Ask Onderon Lost Tribes

[Srucayr]

The thrill of the hunt was not one lost on Srucayr. Though these days his quarry were the worst beast in the galaxy: other sentient beings. Those slated and chosen by the gods to die. But this, was more than sport. This was a test for both men to see the worth of their companions. Wind whipped around the War Priest, trying to tug him free from his perch, but it was something he couldn't allow to pass. Not this time.

Though the sword would have been easier, at this angle, between the weight, force from the wind, and gravity, it would have been near impossible for him to use it. So, he instead reached for the war pick. Pulling it free, Srucayr would wait for the angle to change slightly in the flight, before driving the pick side into the thick hide of the Drexl. A normal weapon would do nothing, but Mandalorian Iron could break through most hides, survive most objects. This would be no different.

The first target was the neck of the creature, a thick spray of its blood racing forth to meet visor and armor. The Alpha did not enjoy what was happening one bit. And a curse would escape the priests lips as it entered a sharp dive, ignoring the retreating Nakadr. The only way he managed to keep his perch was the grip of the pick jammed into the bone of the Drexl. The quicker it descended, the more it began to roll, hoping to launch its unwanted rider free.

@Reyn @Tess

 

[Kliedden Raxx]

The juvenile Drexl recoiled from the impact of the beskar encased Mandalorian, nearly knocking Klied off as well. Thankfully the hunter managed to maintain his footing. The reptavian wasn't rolling about so much as it was now simply falling out of the sky, too young to carry two full grown humans at once. As the beast flapped it's wings furiously and tried to stay airborne, Klied looked up. They were aimed right for a cliff face, and would all be crushed if they did not adjust course soon.

Cursing under his breath Klied ripped his grappling line free, drawing another pained yelp from the Drexl. "I hope you're holding on tight down there!" He shouted to Riye before pulling his right hand free as well. The wind immediately knocked him back, threatening to throw him off once more. Klied wrapped his legs tightly around the beast's torso and slowly extended his grapple line again, holding it in both hands. He began swinging the hook around, and when the beast cried out again from the pain and frustration, threw it forward. The line wrapped over the creature's jaws and came back around, allowing the hunter to grasp the hook in his other hand. With a grunt and a mighty heave he pulled up on the rope, forcing the Drexl's head up as well.

The beast unwillingly began to follow his direction, pulling up just in time to avoid smashing into the cliff, although now they were careening directly towards the jungle canopy ahead. "Aw crap..." The Onderonian muttered, and leaned to the left, forcing the beast to do the same. At least that would hopefully lessen any impact Riye was about to be met with.

@Rhogar @Tess

 

[Riye Drahr]

Riye stayed put right where she'd landed, using the blade embedded in the beast's side to keep herself atop it. At least for the moment - it wasn't nearly as easy as she may have made it look. At Klied's comment though, she would laugh and reply with a simple, "Don't worry for me. Kad has shown me the way." It could have come off many ways to the aruetii: boastful, extremist, naive. For the young War Priestess though, there was no doubt in her mind that she was doing exactly what needed to be done. Even with the quickly approaching cliff and the overburdened beast flapping with all its might, she would not waiver in following the path she believed had been laid out for her. She held on tight.

She'd been wanting to see how the man worked in the field, and watching him form impromptu reins for the wild beast from his grappling line did not disappoint.

A smile formed beneath the silver helm she wore, using both hands to pull her blade free of the beast just before Klied pulled back on the reins, the three of them jerking upwards to miss the cliff edge by mere inches. Now. It had to be now. Grabbing the pull cord for her parachute, Riye gave it a yank as the beast lifted over the edge, its flanks kicking her up and away at the same time she pushed off with both boots, putting a good distance between her, the beast, and her fellow hunter. It was a start. The chute opened a second or two later, swiftly catching the wind and offering her both temporary lift and a slower descent to the jungle below. She would the nwatch as Klied turned the drexl on its side, knowing the relief of her weight would give both of them a better chance of coming to a halt without injury. At least, that was the plan.

One downed beast. One to go.

As she descended, she would look up to watch Srucayr and his own beast fall into a dive, hoping they wouldn't land too far away.

@Rhogar @Reyn

 

[Srucayr]

With the downward momentum and the roll, the War Priest was finding it hard to keep his grip. No matter, all was as the Destroyer willed. He had trusted his god endlessly over the decades and today.. would be no different. Planting both feet, he would grab the warpick with both hands before launching himself forward, releasing the weapon in the process. He was now once more airborne and as he created some distance from the Alpha, he would pull his blade free from its scabbard.

Midroll, the Alpha would slam Srucayr with its wing, knocking him further away as well as knocking the wind straight from his lungs. No matter. Jetboots would activated to correct his course, propelling him back in pursuit of the Alpha. His quarry, however, had tried to dive quick to grab ahold of the Juvenile's exposed side with it's talons in an attempt to keep it from crashing into the jungle canopy. There be no concern for the War Priest. Riye was well-trained and Klied was a skilled hunter, one whose whole existence stemmed on the fact he was able to survive the hard hunts. Blade gripped firmly in both hands, Srucayr angled himself from the heart of the Alpha.

Mighty wings would flap as the Alpha arched back up to try to take both skyward, only to have Srucayr slam into the creatures exposed under underbelly, his blade piercing through the thick hide and straight into the heart. The once-powerful wings would get a half flap before the dead weight would carry both creatures and both hunters back to the canopy.

@Reyn @Tess

 

[Kliedden Raxx]

Klied wasn't sure what the young Mandalorian meant by her statement, because to him it looked an awful lot like 'the way' was leading them directly into a painful meeting with the trees. But instead Riye chose to avoid this introduction, opening her shoot and breaking free. The hunter himself was bracing for impact when a quickly growing shadow turned his eyes upward. He cursed and leaned further to the side as the alpha closed in, forcing the juvenile to roll over and present it's underbelly to the incoming talons.

The alpha ended up skewering the smaller creature, and then very soon after being skewered itself by the war priest, sending them all on a collision course for the ground. Figuring it was time to go, Klied released his grip on the makeshift reins and reached over to release his grappling line from his gauntlet, allowing him to go into freefall. That freefall lasted all of three seconds before he impacted with the jungle canopy. Klied tucked his chin and legs in and used his arms to protect his head as he made contact, immediately getting battered by branches and leaves. Thankfully he was high enough up that those branches were thinner, not enough to seriously wound him. As he fell through the upper canopy he turned over and now spread his limbs out wide like a star, using them to catch on to anything he could to slow his fall. He broke a few more branches and vines, but eventually found purchase on a large branch. He wrapped his arms around it, holding tight and groaning as the aches wracked his body, then slowly dropped down to the next branch. Then came the next, and the next until he landed unevenly on the forest floor.

The Onderonian staggered and shook his head, then cracked his neck before pulling his hood back up and continuing forward. He walked off the throbbing pain from the fall, following the sounds of the injured and dying drexl. Pushing through the brush he arrived at the crash sight, finding the two reptavians tangled together in a broken heap. Klied regarded them both quietly for a moment before drawing his hunting knife and walking forward. The juvenile was twitching and struggling to breathe, blood flowing freely from it's chest. Getting a closer look Klied figured it had at least one punctured lung, perhaps two. It wouldn't last long. Approaching the creature's head he brushed it gently before driving his knife into it's neck, ending it's suffering more quickly. As the creature went still he withdrew his blade and looked around briefly to see where the war priest had gone. The alpha was still alive, and he didn't wish to deprive him of the final blow.

@Rhogar @Tess

 

[Riye Drahr]

To say Riye was a little surprised at the War Priest's tactics would be an understatement. As she floated lazily down over the canopy, unable to do anything with the melee weapons she had on her, the young woman would watch as the Alpha suddenly dove out of the sky toward the juvenile and mortally wounded it. Was it on accident? Or was it on purpose? It was difficult to say, but Srucayr followed right after, killing the Alpha with a well-placed strike. Then both beasts and both men fell through the canopy of the jungle, accompanied by the sounds of cracking limbs and fleeing wildlife.

She winced, thinking about poor Klied. This wasn't exactly what she'd had planned when she tried to drive the juvenile into the ground.

But she had herself to worry about now.

Nearing the canopy herself, finally, the young woman let her durasteel boots start to graze the tops of the trees. She was hoping for a solid enough treetop that she wouldn't fall through immediately, or get her chute caught in the branches high above the ground, or anything unlucky like that. Unfortunately, she wasn't that blessed by Kad. Dipping lower and lower into the foliage, Riye quickly chose to cut the parachute free and risk the fall, plummeting down through the leaves and branches much faster than Klied due to the weight of her armor but feeling much less of the pain when she broke through them due to that same armor.

Grabbing the first large branch she could, she'd slip down one or two more before she finally came to a stop and found herself about sixty feet off the ground. Now came the fun part. Climbing down. Taking a good look around her, the young War Priest would pinpoint which direction she'd need to go to regroup with the others before slowly making her way down to the ground. She'd slip several more times on her way, and had to drop the last twenty feet to the forest floor, but except for a few pains and sore spots she knew would grow into colorful bruises, she was unharmed.

She did have to pick foliage out of her armor the whole way toward the fallen Drexl, of course, and arrived just in time to watch Klied end the suffering of the younger one.

“Good to see you land on your feet like a nexu cat.”

@Rhogar @Reyn

 

[Srucayr]

Srucayr gripped the blade tightly in one hand, while the other gripped the maw of the Alpha for support. He could see Klied roll to safety, and since Riye wasn't in view, he figured she was safe as well. The War Priest would ride the dying beasts to the surface, bracing when the mighty forms crashed through the canopy, his heavy armor and thick underlay protecting him from any splinters or sharpened staves created by the impact. Once or twice, he had nearly lost his grip, but the gods were with him.

Then came the surface. A thicker branch would collide with Srucayr's back, nearly uprooting him, though his iron grip would keep him aloft. The impact, however, was another story. Bones would break as small beast was sandwiched between the jungle floor and the Alpha, and the spray of blood from the latter now coated the War Priest. On impact, Srucayr would be thrown, his grip breaking and he was flung from the beast. Hitting the surface, the Mandalorian would recover in a roll, his visored helm searching the area.

After a few moments, Klied appeared and finished off the juvenile, a mercy. Srucayr would approach the Alpha and pause, looking back to Riye. "Earn your glory, Riye. Finish the Alpha." The beast in question, though unmoving still could be heard breathing. Srucayr's blade was still lodged into its chest.

@Tess @Reyn

 

[Kliedden Raxx]

Klied chuckled breathlessly in response to Riye's joking. "A nexu cat with a few cracked ribs maybe." He replied as he held his side and stretched uncomfortably. He'd have more than a few unpleasant bruises tomorrow, but he'd live. It was strange to see Srucayr offering the final blow to his companion, considering she had focused on the juvenile with Klied, but he didn't make a comment on it. There was something else he wanted to clear up with the Mandalorian though.

"You know I guess it's on me for not bringing this up earlier," He started a bit dryly. "General rule is to not mess with the drexl. I prefer not to kill without need, and I'm not really seeing how any of this was necessary." He wiped the blood off his knife and returned it to his sheath. "I'd like you to call your men and have them pick up the carcasses when they can. I don't want them going to waste."

With that he would turn and walk a small distance away, looking around and trying to get his bearings. Once the hunter had pinned down where they were he would look back at his companions. "Your fortress should be this way. It's a few hours hike on foot, so get anything that needs doing out of the way now. And stick close. Predators will try to pick us off one at a time if they can." Klied would wait for the Mandalorians to gather themselves. Then once everyone was ready he would start leading them deeper into the jungle.

@Rhogar @Tess

 

[Riye Drahr]

“Cracked ribs heal stronger.” Riye replied lightheartedly, slapping Klied on the shoulder rather roughly just as she would have a brother-in-arms who had taken down a beast of this size. She could tell he was a little worse for wear, and she felt a slight pang of regret for forcing the juvenile into a position where the alpha would attack it like it had – but he wasn't bleeding or limping, so for the most part he had survived unscathed. She had a few sore spots herself, as well as some dents in her armor, thanks to the tree she half-fell and half-climbed down. “You earned your kill.”

When the war priest called out to her, the young woman's attention shifted and she made her way over to the fallen alpha, her helmet tilting to one side as she paced around the head and considered if she should accept the kill. She hadn't been the one to take the alpha down, that was Srucayr. Still, if he wanted to offer her the honor, who was she to say no? Unsheathing her vibroblade, she would look over at the beast's neck, locating the largest artery she could find by simply watching the scaled skin rise and fall in rhythm that didn't match the shallow breathing.

“We do not waste what we kill needlessly. Drexl makes good stew meat when it's handled properly.” She assured the aruetii, her helmet tilting to the other side as she found exactly what she'd been looking for.

Once she found the right spot, Riye brought up her blade and, with both hands, lifted it above her head only to bury it into the beast's throat with as much force as she could muster – yanking it out a moment later and watching as the blood flowed out in several heavy rivulets, a new one forming with every beating of the alpha's heart. Considering the state the alpha was in, it didn't take long before the beast bled out. Death was a mercy at this point.

"Sounds like it'll be a lovely hike."

@Rhogar @Reyn

 

[Srucayr]

"Drexl know no fear." Srucayr would begin. "And an Alpha has no fear for ships. The juvenile was likely a scout, to test us. Had we not engaged, our ship would have either been damaged or could have done more damage to the nature here." The War Priest would set a hand on the head of the Alpha and said a silent prayer, calming it somewhat as Riye eased its pain.

"We should leave the juvenile to attract the beasts that would normally be hunting us. This Alpha, however, will go with you. A sign of goodwill between our people. I will have my people come and collect it." His gaze would shift then shift to Riye.

"Mhi malyasa'yr haa'taylir ibic solus tug'yc, o'r Manda." he would sigh. "Dwed cuyir burk'yc, a bic b ohvilyaor cuyir jaon'yc. Mhi va subay naastar bic emuurir cuun yaim cuyir naastar."

<"We will see this one again, in Manda.." "Dxun is dangerous, but it's existence is important. We cannot destroy it like our home was destroyed.">

His gauntlet would give her shoulder a squeeze as he stepped past her towards Klied. "Lead on, Raxx. I am eager to see my kin."

@Reyn @Tess

 

[Kliedden Raxx]

"No it will not." Klied replied plainly to Srucayr's offer as he checked his equipment again, then looked at the priest. "Your kill, your bounty. If you want to leave it behind to attract predators that's fair enough. I'll take the juvenile." With that he would start walking, expecting his companions to follow. Drawing his knife the hunter would lead the way, slicing through the thick brush as necessary to clear a path. He was on high alert here, in his element. Years of training in this environment had left his senses extremely well attuned. No movement or sound escaped his notice. At all times he was aware of everything happening around them, every creature that crawled or slithered just out of sight. If an attack was coming, he would see it. But thankfully for the time being, they were unthreatened.

"My uncle and I visited this fortress of yours a few times when I was a boy." He explained as they continued moving. "He would trade with them. Occasionally they would enlist him for something they needed doing, usually thinning predator populations when they got too high to manage. By the time I was grown we had moved on to other parts of the galaxy to hunt. So it might take me a bit to recall details..." There was more to it then that. When he was young Klied had very little contact with sentients other than his uncle. The Mandalorians were one of those groups. But Odo always tried to keep them at arms length then. He resented his mentor for it at the time. Although as he grew he understood a bit more. Had he taken a bit more after those Mandalorians, he likely would be a different person today.

@Rhogar @Tess

 

[Riye Drahr]

Riye lowered her helm in a prayer for the Alpha as it died. It had fought well, and died well. That was all any of them could ask for. Sheathing her vibroblade, the young woman would lift her visor to nod at Srucayr's words in their native tongue, moving around the beasts to see just how badly they were tangled. Pulling them apart may not even be feasible considering how they landed. The crew that dropped them off might need to cut them into pieces just to separate them properly.

Her thoughts soon centered back on the two men as they seemed to have a disagreement over which beast would be taken and which would be left to distract the other predators in the area. She let her gaze shift between them, but she wasn't about to be the one to make that decision.

This was between them.

When Klied moved, Riye followed, her visor settling on the War Priest for just short of five seconds before she pulled her vibroblade again and headed into the jungle after him. This was going to be a long trip of the three of them weren't on the same wavelength, and it seemed that was going to be the case – at least for now. As she caught up to the man, she lowered her voice. “You had a good relationship with them, then. That's good. They might remember you.”