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Ink
May 29, 2017 7:37:10 GMT
Post by Campion on May 29, 2017 7:37:10 GMT
Constant raids and thefts have finally led Campion to the moment he had been waiting for; earning enough coin to spend on getting inked. There were multiple times he had come across other scandalous people with tattoos of all sorts, and he greatly admired them. It was a form of taboo among many and seemed to be fairly uncommon, but not unheard of. Still, he wanted one bad of something badass like…a snake or dragon! Or maybe a rabbit…..he’d have to hide that one from plain sight. It was cheap to go to some back-alley professional, but he had seen the consequences and risks of that over the years; sexually transmitted diseases, normal diseases, and even just awful infections and art. Gods forbid he’d get bad art done on him. The cleaner the place, the better, and the more expensive.
Campion had been traveling with Kez during that time period. It was a long time since he had last been with the rest of the Wild Rats, but that boded no issue. They were all close friends of his, and he was sure they were doing fine. Besides, he enjoyed the alone time he had, even if it wasn’t really alone time due to the kid. It was obvious when he first met her that she had been struggling a lot, but had a lot of heart and strength despite the struggle. He was not normally one to be merciful or caring, but her determination had captivated him. So he let her stick around and attempted to teach her a thing or two about surviving on her own more successfully.
He was quite obviously not in his female form, Sasha, today. It was way too hot to wear too much clothing and he had no desire to be naked around the young girl. Instead, sweat glistened off his muscular, bare male chest. Trousers were a rare commodity for him; he preferred wearing a sort of skirt/kilt made out of animal leather and adorned with some fur here and there. It wasn’t exactly high quality or pretty to look at, but it did the job covering him up by going down just barely past his knees in length. An old leather belt with splits and dry cracks covering its surface made sure to keep it up around his thin waist. His small steel axe was lying flat to the right of him. As for shoes? Well, he sold them to get the last bit of coin he needed for his ink. So he had none for the time being.
The dameon wiped his forehead of the sweat that slowly slid down along his hair line and past his square jaw. For the moment, he was resting under the shade of a large tree whose branches and leaves gave plenty of it for him, his two animals, and Kez. The Savanna did not have many trees, and most of them were too small to provide any adequate shade. On the rare occasion that there was one, Campion always took advantage of it. He made sure to install that into Kez’s mind as well; it was very easy to die from heat stroke out there.
Crawk, his massive Warg, was resting a few feet away to Campion’s left. He was curled up and sleeping like normal, occasionally snoring. He flicked an ear when a fly came to close and shifted a bit. Sleeping right against his legs was Kali, the playful shepard that he adored so much. She was a sweetheart, but was exhausted from the excessive amount of walking they had done that day. The best people that did ink were in the City, and Campion and Kez were still a day or two away from it. The Savanna was huge; Even though Campion had spent the last few centuries in it, he only knew part of it like the back of his hand and it was always changing.
Reaching up, he scratched behind one of his large rabbit ears right at a small, irritated red lump. Damn bugs were killing him. He stretched and rested his back against the tree, letting out a sigh of relief. Maybe he’d make some food in a little bit; his stomach was making odd, rumbling sounds at the thought. Keziah was…well…somewhere. He wasn’t sure where. Despite his letting her tag along and teaching her, he didn’t restrict her from doing very much. She was her own individual; if she ever just wanted to get up and leave, Campion would have no issue with it. It wasn’t like he was her guardian or anything like that. Ah, she was somewhere close by he was sure. With a yawn, the daemon closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax a little despite the intense heat.
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Ink
Jun 11, 2017 2:43:22 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jun 11, 2017 2:43:22 GMT
It was hot. So hot, that Keziah had left the ground in a bad mood, irrationally angry at the waves of heat rolling off the dusty savannah. The air shimmered, hazy and thick, and she'd felt suffocated. So, when Campion had picked a rare, sprawling savannah tree to rest under during the worst of the midday heat, she'd climbed it to find some relief.
Naniene had gone with her, the feathered dragon suffering perhaps even more than Keziah with her jet black feathers soaking up the sun. While Keziah had walked over the savannah behind Campion she had soared so far above them she was little more than a black smudge in the endless blue of the sky, enjoying the cooler air above. She couldn't fly forever though, and even more annoyingly was still several years away from being large enough to carry a rider, so they rested together in the heart of the tree's branches. At least there was shade, and the leaves deep within the branches were cool where they stuck to Keziah's sweaty skin. Naniene was asleep, panting softly, but both were at least somewhat recovered. Earlier, when she and Campion had trekked across the seemingly endless grasslands, Keziah thought she might burn to a crisp. Campion was always teaching her things, rabbiting on about heatstroke and not expending too much energy during the worst of the day's heat, but he couldn't conjure a tree for shade out of nowhere. They'd still had to walk what felt like miles to get to this one, and now Keziah was sunburnt, a faint red blush staining her cheeks and nose.
Campion had it in his head that he wanted a tattoo - stupid, as far as Keziah was concerned, but she'd been trailing the Daemon for several months now and this was her first visit back to the City she'd grown up in since they'd left. She had mixed feelings about going back - it was her home, she supposed, but she'd lived on the streets for years before meeting Campion so home was a funny thing to call the place. She'd nearly died there so many times she'd lost count, and although getting Naniene had made living there a little easier, she didn't exactly have great memories of those dirty, dangerous streets. Still, at least there'd be more shade. And maybe they'd sleep inside a building for a change - she'd been making camp in the wilderness most of the time she'd been trailing Campion, and even a street rat could desire a bed now and then.
There was no denying her fortune had taken a turn for the better, though. The Daemon was good-tempered and decent company - as dangerous as any other Daemon, obviously, but he'd been a good companion to her, patient with her slowness and utter lack of skill. He'd taught her how to set snares, how to skin and butcher game properly, and how to track through the savannah. Basic skills that any child Shifter or Daemon would know almost innately came hard to her, but she persevered and practised. She was good enough now that she figured she could almost support herself when the season was good, which wasn't saying that much but was still a significant improvement. And, she had her heart set on a goal - Campion wanted a tattoo, but she wanted a bow. With her avian magic aim was something that came more naturally to her, and if she could build enough strength to actually use it, she thought she might be good at it. Unlike Campion she didn't have the coin saved up yet (and didn't even know what a bow would cost) but she had been saving the skins of rabbits, possums and squirrels that Campion had taught her to catch, ready to sell and start saving some coin - for the very first time in her life. Anything she earned in the City had always gone straight to food, drugs or somewhere to sleep, but now she wanted more from life. Plus she hoped Campion might help her choose a bow, else she'd be going in totally blind as to what might work for her.
Feeling cooler and in a slightly better mood as a result, Keziah stretched then dropped lightly out of the tree, landing with a thud inches from where Campion was dozing. They were still a couple of days away from the city and it was too hot to travel, but Keziah was still carrying a little food from their last hunting efforts. She prodded the Daemon with a toe.
"Oi. If you help me start a fire I'll cook something for lunch." Making fires was a skill that still evaded Keziah, and she was too hungry to bother sitting around yelling at a pile of sticks that refused to cooperate.
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Ink
Jun 11, 2017 7:44:57 GMT
Post by Campion on Jun 11, 2017 7:44:57 GMT
Campion had not fallen entirely asleep. He knew better than to do something as stupid as that out in the Savanna. It was a dangerous place, full of predators of all kinds and bandits here and there. Just because he was one himself did not mean he was safe from others, especially other daemons. Since he was associated with rabbits, he was looked down on an weak. No one seemed to realize that sure, rabbits were weak, but they thrived better than most animals.
Still, he was startled when Keziah dropped to the floor close to him. Kali jumped too her feet while the massive beast, Crawk, did not budge. From being startled, he knocked his head against the tree and grunted from the brief pain. “Aw damnit, that’s gunna turn into a headache.” He rubbed his head and stood up, stretching his arms across his chest.
He placed his hands on his hips and gave Kez a baffled look. “You want me to make a fire? When it’s this hot out?” Campion laughed and shook his head, looking away and out to the flat landscape of the savanna. “It’s fucking blazing hot,” he stated. Sure, the shade was nice, but not so nice to light a fucking fire. Sometimes he wondered what the girl would do without him. Still, he was rather hungry from their long walk.
For a moment he stayed quiet, pondering on whether they should go ahead and make some food. Finally he grunted and responded, “Fine. Just make something quick if you can. I don’t feel like going through another heat stroke.” He’d been through a few and well, they sucked ass.
There wasn’t much to work with. He grabbed some dry sticks that broke off from the tree, as well as dry grass to help as act a starter and set up closer to the tree, away from the brush and dry grass that would easily turn into a wildfire. After gathering the last few supplies to help start it, including some left over flint and a fire striker he stole from some poor peasant a long time ago. It took no effort to start the fire, and as it began to flare up he gently blew on it and allowed it to manifest. Kez had not yet gotten the technique down. All she seemed to do was get frustrated that the wood was not just magically combusting. He could have sworn he had heard her whispering to the piles of wood and leaves, begging it to just…burn. To each their own he supposed.
Ugh, the extra heat was already awful.
He scooted backwards on his butt and leaned back on the tree again, a good few feet away from the fire. Keziah could manage the fire herself, he just needed to start it. “What do you got left over to eat?” Campion had…nothing. He’d been neglecting any hunting and gathering. “Maybe Crawk can go fetch us something. He don’t got a lot of fur, so he’s the best choice.” At the sound of his name, the warg raised its head and looked back at Campion. Thanks to the gods, they had some form of connection and mutual understanding. Almost as if he could read Campion, the Warg stood and walked off into the Savanna. Maybe he would be nice enough to share his food? Probably not.
Reaching over to his right, Campion grabbed a leather pouch of water that was nearly empty and took a small sip. In times like these, it was important to be not be greedy with rations. He held the water pouch out towards Keziah so that she could have a drink too.
“After a little while when I can uh, not basically catch on fire in the sun, we need to go looking for some more water. We’re running low.” And finding water in the Savanna was very difficult. What Campion had in mind was very different. He was more intent on finding a traveler and stealing their rations.
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Ink
Jun 11, 2017 7:54:17 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jun 11, 2017 7:54:17 GMT
Keziah tried not to smirk when Campion hit his head, she really did. She failed, obviously; that kind of thing was just objectively funny. She only folded her arms at his tirade about the fire; early on, any time Campion had raised his voice or been slightly annoyed, or really anything besides resolutely cheerful, she'd been afraid of him lashing out at her. She'd had little direct time with Daemons before meeting him and knew them only by their reputation as chaotic, violent and unhinged. But soon enough she'd learned that Campion was no more unhinged than the next person, and though he could be violent when he needed to be, he didn't have a hair-trigger temper. She knew when he was really dangerous, and she also knew that most of the time he was...well, normal. Normal enough, anyway.
"Not all of us can eat raw meat without dying from some horrid illness," she retorted. Hot or no, she wasn't trying that again. Desperation had forced her hand a few times in the past and usually it ended with her puking her guts up in the gutter. When Campion finally acquiesced she grinned, triumphant, and kept herself out of the way while he performed his trick of getting the fire to go. It still looked a mystery to her, but she wandered around and found a few more dried, dead branches to feed the fire as necessary once Campion had it going.
"Bit of squirrel," she answered. Because Campion had taught her how to hunt she had always shared what she caught with him. In fact, she was still using his snares, and a simple hunting knife he'd picked up on a raid and given to her. It seemed only fair, though she wouldn't say no to more meat if Crawk found it. Actually, even better would be if they went raiding again and found something to go with the meat, as she hadn't a clue how to forage without poisoning herself. During her time with Campion they'd managed to get hold of everything from bread to cheese and mushrooms from unfortunate travellers Campion ambushed, and being Human meant she appreciated the variety in her diet.
"Thanks." Keziah sipped the water Campion offered gratefully. She was sweaty in her rough tan pants, clearly meant for a man and held up with a rough length of rope in place of a belt, and a thin cotton tank top that was frayed and grubby from travel and wear. Unlike Campion she wasn't willing to give up her shoes - even though they were heavy boots and making her even hotter. At least they protected her feet from the sun - at this point they were about the only part of her not red from sunburn.
Keziah rifled through another raid souvenir - a lumpy brown pack which could be worn slung over the shoulders - which contained more stolen things she'd deemed useful enough to carry around over her months with Campion. One such thing was a traveller's pan, lightweight and smeared with soot, which she jammed into a fairly stable position on the fire to start heating. The food would be nothing special - day old squirrel, tough when cooked and nothing to go with it - but it was food and it had been years and years since she could be picky about what she ate.
"Sure, it's too damn hot to go now anyway. You thinkin' of raidin' again?" Keziah watched him curiously as she crouched over the fire, waiting for the pan to heat. She played a fairly minimal role when he raided, acting as a distraction or decoy sometimes, but she learned from watching nonetheless. And they needed more food, as well as water.
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Ink
Jun 11, 2017 9:49:34 GMT
Post by Campion on Jun 11, 2017 9:49:34 GMT
All of this work and teaching that Campion had been doing over the months was actually quite…nice. Kez had a good head on her shoulders and tended to speak her mind, something Campion appreciated and respected. Sometimes he wondered about what her life was life in the city and the struggles she had to endure, but he tried not to pry. It really wasn’t his business and, quite frankly, he was not yet open about speaking up about his past. Not that it was awful or anything, it was just something he wasn’t proud of. Maybe he enjoyed being around her because she reminded him of himself as a child. Or, well, maybe she was just good company. Maybe someday he’d introduce her to the rest of his pals when the time seemed right, if she had not left by that point. He figured once she learned how to deal with things all on her own, she’d be gone. Campion wouldn’t try to stop her from leaving, but he would probably miss the company. Besides the occasional group raid, he mostly did things alone and sometimes that sucked. Maybe he was going soft from his herbivore daemon side.
“Well maybe you just have a weak stomach. Ya know, you ain’t always going to be able to make a fire. Sometimes you might have to eat raw food and just deal with it.” But humans were so…squishy compared to the other species. “Or well, maybe don’t deal with it. You’d probably keel over and die or somethin’.”
He watched her add more to the fire while he struggled with these thoughts. She still had a lot to learn. Starting a fire was essential to survival, especially outside the city, but she also needed to learn how to fight. Not that Campion was the best at it, but he could handle himself alright. Using axes were easy; one just has to swing them around and its bound to get lodged into someone’s chest. Well, maybe there was more to it than that.
“Squirrel ain’t bad. I don’t have anythin’ left, otherwise I’d contribute too. Might need to do some hunting tonight whenever we rest up. Lay some traps. Kali can help us sniff out some food too. Or…” he exaggerated on the ‘or’ with a sarcastic tone, “…maybe Crawk will bring us a whole deer-thing that will feed us for weeks.” Part of him was really hoping that. The damn warg could eat a whole dear in an hour, so the chances were low.
Part of another reason why he enjoyed Keziah’s company was that she didn’t seem to mind his raids. There was no other way to survive in the Savanna and she seemed to understand that. For the most part, he had been using her as bait and teaching her how to appeal to peoples’ sense of empathy. She seemed to already have some knowledge with it, no doubt from living on the streets in the city, but he wanted to help her improve. Now he had something else in mind; she needed to do more than just act and watch.
“Yeah, we gotta. I doubt there’s a watering hole nearby and you know, taking stuff from people is just easier anyways.” He shrugged with his lack of compassion for rich people that could afford to have a nice life, or even not-so rich people that could still have an easier life than him. “Hopefully we can find someone today. This time I’ll be the distraction.” He winked at her. It would be easy; he would just swap his sex to female and boom, distraction for perverted people. Campion reached over to the axe lying on the ground and shoved it towards Keziah’s direction. “You might wanna practice getting some swings in or..well, even see if you can hold it Not everyone just lets you take their shit they own.”
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Ink
Jun 17, 2017 5:37:35 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jun 17, 2017 5:37:35 GMT
Keziah wrinkled her nose and shook her head.
"I have a Human stomach, which means no raw meat. I tried it before and puked for days. Mind you, I could only get hold of rat and pigeon in the City. Maybe squirrel is different." She looked dubiously at the pink strips of meat she'd pulled out of the pack, where they'd been wrapped carefully in muslin. She treated food as though it was precious gold - when you spent years without enough to eat, whatever paltry amount of food you could get your hands on was your only flimsy, tenuous barrier against starvation. She threw the strips into the pan where they sizzled hotly and started to curl at the edges. Oh yep, it'd be tough. Still, she was hungry and her mouth watered.
"That's okay, huntin' tonight'd be good. I'll send Naniene out, see how she goes." The young feathered dragon had grown passably adept at chasing down rats and pigeons in the city streets, but until Keziah had set out with Campion had not had the opportunity to hunt in open, wild spaces. She was mostly surviving on small birds she caught on the wing - each one only a mouthful, and no good to share with her Human companion, but enough mouthfuls and she could make a meal of it. Keziah liked to encourage her to practice hunting the small rodents that dug burrows in the grasslands too, though she found it harder. She was not yet proficient enough to bring down anything much larger than a rabbit though and the grassland deer-like creatures were beyond her current skills. They were far beyond Keziah's, too, mind you.
As for the raiding, Keziah had no issue with what Campion did to get by. She'd thieved and tricked her little heart out at times - when survival was the name of the game, rules didn't matter. Keziah felt little compassion for the travellers that Campion robbed and had never had a weak stomach for violence or gore. She was a good actress, though, and hadn't done a half-bad job when Campion had wanted her to play a role. Injured youth, lost child, sultry whore - she could, and had, done it all. And once they stopped the wagon they were sitting ducks most of the time. Most didn't have enough protection to fend off an armed Daemon, and the ones that did Campion was smart enough to avoid bothering the first place.
"You want me to be the muscle?" She snorted, but after turning the squirrel meat so it would start cooking on the other side, she wandered over to where Campion had left his axe and stared at it doubtfully. It was big, and looked unwieldy. Trying to lift it was comical - skinny arms straining, she could lift it alright, but even a casual swing took her whole body along with it and she stumbled, nearly falling.
"I can't use this stupidly big thing. Doncha got something smaller? I'm like half your size, in case you hadn't noticed. Ain't gonna be any use unless they laugh 'emselve's to death."
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Ink
Jun 17, 2017 7:10:17 GMT
Post by Campion on Jun 17, 2017 7:10:17 GMT
An idea came to Campion and he laughed at the though. “I could always turn you into a daemon. Don’t gotta worry about raw food then. Maybe you can get some rabbit ears like me.” He was completely joking. They’d been traveling long enough for him to know that she loved being who she was, and loved being human. He doubted she’d ever agree to something like that. That was something he really respected about her. She was a tough little thing as far as young humans went. “Some meats are easier to get down than others, I’ve noticed, including when raw. Anything you find in the city? I wouldn’ risk it. That squirrel though? Probably pretty clean. Might make you want to vomit just from it bein’ raw though. Takes time to get used to raw meat.”
Though he wanted to openly disagree about letting her feathery lizard thing hunting for them, the bunny daemon stayed quiet. Anytime that creature hunted for them, it seemed to be very, very biased towards Kez and would only get her food. He was a little jealous since Crawk did no such thing. He tossed a few dried sticks at the fire. Most of them landed in it, while one fell off to the side. He still had no desire to get anywhere near that heat.
Gods, he wished midday would pass already so they could go sock up on some food. Oh well. There was no point in worrying about it till the highest point of the sun dipped down a little. Campion was just eager to go get the ink he’d been wanting for a long time. He wondered what the kid thought about them trekking all this way just for some art on his arm.
Campion understood where the girl’s hesitation and snide remarks came from. She probably could not even lift the axe. Even so, Campion was determined to get some muscle on her. He hopped up to his feet and brushed the dust off his rump. Another bug bit his ear. His ear flicked from reaction and the bug flew away. Gods, this was awful.
“Well, maybe you won’t be the muscle this time. But we’re gunna start working on getting some beef on your arms. You can’t get out of every fight you get into. If you ever go down, best you go down fighting. Or, even better, you don’t go down and you win. But ya gotta stop being lazy and start doing some exercise.” He tried very, very hard not to laugh when she stumbled from swinging the thing. Kali panicked and jumped backwards, briefly barking at Keziah with her ears pulled back and her tail raised in alert.
It was painfully obvious he was trying to hold back the laughter, with the strained smile he held. He remembered when he used to be just like that. “To be fair, flailing a weapon around can be unpredictable to an opponent. You may get the best of them doing….whatever it was you just did.” Maybe whatever poor chap they found would have some sort of wood axe or something for Keziah to start out with; They were not as heavy as his axe and it’d be a good starting point. He didn’t really know how to use other weapons, otherwise he’d be willing to teach her in something different.
Gently, he grabbed the axe from her and stood to her side. He held it in his right hand and out so that Kez could see the type of grip he had it in. “This specific axe is meant to be used with one hand. Ya hold it with all your fingers tightly so you don’t lose your grip on your weapon, but also loose enough so the handle and axe have just the slightest bit more maneuverability. If ya hold it too tight, you strain yourself. Keep your thumb upright against the handle. Try not to wrap it around like the other fingers.” He sized Keziah’s tiny arms and grinned, trying not to snicker. “But for you, let’s start with two handed, yeah? We’ll work on you holding it like this.” This time, Campion held the axe with both hands. One hand was at the base of the shaft, held similar to the grip he showed with just one hand, while the other was a little more than midway up the shaft. “Using an axe with two hands lacks the same amount of movements with just one hand. Using it this way deals more power. So you want to have a strong grip with your hand that is closer to the axe itself. Here, you try.” Campion stuck the axe out for her to take.
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Ink
Jun 21, 2017 7:30:18 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jun 21, 2017 7:30:18 GMT
Keziah pulled a face and stuck her tongue out.
"Thanks but no thanks. You keep them fangs to yourself, mister." She had no desire to be a Daemon - no desire to be anything but herself, in fact. She'd survived for this long against the odds, and turning into something different seemed like a cop out as well as scarily uncertain. Would she even be the same person any more? She wasn't going to take the risk if the answer might be no. She knew Campion wasn't serious though, and she grinned cheekily at his next comment.
"Why would I want to learn to tolerate raw meat when I can just make ya build fires for me?"
Speaking of, she took the pan off the fire and set it to the side to cool a little before eating. The smell of cooked meat was mouth-watering and she crouched impatiently alongside it, loathe to wait. She'd burned her fingers enough times to have learned a little self-control, though, plus since she'd been travelling with Campion she'd been eating a lot more regularly. They weren't flush with endless food or anything, but she also wasn't going days without anything at all. Even with all the extra calories she was burning trekking everywhere she wasn't so close to the brink of starvation after these few months.
"Oi, who're you callin' lazy? I've been running all over these damn grasslands with you for ages! Lazy my arse." He had a point about her strength, though, or lack thereof. Building strength required a better diet than she'd ever had before, but now that she had more meat maybe she could bulk up just a little. Swinging the axe was an abject failure and she glared at Kali when the dog barked at her.
"Oh relax, you stupid mutt. An axe don't feel right anyway, Campion. I wanna learn to use a bow." That would take a lot more strength than she had too, though.
Which meant that practising with the axe, even if she wouldn't end up continuing it, wouldn't hurt. It would help build some muscle if nothing else. She copied the Daemon's stance when he handed her back the axe after demonstrating how she should hold it. It felt unwieldy and over-large, but swinging it would for sure be easier with two hands at least. Her arms were burning after only a couple of experimental swings, and she could already tell her hands were going to blister if Campion really thought she should persist.
"I'll keep practisin'," she said, somewhat grudgingly. Campion's advice was usually pretty good though, and she really did want to be strong enough to use a bow one day.
"Time to eat though. Here." After fishing half of the squirrel out she handed the pan over to Campion and plonked herself under the tree, in the shade, axe over her legs.
Nie, come here. There's food.
She didn't speak out loud - the feathered dragon and Keziah could communicate telepathically. And moments later Nie appeared, slinking from the tree cat-like before dropping and landing next to Keziah on the ground. She threw a strip to the feathered dragon, who lay down with it delicately between her front paws and ate slowly. Keziah on the other hand wolfed her food down.
"That's all we got, Naniene. You gotta go try hunting, okay? Something on the ground, not birds. Try for some rabbits or groundhogs or somethin'. You think Crawk got anything, Campion?"
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Ink
Jun 22, 2017 2:41:23 GMT
Post by Campion on Jun 22, 2017 2:41:23 GMT
Campion smiled at Kez’s reaction to his offer. It was exactly the answer he suspected, but he still played along with a playful shrug. “Suite yourself. Bet you could handle that axe a lot easier if you were daemon. Might not have such scrawny chicken wings.” His smile turned into a snicker. He enjoyed teasing her since it was really easy. It was all just fun and games though. She showed a lot of potential. Of what, he wasn’t really sure, but he could feel her sheer willpower. “All jokes aside,” the bunny daemon added, “I don’t really like the taste of human blood anyways. Too much iron.” He made a scrunched up, disgusted face, and laughed again.
“Well kid, I doubt you are gunna hang around me your whole life and well, as you know, life ain’t easy. Sometimes you gotta prep for the hard shit.” Building a tolerance to things like raw meat, dirty water, and gross tasting natural foods was a risk, but a necessary one for someone in her state. Kids uncommonly lived their full lifespan living on the streets. Or, well, at least human kids. Campion had never stayed in the city long ever since he managed to escape a holding cell, but the times he did spend there, he almost always saw some mangled young adult or teenage corpse in the road. They tended to die from starvation, abuse from the hounds, or just plain murder that everyone turns a blind eye to. “And what do ya mean I’m here to make the fires ya?” His ears swiveled back and laid down flat as he scowled at her. “Next time, you’re making the fire or we don’t eat. How ‘about that? Perfect example of your laziness.” As his ears straightened up, he gave Keziah a cocky smirk.
He nodded approvingly to Kez as she held the axe; she had copied his hold on it well, but he stance was still off. “Keep your feet at shoulder’s width apart. And don’t slouch!” Damn, he sounded like some rich human grandmother. Weird.
Thankfully, she managed to get his mind off the thought. At the mention of a bow, he groaned and turned away from Kez. Gods, he was awful with bows. “Bows are badass. I say go for it, but I can’t teach ya very much with them. I can teach ya how to hold one properly and the basic idea on how to shoot, but that’s it.” However….
“I do got a buddy that’s a damn good marksman. We find a bow, I’ll introduce ya if we can find her. I used to raid with her a lot.” And sleep with her a lot, but he left that part out. The woman Campion spoke of was his closest friend, Ginger. She was phenomenal with a bow, and graceful too. He never understood how she managed to do so well with one of those things. “And if I’m with you, I promise she won’t steal your shit on site.” She was ruthless, more-so than him. She was perfectly willing to kill anything and anyone in her way of getting what she wanted. Campion at least liked to leave slaves, children, and the occasional pretty man or woman alive when he could.
The mention of food brought a surge of energy to the bunny daemon. He eagerly grabbed the remaining half of squirrel that Kez offered him, and he didn’t stop eating till it was gone. There wasn’t much to eat to begin with, so he was done rather quickly. Campion put the pan to the side and looked at the feathery dragon thing that hung around Keziah. Someday, that thing was going to eat him, he was sure of it. Keziah seemed to like her a lot though, so the tried to push his slight fear away.
Since they were done with the fire and, after them not adding anymore fuel to it, he stomped out the remaining flames. He looked out to the Savanna, wondering the same thing that Keziah had asked him about Crawk. “I doubt he’ll bring anything for us,” he answered. Just as they spoke of him, Campion could see his shoulders and back sticking above a patch of tall, dry grass. The warg stepped out from the cover and had blood dripping from his maw and dyeing his muzzle.
“See what I mean? What a dick.” As if understanding Campion, the warg grunted and flopped onto the ground once he was in the shade.
Campion shook his head. He walked over to the edge of the shade and looked out to the flat view of the Savanna. Already he could feel the heat just barely going down; not enough for him to leave the shade without burning up, but it was a start. “Since Crawk is back, we’ll probably head out soon.” Though the beast had little tolerance for…well…anything, really, he did let Campion ride on his back when he needed. “I’m thinking no distraction this time. We find a small enough caravan, I’m just going in to take it. You can have a knife if you want. Maybe try stabbing someone to help.” They'd figure out an actual plan when they found something to steal, but Campion was hoping it'd be quick and easy. When he meant knife, Campion spoke of the skinning knife in his pack. It was…well…something. “Some fat lazy noble would be easy prey. Usually too cocky to have any actual good hounds with them to protect them. But we’d have to be real fuckin’ lucky.”
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Ink
Jun 24, 2017 5:51:27 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jun 24, 2017 5:51:27 GMT
It was this kind of easy banter that had slowly, with time, allowed Keziah to feel more comfortable around Campion. Now, even though she knew he could be dangerous and had seen him kill, she viewed him as a generally benevolent, easy-going person. And felt comfortable with teasing him back.
"Sure, you can hold an axe better, but at least I ain't gonna burn to a literal crisp if I step outta the shade." She smirked, although as an actual fact it was so hot in the savannah at noon that she was perfectly capable of burning to a crisp and it wouldn't even take that much longer than it would for Campion, with his Daemonic vulnerability to the sun.
"I survived this long, didn't I? And don't you worry, I'm gonna learn how to improve my odds." This was the whole point of trailing around after Campion all this time, gleaning tips and tricks from him and learning new skills that might help her odds in the future. It was still a nebulous and unformed idea in her head at the moment, but Keziah was tired of living on the streets and wanted something different from life. Something more. The Goddess who had gifted her Nie had helped her see that maybe something different was possible. Now it was her job to make it happen, and Campion had been an early step in doing just that. She had no idea what that something different might be, she only knew that living day to day, nearly starving to death, scraping by through whoring and thievery that endangered her at every turn, wasn't where she wanted to remain trapped.
The damn fires, though, were frustrating and difficult. She shrugged and smiled serenely.
"Nie will be able to breathe fire soon, she's riiiight on the edge of gettin' it. Ain't no need for me to learn now, is there?"
Keziah hadn't expected Campion to teach her about using a bow - she had realised pretty early on in her journey with him that weapon use was specialised and most people picked one or two to focus on. She'd figured an introduction to hand weapons was a great start, and she still needed to improve her knife skills. Ideally, she knew, archers had the ability to fight with a sword, axe or similar to cover times where ranged attacks weren't possible. But she looked over at Campion with interest when he mentioned a friend who might be able to teach her.
"That'd be great," she grinned, looking excited.
"And the axe is okay too, I don't mind learning that neither. Especially if we can find one I can use one-handed." She knew enough to know she didn't like two-handed weapons, and found them bulky, heavy to carry, and unwieldy to use.
Keziah stood when Crawk returned, having eaten, and wandered over to pat him on his hefty shoulder. She liked the warg, despite his terrifying appearance - he was dignified and powerful.
"He's not a dick. A big guy's gotta eat to keep up his strength so he can make them noble's shit 'emselves when we raid." She was amused that Campion had always seemed slightly uncomfortable with Nie when he towed this great toothy beast around with him everywhere. But then, Keziah had never had a real idea of Nie's power. The feathered dragon was so closely bonded with her that she had never learned to find the reptilian grace, wickedly sharp teeth and predatory speed frightening. She had finished the squirrel Keziah had given her - a tiny mouthful for a creature her size - and Keziah watched as she disappeared into the grasses to hunt. The feathered dragon was young, still, and had a lot to learn herself.
"Nie probably won't bring nothin' back either, she really needs a good couple of gophers or whatever herself and she ain't that good at hunting yet. Think we should rely on that noble for food over her."
Keziah had fetched an oily cloth from her pack and was cleaning the now cool pan out as best she could with no water, which was too precious right now to waste on cleaning. She'd do a better job of it when she next could.
"Sounds like a plan. I'll take the knife, give it a shot." If nothing else she'd use it to cut ropes securing the loot while Campion did the actual killing part.
"I'm feelin' lucky. I'm feeling like a nice stupid noble transporting salted pork and cider to the noble districts in the City is gonna come rollin' down the road today." She smiled. Salted pork would be great, but she wasn't picky. As long as the person they found was carrying food and water, she was up for the task.
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Ink
Jun 24, 2017 8:15:58 GMT
Post by Campion on Jun 24, 2017 8:15:58 GMT
Ouch. Kez got him there. Her comment about him burning was spot on. In that heat, he was sure anyone would burn unless they had some magic to cool them off or was immune. “Well, if both of us were burned to a crisp, I bet I’d taste better. So ha!” Campion knew he lost their tease fight, but he had to get in the last word. It’s just how he was.
He frowned when she expressed that her reptile friend could make fires for her. On a serious note, that was a dangerous thing to depend on. Were Nie to ever get hurt or killed, what would she do then? “No. No. No. No? NO!” Campion moved away from the depleted fire site towards Kez. He snatched the axe up and returned it to his leather belt. “She can’t breathe fire now though, can she? You need to learn. You’ll get it; it just takes some practice.” Laziness at its finest right there. “Ya don’t wanna just improve your odds. Hone them. Make life better for you. If you’re gunna scramble to survive, at least make it easier and more comfortable on you.” He hated the cold. Just the idea of it made the hairs on his arm raise and he shivered even with the blazing heat.
“So,” he continued, “…what I’m saying is you.are.going.to.learn.how.to.build.a.fire.” If she honestly convinced him that she did not want to learn, then he would not bother teaching her it. Campion would not think any less of her, but he knew it would dim her chances out on her own and that actually made him feel a bit…worried, was it? Yes, worried.
“How about this,” he started as he placed his hands on his hips and looked down at Kez. “You learn to build a fire, I’ll take you to meet Ginger and she can get ya going on a bow if she doesn’t shoot us first. I’ll even help get ya one when we go to the City. I’m sure we can find you an axe too, something more your size.” There. Campion felt that was fair. The whole process would take weeks, months even. Just finding Ginger alone could take a few weeks up, and they were still a good few days away from the City.
Of course Keziah was going to defend Crawk. She waltzed up to the warg with no hesitation. Now that he thought about it, she had been able to do so earlier and easier than he had. Crawk more tolerated and accepted Campion than liked him, but with Keziah? The big brute seemed to really like her. As if on que, Crawk grunted and turned to face Kez. Her head could so easily fit in his mouth, but she had so little to fear from him. The warg nudged her hand with his nose, and scooted his head so that her hand was resting on his muzzle. Was the bastard really asking her to pet him? The daemon was a little jealous, but he looked at it all in a more positive way; if Crawk really did like her, than he could protect her as well as Campion and Nie until she was capable of protecting herself.
Kali happily stood up with her tail wagging and scampered over to Campion, almost mirroring Crawk’s actions. Her tongue was hanging off the side of her mouth as she panted with heavy breathes. He smiled warmly and gently ran his hand along the fur on top of her head. Unlike Crawk, she enjoyed the bunny daemon’s company. He smiled. “He’s totally a dick. He hates it when I even try to pet him!” He crossed his arms and frown, letting his ears fold back flat again. “At least SOMEONE loves me.” The slight bit of jealousy he felt was real, but the rest was just playful banter. He did appreciate the warg and Kali. They were great companions. Keziah was right though; they’d have to rely on whatever food they could find from a raid.
He had to laugh at her prediction of what they might fun. Campion was laughing with her, not so much at her. “Ha! Ya, that would be nice. Maybe he’ll have some young pups with him too. Can get me another dog. Or maybe something cool like a gryphon.” Campion felt he could never have too many animals. “Would like some ale to top it off.” He was feeling motivated now. he hurried over to his pack of supplies and threw it over his back. “Let’s head off and start searching then, yeah? You got me all excited.” The sun was not blazing as bad and, he was sure that he could endure the heat for a while longer. They were past the hostest part of the day, so it was only going to get cooler.
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Ink
Jun 30, 2017 8:34:34 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jun 30, 2017 8:34:34 GMT
"Buzzkill," Keziah grumbled. Campion often pushed her to do things she found difficult, and she often reacted like a typical teenager - sullen and instinctively preferring to do the opposite of what she was told. But, she generally came around to Campion's nagging and it was always to her benefit in the end. So, although she rolled her eyes, she knew she would learn to build fires.
"Fine, fine, you can teach me. Not today though, it's too damn hot." Campion had already shown her a few times but there was a knack to it she was missing. Learn she might, but at least Nie would soon be able to relieve her of the responsibility most of the time.
Campion was good though. Anyone would have thought he had lots of experience with moody adolescents, because he said exactly the right thing to turn Keziah from sullen to excited in about three seconds flat.
"Seriously? Awesome! Okay, I'll do the fire thing, whatever. Where is Ginger now? Will we find her before we get to the City for your tattoo, or afterwards?" She was practically bouncing as she said this, and grinning from ear to ear. The axe was an extra bonus but the idea of a bow had captured her imagination. She couldn't wait to meet Ginger.
Good mood restored, Keziah laughed at Campion's grumbling about Crawk. She didn't get it - she'd been absolutely terrified of the warg when Campion had first introduced them, but she'd trusted Crawk even faster than she'd learned to trust his Daemon companion. He was huge and scary looking but he'd never directed any of the rage and destruction he was capable of towards Keziah, and she'd felt safe around him since the very first time they'd raided and Crawk had ripped the head off a guard who'd threatened Keziah with a promise to cut her throat. He was a pretty impressive thing to have on their side.
"Maybe he wouldn't hate you petting him if you stopped calling him a dick! Right Crawk?" Nie was a little warier of the warg than Keziah but the feathered dragon also appeared to generally like him - she avoided getting too close to his teeth but often followed directly behind the warg if she was travelling on the ground, because he flattened the grass where he walked and made it easier for those behind him. Nie arrived back as Keziah left Crawk to finish repacking her things into the battered leather pack, her jaw bloodied.
"What'd you find?"
"Something small and brown. Furry. I still like the birds better."
"I know, but you gotta learn to hunt bigger things too. I can't share sparrows with you."
"You don't need no more pets, Campion! You're gonna end up like a crazy cat lady except with dog-type things if you ain't careful!" She was laughing again, enjoying the easy banter, her earlier defiance forgotten. Hoisting the bag over her shoulder, slung over one side so it hung against her hip, she nodded. She was ready, and she knew roughly where the road was. Stepping out into the sun after the thin shade of the lone tree was brutal, but she steeled herself and trudged onwards, Nie falling in behind her and purring softly.
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Ink
Jun 30, 2017 9:50:38 GMT
Post by Campion on Jun 30, 2017 9:50:38 GMT
Keziah’s excitement regarding the deal he made her made Campion feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. He didn’t have siblings growing up, but it felt like he had one now with the little human girl. She was so wary of him at first, he could tell, but he could also tell when she had started to warm up to him. Most daemons were kill first, ask questions later. Campion…well, he was still like that, just not with everyone. Maybe it was his mammalian side that influence it, but he was not temperamental like many others.
Damn though, she was so eager and ready to go! “Hold on one second, kid. Gotta get into my distraction disguise.” Which was when he switched sexes. It was a lot easier for him to seduce someone into letting him get close, or trick them into thinking he was injured. Ever sense he met Keziah, he didn’t get the chance to act as the distraction often. This time he was set on being both the distraction and muscle with Kez as backup.
His female form, whom he introduced to strangers as Sasha, showed very similar traits to the original body he was born with. He had the same skin tone, the same ears, hair and everything. The difference was the shape of his face and body. Campion’s face had become a lot more angular and sharp, as well as his nose became smaller to nicely compliment his face. His chest grew in size as did his hips and thighs, but his waist shrunk just slightly. All the hardened muscles lining his body were still there, some were just less defined due to the chemistry in a female body.
She dug into a bag and quickly threw on a very loose, off-white linen top that hung off and exposed one shoulder. Nudity didn’t bother Campion, but it was impractical. As a woman, it was more annoying. Once she was ready, she hoped onto Crawk’s back and used his thick, wiry mane to guide their direction. The warg’s pace was slow enough to stay alongside Kez. Kali stayed next to Nie and watched her warily.
“Okay, okay. Ginger is…somewhere in the Savanna. It’ll be a bitch to find her, but we’ll come across her eventually. She’s probably still running my lil’ bandit group that I haven’t been back to in some time. I doubt we will, but if I see her on our way to the city, we’ll stop and talk. Most likely it’ll be after our visit to the city though. It’d be easier if ya get your own bow first.” Campion knew Ginger would like Kez. She liked anyone with spunk and fire in their eyes, and that’s all that the human girl had.
Riding on Crawk would have been awkward to most, but Campion had gotten use to it. It was nothing like riding a horse since the warg had his own different, and interesting, anatomy. Even so, the bunny daemon kept along with the beast’s movements. When relaxed, Crawk’s head hung low to the ground. Most likely he would sense something before either Kez or Campion, even with his heightened daemon instincts. When that happened, he would raise his head away from the ground and either grunt or growl.
Campion rolled his eyes at Kez, but smiled regardless. “Jealous? I could always use more pets! Especially dogs ‘cause they’re so loyal…well, for the most part.” Crawk was loyal, else he would not let the bunny daemon ride on his back. Sometimes it felt like he wasn’t however.
The sun was uncomfortable, but tolerable for Campion. His tolerance was extremely high from his constant exposure to the sun. They were still a good distance away from the road, so he figured more banter was fine. The closer they would get however, the more serious and focused they would need to be.
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Ink
Jul 2, 2017 8:59:26 GMT
Post by Keziah on Jul 2, 2017 8:59:26 GMT
Keziah had been horrified the first time Campion had changed into a woman. It had just been so unexpected - the Daemon hadn't warned her, the mischievous shithead, and she'd thought she was going crazy. You didn't see much powerful magic in the crappy areas of the City she had frequented and she'd never seen anything like someone who could magically shift their appearance from a burly man to a sleek, gorgeous woman. Luckily she was used to it now and barely even batted an eyelid at Campion's change.
"That's fine with me. I hope ya know that you're stuck with me 'til we find her, though. I ain't letting this opportunity slip through my fingers now you told me about her." Keziah grinned winningly. Her arrangement with Campion was very informal - he basically let her tag around after him and they sometimes worked together to stay alive, but there was no expectations on either side. Keziah could ditch Campion at any time, and Campion could likewise take off on his own. As it happened they got along really well and Keziah hadn't had any plans to leave the Daemon any time soon, but now she was fixed on tagging along until they met the mysterious Ginger.
They settled into a comfortable pace, Keziah and Nie trailing behind Crawk and making the most of the path he cut through the grasses. The sun was low in the sky when Nie suddenly lifted her head and leapt into the air, beating her large wings several times, just enough to hover momentarily a few metres above the party.
The road is ahead, and there are travellers. No wagon, but they are carrying packs and a chest on a frame supported by four men.
How many all up?
Six.
The feathered dragon landed again. She had good eyesight and the party she had spotted were still some miles off, but she dared not fly too high lest she attract attention - at least not until night fell.
"Nie says there's a party of six on the road ahead. No wagon, but they have packs and are carrying a chest." She relayed the information back to Campion and, using her own magically enhanced sight, peered around him and could see the small clouds of dust in the distance that marked their passage. Nie couldn't tell in the failing light how armed they were, so Keziah looked to Campion's judgement to decide whether the group were worth taking on.
"What do you reckon? Good target, or wait for another?"
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Ink
Jul 2, 2017 23:24:18 GMT
Post by Campion on Jul 2, 2017 23:24:18 GMT
“That’s fine by me,” Campion retorted to Keziah stating how she’d be sticking around till they found ginger. Again, he enjoyed the company a lot. He’d been roaming the Savanna for so many years alone, he forgot what it was like to have someone around till the months ago when he met her. “Just…make sure if she shoots ya, it’s through nothin’ but flesh and not a lung or something.” He was partly kidding, but Ginger had shot Campion on accident because he snuck up on her. She was a force to be reckoned with. In fact, he’d probably stand in front of Kez since he could take a lot more pain than a human. His mother was a golem, so he could stand a little more pain than most. He hadn’t been lucky enough to inherit very much of his mother’s golem genes, so he still felt plenty of pain all of the time.
Something seemed to catch Nie’s attention and he inherently flinched when she took off into the air. He looked away from the dust and air blowing in his face, but noticed that Crawk also seemed aware of something. Kali seemed to still be happily trailing along, oblivious to anything going on or what was ahead. She just looking like she was happy being there.
Briefly, Campion slowed their pace just a little so he could think about what to do. He didn’t want to keep moving forward before making a decision, then being spotted too early by the party. A party of six was no big deal if they were, say, humans or shifters. Six daemons could prove to be too much, and if all they had was a chest and some packs, he doubted they had very much food with them. It might prove too much, but they were lucky to find someone along the road already. It could be all night or another day before they came across someone else.
“It could be a long ass time before we find someone else. Let’s go for it.” Would they need a plan? Campion’s stomach begged otherwise. He just wanted to get some food and go. Crawk and Nie alone could take out two or three of them in the first few seconds of a fight. Depending on what they were, Campion could take two on with Kali as well, which would leave one for Kez to fend off. The best way to learn how to fight was to put oneself in danger, or that’s how Campion saw it. “Hop on, kid. I’m sure Crawk can hold your weight too.”
He urged the beast into a trot. “I think instead of a distraction, we’ll just go in and cause hell. At the end of a day, he was still a daemon and even some amounts of chaos was his way. You’ll jump off Crawk as we get closer and let him and Nie take them all by surprise.” There was no better way to make someone piss their pants than two giant, magical monsters chagrining them head on. “I’ll hop off after Crawk makes his first kill. Maybe I’ll try to take someone out while I’m riding him.” Campion had been practicing how to fight on the warg’s backside, but he’d yet to try it. “You follow up behind and just…try to stab someone with this knife” He handed her a small, overall unimpressive knife while steering Crawk with his legs. It was more used for cutting things than actually fighting. He carried it around on his person as a utility tool and it was easy to store on himself. “You need any help with one of them, you yell my name. Don’t take stupid chances.” He felt like he didn’t need to remind her. She was smart and had survived for a long time on her own. Campion was a the one forcing her into a dangerous situation with minimal training, so he was willing to go out of his way to help her.
“You ready, kid?” he asked as they grew closer to the road. Just barely, he could make out shapes of people. There was no cover in the Savanna and it was flat land. If they had archers, then they’d have to be extra careful before of the lack of cover. There was a familiar tingling sensation in Campion’s finger and ear tips. It was like adrenaline, but there was more to it being a daemon. He reached down and unhalted his axe, holding it in his right hand while holding on to Crawk’s mane with his left.
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