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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 2:49 pm
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 3:40 pm
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Imminent had been napping by the stream, back against an ancient tree trunk. Normally he wouldn't be caught dead napping during the day, but he'd exhausted most his energy terrorizing a nearby town, so he decided he deserved a break.
His ear flicked at an alien noise, and he was awake in an instant, hand gripping the hilt of his sword. Moving quietly, he stood up and looked around the tree, surprised to see the rather colorful meanki stepping into the stream. Odd, he thought as he moved around to lean against the tree, never making a sound. He stood there, watching and waiting to see how long it would take before she noticed him standing there... if she did at all.
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 10:14 am
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Imminent stood there silently, arms crossed as his own mind processed what he was watching. Something seemed... off, about this meanki, though he couldn't quite put a sword-tip on it just yet. An eyebrow arched up as she started to... perform?
At her words, he smirked, though he never so much as twitched any other muscle. "A disturbance to a nap is of no consequence, little one. Being unarmed, on the other hand, can get you robbed, injured, or dead." He tilted his head, ponytail shifting behind him. "I am Imminent, felicorn of Death. Mercenary and murderer, when the coin is right."
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 11:50 am
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Imminent chuckled as he watched her change. He wasn't sure who she'd been trying to fool just then, but he recognized that look in her eyes. Cruelty. Sweet, delicious cruelty. And where there was cruelty, more often than not there was manipulation and lies.
"I would think one of your race wouldn't be so... naive," he said, taking a step into the river. He savored the biting cold that eddied around his foot, then took another step. "Chewawae's will gang-beat anyone who looks at them wrong, draekats will steal a traveler's goods." His smile didn't reach his eyes. "Then again, you have pesky little holykats buzzing around in their self-righteousness, druids preaching their idiot doctrines of nature, and bards fouling the air with their... 'music'."
Before she could move, he was upon her, looking down at the meanki. "So tell me," he said with a cruel smile of his own, "are you so naive? Or perhaps you keep a blade hidden, ready to be slid inbetween a few ribs if the need be?" He chuckled, a deep, rumbling avalanche of sound.
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 12:15 pm
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Imminent chuckled in amusement. "Sometimes wit is all one needs to win a battle, little one." His smirk widened. So, there is something 'different' about this one, he thought with an internal grin, perhaps I've found one who will finally hold her own.
He started to answer when he heard a faint rustling on the bank behind him. With a speed that seemed at odds with his size and armor, he spun around, hand whipping in a wide arc. There was a flash of sunlight, then a gurgling scream of pain. There, pinned against a tree by his hidden throwing knife, a rabbit kicked it's death throes out.
The felicorn smiled as he turned back to the meanki. "Perhaps if you had disturbed more than a simple nap, I might be inclined to simply drown you in the river just to watch you thrash and claw for help." It wasn't quite clear if that was his idea of a 'joke' or not. "However, something about you intrigues me." He waved his hand in the general direction of the pinned rabbit. "Perhaps you will join me for lunch. I hear roast rabbit and dried vegetables are on the menu today." That probably was a joke... probably.
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 12:23 pm
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His movement had been quick, very quick. Marina still stood watching the rabit writhe in pain as the life drained out of it. An awkward smile forming on her face, suddenly imagining herself there instead of the rabbit. She calculated cooly how to respond next. She almost felt as if she were hostage to some sort of sick hospitality. Not quite sure what to do, she played along to humor him.
"Something about me intrigues you, and the same can be said about you. You're most certainly unique, and I am feeling a bit ravenous for lunch."
Marina had taken a step back, however. She wasn't quite sure what to make of his threat to drown her. She wasn't a fool. He was far more powerful than her.
"I can most certainly provide a worthy dinner conversation."
Yes, she knew he could easily decide to kill her. He was toying with her, and she would play along for as long as he'd find her entertaining. When the chance arose, she would sneak out. She was light on foot enough to hope to easily get lost in the woods away from him.
Save your hide, Marina.
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 2:09 pm
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Roughly a hour later...
Imminent reached over and tore a leg off the carcass that had been roasting over the fire. It'd taken no time to skin and gut the rabbit he'd killed earlier, and though it was lacking in spices, at least it was better than just dried vegetables. The felicorn savored the cooked meat as he watched the meanki on the other side of the fire. Despite her earlier promise of worthy dinner conversation, little had been said since he'd started the fire.
"So," he wiped the grease and blood from his lips, "tell me, Marina. What brings you wandering the woods? It is either the foolish, the brave, or the perhaps the insane who travel such dark woods alone." He smiled at her from behind the leg of rabbit. "You don't strike me as foolish, so I'm guessing it's one of the other two."
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 3:04 pm
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Anger flared at the brazen challenge from the meanki, then Imminent quickly tamped it down to a simmer. "Fascinating," he said as he stood up lazily, moving as if he didn't care. Rooting through his war-pack, he pulled a bearded axe out. "Perhaps this will work." He ran his thumb along the edge, feeling the delicious bite of pain.
He looked up, watching where she was in the trees. Estimating her next move, he waited until she was in the middle of a jump. With a grunt, he sent the axe whistling through the air in a circular arc. The axe buried itself into the tree a hair's breadth where the meanki had just landed. "Hmm, a half inch closer to your nose than I wanted. I need to work on my aim."
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