The Hunt (IC)

[Spartan 999]

Sorsa roared in agony, before the quill finally pulled loose. Blood and poison splashed down his front, and he sank to his knees, gasping for air. Blood dripped from his mouth, Sorsa staggered to his feet and drew a chakram. He hurled it, and the Alpha's howl turned into a high-pitched shriek of pain as the weapon slashed across the wound dealt to it already by Til. It attempted to dodge a second chakram, but fell as the blade cut its exposed throat.

Sorsa was able to draw a sword and delimb an approaching moonbeast, his other hand clutching his stomach wound. He would fight until he could no longer raise a sword…and that moment seemed close indeed as the poison slowly made its way to his heart.

[kartoffelfogel]

Legra watched, aghast, as Sorsa hobbled over to the Alpha.

He had to get his friend the antidote before it was too late. Sorsa's breaths came ragged, and he struggled with his blade.

Something had to be done.

They had to retreat; but Sorsa never would, it would be dishonorable.

But there is no dishonor in saving a friend, and in fighting for your life.

"Forgive me, Sorsa. But you need an antidote, and you must not be allowed to kill yourself. Not yet. You may recover from the poison on your own, but we cannot take that chance." he muttered to himself.

He stalked over behind his comrade, and raised the pommel of his curveblade above his head.

He dealt a blow to Sorsa's head.

His friend staggered down. Even poison-weakened, he still resisted unconsciousness. A true warrior!

But he was stunned. Legra bent down, and his prodigious strength let him bore Sorsa aloft over his shoulder. The Sangheili would struggle, he knew, but he could not allow him to die.

"Til! To the path!"

[Spartan 999]

Sorsa clutched his head as Legra dragged him, and his other hand shot out to smack the back of Legra's head. Not hard, but enough to get his attention. "You could have just asked!" Sorsa rasped, struggling to his feet again. He then smiled weakly. "And besides, I'm the one who does the sneak attacks around here."

[kartoffelfogel]

Legra laughed despite himself.

"Well, friend, this time you have no choice, and the dishonor in the retreat is mine. Just stay limp--the antidote of your poison is easy enough to find. You may not even need it--but best not to risk it. Either way, we must give you time to recover or to find the antidote--you cannot continue to fight--"

A loud burst of keening suddenly surrounded them.

Legra stopped.

The lead Alpha from before burst into view--ahead of them. The beast was a large one, and angry as well. A large array of quills poked forth from under a few reversed scales, threateningly raised. A plethora of scars covered the creature; this was a veteran predator.

Another strangled half-roar half-shriek issued out of the creature. It was angry--very angry.

Behind them, eight more ba'knwa struggled into view, minus their Alpha.

"Sorsa, my friend, you have succeeded in killing two Alphas in the space of an hour. I am sorry, but you cannot fight this third. Try to stay alive."

Legra advanced on the beast, his curveblade twirling madly.

[Spartan 999]

Sorsa nodded the older Sangheili strode past him towards the Alpha, blade raised. He drew his bolas with one hand and a spear with the other. "I'm not completely helpless..."

He rose into a kneeling position and started twirling the bolas, then let it fly. The weapon hit the Alpha in the side of the head and wrapped around its snout, but it would be able to tear it off in a few seconds. While it was distracted, he threw the spear, which hit it in the flank, making it grunt with pain.

[kartoffelfogel]

"Then deal with those eight!" Legra bellowed, charging the Alpha.

A spray of quills met him, which he deflected by swirling his large cloak. The quills of the ba'knwa would not pierce it, he knew.

The Alpha snarled, and leaped at him. Legra stepped back, raising the hilt of the sword over his head and keeping the blade in front of his face in a classic blocking position. The arcing claws bounced off his blade with a series of sparks.

He quickly swung his curveblade in a short, small, and blindingly fast side-strike. The blade sliced at the side of the Alpha's large, reptilian, head, cutting at one of the beast's eyes.

The creature ducked back, snarling and whinnying at the loss of its left eye. Legra pressed his advantage, swinging his blade in a backhand, cutting at the other side of the head.

Wise now to the swift, indomitable strikes of the curveblade, the Alpha leaped back and made full use of its quills. His cloak absorbing most of the quills and his blade cutting the rest in half before they got to him, he rushed his foe.

The creature shrieked once, and then fled.

"No wonder it has so many scars. It flees before it is killed!"

He felt a rush of relief.

But wait.

Something was wrong.

No moonbeasts, let alone Alphas, were cowards. They did not run once they made up their mind to fight.


Behind him, about a few minute's run away, he heard a loud howling.

The Queen had found the first dead Alpha.

And she was coming.

OOC: I'll post next about the queen.

[Huka]

Til impaled a Moonbeast in the back, finally reaching his friends after being distracting the savage beasts. Slamming the screaming thing on the ground, his throat clicked rapidly as he looked at the valiant Sorsa fighting multiple Moonbeasts despite his wounds. Clicking his mandibles, he grabbed the discus hanging on his belt, and thrown it hard, slicing into two beasts. The discus embedded itself into a tree and Til pounced to assist Sorsa before the poison succumb him.

[Spartan 999]

Sorsa glanced behind him, eyes narrowed. "That...does not sound good." He said, sheathing his bolas. He looked at Legra and Til, shrugging. "No point trying to run. She's far faster than us, I imagine." Sorsa cocked an eyebrow. "So...who wants to take point?"

[Huka]

Slaying the last Moonbeast, Til looked back, and replied, "I will take the front. I am the less injuried fortunately."

[kartoffelfogel]

Legra looked over his shoulder at his friends.

"Go, Til. I will bring up the rear. I hope Sorsa will recover soon. We will need our full strength to fight the Queen."

[Spartan 999]

"Don't count on it." Sorsa rasped. "My eyesight is becoming blurry even now."

Sorsa scanned the terrain, then saw a decent sized tree. "I'm going up. I'll be able to used my ranged weapons effectively." Grunting, he managed to pull himself up into the canopy of the tree. "By the Forerunners, I hope this works."

[Huka]

"It will work!" Til said with a spark of confidence, "It must work, I believe in our combined abilities."

Walking to the front of the group as they took their own positions, Til took the liberty of crouching in the middle of the path, using his polearm as a support as he rested his body from hours of constant battle but his body ready to pounce at the given moment. This is a moment to live for, a epic battle between three Sangheilian hunters against a mighty Queen of beasts.

Looking into the darkness of the forest, Til ran a couple fingers across his new scar, now trying to heal. As he thought, he snapped his mandibles in eager anticipaticon. He never thought his hunt would go like this.

He couldn't wait to get to write his war poem on this, a piece worthy of his saga.

[Spartan 999]

(I'll control Legra, fyi)

Sorsa heard the furious screech signaling the Queen's approach, followed by several large trees actually being knocked down. The Queen finally came into the clearing, her bellow so loud the air actually rippled. She stood around seven meters tall, and was considerably longer. Her tail flicked back and forth, electricity occasionally sparking off the tips. She glared at Til with a look so full of anger it was surprising he didn't catch fire spontaneously. A low growl came from her throat, making the ground vibrate and leaves fall from the trees.

Legra backed up, curveblade clutched tightly. “Watch for her tail: one glancing touch, and you will be paralyzed at best. She is also faster than she app-” Whoosh! The Queen's tail flew through the air, sparks dancing at the tips. Legra and Til barely managed to avoid the massive appendage, and they saw first hand the strength of the tail as it knocked over a tree and burned the wood.

Sorsa grimaced, readying himself. It would be a short battle, one way or another.



(The Queen)


(Up close)

[Dufflepud]

The great huntress gave an ear shattering roar, furious at the intruders who dared to harm her children. She lashed her electrically charged tail, blowing a tree out of the ground and watching with satisfaction as the diminutive creatures that had tresspassed on her territory scampered. Seeing a flash of movement, she roared again, and dashed after one of the intruders (legra). Approaching fast, she saw the glint of metal in it's hand. Smashing a tree aside with her massive paw, she shot a short ranged bolt of electricity at it with a muscle contraction in her tail. At any range more than eight meters, the attack would harmlessly dissapate, but at this range, a direct hit would be lethal...

[kartoffelfogel]

@assasin999: YOO NO PLAY LEGRA! ME LEGRA! YOU OPPORTUNISTIC CHARACTER-PILFERER!



Legra was no fool. He knew Queens well, and from experience. One of these creatures had deprived Legra of a father, two conjunctions past.

He leapt back, and stabbed his metallic blade into the dirt. That would ground the curveblade.

He released his grip on the blade just as the Queen loosed its lightning.

[Dufflepud]

The bolt of crackling electricity struck Legra's curve blade, liquifying it and burning a meter deep hole into the ground. The sangheili out of sight, the queen gave a roar, before turning around to find all of the others were gone or hiding as well. furious, she lit up her tail once more, before expelling the pent up electricity in a series of blasts that reduced the surrounding copse of trees to a large clearing. The smell of burning wood filling the air, the queen could no longer smell the hunters, but she could see them Stomping off towards another of the creatures (Sorsa), she took in a deep breath, and let out a massive unnatural shriek that split the air.

[Spartan 999]

Sorsa managed to get out of his tree before the electricity destroyed it, leaping to another. He slipped and fell, his vision making him miss. He thudded on the ground, groaning. The Queen roared at him, the air rippling again. He clutched his ears, teeth clanched in agony. He just managed to roll behind a tree, dodging the Queen's swiping claws. He drew a throwing disc, stepped out, and hurled it at the Queen.

[Spartan 999]

There is an OOC thread you know, Monkey...

[Huka]

Til jumped from his tree as he grabbed for Logra and carried him some where safe from the Queen's wrath. Never had he imagined her like this. Suddenly he saw Sorsa in danger, lending Logra against a tree, he twirled his spear, and sprinted to assist his poisoned friend.

[kartoffelfogel]

OOC: His name is Legra, and he is not out of the count yet.

Legra, whisked out of danger by his friend Til, picked himself up.

The battle with the Queen was fierce--although he knew that help had to be coming. It had to be, didn't it?

The earsplitting scream ripped apart the air.

Maybe not.

Legra, weaponless for the second time, desperately thought of a way to help fight the Queen.

On the ground, a few feet away, lay a discarded quill. He leapt for it, and lifted it up. It was about two feet long, and with a razor sharp tip.

Suddenly, an idea hit him.

He rushed around for a moment, and then came upon another discarded quill. He swept it up, clutching it as one would for dear life.

He ran to Til.

"Til! Til!" he shouted.


"TIL!!!"

Cursing softly, he lifted one of the quills. Damn him for an amateur. He had forgotten his first lesson in moonbeast hunting. Silently, he recalled the old rhyme:

Metal will melt and stone will shatter
And anything wood will not matter
For you cannot harm a beast but with his own
So seek to strike with a moonbeast's bone

[Huka]

OCC: Sorry, I didn't mean to mispell Legra's name.

"Are you okay, Sorsa?" Til asked as he rushed next to the Special Operative as he faced the Queen with anticipation and fear.

[kartoffelfogel]

Legra crashed toward Sorsa and Til, still carrying his Alpha-bone quills.

"Til, quick. I need your help! I know how to ki--how to defeat the Queen!"

He caught himself just in time. There would be no way to kill the Queen without one of the sanctified Huntspears, weapons designed specifically for killing the ba'knwa Queen at the height of the Hunt. However, a two-foot quill would be enough to blind it.

"Til! Quick! Take one of these quills! Follow me!" He blurted out, tossing Til a quill.

OOC: Still Til will need a lil' quill.

[Huka]

Til caught the hard quill in his hand, keeping a distance from the Queen as he back towards Legra. "What about Sorsa, brother?" He asked.

[Spartan 999]

"I'll be fine." Sorsa growled, leaning forward. "For now at least." He grinned sadly. "I think I will make an excellent distraction for the Queen, though. Tell me where you want me."

[Huka]

"No, we can't." He looked to Legra for any help of assisting Sorsa.

[Dufflepud]

(OOC: Stop posting one scentence at a time! At least write a four scentence paragraph!)

The hunters had converged, and the noise they were making was enough to alert the queen to their position. She crashed forwards, smashing aside trees as she persued the hunters. Igniting her tail, she blasted about wildly, clearing her path and revealing her enemies. With a roar, she charged directly at them.

[kartoffelfogel]

"Sorsa!" Legra bellowed. "Hit the beast from a distance! Knives, sticks, rocks, whatever you can!"

As the Queen charged at them, Legra dove forward in a roll. Snapping back up, to the Queen's flank, he hefted his quill.

"Til! Get to her opposite side!"

[Huka]

Til rushed to the monsterous queen, rolling to her opposite side with his spear and quill in hand.

[Spartan 999]

Sorsa drew his bolas and a throwing disc. He started whirling the bolas around rapidly, then released it at the Queen, followed by the disc. He rolled behind a tree, dodging a bolt of electricity. The unfortunate plant blackened, and started to fall forward.

Sorsa looked up, realizing his predicament. He started running at a half-pace, missing the falling trunk by centimeters to spare...and right out in front of the Queen.

(Feel free to knock Sorsa around, just don't kill him)

[kartoffelfogel]

"TIL!!!" Legra bellowed, moon-frenzy gripping him. All his pains served no purpose but to fuel the fire within him. He charged, his quill in his right hand.

His chest pounded, driving him both into a state of supreme concentration and into a state of fury beyond sane comprehension...

As he rushed the Queen from the flank, long-buried memories echoed in his ears...

The Moon Chant...

The Moon Chant; the traditional hunting song sang as the Queen was brought down, signifying the climax of the Hunt. Often, the song was sung as they killed the Queen, oftimes when the sky neared morning, and six of the seven moons had set. It was never sung at a few hours past midnight, when all seven moons still hung in the night.

On the other hand, no lone party of Sangheili had ever challenged an Alpha alone and lived, much less challenged a Queen. However, they were not ordinary hunters...

---

...they were warriors.

Legra charged the last few feet to the Queen, and as it confronted Sorsa, he leaped for its back, gripping with his good left arm.. However, instead of a bloodcurdling roar, he instead began to sing.

"Aih! Aih! Aih!

I'm searching for something to hunt for...
I'm hunting for something to find..."

He landed on the beast, his quill held high.

"Sorrow has not rendered me slow
and joy has not stricken me blind..."

The Queen thrashed, he held on desperately.

"I'm chasing farther and farther
And faster with every breath
I now ignore all fear
I now ignore all death!"

Despite his lungs crying for air, he held on, and kept singing.

"Yet heresy hounds my every step
And all my pain is returned...
Yet I shall seek my right reward
That I have by vigor earned!"

The Queen tried to dash him against a tree, but he let go with one hand, and threw the quill into the air with the other...

"I shall go along the Journey...
And salvation I shall acheive,
I go now to attain enlightenment
And my holy prize I shall recieve!"

Legra successfully switched his grip, his right hand now holding on and his left hand catching and gripping the quill. His wounded right arm shrieked in protest.

"I see now my final trial--
And I cannot be thwarted--"

He raised his strong left arm high, the quill gleaming in sevenfold moonlight, ready to plunge into the Queen's eye--

"FOR I NOW NEAR MY JOURNEY'S END--"

He swung around, his quill flying toward the queen as his right arm finally gave up and he let go--

"RIGHT BACK WHERE I STARTED!"

He felt his quill dig into something soft.

He landed hard on the ground, exhausted. He heard the sound of the Queen shrieking. He had landed his blow.

Wait... shrieking?

He looked up. If the quill had gone into the eye, the beast would have died. But no... it was still shrieking... still alive... still angry!

Legra wheeled about to Til.

"My quill went into the beasts throat, but it is only wounded! Though the blow is fatal, it still has time to kill us!" He cried out.

"Til!"

"FINISH IT!"

OOC: Don't screw this up, Huka.