OphiJ'Tali's Quest: Book II

Back out in the wilderness, Orphij'tali shared her plan for the day with her two comrades, and they immediately got to work. If they were going to catch up they needed to develop some new skills, and first off was the shared ability Carve. But they also needed to learn to Craft. And J'Tali's plan was in mind after the encounter with the Orcs, and the memory of her first night. She recalled an encounter a few nights prior, and headed in the direction to where she recalled there was a river. However as it had been a few days, she also instructed her triad to hunch low, train up that Sneak skill, or learn it properly in Zwardyaya's case. A little extra effect, but their goal was the river. And hopefully some special little stones there.

With orphij’tali’s plan in action they would travel north but the sound of a certain person who wasn’t taking the sneak practice to seriously, the sound of her feet hitting against the ground would alert others that she was coming. This would give them plenty of time to flee, however their was one bold predator who knew no fear; only the grumbles that he felt in his stomach. Silently he would watch the loudly albino lizard who’d make a perfect meal, he would continue to wait for the perfect opportunity to reveal himself.

Spoiler:

OphiJ'Tali continued in her triad, Zwardyaya doing what she could to try sneaking with the other two. This meant that whilst OphiJ'Tali took the lead to take them to the river, Tenor was trying to quietly instruct her, correct her little errors as they went. Far as they were aware they were just practising after all, so why not teach a little in action as they went.

The way Zwardyaya was made major improvements, which would make the Night Viper a bit nervous, making him jump out and tackle Zwardyaya, knocking her into a tree. Three was no way in hell this louded footed zward was going to learn to sneak properly after making its meal flee from the sound of her feet hitting the ground. The night viper hadn't quite realized it was a bit to late for making sure she couldn't learn the skill as she did, even though he only was successful in attacking her due to knowing where she last was.

Spoiler:

Taken by surprise or not, the three evolved lizards weren't push overs and they looked out for eachother. And as soon as Zwardyaya was pounced, Zwardtenor was already there and ready. "Breath!" He instructed his opposite attacked by the viper. This would also alert JTali, but they the two Zward were making use of their cold breaths to take the viper from both sides before it could do anything serious.

Both zwards would use their breath however only one was successful at doing so, the cold would add to the frustration it was have having. it was now starving and cold, it was just one more reason to kill the zwards and use their blood as a way to more his own. he would go to tackle Zwardyaya into a tree, since she was the reason his blood was freezing, he would commit his whole body into the attack as he'd wanted her to die now more than ever.

Caution:

Spoiler:

Zwardyaya cried out, displaying the damage she was taking from the slamming of the Viper, and Tenor and J'Tali weren't going to leave them waiting too long. Thinking over just what they wanted to do, J'Tali felt a peculiar little itching in her jaw, a subconcious little push towards a new skill that she now possessed. And it was time to use it. With her new lengthy tail she lashed out, hooking the viper and yanking them away from her friend, and pulling right in to her open jaw, sinking her teeth in and feeling a release of pressure, learning how it felt to seep poison from her fangs in to the viper. Zwardyaya hung back to catch her breath and Shed a little. Whilst Zwardtenor continued to breath frost upon the viper to distract it from J'Tali's bite whilst it would hopefully take the effects.

OphiJ'Tali rather enjoyed the very irony of being choked out like this, when it was always her go-to move as a Lizard. And her companions knew that too, they knew the tactic, and how to deal with it, and both together sunk claws in to the Viper at the front of their companion's throat to try and both dig in further, but also to yank back to clear up J'Tali's airways. In order to assist, J'Tali made use of her Rockscale to make it harder to squeeze. Free their companion, and deal damage to the Viper.

Zwards:

OphiJ'Tali:

OOC: Wow i tried to delete the extra post and it deleted both... Wtf Forummotion.... For Reference. The Viper was pulled off Yaya, you bit it. It decided to try to choke you back as it was dying. Also just the skill name is good for the most part but thank you Yosh!

The Viper could barely squeeze through the Zard's neck. This made no sense. It was an apex predator! And now! Shnk! Tssk! The viper's grip entirely loosened as it grew limp. is that you mama? The Viper would fall to the floor. Limp as a noodle. The Zards would prove victorious. Now to go home or to continue the hunt. Only one could tell. J'tali's companions were a little worn down but surely they would follow their friend to the ends of the Earth.

Spoiler:

Breathing a sigh of relief, the three of them got themselves ready to move on again and continue the hunt. They needed more meat, and more bodies to learn to make better things. And so they would begin to head south, see what else they can find to take out and take home.

Yip-yip, yi-yip yip yip yip yip, yip-yip!” Through the brush about 30 feet away the Zards could hear a valiant band of Kobolds as they sung a little war song that the Zards had no idea what they were saying. The song sounded jubilant to say the least. It seems the little band of Kobolds were rather confident to be so loud. Upon close inspection these Kobolds were strange. One was striped in a brown and black pattern, another beige with a small hump, the final? Pure white with noticeable claws. They continued on with their battle song as they were ready for the hunt!!

OOC: For reference this is what they’re singing

The trio hunched low once they realised they were stalking a new, more vocal prey. A bunch of sentients like themselves, only so, so much softer looking. Zwardtenor began to continue forwards a step before OphiJ'Tali grabbed and stopped him, finger to her lips to tell to be quiet and to be cautious. The [Command] felt so much smoother even as she shared her plan in as hushed a tone as possible. She instructed just how, and who to go for. And together they broke.

Together the three made use of their [Sneak] skills, approaching the singing Kobolds. They waited for the moment, and leapt. J'Tali at the white clawed one, seeing them as perhaps the strongest looking. She was finally breaking loose with her new longer, slender body and tail. She dove, tackling the white kobold with her tail wrapping tightly around it's neck with the intent to [Topple] and [Choke] to take them out of the equation, and sinking her new [Poison Teeth] in to their arm to cripple at least one of the limbs and poison them. A quick take down was the necessity.

Zwardsyaya and Tenor however were considered on 'keep away' duty as J'Tali once called it. They too would leap from their sneaking place, Yaya taking the Humped one, and Tenor on the brown and black. While not as proficient in it as J'Tali, the two aimed to copy what they had seen many times and [Topple] them. But their true goal would be to grasp around each of them, and letting loose their [White Lizardkin Breath] on the very throats of the beige and brown kobolds, their intent to make it harder for them to breath with how cold they were made.

OOC: Sorry bout that I think the math is correct.

“Yip-” KoboaFrio stopped in mid song as they were suddenly tackled to the ground and choked out. The Kobo was panicking as they were supposed to defending each other. The bite was different they could feel something strange... poison!? Yet Koboafrio had to fight it off. They had to fight. But the powerful creature with its tail. No air was coming in. Quickly it grabbed its organic Barb from its underside and stabbed randomly at the Zard.

“Yip!” KobodCalo yelled out passionately as it tried to rush and save Kobofrio. “Fwack” ZwardTenor crashed into the humped Kobold and knocked them to the floor. The Kobo was flustered as they didn’t anticipate an ambush and as they tried to charge their breath weapon, Kobodcalo pulled their Barb from their hump and stabbed at the Zard who was on top of them trying to do something devious.

”Yip?” KobojUvia was confused and needed a moment to process what was going on. Frio and Calo were both being attacked. Taking out their barb from a spot hidden on its leg and would try to save its friend. But alas. Another Zard. This one tried to topple KobojUvia as well but they were more hardy then their friends and as Zwardyaya tried to use their breath weapon nothing would come. The Striped Kobo would take advantage of this and would leap forward and try to slash at the Zward.

Spoiler:

Ophijtali had to hope her comrades had this controlled, with the targets they could have ganged up, but in turn so would they. This was the best way. The faster she got one down, the sooner she could move on to another with the Zward. Being stabbed she was unable to move back or risk letting go, and had to just use her [Rock Scale] to withstand the barb attacks.

Zwardtenor was quick on the draw after knocking down the Kobold and seeing them draw the barb. With their weight on top he brought his arms forwards to better pin that one arm holding it with their two, digging claws in and trying to hurt the limb enough to make them drop it before it could be brought to attack them.

Zwardyaya had to be more careful as she didn't have the advantage point that the other two did but getting their targets on the ground. She had to play a little more defensively, weaving to dodge the swings and taking swipes with her tail to try and get at their legs to knock them over too.

Koboafrio would gasp for air as the constricting tail would suffocate it, fortunately it possessed a decent constitution and thus wouldn't succumb to the lack of air as easily even though it seemed that it's organic barb would do minimal damage to Ophij'tali. The poison was more dangerous due to it not caring for Frio's constitution as it ravaged their body, all the Kobold could do was shift it's approach and try to stab into Ophij'tali's inner thighs seeing as with only one arm that was all the Kobold could really reach as it felt itself slowing down.

Zwardtanor would try his best to pin down the arm but perhaps it was due to the Kobold's struggling or because he wasn't skilled in holding people down, it was obvious who held down who on that night with Ophij'tali, but the Kobold would manage to stab his other arm as it tried to grab it. Still he was gripping it with one arm and they seemed to be equal in strength as neither of them could get an advantage over the other. The Kobold would make a gagging sound before suddenly spitting forward into Zardtenor's right eye in a bid to get him to reel back so that it could get back on it's feet.

Zwardyaya was never the most dexterous actually like her unranked up kin she was actually pretty clumsy as such her dodging of her Kobold's attacks only resulted in her getting slashed not once, but twice while easily danced out of the way of her return strikes. It seemed that she was currently playing into it's hands as it was quicker than she was able to move and fighting it on it's own terms didn't seem to be going well for her. It would use it's prehensile tail to grab at her tail when she missed a tail swipe in order to pull her forward off her feet and would leap on top of her while stabbing down aiming for her neck. It seemed like the three fights were going very differently for each of Ophij'tali's group, she was winning her fight, Zwardtenor was in a stalemate while it seemed that Zwardyaya was losing.

Spoiler:

OphiJ'Tali was sparing glances at her comrades, seeing how they were doing, and it only encouraged her more to take down this Kobold. Zwardyaya, her first friend, was in trouble with her foe! Tenor could maybe hold out still but Yaya was struggling. "Just. Give. In." J'Tali growled down the kobold's ear, letting the beast stab her just to keep her from losing any of the grip, and adding further bites to take them down faster.

Tenor was trading blow for blow in a way, but he was like his 'sister' pushed on to the back foot being stabbed, and then spat at. It would cause a problem or two in the short term but like J'Tali, he wanted this over to help Yaya. And just like he had done in his alone time with J'Tali, he brought his fangs to bear with a little more harmful intent this time. He realised he wasn't the best at holding, but even with being spat in the eye, he was still close enough to easily find the mark on this particular kobold to sink a deep bite in to, and continuing the attempt to keep them pinned down and struggling to get a good hit in, making another attempt at it's Breath skill.

Zwardyaya was honestly getting a little paniced, she was struggling and every attempt to dodge was just throwing her in to a hit. And only then she was being pulled in, and down. She wasn't going to win this on dexterity, and she was in a disadvantaged point. Knowing this was going to hurt like hell,she had to elect in taking the hit, just to then grab the kobold's arm with claws and tearing in to the flesh through the fur, for her goal in sinking fangs at their throat too, while her tail worked in trying to grab their arm to keep them attacking more.

The Kobold would end up succumbing as the chocking with the repeated bites would result in it's life expiring freeing up Ophij'tali to try and help her allies seeing as she would be clued into her opponent's death after the stabbing ceased. As for Zardtenor it seemed that his attack would be a bit clumsy and yet it seemed to work as the Kobold would let out a cry of pain as it was bitten and would start to frantically stab at Zardtenor especially when it looked over to see it's fellow evolved Kobold die to that oversized snake-like monster. Whereas it would seem Zardyaya would actually manage to turn the tables on the Kobold she was fighting by trying to fight more like a Zard and less like a Kobold landing a blow of her own onto the Kobold's arm which opened it up for a solid attack to it's throat which would cause it to actually drop it's organic barb and try to use it's hand to pry Zardyaya's mouth off of it.

Spoiler:

Ophij'tali dropped the kobold the second she felt it's life fading, and had to make her choice. Yaya was more injured but she appeared to be holding her own now, whilst the Kobold on Tenor was injured and getting frantic. She chose her mate, though would argue him being so would not mean anything, and threw herself on to the back of the kobold going frantic. Her more powerful tail wrapping around their arm to stop them stabbing, and her own poisoned fangs piercing through fur and flesh along side her lover. Zwardtenor tried to jerk and twist without letting go, but knew he was going to take some hits along the way to finishing them off.

Seeing that she was pushing back, and feeling both hands on her face, Zwardyaya took more advantage to the exposed torso. Clamping down tight as she could to keep from being wrestled off her claws came in to the kobold's torso just under their arms to weaken the strength of the muscles, make it harder for them to pull her jaw off.

While Ophi'j'tali attacked the desert kobold alongside Zardtenor, the Jungle Kobold saw where this was going and thus would use it's free hand to press into Zwardyaya's eye to ensure she pulled away due to the pain and the fact that she would be partially blinded. Hopefully she would do so as the jungle kobold intended to flee, and would manage to succeed so long as it was let go, as it knew that it's fellow Kobolds were goners seeing as one was dead and one would be dead shortly. Speaking of the Desert Kobold it would quickly end up succumbing to the repeated injuries and suffocation as the dead lock it had with Zardtenor would be broken by Ophij'tali's entrance.

Spoiler:

Zardyaya wasn't going to let it go all that easily, and she wasn't going to let it get at her eyes that easily too. Giving herself a moment she made an attempt at another breath attack whilst letting go so she could turn her head away. But most importantly she was keeping the distance and the grip, knowing the other two zards would have her back. If she took another hit on the way, fair, but she buried her head against the Kobold's chest to curl in to a ball. She wasn't going to deal any more damage. But...

As the partners finished off their Kobold, J'Tali wasted no time to ensure the kill dispite the limp feeling, and went with all her speed to help Yaya seeing she was playing the grapple-defensive. The last remaining Kobold was prey for her poison fangs once again. She was rather enjoying the new skill's use, and getting as much practise as possible applying them.

This left Zwardtenor to pull together the two bodies and the barbs they each dropped, trusting the two of them to get the job finished with the Kobold.

Zardyaya wouldn't be able to breathe anything onto the Jungle Kobold but her actions would stall said Kobold long enough for the others to attack it. Unfortunately it would manage to succeed in piercing her eye partially blinding her and yet for it's wound it would only end up with death as the attacks would prove to be enough to end said kobold's miserable life. Now they were left with three humanoid corpses and a nice haul of three organic barbs, so perhaps today's hunt was actually quite good, especially when you factored in whatever else the Kobolds had been carrying on them.

Spoiler:

Zwardyaya lost the fight for her eye, screaming with the agony of it, and just driving that anger further. And when the last fell dead, she was the last to give a kick to the body. She looked back up to OphiJ'Tali's looking rather worried, looking to examine her eye wound checking if there was absolutely anything that could be done. She had doubt, but there was always the chance in her mind.

Zwardtenor meanwhile worked at collecting up all the gear, smirking knowing that J'Tali would appreciate these stones, pocketing them for now, and picking up one of the bodies. "We should get back with these. Might show up that Rex that we're just as capable." The other two nodded, and whilst Zwardyaya was told to calm herself and just walk back, the couple taking all three bodies between them.

[Exit to burrow]