Fathomless [Lucien/Open]

[Lucien DeChain]

{ooc: Good job! You learned a word!}

Having just been grabbed by his hair, and shoved inches from the water, Lucien was a bit distraught.

"Nuh-naaame? Name?"

Thorn released his hair then, and when he bent back up, his hair looked slightly like a parakeets, standing straight up right in the middle. He would have to fix that later. For now, Lucien was too preoccupied with the girl saying a word on her own. Quite impressive, if all his information was correct.

So, he looked at her, smiling, thankful that he realized what she meant, and said in a soft voice, "Ocean." And then he realized that Lucien and Ocean sounded quite similar, so he clarified for her by pointing back towards himself, saying "Lucien," at her, "Thorn," and at the water beside them, "Ocean."

Then he fixed his hair.

[Thorn]

The girl nodded sagely, repeating the new word under her breath "Ocean..." An odd word, but it sounded right: It made the same 'sshhhhh' sound that the water did as it came ashore. And now she knew that she had misunderstood him. Her hunting stick was not called 'Thorn', she was.

Thorn

It felt right to hear inside her mind, an actual word rather than the pictures she used to log her various memories. Now she had something to identify herself when someone asked her a question.

With a satisfied grunt, Thorn sat back into the sand and stared out at the vast water that lay before them. For now, unless disturbed, she would content herself with staring at the waves as they lapped ashore.

She was nothing if not a simple creature.

[Lucien DeChain]

Smiling, Lucien sat there for a moment with Thorn, admiring the vastness of the ocean. Of course, he'd never step a single toe in the endless waters. He never learned to swim, and just the thought of being in the same space of water that everyone -and everything- else uses, it made him shudder.

Suddenly, from out of a nearby bush, a man appeared, wearing rags and holding a hammer in his hand. His face looked dirty, and grease-stained. He approached the water a few feet from where Lucien and Thorn were sitting, and splashed some water on his face. Sighing, he looked towards the duo, as if just noticing they were there, saying "Well, hello, lovebirds."

At his words, two other men revealed themselves from hiding places and approached them, joining the first man to surround them in a triangle formation.

"How about we take any and all valuables you have, bring your girlfriend back with us, and we'll let you run on home?" The first man smiled.

Lucien would stand up, stealthily grabbing a handful of sand as he did, and plant his staff in the ground. With his back to the ocean, he could see all three of the attackers.

"I suggest that you leave us be. Right now." Lucien had a serious look on his face, and for once it actually looked slightly intimidating.

SPOILER: Click to show

{OOC: Bandits stats:
Bandit Leader
Str: 15
Dex: 10
Con: 10
Int: 10
Wis: 5
Cha: 5
Armed with hammer.

Bandit Thugs (2)
Str: 10
Dex: 10
Con: 10
Int: 5
Wis: 5
Cha: 5 }

[Thorn]

The rustles of the brush behind her made her jump. She turned frantically to watch the new comer approach to splash his face with the Ocean. It was another human male (A Lucien?), somewhat dirty looking, like he had been out without a pack for a long time. He looked over at them and Thorn's upper lip curled slightly. She had seen enough humans to be able to make decent judgements of character, and this one struck her as the bad sort.

"Well, hello, lovebirds."

She twisted around to face the men completely, still dropped in a deep crouch with her spear raised protectively in front of her. As they surrounded her and Lucien, she bared her teeth at them and hissed.

"How about we take any and all valuables you have, bring your girlfriend back with us, and we'll let you run on home?"

Before Thorn made her decision on what to do in this situation, her green eyes flicked over to the Lucien beside her. She saw him rise, taking up his hunting stick and planting it in the soft, shifty ground. Her head tilted to the side as she gazed up at him as though intrigued, only to face forward as he was a moment later.

Whenever she got into confrontations like these, Thorn's first instinct was to flee, far and fast from the danger until she was reasonably sure she was safe again. It seemed like the smart thing to do...but Lucien's reaction made her think otherwise.

Now she was curious to see what one of the humans would do when faced with such danger, hoping she wouldn't be disappointed.

"HISSSSSSSSS"

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien's turn

"HISSSSSSSSS"

Now's the time.

Lucien would crouch, slamming his staff onto the ground flat in front of him, and shift his grip to near the forward end. Lifting and turning, his other hand would grab the staff on the same end, and the staff would swing around, sweeping at the feet of all three men. Wary of Thorn beside him, he would run to the leader and lay his staff across the leader's neck, kneeling down on one end, his other foot resting on the man's bicep, causing a moderate-to-high amount of pain overall.

Thugs' turn

"Jesus Christ! Did she just hiss?!"

While the leader was unfazed by the hissing, the other two were momentarily immobile in their shock, and pondering exactly why they didn't want this girl back at their camp.

Suddenly, all three of them got tripped, the sand slipping out from under them as the staff slid their feet out. Falling flat on their backs with a winding thumph, the leader would suddenly find a lot of pain, and an inability to breathe. He tried to wriggle his head around, but found that when he did, his face fell into the rising tide, sending seawater into his aching lungs. While his upper arm was pinned, he bent his elbow and feebly tried to hit Lucien on the shin with his hammer.

The other two, coughing and slowly realizing what just happened, started to rise to their feet.

[Thorn]

Thorn would stay back a pace as the Lucien swung his hunting stick around, sweeping the legs out from under his opponents. He decided to take the male who had spoken to them (and used words that Thorn had not understood at ALL). As they fell onto their backs, Thorn stood, standing near Lucien with her spear raised as a clear threat to the other two men.

If they tried to attack, they would be dealt with. If they ran, she would not pursue them.


((I'M SO SORRY IT SUCKS WHY MUSE WHYYYY D: ))

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien's Turn

Lucien yelped as the leader's hammer struck his calf, it wasn't hard enough to break bone but it hurt, sending vibrations up and down his leg in a tingle. His immediate response was to knock the man unconscious with a quick backfist to the top of the forehead.

Turning on the spot to look at the other two, he read the situation. Thorn looked like she was able to protect herself, but Lucien wanted to help her either way. Maybe it was the just chivalry in him. At any rate, he didn't want to get up just yet, as he wasn't sure how long the leader would be knocked out, so instead he grabbed the hammer and tossed it into the water, leaving a decided sploosh.

Thugs' Turn

The leader grinned as his strike hit, but immediately regretted it, and then the world was blank.

The two others, now on their feet, stared down the wild girl with the pointy stick. They stayed together, every few seconds looking at their downed boss, and growing increasingly nervous.

"You go first," One said to the other.

"No way, man, you go!"

"What, you can't handle a hundred and ten pound girl?"

The second one, in a frustration, lashed out and tried to tackle Thorn, being careful enough to avoid impaling himself on the girl's spear. The first would be distracted by a splash in the water for a moment, and then rush in on the other side, trying to pin her down by her arms.

[Thorn]

The two men rushed her and thus sealed the fates of all present.

The first one tackled her successfully and she fell back with a howl of outrage. Her hands scrabbled for purchase on his back and shirt as she scratched him mercilessly, hard enough to draw blood and clump skin under her nails. Her teeth instinctively dove for his neck and clamped down, biting the exposed skin and tearing her teeth away. If this were successful, she may be able to rip a chunk of flesh free from his neck.

She would squirm out from underneath the man, struggling to get on all fours and grab up her spear as the second man comes to around to grab her. She would back off slightly, hissing fiercely with blood running down her face.

[Lucien DeChain]

Thugs Turn

"Holy shit!@!@!"

Thug 2 screamed in pain as claws dug in to his back, and Thorn's teeth ripped open his neck, exposing his precious life-juice blood. She had severed his artery, and he had about about thirty seconds to live. Of course, not realizing this, he clamped his hand over the wound as to not get sand all over it as he stood up.... And immediately lost consciousness.

Thug 1 was standing, staring at his unconscious boss and his dead buddy. Stricken with fear, he was unable to move from his position. If his legs allowed him to run, he had certainly enough incentive to do just that.


Lucien's turn

As Lucien watched the bloody scene, he remembered that this girl was wild. He ran over to her, standing by her crouched stance, the bleeding man beside them and the other man in front of them. Looking to Thorn's bloody face, and then back to the man, he decided to play along with it. He grinned.

"When you approach someone," He smiled at the man, "Don't assume that you're always better than them. Or less violent."

He stomped his foot forward.

Thugs turn 2

He ran.

[Thorn]

Thorn snarled at the man's retreating back, warning him not to return to the area. Or that's how she thought of it at least; a territorial dispute over supplies and food. Once the man was but a speck in the distance, Thorn turned her head and spat a glob of blood and flesh into the water.

Then she turned her head to look at the Lucien and she smiled.

Yes. This one, she thought she could trust.

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien watched as the man ran, his comrades now both dead; one from drowning in the tide, the other from Thorn. He sighed, he would have to go deal with that one later. It was Crow law, after all... But that was for another time.

He turned to Thorn, just in time to see her bloody smile. Well, that was unnerving. But still, seeing her smile, it was a good sign. Lucien smiled back, as if saying 'we make a good team.'

He would walk a few paces up the beach, away from the tide, and motion for her to follow. Placing his staff in the sand, he began to trace outlines of landmarks that she would hopefully understand. From the beach, where he circled their current position, he drew a line tracing a path to the Crow's Nest, which he circled and highlighted as best he could.

He would point to the beach, and to the map, where he had placed the improvised you are here marker, and state "Ocean."

Next, he would point to himself, and then to the Crow's Nest. Looking at her, he tried to make the message clear enough: If there's danger, if you need help, if you want to find me; go there.

He would wait for her to understand, and give her a few moments to slightly memorize the 'map', before smoothing the sand over with his hand. Standing up, he would hold his hand up to her, offering it.

----

Once Lucien had parted ways with Thorn, he would walk for a while, making sure no one else was in earshot, and click on his bluetooth earpiece. He had to make his report, and he wasn't quite sure what to say, so he started simple. "Brother DeChain reporting. Encountered small raiding party, three total, two dead, one escaped. No injuries." He rubbed his leg where the hammer hit. It would bruise, but nothing long term. "I also came across a refugee who goes by the name Thorn." He gave her description, leaving out the fact that she was, well, feral. "If this woman approaches the Nest, I am to be contacted immediately, and she is to receive immediate care. Over."

Over the earpiece came a response. "Acknowledged. And, uh, sure, I'll make a note of it."

Satisfied, Lucien would click off the earpiece, and sigh. Just another day in the life of a Crow...

[Thorn]

Thorn would watch the Lucien reiterate what he told her, watching him draw in the sand, following the lines and his directions with great attentiveness. After a moment of study, she would nod her head, albeit faintly.

Then he held his hand out to her and SHE RAN AWAY!

But at least there was a human she might be able to trust.