Protecting the Caravan [Job/Solo]

Spoiler:

”You comfortable, miss? It’s going to be a long ride.”

A gray haired man threw the young fanalis woman a concerned look as she seated herself in the back of a covered wagon. After taking care of the “pest” problem that had been plaguing some of Heliohapt’s domestic farmers, word spread about a sword wielding fanalis woman with a snake who had slayed the same creatures that had been terrorizing caravans on their way through the desert surrounding the city. Ayero had been approached a few days ago by a local merchant. His caravan was due to travel to Balbadd shortly, and the man feared that he’d meet the same fate as many colleagues who had set out before him; damaged goods and injured men. After offering the woman a tidy sum and the promise of food and shelter should she accept, the Fanalis woman agreed to aid the traveling merchant.

”This is fine. We can keep a better lookout from here.” She pats Kabu’s thick scaly body as the snake slithers from his usual perch on her shoulder to investigate the scent wafting from a cluster of barrels in the wagon. As the man eyes the snake with nervous apprehension, Ayero waves his concern off. ”Don’t worry, he won’t touch your goods. He’s only eaten dead animals thus far.” With a quirked brow, the man shakes his head lightly before mounting the front of the wagon, calling out to the young woman to let him know if she needed anything.

Sinking down further onto the wooden bottom of the wagon, she motions for Kabu to return to her side. The desert snake seemed too curious about the merchant’s goods, and given that he was going through lengths to protect them, he probably wouldn’t appreciate an inquisitive snake rifling through his merchandise. ”C’mon, you know you’re not supposed to touch things that don’t belong to you.” The creature simply ignored her for a moment, his interest in snooping through the caravan’s goods outweighing any urge to obey Ayero. Sneering at Kabu’s childishness and her own inability to control the snake, she sighs and stares at the city behind her, vanishing into the vast expanse of desert.

[366/1500]

It had been several hours since the convoy had left the city, and not so much as a single jackal had shown up to cause trouble. Bored from the inactivity and too lazy to move from the heat of the desert sun, Ayero had drifted off to sleep with Kabu curled loosely on her lap. Her mind drifted back to her large family in Reim. She wanted to say that she didn’t regret leaving on her journey, but she figured it would be best to reserve judgment until she’d meet them again. Warm memories of scolding and caring for her siblings danced though her head and inspired pleasant dreams of her life before it had been thrown out of balance. She missed them more than she would admit to herself, and the guilt wrought by leaving them when they needed her had been eating away at her more than usual.

A shout from somewhere behind them and a woman’s scream jarred the halfling from her slumber, eyes fluttering open as the dreams just began to turn sour. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she jolts upward and inadvertently knocks the snoozing snake from her lap. Thudding to the ground with an indignant hiss, the snake rears to attention as his companion draws her sword. Knowing that now was the time for action and not another interspecies argument, Kabu quickly winds around the woman’s waist and glides up to her shoulders, ready to assist her in battle. Clambering to the top of the wagon, Ayero surveys the scene behind them. As to be expected, a pair of desert jackals had overturned one of the wagon near the end of the group, sniffing and munching on the spilled goods with their powerful jaws. The woman who had been driving the now overturned cart had fallen safely, albeit a bit hard on the desert sands. But one of the jackals had momentarily lost interest in the food scattered about, instead hovering over the frightened and screaming woman with a snarl. It appeared that the woman’s cries were irritating the beast, for they were not known to be normally hostile to humans.

Frowning to herself, Ayero leapt from the top of her wagon to the next, and so on down the line until she had reached the damaged wagon. Even with her enhanced speed, running on sand still had the potential to slow her down. Eyeing the jackal preoccupied with food for a second, she turns her attention to the woman in peril before jumping down from the top of the wagon and onto the sands below.

Gripping her sword tightly, the Fanalis-human rushes the creature from behind, weapon drawn back in preparation. The jackal leans down to sniff the woman, who only responds with more frightened screams. Thankfully the beast was thoroughly distracted, allowing Ayero to deal a quick strike with her talwar along the creature’s back. Angry, the beast rears and roars in pain as blood splatters onto the sand. Moving quickly, Ayero helps the woman up and rushes her to the nearest wagon. Clinging to the Fanalis, the saved woman sobs her thanks and climbs into the wagon with help from a young man. After giving her a small, somewhat forced smile for the sake of the woman’s comfort, Ayero turns her attention to the second jackal.

[922/1500]

The other beast didn’t even seem to notice his fallen comrade; he’d found something much more interesting. While the warrior woman’s focus was on his friend, he’d ripped open the canvas top of the wagon and gnawed open a barrel of apples on which he was currently feasting. Either he didn’t notice the Fanalis woman eyeing him with killing intent, or he didn’t care. The only thing that was clear was that he was insistent on gorging on apples. A bit miffed that the creature didn’t even appear to have the decency to be properly worried, Ayero’s eye twitched before charging at the jackal in a similar fashion she did the first one. Hearing the woman’s approaching footsteps, the creature finally tears itself away from its meal in time to see a red headed assailant heading towards him. With a mix of a hiss and a snarl, the beast holds up one large paw in order to deflect her weapon just as she prepares to strike. But she does not unleash her blade on him, instead the halfling grasps the beast’s paw in hand, pushing him away and back toward the ground with her Fanalis strength.

Screeching in irritation at being disturbed from his meal and then tossed back onto the sand by something smaller than he, the jackal writhes and flips like a feline back onto his feet, this time rushing at the woman for revenge. Pushing off on her heels, Ayero leaps into the air when her target comes into range and slams her fist into his stomach. The beast flies backward once more, landing among the dunes with a cloud of sand. ”Huh…easy.” Running a hand through her hair, the young woman eyes the damaged cart. ”It’s a shame about this wagon, though. If only I had been… …ahh, I think there may be enough room on the other’s to carry the goods that weren’t damaged.” The woman rubs at the back of her head, nearly letting it slip that she had fallen asleep when she was supposed to be keeping an eye out.


”Um…m-miss? I don’t think we’re q-quite out of the woods yet…”


A man peeking out from a nearby wagon calls out to her, his voice tinged with nerves. ”Hm?” Ayero raises her head toward the man, but as she does so figures out what he was referring to. Three more jackals had appeared and had begun closing in on her. All three were growling, pawing at the ground in irritation at the woman who had taken down their friends. Huffing, the halfling readies herself for another round with the desert creatures. The warrior woman widens her stance, holding her blade out in front of her as if it was meant to be a threat. Perched on her shoulder, Kabu hisses out a warning.

The three desert jackals charged the young woman all at once, causing a tangle of snarls and spitting. A hail of claws assaulted the Fanalis-human as she struggled to deflect each swipe with her sword, a metallic clank resonating into the air with each successful block. ”Nng…” Gritting her teeth, the woman parries one clawed paw with her blade, striking the beast into the side with her fist. Turning swiftly as she pulls her fist away, she uses the force from pushing off of her last opponent to land a side kick into another. Both jackals cry out in pain as the woman’s enhanced strength causes them to sail backwards, landing heavily on the sand a few meters away.

[1500+/1500]

With one more opponent left, Ayero readies herself for the final assault. She wanted to finish this quickly, wary that more jackals might show up the longer they sit here. As she’s about to rush the remaining opponent, a hiss in her ear cause her to halt. Wriggling around her body, Kabu hisses again and extends his neck toward the jackal. Momentarily confused at what he was trying to tell her, a look of understanding settles on the woman’s face. ”Have at it then.” She offer to the eager snake, gesturing to the growling beast before them.

Hissing with delight, the snake quickly slides his way off of Ayero’s body, gliding through the sand fluidly. Seeing its natural prey, the jackal roars and raises a large paw before bringing it down upon Kabu in a swiping motion. The sand serpent gracefully dodges the attack and uses the jackal’s moment of confusion to strike. With a great leap, Kabu wraps his thick body around the beast’s middle, slithering up and around the arm that had just tried to assault him. Annoyed at the sudden unpleasant sensation of the snake’s body wrapped around him, the jackal rears and snarls, thrashing wildly in an attempt to rid himself of the beast. As the beast flails, Kabu tightens his coiled body around the jackal, particularly concentrating on his hold of the jackal’s arm. The harder the jackal fought, the tighter Kabu squeezed. Kabu’s assault continued for several more moments, body constricting tighter and tighter each passing second. Finally, the jackal’s arm that was victim to Kabu’s intense hold fell limp and the snake unwound himself from his opponent, quickly slithering off and back to his master. Making his way back up the halfling’s body, Kabu almost seemed to be giving the jackal a smug look from his perch on the Fanalis woman’s shoulder.  

Angry that he had allowed the prey to get the better of him (even if for only a few moments), the jackal roared and brought back his arm in preparation for another attack. Or, at least he tried to. The beast was so preoccupied with ridding his body of the snake that he hadn’t noticed just how harshly Kabu had been squeezing the offending limb. The change had been gradual enough for the jackal to not immediately notice the fact that his arm had gone completely numb. Realizing that he had no control over the limp limb the beast began to panic, crying out and thrashing about as he attempted to restore feeling into his arm. Watching the scene before her, Ayero reaches up and pats Kabu’s head. ”You’re pretty good at that, you know?” The compliment is met with a delighted hiss causing the corners of Ayero’s mouth to upturn in a small smile. ”Now…let’s finish this.” With a grunt, the Fanalis launches herself toward the frightened creature who was hobbling in desperation. Her blade drawn forward, Ayero deals a quick slash from her talwar, the creature letting out a final cry of pain as he falls to the ground with a thud.

[Stamina: 140/160]

Trained: Constrict [500+/500]

Spoiler:

”Finally. It looks like that’s the last of…” Her voice drifts off as a not too-distant roar reaches her ears. Turning in the direction of the noise, the Fanalis woman lets out an audible groan. Another jackal was approaching them rapidly, though something was different about it than the group Ayero and Kabu had taken down. Though similar in looks, this beast was larger, it’s powerful body kicking up a small cloud of sand as it sprinted toward the caravan. Eyeing the creature’s massive paws and tail, the woman vowed not to repeat the same mistake she had during her scuffle in the crop fields.

”You know what to do, right?” She tilts her chin down slightly, addressing the snake at her shoulders. With an affirmative hiss, Kabu slides himself upward, keeping his big red eyes trained on the incoming brute. Ever since Kabu began to develop poison, both he and Ayero had been working on how to incorporate the snake’s toxins in battle so that he’d be able to assist his master in fighting. While the poison wasn’t deadly, they had come to find out through trial and error that it caused muscle soreness and reduced movement if it came in contact with skin or mucous membranes. At first, Kabu was only able to effectively poison a target by physically latching onto them, digging his fangs into their skin in order to create a wound. The poisonous solution would then drip from the glands in his mouth and down his fangs, into the open would and hopefully the opponent’s blood stream in order to expedite its toxic effects.

Now that Kabu had some practice and had grown used to producing and handling the poison, Ayero had suggested the idea that he attempt using it as a projectile weapon. It had been difficult at first, but Kabu eventually learned how to gather the poison within his mouth and hold it there long enough to spit it through the air, aiming to hit an enemy target. And now the perfect opportunity had presented itself for the snake to test his new ability.

Ayero stood patiently, trusting her scaly companion in his judgment. Though he didn’t always listen, Kabu was intelligent enough to have good judgment when it came to perceiving how to take down his prey. When the charging jackal was roughly 20 meters away, Kabu began producing poisonous secretion, gathering the venomous liquid within his mouth. When the beast was 15 meters away, Kabu slithered higher off of Ayero’s shoulder and reared his head, preparing to make a clean shot. The great jackal began to close in on them, now just 7 meters from the woman and snake. Giving a short hiss, Kabu releases the poison in a short stream, spitting it furiously at 20 m/s, aiming for the beast’s chest.

The poison hits it’s mark, striking the jackal’s chest with enough force to cause it to cry out in surprise. The venom quickly soaks in through the fur and into the skin where it quickly spreads through the body, partially in thanks due to the larger blood vessels in the chest surrounding the heart. Now in the caravan’s vicinity, the jackal cries in distress as his muscles quickly begin weaken due to the pain. The poison spreads throughout his body, causing his head to ache. While the jackal is preoccupied with growling and shaking his head from side to side as if to cast off the pain, Ayero deems it time to make her move. Sprinting forward, she curls her right hand into a fist and strikes the jackal in the chest where the snake’s venom had hit. With a cry of pain, the beast flies back onto the sands. Whimpering in pain, the creature slowly rises to his feet and a low growl begins to reverb in his chest as he focuses on the Fanalis woman.

[Stamina: 120/160]

Trained: Poison Shot [500+/500]

Spoiler:

Emitting a final screech of pain, the jackal rushes his Fanalis foe. Preparing for the incoming attack, Ayero charges at the jackal at the same time, prepared to deal a finishing blow and rid herself of these beasts. Aiming a kick at the jackal’s side, her leg nearly makes contact with the creature’s body at the same time a retching sound could be heard. Startled, Ayero looks up to see that the noise had come from the jackal. In a single heave, the jackal vomits acidic spit onto the woman’s arm. Her kick strikes the jackal a moment later, sending the creature crashing several meters away, groaning from the pain of the impact and the poison still pumping through his system.

The acid ate away through Ayero’s sleeve and burned her skin with such intensity that caused the Fanalis woman to cry out in pain as she stumbled backward. Gritting her teeth, the woman had to stop herself from holding the injured arm with her other hand lest she spread traces of the acid to other parts of her body. Crumpling into the sand, the halfling gasps in pain as a gentle breeze makes contact with her newly formed open wound and some of the merchants gather around her. A few look wary, shifting their gaze from the woman to the horizon in case the danger was not yet over. One woman kneels down into the sand, holding Ayero’s uninjured shoulder in comfort. ”Get me some water and a rag!” She order to a younger girl who nods nervously before running off to fetch said items. ”You’re going to be alright, dear…”

While Ayero grimaced in pain, Kabu busied himself with inspecting his master’s wound. He was careful not to accidentally touch her flesh which sizzled lowly as it was slowly eaten away, bits of muscle being exposed behind a coating of blood. The woman tending to Ayero attempted to shoo the creature away from the wound, worried that he would somehow lash out or make it worse. For the second time that day, a retching sound reached Ayero’s ears. Opening one eye, she glances at the snake. ”…What the hell are you doing?!” She manages to rasp at her companion. The black serpent was covering over her wound, mouth wide open and heaving heavily, his neck jerking with each movement. Ayero could only look on in utter confusion, sidetracked by the stinging pain as the snake vomited a hefty dose of saliva onto her arm. Letting out a yelp of pain and the new burning sensation caused by the contact, the halfling is seconds away from strangling the snake.

But the stinging of the wound dies down quickly, and eventually the pain caused by the acid spit begins to dull. By the time the young girl returns with the requested water and cloth, the onlookers can do nothing but stare at the wound which began to sizzle with the effects of the saliva. ”Kabu…you…?” Ayero blinked, looking into the snake’s large red eyes. As the pain in her arm became more bearable, she allowed the woman to clean the residual blood and pus that had seeped from the wound.

[Stamina: 90/160]

Training Healing Touch [530/1000]

Spoiler:

After cleaning up the destroyed cart, the caravan set off to continue their journey. Ayero was currently resting in the back of a wagon, accompanied by the woman from before who had cleaned her wound. Surprising all of them, Kabu’s spit appeared to not only neutralize the acidic effects of the jackal’s saliva, but also accelerated the healing process. With the fight over and the convoy out of harm’s way for the moment, the woman takes her time dressing Ayero’s wound.

”This certainly is quite a nasty cut…I’ve heard of some desert creatures being able to spit acid, but it’s pretty rare…” The woman mutters, snipping a piece of gauze to wrap snugly around Ayero’s arm. ”I don’t think it would have caused any serious lasting damage, but you sure are lucky that your snake has magic saliva!” The woman chuckled, ignoring the halfling’s wince as she wraps her sensitive wound. ”I had no idea that he was capable of that.” Ayero murmurs in response, eyes falling on the snake in the corner adjacent from her, curled up in a pile as he dozed. ”I knew he could make poison, but I didn’t know that his saliva had…medicinal properties.” She tilts her head, studying the sleeping creature. ”But I’m glad all the same.” A small smile twitches at the corner of her lips as she replays the scene again in her head, touched over Kabu’s concern for her but also wondering how the snake knew that he had developed a new skill.

”Well, at any rate…” The woman sighed, sitting back up straight after finishing bandaging the Fanalis woman. ”It’s a pretty bad wound. You’ll probably recover fully, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it leaves behind a nasty scar.” She shakes her head. ”Quite a shame too, you have such lovely skin.” Ayero gives the woman a small smile, unsure of what to think about the permanent scarring of a more visible part of her body. She had a few buildups of scar tissue across her abdomen, back and legs from training mishaps and near misses in battle, but those were hidden well. ”I’m sure I’ll manage. Ah…thank you for your kindness.” Ayero rubs the back of her head with the hand of her uninjured left arm.

A bump jostles the cart suddenly, causing Kabu to jolt awake. Flicking out his tongue in a lazy hiss, the snake winds its way onto Ayero’s lap, peering into her dark brown eyes with his slitted black irises. Taking the hint, Ayero removes her hand from her hair and places it on the snake’s head, slowly stroking the black scales. ”And thank you for preventing what could have been much worse. I’m…proud of you.” The woman admits with affection in her tone, smiling weakly as the day’s excitement finally gets to her.

The passing days flew by quickly. Ayero had regained mobility of her right arm the next day, the healing process greatly accelerated thanks to Kabu’s quick assistance. The caravan made it to their destination unhindered, rewarding Ayero and Kabu when the group made their way back to Heliohapt safely.

[Exit]

Trained Healing Touch [1000+/1000]