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Post by Cyran Fenastra-Asiliari on Feb 12, 2023 14:14:25 GMT -5
Cyran huffed a laugh as Gerhart goaded him. The teasing, at the very least, seemed to re-energize him - Gerhart’s lighthearted nature seemed to grant Cyran a second wind. Gerhart had dispatched another insect, leaving them one each left to deal with. The two jumped at Gerhart, who was holding the line - but he couldn’t do it forever, not with the insectoid crustaceans clawing at him in the search for any vulnerable spots in his armor. Cyran rushed up, grabbing one of the cave fishers from where it was attempting to claw into Gerhart’s shoulder.
The fisher twisted and writhed in his grip, until Cyran tightened his grip around its neck, drawing the life out of it until its body began to wither and decay, life force flowing through Cyran’s own body until it was as if he hadn’t exerted himself in the fight at all.[1] By the time it was dead, there was nothing left besides a withered corpse of a carapace that he dropped to the ground.
He turned his attention back to where Gerhart was still struggling with the last one.
“Help him!” Cyran commanded Yeux, who was still fluttering around him - the bat dove and immediately tried to pierce the cave fisher with his small fangs. It wasn’t strong enough to damage the creatures, but the cave fisher was distracted enough by the flying annoyance that it was now attempting to swat at Yeux with its claws, paying less attention to Gerhart. 1. Vampiric Touch
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 12, 2023 16:48:27 GMT -5
Gerhart was working on finding an opening now that only one was on him, but the size difference didn't help. Both the cave fisher and himself showed a few signs of the wear and tear of battle, but Gerhart wasn't about to let himself be overtaken by an oversized monster that couldn't decide if it wanted to be a scorpion, a spider, or a crab.
When Yeux flew into its face, the fisher roared back trying desperately to claw the bat out of the sky. He drew both swords back, letting out a slow breath as he watched the flailing, waiting for the perfect moment. The second it arrives he steps forward hard, putting more of his hips into the swing of each sword carving parallel gouges in its underside that spilled heavy amounts of blood.[1]
The deep wound only enhances its thrashing as it tosses its body against the cave walls in its death throes. "Back up!" Gerhart calls back to Cyran, quickly retreating himself as the stalactites on the roof start to fall and crash down amidst the chaos of the dying fishers.
Gerhart shields his face from the dust and rubble, just glad to have a moment to catch his breath. Phew....always felt better to walk away with no big injuries, a few scrapes and bruises are nothing. He grins over to Cyran.
"Two for two isn't bad I suppose!"
1. Gerhart's Final Strike
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Post by Cyran Fenastra-Asiliari on Feb 12, 2023 20:39:13 GMT -5
Yeux managed to give Gerhart the perfect opening - he managed to dispatch the final fisher, smashing it against the cavern wall. The foundations of the very cave trembled from the blow, the stalactites jutting through the ceiling cracking dangerously. He was already alert when Gerhart called out to him, gliding backwards smoothly on his ice skates just in time to follow Gerhart outside. If there were any remaining fishers alive in the cage, they were suddenly crushed by the collapsing roof. Cyran jumped and rolled before he could get pelted by the collapsing rubble, landing right next to Gerhart.
His entire body burned from the effort of the escape, chest heaving as he rolled onto his back.
“I… suppose so.” He huffed, letting out a pained wheeze. Man, he really was getting to old for this. He couldn’t stand long fights as easily as he used to. “That should… hopefully have taken care of any more, though.”
Yeux fluttered up to him, curling up on his chest. Cyran brought his hand up to pet the small animal’s head - the activity, more than he was used to, had likely scared him. “You did good, today.” He muttered, voice soft. He craned his neck to smile at Gerhart, thankful at the very least that they’d both gotten out before the cave-in. That had been dangerous… he truly needed to stop meeting Gerhart in such dangerous situations.
“I’m glad you’re alright.” He said, turning back to Gerhart. “That was a close call.”
There was a lot more he could say - words that had gone unspoken since they made their way out of the Sultan’s Tomb, worries that he wished he could voice. But those would have to come later. For now, he simply asked, “Is there any way you could call Halcyon to take us to the nearest inn?”
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 12, 2023 21:09:03 GMT -5
"Was it? Seemed pretty part for the course really." He took out a cloth and cleaned the blood and webbing from his swords. The swords are then sheathed with a little flourish, hands resting on the pommels as he looks at the cave. As aloof as he was, there was something about the cave business here did bother him. Cave fisher's weren't exactly known as pack hunters, nor did they usually risk hunting so openly. Something was driving them out, but that was a problem for another day.
He looked to Cyran who he could tell was maybe not as enthusiastic about how everything had just gone down. He gave a whistle which was met by a distant cry. Gerhart dusts himself off before taking a seat on a nearby rock.
"Gonna be a second...he'll come around." Gerhart relaxes back a bit seeing as they now have time to wait. "Do....do you think there's even much of a point to trying to you know like....have a relationship when I'm still doing this kinda stuff?"
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Post by Cyran Fenastra-Asiliari on Feb 13, 2023 8:43:39 GMT -5
“That doesn’t make it any less harrowing.” Internally, he was wondering the same thing lingering on Gerhart’s mind. Something had been wrong with those beasts. But if he’d wanted to find out, the answers were buried somewhere in this sprawling maze of caverns, for another expedition, he supposed. For now, they’d completed the objective they set out to, and the people of Dragon’s Cradle were a little safer from the hunters that had been dwindling their numbers.
He had recovered enough to sit up once more, going through the ritual of cleaning off the blades on his boots similar to Gerhart, not at all bothered by the viscera that had been left behind. When he finished, he sat next to Gerhart on the rock outcropping, staring at the now- closed cavern entrance.
Then Gerhart asked another difficult question.
Cyran frowned. Love was one of those things he’d never had the chance to experience in the road. Never allowed himself. But Gerhart had the beginnings of something special, a light in the craziness of the adventurer’s life. It was the promise of something new, if he let himself try.
He deserved a chance at it, at the very least.
“You shouldn’t deprive yourself of happiness.” Cyran said eventually, voice heavy. “Sure, it might be dangerous. You can never fully prepare for anything that might happen. But there’s no point in depriving yourself of things that make you happy. If you both know the risks… and you both want this… then pursue that relationship.” There was a lot of uncertainty with what Gerhart did for a living. But Cyran had faith, at least, that Cirice would watch over him. And he would take care of her in turn.
And that was all they could do in life.
But it felt like enough.
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 13, 2023 10:59:11 GMT -5
"It's less about my happiness...I just never want to be the reason someone is sad or hurt. Spent too long making people smile to ruin all that work." He gives a small laugh as he looks towards the sky. "I know I'm getting too far ahead of myself, I haven't even asked her out properly yet. Who knows if those feelings are mutual..." His voice trails off as he looks towards the cave, the short silence broken by the call of Halcyon looping around in the sky. The kestrel tossed back the rest of whatever meal it had caught before diving towards them. "Might as well just go after it like I do everything else, don't think, just do." Gerhart turns to face the divebombing bird, arms outstretched like he's going to catch the bird. It looks like its going to be a terrible collision, but Halcyon stops just short and pulls out of the dive to just gently headbutt Gerhart in the chest. He hugs the bird and gives him many scritches, "You can sit in back and hold on to me or up front and let me hold on to you....your choice~" He grins wide and laughs towards Cyran as the bird lowers himself to let them both on.
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Post by Cyran Fenastra-Asiliari on Feb 13, 2023 19:02:07 GMT -5
“That won’t always be something you can control.” The words might have felt harsh, though Cyran didn’t speak them as such. It was simply the only advice he could impart - for all Gerhart tried to spread positivity, he could not control every eventuality himself… nor could he always prevent others from being hurt around him. He did not sound admonishing, but rather, as gentle as he could.
“Perhaps there may come a day where you’re no longer around. And it may make Cirice sad. But the happiness you’ve given her up until that point - it will all have been worth it.”
But Gerhart didn’t have to have all the answers right away. It was… challenging, to balance a life and a high risk job. But he would be damned if he let himself see Gerhart miss out on the happiness in life out of his own desperation to give it to others. He deserved better than that.
The bird’s cry in the air pulled Cyran out of his thoughts - Halcyon bent down to give Gerhart a gentle nudge, mount and master clearly happy to see one another. Cyran pulled himself off of the rock, brushing rubble and dust from the recent cave-in off of his jacket. “I’ll sit behind and hold onto you, if it’s all the same.” He was taller than Gerhart and didn’t want to block the younger man’s sight. He pulled himself up after Gerhart and let the younger man lead them into the sky.
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 13, 2023 19:17:18 GMT -5
"Well...now that I think about it, she's an elf like you and you guys live to be like a billion years, so at some point I won't be around right?" He gives a little smile before their little trip was coming to an end.
With another call, Halcyon takes off into the sky with excitement. Water splashes and ripples around them as the bird flaps its wings to pull them off into the air to end this adventure. They would have to tell the town this was all taken care of anyways. And as is a tradition for Gerhart, he's buying the first round of drinks for whoever he's working with to celebrate a job well done.
He lets the talk of relationships and hard life choices subside as they take the time to induldge in time well spent. There really wasn't much more to say, at least from Gerhart's perspective. Cyran and Zarius had a point that there really wasn't much else to do besides just asking and taking that chance. Plus....given his job and life span, time wasn't on his side. Gerhart knew he didn't make it this far by being the smartest or most clever man in the room, he made it by being the guy willing to do something. Didn't matter if he was good at it or useful, just doing sometimes is enough to get others going. That's what he would do with this dilemma, something. What that something was is yet to be determined.
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