Crimson Moon Festival [C]

Spoiler:

Ayero was always excited to attend festivals. Granted, she wasn’t the most excitable person around but that didn’t mean that the stern young woman didn’t enjoy the atmosphere of celebration. So she counted herself lucky when vendors began setting up for Heliohapt’s Crimson Moon Parade just a few short weeks after her arrival. The day before the festival, Ayero decided to take a quick walk through the downtown area where most of the festivities would be concentrated. She took her sweet time scoping out the area, figuring that if she at least tried to make a mental map of it during the day, she’d have a better chance of not getting lost as the festivities were sure to continue through the night.


Her attention is drawn to a rather odd looking tent—well, the tent itself was normal, but the people gathered at it were…not what she was expecting. They were mostly men, all either decently muscled or carrying a weapon of some type. What…kind of booth is this…? What on earth are they selling? The bewildered woman steps closer, squinting in confusion while inspecting the tent. ”Is there anyone else willing to sign up? 7,000 Huang just for keeping the peace for one night! Easy money if you ask me…” Further intrigued, she steps forward and wades through the crowd of gathered fighters. ”Excuse me…are you offering a one-night bodyguard position for 7000 Huang?” She sounds skeptic as she addresses what she presumes to be the head guard. ”Yes, that’s it. But miss…” The man gives her a quick once-over and furrows his brow in doubt. Ayero rolls her eyes, having been in this position before. She could have predicted it, in fact she had actually planned for this type of scenario where she’d have to prove her strength in order to be taken seriously.


”I’ll give you a one night position, miss!” A gruff voice announces from the crowd and some of the more crude men erupt into laughter. The head guard tries to quiet them down but pauses when the young red head slowly turns to face the men. They balked at the woman’s expression, witnessing a soul-piercing intense fanalis gaze. What’s more, it almost appeared as if the fires of hell had surrounded the irritated woman making her stare that much more penetrating.

”Did someone say something?” Her voice was deadly calm as her eyes flickered over the faces of the men. After a minute taking in their apologetic mumbling, the woman turns back toward the head guard, her face considerably calmer. ”I’m sure we’ll all have a lovely time at the festival.” The halfling leans over the table to sign her name on the roster, the faintest hint of a smirk on her face.

[460/1000]

As the sun began to set the streets began to crowd with festival goers from all over. Ayero couldn’t help but feel a tad bit jealous of the young women dressed in festive clothes, their hair and makeup specially done for the occasion. Everything seemed to be going well, but the night was still young and the alcohol was flowing freely. She stops to peruse the vendors for a moment, eyeing the jewelry on display with interest.  The merchant running the booth smiles at her and is about to dive into his sales pitch when a chorus of yells sounds from around the corner. Scolding herself for getting distracted, Ayero hurries away from the stand and toward the source of the commotion.

Shouldering her way through a crowd that had gathered, she comes across two men yelling in eachother’s faces. One of them appeared to be a normal man, but the other…he must have been eight or nine feet tall easily, with a large physique and characteristic blue hair. …Another one? This is the second Imuchakk she had come across in Heliohapt.

”Say that to my face again--!” The drunk Imuchakk slurred, leaning over Alex and pushing his face closer as if to emphasize his point. The man’s posture was sloppy and slow, clearly the large man had somehow already drunk himself into oblivion. Ayero didn’t hear his response, but suddenly the two men clash in a tangle of drunken limbs. Sprinting to make her way between the two, she intercepts their attacks on each other, blocking each man’s fist with her palm of her hand and effectively holding them back from each other for the moment. ”That is enough. Both of you—“ Her right hand shakes from holding back the force of the Imuchakk; despite being drunk he was naturally strong and in his drunken stupor decided to swat at the woman blocking him from his opponent. ”You stay out of this—!" He roared, reeling his hand back.

Assessing his slow movements and almost rolling her eyes, Ayero has the time to push the other man’s fist down and dodge the sluggish Imuchakk’s strike, jabbing her elbow into his upper thigh to paralyze the man for a short amount of time. She turns in time to jump back from Alex’s strike, it seems that this one hadn’t drunk as much and was quite a bit faster than the average human. Opting for her fists in place of her sword (she didn’t want to risk maiming anyone too terribly in the process of subduing them) she strikes the man in the chest twice, sweep kicking his legs as he stumbles back from the winding blow.

Behind her, the Imuchakk groans as the numbness begins to dissipate, rising once more with fire in his eyes as he examines his new target. ”I told you to butt out!” He thunders, raising both arms slowly. She sidesteps his crushing blow, having more than enough time to as his reactions were heavily delayed due to the buildup of alcohol in his system. How is a man of this size this drunk already? The festival started not too long ago. Maybe he just has a weak tolerance. Easily dodging more of the man’s attacks, her brow knits in frustration. ”Sir, I am going to have to ask you to control yourself. This is city property, and you’re—“ Her words fell on deaf ears, she realizes this when the man continues to try and squash her like a fly.
Fine then, we’ll do this the hard way. As Liam’s fist makes contact with the ground once more, she takes the opportunity to jump atop his giant arm, using the leverage to deliver a kick to the side of his neck. She then deals several punches to the man’s chest, finishing with a spinning kick to the stomach. The man groans and crashes to the ground and Ayero breathes a sigh of relief. Hopefully that didn’t get too out of hand, I just hope that no one—

”Look, the crimson moon has risen!” Thankfully, the crowd was distracted by the now risen moon. Peering up at the guest of honor, the halfling can’t help but admire the namesake of the festival.

[1164/1000]

Stamina [110/120]

Techniques Used: