Arc 1 - Beast of a Thousand Knives (Completed)

[Kowsauni]

As Kuori looks around the Fat Fox for Revenge, she can't seem to find him. However she does recall (with Revenge's stealth check of 9) him noisily making his way towards the exit of the inn through the celebrating town folks earlier in the evening.

"Ah, whatcha doin'?" The lad seems to get embarrassed as Hakka tugs on his ears and he would gently brush her hand off. "I already told ya who I am. I'm Johna..." Johnathan stops mid-sentence as he seemed to come to some sort of realization. He worriedly looks around at the other patrons, but no one seems to be paying them attention, much to his relief. He would turn back to Hakka. "Well, it was sure nice meetin' you, Miss Hakka, but I gotta get headin' home. Enjoy your time in town!" Johnathan turns and quickly bolts for the exit, disappearing outside.

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???

The small, aquatic fey creature would smile at the paladin. Despite her childlike appearance, her smile is quite warm and comforting. "I, too, am but a guest in this beautiful place. You may stay here as long as you like. I'll try not to keep you up, though I do tend to splash around a bit."

The creature releases the paladin from her grasp and moves back to the edge of the pool. Her steps sound like that of a large duck. In one swift movement she dives back into the clear pond and begins to playfully chase around the brightly colored fish.  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

Hakka giggled a bit as the boy's words hung in the air, Johnathan finally grasping her meaning. Unfortunately, things after that point didn't exactly go the way she'd expected. The silly boy tried to run from her. Didn't he know not to run from a fox? All that would do is make one chase you. And so Hakka did, following the boy right out of the tavern and chasing after him. "Hey, stop that. Just talk to me," she called after him.  

[Rain Yupa]

Revenge would continue to pray in silence for a while longer, before standing and stepping away. And wincing.

He was, for a lack of a better phrase, 'turned away' from his room, and hadn't gotten a chance to tend to his wounds yet. He figured this would his best chance to remedy that would be here, in the grove.

The Tiefling would move to the far side of the willow tree, as to minimize desecration, before laying down his weapon and starting to slowly undo and remove his armor. Being full plate, it took some time, but he would soon get it off completely to easily access his injuries. Lots of stabs, some energy burns... an arrowhead... if he wanted to heal properly, he'd have to tend to them as best he could. He had a chance to gain some healing earlier from Ying, but he opted not to, finding himself undeserving of the gesture (and the fact that he was in more of a hurry to get back to his room to grieve in privacy, which didn't get to happen).

Quote:

Taking 10 for a 16 Heal check to tend to my own injuries.

He would make it a point to keep a weighted piece of armor atop the picture of Halima to make sure the wind did not take her from him, but tried to keep her in his sight.  

[Kowsauni]

Johnathan continues to run from Hakka 'til they have reached the outskirts of the group of buildings that make up the center of the town. With everyone heading to the Fat Fox for the party, there are no other souls in sight. The sky is quite dark now but Hakka with her low light vision has no problem seeing the boy lean over and grab his knees. Out of breath, he turns to Hakka with nervous eyes and asks, "Why are ya so darn intent on followin' me? I can't be that interestin'."

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Revenge is able to tend to his wounds in peace. The din of the party can just barely be heard over the sound of the wind in the trees and the waves crashing on the nearby shore. Occasionally a giggle or two along with some splashing can be heard from the pond, but the fey creature otherwise gives Revenge his space.  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

(sorry I didn't see this before)

Hakka was far from inclined to give up the chase, so she was relatively grateful that the boy relented and came to a stop. It seemed like he was winded. Looking around, the fox girl couldn't see anyone around, so she figured it was safe. She guessed that she might have to give a bit to get something. "Because," she said, "I wanna know if you're like me..." As the girl spoke, she shifted into her hybrid form amidst a small puff of harmless smoke.  

[Rain Yupa]

Revenge would finish up with his patchjob, finally bandaged up as well as he could have, both being hours later and lacking a proper healer's kit.

Opting to remain out of his armor for now, and simply sat for a while, staring at the picture of his wife. Without his plate mail's gauntlet on, he looked at his left hand in the dimming sunlight. Namely, the gold wedding band upon his ring finger.

He would say nothing, nor go anywhere. Realizing how tired he was, and finding the playful splashing oddly soothing, he would pack up the picture into his pack to make sure it would not become lost, and subconsciously, allow exhaustion to finally take him.

~Chapter end...  

[Kowsauni]

The lad would jump at Hakka's transformation, but then excitedly exclaim, "Ah, yer like one o' us!" He would then become embarrassed again and look away. "I-I mean I've never seen someone change into no fox before. Y-yer purdy like that. I'm afraid I'm just plain old wererat, though don't go tellin' people now. It's a secret." Johnathan turned to look back at Hakka. She could tell he had no problem seeing in the low light either. "Say, how come you ain't wearin' th' signet ring? You lose it?"  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

The girl blinked a bit, a slight reddish shade coloring her cheeks at the compliment. She was unused to being talked to in such a way, but found that she didn't mind it in the least. She had heard of rat people before as well as rats that were like herself and could turn into people...but not a wererat. She supposed that it could be just what they're called here and shrugged mentally. "Huh? What ring do you mean?" she asked the boy, "I've never had any sort of ring." All of a sudden Hakka gasped and asked, "Are you talking, like Marriage?"  

[Kowsauni]

This time Johnathan flushes red with embarrassment "What? No, no. Not at all." Then it dawned on him. "That's right, yer not from around here. Us shaper-folk wear this lil' signet ring." Johnathan would show Hakka a wooden ring he is wearing on his finger. It bears an intricate design, like a crest, on its front. "Th' people here think it's our family crest, but it's actually how we signal to others of our kind who we are... Here, you can have this one, if ya like. I'll just make another later."

Johnathan would take his ring off and present it to Hakka. "Us shaper-folk have to stick t'gether... Well, at least the good ones."  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

Hakka bit her lip, unsure if it was okay to take something that sounded so important. It sounded to her like these rings were a really big deal, but....the boy was right. It was very good to have allies, even if the were a bit different than you'd expect. "Thank you," she said, still a faint trace of redness in her cheeks as she accpeted the ring and put it on her thumb, "but just to be clear, this doesn't mean marriage, right?"  

[Kowsauni]

"R-right, it has nothin to do with marriage." Hakka's insistence on the subject continued to make Johnathan embarrassed. But he woulf finally say. "Well Miss Hakka it was sure nice meetin you, but I really do need to get to th' ranch. My Pa told me not to come out here but I'm glad I did. Otherwise we never would have met."  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

Hakka nodded, producing another puff of smoke as she returned to her fully human form. "It was, thank you, Johnathan...and thank you for the ring!" The girl flashed a brilliant smile the boy's way and then turned back towards the tavern, heading back to enjoy the party more.

(There was still the stuff the dryad girl was going to improve. We need to get that back)  

[Kowsauni]

As Hakka returns to the Fat Fox she sees a town guard walking up to the festivities. He takes a look at Hakka and walks over to her. "Hmm, you seem the match the description Poa gave. You wouldn't happen to be Hakka would you?"  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

The girl nodded after looking the guard over. At the mention of the dryad girl's name she smiled. "I am, sir," she replied.  

[Kowsauni]

"Here, I am suppose to deliver this to you." The town guard reaches into his pocket and pulls out Hakka's Key focus and hands it to her. It looks exactly the same as before but seems to emit a more powerful level of energy. (Ki focus is now +2)

The guard would then continue on. "I was instructed to pick up a bow from a Goliath lady by the name of Kuori. Do you know if she would happen to be inside?"