A Mediocre Showdown Not Really Tied to Anyone’s Destiny.

[Shin]

The scene before Davlamin certainly did not look innocent, however, he was not one to interfere when not asked. Even as it was Davlamin was a different mind set right now he was focused entirely on finding her and little else mattered to the gish.

“You there.” Davs tone was firm if not slightly haughty, his stride was light and very graceful, for a human, and even his features were slightly sharper and angled in a way that wasn’t normal for most humans.

He rested his left hand casually on the hilt of his pommel his other was hooked by his thumb onto his belt. “What’s going on here?” He asked just as much as he demanded and though he was still nearly thirty yards away his yellow tinted orbs carefully gazed over the man and all but apparently ignoring the women.

Unless stopped otherwise Dav would walk within a few yards of the two, pretending to remain oblivious to whatever they were doing before he got there. It was none of his business anyways.

[Nayt]

Though she wasn't quite ready to smack Heita, she did keep putting at least a little distance between them. She was never within arms reach of him, and she was most totally keeping her eyes peeled for his hands, in case he wanted to test that advice he gave her or something. He was right, though. Something was seriously wrong here, and she had no idea what to do about it. Before she could say a word, though, what sounded like the ideal friendly policeman voice spoke to them from behind, and she practically spun on her heels to face this fine warrior of justice.

"Ah! Ummm ... h-hello!" Akizets greeted the new man, Dav, cheerily, only to confuse herself immediately thereafter, "Umm ... you're not, like, umm, one of those polish guys or something, are you? C-cause it's totally fine, I mean, he said he was sorry and ..."

As she rattled on, Akizetsumei realized something. If this guy was police (not polish), then that meant he lived here. Which meant he could help them!

So without skipping a beat, she interrupted herself in mid chatter to say, "Oh hey! You know where we are, don't you?"

And then Akizetsumei passed a bright smile on to Heita (despite everything), as if to say that she knew polishmen and she could attest to the polish being very helpful. She had no idea why, but they were.

[Paroxysm]

Blinking dumbfounded, Heita stood by and allowed Akizetsumei to continue on her . . . Well he was not entirely sure what she was on about, but he allowed her to finish up anyways. At any rate, Heita had his own suspicions about this newcomer, this . . . Polishman - no, policeman -, was it? Now Heita had his fair share of do-gooder encounters and if this man was a member of the local law enforcement then he was possibly the most disinterested officer of the law that Heita had ever seen.

And, not to mention, Davlamin did not have what Heita would have assumed to be the telling signs of a man who had lived all his life in a subterranean city. Either he was in the same position as them or he was the man who had orchestrated all of this in the first place. The latter was doubtful, but the former seemed likely enough. At first glance, Heita could surmise that Davlamin was an educated man, possibly a bit vain, he had the look of an adventurer, engaged in regular physical exertion, either exercise or fighting, and he had an odd presence, too. Although unable to throw out the possibility, Heita was pretty sure that this man, Davlamin, was exactly (or close to it) what he appeared to be.

Pulling himself from his mental deconstruction of the approaching 'Polishman', Heita smiled and held his arms behind his back, cuffing his right wrist with his left hand; instinctively, he slinked back just enough to let a few stray shadows settle on him.

“Was just wondering that myself, . . . Sir."

[Shin]

The situation before Davlamin was unlike anything Davlamin had ever been in before, he didn’t know how to handle it. A plethora of options swirled around in his mind though he wasn’t able to focus on any long enough to come to a decision. How was he supposed to react?

Frown leans creased his face as he looked from Akizetsumei to Heita and than back again. Confusion was quickly replaced by anger, Davlamins eyes hardened. These two were of no help he decided, if anything they were likely part of the problem…yes, that was it, they had to know something, didn’t they?

It was obvious Davlamin was struggling with some internal dilemma and by the way his hand gradually loosened and tightened on the pommel of The Everflame it wasn’t hard to guess what he was thinking.

It took a great amount of effort to push away that anger, to try to remain calm and collected, but Dav managed, barely.

“I have no idea where we are. But I am looking for something. So stay out of my way….or else.” He threatened openly, his eyes shooting daggers at the two before he took a few steps backwards, making sure it was safe before he turned his back and walked away. He decided to go towards what he thought was the castle in the distance….though it would take sometime to walk there.

[Nayt]

Wow, that Polishman was kind of rude! Akizets didn't know what to think of him. She all but stopped guarding herself by then and simply crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. Before she knew it, he was walking away. But he said something that could neither be ignored nor forgotten: he had no idea where he was and he was looking for something. Which was convenient, because she was in the same boat!

"H-- hey! Ummm, I'm looking for something, too!" Akizets exclaimed as she caught up with Dav.

She made it a point to only catch up beside of him. He said something about it being bad if she got in his way, so she most definitely was not going to do that. If he was walking one direction, she was not going to cut him off or walk ahead of him, because that would be getting in his way, and that was bad, right?

"I'm looking for a pair of fans just like these, except they're a super cool red color. Aaaaand, um, I don't know where I am, and neither does he," Akizets pointed back to Heita, "so, um, we could, like, help each other, maybe?"

Technically, she was volunteering Heita for this without realizing it, but it just made since to her. Here they were, three people, a girl, a guy in a cool coat, and a Polishman, with no idea where they were or how they got here. Why wouldn't they want to help each other out?

[Paroxysm]

A cold stare and smile was all Heita gave Davlamin in reply. Ill-prepared as he was for random abductions, he saw no point in having a pissing contest with some arrogant blowhard he had just met. A younger him might purposely antagonized the man, but he liked to believe he was a bit more patient now than before. Plus, direct fighting really seemed to get at the joints these days.

“What a coincidence,” he had followed after Akizetsumei and was walking just behind and to the side of her.
"Just the other day I had set out looking for something too."

If Heita took exception to Akizetsu’s proposal, he didn’t show or voice any concern about it, and, instead, just seemed content to follow after the two.

[Shin]

It seemed both individuals had taken a different meaning to what Dav had meant to say. He played the words over in his mind and realized that they were getting him on a technicality. He thought momentarily … playing over the events that had lead up to meeting them.

With as much elven patience he could muster he stopped after walking about thirty feet and turned to face the two of them. “Perhaps I was not clear,” He gritted his teeth. “please,” He stressed the word, “do not follow me. This will be your only warning.”

With that Davlamin turned and began walking again, looking over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t being attack or followed. He had to make sure he found who he was looking for alone, there was not telling what sort of deception Drakketh would use against him.

[Nayt]

Akizetsumei slowly came to a stop and looked to Heita. Well ... that was that, then. It only made sense to her to look for things together, but if he wanted to be an enormous jerk about it ...

"Well ... fine!" Akizets folded her arms over her chest, stamped her foot down, and pouted. "But you don't gotta be a huge jerk about it!"

Well if he didn't want help, then fine. Dav could just go sit in the jerkface corner where he could give helpful people snide glares and mean looks, and where no one helpful could care, because no one liked a big jerkface, anyways. And then maybe someday he'd realize he was a really mean Polishman and that he should apologize and then maybe Akizetsumei would think about helping him.

Wait, what was she doing here, again?

[Paroxysm]

"I think you upset him," Heita said as he folded his arms against his chest. Near parental, his tone was harsh, but soft and caring, too. Truthfully, he knew Akizetsumei wasn’t at fault in this at all. People like Davlamin? They were a dime a dozen and all of them were ornery, disagreeable fellows. Well . . . Heita only knew this from experience, in the end. It was pretty easy to recognize one of your own, after all.

“’Polishmen’ are prideful people, “he informed the girl, “but you just have to know how to talk to them is all, okay? Here, watch- “

The thin smile on his face became a frown as a cold, analytical stare was pressed into the back of Davlamin’s head.

Right, Heita thought to himself.

“-Looking for something?” He shouted. “Hhh,” . . . “Or are you looking for someone? Missing? No," he thought about it for a moment, "maybe leverage? Probably dead," he realized, "never did keep a hostage for too long. Most professionals don't like the trouble," he returned his gaze back to Akizetsu, "have to feed them, put up with the whining and crying, their escape attempts, and honestly, you never really need them after a certain point. In the end, they turn out to be a liability, too."


Akizetsumei and Heita were now sharing a thought: Wait, what was he doing here, again?

[Kensaki]

Voices from up ahead.....

Keeping out of sight as he approached, Saran moved quietly up the street, still far too distant to discern what was being said. He estimated that the conversation was taking place one street over, around eighty to ninety paces away. He crept quietly down an alley that connected to the next street and peeked around the corner. Three people, none of them Vaelian in dress or features in the slightest.

The message had been clear...he must kill to find them. These must be his targets, these oddly dressed strangers. Three against one wasn't exactly fair odds, but then, for Saran, fairness rarely seemed a part of life. Regardless, he was sworn to give everything for the safety of Vael, and the last remnant might actually be down here somewhere. Perhaps he could even the odds a little before the fight really started. The woman was likely the lesser threat, and the man who had walked a few paces away presented a more difficult throw. Saran settled his gaze on the other man, standing closer to the woman with his back to the gladiator's position.

*************

A person with good ears would probably detect a strange whistling noise. Someone cunning might make the connection between the noise and the impending doom in the form of a spear that lanced its way through the air, plummeting directly toward Heita's exposed back. A glance down the street would show the thrower, standing at the mouth of an alley about sixty paces down the street, shield raised with another spear already in hand, eyes filled with an unspoken challenge.

[Nayt]

"Oh, but ..." Akizetsumei pouted, "I didn't mean to. I just wanted to help."

Well, Heita said that all polishmen were like this, so Akizets guessed it couldn't be helped. But really, how could someone go their whole life being a huuuuuuge jerk? That wasn't gonna win you any friends! Nevertheless, she went quiet and listened to Heita talk. Was that really how to talk to polishmen? Man ... Akizets didn't think she could do that. That dialogue was a bit extreme for her! Not that she really understood what the heck Heita was talking about, but it sounded about as extreme as swimming with shark-octopus hybrids, and that was just something she couldn't do.

A howling soon pierced the air ... slight and subtle, small enough that most people wouldn't have noticed a thing. Except this city was practically empty and soundless and a pin drop might have been noticeable all the same. Akizets turned her head a bit, saw the man behind them, and tilted her head to the side. Who was that guy? And what was that thing passing Heita by? She didn't get a good look at it, but if she. Had, she would have seen that it was sharp, long, pointy, and going straight for Dav's back.

It was funny how the wind could play tricks on you. How just the smallest breeze could knock a thrown object off one course and onto another. To Dav, of course, it'd probably look like the man far down the street just threw a spear at him. Which was pretty much the case. There was really no way to look at that trajectory without concluding that the spear was aimed right at Dav.

[Shin]

Davlamin looked over shoulder at Heita, the man was trying to anger him even more. A task that would have been fairly easy, if Heita had all the information, which he did not. A small smile, a smile telling Heita that he was way off the mark, one of superiority, was clearly readable.

At the same time, passed Heita he saw another individual, and despite the shadows that littered the area, he saw him much more clearly than the average individual, as well as the spear that was traveling towards Heitas back. The smile turned into a smirk and Dav fully turned to see this play out.

He was surprised when the spear changed it’s course slightly, flew past Heita and came directly towards him. Of course, there was plenty of time to react and rather than shift his weight and let the spear harmlessly fly by him Dav whispered an elvish word of power under his breath, granting him the strength of a bull.

He could feel the magical energy rush though him, his muscles growing ever so slightly. Dav snapped his right hand out, catching the spear right behind the spearhead, stopping it dead cold several inches before his chest.

“Your words were meant to anger me.” Dav said clearly and cooly, though his eyes betrayed the anger rising within him. “They were off their mark, just as this spear was.” He twirled spear before him like a staff and stabbed it point first between the cobblestone road into the ground, a feat that would have been beyond him only seconds ago.

Davlamin cleared his mind, focused on nothing and then brought forth the list of Duskblade spells he had learned while training with the elves of Silverwood, a second later he was ready.

“Prepare yourself.”

[Paroxysm]

"Can't win 'em all," Heita said nonchalantly. To match Dav's smile, Heita's returned back in a thin and sinister streak across his face. To say he had no particular opinion concerning Dav's delusion of superiority would have been an understatement.

And then there was a familiar sound on the wind. A projectile, but quite large, was it? A throwing spear? That was kind of cute. Had a savage been abducted, too? He hadn't seen one since a long time ago when he was last in the uncharted territories. Fond memories, those. Still, he had fully intended to just adjust where he was standing and to allow the spear to harmlessly continue on its trajectory, but, oddly enough, within seconds, it seemed there was no more call for that; in fact, it had veered off course and was heading towards Dav instead! A win was a win in Heita's book, however, and he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He let out a sharp whistle when Dav caught it and then he clapped his hands, impressive!

“Did you see that,” he looked back at Akizetsumei, “he caught this thing with his hands!”

The spear, after being placed into the cobblestone, had been pilfered by Heita immediately thereafter, which was funny, since only one person present would have even known he had moved, and it wasn’t either of the males with such dastardly, malicious intent so boldly coming from them.

“The wonders never cease, do they?” He held the spear point-down towards the cobblestone, let go of it, where it stood upright for a moment, wavered, and then fell to the street with a clack.

Casually, Heita looked back to the approaching stranger, squinting a bit, but still smiling: “I sure hope that guy is prepared,” he then looked back at Dav and then to Akizetsumei once more, “he really made the Polishman angry.”

[Kensaki]

Impossible! Saran could have made that throw ninety nine times out of one hundred, and he would have sworn that this time was no different. The spear had been on course one moment, and had veered off at the next. Then there was the matter of the man who had caught the weapon with his bare hands, and still yet his spear seeming almost to appear in the hands of his original target. What strange powers did these people possess? Nonetheless, it changed nothing for Saran; his decision had been made for him the moment he had seen the remnants of that Vaelian flag tied to the hilt of his sword. They had to die, it was as simple as that. If he died trying, the gift of his life in service of his people was among the greatest honors he could earn.

Saran began to move lithely but slowly down the street, closing the distance to his foes, an enormous predatory cat stalking its prey. His movements suggested an economy of motion that came only with extreme battle experience. His voice rose across the still city, low and rich and masculine. It was not exactly a song, yet the words suggested a rhythm, almost a cadence. Saran's voice was solemn yet determined, as if giving an oath, which is actually exactly what it was.

"All who would do Evil in the sight of Vael
Know that Justice shall always prevail,
For Evil begets Wrath heretofor unseen,
the Righteous Steel of the Harradin!"

When he finished, Saran was still about thirty paces from the others, his strange shield still raised defensively. A spear was leveled in his right hand, always ready to thrust, or with a quick flip of his handhold, to throw. Had Heita taken more time to examine the spear he had briefly held, he would have noticed that these were not the weapons of a barbarian, despite his earlier impression. Each was extremely well crafted, with almost a foot of steel blade protruding from one end and a balancing cap of steel over the other. Each was also razor sharp, enough so that they could punch through some types of armor with the proper amount of force.

[Nayt]

The Polishman was angry, yes. That was not cool. He struck Akizets as the type she would not like when amgry. Actually, he stuck her as the type she wouldn't like at all, but you know what? She'd have at least given him the benefit of the doubt for awhile. In any event, there was a guy with a shield and he was walking for them. This same guy threw a spear at the Polishman. It was about high time Akizets and Heita bailed.

"Umm ... yeeeaah ..." Akizets trailed off.

This ... this wasn't a good place to be. Nope, not a good place to be at all. Normally, she'd have asked these people about her fans, but ... uh ... nope. They didn't look like they knew where they were, aaaaaand they didn't look like they were too keen on receiving aid, either.

"L-let's, um ... let's go ... over here ..." Akizets trailed off nervously.

Not waiting too long for Heita, she edged away, closer and closer to the side of the street, and slowly side-stepping into an alley where she hoped she and Heita could maybe possibly disappear from the attention of these crazy people. Which would probabl be easy enough, what with the one guy throwing a spear at Dav and Dav glaring at him. They really looked like they were focused on each other, so they could totally stay like that.