,000 E&D: 5,000 S&A: 4,000 P&W: 5,000 S&W: 3,000 DF: 0 Encounter Price: 2 Condition(s): Must have something worthwhile to give him. Recruitment Price: 5
Type: INPC Rank: E Name: Meyye Cheihine Age: 16 Gender: Female Race: Human Height: 5'8" Weight: 111 lbs. Appearance:
Personality: Meyye is a sarcastic and easily annoyed person. She's cold and scathing in her words, often trying to put distance between herself and whomever she's with. She hates her job at the Bird Houses, but fears the Underworld too deeply to ever actively vocalize that. She holds and espouses a philosophy called "the current of the world," which she feels dictates the lives of all people. According to her, way back when, the first sentient life made the first real decision. Everybody after that has been a mere subject to the whim of that decision, caught up in the ripple that became an overpowering wave. People who fight back against the current that dictates their life are swept up and destroyed by its power. This thinking helps her to cope with the harsh reality of her life, even if she secretly hopes it not to be true. Aspirations: To break the current of the world.
Home Island: Dulan Island
Faction: Underworld Background: Meyye was born into crushing debt left behind from her parents. She's lived her life to pay back what they owed, working a broad swath of odd jobs from a young age. Even as a child, she was rather serious, and was trained to believe in the "current of the world" a force that pushes and pulls people along their lives. Meyye has never tried to escape this current. She goes with the flow of what seems most natural in her life. In an effort to hurry along the repayment of her debt, she found work with Lord La in the Bird Houses at the age of 13. She'd anticipated life as a spy or information gatherer, but was instead forced into a life as a prostitute for extremely unsavory clientele. Her parents tried to fight against this decision, but were punished harshly for their insubordination. The family was separated across the Four Blues. Meyye merely accepted her role in the world's current, taking her new, harrowing lifestyle with no push back. At the age of 16, she's still sixteen million beli away from buying her freedom from the Underworld. Relations: Lord La - 70 Underworld - 70 Bounty: N/A
Type: INPC Rank: E Name: Murray G. Soden Age: 12 Gender: Male Race: Human Height: 4'8" Weight: 80 lbs. Appearance:
Personality: Murray is a very happy and social child with a prodigious mind for building ships. He's more passionate about lovingly repairing, restoring and remodeling boats and skimmers, but is perfectly capable of designing and crafting new ones as well. He thinks most people are weird for not being able to hear the inner voices of ships when they're trying to communicate, as opposed to him being the weird one when he's talking to inanimate objects. Murray hates ships created for violence and fighting, because the anger and grief of their voices scares him so deeply. For this reason, he usually isn't told what a new ship he's designing will be used for. Someday, he dreams of traveling the world on a trustworthy ship, endeavoring to hear the inner voices of every boat in the world. Murray imagines that collection of voices will give way to the perfect design. Aspirations: To speak with every ship in the world.
Home Island: Dulan Island Faction: Pay Mud Company Background: Murray was a genius child that was born with a sense of attachment to the water. His family were part of a small tribe of fishermen that sailed between the different cities of Dulan, selling their hauls to the markets. He always felt much more comfortable on the sea than on the land, even as a baby only stopping his bawling when he was on a boat in the water. When he was old enough to help catch fish, he worked hard, but couldn't help but notice the "voices" of ships, even on the small river skimmers. Murray even thought himself able to speak to boats and communicate with them. He was able to change and remodel his family's skimmer to hold more fish and move quicker through the water. When the new model was seen by a member of the Pay Mud Company, they demanded to find the designer of the skimmer. Noah was quickly hired and trained to work in New Friro at the age of 10. Since then, he's swiftly risen through the ranks as a secret genius of the company, producing many new developments for the people of Dulan, and getting his family out of poverty with his money. Relations: N/A Bounty: N/A
Type: BNPC Rank: D Name: Geno Vichy a.k.a. "CP Rain" Age: 40 Gender: Male Race: Human Height: 6'11" Weight: 345 lbs. Appearance:
Personality: Geno is a very paternal person, who obsesses over his family and his children particularly. His world view is shaped largely by the ideals of the World Government's vision for a peaceful, controlled world. Geno is a very calm person even in the midst of fights, often smiling and speaking lightly. Despite this exterior, he's completely ruthless and violent towards criminals that go against the World Government. He takes great pride in his fighting power. Geno doesn't play well with teammates or comrades, preferring to handle situations completely on his own. It's also not his style to undertake covert operations, preferring to act as a one-man army that sweeps away problems facing the world. This style of single-handedly erasing the problems is very satisfying for him. It's also what's led to his codename. Geno likes to spend his free time with his family, and misses them dearly when he's away, making him want to get through missions efficiently. He loves to talk about his family, but can't, as it would compromise his identity. As a result, the only people who see pictures of his family are those he plans to kill immediately afterwards. Aspirations: To create a brighter world for his children.
Home Island: Karate Island
Faction: World Government Background: Geno was born an orphan to the harsh streets of Karate Island, left behind in one of its many fighting pits. In one of the dirtier and less popular pits, toddlers and babies are enticed to fight one another to the sadistic glee of its audience. Geno was born in these pits, fighting his way through them as a baby to a toddler to a young child, without rest, his defeat meaning the end of his existence. A marine discovered his talent and whisked him towards proper civilization. Nothing seemed to readjust the adolescent Geno, always thirsting for a fight. Only when he was introduced to the girl that would become his wife did he feel any sense of calmness. He courted her relentlessly, and with pressure from the marines to her family, she conceded and agreed to date and quickly marry Geno. She and their three kids are now the center of his life. Though in truth all of them are scared of his impossible strength, he sees them as his entire world, and fights for a better world for their sake. As he's often on missions for Cipher Pol, he's rarely home to them, but that works just fine for his family, that lives under tight security and immense fear. Relations: World Government - 70 Bounty: N/A
Type: INPC Rank: D Name: Conceta Koff Age: 31 Gender: Female Race: Human Height: 5'4" Weight: 110 lbs. Appearance:
Personality: Conceta is a person that exclusively respects physical strength. Power, the ability to change things is of the most paramount importance to her. She fervently loves Dulan Island, and the spirit that inspired its founding, of freedom, cooperation and personal justice. Conceta is incredibly proud of the garish scar on her face that came from protesting the World Government's establishment. In her mind, if Dulan is liberated from its many weaknesses, then the island will be able to completely rally and fight off the government. Despite her fervent efforts and strong abilities, Conceta is not quite charismatic to attract followers, much to her frustration. She's a very wary and mistrusting person. Conceta doesn't like to kill people, rather believing deeply in second chances for people to turn their lives around and grow in strength. She highly values her own freedom and deeply fears imprisonment. Aspirations: To reconquer Dulan Island.
Home Island: Dulan Island
Faction: Bandit Background: Conceta was born in the heyday of Dulan Island, before the World Government placed a foothold deep into it. In her adolescence, when New Friro was established as a World Government post, she was one of the many island natives that protested its construction. She fought with many to prevent the free island falling under their rule. At the age of thirteen, she didn't do much. Eventually, a deal was struck between the bounty hunters of the island and the World Government that would allow the construction of World Government cities. Much of the protesting and fighting stopped after that, and the bounty hunters were permitted to keep control of parts of the island, plus the World Government would stop attacking the island's people. Conceta, like a splinter cell of others resisted this agreement and continued to fight. They became ostracized from the island's communities for continuing to incite violence with the World Government. Most of the splinter cell were arrested and taken in by the very bounty hunters that had struck that deal, in an effort to maintain peace. Conceta, being a kid, wasn't hunted as closely and was able to escape. Unable to rejoin the society that betrayed her and unable to leave the island she so desperately loves, Conceta's been pushed into a life of crime, stealing from World Government cities on the island to give to native lands. Relations: Bounty: 3,000,000 Beli
Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 10, 2020 16:24:11 GMT -8
Two guards unloaded a small stash of marine weapons from the river skimmer, 'Autumn,' into the Bird House while Rigel watched them work. Murray sat at his side, legs dangling over the docks and bare feet swinging through the swamp water. Their raid had gone much more smoothly than what the pirate had expected, with Murray's boat making escape more than easy for the pair.
"Excellent work, you both~" Jukebox approached them with an easy smile, fingers resting passively on his sword. "How is working with Mr. Larrat?" he asked the young boy. Murray stayed silent in the face of the question, much to the broker's disappointment. "Still mistrusting, hm?" His conversation with the shipwright a failure, he returned his attention to the pirate. "Your work has been quite the boon to my little business."
Rigel wasn't exactly proud of furthering the agenda of a guy like Jukebox, but for the moment, not much of any alternative existed. "Happy to help," he lied. "Hopefully soon, I'll be out of your hair."
"Oh? What ever do you mean?"
Rigel paused. "I only mean... well you wouldn't want a bounty like mine hanging around forever, right? I'm sure I'll soon enough be able to depart from Dulan." It was a vague plan in Rigel's mind. As he understood it, the agreement between the pirate and broker was that as long as Rigel needed protection, he would be under the other man's thumb. Rigel intended to eventually travel the four blues and continue the mission of the Pegasus pirates, reassembling the crew that had split so long ago.
Jukebox clearly disagreed with this perception. "Mr. Larrat~ Isn't it true that you would have died had it not been for me? Isn't it true that you stole from me my little Meyye? Why would you want to fly away now?" The question was innocent enough, but it's tone was all venom. Murray even pulled his feet out of the water, taking a spot behind Rigel's leg. The two guards that had been moving product from skimmer to safe house took pause, noting the tension in the air. "Do you think you get to leave my Bird House?"
The Cordial Aspen tree guarding the Bird House lifted at the moment, changing everyone's focus. A leaking skimmer drifted into the docks, two figures at its stern. Meyye Cheihine and Shamar Fri disembarked the boat and approached the group.
"Rigel!" Meyye flew to the pirate, who caught her in the girl's troubled excitement. Their embrace was cut short by the broker's shouting.
"What is this?!" Jukebox shouted, "What trouble have you brought to my door?" Before the branch of the tree could lower, two more skimmers, in fine condition approached the docks of the Bird House harbor, a tall, pleasant looking man spearheading one of the boats. Jukebox's eyes flew to the stolen weapons, swinging his arm in a hurry, "Sink the boat! Get rid of the evidence!"
Murray flew to Autumn's defense, spreading his arms in front of the boat. "No! Get away from her!" he hissed. Jukebox was stuck, not wanting to antagonize the prodigious shipwright. Before he could reach a decision, both boats docked, marines stepping onto the Underworld docks, and a well dressed, large man leading their group. His steps shook the dock, and everyone braced themselves for his approach. No such tension existed on his face. He was happy as a gentleman going for a stroll.
"My, my," he muttered, rubbing his hands together. "What have we here? How is everybody today?"
Last Edit: Jun 10, 2020 16:29:44 GMT -8 by Rigel Larrat
Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 10, 2020 17:53:15 GMT -8
"Who's this guy? Another marine?" Rigel asked, pushing past Meyye and in front of both her and Shamar. "Excuse me, what business do you have with my friend here?" Rigel didn't bear any weapons, but he stood strong in front of the stranger. Before even the chance for an answer could come, a sharp gasp escaped Jukebox behind him. Rigel didn't look behind him to see what caused the shock, wary of looking away from this strange threat.
Jukebox stepped away from the group of marines. "Rain..." The stranger lifted his knee into the air, smile not wavering from his face even one inch. "Mr. Larrat! Get away from him!"
Rigel didn't understand the warning, but heeded it all the same. He thrust his body away from the stranger. Something like a strong gust of wind shook over his head and an explosion went off behind him.
"Rankyaku"
The entire front of the bird house seemed to have been slashed with an impossible sword. The man had only kicked his leg and the building's exterior was almost completely destroyed. Rigel surveyed the damage to see if there was any danger in it collapsing, but concluded it was safe. For a single kick to threaten that kind of power was impossible scary. "Who is this guy?!" Rigel referred to him like a man, but with his power he could be likened more easily to a force of nature.
"A Cipher Pol agent," Jukebox quickly explained. "Their codenames all correspond to a kind of weather. You're looking at Rain."
The man, Rain, sighed in a calm frustration. "My identity is supposed to be guarded. You must be quite the guy to know about me anyways."
"That's how he figured it out," Shamar spoke up, gritting his teeth tight. "Rigel you've got to get us out of here." Rigel had no protests against him. He had no desire to fight somebody capable of slicing up a building from dozens of meters away.
"What's happening here is clearly some big secret," Rain expressed. "But, don't worry. I won't tell. I only want Sakeith Fri over there." He walked slowly towards Shamar, flanked by a small party of marines. Rigel wouldn't be able to fight their entire party while protecting Meyye, Murray and Shamar. "Turn him over and everybody else can have a pleasant day."
Jukebox narrowed his eyes. "Don't lie to people who do it professionally, Mr. Rain~ It's my business to know my predators. And I know you'd never make a deal like that. Rigel, protect the Bird House, no matter what!" Rigel paused in his movement. If Shamar was the target then getting away would be the ideal scenario. Defending some building would surely leave some people caught up in the fight, especially with such a numbers disadvantage. Rigel didn't like his odds much at all. His indecision was caught only for a moment, until he remembered what he'd learned the last time he fought marines.
"Don't worry, Shamar, Meyye," Rigel whispered. "Follow me and we'll get out of here."
The standoff pervaded for a few moments until Rigel took decisive action. If he could get his party aboard Murray's skimmer, they'd be able to escape. It would just be a matter of buying those precious few moments. Rain didn't seem to care for the tension in the air, stepping forward plainly. Rigel moved towards Jukebox's guards, standing in a line with them for a moment before apologizing under his breath. "Sorry about this, guys," He grabbed them both by the scruffs of their collars, hurling them towards Rain and his gaggle of marines. Forced into combat, both parties didn't hesitate to fight the other.
Rigel scooped up Murray and tossed his body towards the skimmer's rudder. Meyye and Shamar caught on with little hesitation, following the pirate towards their small boat.
"You're dead for this, Mr. Larrat!" Jukebox howled in white-hot anger, cursing the pirate's betrayal. He couldn't spend much time focusing on Rigel's escape as he tried to perform his own, leaving his two guards behind him. Murray turned the Dials on the Skimmer to life and the ship sped away from the docks and the Bird House. Rain, having handily downed the two guards turned to the fleeing boat, raising his leg once more.
"Rankyaku"
The slicing gust of wind sailed towards their skimmer from the docks, cutting through the scattered foliage in its path. Rigel picked up two of the stolen marine cutlasses, raising them in protection against the attack. He felt the impact reverberate throughout his whole body, sending his back to the floor of the small boat. The cutlasses had deep gashes into their metal, nearly entirely cleaved apart by the force of Rain's kick. The Cipher Pol agent watched them, calm smile never fading before turning back towards the Bird House.
Last Edit: Jun 11, 2020 11:14:47 GMT -8 by Rigel Larrat
Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 13, 2020 19:01:35 GMT -8
"Some friend you guys made," Rigel said. The cutlasses in his hand were nearly completely destroyed, with deep gashes run through the metal of their blade. He was relieved they'd avoided the man's pursuit, but Meyye and Shamar were the ones to take a real breath of fresh air. He threw the broken blades off the side of the skimmer, leaving behind a pair of splashes in the boat's wake. "Where are you taking us, Murray?"
The young boy shook his head, and Meyye rose to her feet. "Hey, this thing is weird, there's no animal on this ship!" She moved back to Murray. "How're you moving this, shrimp?"
"Don't be rude to me! And don't call Autumn a 'thing!"' Murray yelled back. Their back and forth went on for a little bit, but Rigel mostly ignored them, moving instead to Shamar. He was lost in his thoughts, slumped against the side of the boat. Rigel tried to collect the situation in his mind, leaving the kids to their business at the stern of the skimmer. Shamar seemed to understand, and proceeded to explain himself before a question could even be asked.
"Did you hear what that man called me?" Shamar asked. "He didn't just get my name wrong."
Meyye stopped squabbling to pay attention. "Shakeith Free? Or something?" Rigel asked.
"Sakeith Fri," the big man replied. "It was my name before Shamar. It means much more than you might understand," he went on to explain. "I don't really mean to get into it. But! I promise I'm not-"
"It's fine isn't it. You'll help us, Rigel?"
The pirate was surprised that Meyye interrupted Sakeith. He was more than a little curious as to how the guy attracted the attention of a Cipher Pol agent. As far as Rigel knew, Sakeith, or Shamar, was just a guide on Dulan. He was a lazy native that trained Meyye on how to navigate and make maps with the complex rivers of Dulan. It was true that he was a little odd, and most about him was a mystery, but that wasn't a cause of suspicion on its own. Rigel was tempted to press for an answer, but abandoned the idea. "Oh, sure," he said, waving his hand. "I don't mind escorting a pair of damsels in distress."
"Don't get cocky!" Meyye retorted, smiling thankfully all the same. Sakeith seemed relieved too. It meant a great deal to him that he didn't need to explain and fight for his protection. No convincing was needed with Meyye and Rigel. Meyye went back to pestering Murray over the mechanism behind his boat, only for him to protest and ask for privacy on behalf of the boat. Soon enough, Sakeith joined in, heckling the pair of them and laughing along with their banter. Rigel kept up a light grin, but was mostly focused on the waters behind him. Every new opponent he faced seemed to introduce a greater gap in strength for him to overcome.
Even if such valuable people were on the line, Rigel wasn't terribly confident he could protect the three of them. His hands still stung and shook from the impact of that man's kick. That wasn't just strength he'd wielded. It was serious, insane power, far beyond what Rigel had ever experienced in his short history of fighting. Beating Rain sounded like pure fantasy, as much as he hated that idea. The knowledge of that gulf between Rigel and Rain made it difficult for him to enjoy the company of his friends. Just when Rigel was beginning to feel comfortable with the idea of fending for himself, a new player on the scene totally upended his idea of strength.
Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 13, 2020 19:10:29 GMT -8
Away from the major cities of Dulan, Sakeith told the boat about a secluded spot near where the grasslands met the swampy waterways of the island. His steady direction took them away from any populous spot of which Rigel knew. Instead of any familiar docks, the skimmer found itself pulling into the ruins of an old village. Even the oldest cities atop Dulan were made up of tall, competently designed buildings. This couldn't even be called a cities. Run down wooden shacks and paltry tents overtaken by vegetation spotted the grassy shore. It was a mostly open space surrounded on all sides by a dark and foreboding treeline. Even if it was safe, it didn't exactly look that way.
As the skimmer pulled closer, Sakeith's face drew into a more comfortable, nostalgic expression. Half sunken ships, like decrepit, older models of skimmers dotted the line separating water and earth. Only one of the boats was clean and workable, in genuinely fine condition. In comparison to the older village, it was an anomaly. Enough so for Rigel to ask about it.
"I didn't think you'd even have a back up boat prepared," Rigel remarked, jabbing his thumb towards the moored skimmer. Sakeith furrowed his brow to check out what the pirate identified. He yelped in surprise and Rigel reacted quickly. Two figures stood up from hull, already leveling iron barrels towards Autumn. Rigel had already mobilized, leaping from their boat to the ship and crashing into it with thunderous strength. The weight of his impact tipped the boat and it lurched, throwing the two gunmen into the water. Their assault was only the beginning of the ambush.
From the broken down houses popped more and more men and woman laying in wait, each brandishing weapons and killing intent. When Rigel quickly spotted over a dozen of them, he realized the shifting odds of the fight. Images of enemies he'd faced in the past flashed through his mind. Any number of these people could be as powerful as Saccharine or the chain bounty hunter. Rain could be waiting around the corner. Many more people many more times stronger than even him could be there to fight. Rigel needed to get his friends out of what was supposed to be a safe zone. It was no longer safe.
Rigel turned to tell them to run, but quickly stopped himself at the sight of his friends. They were all looking towards him in fear and desperation, clinging white-knuckle to the boat. Rigel couldn't tell them to leave. He couldn't abandon them just to satisfy his own fears. "Stay where I can see you!" Rigel demanded. "I'll handle this!"
A rugged man charged forward, driving a sword into Rigel, who deftly swerved around the blade's edge and domed him with his elbow. A pistol fired a wild round next to the pirate's ear. He dove towards the sound of its firing and tackled the shooter until she was unable to keep fighting. A savage, saw-toothed hatchet buried itself in the wet grass behind Rigel. From the shadows of the treeline, identical weapons flew. Two more cut deep into the wood of Murray's skimmer, dangerously close to its passengers.
"Stop this!" The group of fighters surrounding Rigel froze and backed away obediently. From where the hatchets had flown emerged a severe looking woman with a deep burn mark across her eye. More hatchets were hanging from loops of her belt. "They are to be captured, not killed."
Last Edit: Jun 13, 2020 22:21:26 GMT -8 by Rigel Larrat
Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 13, 2020 22:32:46 GMT -8
"Captured doesn't really work for us either," Rigel disagreed, bringing himself to his feet. "How'd you know we would be here?"
The woman scoffed. "It seems only natural the coward of the Fri line would return to his crib." She walked past Rigel's serious fighting stance like it was nothing more than decoration. She was unafraid of him. "Sakeith Fri! Do you recognize us?" The woman knew his name. Rigel grit his teeth. The agent's word must have spread across the island, a wide net to bring in a man. That meant this woman and her group were probably bounty hunters.
Sakeith rose from the skimmer, careful to keep his balance. "I'm sorry. I don't. But, must know me."
"Not by face until recently," she admitted, standing before the water separating her from the boat. "You stand accused before the last free people of Dulan. You stand accused of cowardice and weakness by the true inheritors of Addamu Fri's will!" The fighters all roared in agreement. Whatever she was saying meant a great deal to them. "What say you in your defense?"
Sakeith mulled over her words for a moment while Rigel tried to understand what they meant. "I'm no coward and no weakling. Your fight ended years ago! Decades ago! What stopped you all from seeing that?" Rigel tried to follow the words but couldn't make heads or tails of any of it. He scanned the crowd for clues, only to find a few similarities between them. They all seemed to be a bit older, at least middle-aged, and were all scarred or heavily injured. Some were missing fingers or bore disfigured faces. These people were survivors, not hunters.
"You deny your crime then!" The woman continued. "That's fine. Sakeith Fri! Your trial will be tomorrow at dawn! To ensure you don't flee your sentencing, you and your party will be imprisoned until then!" At that statement, the woman pulled another hatchet from her belt. "Do you deny this too?"
"You're not going to turn us into the marines?" Rigel asked.
"Sakeith is ours to punish. As is anybody who hides in his wake."
Rigel was relieved at their blessing. Her ferocity betrayed honesty. "That's fine, Sakeith," Rigel advised from the shore. "We'll have a night to hide and to plan. We'll figure the rest out tomorrow!" Rigel had broken from prison once before. Nothing he felt these poor devils could construct would be more hellish than the Balloon Flock. Sakeith seemed to understand and nodded. Murray reluctantly brought the skimmer towards the grassy shore, tying it up to float in the water. The four of them welcomed as prisoners, they were taken to their holding.
It was already close to sunset when Rigel, Meyye, Murray and Sakeith were delivered to what would act as their cell. Their escorts, a full dozen of the men and women ready to kill them in that ambush made little conversation. Their eyes spoke all the anger their mouths were restrained from speaking. The prison of the free people was rather simple, a dim wooden shack isolated from the rest of the village. Torches illuminated every wall outside of it, letting in only its faint glow through narrow slots in the wooden sides. Rigel tested the integrity of the walls. Plenty of guards watched the shack intently, weapons ready to fire, but the pirate felt confident he could bust right through the old building.
"I apologize for dragging you all-"
Sakeith's apology was quickly cut off by Meyye. "Don't. We were all ready to help you."
"Speak for yourself," Murray replied. "They better not touch Autumn! None of those boats were very happy out there, they were lonely."
"This is an abandoned place. I thought nobody would know about it," Sakeith continued, apologizing with everything but the word 'sorry.' "I know you're already thinking about how to escape-"
"It's kind of what I'm known for," Rigel admitted, not turning away from his examination of the building.
"But, I'd like to stay for this trial."
Last Edit: Jun 13, 2020 22:40:21 GMT -8 by Rigel Larrat
Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 15, 2020 20:00:43 GMT -8
Sakeith's counsel had quickly formed around him. He sat upon the only chair capable of standing upright in their prison of a shack, surrounded by Murray, Meyye and Rigel. The little kid and teenager had found props for their interrogation. Meyye pushed some cracked, useless eyeglasses she'd found up the bridge of her nose, staring down Sakeith intently. Murray was crossing his arms, jagged stick waving in short arcs. Rigel tried to stifle laughter at their act of being serious.
"Are you a coward, Shamar?" Meyye asked. "Or wait, should I call you Sakeith?" Her cold and accusatory voice immediately broke.
"Sakeith," the man answered. "There's no point in clinging to a fake name."
"Wouldn't you say cowards lie?" Murray asked, trying to deepen his voice as much as his childish throat would allow. It cracked against the urgency of his words. "You stand accused of cowardice! Are you guilty?"
"What's the point of this again?"
Rigel sighed. "This exercise doesn't work if you guys keep breaking character." Murray whined at the criticism. "Yeah, you did fine kid. But if you wanna go through with their trial, then you have to be able to defend yourself against their questioning." Rigel had hoped that his idea might yield some results, but setting up a mock trial had gone about as far as he should have anticipated. It hardly help up to any scrutiny in his mind, though. Rigel had never heard of someone being arrested for weakness or cowardice. The latter only really applied when somebody ran away from their enlisted duty.
Meyye tossed aside her glasses, disappointed she couldn't help the guy that had helped her so much. Rigel switched gears. "We trust you, Sakeith. But if you want help in a trial, we need to know what happened." He was unhappy their earlier decision to ignore his history had to come undone, but nothing else seemed to make sense. At his words, however, Meyye rose up and walked to the door of the prison shack. "What are you doing?" Rigel moved into her path.
"I don't need to hear his life story," Meyye said defiantly. "If you're making him say it, then I'll just step outside."
"You heard them, they'll kill you if you try to leave their prison," Rigel said.
Meyye laughed, "I don't care. Get out of my way. Sakeith doesn't have to say anything he doesn't want!" Her eyes were deadly serious. Rigel hadn't expected that kind of conviction from such a little girl. "I trust him. If he wants to go through with the trial, then all he needs is us to be there, right?"
Sakeith seemed embarrassed that girl half his age was trying so hard to go to bat for him. "It's true," he agreed. "I haven't done anything wrong. If they question me, then that will come to light." Rigel seemed lost for words. There existed some logical way that he got through to their thick skulls. They were too stubborn to see the foolishness of their actions. The pirate was left unable to summon a defense, crumpling to the dirty floor of their shack.
"I'll be there for you, Sakeith," Rigel agreed. Meyye smirked in celebration, cocking her fake glasses back up the bridge of her nose. Murray sighed in disappointment, dropping his stick and joining Rigel on the floor. "Sorry you keep getting dragged into stuff, kid," Rigel told him, scratching at the back of his hair.
Murray leaned into it like a cat, trying to get comfortable. "It's whatever. As long as Autumn is safe. Plus I got meet those boats in the docks," The older man cocked his eyebrow in curiosity, waiting for the boy's explanation. "I think they're really happy that so many people are here. That's what they sounded like." With the boy's words, the four settled into their respective corners of the shack, mostly quiet and pensive, waiting for the next morning to greet them.
Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 15, 2020 20:31:45 GMT -8
The only sound from the front door came the slightest 'ting' of a chain link against the wooden plank of the front door. It swung open agonizingly slowly, as if only the breeze was catching its lip. When a woman with a burn mark walked through the threshold, she looked carefully for the large man, Sakeith, hatched clutched tight in her hand. The long shadows and darkness of the night made finding him immediately near impossible. And in her hesitation, she felt Rigel's fingers find the temple of her head. The pirate cocked his thumb back like the hammer of a pistol.
"Bang," he whispered. The woman didn't move under his figure. "A little late for a play date," he said quietly. Meyye and Murray stayed asleep against the floor of the shack. She didn't react, hatchet not falling. She grit her teeth and braced her body. Rage overflowed from her still figure. Rigel couldn't help but feel it emanate from her figure.
Sakeith met her from the shadows, standing up from his seat. "Let's do this outside," he requested. The man couldn't shake the thought of Meyye and Murray getting caught up in whatever fight occurred. The woman didn't retreat from her position. She didn't offer his request.
"You don't remember me, Sakeith," she said. "My name is Concetta Koff and I'm going to do what you were too weak to do, that's all I wanted to say." She slowly, agonizingly slowly dropped her hatchet back into her belt. No noise came from the action. "I'll do what you and Adammu failed to do. I will create a country of indomitable strength. Your death will lay its foundation."
"You want to build a country?" Rigel asked, surprised at the woman's goal. She side eyed him with all the wrath of a queen staring down a peasant speaking out of turn. Rigel was taller than the woman, but he still felt as though she was looking down upon him. Her strength was the real deal. It felt as though questioning her dream at all was a mistake that she would remember. In response to her declaration and refusal to answer his question, he pulled away his hand. She walked away from the pair of them, closing the door. She didn't bother to replace the chain or the lock on their door. She seemed to understand they were intent on meeting the woman's challenge.
Rigel instead turned the question on Saketih, keeping his voice down so as to not wake up the pair of Murray and Meyye. "I know it's important you don't talk about it..." he said, "but I didn't realize you had the chance to build a country." Sakeith nodded, noticeable even in the dark such a late evening. "Will you... will you break your silence, and tell me how if we win your trial tomorrow?" Rigel felt guilty asking the question while Meyye wasn't there to defend him, but his dream had stalled, and opportunity to accelerate it had come up. Passing on it would be ignorant, or even cruel to the friends with whom he'd escaped Balloon Flock.
Sakeith was clearly unhappy about the question, but he nodded. "Meyye wants me to keep my story a secret... maybe even more than I do," he said. "I don't know what I do in my life to incite such emotion in these people. It might just be my nature," he admitted. "Meyye, and this woman, Concetta. I regret dragging you into my misfortunes."
The pirate grinned, hidden by the night. Only his eyes, with a friendly expression and reflecting green towards Sakeith could be perceived clearly. "If you can't count on friends when times are tough, then you can't really count on them at all, right?" He slunk to the floor, finding his place next to the snoring Murray. "Get some sleep. We'll be here when you wake up too. No one's going anywhere." Rigel closed his eyes, bright green hidden by his eyelids. Saketih thought on the pirate's words for only a few more moments before doing the same.
Last Edit: Jun 15, 2020 20:39:19 GMT -8 by Rigel Larrat
Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 15, 2020 21:39:15 GMT -8
Their next visitor made no efforts to be sly or subtle. Banging against the shack's front door woke all four prisoners, jumping to their feet in shock. Sakeith was the only one not to wake with a start, much more calm than his three companions. At the door were a group of a dozen guards, eager to escort the party to their destination. Flanking their path ahead were more and more armed citizens, each watching and waiting. As their procession passed them the citizens would join up, grouping into a long train. When their pack had reached well over fifty people, they found themselves at a large round pit, deep and full of sand, just inside the treeline of the abandoned city. The four followed their directions and slid down the steep edges.
The crowd massed around. The group was helpless and trapped a couple of meters deep into the steep pit. Their whispers and idle conversation had reached a fever pitch of shouting, snarling and jeering, all voicing their discontent for one man. Concetta forced her way to the front of the crowd, looking over the wide pit, at least fifteen feet over the heads of the prisoners. "Let your trial, begin!" The jeering turned to thunderous applause. Rigel had never seen a crowd so excited for a court date. It wouldn't take long for him to understand their excitement. "Who will be their first judge?!"
An older man, more white in his hair than black jumped at the chance, leaping into the pit with a glare and a wicked smile. He drew from his back a long cutlass with a straight edge and a nasty gleam. Sakeith shuddered at the sight of the weapon, shouting up towards the woman. "What's the meaning of this, Concetta?! I've not yet been tried?"
Laughter and jeering in equal measures were flung from the crowd. Concetta had to restrain herself from joining them. "Did you think a man accused of weakness and cowardice would prove his innocence with words and evidence?" The laughter grew louder. The man with the sword drew closer. "You'll defend yourself in a trial of combat, Sakeith Fri. You think yourself innocent? Prove your judge wrong."
"No!" Sakeith roared, "I will not fight!"
"We don't have much a choice," Rigel said, stepping between the three and the swordsman. "I'm sure we can handle this, Sakeith, relax. You're a big guy."
"I'm a pacifist, Rigel," he hastily explained. Rigel voiced his complaint, but was cut off by a swing of the straight sword, forcing him into combat.
"This is my trial, not their's! These two are just children!" Meyye protested the title, but Murray seemed happy with the excuse to leave the pit.
Concetta waved her hand unapologetically. "Your companions bear the burden of your crime. Sakeith Fri! You refused to battle wish us on that fateful day!" Her words whipped the crowd into a frenzy. They each pushed against each other madly, held back by whatever twisted legal cod allowed them to point their weapons at kids. "Pay for your cowardice!" Her command was interrupted by the first judge crumpling to the floor. Rigel pulled away his fist from where it had been planted in the guy's gut, rolling his neck.
"I would've stretched if I'd known there'd be a fight," he jokingly complained. His decisive victory over the swordsman gave the rest of the crowd some pause, but Rigel wouldn't stand for their hesitation. "Come on then! I'm here to bear the sins for my friend! Just don't forget our little deal," Rigel winked an emerald eye towards Sakeith, stunned at his casual acceptance of the situation. "Who's next?"
Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 16, 2020 12:12:50 GMT -8
Rigel waited for the next judge to join him in the pit. This trial by combat had begun with no rules, but it seemed the crowd respected some unknown system. Only a single judge would come down into the pit at a time, but none of their party could leave until they were considered innocent. The first fallen judge was squirming on the ground, reeling in the pain of Rigel's punch. Despite that showing, another judge hopped down, a woman with braided hair and a long, barbed trident. She wielded the weapon with some aptitude.
"You don't want to help your friend out of here?" Rigel nodded towards the first swordsman.
She spat on the ground of the pit, rallying the crowd back to life. "The weak are the guilty. If he failed to trial you properly, then I will have to do it!" Her trident jabbed at Rigel in a hasty rush. It was dodged easily enough despite her desperate efforts. She pulled back the trident before pushing it forward with all her strength. "Thrice Pike!"
Rigel clutched the weapon tight, stopping its momentum defiantly along the base of the weapon. "Cute!" Rigel shattered the wooden handle with an elbow strike, splintering its wooden design. He threw away the barbed spikes carelessly, rushing towards the woman. She tried to fight the pirate off with what was left of her weapon, but Rigel's counter had broken her focus and she was unable to put up much of a fight. He hammered the woman's leg with his bare hand, forcing her to her knees. When she was unable to rise from the strain of the injury, Rigel returned to his group.
He wouldn't be able to find a break, as another judge would join him immediately. Rigel's cocky attitude and the braided woman's words had fully ignited the fire of the crowd once more. They weren't screaming and cheering in a frenzy anymore. Instead, they paid attention to how Rigel fought and patiently searched for their turn to fight. The judge that had descended had a pair of long, curved daggers and a low stance. He rushed Rigel, trying to keep up the pressure. The pirate lowered his own stance, cocking back a fist and driving it forward with a deep step. Before the man could even raise his blades, Rigel had domed him, tossing the third judge's body back to the rim of the pit.
Three fights had already gone by, and the man's energy was hardly fading. Even as the fourth judge took her turn into the pit, Rigel raised his eyes towards Concetta, at the front of the crowd. He raised his fingers towards her like he'd done in the middle of the night, bringing down the fingers on his hand like a gun's hammer. The next fighter threw towards Rigel some razor sharp chakram, easily avoided with some simple steps and weaving. Rigel closed the distance between him and her while the ranged weapons whipped past his body, landing harmlessly against the pit walls. Before she could throw another, Rigel grabbed her arm and swinging his other across her neck to throw her into the pit floor.
Another judge from the deep crowd descended. Murray and Meyye began to cheer for Rigel while Sakeith looked on, worried. His own fists were shut tight, nails digging into his palms. He couldn't carelessly cheer like the other two knowing the fight was so deeply his fault, and now unable to help. He shook his head, walking away from the rest of the group to join Rigel, raising his hand above his hip. Before he could take a second step, Murray grabbed the cloth of his shirt, holding him back. "You don't need to do that," Murray explained. The boy's memory of Rigel's fight against Saccharine echoed in his mind. "Some ships are built for fighting and some aren't. The worst thing you can do is make a peaceful boat get any blood on it."
Sakeith didn't seem to fully understand but he relented all the same, stepping back once more. "Fight, Rigel!" the man shouted, watching him beating the next of the stream of judges. "Get us out of here!"
Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 16, 2020 14:08:05 GMT -8
Even his three companions had grown tired just watching the endless parade of fighters. Somewhere around the fifteenth judge coming into the pit, the first few recovered themselves and worked together to slowly vacate the pit. Nobody impeded their progress, and they didn't return to cheering for their peers, simply watching on in silence. Some of the fighters were growing to be more and frustrated with their mounting failures, and it would show in some of their fighting, growing more violent and desperate.
The sixteenth judge swung a pair of shiny cutlasses. His skill was fine, but after fighting the two sword style marine, Rigel had no trouble seeing through his technique. A gap between the rhythm of the weapons made itself known, and Rigel pounced, leaping through the air and kicking the swordsman's nose. A shallow splash of blood erupted and he tumbled to his back. Rigel expected that to be the end of him and turned to face his next challenger. Unfortunately, his swordsman wasn't done. From the floor of the pit, he howled and scrambled to plunge his blades inside of Rigel. The sloppy strike was even easier to beat, and Rigel dropped him with a more decisive punch.
"Rigel!" The pirate turned towards Murray's voice, too far away to react quickly. A thuggish, greasy guy jabbed a small knife into the neck of Meyye, struggling under his grip. The threat was obvious, and the man laughed like iron bouncing off gravel.
"We don't need to just fight you, emerald eyes," he said, "now kill yourself with one of those swords or the girl dies!"
Rigel hardly had the time to speak before the man coughed up blood, arms going limp and falling down. Neither Sakeith nor Murray had made move against him. Deep into the man's back was the blade of a hatchet. Rigel recognized it from Concetta's belt. Turning to face her, she recovered from having made a throwing motion. The people around her were stunned at the woman's actions. "Don't be stupid!" she announced to the crowd. The greasy man looked up, his wound wasn't mortal, but serious all the same. "They're on trial for cowardice and weakness," Concetta said. "Sneaky tricks and cheap threats will not find them guilty."
Blood spilled from the greasy man's lips and back, but he still mustered the strength to apologize. "Forgive me, Concetta." Concetta only clicked her tongue in disapproval. The fight paused with the woman's action. Nobody seemed especially excited to be the next person to fight Rigel. They clearly weren't happy about it, but it was easy for each face to hide in the crowd and wait for somebody else to be the one to fall at the hands of the pirate. Their best fighters had been the first to challenge the prisoners in the pit, and had been handily routed.
Rigel waited a few more moments, his confidence growing with the passing inaction. "Nobody wants to fight?" he asked, "Seems the wrong people are on trial." His eyes found Concetta once more. "How about you? Done hiding behind your goons?" Concetta wasn't happy about it, but she responded to the pirate's challenge. She slid across the wall of the pit to join the accused. Her sudden entrance spurred the crowd into a fit of manic rushing. Those who stayed in the crowd above came down to help the injured out of the pit, pulling them frantically away from the fight.
"Should we try to leave too?" Meyye asked, while the greasy man was pulled away by a pair of onlookers who declined to answer.
"I think we're still prisoners, sorry about that," Sakeith responded.
"Who cares? Rigel!!! I wanna go back to Autumn! Can we be done yet?"
"Shut up kid!" The greasy man shouted back at him, "Your boss is about to die! All of you are!" he coughed up blood before being pulled up and away from the fray.
Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 16, 2020 15:21:51 GMT -8
Rigel and Concetta squared off, Rigel standing defensively in front of his group. They waited in silence for just a moment, the pit evacuated of the other, lesser judges. Now, the true face of the accusatory party stood. She strafed around the circular pit, walking towards the side, Rigel turned to face her directly. Behind him stood nothing, and Sakeith, Murray and Meyye were off to his side rather than behind him. Rigel realized this concession and stepped further away from them. She didn't want to let them leave the pit, but her fighting style would put the group in danger if her target was standing right on front of them. Despite her ferocity, she wasn't losing her honor to her emotions of the fight.
"Don't listen to him," she said carefully, pulling a hatchet from her belt. "I don't have any intention of killing you four."
"Those things look mighty sharp anyways," Rigel said, fingering towards her weapons. "I'll try not to let them hit me all the same."
Concetta pulled another and prepared to fight. "I said I wasn't going to kill you, that doesn't mean I'm not gonna make it hurt." Her arm lurched back and she swung it forward, weapon disappearing from her hand and screaming through the air between them. "Fate Cross!" The weapon was thrown diagonally away from Rigel and her, but it seemed to catch some sort of rail, or road and completely changed direction. No wind had caught the weapon, but it was thrown wildly off course. To anybody else it looked off course. Concetta, in actuality, had thrown with perfect accuracy. Rigel tracked its path and stepped away. It was fast, but not as imperceptible as a bullet. It would land a few feet in front of where he stood, and he could counter.
Defying his prediction, the weapon's arc veered wide and landed in Rigel's upper leg. At the last moment, like a changeup pitch, the short ax disappeared and reappeared in his leg with thunderous impact. Concetta didn't wait for him to understand her attack. Another hatchet clapped him in the back, with a third finding his shoulder blade. Rigel caught himself from falling with his uninjured leg. Concetta drew two more hatchets to the cheers of the crowd.
"Silence!" She ordered the crowd. "Not one of you landed a blow against this weakling!" Her harsh reality quickly had its intended effect. The crowd grew quiet and tense. "I'll break him," she continued. "Rigel..." she repeated from Murray calling his name. "You're not bad. But you stand up for the weak. I will illustrate why this is such a mistake." She was ready to throw more axes towards Rigel when the younger man started laughing, recovering his posture. He didn't move to take out the weapons from his body.
"Those hurt... so bad!" he complained, "But you've only got two more. One, two," Rigel counted the axes in his back, "three, four," he pointed to the ones in his leg and left on the ground near his friends from her attack on the last judge, "five and six." The last hatchets were in Concetta's hand. "I think if you wanted to break me, you'd need... a million axes. It's too bad you only brought half a dozen." Rigel laughed at his hasty joke before grunting in pain. "Whenever you're ready, Concetta."
Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 16, 2020 17:29:04 GMT -8
Rigel's words had mostly constituted a bluff, but just the fact that he said them in front of his friends refueled his fighting spirit. Concetta certainly didn't expect the guy in such good spirits after three hatchets had sunk into him. Though she was probably winning the fight, the atmosphere around them seemed to heavily favor the anomalous form of Rigel. Concetta seemed hesitant to throw her weapons, holding tightly onto their grips. With the lag in their fight, Rigel rushed forward, not wanting to waste the tension he'd created with his own words.
Like some manic zombie, blood and iron growing out of his figure, Rigel sprinted towards Concetta. He wasn't as fast as he might like, thanks to his exhaustion and the hatchet stuck in his leg, but his ferocity was completely undeterred. The advance was punctuated with a straight right punch. It was easy enough to dodge, but the image of Rigel was so scary that she still struggled to move out of its path. His other arm was thrown down towards her legs, looking to undo her stance, and she was pushed to dance away from his strike.
"I don't need to throw these things!" Concetta's axe cleaved the air between them. Rigel wasn't interested in getting struck if it didn't cost the woman one of her precious weapons. She rallied from being pushed back and took to swinging with the weapons. Their arcs were tight and short, never extending far from her body. Rigel had no space to counter, but the short range meant she had trouble landing a serious blow. Concetta lashed out defensively, repelling a possible punch from Rigel, and they broke from their toe to toe encounter. The distance made her daring. Concetta threw another axe, keeping only the last of the bunch. "Fate Cross!"
Rigel tried to predict its path, but couldn't manage to keep track of it. Again, the weapon disappeared from the line of sight. Like a magic trick it only reappeared buried in his abdomen. Rigel's instincts moved his fingers towards the handle of the weapon, wanting to badly to soothe his pain and pull away the weapon, but he held himself back. "Five down," he said between desperate breaths, "Just one left." Rigel steeled himself against the agony of the hatchets buried across his body. If he could just endure the last weapon, then Concetta would be helpless against his close quarters specialty. The woman held her weapon tight to herself.
She was much faster than Rigel, and could make all the space she wanted. Even when they were close, her agility let her get some nominal blows across. But even from their short exchanges, it was obvious that Rigel eclipsed the woman in sheer power. He was sturdy, and her technique had taken away from that strength, but it hadn't yet been enough. She could try to win a fight of stamina by fighting at short range and wearing the man down, or gamble the fight away one last throw of her hatchet. The decision was quickly made. The figure of Rigel was nightmarish. A man with weapons stuck in his body like some unstoppable, hellish thing. Concetta had faith in her power, but couldn't imagine a thing like that losing any fight based around stamina or endurance.
"Heart Crossing!" From the moment she let the hatchet go in her hand, the weapon disappeared. Rigel's eyes couldn't follow such an unbelievable pattern for the tool. Its next move was constantly changing and shifting. For all its fancy movements, the weapon's destination was abundantly simple. The hatchet stuck itself into the center of his chest, its entrance blocked by the pirate's sternum. Five hatchets were thrust inside of his flesh and Rigel crumpled. Concetta held her breath anxiously. In a normal person, the hatchet would've gone clean through their chest and shredded their heart. His physical fortitude had saved Rigel. Concetta's decision had been incorrect.
Rigel Larrat stood up from the dirt with tremendous effort, weapons stuck on him and his opponent unarmed. "Okay..." blood dripped to the floor of the pit. Murray turned away from the horrific sight, Meyye stood between the child and the pirate, but wasn't faring much better. "I didn't break... Concetta!" Rigel had gone a bit manic from the pain overwhelming his nerves and senses. "Oh Concetta!!! My turn to play!"
Major Damage: 50% Remaining Stamina Lost (-53 Stamina) No Skill Use: +10% Total Stamina (+15 Stamina) 67/150 Stamina 0/50 Vigor Less than 50% of Stamina Remaining: 50% Doriki Debuff
Last Edit: Jun 16, 2020 17:31:53 GMT -8 by Rigel Larrat
Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 16, 2020 22:35:08 GMT -8
Concetta was unarmed, but not defenseless. Her physical skills alone gave her definitive strength in battle, even if her technique was reliant on her weapons. Rigel was far more used to bare handed combat, and more than that, didn't have to fight while worrying about what tricks his opponent had. All of Concetta's tricks and techniques were stuck in the pirate's flesh. He approached devilishly, still a bit manic from the pain of her weapons. Rigel was pure aggression and violence, fingers curled and lips pulled into a snarl. Concetta couldn't help but take a step back from his slowly approaching figure. That negligible retreat was all the signal he needed to move forward.
Rigel burst from his position. His speed wasn't close to what he could normally exert, but it was surprising to most that he could move with any velocity given how bad his injuries looked. Blood trailed in falling streams behind him as he ran. Rigel bent at the knee moving low and pulling his fist behind him in tow. Behind that punch came the force of Rigel's full body, bashing his chin and forcing Concetta backwards. The punch was decisive enough to earn him a moment to follow it. Rigel alternated to his other arm, making for another punch towards his foe. Concetta denied him the opportunity, recoiling backwards towards the wall of the pit. The pirate's charge had only earned him a single blow. With that attack, his accuser had fully recovered from the shock of his image.
Concetta dove for the axe stuck in his leg, running away from her position cornered against the wall. Rigel denied the opportunity, spinning with her motion and kicking his leg out. Concetta tumbled across the floor of the pit, scrambling back to two feet. She was desperate to recover her weapon, and he'd taken advantage of that. The physical exhaustion had taken its toll on Rigel, and with her slipping around the pit, he couldn't easily pursue. He'd no means to push or trap her easily. Instead of either rushing towards the other, they slowly closed the gap towards one another.
They closed in for a physical exchange, Concetta trying to use her swift movements to steal back one of her hatchets from Rigel's body. The pirate repelled her assault, using strong blows to push her back. But, his power was dampened by his injury. It was exhausting to try and keep up with her, keeping her weapons from her fingers and trying to avoid injury, while also dealing blows of his own. Mentally and physically, he was being taxed to the upper bounds of what he could maintain. Between their exchange, Rigel saw her strike at a moment of opportunity. Her hand wrapped itself around the hatchet plunged into his chest, and Rigel swung his body towards her.
"Cassiopeia Dent!" Rigel rolled her body over his, throwing Concetta over her shoulder and introducing her to the unforgiving pit floor, face first. He was tempted to dive onto her prone body and try to wrap her body in a submission hold, but held himself off from it. It was merely his exhaustion speaking. It wasn't the correct move to go for the pin, just a lazy gamble. Instead, he stamped his foot into her body, sliding a stunned Concetta across the ground and giving himself space to recover for just a moment.
Post by Rigel Larrat on Jun 16, 2020 23:04:06 GMT -8
Rigel tried to focus and recover while Concetta found her feet, but he was unable to do so. Every breath, which should have refreshed his lungs and mind, seemed to drain him further. The axe that had been cut so deep into his chest was the reason. Every breath turned to labor inside of his body. His blood was slow and his lungs were working harder than ever to produce less oxygen than they had. Whether or not he won his fight with Concetta, his body was screaming to his mind that Rigel was walking on his last legs. Everything it could put out was being given.
Concetta returned to her feet and turned to face Rigel, walking towards him. She'd surely go for another attack. Rigel examined the crowd a bit. They were mostly injured, and subservient to Concetta. He gambled that if he could decisively beat the woman, then even if the pirate fell too, they'd be bound by their rules to let them go. There wasn't much else they respected. A safer approach to battle would only mean his demise and the loss of their trial. Rigel thought that if he could beat her, then he'd save the group, they could leave this trial and find a newer, safer place to hide, carrying Rigel in tow. The pirate readied his stance for a last ditch effort, smile returning to his face.
"You're a savage," Concetta accused. "Your fighting is fine, but your attitude is sick." She cracked her neck to the side. "I'll break you, and end this."
Rigel cackled, blood dripping over a dry lip. "Cut me and hit you all you want, I don't break."
Concetta rushed him, Rigel didn't have the energy to respond to it, trying to time his final gambit. Every ounce of his strength would go into surviving her attack, and then finishing the woman off with another Dent technique. The reversal would have to be enough to destroy her completely. Concetta's speed was overwhelming to the stationary Rigel. Her arm was finally able to swipe back the hatchet stuck in his leg. She pulled it out, tearing away meat and blood from his leg. Her next strike drove the hatchet into his forearm. The pirate willingly accepted the attack. He caught her momentum and roared in ferocity.
"Cassiopeia Dent!" Rigel overworked every fiber in his body that still answered to the impulses of his thought. He rolled the woman across his body and planted her back into the floor of the pit. Once he felt that satisfying slam conclude, his body and mind went dark, and he fell right alongside Concetta, helpless, unconscious and hopeful that his battle against the accusing mob would protect his group of friends and himself from their wrath. The last thing he remembered from falling was the feeling of relief to be finished with his fight.
