Private Tales Troubles and Turbulences

[Hath Charosh]

The humans had already drawn weapons. None of them advanced away from the stone. They weren't looking at Hath. They were looking at the fearsome mounts of the ashlanders. Clearly the story they had been given by the merchants had been missing pieces.

"They must have travelled to a stone that was guarded," Hath said.

"What did he say?"

"I don't know!"

"Not here to hurt," Hath called back out. He gripped his axe tight. The humans tightened into a firm line.

 

[Mabess]

Ubabe seemed little shocked, as much as ghaveel tried to prove himself this time round, the she-orc pressed him behind her legs in cover. He was still a child, and a young one on top of it.
»Some kinda town?« Ubabe huffed. Though she didn't really understand human speech from these ends. But there were plenty of people around, she didn't want a cascading effect
»Hath, I don't want to fight them.«

 

[Hath Charosh]

His eyes slowly turned from one end of the line to the next. Attacking them would be a poor choice. Likewise, the humans hadn't brought a group to chase them down.

"Maybe. Or maybe they guard their stones. Like the Ashlanders should be doing now."

Hath took a few steps backwards, taking his hand from his axe. That anger that had suddenly consumed him did not return as before. He still felt it. A strange thing deep in his gut. It didn't feel like a part of himself.

The humans stood their ground. They had enough armour on that peppering them with arrows from a distance wouldn't help. He dared to cast a glance over his shoulder to see Ghaavel trying to move around Ubabe. A sudden dismissive gesture from Hath and he stopped.

 

[Mabess]

Ubabe retreated likewise, but Sheeha was hard to relent. A hard tug had her sheathe her weapon if just momentarily.. The ash leopards were curious but obeyed the retreat backwards.

 

[Hath Charosh]

Kill them all and be on your way, Hath felt the thought ripple through his mind. Once again he was not sure where the sudden burst of aggression came from. It did not feel like his own. His usually burned slow and hot. Not like this sudden flash.

He set his feet and picked out the leader of the humans to fix him with a stare. Hath snarled and slowly turned away from the stone.

"There is a river a short distance," he muttered. "They should fuck off soon enough."

 

[Mabess]

Sheeha was hte last to relent, but soon enough they were all on the move after Hath. Ubabe sent some gazes occasionally the the humans all while dragging the young un after her.
»They can't occupy the portal stones forever,« muttered Ubabe, waving her head.

 

[Hath Charosh]

"I hope not. We could always rush them and use the stone. The problem is that it will teleport them over to the spine..." Hath said.

"That be so bad?" Ghaavel asked, finally finding his voice now they were a distance from danger. Hath was quite proud of how quickly he had fronted up to the threat. Danger was a part of life to the tribes.

"Either means killing them or trying to organise sending them back..." Hath mused.

 

[Mabess]

»I would preffer we avoid either possibility,« Ubabe shrugged.
She made a defeateist sigh. »Do you frequently travel through portal stones? «

 

[Hath Charosh]

"No," he shook his head. "Before today I had used them...four times. This is the closest one to my tribe and they're weeks south of here."

He looked south, towards the savanah. He felt a slight pang of longing for his people. It was strange to miss them when he spent so much time on the fringes of the tribe. He missed Scabhair too. It had been a very strange few days.

"Could fling a few arrows mounted and draw them away?"

 

[Mabess]

Ubabe scratched her chin, an answer from her would be a clear no, but before she could speak sheeha decided to open her mouth.
»On cat, we could just kill them instead of wasting arrows.«

 

[Hath Charosh]

Once again, Hath felt something stir inside him. It latched onto Sheeha's words and stirred up another torrent of agression. It should have frightened him but instead it was enticing.

He offered Sheeha an appreciative glance.

If they attack from mounts you might not get to join in the kill, hissed that voice.

"If we use arrows we can draw them into the open and split them up," Hath grunted.

 

[Mabess]

»You will what?« Ubabe protested. »I'm not going to enable that kind of behaviour.«

Sheeha was already on her mount and slung her quiver more comfortably at her side.
»You won't need this if you're not comming with us.« Sheeha proclaimed as she took the javelins from her companion's ash leopard and joining the three with her's.

 

[Hath Charosh]

"Ghaavel keep your distance, I'd they come your way run. Just put a few arrows down at them. Go for the sides, under the arms."

Hath slapped a hand against the soft flesh below the armpit. Hath sorted through his arrows to find the straightest. If he got close then he could put a good arrow into the throat or the eye.

"We should come at them from different directions once they're drawn away from the stone," he said.

Kill the humans, then mate with the fiesty one. If she had a mate kill him too. Below the mending skin of his shoulder the flesh itched. As if something crawled there.

 

[Mabess]

»No, no, you two will stay right here!« Ubabe growled.
»This will only get worse if you provoke them.«

Sheeha only shrugged.

 

[Hath Charosh]

"It won't get worse if none of them can flee back through the stone," Hath countered. "It will get worse if any of them see which symbol we use to return to the spine."

It was a weak justification, but he turned back in the direction of the stone with his chosen arrow.

 

[Mabess]

»Nonsense, just leave them be, even if we have to wait for weeks.« Ubabe protested. »What benefit would humans have from seeking trouble somewhere that far away anyway. Think about it.«

Sheeha rolled her eyes. » ... «

»Even if you may have killed them all, your consciousness is still a witness to it.«

 

[Hath Charosh]

Hath furrowed up his brow as he looked up at Ubabe. He could understand avoiding conflict, but to try and force another orc to back down for the sake of their conscience was new to him.

"You have warned us against fighting," he said, "But you won't make me feel guilty for finishing this. They might send even more through and decide to camp around the stone for all we know. Should get this done quick and be on our way."

 

[Mabess]

»Let's go,« Sheeha lightly shook her head. The Ash leopard anxiously stepped around before laying down and standing up again after a good while. »To prowl is bad here,« she muttered in a displeased tone.


Ubabe crossed over her arms, sitting low in the grass, her eyes quickly glancing over at Ghaveel.

 

[Hath Charosh]

"Good then," said Hath. He looked to Ubabe and Ghaavel. He suspected that if he tried to bring the boy into this then Ubabe's protest would grow once more. He turned back towards where the portal stone was and started to jog.

"Circle the other way, hold back and I'll see if I can draw them my way with the bow," he said to Sheeha.

 

[Mabess]

Sheeha briefly gazed at the party of men one more time. Her eyes narrowed.
»Hmm... We wait untill dusk.« She shook her head, not much caring for hath's open ambush.

 

[Hath Charosh]

That pit of anger did not sit well as the base of his stomach. Despite the strange urge to start the fight now he knew that to take on all six men in their armour would be foolish.

"Maybe they will have gone by then," he admitted. He slide his favoured arrow back into his quiver.

"Until then we should find some shade from the sun," he grunted.

 

[Mabess]

Sheeha turned to gaze at Ubabe briefly.
»The night will favour us, like a feline on prowl.« She then stared down at Hath.
»And then... «

 

[Hath Charosh]

He nodded slowly as he looked up at Sheeha.

"Do you want to get close to them and catch them unawares? Or should I put a few arrows into the and draw them out?"

In the darkness they might not be able to spot him if he found the right location. If they moved into the open they would not be able to put their backs to the stone when Sheeha charged through them.

 

[Mabess]

»Aye.«
Her eyes shifted to the sky, gazing and gauging the time of day.

 

[Hath Charosh]

"It takes a long time to get dark here," Hath told her. The sun was aiming for the horizon now. His body was convinced it was night time. He had never understood why you arrived through a portal stone at different times of day.

"It doesn't get much colder at night," he told her. "How are you dealing with the heat?" he asked.