People: Zera, Keys of May, Azami, Tsangun, Swift Felling Scythe, Fudou, Kutsuu

 

 

It is not what some would call a great day out, but it is not horrible either. A light rain pours down on the country side. A few farmers till the soil in the rain, thankful for it during the hot Season of Fire. It is cool and refreshing. On the worn road stands a lone figure dressed in a black cloak with a grand daiklave of silver strapped to his back. He is staring up at the rain with a look of relaxation on his face. His dark blue hair and dark eyes gives him an attractive look and his skin is a nice tan color.

It is not what some would call a great day out, but it is not horrible either. A light rain pours down on the country side. A few farmers till the soil in the rain, thankful for it during the hot Season of Fire. It is cool and refreshing. On the worn road stands a lone figure dressed in a black cloak with a grand daiklave of silver strapped to his back. He is staring up at the rain with a look of relaxation on his face. His dark blue hair and dark eyes gives him an attractive look and his skin is a nice tan color.

Tsangun is also on the road this day, less business and more pleasureable wandering for the Scavenger Princess as she looks around. She has an umbrella, of course, but the djala seems to enjoy the rain enough to alternate between keeping it up and protecting her body from the water drops, to holding it aside to allow the cool water to wash over her form and travel clothes. "Beautiful day," she muses aloud, not really expecting anyone else to hear or pay attention to her - certainly not the farmers at least.

Another walks on the road during the raining day. He is dressed in a black cloak that has many red shaped clouds across it. He wear a staw hat that covers his eyes from being seen. His long red hair goes down to his waist which is soaked due to the rain. He wears a smile across his face as he looks around the farm land in wonder. He looks to the djala with a smile on his face. His voice is quite, almost a whisper. "The rain does feel nice."

Opening up to the rain, the earth seems almost to exhale in relief, cooling the backs of the farmers and swelling the leaves and roots of the plants in the soil. Not too far off the road, Azami works alongside an older woman in faded grey clothes, laughing and talking with her as they go among tall rows of lush green vines grown on ordered trellises, hanging heavy with tiny red berries and a few white flowers. A wide, shallow basket rests in Aza's arms, half full of the rasberries and a few of the leaves that she and the older woman are harvesting. The long braid of her hair is soaked, darkened with rain, though she's conceeded to the weather by wearing a warm dove grey mantle which wraps about her in soft folds. If she's noticed the people on the road, it's not apparant, caught up for the moment in companionable work.

Swift Felling Scythe is in his usual travel guise. The Lunar wears the form of a skinny, humble looking medicine man with a pleasant, wrinkled smile. The large pack tied to his back is covered with a single sheet of waxed paper, presumable to keep herbs and medicines dry from the rain, although the medicine man himself has no shelter from the rainfall. That hardly seems to bother him at all, as he continues along the path, unhurried and unpestered, the rain slowly soaking the rough cloth of his clothes.

Keys of May continues to enjoy the rain today, but looks over at the djala with some interest. After all, he has met very very few of them. He smiles and says, "Oh, you enjoy the rain too? It truly is a nice day out today." His silver tattoos line parts of his cheeks and he moves his hand, also bearing a tattoo, up to brush his wet hair back.

Tsangun hmmms softly, a curious sound as she looks over at the red haired, soft spoken man and then to the one with the scabbard. "Oh yes, quite a lot actually. When I was younger my mother would have to tie a rope around me to keep me out of the monsoons," she says with a soft laugh while adjusting the weight of the bag slung over her shoulder.

The red haired man smiles to the djala. His voice is full of wonder and interest when he talks but still almost whispering. "The rain is nice and calming. You say that you had monsoons were you lived. What place has storms like that?"

They come from the south, this strange trio of beings. Two of them stand not more than two feet tall, tiny rat-folk who either claim the heritage of the Lunar Exalted or an unimagible amount of Wyld influance. Either one makes them bad enough luck so that most won't travel with them. Clad in piecemeal collections of cast-off human rags, they are horrid little creatures, the first armed with a curving dagger slung across one shoulder like a greatsword and the other armed with two sharpened forks. Literally, dinner forks. Between them is the third traveler. Her shoulders are hunched, and she looks frail and worn. Old? Hard to tell, because, her face is obscured by a coolie hat... pulled down so as to conceal everything beyond sagging breasts in shadow. Paperthin skin is wrapped around bones like parchment, clinging on to a walking stick. She has a rope looped around her neck, which, is strung like a leash... trailing into the hands of the rat-woman escort at her left. Slavers? They are at a distance, having just come into vision but, approaching the group. Slowly and surely.

Swift Felling Scythe glances over as he spots the silver tattoos, reading the artful script known only to Lunar exalted. 'Keys... of May' He says to himself, deciphering the other Lunar's name. It's bold of him to walk in relatively broad daylight, with his tattoos displayed for the world to see... but this is Neshumai, and they are more welcoming of Lunars in this country. Noticing the strange group of ratkin from the other side of a street, Swift looks slightly more disturbed. Beastman are not so common here.

Bidding the woman goodbye once her work is done, Aza leaves the larger basket with the farmer's wife, taking with her only a small bundle of the glossy leaves as payment, walking up towards the road. Her green eyes pick out the one familiar face there, and she quickens her pace, blinking a droplet of rain from her lashes. "Hey Tsan!" Approaching the trio, she looks curiously at the two men... and then down the road, squinting a bit nearsightedly. 

         Keys of May looks at Azami with a raised brow, noting that she is very attractive. "Well, hello there. My name is Keys of May. What are the names of the two beautiful women I am lucky enough to meet on this day?" He looks down at the trio of people with some interest and notes the man who is staring at his tattoos, but such a thing is common for him.

Tsangun casts another glance towards the red haired man with a toothy grin. "The closest proper city to where I grew up was Inzanai," the djala says with a shrug before her face practically lights up. 'Azami! We seem to have a strange way of meeting up at the strangest and oddest of places, no?" she says with a friendly laugh. The laugh begins to die down at the sight of the other travelers though, until it was nothing more than a strange half-silence from the black and white girl. She's quickly shaken from her near-trance by Keys's words though, which she smiles at before bowing politely. "Tsangun."

The strange company, rat-folk and the elderly slave, finally draw near enough to the larger assembly of oddities to be heard, and noticed. The chitter and laugh amongst each other, whispering in Rivertongue. They are watching Keys as they do this. Some snippets of conversation can be heard. 

"... demon, or man?..."

The other rat laughs, "Half-man. Not like the true Gods. Want be big people. Want cry, love, fuck. Want be soft. Want be pink big-people, weak, old. Dying. Bad luck."

The rat-woman who first spoke seems shocked by this, then looks at Keys more closely. She then laughs, a disturbing noise, for the laughter of the rat-folk is rather like a chittering call to war.

 

Through all this, the sad captive elderly woman is silent. Her slanted eyes, half-lidded, twitch and focus pupils on Keys of May. Unseen, underneath the shadow of the coolie hat, a twist of a smile touches her thin, pale mouth.

The red haired man looks to Azami with interest. "Hello there. Its nice to meet you all." He then turns his attention to the rat people that have made there way over. The long red haired man walks over to them. "You are a strong group of people what brings you here?" The red haired man turns to the now anger Keys. "Um, Keys I don't think now would be a good time. Please don't scare them away."

Keys of May looks at the two and suddenly smiles as all the rain pouring on the rats turns into a shower of javelins and they find the puddles turn as solid as adamant. Although not heavily injured the rat people cannot move their legs and the shower of rain hurts like hell.

Shreaking howls of protest, like that of true rats caught in the wicked traps of human grainkeepers, pierce the farmlands as the two travelers are so incapacitated. This enrages the pair; they draw weapons, even though they cannot move, preparing perhaps to defend themselves. The fork-armed rat reaches down to clutch rocks, throwing them towards Keys with as much force as it can muster, taunting him. 

"You not Anathama-God!" The rat-man hisses, waving dagger threateningly. "You pathetic pink big-person. Hoo-Man. Aww, so much love for sons and daughter sweet-treats? For wives? You buy dog, live on farm, become farmer shark?"

And the woman rat likewise hisses, "The God came to you, tried give you truth, you not listen! Look you now! Forget what are, you forget blood. Forget teeth. Not nothing anymore. Can't be pink big-person again. Can't be demon. Can't be /anything/." 

The old woman sighs, and tries to shuggle away in the confusion. She is feeble though, and despite her attempts to flee, the rat man still has her leesh looped around one list. It pulls tight on her neck and stalls her. Thaumaturgical bangles hang around her wrists; evidence, perhaps, of high value. These rats are lucky they found such a valuable slave that is so incapable of fighting.

The ratpeople enter Aza's range of vision and she frowns, her gaze sparking like knives as she sees with clarity what they have between them. If she had hackles they would surely rise. Looking briefly at the others, she steps forward wordlessly, one hand dissapearing with slow intent into the shelter of her satchel. "Chitter chitter," She spits, taking a long machete-style knife from out of her mantle as she goes toward the ratlings, her braid swinging heavy like woven copper behind her. "Let her go and maybe you'll keep your little tongues."

Swift Felling Scythe reacts very much like a typical peasant that he's pretending to be would. That is to say, he quickly moves away from all the noise and problems, trys not to draw any attention to himself... and at the same time, stays to watch, because peasants are nosy like that. With a quiet "Oh me oh my", the 'medicine man' scuttles off of the road and settles down behind a tall tree, watching the proceedings with curiosity.

Tsangun sighs a little bit as she looks at the rat people and their slave woman. Lavender eyes disappear beneath black and white eyelids once, twice, several times in quick succession first at the one man's reaction to the creatures's words and then again when Azami stepped forward. "Azami," the djala starts to say, perhaps a warning, perhaps encouragement - probably both actually. She doesn't continue her thought though, instead slipping her hands beneath the rain moistened overshort to withdraw a pair of knives as she steps beside her friend. If nothing else, the show of arms would - hopefully - deter any lewd thoughts from her /other/ companions.

The red haired man looks at Azmai with a confused recation. "You are quite of fierce person." He then walks closer the rat people standing just outside their range of attack He squats in front of them and begins to look them over. "You are an interesting group. Where did you come from and who is this women and why do you try to bother my friend?" 

         Keys of May has about as much restraint as a blood ape in heat; which is to say that he lacks it completely. He growls as he enters his full warform and approaches the rat people with raw anger in his eyes. "What did you say, you tiny rat bastards?! How about I shave your fur off and use you as a pair of punching bags?"

The red haired man quickly turns when he hears Keys coming. He reaches out his right hand which seems really to be a large claw like hand. He pushes against the middle of Keys chest holding the man back with is strength with is unnartul for such a weak man to stop such a beast. "Hold on a sec Keys. You need to calm down now."

The rat-man ignores threats from Azami; The weapons of Tsangan; the words of semi-friendship from the red-haired stranger. All focus is on Keys of May. "After we call you dog, you do not battle?" And then, he dissolves into furious laughter, as if that is the most ridiculous thing he has ever seen.

 

And the rat-woman, alongside him, armed with two sharpened dinner forks, contributes as well. "You need calm down, pet! Sit! Stay! Be good big pink-person!" She joins the hilarity, the shrill rat laughter filling the air, all sense of distress gone. The rat folk are just too amused to be annoyed, any longer. They don't seem frightened of Keys of May at all; as if he has lost, somehow, the ability to frighten even these tiny vermin.

The old woman keeps her head down and holds still, in the fashion of broken slaves. They can ignore nearly anything, really.

Keys of May whips his sword out and swings at the annoying creatures in a lightning quick movement. There are few things he puts up with for long, but taunting rat folk aren't on that list.

Keys of May watches as the two rat folk fall dead, as he cleaves them both in twine. Gore explodes, but the water javelins block it from getting onto the nearby people. "Fools. They had it coming to them for all their taunting." He growls, as his peaceful rainy day was intruded upon.

Tsangun winces just ever-so-noticeably as the rat creatures are cut down into a rain of flesh, fur and blood. Oh how much blood. Other than that one fleeting expression, however, the Djala is remarkably unphased by the demonstration of power. ~Monsters monsters everywhere, I wonder what Azami's hiding under her skirt,~ she thinks to herself as she glances from Keys to her friend and then back again.

Violence. Blood. It is enough to send most screaming in flight, enough to turn children into adults, enough to turn adults into children. It has a certain power, the raw visage of death, when it manifests in the Scavenger Lands. It is not uncommon... nor is it unknown... but all humans know it, and fear it.

 

Except the old slave. She doesn't move a muscle. She isn't more than a foot to the left of Keys of May; and she watches his face contort in rage, watches the white of his eye turn bloodshot, watches the intensity... the fury... gather in his pupil, like a bonfire ignited. "There, Keys of May. Do you see? Do you remember?" The old woman's raspy voice whispers, the weak and feeble voice of an elder. "Do you recall what you once were? How far you have fallen, wandering in this human world, enjoying human rain. Trying to seduce, instead of -take-. You were once Anathama. Have you forgotten your power, your purpose? You will bring calamity upon this world with your... confusion. Awaken from this dream. /Remember/."

Keys of May grabs the old woman, and pulls her up to his face. "And just who are you? No creature that I know of seeks death so easily! Was this some sort of ruse to bring about my wrath?!"

Azami tenses visibly as the ratlings are cut down amid the frozen javelins, stopping in her tracks beside Tsangun. It's almost pitiful, though deeply strange, how the tiny creatures taunt Keys even as they're slain. She looks at her Djala friend as if to say ~more strange things?~. A crawl of cold passes over her at the sight of the Lunar but she keeps silent, watching intently.

The old woman is like a bag of bones, fragile and easily broken. She cackles in the face of Keys of May, her eyes wide open, as though she is observing some fascinating eclipse, some remarkable eclipse of the soul. "You -know- me, Keys of May. I am your past. I am your future." She taunts, like a grandmother teasing her children with the knowledge of secret christmas gifts. "Did you think you can /escape/? Did you -really- think that the Sorcerer would stop devouring your soul? Did you //really// think you would be the first to resist the change, that you could become something close to human, that you could love and find happiness again? Oh, you poor, poor fool..." The laughter rises to a maniacal pitch, becoming like that of a dying woman in fever. "... you are so fortunate, that you have me to guide you! / I WILL BE YOUR TEACHER! /"

Keys of May knows of only one person he has ever met to refer to the Socerer before. He pulls hard on the woman's arms, attempting to rip them from their sockets.

... and, in an explosion of gore, the arms pull from the frail woman's body. She sinks to her knees, still laughing. Her blood flees her body; her features, go white, her eyes grow unfocused. "... I... will... save... you... my... precious... student..." and then, she falls face-first on the ground. Dead.

A mere raving lunatic? But no. The old woman knew Key's name, suggesting that while she may indeed be crazed, she isn't a mere wandering deranged old lady. Swift, once again, decides against taking action. It is not in his nature to leap to the aid of others, just because. Besides which, Keys appears to have things well in... hand, so to speak.

Tsangun watches wide-eyed during the ordeal, steadily moving closer to Azami on instinct. A split second before the show of gore and death, however, the Djala's eyes drift shut, leaving only her ears and sense of smell to suffer the death of the old woman. "Lovely," she mutters, waiting several seconds before letting her purple orbs come into view again.

Keys of May spits on the womans body. "Stupid casteless bitch! She better hope I don't find the real one, or I will rip her to pieces and send her shard to the next life!" Hr grumbles angrily.

The red haired man shakes his head at the corpse. "That wasnt as interesting as I thought it was going to be." He then looks to Keys with curiosity in his smile. "You knew that woman I take it? Where did you know her from?"

Keys of May grunts and looks to the red haired man, "She is one of the ones i spoke of before. One of the casteless, although I doubt she is truly gone. These were probably pawns of hers." He growls again and returns to his human form to help calm down. "Zera better pray I don't find her."

Azami's green eyes cloud over for a long moment, unfocusing so that the shower of blood and noodles of torn tendons and popping cartiledge seems almost to abstract. Some aspects of losing one's further range of vision are good after all. Glad for Tsangun's proximity, she lets out a shallow breath, letting the rain fall down on her face and slip down her neck. Maybe they should get out of here. "Chimerae," she mutters, her northern accent mutilating the word. "Wyld-crazed. No better than the Raksha." Looking at Tsangun, she resists a shudder. "What are you doing all the way out here, Tsan?"

Tsangun hmmms thoughtfully as she looks to the gore. "Those should be disposed of," she reminds as she slips her knives back beneath her shirt before turning to face Azami - a much better sight than the dead rats and elderly. "Me? I was picking up some supplies that, surprisingly, I can't get in Nexus," she lies. She could get them in that city, but at a considerable mark-up compared to buying directly from the farmers. "And yourself? Looking for trouble again, or escaping your husband for a while?"

Keys of May walks towards the two women who are talking amongst themselves and gives a slight smile of apology, "I am sorry for that display of rage, you two."

 

          The red haired looks at the dead bodies once more before turning back to the group of people behind him. He says nothing to the people in the but simply listins to what everyone is saying

"Oh me oh my." The medicine man says as he steps from behind the tree he was cowering behind. "That was quite a fright, wasn't it?" Taking some rolled up leaves from a small pouch on his belt, he offers it to the two Azami and Tsangun. "Tobacco leaves? They help calm the nerves."

Azami brushes wet copper hair back from her face. Her braid has started to unravel in the rain, but she pays it no mind. "Rasberry leaves," she says, looking at the other woman. After a moment, the question sort of sinks in and her eyes widen suddenly. "H-- My what?"

 

 The approach of Keys brings her to look up, though. She tucks the odd question away for later. "Don't apologize," She says, looking curiously at him. "She knew you, didn't she?" Aza asks, more softly. "I'd have done the same thing, if my mentor came back to gloat. Though not, y'know... so effectively." She glances at the dismembered arms.

 

 Suddenly there's a pouch of tobacco leaves under her nose and she jumps in surprise. "Oh! Zhk'la!"

Tsangun smirks at Azami's reaction. "That handsome man you brought with you to Jekai's place. Isn't he your husband? Fiance?" the Djala asks as she tilts her head to the side, a curious expression in her eyes before she curls her lips into a wide and evil looking smile, "part-time lover?"

         As soon as the words leave her lips, Tsangun looks to Keys of May, first turning her purple eyes, then her entire head to look to the man. "You did what you needed to do. Setting free a slave is a noble cause... Dismembering the slave when it turns out to be a trap of sorts is... Also noble in a way," she replies with a roll of her shoulders, "nothing to apologize for, neither Azami nor myself are dripping in blood, after all."

         The tobacco leaves bring Tsangun's attention to the elderly man, whom she simply offers a smile and a shake of her head.

Keys of May shakes his head, "No, she is not my mentor at all. Just some crazed creature." He chuckles and looks at his partner, "I don't think our mentor would go down quite that easily!" He looks at the medicine man and cocks his head, "Hello there, I will take some. How much?"

The red haired man looks at the medicine with interest. He looks to what the man is selling and tilts his head. "What is that you are selling?" The man goes on even before his question is answered. "Where does your medicine come from?"

Azami just stares at Tsangun, shock paling her at the mere suggestion. Out from her mouth before she can stop it she says: "My what? Part-time... Good gods no! I'm not...no." She puts a hand over her face, one green eye glaring suspiciously at the grinning Djala over the fingers. "Don't say things like that."

"A few copper pieces, my prices are very reasonable." The medicine man says, and turns to the red-haired man to respond to his question. "The woods nearby, in places where one knows how to look. I'm skilled in the ways of herbs and medicines, and I can find them where others would not. Worry not! They're perfectly safe, I've never poisoned anyone by accident!" Entirely truthful, since Swift only poisons people on purpose.

Tsangun's attention snaps right back to Azami. The Djala's grin returns in a matter of heartbeats, even if her eyes carry an apologetic-yet-evil sparkle. "I'm sorry, things just seemed that way the other day," she says, inwardly blushing even if her cheeks were still stark white and jet black.

The red haired man suddenly looks to the east and stares off in the distance for a short amount of time. He then looks to Keys. "I am sorry but I must be leaving I am needed back at home." He hands bag to Keys that contains a decent sums of money. "Use this for what ever you want I won't be needing it." He then turns to the other and smiles. He begins to walk away towards the east. "Don't forget Keys to stop by for the test." He continous to walk away till he is out of sight

Keys of May hands the man the few pieces of copper for some of the leaves, "Ahhh, such a bargain compared to Nexus." He puts the tobacco into a pouch under his cloak. He cups his hands and takes a drink of the rain that gathers there. "Take care, Alister."

The short northerner rubs her face with both hands, willing the colour to drain right back out of her face, muttering darkly. "Solars. There are no words. I haven't the slightest idea of how to handle people like that." Pausing, she lets her hands fall, looking thoughtful. "Well. Without crippling him permanently, I mean."

Keys of May stops what he is doing and casts Azami a glare. "What did you say? A solar?" He gets closer, curious now. "Who is this solar that you know?" His eyes are not menacing, but a hunger of some kind is behind them.

Tsangun can't help but to laugh softly at Azami's words. "He's the first one that I've met... Well, that I've known about. I suppose it's possible to have met one who wasn't quite so open about himself," the Djala says with a shrug of her shoulders, "you have my apology for coming to such an assumption though." She then blinks a few times, having /almost/ forgotten that Keys of May and the smoke peddler were still nearby. Since he wasn't addressing her, however, the Djala keeps quiet.

"A Solar Anathema? Oh my. You travel with interesting crowds, ladies." Swift comments, half suspecting he knows who it is they refer to. How many insufferable open Solars are there in the region can there be anyone? No doubt it is Prince of Revels, alias Captain Shinypants.

Azami clears her throat and looks up at Keys as the man looms. Niether she or Tsangun are what even a generous poet would call physically intimidating, but the young woman doesn't shrink away, meeting the Lunar's eyes first, rather than the gills or the sudden approach. Drawing a breath nevertheless, she raises her chin the slightest bit, kicking herself mentally for throwing that word out so casually. "... Why do you ask?" It's not put churlishly, or rudely. But Aza is cautious. Her teacher's made plenty of enemies, and not without reason. She looks also at the medicine man, biting the inside of her lip.

Keys of May gives Azami a hard, curious look. Even in his human form, Keys of May is a powerful person. He towers over her and says, "Only curiousity and nothing more. There are few solar and I can't help but wonder which of them you know." He gives a smile, which reveals his extremely sharp teeth, like those of a shark. "So, what is this person's name?"

"Prince of Revels," Aza says, standing her ground out of stubborness more than any particular bravery. The hollow of her throat flickers with her pulse briefly before she raises a hand to rest beneath her chin. "He's teaching me Riverspeach."

Keys of May smiles at Azami and laughs, "Huh, I have heard a bit about him." He licks his lips in thirst and cups his hands again. This time, he swirls a hand full of water around and turns it solid into a make shift cup. He drinks it as it fills and continues, "So, what is this guy like anyways? I heard he is more of a pacifist than a fighter."

Azami watches the cup form with a good deal of interest, fascinated despite herself by the sight of water self-contained in midair. "He would rather speak than fight... but when I last saw him, he challenged the Wild Hunt to a contest of martial combat, and they ended up leaving. Out of the blue, as you say." She wipes water from her eyes absently. "But I don't pretend to understand him. Some things are just beyond me."

Keys of May raises a brow at the news Azami tells him. "Oh? Perhaps it will not be a waste of time to seek him out then." He drinks some more of the water. "I have been trying to decide whether to hunt him down or to continue wandering, but if he can stand up to the Wyld Hunt, it might be worth my while."

"Hunt him down?" Swift asks, his curiosity definately piqued. Does this one just... go around picking fights with people for fun? No wonder he seems to attract the raving lunatics. No doubt former rivals. "That hardly seems like a very prudent thing to do, if you don't mind me saying sir." The 'medicine man' comments.

"I hope I didn't just tell you that so you can hunt him down for a... conversation," Aza says, gently. "That was the only time I've ever seen him fight. Generally he's more hedonist and diplomat than anything else."

Keys of May smiles and shrugs. "Well, I won't just attack him out of the blue. That would be rude." He gives another smile with his huge fanged mouth and continues, "I will merely challenge him to a sparring match and test his skills in a fight. Hopefully he is tougher th-" Keys cuts off there, looking around for a moment as if he heard something, but shakes his head and looks back to them. "Either way, I am interested in seeing this Prince of Revels."

"The Prince of Revels poses little challenge to you, Keys of May.." speaks a sudden new voice from the depths of a nearby tree. "He is not a man of melee skill but of words. And I would be remiss to allow you to challenge someone who has so aided the Silver Pact without warning you that his words can do more then your weapons."  

Should eyes track the voice, a distinct deep one at that, they find a large bird perched in the tree. How long it's been there could be anyone's guess..but there is tis with oddly luminscent eyes. It then rumbles, "What are you all 'doing' here. This territory is mine and not a picnic ground.." The bird spreads its wings and abruptly descends for the ground but just before it arrives it suddenly unfolds itself into the vast human form of Fudou the Mountain. The immense man creaks up to his full height, muscles bulging and sinew straining over his heavy bone structure. "What do you all want?"

Azami seems to relax a bit, looking even a bit embarrassed for having thought something so rude. Keys doesn't seem too bad... for someone who just ripped the arms out of what may or not have been a hag from Malfeas or simply a possessed old woman. Truthfully, she thought it to have been the former, but she's had her own experiences with creepy mentors. There's nothing wrong with sparring, after all... In that moment her affection for the Solar is easy enough to see in the worry writ in the line of her form, even if she doesn't know -what- the hell to think about him.

 

 The young woman opens her mouth to say something, moving towards the bodies now that they've cooled, but then the booming voice breaks out into the air, and Fudou appears, causing her to startle and catch her breath suddenly, surprised as always by the lightning-quick shifting of the Moon's Chosen.

Keys of May looks at the appearing Fudou with a bit of surprise, but not shock. After all, this is his territory like he said. "Come now, I even took the time to stay in this weaker form to appease your customs. As for the reason, I was merely decided to travel with the rain and talk with a friend of mine." He shrugs half heartedly, "It is a shame though. You missed him by only a few minutes."

"What happened here?" Fudou half demands, half asks, as he approaches and slows. The arcing of an eyebrow is the only response he gives to Keys of Mays and he then turns hsi head, twisting back and forth on a neck that compares favorably to some tree trunks. He frowns upon sighting the old woman and he draws closer and begins closely examining her while waiting for an explanation, "This woman has been rather brutally slain. Who killed this mortal and why?"

Keys of May looks at Fudou and says, "I killed them." He sips some more of the rain filling his cup. "The woman has some connection to that renegade, Zera. Pawns of hers, I assume. They were taunting me." He seems unconcerned about it, having had time to cool off.

"And so you killed them." says Fudou, frowning deeply now as he eyes Keys of Mays, "Did you think to attempt to save them or, perhaps, keep them alive so that Zera's motives or agenda's could be looked into? They were mortal pawns and perhaps under some unnatural influence and could have maybe healed. Did you consider -that-?" His temper seems to be slowly rising as he speaks, his voice stern and cold.

Azami bows respectfully and politely to Fudou, starting to get the feeling that she... and the medicine man, of course, are a little out of thier depths here. Her braid swings down as she does so from the mantle about her shoulders, heavy with rain now. It might be time to get out of here. Mortals amid Celestials tend to suffer for it, whether by coincidence or narrative causality.

Keys grits his teeth, as he buts heads again with the powerful lunar, "Her -agenda- seemed to be to make me leave the Silver Pact. As for saving her pawns, I am afraid that Luna didn't bless me with patience. I embody the predatory siaka, not some timid cattle!" Keys is already angry, the stress of the recent, if unknown, turmoil still raging in him.

Fudou's eyes hood and he turns away from the dead bodies to face Keys of May, "If you're going to insult me, then I assume you're ready to be beat within an inch of your life?" he questions casually. "I've already good just cause to physically remove you from this region but I can be satisfied with reducing you to a bloody pulp. You'll heal, after all.." He gives a sideways glance towards Azami.

Swift Felling Scythe lets out a long sigh as tensions build between the two other Lunars. Enough is enough, it seemed. Woe be to the one of temperance while surrounded by hotheads. "I don't think the two of you trashing the countryside in a big brawl would do anyone any good either." He says, his tone of voice steady, completely unlike the timid medicine man from before.

Keys of May is not smiling like he normally would be at a fight. It is very evident that something else is plaguing him right now, but he barks out, "Then maybe you /should/ remove me from here! If you feel you have such a cause to do so, then just do it! Throw me into the western oceans for all I care!" Oddly, enough, despite his rage, Keys stays in his human form. He looks at the supposed medicine man and yells, "Stay out of this!"

"You assume it would be a brawl." says Fudou, deep voice oddly neutral and eyes not leaving Keys of May although the response from the other Lunar causes him to raise an eyebrow and be momentarily silent.

Quietly, without turning around or engaging either of the two Lunars with glances or body language, Aza fades a couple of steps back, calm radiating out from her in the manner of all truly survival minded barbarians; she puts out nothing that would draw attention to herself, her soft-soled boots making little noise in the muddy road as she shifts back surrepticiously out of the line of fire.

Swift Felling Scythe sighs. "If you're willing to beat him into a pulp for insulting you, can you truly blame Keys for attacking those two rats when they insulted him? And insult him quite heartily they did. And as trying to help the woman, how was he to know that she wasn't just the casteless Zera in disguised? I should hardly need to remind you...." At the point, Swift completely sheds his disguise, donning his natural human form instead of the assumed one he wore. "...How impenetrable the Chosen of Luna's disguises are."

Keys of May looks a bit surprised at the man he thought was a medicine man. He is still angry, although not as enraged as just moments before. "Another of the Chosen? Just how many Celestials are /IN/ this region?!?!?" He looks back to the large Fudou and growls, but says nothing to him.

Strength of Ten-Thousand Sequioas seems unphased by the transformation and grand reveal, at least on the surface. He studies Swift Felling Scythe for a few long seconds and then finally says, "If you're attempting to compare /killing/ a mortal under someone elses control to putting a blood-thirsty over-zealous Lunar who insulted his better back into his place, leaving him alive I might add, then I question your own wisdom. And while you're busy trying to defend Keys of May, why don't you also ask him, at some point, about where his true allegiances lie. You might be surprised!" he snaps his attention back to Keys of May and says, "Azami's presence stays my hand and nothing else. I wouldn't want her to get hurt. But I will find you and take this out of your hide. One way or another you will learn. I told you that before." he just snorts to Key's other comment and then says, darkly, "More then enough to throw your masters plans awry.."

Keys of May suddenly can't take it anymore. His inner rage was already at its peak and he feels his body turn on fire as he explodes into more yelling, "Damnit you oversized cow!" He begins to change into his warform as he continues, "You have no idea what I am feeling!! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE FORCED TO DECIDE BETWEEN TWO THINGS YOU CARE ABOUT?!?!" He pulls this grand daiklave from his back as his transformation finishes.

Azami is as surprised as anyone, perhaps a bit more, when the medicine man changes, and becomes someone else entirely. It's enough to get her to stop in her tracks, eyes widening. Well damn! And then the shit hits the fan.

Strength of Ten-Thousand Sequioas's transformation seems slower, but it actually isn't. He's just that much bigger then he was before, bigger then Keys even in Warform. His grandgoremaul appears from elsewhere seemingly without end in sight, until the vast artifact rests across his shoulders like the weapon of a warstrider. The ground sinks in noticably as a spreading sinkhole forms around the giants greatly increased weight. "You're a whiner and belly-aching, singing a song I've heard a hundred times before from an Abyssal that used to plague these lands. You're a chosen of Luna. Own up to your choices and decide where you stand. You're a Steward of creation, so be one, not a blood thirsty over-eager predator. I told you this when I first met you and if I have to start beating the lesson into you myself.." H grins and s slams his immense knuckles together, producing a loud *KROOM* at the impact, "So much the better.."

Azami dips to the ground for a moment as her knees buckle instinctually at the sudden shift in the air as enormous mass suddenly WHOOMPHS into existance and the ground dips around Fudou, her ears ringing both from Keys' shout and the sound of knuckles cracking together. Altogether this is not a good place to be. Her skirts pool about her in the hardpacked mud as she catches her balance and her breath, pulling oxygen forcefully into her lungs. Quickly she looks about, eyes searching for cover near the road to head for fisrt.

Swift Felling Scythe sighs once again, exasperated. His moonsilver baneclaw shoots out from beneath his robes quickly. It looks small and unimpressive compaired to the massive weapons sported by the two others, by it's not the size, it's how you use it. As Keys and Fudou both don the warforms, Swift remains in his human shape, aiming still to keep the fight from occuring at all. "Calm down, both of you!" With a fluid motion, he catches Keys' blade with his baneclaw and aims to twist the weapon out of his hand.

Keys of May wrenches his weapon from attempt at the other lunar to grab it. He snarls at him and charges at Fudou, "Stop clouding my mind with doubts!" His whole form fills with fury as he screams in defiant rage. Ripples of silver essence float through the water as the force of he forces the rain to form a bubble around them for a few dozen yards.

Strength of Ten-Thousand Sequioas makes no visible attempt to defend himself as Keys comes rushing in although in truth his essence is rumbling subtly in preperation of the assault and a reprisal. He seemingly seems open to attack though, almost willing to let Keys hack away at him for a few swings while he responds with a faint grin, "If you are confused then you're not certain of your true path, boy. Let Luna guide you through my fists!"

Keys of May swings with all his might at the powerful lunar, essence powering each attack. The shockwaves from his swings split seem to cut the air in twine as it reaches towards Fudou. "They are /always/ watching! There is no other path than to follow them!" His yells vibrate the dome of water as more lines of silver essence escape his body.

Spotting a copse of trees, Aza gives a glance back to the tremendous clash, unable but to marvel at the sphere of rainwater and the silver essence roaring within. With the rain pelting down around her and her feet slipping in the mud, she takes off into the woods, knowing better by now than to stay anywhere near a clash of Celestials. Her soaked skirts snap and cling to her legs and her rain-heavy mantle seems to weigh her down more than keep her warm, but there's food in her satchel, and she's survived far worse than a wet night spent sleeping in some tree. With a awed glance behind her, she forces herself to leave the scene and dissapear into the trees, leaving a trail of quickly puddling footprints behind her.

"Are you a chosen of Luna, or a mewling Dragonblooded whelp caught in a web of lies. If we Lunars don't see a way out, we /make/ a way out, damn you. Stop your belly aching and stop hiding!" responds Fudou as he leans into Keys attacks. The first few blows he allows to deliberatly hit and powered by Keys strength they seem to leave some mark on his defenses. but when the third blade begins its arc around, Sequoias launches into an assault of his own and his grand goremaul comes hurtling around for Keys of May with an explosive crack of thunder in its wake that causes the ground itself to rip upwards and explode to follow the arc of the vast weapon. Behind this, his silver claws come flashing, streaming rain-water from them as they launch outwards at Keys of Mays as claw and clenched fist come pounding at the other Full Moon with full strength behind them.

The blast of the attacks sends Keys sprawling, the weight of the weapon feeling like he was hit with a mountain. The large claws tear bits of his flesh, but he begins healing some of the damage. He jumps to the top of the bubble, his feet clinging to the water's surface as he fights his opponent while upside down. "How is the Pact any different from them? Both telling me what to do at risk of pain!" He swings his weapon furiously, his essence peaking as his rage continues, "You are all no different!"

Strength of Ten-Thousand Sequioas's answer is another blast-wave of an attack as he spins his body around and lunges into Keys berserk assault with an agressive fury of his own. The minor welts on his body quickly heal up, when they appear atall, it's clear this Lunar is built to be a juggernaut in terms of defenses and wounds received, aside from the occasional lucky blow, seem almost deliberatly taken. In answer he simply says, "I know what I've been taught is right. Proof evidence of -your- path lies beyond the bubble in the form of that slain mortal." and then his grand goremaul comes hurtling again like a comet, "I will put you -down-." he declares as his arms swell up titanically with a sudden surge of strength.

Keys of May is sent flying from the attack, as he cares not for his own defense anymore, merely wishing to stop thinking. It connects hard with him and he hits the water bubble with a large *CRACK* sound as the supposedly indestructible water now has countless cracks in it where Keys had hit. He sits up, breathing heavily as the wounds take their toll. He explodes into a full banner as he force heals himself and charges once more. Keys of May growls like a monster as he explodes into attacks, throwing punches, kicks, bites, and sword swings as he attacks.

"Hn.." rumbles Fudou as Keys of Mays refuses t go down. "Behemoths have fallen faster. I commend you, but I'm done playing around.." His anima banner has yet to flair and he carefully measures his defenses as Keys of May wails into him. Similar results occur despite the increased savagery of the other Lunar's attacks..but Fudou's body seems virtually indestructable albiet Keys wears through to him on several passes by whim of Luna's discretion.. and then again he launches into a counter assault, bringing his Grand Goremaul around for another strike - and then following up on the earth quake inducing blast with a grasp of an immense hand big enough to enclose completely around Keys' head.

Keys of May watches his almost relief as the immense weapon collides with him. He doesn't even bother to put up a defense and the attack breaks many of his bones. Having spent most of his motes now to speed up the regeneration, he no longer has the strength to do anything. His weapon falls from his grasp as Keys is grabbed by the colossal warformed Fudou. He coughs up blood as he turns to his human form, knowing he is defeated now. "I... am beaten... Just end it..."

"I would never do that. Slay not your brothers and sisters. Have you been taught -anything-? You question the Pact on the simple merit of thinking it's there to order you around and yet you're seemingly geased by this force in the west so much that you can't decide waht's most important to you in the world. A Lunar doesn't surrender to death. He defies death!" he shakes Keys like a rag doll as he booms at him, "Creation is tough! But you fight it, again, and again, and again! And get stronger! Not prove your strength against old women under someone elses control!" He abruptly releases Keys and thrns away from him to stalk towards the edge of the cracked bubble and once there he slams a huge fist into it, his caste mark flaring to life as additional strength surges.

Keys of May tries to get up, but all his strength is gone. He crawls a bit, watching the lunar destroy the bubble around them. "Fudou... Dont you understand?... I will keep trying... to kill everything... Yet you still will not kill me?... Why?"

"I will not give up on our traditions and teachings. And so, I will not give up on you." says Fudou, "You're no Rakshi or Ma-Ha-Suchi, so insane that your fellow elders shun you and question if you're possibly a chimera." He turns to look at Keys, "Besides, if every older Lunar slew an overzealous young one then none of us would ever have a chance to grow." He plants his hand against the bubble and begins to press, "You'll either learn the hard way and Luna will send your shard elsewhere...or you will grow. Either way it goes, somebody has to keep the ways and traditions ...so I guess it has to be me."

Keys of May coughes again, more small specs of blood escaping his lips. His breathing is heavy, but he keeps speaking, "I... don't want to... continue like this... But I like... to fight... my mind is... so clear... when the battle rages on..." He grabs for his sword, but isn't able to lift it in his current state. "Even now... I can hear them... speaking in my head... It is difficult... to keep them from hearing... my thoughts... Tearing away at them... threatening... telling me how insane they will drive me..."

Strength of Ten-Thousand Sequioas is silent for a long while..and then he says, "Keys of May....if you're telling me this because you want 'help' then a way can be found. You noted yourself that there are many celestials in this region and also nearby. Some of us are allies of each other. There is much power and much lore. But you have to be willing to try and get help. It can't be forced on you. I do not know what troubles you but if this group has placed sorcery on you..and you want a way out.. I'm sure it can be found."

Keys of May looks at the large man and slowly nods, "I... I want... help... Not for me... I have to... make amends... they will..." He stops moving as he sinks into unconsciousness.