((Continuation of the plot line involving ThornShujaa and Ulay from the Beginners - RP - The Salty Sailor Tavern
As of now only these three characters are admitted.))
As he dashed out of the Tavern, Ulay's eyes needed a short moment to get used to the half-light. The troll drew his two bone daggers and used them as climbing aids to scale the muddy cliff that lead up into the jungle. He slipped by the platform of the Tavern's first floor and headed into the jungle. As he was sprinting through the foliage he made a shallow cut into some of the trees to give Shujaa a bit of a trail to follow. Ulay enjoyed being out in the open again, he had been in this narrow, moldy smelling den of thieves far too long. The hunter's trails got less and less obvious the further he ran into the jungle. But he had the feeling that Shujaa still would be able to follow them.
Shujaa was off. She was in the jungle again after so many years, for the first time since she had been found by the Horde. It wasn't like Shujaa had avoided it, she just hadn't felt any reason to return. But now, she was back. Shujaa stopped for a moment and noticed the carve in a tree. She smiled to herself, it was very fresh. She could smell the wood inside of it. Shujaa grabbed the tree to heave herself forward, resuming her rapid sprint through. It was almost like coming home. It felt wonderful being back.
Shujaa's senses sharpened, still tracking Ulay. She was not an excellent tracker, but her skills were sufficient for this task. She took a deep breath all the way from her toes and breathed it out, almost in a growl. Shujaa ran faster, leaping over bushes and ducking under vines and branches. She felt like a tiger once again. It was the best feeling Shujaa had had in a very long time. Just then, Shujaa noticed a familiar shade of green ahead of her. There he was. It was on now.
Ulay could already hear movement behind him. he heard a low growling noise. So there she was, chasing him for a change. Ulay continued deeper in the jungle. The foliage got more dense and he already needed one or two quick slash by his daggers to make it through the foliage. The hunter was sure that Shujaa could keep up his speed, but would she be able to follow him if he masked his tracks? Whenhe passed over some more solid ground, the hunter cut off some foliage and took a sharp turn into another direction where he could go more or less freely by jumping over a fallen rotting tree. He carefully treaded a bit away from the feint he prepared, curious if Shujaa would fall for it, but also ready to sprint of again if she didn't.
Shujaa's pursuit came to a sudden stop. She was absolutely still, only breathing heavily from the run. Her heart was pounding in her chest from the exhaustion and excitement. Everything else was completely still, she could not see Ulay any more, or his tracks. She knew she was on his track, she had seen many fresh cuts in the foliage where he had cut his way through. Shujaa shook her head violently, trying to sober up. She felt sober already from the hunt, but she knew better.
Shujaa began moving forward, sneaking extremely quietly while she searched for any signs of Ulay. She had a feeling he was nearby, but she would not call him out. She loved the tension in the air and the feeling of being watched. She pretended to not be aware, but kept creeping deeper into the jungle.
Ulay would catch his breath for a short moment and follow Shujaa a bit later, by now she should have realized that she ran off into a faulty direction. Ulay felt the moss under his feet and noticed that it must have rained shortly. he carefully ripped of a layer of moss and grabbed into the wet black earth. he removed his armor from his belt and put on his hood again. With his face tattooed black his head was now fully disguised. He would not need the protection of his armor for this so he silently smeared the pitch black earth all over his upper body, to tone down his white tattoos. Then he used a leather strap from one of his pockets to tie his armor to the back of his belt again. When his heavy breathing settled, the troll crept after Shujaa, barely exposing himself above the undergrowth.
The direction didn't feel right. In front of Shujaa the vegetation looked too heavy. It needed to be cut through in order to pass. It was very clear for Shujaa that Ulay had tried fooling her, but she was not going to make herself look like a fool by cutting through fresh part of the jungle.
Shujaa crouched down slightly and turned around. She backed up to the side, leaning against a tree and sneaking around it with her hands embracing the bark. She smiled to herself, then leaned down and searched with her eyes through the jungle. She could not see anything but foliage.
Ulay slowly crept forward. He waited for little gusts of wind or other movement in the jungle to advance so that his movement was not descernable from the environment, to him now the sound of rattling leaves was already an ear piercing noise. But he knew that it were just his heightened senses. He crept forward very slowly and as the undergrowth got less dense, he slid up the bark of a three. he held his breath for a few seconds as he waited for some kind of reaction. Most likely Shujaa was also hiding now.
Ulay used the thick rank growth on the tree to ascend into it's top. he only stepped on branches massive enough to support him without moving. No rattling would tell tales of his passing.when he was safely in the treetops, he waited for Shujaa to get impatient. She was bound to make a mistake, he thought.
The jungle was completely silent. It was almost scary, she had forgotten how tranquil parts of the jungle could be sometimes. Shujaa did not even dare to breath nor move. It felt as if her every action was being watched closely by the whole world. She had lost her edge, she was not as used to moving in the jungle as she had been once.
Shujaa advanced forward, moving but an inch at a time. She was stalking the stalker, hunting the hunter. It was a bizarre situation, but she was not one to play the waiting game. Shujaa moved her entire body like a cat on two legs, keeping the trees as a disguise.
Ulay was lying face down on one of the massive branches of the tree he climbed. he closed his eyes and listened for the sounds of the forest. With his other senses shut out, his hearing was even augmented further. The hunter heard the rattling of some grass nearby. He opened his eyes and was able to see the orange mane of Shujaa through the foliage. A grin escaped his face when he slowly got up and wanted to sneak up on her. but another noise forced him down again. It was the sound of multiple pair of feet grazing through the luscious grass on the ground. Ulay turned his head and saw multiple Gurubashi hunters stalking through the foliage and they were heading right towards Shujaa. The troll carefully cracked a piece of bark from the tree and threw it towards Shujaa. But he missed the tree he was aiming for and the piece of bark landed shorty near her just making a noise as it hit the wet grass.
Shujaa jumped when the branch hit the ground close to her. Her heightened senses had not been prepared for it, she had been genuinely startled. Shujaa had caught the branch in the corner of her eyes before it landed, so she simply looked up from where it came from. Sure enough, Ulay was up there, not even trying to hide. Shujaa was a little bit offended he revealed himself like that. Either he did not want to play anymore, or he thought Shujaa stood no chance against him.
Either way, Shujaa had climbed up next to him in mere seconds. She was right next to him, smiling and holding on to his shoulder so she could gain a good balance on the branch as well. Ulay's torso was bare again but he had camouflaged himself with mud to not show his tattoos in the moon's glow. Oh, right...camouflage
Ulay immediately pulled her towards him and embraced her. he let himself fall backwards and shujaa landed on him but they both were not visible from the ground anymore. Ulay had pressed his hand on her mouth and cut one of his fingers on her tusks in the process. While Shujaa seemed startled at first, as soon as she heard something else her eyes widened.
Shujaa did not expect the other troll to grab hold of her and pull her into his arms like that. At first Shujaa was excited. Seemed Ulay was through with games and chasing, and had his eyes on another acitivity. He smelled like the jungle, which brought Shujaa back to her teen years. But when he pressed his hand hard over her mouth she was confused. Where was he actually going with this?
It was then she heard it. Gurubashi trolls, and they had heard Shujaa speak before. Damn it. Her eyes widened and she kept absolutely still, staring into Ulay's eyes. She gave him a startled look to show her surprise. It was the only communication they had right now, any whispers or motions could expose them immediately.
Ulay slowly rolled the two of them around until he was on top of Shujaa. As he caught his breath again, relieved from her weight, he could smell Shujaa's sweat and the leather of her armor. It was an intoxicating sensation, surprisingly much more intoxicating that the brew he drank all night. He softly pressed his finger on Shujaa's lip to gesture her to be quiet.
He sadly had to focus on something else. Ulay slowly got up into a crouching position and drew his daggers. he slid them into a barely visivle slit in his pants on his left thigh and pressed the pocket on the blade. a faint squishing noise was heard and when ulay drew out the blade again it was laced in poison. He repeated the procedure with the second blade and secured them in the back of his belt. The hunter closely watched the party of trolls on the ground all the time. His motions were so automated they happened while he kept his full attention on the hunting party.
He drew three bone knifes that were secured in lether straps on his right leg. The troll also dunked them in the poison stored in the pocket and resecured them in his armor. Then he drew a fine rope out of a fold of his chest piece that he removed from his belt. It was about 3 man heights long and had raptor teeth attached to it in the middle.
Ulay gestured Shujaa to stay down as he thew another branch into the direction from which the Gurubashi came. He had counted four, so far. When the hunters heard the branch they signaled each other and headed towards the two trolls again. They would soon pass under the tree again.
Shujaa was rolled on her back with Ulay on top of her. Just then he gestured for her to keep quiet with a finger over her mouth. She caught a sample of him on her lips. It was salty and bitter, with a mix of sweat and plants. She also caught something wet and warm. It was a drop of his blood from when he hurt himself on one of her tusk. When Ulay sat up she could not help but rub her lips together to get more of the taste out.
Ulay quickly poisoned his blades. It was clear he had done it plenty times before, he was done in seconds. But she knew what he was thinking. Shujaa quickly got up without making a sound and started motioning to Ulay to stop, but he did not even look her way. He was about to attack the Gurubashi, preparing his weapons and pulling out a rope with raptor teeth. Ulay finally looked at her before he quickly turned around and threw another branch to lure the troll towards them. Shujaa threw herself quietly on Ulay's back, but not before he tossed the stick. She grabbed his face and stared right at him with her most stern face possible, shaking her head. They could get out of this without anyone dying, if only Ulay could keep his bloodthirst at bay.
How long had it been?
A couple hours, maybe three?
Thorn wasn't exactly sure, yet she felt a slight bit intoxicated still. It wasn't normal for the undead being to sleep more than a couple of hours each and every night. Constantly Thorn felt like she had to be moving, had to find new places, had to find a purpose with her own existance. Even though the Trolls had taken somewhat care of her, it would soon be time to move on. They had taught her a great deal, yet the whole experience had been so confusing that Thorn barely managed to catch hold of the true meaning behind it all. Fighting can be like training. It doesn't have to be bad omens at all. Thinking about the sentence for a moment, this was a tool Ulay had given her. By relating things back to the time where Thorn wasn't actively out on missions in the scourge, maybe she could draw patterns in the real world too?..
Pushing the hood over her head and hiding a lot of features, Thorn snook out the door and closed it behind her, leaving the bed somewhat tidy. Walking down the stairs as if nothing had happened in the tavern earlier, Thorn was quite sure she was going to be able to leave this place behind. There were a lot of places Thorn really wanted to have a closer look on. One of them being Stormwind. Even though it would be hard for Thorn to gain access to the mighty human city, there was something she couldn't quite put her finger on that wanted her to go there. Obey the feeling, she would.
As Thorn stepped down the last step of the stairs, the Tavernskeep immediately called her over. "Oi, Missy! Before you go anywhere, there's something that your friend wants you to know. If you stay here and behave, she'll bring you a surprise. It must be rather important for her, she left quite a few gold coins for me. The Barkeep gave a smirking look. The Troll must've had quite a bit of money if she'd give that amount to him, merely to pass a message on. Such kind of people was just for his taste, and his wallet. If they would stay there longer, maybe he'd get his hands on more of those coins. It wasn't a bad bet, at least. "You know what, Missy. I'll even get you a drink while you wait. Free of charge!" The Barkeep quickly mixed a fruit-drink for Thorn, that she recieved in hand shortly before being smiled at by the barkeep. Pointing to a corner, he made sure she'd be sitting in a place where Shujaa would find her immediately she returned.
Blinking a bit, Thorn was astonished beyond belief. This was getting impossible! If the Barkeep had merely given the message and allowed Thorn to walk on, it would've been piece of cake to move on. Now, with drink in hand, Thorn found herself sitting down in a corner of the Tavern - actually waiting for Shujaa to return. It seemed fate wanted them to be together just a little longer. Thorn shook her head, and sipped on the drink... Too complicated.
When Shujaa threw herself on him, Ulay thought she had other intentions and deemed her completely mad, but when he was able to look at her face, he saw a stern expression, he understood what she meant by shaking her head, but it was too late to prevent violence. They were to close to Ulay's hideout and if one of them escaped he would have to give up his home, and he had no intention to do so.
He forcefully grabbed Shujaa's upper arms and pushed her away. He just was able to crouch on one of the other branches in time as the last hunter passed under it.
Ulay threw the rope he was holding down, while having both ends of it wrapped around one of his hands each. The rope formed a u-shape as it was falling down and with a flick of his wrist Ulay made the string form a noose, just before it landed around the last Troll's neck. Ulay let himself slide down on the other side of the massive branch while still holding on to the ropes. The oblivious hunter was janked up by Ulay's weight as the hunter fell down , and the raptor teeth slowly dug into the gurubashi's throat. As Ulay was standing on the ground he let go of one rope end and yanked the other one downward. The raptor teeth forcefully sliced through the hunter's carotids and he fell over gurgling. All of this happened in seconds.
The other hunters were startled enough that Ulay was also able to throw one of his small knifes into another troll's thigh. When the other hunters got a grasp of the situation and fired their bows at Ulay, he quickly ducked behind a tree and drew his Kukris.
Shujaa knew this would happen, the moment Ulay dipped his daggers in poison. He was unreasonable sometimes, and it made Shujaa furious. Fortunately, she still had the chance to teach him a lesson while hopefully saving the other hunters. She had just watched Ulay slide down, and within seconds he had managed to dispose of two of the trolls. Despite the situation, Shujaa had to admit to herself that she was very impressed. He had killed the first troll so fast he almost even caught Shujaa off guard.
But enough was enough. Shujaa jumped down as well and drew her daggers. She faced one of the unharmed trolls that still had a chance of surviving. She got on top of him extremely quickly, she was already leaping at him when she landed on the ground. She managed to separate him from the other troll that was lunging arrows at Ulay, and she disarmed the trolls underneath her in seconds. She held her dagger tightly on his throat and clenched her teeth.
"Run, now, before I slit your throat, Gurubashi filth!"
He managed to pull himself away from Shujaa loose grip on him, and barely made it up on his legs before he ran for his life.
Ulay jumped out of his cover and one of his kukris was flying towards the second archer. it hit him horizontally between his ribs and send him to the ground immediately. While Ulay got up he saw that Shujaa had also overpowered one of the trolls but she let him go. Ulay was too far away to penetrate his Armor with the small knives so he aimed with his second Kukri. Seconds before he threw it he saw that the troll he poisoned first, was still conscious and removed Ulay's dart from his thigh. He was crawling behind Shujaa and tried to stab her calf with Ulay's weapon. But before he was able to, Ulay's second Kukri was stuck in the troll's forearm and he cried out in pain as the dart fell out of his hand.
Ulay looked for a second and was sure that the three trolls were dead before he stormed at Shujaa grabbed her arms and pinned her against a tree. Then he hissed at her.
Just when Shujaa watched the troll she had jumped on disappear into the jungle, she heard a cry of pain behind her. She swung around in a second, the poisoned troll had managed to crawl behind her and was just about to stab her with Ulay's extremely poisonous dart. Ulay was on top of him, he had dealt another killing blow to save Shujaa's life. She could have sworn that troll would not have been able to get up his first hit, but she had been wrong. Just when Shujaa locked her shocked eyes right on Ulay, he grabbed hold of her arms and crashed her against a tree, keeping her pinned down in his grip while scolding her for her actions. Shujaa hit the back of her head, cringing heavily as she felt the collision. She quickly collected herself to answer Ulay.
"You are cruel! They did not have to die, they had no idea where we were. You're just enjoying it, killing for the sake of killing. It's disgusting."
Last edited by dubbelbasse; 2011-06-02 at 05:40 PM.
"What do you know! Can't you guess what they were hunting? Or better whom? There are better hunting grounds closer to the Zul. They were looking for me. We are near my hideout; my home! And now they know it is here. Thanks to you."
Ulay moved and grabbed a steel blade out of his belt. He cut of the middle fingers of the three trolls. As he moved towards his second kill to remove his kukri he slit open the man's leather armor. He turned his chest towards Shujaa so she could see the green snake tattoo on his chest while he spoke:
"And as to why they hunt me. They are Venoxxis' Hunters. They tired to kill me back in Zul because some of the old shadow hunters wanted to send me to meet the Loa and if i had returned sucessfully I would have enentually been a threat to Venoxis' position. When I escaped, they killed my family and they are still out for me since I escaped. And I will never stop killing them as long as they come for me. You understand?"
While he was speaking, Ulay finished collecting his weapons.
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