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Post by Al Kinney on Feb 9, 2012 19:26:13 GMT -5
Oh, God. Oh God, oh God, oh God. What in the hell was happening? Al shoved the urge to brush himself off aside. The feeling that there were spiders and other insects crawling all over him bugged him all too much. This time, it was a real experience, though. Every time one of those tiny legs made contact, he was forced to fight off the intense urge to squirm and freak out. It's only her... It's only her... not some hairy tarantula.... no.... it's a human... Calm down.... Deep breathing helped his nerves. He had never liked arachnids, and probably never would.
When she had finished climbing him, he turned his head to try to look at her spidery self. It was a good thing he had broad shoulders, that was for sure. She appeared to be waving at him... How friendly. He was tempted to give her a good flick, but if she was as deadly as she had claimed, that wouldn't be a very good idea. He weakly waved back. I have a spider on my shoulder. I'm not screaming. This is good. Just as long as she doesn't touch my face, I should be okay. Hopefully. Reassurance never hurt.
Taking another deep breath, the boy turned and looked up and down the walkway. Where was that stupid snake? As soon as he found it, it was on. He'd start by trying to find his way out of here. Sadly, he didn't remember which way was out.
"Which way is out again?" Al started moving forward. It was rather obvious that he had to at least go this way for some odd amount of time. This was aggravating, walking around aimlessly. He needed to start eating more carrots to get better eyesight or something.
A mere minute later, there was another slithering noise. That clearly meant the snake was nearby...
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Post by Caedis Clepta on Feb 10, 2012 20:16:16 GMT -5
Of course he would ask her the way out while she was a spider. IT was obviously the way the world worked. When she was otherwise unable to offer any useful assistance, someone needed it. Giving the spider equivalent of a huff, which wasn't very impressive at all, she struggled to lift a leg in the direction in front of them. Since, after all, that was the way to the entrance. It wasn't like it'd moved from five minutes earlier.
Part of Caedis's struggle was the fact that he was moving. It didn't phase her until she was on his shoulder that most people did a fair amount of general moving when they walked. It seemed every little shift almost threw her off of him and it was unlikely she would find another place to cling on. Well, if she wanted some semblance of what was going on.
Then again she probably didn't want to know whatever he had planned. It was likely something stupid and risky and stupid. Just like almost everything that came out of his mouth.
The sensation of noise was slightly strange, though. Not only did she hear him talk (slightly), but she felt the air vibrate and him vibrate with the sound. Or something. It was odd for her to describe, not that she necessarily wanted to. With only a vague sensation of vibration at the snake's slithering, which could have been anything, she was lost.
Well, until it hissed. Then she had a pretty good impression of what it was doing. And how close it was. She only hoped that she kid had an actual plan.
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Post by Al Kinney on Feb 12, 2012 19:04:44 GMT -5
"If you're not able to do this, I'm sorry. You're the one who was bragging about your spidey powers."
Al carefully scooped the little arachnid from his shoulder and held her in his palm. He had never thought that he would see the day where he was holding one of these blasted creatures in the palm of his hand; would have never been able to comprehend that what he was about to do was probably going to fail epically. His plan was basic, get in, get out. It relied on his mental capabilities and that of her spider form's. Looking at the spider determinedly, he thought long and hard about telling her the plan. It was rather risky, considering that the snake could hear (and probably comprehend) the words he was saying.
"I'm.... probably not going to tell you the plan," He offered her a small, half hearted smile. He was going to get smacked for this. "But are you confident in the powers of those little spider jaws of yours?"
That was the simplest way he could put it. She would have a vague idea of what he planned to do. Or at least her role in the whole thing. If not, she was hopeless. There was a slight chance of being able to get out of here without killing the snake, but it seemed safer to simply kill it. It wasn't going to be happy either way, Al was sure.
All this would take on his part is some immense mental concentration and the idea that he could stay hidden from the snake. If he couldn't, it would potentially be bad. The more he thought about it, the more he thought that she would be able to do it herself if she could locate the snake.
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Post by Caedis Clepta on Feb 13, 2012 19:33:32 GMT -5
When she returned to her proper form, she was going to have to spell a few things out to him. He doubted her? Unneeded. Sure, she didn't battle giant snakes every day, but that was besides the point. The rider mistook her for some... some weak little woman thing that she wasn't. And she didn't approve.
At.
All.
In a more humanoid form she would have hissed or hit him or something for him assuming she had a lowered mental capacity. Which was slightly understandable, as each shifter was different, but hadn't she already shown enough sense as an arachnid to prove she wasn't mindless all of a sudden?
As it was, she sent him what she hoped to be a nasty look from his palm and wiggled her fangs, hopefully not looking too comical. And maybe him understanding that she was not pleased.
And, well, if he didn't get it than Caedis hoped he would understand the cold shoulder. Or at least as much of a cold shoulder she could do by turning around in his palm to face away from him. Besides, it wouldn't do much good to look at him when she should really be looking for that bloody snake.
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Post by Al Kinney on Feb 14, 2012 17:08:51 GMT -5
Al watched the tiny eight legged creature in his hand with curiosity. By the end of this, if things went well, she wouldn't be dead. That would be nice, for is she died Al would be guilty; he did not enjoy dealing with guilt. It was an emotion that he would rather avoid; something that gnawed at his stomach and enjoyed causing him pain because of events in the past. Al wasn't one to forgive himself too easily. He always gave himself a hard time about such feelings.
As she wiggled her fangs at him, Al chuckled quietly; after tonight he was surely going to try to grow a mustache. He could then wiggle that little bugger as he pleased. He would definitely have to get Tia's opinion on that matter, though. He didn't do much without her opinions.
Despite the darkness in the cave, Al could hear well what was coming. The oversize reptile was barreling down the branch of the cave, set on being on offense. Not that it was exactly on the defensive side, anyways. Al took a few steps back, getting ready to cease the opportunity.
"Get ready to fly, little bug."
As he heard the snake approach, he crouched low. This was bound to fail epically, but right now, that didn't really matter...
Concentrating on focusing on the spider's small form, Al easily picked the little creature off of his palm with telekinesis. He was probably going to pass out by the time this escapade was over from the mental strain. As he watched the spider lift from his hand, the snake turned their way. It was now or never...
He sent the arachnid flying toward the snake. If his aim wasn't off she would land right on it's head, just in time for him to duck and try to get the snake to pass over him, section by section. He didn't really want to be eaten by this horrid beast...
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Post by Caedis Clepta on Feb 17, 2012 15:59:12 GMT -5
Another experience she can add to her 'I-never-want-to-do-this-again' list. Bring tossed at something. Especially when said something was extremely dangerous.
It seemed one moment she was shunning him and the next he was tossing. She curled up on herself, wondering what happened and whether the snake got him. Then she got a second of clarity of the thing in front of her. No, she was being thrown at the damn snake.
Caedis was going to have to have a talk with this kid later.
With a jarring bump she landed on it, scrambling to get a foothold on its scales. What color was it anyway? Was that olive or black? Whatever color it, was ugly. And the snake was huge. Not a good combination for a small spider. Her venom would quickly kill a human. It should do... something.
It took her a few seconds to get brave enough to move. The scales were hard to cling to and she only had so much time to find a good place to bite... and she had no idea where on its head she actually was. The only thing she could even think of doing was using a web to help but it would alert the snake. Heck, it might get worried enough to look for her and help the kid.
Webs it was.
Not using a skill for awhile didn't deter instinct. While the strands she made likely weren't great, they were still stick and stuck to the snake better than her feet did, and it wasn't like she was trying to catch the damn thing in them. Just hopefully creep it out to make it look for her. Or something. At least she wasn't going to slip off the animal and land.
She moved around a bit, wincing when she found its eye. It was intelligent. Not the animal intelligent. The partly human type. One of her own. Well shit. She'd heard stories of shifters and how some sometimes surrendered to the animal and went mad. She never thought she would actually see one. There was part of her that wanted to shed this skin and fight it with something pointy, but that wouldn't work. It thought along the lines they did. Afterwards she could never shift ever again.
It'd probably be a mercy to kill it. It was probably left down here when the rest of the cult fled from something and relied on the animal for food and survival. It had only done what it had to do. Just as she was doing what she had to do.
There was a spot in the back of the snake's head where some of the scales were soft. Bad ones. A good place to try to get through. With absolutely no experience biting, she worked her teeth into the thing, waiting until she could (somewhat) taste the iron of its blood before releasing some venom, completely unsure of what she was doing. Normal spiders made this look so easy.
Her next move would depend on what the snake did. Heck, what the kid did too. If needed she would find a better spot but she doubted there would be one unless he made it for her. If he wasn't dead already, anyway.
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Post by Al Kinney on Feb 17, 2012 17:28:11 GMT -5
Al did what he could to stop the snake that was barreling toward him; nothing. He was clearly on the defensive and he had to think of something to save his ass, and fast So he did the first thing that popped into his head.
Taking advantage of his crouched position, Al used his mental ability to get the snake to pass harmlessly over him. The ability wasn't strong enough to lift the snake above him, so he had to settle for what he could do. The smooth scales passed over him, following the curves of his body. His eyes were clenched shut, but he could feel the friction as the snake pressed forward.
His back began to grow hot after a few seconds. If the snake was too long, he would have some serious burns. If it were longer than too long, which he prayed it wasn't, he would most likely die. A sense of relief washed over him as the tail finally passed over. Once his mind released the tension that was his telekinesis, Al was rendered unconscious. The strain was too much for his mind to bear. He slumped and ended up laying on the cool cave floor.
The trees were a ghostly color; the air smelled of moss and other woodsy scents, but something seemed off. Al stood and looked around the off-colored wood. Rather than leaves, the trees donned pearly colored buds. Everything was odd. Just where was he?
"Hello?" His voice echoed, an odd sensation. One would assume that since there were so many trees around, an echo would not be possible; though he did hear a voice responding to his call.
His ears could not make out any of what had been said, though it was something. He couldn't tell if it was words, sounds, syllables, or a foreign language, but there was a definite answer. Al started walking, weaving between the trees carefully. He reached out to grab one to steady his feet, but his hand went right through. He fell. A laugh rang out, like a chorus of tiny bells. The next thing he knew, he was in a training room. No one else was inside.
Instinctively, he pushed himself into a pushup position. He did as many as he could, until his strength had nearly ran out. Just as he was getting ready to stop, his instructor was there, biting at his heels. He continued doing them, at a faster pace. This was insane...
He fell to the floor, all pushup'ed out. The voices disappeared, and this time, he ended up in a meadow. The grass was silver, shaped like blades. This was explained when he reached out to touch one and it sliced his finger. He pulled his hand back and looked around. It was silent once again, until the laugh chimed.
"Okay, I'm sick of this crap. Who's there?!" Al's temper got the best of him. A ghostly figure appeared in front of him, taking the shape of a young girl with long flowing black hair. She laughed again and plucked the ponytail out of his hair.
The red mass fell around his shoulders. He watched the girl curiously, wondering who she could be. She looked at him and, as if reading his mind, smiled.
"Perhaps you should wake up now..."
Al sat up abruptly and nearly fell back over; his head was pounding. That was an awkward dream...
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Post by Caedis Clepta on Feb 18, 2012 20:33:16 GMT -5
And instead of actually helping out in a valid way, he decided to take a nap. Wonderful. Well, at least he was out of her way for the moment and that was better than nothing. This was going to get very uncomfortable very quickly, and Caedis knew this.
She jammed her fangs back into the spot, releasing as much as she had stored or whatever. Honestly, she didn't know how the whole venom thing worked. No change in the snake, but that was to be expected.
As was the giant plop as it hit the ground. As she was thrown off she used the change to shift back, instantly going pale from the experience of being tossed and having to experience all the gross bone changes. For once she was glad that, as unpredictable as the shifting was, it sometimes included her clothing and whatever she was holding. Her only problem was not impaling herself on the sacrificial blade as she hit the wall and fell to the floor.
In a situation like this, it didn't matter how much time she needed to recover. She just needed to do it. With a groan and a roll and got on her feet, though was still crouched over as the snake recovered and looked around. It looked like it was slowing, but she couldn't dwell on that. Tugging a dagger from a pocket (the one the kid returned that she hadn't thought she would need, she realized) and lunged.
Normally there was a pattern she got going when she was fighting other humanoids. Lunge, dance to the side, block, swipe, rinse and repeat. The snake was different. In her attempt to keep it from the kid she wasn't on offense or defense. It was a mix of the two, having to lean out of the snake's strikes while, at the same time, trying to do some damage. Caedis knew neither of the blades she had would do any large amount of damage. Her only hope was her poison or the kid suddenly waking up.
Actually, she had no idea what happened to him. The temptation to check was trampled by her survival instinct, however. A change in the snake's strikes had her cursing herself for not focusing, especially when she felt the distinct feeling of something piercing her flesh.
Shit.
Now they were even. She could tell the snake had venom from the burning around the wound. Her venom against his. She couldn't count on the kid. She didn't even know what happened to him. Didn't exactly care at this point. It was just her and the snake and at least one of them would die.
She preferred it to be the snake, honestly.
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Post by Al Kinney on Feb 18, 2012 21:25:07 GMT -5
As Al slowly turned around, he was just in time to see his ally get bit. The next course of action was dictated solely by adrenaline, for his mind had turned itself off; it had succumbed to instinctual urge and the surge of hormones from his adrenal gland.
There should have been some strategy to combat, he knew, but now was not the time to sit and ponder on what to do next. If he did not act now, he could have a fatality on his hands. Guilt was not an emotion he cared to deal with.
Before another thought could register, Al was on his feet. His blade was in his hand and he was hoping for the luck of the draw, the chance that the snake thought he was down for the count, the chance that it had been preoccupied, and the chance that it wouldn't anticipate an attack from his direction. In reality, the first two chances were relatively the same.
If Al would have had the opportunity to see where she had landed on the snake's cranium, he may have seen the beast's weak spot. After a few years experience of dealing with reptiles, however, he figured there would be a weak spot in the scaly coat somewhere. Since he had not felt it as the snake passed over him, he figured it would be on the snakes head. It was finding it that was the problem. Putting enough force behind any blade would pierce even the strongest of armor... or it could get your sword lodged in the head of a giant snake.
Without even realizing it, Al had arrived at the snake's head. He didn't know if he had ever moved that fast in his life. With both hands on the hilt of the sword, he managed to plunge it into the snake's head before it had the chance to strike at him.
As luck would have it, the blade penetrated the scaly armor; Al released it and took a step back. If this didn't kill it, he was now defenseless. Things yet again took a turn in his favor; the beast's eyes rolled back in it's head, a sign that, to Al, signified death. His sword had apparently hit home, sliced through the creature's most important membrane, and added a victory to his list.
If only Tia could have seen this! I wonder if she'll believe me... It was only after seconds hesitation when he remembered what had happened to the girl.
Al turned and directed his attention to her. "Are you alright? You aren't going to die, are you?" The boy had absolutely no idea of how to treat sprain, let alone a venomous snake bite.
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Post by Caedis Clepta on Feb 19, 2012 13:31:42 GMT -5
It was a small mercy that the kid had woken up and apparently decided it was a good idea to charge the damn snake. It worked though, no matter how much she didn't wish to admit it. Losing the distraction of the fight made her mind go straight to the pain in her leg, something she didn't like.
Hissing and clamping her teeth together because she knew her job wasn't done yet, Caedis ignored the kid's concern to limp over to the snake. After putting weight on the bitten leg once she got the message to not do that again and almost literally had to hop, only using the leg to help herself balance. The uneven weapon weights only added to her problem; she released both, letting them fall to the floor with a loud clattering noise of vibrating metal.
If that was the word for it. She was pretty sure there was no balance in the way she moved.
When she got to the snake's head she attempted ripping the sword out, hissing when it didn't move much. Another attempt and another few inches. The third attempt was much more successful; the sword came free and the head fell, limp, onto the ground. Instead of dropping his sword (as she wished to do, since it was heavy) she placed it on the ground as gently as she could. If she wasn't in so much pain, she would have asked him if he was compensating for something.
Gently she moved the snake's head, closing its eyes the best she could manage and placing a hand on top, wrinkling her nose in disgust when some of its blood got on her hand but not moving it away. "May you be welcome in the Hunting Lands. May you hunt there for eternity and may you catch whatever you desire." Was that really her voice? It sounded strained, low, in pain. Well, she was all three so she really wouldn't suspect anything else. Then she pulled a fang from its mouth, checking the end that was embedded in flesh for any signs of the venom and when satisfied that there were, slipped it into a pocket.
Finally succumbing to her wishes, she jumped away from the snake before sitting down, getting the first look at the wound. Shallow, yes, but already inflaming and red and bleeding with some traces of the vile greenish venom around the edges. She tugged the leather strip from the pocket she'd put it in when she took down her hair and tied it around her leg to stop the bleeding. She was pretty sure the venom was already in her system.
Caedis didn't know the answer to his question. So she didn't answer it. "You have some water on you, kid?"
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Post by Al Kinney on Feb 19, 2012 17:56:14 GMT -5
Al was not quite sure as to what she was doing when she talked to the snake. Was it some kind of a brief funeral service? Now did not appear to be the best time to ask questions about that, so he forced himself to refrain. It was rather sad that this had happened to her and not him... Then again, she was the reason he was here. Maybe the fates thought of this as her just desserts. Whatever the case, he could not spend too much time dwelling on the subject. She needed help, and he planned on fetching it; whether she approved or not.
Water. Who would have thought to carry water on them? The answer to that question was any normal person who had planned to journey into a cave. Sadly, he had none. Though he did find an opportunity to finally ask her name, if she would give it to him. He was sick of being referred to as 'kid'.
"I do not have any water on me at the moment, but I have spit. That could be an alternative, couldn't it? Though this probably isn't the best time to let you know, I do have a name, as I'm sure you do. It's Al." He was going to add in the part about how he planned to carry her out of here, but he wanted to know what she would do first.
This time he figured that it would be easier if he stopped to listen to any ideas she may have. If she had none, or no plausible way to get out of here, he was just going to pick her up and go. He wasn't the heroic type, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
"If you would like to get out of here quickly so you can be treated for that, I'll carry you. I'm not going to let you walk on the stupid thing. The more blood flow there is, the more rapidly your heart beats, the faster the snake juice will spread." He figured that she already knew this, but he didn't really care; he wasn't the one who could die right now...
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Post by Caedis Clepta on Feb 19, 2012 18:13:26 GMT -5
Voice pitched low in the best imitation of his voice she cared to do at the moment, she repeated, "The more blood flow there is, the more rapidly your heart beats, the faster the snake juice will spread." She snorted before snapping, "I am a venomous animal I know how it works, damnit."
He was not carrying her. Nor was he spitting on her. Who the hell spat on a wound to clean it? Caedis was wondering where he came from and if he was sane. There was no time for those thoughts, though.
Hissing as she shifted slightly in a vain attempt at getting comfortable, she considered her options. Having him carry her out and possibly surviving. Him carrying her out and her only having time to tell him the words to the final rights because she would be dying. Or just being another loser bleeding out in a cave. It might have been possibly for her to transform again, but once a spider she could die of the venom faster.
She didn't like any of her options.
With a groan that sounded like defeat she leaned her head back against the wall behind her, trying to keep her body still as possible. "Get the sword and dagger. If I die I might as well die armed. Then you're going to get us out."
Perhaps she was crazy or perhaps the blood loss was getting to her. She looked at him and stated, "And, Al, if I live you can ask me any three damn questions you want and I promise not to spoon feed you a bunch of lies."
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Post by Al Kinney on Feb 19, 2012 18:54:18 GMT -5
Al merely shrugged to her snarky comment; she was the one who was acting oblivious to it. Al picked up his sword and shoved it dramatically into its sheath. He was getting hungry, and being hungry made him a grumpier person. No one wanted to deal with that. He chose to ignore the fact and move this train along. That was probably the right choice.
The red head did not appreciate her commands; he was wholly tempted to just walk away, but common sense stopped him from doing so. He picked up the stupid dagger and sword and handed them to her quietly.
"I swear to God that if you stab me you'll regret it." It was as close to a promise as he was going to get. Promises, vows, and oaths were not things that Al willingly took; he tried to be reliable but that was often not the case.
Slowly, gently, Al picked her up. He honestly couldn't say how long he could do this. He did not really carry things all that often, though piggy back rides were a much simpler task. It was all in the placing of the person, really. He did not have that great of balance, nor was he too coordinated; that was mainly why he usually chose to have a person on his back. It didn't look like that was an option, now.
Bridal style was the way to go. The only other person he had ever carried like this was a younger cousin, and that was only after she had ordered him too. His mother, seeing the slight squabble, ordered him to obey the girl. So he had ended up carrying her around like a princess all day long, until she ordered him to take her home. Mother dearest saved him from that experience, though, and told him to go home. That was a good reason to hate family reunions.
"You'd better make damn sure you keep your word there, chicky, because if you don't I won't be very happy. I have a lot of things to ask you." In reality, he had to think of some questions to ask.
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Post by Caedis Clepta on Feb 19, 2012 19:20:42 GMT -5
Another snort. "If I stabbed you, neither of us would live long enough to regret it." It was true, in a sense. Even wounded and feeling the edges of death, Caedis could probably do some damage. She waved him away as she sheathed the dagger and wound the sword in some of the belts on her back, something she'd done many times before when escaping with something.
Then she let him pick her up, wincing and unconsciously trying to scoot away on the first sign of contact. Well, at least she had made the run away when people touch you because they're trying to kill you instinct happen and it was still working. She didn't have the strength to keep it up, instead going almost limp in his arms.
He was strong. He could handle it.
"Yeah, yeah, just keep walkin'," she said, trying to casually get closer to him. Was it her or was he suddenly warmer? Probably her, seeing as she was dying and shit.
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Post by Al Kinney on Feb 19, 2012 19:38:57 GMT -5
Always one for argument, Al decided he must state his opinion. "Neither of us would live long enough to regret it unless you stabbed the wrong place. It's all on the location... kind of."
Letting his mind wander as he walked, he began to wonder what she would have done if he was a wimpy kid. If he was not able to sustain weight like this, what would have become of her? She probably would have became snake food, along with him. Unless having less muscles expanded the extent of his telekinesis. There were too many possibilities to consider, so it was not clever to analyze every if, and, or but about the current situation. He hung a left.
It seemed like this was the route they had take to get in here. He sure hoped so. A dead girl lying in his arms didn't sound to pleasant at the moment.
Though he was entirely focused on walking, he subconsciously noted that she was trying to get closer to the core of his body. Odd, but it seemed to make sense. He adjusted her position slightly so that it was easier for the heat to undergo the process of diffusion. After another minute of walking, he began to see the faint trickle of light coming from another passage. He turned. Sure enough, the exit was right there. They hadn't been that deep inside the cave, after all.
"Hold on for just a few seconds more. We're almost outside."
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