To Cull a Cetus (Revolution + Shizin)

It stank here. Wading through calf-deep water and slime, Rev didn’t know how they had managed to imbue the reek of decay that only swamps seemed to have… but the people who had built this area knew how to tweak it just right. She might have wanted to gag, if not for the fact that she also wanted to find that rare spawning swamp serpent. And she was going to find it, and she was going to claim the bounty for herself.

“Gonna kill you, get you stuffed, and mount you whenever I get a house in this bloody game.” Her raspy voice was quiet, whispering to herself and to the beast that she knew spawned in this area. Ahead of her she could see the outline of her companion, a huge white hound with silken fur and red eyes and ears. He moved aimlessly, darting around like a real animal would if given the chance to roam in such a fragrant region.

She paused and let her hand rest on the willowy tree that grew out of the brackish water, pointed ears listening, tusked mouth turned down as she focused. Listened.

Her hound woofed, bounding back towards her and splashing through the water that was slowly staining him green and brown.

“Augh, Mac come on!” She threw a hand up to protect her face from the spray, turning her head and only then hearing it.

A whispering sound like something heavy and muscular was being dragged through the water and grime. She grinned.

The hunt was on.

She had stalked the serpent for what felt like hours, inching forwards just out of its range of senses while still keeping up while it stalked for prey of its own. Mac, now that his mistress was properly hunting, stayed close and was even more silent than she. His dive into the swampy water serving to camoflauge his usually blindingly white coat. She relied on the game to keep her hidden, pausing and making sure there was always something between her and the giant snake whenever it paused to scent the air.

The sea serpent had moved at a languid pace for long enough that Revolution wondered if it was about to loop back to the start of it’s plotted route. She had been looking for a good spot to stand her ground and attack the rare beast, and in the moment she dared not look at it and instead consider the terrain it slipped away from her sight. Gone in a slide of scales through mud and water.

“Damn you,” She hissed, craning her head and trying to spot where it had slithered off to. The swamp remained as dour and foul smelling as ever, though now that she paused she could smell something else. A sharp sting like salt in her nostrils. She must have tracked it all the way to the edge of the sea. Which meant she had to move quickly before it slipped out of her reach under the waves. With a grunt to her hound she took off, losing stealth for speed in hopes to catch up with the great creature.

The splashes of her boots covered the song at first, a beautiful melody of fire and battle that was drowned out by the orc hunter’s movements. When she crashed through the last line of mangrove trees and found herself standing where the sea met the swamp. And there was her prey, the huge and dangerous Cetus. The sea serpent had reared up and was flaring it’s ornate neck and spine frills at a figure trapped on a little island of rock. Rev had her bow drawn and an arrow nocked before she registered that the other person was singing at all. Only after she had loosed an arrow at Cetus did she hear his voice practically caress the whistle of shaft as it pinged into the ground near the serpent’s open jaws.

“Oi!” She drew and readied another shot as she called out to the trapped elf. “Need a hand do you?” She grinned like a feral cat, her tusks glittering in the light of the sea.

Trapped atop a rocky outcropping Shizin had an excellent view of the world down below. The thin, wispy trees with their dark wood ladened with mossy strands. The brackish water which boiled and rolled with the movement beneath it. There was no way to tell exactly where the creature lurked, only that it most certainly lay somewhere under where Shizin sang. At least not until it surfaced and then... The sight of it nearly drove the elf to silence.

What a beast it was!

It reared up, a crest crowning its brow and running down its neck to where it flared into a fan. The brilliant display was awe-inspiring, and that alone was enough to finally drive Shizin to give up the song. It seemed that the audience of one did not appreciate the music, and the elf started to bow apologetically to the creature for disturbing its place in the wilderness when a voice startled Shizin once again.

Shizin did not recognize the orc, but they cut an impressive figure standing down there fearlessly in the mud and water aiming a bow and arrow at the sea serpent that threatened the elf. “Oi! Need a hand do you?”

A slightly embarrassed and shy smile slid across Shizin's lips, the elf ducked to almost hide behind a fall of blue hair that slowly faded to white at the ends. Even so Shizin respondde, voice clear and easy to hear in spite of the distance and the growling of the sea serpent which gnashed its teeth in the air. It's attention was divided now, as if deciding which of the pair to eat. "Yes, please."

That was all Revolution needed. With a bark of laughter she loosened another arrow directly at the serpent, this time striking true. Every ounce of her body sang with the rush the hunt brought to her, and when it roared and flailed it’s coils in pain she bared her teeth and roared back. The already choppy water churned with each twist of its body, and when it turned on her to strike she threw herself backwards to escape its strike.

“Mac! Get it!” She swung her bow like a weapon to keep the great beast from trying a second lunge as her hound barreled out of the undergrowth baying. The sound was chilling, gooseflesh rising on the nape of Rev’s neck even after hearing it untold times before. The silky, white shadow crashed into the serpent, his white fangs snapping and scoring the scaled hide so that they were stained red. The Cetus shrieked again and hissed, fanning its frilled crest and lunging towards this newest threat.

Rev took the opportunity and shot forwards until she could climb up the rock the pretty elf had been trapped on. When she crested the top she winked and grinned at them before wrenching back her bow to snap an arrow at the back of the Cetus’ head. Before it could turn to her Mac bayed once more, harrying the serpent and scoring more deep wounds along it’s flanks.

She had opened her mouth to yell a direction to Mac when she was tackled by the singing elf. Instead of a warning she shrieked as she was shoved off-balance and was showered by fragments of rock and dirt. While she ducked down to avoid the errant tail her hound was not as lucky. The Cetus’ fangs sank into Mac’s white hide and he gave his own shriek of pain, one that sent Rev’s blood curdling.

With a roaring snarl she pushed the elf off of her and brought her bow back, an arrow aiming towards the serpent and when fired, striking high in the neck. It released her pet and cried out, the voice of it painful to hear. With eyes narrowed by pain Rev fired again, striking higher, closer to its massive eye. Mac lay stunned in the shallows where he had been thrown, still alive but panting and bleeding profusely.

“Mac! Up!” With another hoarse roar Revolution struggled to her feet, grabbing the elf by his collar and pulling him back and behind her so that he wouldn’t be first to get struck when the Cetus retaliated once again. As the hound regained his bearings Rev fired arrow after arrow to keep her prey off balance. Once she saw Mac stand firmly once again she grinned and dropped herself to her knees, her bow pulled tight and steady.

“Mac! Now!”

Braced on all four legs the hound let loose a third and final braying howl, launching himself at the Cetus with sharp fangs bared. He bit, his jaws closing around the sea serpent’s own so that it couldn’t open it’s mouth. Hanging on and digging in with his claws while his mistress lined up her final shot. Her grin was wild, eyes seeing only the prize before her. “Watch this, pretty boy.” She rasped to the elf besides her before letting loose the arrow.

Down, to the rocky ground went Shizin, and the orc beside. It surprised the elf somewhat that the effort to bring the orc down had not been in vain; considering their size difference and how sturdy the orc's stance had been, it would have been far less surprising if the effort had failed. Instead Shizin found the orc beside, and the fight was on below them now.

While they fell to the rocks the sea serpent took full advantage of the hounds missing owner to inflict some serious damage that unsurprisingly enraged the orc. Without hesitation the orc was on foot once more, flinging arrow after arrow with deadly accuracy at the sea serpent. Even with several arrows to the face however the creature was unwilling to go down. It roared against the dog's final call to battle and the two rushed one another like a pair of gladiators.

“Watch this, pretty boy.”

Shizin found the orc's body between self and danger, watching around the edge of that drawn bow as it loosed its final arrow firmly lodging it in the sea serpents eye. The creature shuddered at the blow, seeming as though it might not actually fall to even such a grievous wound as that. Then it began to thrash in the water, throwing itself in every which direction.

It was dead though, its muscles giving out the last contractions of life until finally it fell silent. Long coils splashed into the muck and grime of the swamp, and the ripples of the waves slowly began to dissipate. Silence ruling the area in the wake of this king of the swamps untimely demise.

Shizin looked down at the corpse with a touch of sadness, noting the riot of greens, grays, and blacks that made up the pattern of scales on the serpent's body. Its fan lay sprawled out and gathering little pools of water, its face still twisted in a fearsome grimace that was not at all lessened in its intensity by the arrows that protruded from the right-hand side. In deathly stillness it's beauty could be appreciated, and so too could its ferocity.

Lavender eyes blinked the sight of the corpse away and Shizin bowed graciously to the one that had offered refuge from the storm of the serpents rage. "Thank you very much."

At its final death throw Revolution hopped off of the rocky outcropping and landed in the shallow water. She shook her head to shed dirt and dust from her mohawk much like her hound was shaking water from his bloodied coat. She waded to Mac’s side and felt along his wounded side, ignoring the way her pet snapped at her in pain. It was just AI of course, but there was no way to disguise her concern for him. Only when she could tell he wasn’t going to expire on her did she turn and begin to examine the corpse of the Cetus.

"Thank you very much."

She had almost forgotten the singing elf, his soft voice catching her attention and making her crane her neck to see him where he sat on the rocks. “You’re welcome.” She began working now, pulling free her arrows and rinsing off the ones that could be saved before returning them to her quiver. The broken ones she snapped the heads off of, dropping the soiled fletching and damaged shafts into the water around the corpse.

“And what’re you doing off on your own in a dangerous area like this? Not a trophy hunter, from the look of you.” She kept speaking as she worked, occasionally rubbing her forehead with one well-muscled forearm to keep sweat and brackish water out of her eyes. Mac milled around before climbing to the singer’s side, choosing the dry land as an ideal place to groom his wounds. He smelled strongly of swamp and blood, but he thumped his tail in good nature whenever he saw he was being looked at.

It was easy to tell that the canine was sorely injured from its fight with the sea serpent, but there was little enough that Shizin could do about that. The elf watched as the one who had offered rescue tended to the dog, and it seemed that it would survive at the very least. Shizin knew that it would serve very poorly if they had gone through so much effort to save the elf only for one of their own number to fall in combat.

While the orc tended to injury and retrieved the arrows which were still usable Shizin checked the inventory tab to see if there were any healing potions available. However such stock was sorely lacking for the elf. While many items which were used to make said potions were in supply, Shizin lacked the skill to make one. It required a different skill set than the elf possessed.

A soft sigh expelled from Shizin's lips in regret and the elf returned attention to the pair that remained in company. “And what’re you doing off on your own in a dangerous area like this? Not a trophy hunter, from the look of you.” Shzin's cheeks colored slightly, turning the tattoos on either cheek an interesting shade of purple.

"No." Shizin looked up at the sky briefly, counting the hours and then at the hillside which would have made such a beautiful place to make music. "I was looking for music."

The simple explanation was all that Shizin had to offer by way of explanation, and it felt embarrassing to offer as one. To throw oneself into danger for the sake of something so immaterial, and yet... Shizin could not help but to do so. Lavender eyes met the darker ones of the one that had rescued the elf and Shizin smiled softly. "Did you hear?"