Private The Akaviri Nightmare

[Znowcicle]

Scares-The-Stars snarled and stopped abruptly grabbing the young girl's shoulder to halt her as well as to turn her towards Stars. Stars' face was furrowed more than usual, her short sharp teeth were revealed as she spoke to Ty-Ran.

"If you were strong willed then you would not think to defend your intelligence, it would be inferred. If you weren't stupid then you would know that just being able to defend yourself doesn't mean that you're smarter than anyone." She spat her words at the young girl. There were quite a number of things that annoyed Scares-The-Stars, but few that infuriated her. Being overly naive was one of them.

"If you could defend yourself, you wouldn't shake in your boots at the thought of killing a person. If you're here to help your village and your brothers then you obviously have a village to help you take care of your brothers meaning you have support." Stars paused for a moment studying the girl's face. Tears were running down and had coated the fur on her Tang-Mo face. There was a moment when Scares-The-Stars' brow had loosened and her beady eyes had softened a bit as she looked at the young girl's eyes, but the moment was quickly gone and the snarling face of the angry woman was there again.

"And if you really wanted to help then you would stop crying and try to learn a little from those that ARE older than you." She released Ty-Ran's shoulder with a slight push to accompany the release and turned from the girl with an air of irritation. The other soldiers had simply marched past the two in the confrontation, but looks of confusion were garnered from them as they passed the two of them. Stars' tail tip curled and uncurled as she walked away from the girl. Her Shuqli armor chinked as she walked and instead of the girl Stars thought about the sound. Probably the last peaceful sound I'll hear for a long time, she thought to herself as she looked up to the bleak sky and experienced the snowflakes melting on her face.

 

[The_Madgod]

A boot hit the ground above Nnaga-Om, shaking his resting place. The Tang Mo's deep red eyes shot open, only to meet a shaking wooden ceiling not two inches above them. Voices echoed from above the vampire; "I cannot believe we are finally here!", "I'm boooooooored!" and "We will crush them!" were all highlighted in his mind, though there were many more words spoken. Nnaga-Om perked up, hitting his head against the ceiling. "Agh! DAMNIT!", shouted the man. His words were lost in the mess of voices above him, so no one was alerted to his presence under the floorboards. After rubbing his head for a second and laying it back down, his thoughts returned to the new news: The boat had arrived in Tamriel. This is good..., thought Nnaga-Om. I have finally found new hunting grounds! He sat in silence while those above him passed by. He thought back to the previous weeks aboard the ship, weeks full of hiding under the floorboards of the ship and in the cargo bay, drinking blood from the feet of drunken soldiers and eating dead mice. He shuddered at the thought, then said to himself, No need to worry, Nnaga-Om! We are here now, and all will be well... For us, at least!

Nnaga-Om toyed with the dart gun hanging from his neck for a while, waiting for the footsteps to stop. After another few minutes, the last pair of metal boots fell on the floorboards and the voices began to disappear. The Tang Mo smiled and kicked the ceiling open, a trapdoor swinging on it's hinges. He rose from his tomb in a rather overly dramatic fashion and bared his fangs, ready for some Nord blood. He stepped out of the trapdoor and quickly fastened the lats bits of his wooden armor on. He could feel the magic radiating from it. Normally, Nnaga-Om never dabbled with such things, but when one wears wooden armor, one tends to require flameproofing. The Tang Mo grabbed his runed blowgun, which was hanging from his neck, then reached for his array of poisoned needles. He felt around in his quiver, a million tiny darts pricking his gauntlet and his extended claws. Nnaga-Om pulled his found out, glad that everything was where it should be, then brought his fingers up to his mouth and performed some sort of complex whistle. A colorful bird, one with long claws and a rather sharp beak, flew down from somewhere in the rafters and landed on his shoulders. Nnaga-Om nodded, then ran after the other soldiers. He didn't want to be late. He had heard that fire against snow was beautiful.

The group had been marching for quite a while. Some people marvelled at Nnaga-Om's odd armor, or his bird, or even his blowgun, but the Tanf\g Mo did not care. All he was worried about was the damned sun. He had no idea what time it was, and could only assume it was daytime. The sky was blnketed in gray clouds, obscuring any sunlight, starlight or moonlight. It didn't mean that none existed. That was a downside of being so reclusive. You tend to not learn anything from your fellow men and women. The Tang Mo stared down at his feet and the odd white substance blanketing and surrounding them. Snow, he believed it was called. He had heard it existed in Snow Hell as well, though he had never been. A bit of it was falling from the sky as well. At first it annoyed the man, but he had grown accustomed to it.

Bored, Nnaga-Om noticed a female Tsaesci scolding a crying female of Nnaga-Om's species. Near them was a Tang Mo speaking with what appeared to be a ball of fur. Two Ka Po' Tun were also speaking up ahead. All looked as if they were having interesting conversations. Nnaga-Om would only be able to ruin one. He thought long and hard, then decided it would be best to mess with the Ka Po' Tun men. The Tang Mo and Tsaesci women did not appear to be very tolerant of annoying vampires, nor did the Tang Mo standing over the ball of furs, who appeared to be busy annoying anyone he could find. Nnaga-Om decided he would break up the conversation between the two Ka Po' Tun, just for kicks. He laughed inwardly at his projected outcome and gingerly strolled up to the pair. One looked quite important, and both looked experienced. Just as he was about to get close enough to sic his bird on one of them, something tugged on his hand.

Nnaga-Om wheeled around and got his claws at the ready, eye-to-eye with the Tang Mo male. He felt the tugging at his hand again, and looked down, finding that the ball of furs was doing the tugging. He asked something about how far from Solitude the group was. Nnaga-Om bared his fangs and snarled, saying, "I don't know, kid, why don't you bother one of the officers? I'm kind of busy here!" He looked up and saw the Tang Mo staring at him evilly. He appeared quite protective of the child. Nnaga-Om spit in his face, then kicked some snow up at him. "Don't look at me like that!", exclaimed the vampire, a tinge of disgust tainting his voice. He turned back to the pair of Ka Po' tun, but found that his want for needless chaos had faded. He turned back to the other Tang Mo, who by now was probably furious, and growled out, "Thanks a lot! You ruined my golden opportunity!"

 

[Neverwin]

In a few words, Ook-In was not happy. It wasn't even really having his face spitted on that got him upset. No, it was that this strange Tang Mo had dared to snarl and show his teeth (a threatening gesture if Ook-In had ever saw one) at Didi-Ek.

Ook-In took only a moment to wipe his face on the thin fur he had cloaked himself with, then his hand wrapped around the vampiric Tang Mo's neck and lifted him up. "You have disgraced yourself by dishonoring an Honored Child. Let your lips touch the ground before her feet and utter your deepest, sincere apologies, or I will rip out your entrails and hang you with them!"

Didi-Ek watched Ook-In threaten the other Tang Mo with a frown. "Ook-In, don't be silly. He didn't dishonor me!"

Ook-In paused, not daring to take his eyes off the Tang Mo but looking puzzled. "Honored One?"

"He made a really silly face! Put him down, so that he can make the silly face again! Will you make the silly face again?" Didi-Ek looked at the vampiric Tang Mo, a pair of widened, eager eyes being the only thing pretty much visible underneath all the fur.

 

[death raider]

Ty-ran's tears suddenly stopped and a new feeling began to build up inside her one of anger and the desperate need to hit someone. She watched as Stars marched away from her. Ty-ran glared her eyes glinting and she began to snarl and without even thinking it through she came out with " I can kill someone and at the moment I could kill you!" Ty-ran screamed at Stars not caring for the consequences, but soon throwing her hand over her mouth and regreted every word of what she said.

Ty-ran quickly remembered the very thing Stars said and stood her ground and ran at Stars wailing and screaming. Ty-ran got to Stars and shoved her hard and glared once again at Stars at a challenging way and suddenly knew her stupidity and knew she had gone too far.

 

[Znowcicle]

Scares-The-Stars felt the push against her as Ty-ran ran up behind her screaming in some sort of confused, spiteful anger. Slowly Stars turned to the girl taking her eyes from the sky she had been viewing. Her beady eyes looked black under her Shuqli helmet and her mouth was in a snarl of contempt. At first when she had heard the girl yell to her, "I can kill someone and at the moment I could kill you!" she had let it slip by as young petty words that held no weight. When Ty-ran had run up to her and shoved her, which considering Stars' height and weight was more like a rough push rather than a shove, Star's first reaction was to strike the girl. She had breathed out slowly to herself to keep her hands at her sides as she turned to face the girl. She looked over the girl again and suddenly began laughing. It was a scary sound coming from the woman who never seemed to smile, and it filled the air between them for a little while until it was suddenly cut off and the hard stare was replaced. Menacingly she brought her face close to Ty-ran's.

"I would like to see the day when you would try to kill me." She spat at the girl in a low rumbling voice before she raised herself from the girl's height and straightened herself. She grabbed the bottom of her chest-plate on her armor and tugged it down as she began speaking again.

"One day soon you will see that I am right and you'll regret threatening me." She breathed out heavily to Ty-ran before she started walking away from the girl again. "I have a warehouse to take, and I do not need some petty orphaned brat getting in my way." Her tail flicked to and fro as she walked, the irritation of the occurrence trying to work its way out through the movement.

 

[The_Madgod]

Nnaga-Om was about to turn around when the other Tang Mo's hand shot out and grabbed his neck. The vampire was lifted into the air, a feeling he was not fond of. No one is, really, but that is quite obvious. Choking is just not fun. His teeth gritted, Nnaga-Om's attacker began to speak. "You have disgraced yourself by dishonoring an Honored Child. Let your lips touch the ground before her feet and utter your deepest, sincere apologies, or I will rip out your entrails and hang you with them!", said the man, his voice showing extreme anger.

Nnaga-Om silently laughed at the 'honored child' bit. He wouldn't care if the child was the daughter of Ugg-In himself. In Nnaga-Om's eyes, she was just a little ball of furs. That just so happened to be guarded by a deadly warrior. The vampire opened his mouth to express his lack of repentance, only to be cut off by the child. "Ook-In, don't be silly. He didn't dishonor me!", said the girl. Both of the older Tang Mo appeared quite puzzled. "Honored One?", asked the child's guardian, obviously confused. He still stared maliciously at Nnaga-Om, but was obviously paying close attention to his ward. The girl opened her mouth again, replying with, "He made a really silly face! Put him down, so that he can make the silly face again! Will you make the silly face again?"

Nnaga-Om rolled his eyes. What an idiot!, thought the man. He was annoyed at the child's naivety. The girl looked up eagerly at the vampire. Seeing a way to escape his imprisonment without any bloodshed or badly-cast magic while still retaining his dignity, Nnaga-Om tried to force a smile. He could not. The man quickly choked out a, "I cannot make the face while I am being strangled, can I?"

 

[Neverwin]

(OOC: Didi-Ek is a girl, actually. LOL... But I don't mind Nnaga-Om referring to Didi-Ek as a boy. She is prepubescent and such... and maybe she's one of those kids that can be really hard to figure out whether they're a girl or boy. Not to mention, she's covered head to toe in fur. LOL)

"Oh, that's right! I'm ever so sorry my Net-Mo is choking you," Didi-Ek told him. She turned to Ook-In, giving him pleading eyes. "Please put him down, Ook-In. I wish to see the silly face again!"

"But Honored One..." Ook-In started to protest, but he was interrupted by the child.

"Now, please," she said, trying to keep from sounding impatient.

Ook-In gave a little growl, then none-too-gently let go of the other Tang Mo, dropping him. He wore a sour expression and gave Nnaga-Om a warning look.

 

[The_Madgod]

(Fixed the gender issue. I was writing two things at once, and it can get confusing. Thanks for pointing that out, probably never would've noticed if you hadn't. Also, this is short because I don't feel I have the ability to control how Didi-Ek would respond to... Well, anything.)

Nnaga-Om hit the ground with a dull thud, his legs aching from the fall, his neck aching from the attack. He rubbed his neck and stood up, then cleared his throat. Choking does a number on a person's larynx. He stared smugly at Ook-In, then turned to the 'honored child'. Nnaga-Om silently laughed at how easy it was to get out of this little predicament. No slit throats, no burning cities, no poisoned Ka Po' Tun monks, no crazy thralls, no problems at all.

Nnaga-Om smiled, this time genuine, and looked at Didi-Ek. He cleared his throat again, then bared his fangs. His eyes narrowed and his claws extended. He pulled his lips back and made his ears erect. The vampire looked quite a bit like a hissing cat. He snarled at the young Tang Mo, hoping that this would suffice. He didn't want to have the guardian's hand around his neck a second time. The man's eyes shot over to Ook-In, silently rubbing in the fact that he was supposedly 'dishonoring' the child.

 

[Neverwin]

Didi-Ek giggled at the vampiric Tang Mo as he snarled at her. She clapped her hands, though it sounded muffled due to the furs getting in the way. "What an amazing entertainer you are, kind sir!"

It was taking all of Ook-In's willpower not to start strangling Nnaga-Om again. He gave an unintelligible grumble.

"Ook-In, we should give this entertainer something for his troubles. I think I have a pretty gem with me somewhere." Didi-Ek patted at herself. "Ah, here we are!" She held up a shiny rock of uncertain value and started to present it to Nnaga-Om.

"Honored One, please, this Tang Mo does not deserve your charity!" Oh, the things a Net-Mo had to deal with, sometimes.

"It is not charity! It is payment for services rendered. He made his silly face for me, and so I will repay him. Is that wrong?" She looked at her Net-Mo, curious.

"No, but he... You can't..." Ook-In was at a loss for words. It probably came from not using them very much.

"I see no wrong here, then." Didi-Ek turned back to Nnaga-Om. "Please accept my payment, kind sir!"

 

[death raider]

Ty-ran watched as Stars walked away from her. Ty-ran knew instead of making an ally she had made an enemy and she didn't know what Stars would do to her if she did decided to do something. Ty-ran trailed behind the others and began to kick snow off her bare feet and could once again begin to hear the voices she had heard earlier.

Ty-ran looked round to see everything was normal and there was no one there. Ty-ran turned towards what she guessed was the direction to Solitude. She was still annoyed with Stars and herself for what had happened.

 

[Minstrel]

"One day soon you will see that I am right and you'll regret threatening me. I have a warehouse to take, and I do not need some petty orphaned brat getting in my way."

Lou-Shun watched as the woman held the young girl in her grip and then dropped her to the floor. Stupid woman, picking on a child. Oh well, I must go and have a word with her. The young girl trailed behind the group and Lou-Shun passed her on his way to the large woman who had threatened her. His limp made even that task hard work and his hands trembled around the staff in his hands with each step. Finally, after a minute of tough walking on his short legs he reached the side of the woman.

"You shouldn't have spoken to her like that, she is just a young child you know? She is young and still needs to learn the art of respect, don't blame her for the way she acted. You can blame me if you want," The elderly Tang-Mo said with a wide and slightly insane smile. "I just take it all in my stride... or limp. Either way, I don't want to see you speaking to her like that again, understood?"

The smile was still present on Lou-Shun's face and he looked up to the woman with deep love. Not love for her individually, but love for every creature in the world in general. He loved to watch them develop and make mistakes. He didn't not blame them when they did something wrong, he simply laughed and told them to try harder next time. He had always believed that hate and anger were for the weak, and that love and forgiveness belonged to the strong. True, I may just be a crazy old man, but that does not mean my views are any less valid that these energetic young folks.

 

[Znowcicle]

((OOC: Minstrel, Stars hadn't picked her up, she just grabbed her shoulder and then kind of shoved her away just so you know ^-^))

"You shouldn't have spoken to her like that, she is just a young child you know? She is young and still needs to learn the art of respect, don't blame her for the way she acted. You can blame me if you want. I just take it all in my stride... or limp. Either way, I don't want to see you speaking to her like that again, understood?" Stars looked down at the elderly Tang-Mo with a sort of contempt as he paused in his small speech. She scoffed out loud when he said "understood." He was smiling at her in a sort of insane way. Perhaps it was just his age that caused the odd way of smiling. She chuckled as she replied to the man.

"I mean no disrespect, but I will not be abiding what you seem to have ordered me to do." She had stopped walking as it seemed difficult for the man to even do that action. It was a sort of kindness on her part. It was a kindness that the Tang-Mo may never receive again if he continues to talk to me this way, she thought to herself before she continued.

"That girl may not know respect yet, but respect came later in our exchange. What she said didn't make sense. She was being hypocritical and then turned violent when I corrected her. I was simply teaching her in my own little way, but if you do not wish her to be spoken to 'like that'," she put emphasis on the last two words, "then I suggest you keep her as your own charge. For I will not be changing the manner I associate with her unless she does so herself to gain that change from me. After all, she didn't have to come to war; she chose to come. If she cannot handle my bluntness then I pity how she will handle the screams that will fill her tiny head." She said her reply with a little less malice than usual because the Tang-Mo was her elder, but she did not see anything wrong with what she did. So she was a bit harsh, that was the world now. She had chosen war, the war didn't choose her.

"If you'll excuse me, I don't want to be left behind."

 

[Minstrel]

(Oh Ok, I'll change that later today Znow. By the way, the second part that Lou-Shun spoke was actually him thinking. XD )

"She was scared. I don't believe she should be on this mission, but since she is, you best be nice to each other." Lou-Shun said falling behind her stride as the woman began to walk once more.

"If you'll excuse me, I don't want to be left behind."

"Just you remember, maybe that girl will save your life one day." He called out to her as she walked away.

Lou-Shun shook his head and made his way to the back of the group where you young girl walked on her own. He hobbled to her side and took up her pace that was only slightly faster than his.

"And how are you today dear? Why are you back her all on your own?"

 

[death raider]

Ty-ran sniffled as Stars and an elderly Tang Mo were beginning to have a debate on how Ty-ran was to be treated. Ty-ran felt happy when the elderly Tang Mo took her defence now knowing that she might have a chance of another ally. " And how are you today dear? Why are you back here all on your own?" The elderly Tang Mo had said to her. " I'm not too good and I have made an enemy with someone older and stronger than me and how to I know she doesn't have friends who will also hate me? And just be honest i'm too young to be here aren't I?" Ty-ran said sniffling more and wiping the tears from her wet beady eyes and gave the elderly man a warm hearted smile.

" So what's your name, mines Ty-ran." Ty-ran said now feeling better from the company of another and not just the voices from behind her.

 

[Minstrel]

" I'm not too good and I have made an enemy with someone older and stronger than me and how to I know she doesn't have friends who will also hate me? And just be honest i'm too young to be here aren't I?" The girl said as she sniffled and wiped tears from her eyes. " So what's your name, mines Ty-ran."

"My name is Lou-Shun. Don't worry about that woman, she may be bigger than you, but she certainly isn't stronger than you. Notice how she pushes her emotions away and puts up a front, it is good that you do not do that. It takes a strong person to show their emotions." Lou-Shun stopped walking as his legs began to ache, he hoped the girl would stop as well. "If you ever get into trouble with her I won't be too far away. I'm stronger that I look as well."

The Elderly man lifted his staff off of the ground and pointed it forwards. Within seconds the root-like staff began to glow a faint green and Lou-Shun's hands shook slightly. Not because of the power surging through them, but because it was difficult to life the staff into the air. Then, with one jolt of the staff, a bolt of green energy was sent into the ground. It took a moment, but soon a crack formed in the snow and a tree began to grow rapidly out of it. Soon there was a fully grown tree sitting in the middle of the snow, slightly out of place as it still held its green leaves, but beautiful nevertheless. Perhaps a creature from Oblivion would have been more impressive, oh well.

 

[death raider]

Ty-ran felt a certain warmness standing by him and Ty-ran waited as Lou-Shun stopped to take a rest. Ty-ran looked in amazment as the a tree was formed from a staff and it rose up high and Ty-ran smiled at this and it was truly extradionary. Ty-ran had never seen anything like this and she thought it was beutiful and she never imagined to see anything like it.

"Hello Lou-Shun how are you and that trick you performed was spectacular and I haven't ever seen anything like it!" Ty-ran said giving the man a happy smile and felt so happy and warm inside. " So you promise I'll be ok and are you sure your strong? Could you prove it?" Ty-ran said with a large grin.

 

[The_Madgod]

( Skyrimosity , stop writing about werewolves for a minute and get on here! I'm sure you can finish your essay-thing by Sunday, even if you make a transition post on here. Also, sorry if this seems like it's not exactly my greatest work. Not feeling too hot today, and things like this affect my writing skill, I've found.)

Nnaga-Om quickly snatched the rock from the child's hand. He certainly didn't expect to gain anything from insulting an 'honored child'! In fact, he expected to be forced to kill at least two people, maybe even end up mortally wounded. Without giving a "Thanks!" or "This is a nice gem!" or any form of recognition at all, even sarcastically, the vampire ran off with the rock, laughing.

Nnaga-Om scanned the chunk of earth, not slowing his pace at all, and noticed some bits of amethyst poking out from under the hard surface. "I wonder how much these are wor-", said the Tang Mo, cut off as he bumped into an elderly Tang Mo male. Nnaga-Om grabbed the feeble old Tang Mo's staff, not thinking, and twirled it about in a rather complex Ka Po' Tun fighting style. Unfortunately, no one noticed, and all Nnaga-Om accomplished was stealing an old man's stave, probably giving him a heart attack and twirling a stick around.

Trying to avoid making a total fool of himself, Nnaga-Om threw the staff at the old man. "Watch where you're going next time, old man!", shouted the vampire as he stormed off, passing a young Ka Po' Tun in his rage. Nnaga-Om glanced up at his surroundings, noticing a tree. I wonder if that's out of place here? Might ask one of the locals. Doesn't look like it should be out in the snow, thought the Tang Mo as he reached the main party.

 

[Skyrimosity]

They continued walking for a few more hours. Just before the break of dawn, a tall castle became visible off in the distance. They kept on walking and soon the entire city was almost in view from their spot. The problem was that the East Empire Trading Warehouse was across water and at the bottom of a hill. There were also 3-4 guards who would likely notice anyone swimming across. M'Kassh spoke up "Do any of this group have an idea on how to take out the guards? Preferably silently?"

(OOC: Sorry its terrible.)

 

[Obscure.Ref.Girl]

Bruynzeel's keen eyes and hearing heard the approach of the vanguard. He signals the argonian to make his attempt at entry. When he gets discovered again this time it was planned. Bruynzeel bow was already out and a arrow nocked. As the guards persue the argonian; Bruynzeel takes a deep breath slowing time to a crawl, and takes out the rear most stragglers in the chase for the hapless thief. five shots later and all the guards lay with arrows in their bodies. The argonian turns to return and Bruynzeel lets loose with his bow another time and the expectant smile on the argonian fades as the light of his life is extinguished.

Bruynzeel stands and walks calmly toward the hidden but assembled force of his long absent brethren. He puts away his bow and makes it clear he means them no harm. He pulls the letter from his armor and gets ready to present it to who ever leads this group. As he gets close enough for them to see and hear him. He bows low "I am Bruynzeel, last of the Dragon Guard. And your scout and guide. Tell your humble servant your needs and he will provide." He while still bowing takes his Akaviri katana out of its scabbard and places it on the ground. And awaits a response.

 

[Skyrimosity]

M'Kassh watched the Ka Po'Tun man carefully take out all the guards, then even an Argonian thief. The man said he was from the Dragon Guard, a group from an invading force from long ago. Everyone else seemed incapable of uttering a response so he himself spoke. "Greetings Bruynzeel, my name is M'Kassh. We are trying to secure the East Empire Trading Warehouse building. Do you happen to know how heavily guarded it is on the inside?" M"Kassh picked up the man's Katana "Ah... a brilliant blade you have here! You can no longer get craftsmanship like that! Just look at my blade, of very similar design." M'Kassh pulled out his blade and put the two side by side. Bruynzeel's was noticeably more detailed and better made, a sign of the older age of Akaviri Craftsmanship.