Resh: He starts shaking a bit, whether from fear or anger even he doesn’t know. His voice wavers ever so slightly as he speaks again. “Let go of my daughter.” Or I’ll murder you. But she might die too. What do I do-
Parvus: He goes completely silent and starts stalking towards the man, knowing that he’s small enough not to be noticed.
???: He laughs at Resh, then presses the knife harder against Juni’s throat. A tiny trickle of blood drips from where he’s pressing the knife. “Oh? Or else you’ll kill me? Well, I think I could kill her just as quickly.”
Juni: She stares at the group, wide eyed and terrified. She starts chirping quietly, although she doesn’t seem to notice.
Rhiv: he grumbles. if his target would QUIT MOVING then maybe he could get a better shot. ah, what's the use? when's the last time he fired an arrow anyways? who's to say he doesn't hit Juni on accident? alright, new plan. another grunt Resh's way and Rhiv is gone. he'll go figure out how many other cultists there are - that'd be useful, maybe.
Salmook: a chill runs up his spine at the word "graveyard." Salmook brushes up the dirt, clearing away all the drawings he's made so far. he starts doodling… something. it's hard to tell. "I heard Pater say that word before. Graveyard - oohh. Whatever Pater talked about, he didn't like. Do the scaries live there?"
Tseth: He watches Rhiv move to get a gauge on how many cultists there were. He moves to get a different view of the cave entrance. Better for when however many there are come out, he could take out at least a couple quickly. He looks again at Resh. Fuck, he's not doing well.
Alex: He tilts his head as he watches Salmook drawing. "Uh- yeah. Quite a few. Gotta be careful when you're going through on foot."
Resh: He goes completely silent, other than his shallow breathing. It seems like he’s quietly hyperventilating with how little he’s breathing.
Parvus: He looks around. The man hasn’t noticed him yet. He flicks his tail and climbs up to the man’s shoulder, biting him in the throat before he can react.
???: He lets go of Juni and drops his knife, now distracted with the small dragon latched to his throat. He frantically tries to pry Parvus off, which only causes Parvus to bite harder. After a few seconds, the man falls to the ground, dead. The other cultists seem to notice this and immediately go after the rest of the group, one of them picking up Parvus and pinning his wings to his side.
Parvus: He starts thrashing against the cultist’s grip, squawking angrily and hissing.
Juni: She runs off to the side, away from the cultists, and hides behind a tree, trembling.
Resh: He growls and tackles one of the other cultists, slitting their throat. He stands up and runs another one through. That’s three or four more to go.
Rhiv: as soon as he hears the first cultist go down, he's right into the action. he lunges at nearest cultist who was completely unaware he was there. he starts swinging, using the hatchet as more of a club. it's making way too much of a mess and… stars above, what is he doing? he shudders. Rhiv stands up, feeling sick to his stomach. the next beat, he's already swallowing his guilt. he launches his hatchet at an approaching cultist, but his aim's off. it hits their stomach instead of their head. shit.
Salmook: whatever he's drawing in the dirt… it looks like he's doing it blindfolded and left-handed. But he presents it to Alex as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. it's a… field with mouths on the ground? Salmook taps at the drawing with his stick.
"THIS is what Pater called a "graveyard." Do yours look like that?"
(my inability to type both quickly and correctly combined with autocorrect strikes again-)
(mood)
Tseth: He jumps into the fight easily. He notices the cultist that has a hold of Parvus, throwing his knife at their chest. He takes out both his swords, running to the next cultist and impaling them. For cultists with a lot of intimidation factor, they're really easy to kill.
Ater: He runs up to Juni, sitting next to her. He seems pretty unfazed by the fighting.
Alex: He squints a little at Salmook's drawing. "Ah.. no. I meant graveyard a bit differently- hmm" He grabs a stick of his own, drawing in the dirt next to Salmook's drawing. "The ancients ruined the wastelands a long time ago. And- some really big creatures used to live there. But they died, and all that's left is their skeletons." He seems to be drawing an animal skull, and a ribcage. Or trying, his art skills aren't much better than Salmook's.
Parvus: As soon as he gets dropped, he starts sprinting towards the last cultist, intent on killing them. The cultist notices him, though, and kicks him away. Parvus squawks and lands on the ground farther away from the fight, and he doesn’t get back up.
Resh: He runs to the last cultist, grabbing him by the throat and running him through as well. He throws the cultists’s body on the ground, and sprints to Juni immediately.
(PARVUS IS ALIVE DONT WORRY)
(Salmook and Alex just chatting it up while everyone else is murdering cultists-)
(Parvus is very much alive but Tseth doesn’t know that )
Rhiv: he's not sure how to feel right now. they won… but Rhiv also thinks he's about to vomit. he walks over to a mostly-dead body and retrieves his hatchet… eurgh. he wipes it clean with the cultist's clothes. it's smeared and sticky, and he's tempted to just leave it. he looks over to Resh and Juni. at least they're happy.
Salmook: he looks over Alex's drawing, and he listens closely. "There's skeletons at ours too. People skeletons." he adds a few more scratchy lines to his own drawing. supposedly, those are skeletons. "But they're new. They weren't there before." he tilts his head a little. "The ancients?"
Tseth: He watches as the last cultist was killed. But that wasn't what he was concerned about. He walks over to Parvus, crouching down next to him. He nudged him a bit with his hand. "Come on.. don't be dead."
Alex: He nods at Salmook. "Graveyards for people exist too." He thinks for a bit. He wasn't quite sure how to explain the ancients. "A group of people that lived way before my group of people. They made some mistakes."
Parvus: He stirs slightly, rolling onto his stomach and spreading out his wings. He looks up at Tseth. He’s alive, but in pain.
Resh: He sits next to Juni and pulls her into a tight hug, holding back tears. “Juni- I’m so sorry, I should have watched you, this is all my fault-“
Juni: She hugs Resh back, shaking her head. “I shouldn’t have run off like that. It’s not your fault…”
Resh: He stays silent, and a few tears fall from his eyes as he rests his chin on Juni’s head.
(Alex your next patient is a dragon gl)
Rhiv: another yawn. Resh and Juni are back together, good for them. he takes the opportunity to loot the cultists' pockets before his guilty conscience can tell him otherwise. he picks up a few coins and emblems all with the same scratchy symbol on them. Rhiv disregards the symbols for now, and he walks up to Tseth. it takes him a few moments to realize what Tseth is looking at.
"Shame. I was wondering whether it was edible." It's a joke, but there's some truth in it.
Salmook: his eyes go wide with curiosity. "You have graveyards for people, too? Wow. The way Pater said it, I thought that was bad thing." he scribbles some more details into his drawing. it… doesn't look much better, really. "How do you know the ancients were there? If they were before you, how do you know?" he's genuinely curious, pretty much staring at Alex now.
Tseth: He carefully picks Parvus up. A low growl comes from him at Rhiv's comment. "He isn't dead." He stands up, looking around at the carnage. He barely seems fazed by it.
Alex: "Well, graveyards… Rhiv is right about them not being a good thing." Salmook's next comment–and curiosity–make him have to think a bit more. He wasn't a historian. It was kinda just something everyone knew. "Well- uhm. They left behind cities. And records that people learned from. And… darkness. You mostly learn about it in school I guess… and I wasn't very good at that-"
Resh: He lets go of Juni, noticing her wrists are still tied up. “I should probably cut those off-“ He pulls out one of his knives, cutting off the ropes binding Juni’s wrists.
Juni: She rubs her wrists, looking very grateful. Her wrists are red with rope burns. “Yeah- thanks.”
Parvus: He stretches out his front talons towards Tseth, then curls up when he picks him up. He starts purring, mostly trying to soothe the pain from being kicked by that cultist. He continues staring up at Tseth with wide eyes.
Salmook: it seems like every one of Alex's answers just gives him another question. Salmook doesn't break eye contact. "School?"
Rhiv: he smirks at Tseth. "For now, at least. I'll ask again in a week." he turns away before Tseth can respond. Rhiv is about ready to leave - the sooner the better. all these corpses and blood and mess are bringing up… feelings. feelings that Rhiv would rather bottle up just like everything else. he casts a glance towards Resh and Juni. "Which way did we come from?"
(Rhiv is unaware of the healing magic he just got here like 30 minutes ago-)
(rhiv im gonna smack you)
(Anyway)
Tseth: Looks like another person is going to be getting on his nerves. He turns his attention to Parvus again. "Don't worry. Alex can help you."
Ater: He walks back up to Tseth, waiting for everyone to start moving again.
Alex: Whoa, wait a minute. This kid doesn't know what school is? Damn. "Wait- you don't have school?"
Resh: He stands up, offering a hand to Juni.
Juni: She takes Resh’s hand and pull some herself to her feet, looking around at the others. “We should head back.”
Parvus: He chitters and closes his eyes, still purring.
Salmook: he tilts his head. "Am I supposed to? I've never heard of it."
Rhiv: that's good to hear - he's practically itching to leave this place behind. he wonders how Salmook is doing. it's pretty hard to believe that he came this far for someone else's kid. with a final - accidental - glance at the cultists' bodies, Rhiv starts heading off in the direction they came, following their own footprints.
