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Post by Campion on Aug 8, 2017 21:58:17 GMT
Campion wasn’t sure he was ready to hear the absolute bull shit that Kez was going to give him.
Not only within two weeks time since they arrived did he manage to lose a whole limb, but he’d also come across a black market dealer with stripped hyena pups and decided to purchase one of them. Oops. With Crawk and Kali, things were already a handful. But ever since he saw how well trained they could be during a recent raid with Kez, the daemon had not been able to get them out of his mind.
When they’d gotten into the city, they had agreed to meet by a low-key bar for shifters, thugs, dameons, and just about anything hated by middle-class humans. The place was disgusting and run down, the wood that formed it obviously rotting and on the verge of collapsing, and yet it looked packed full of people. Ugh. Thank the gods he’d had the chance to get drunk at a nicer place not just a few days ago with a daemon witch named Ne, because he had no intention of going into that joint.
He was sitting on the cobblestone floor just at the front corner of the building. There were no nearby benches or chairs in such a worn down area, but he wasn’t complaining. The less hounds he’d see, the better since the one that had tried to kill him was still out there somewhere. The obvious solution would be to turn into his female form, but with his ears and an arm missing, it’d still be obvious and too much of a coincidence for him to get away with it. So the best solution was just to avoid Hound areas.
It was hot out, but most of the sun’s rays were blocked by the thick overcast clouds that hung in the sky. The daemon had considered skulking around at night, but he much preferred how things looked during the day in Litharia and was willing to risk burning up. His high tolerance to it helped, as did his lack of feeling any major pain. It was well past the hottest point of the day too, so the chances of the sun doing any damage now were slim.
Because of the heat, he decided to be bare chested even if most of the humans in the city seemed to look down on any indecency. To them, he was a barbaric animal. Not that he cared much. As soon as possible, he wanted to leave the City, but there was still the matter of helping Kez get a bow. The idea of getting a tattoo had long disappeared along with his arm. Maybe later he’d come back for one. The brown burlap pants he wore were baggy and stained, but fashion had never been one of his priorities. Since it would take a long time for his arm to completely recover, the short stump had fresh bandages.
The unnamed hyena pup was still very small to where the daemon could hold him in his arm if need be, but with how much energy he had, there was no way Campion could contain him. The small pup was sniffing the ground, making its nervous yips and barks at every passerby. At one point, the small stripped hyena was running in circles, chasing his own tail before collapsing onto the ground and rolling onto his back, before standing up again and sprinting down the road, and back to Campion. Since it was just a pup and was a pack animal, he wasn’t too worried about it running off. Especially since the daemon had some good, mystery meat snacks for him.
At any moment, he expected Kez to see him and for all the shit to be given to him, but until then he was content just sit and try and figure out a name for the new animal.
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Post by Keziah on Aug 9, 2017 7:08:45 GMT
Winding her way through the city streets on an overcast, sticky-hot summer's day, not many people noticed Keziah. She was skinny and light on her feet, habitually hugged the edge of the roads or paths to keep out of other's way. She wasn't tall, or remarkable looking in any way, with short ash blonde hair, thin angular features, and sharp dark green eyes. She wore clothes that marked her as poor - pants instead of the more appropriate skirt, a length of rope as a belt, a worn off-white tank top that showed the concave plane of her belly to the world. A worn leather backpack was slung over her shoulders, and a knife rested at her hip. Somewhere above a street rat but below someone who could afford to even rent a place to live - a nomad, a traveller, and almost ready to get out of the City once more.
First, she just needed to find Campion.
After saying her farewells to Set, the friend she'd spent a good proportion of her visit with, she had made for the bar she'd agreed to meet her Daemon companion at. Campion had become something between an older brother and a mentor to her, and after already spending several months together - mostly in the grasslands - they were heading back out to find his raiding gang. She'd been there twice already to find him, but he hadn't shown up at the time they'd originally agreed to meet. At first Keziah had been unconcerned, figuring business was taking a little longer than expected and he'd show eventually. The second day she'd started to wonder if something was wrong. Hopefully he'd be there today, else she might start to worry.
Above Keziah, hidden from view on the rooftops of the crowded City buildings, Naniene the feathered dragon followed. If someone glanced up at the right time they might spot her - sometimes the buildings were too far apart for her to jump and she'd fly instead, on glossy dark-feathered wings, before alighting silently on the next roof and continuing to follow her Human's progress in the streets below. She was quiet though, cat-like in her movements and her sinuous grace, and people didn't often look up. Keziah knew she was there though; every now and then a thought would drift into her mind that belonged to Nie instead of her. This had been happening more and more lately, their connection growing stronger so Nie didn't always have to speak deliberately, could share thoughts and images sometimes as well as words.
When Keziah got to the absolute dive of a place she'd arranged to meet Campion at, she spotted him right away. He was here! The teenager was grinning as she hurried over, adjusting the pack on her shoulders and wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. But her grin faded as she approached, a frown appearing on her features in a slow, almost comical way as a picture grew clearer the closer she got. By the time she stopped in front of him Keziah looked appalled, and she folded her arms and glared at him before she spoke, eyes flicking pointedly at the place where, last time she'd seen him, he'd had an arm.
"Dude, what the FUCK?!"
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Post by Campion on Aug 9, 2017 21:55:33 GMT
Campion had been distracted by the playful hyena, not even noticing Kez as she made her way towards him. When a person did approach him though, he knew by voice first that it was her, before he made eye contact with her. Her raised voice did not phase him. It was expected, especially considering last they’d seen each other he had four limbs and not three. The hyena though, instantly became frightened from the angry sound and ran straight to Campion, pressing against his side.
Her exclamation was met with a toothy grin as the daemon used his only arm to help push himself up off the ground. Since the hyena was frightened and didn’t seem to keep on moving away from him, he bent down and picked up the wiggly pup.
“Okay, I know, I know. Not exactly what I had planned. But hey, I didn’t lose my axe arm!” Sure, the loss was devastating and would make it significantly harder to live on his own, but that was no skin off Campion’s back. Life, even for a daemon, was too short to be upset over one lost limb. “And well…the hyena…that wasn’t really expected either. More of an impulse buy. But look at ‘em!” He motioned to the animal in his arms, yipping and looking up hungrily at Campion’s ears like they were a snack.
Since the pup seemed to realize the initial startling was past, Campion put him down on the ground and he immediately went back to sniffing the ground and chasing his own tail.
Part of the bunny daemon genuinely felt bad though, since he was supposed to meet Kez a few days prior. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel abandoned, and he hoped there wasn’t any resentment towards him about that. It was just a few days, after all. “Er, sorry about the late arrival though, kid. Tried to get here as soon as I could.” Uncomfortably, he scratched behind one of his ears. He wondered if she even wanted to hear the story about what happened. Whether or not she did, he’d probably still tell her.
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Post by Keziah on Aug 20, 2017 2:39:01 GMT
Of course he was smiling about it. Of course he was. Keziah didn't think she'd met anyone so absurdly relaxed in her entire life. If she'd had her arm traumatically lopped off just below the shoulder she'd have been a wreck - that kind of event was supposed to be psychologically damaging as well as physically, surely? And yet the Daemon was laughing, joking, and Keziah rolled her eyes in exasperation. Not that she wanted him to be rocking in a corner crying or anything, but maybe if he wasn't so goddamned easy-going about everything he might trying being a little more careful.
"Oh, you didn't lose your axe arm? Just the other one, which is basically a spare anyway, then? You're totally right, no big deal." Her tone was very obviously laced with sarcasm but even so a subtle smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She couldn't help it. Campion was just so...cheerful. It was maddening, but also a trait she really liked about him. It made up for her being, often, over-serious and acerbic.
As for the hyena, noticing that came a very distant second to the glaring fact of an entire missing limb. Cue another eye roll - damn Daemon could not help himself.
"Oh yes, one of the things that recently tried to eat me? Sure, that'll make a great pet." Still sarcastic, and this statement perhaps a little unfair given Campion had perfect control over his Warg, which was essentially that hyena's bigger, nastier brother. It was hard to be anything other than exasperated though - you leave the guy alone for like a week and he loses an arm and gains a dog. Unbelievable.
"The missing arm is a decent excuse for being late. Don't worry about it." Hitching her bag a little higher on her shoulders, Keziah looked down at the Daemon and sighed. At least life was always interesting with him.
"While you were sustaining life-changing injuries and hoarding animals, I met up with a friend and robbed a place and had fun. You know, normal stuff. Did you even get the tattoo?" The whole reason Campion had wanted to come to the City in the first place was for some tattoo, and she didn't see one. Maybe he'd gotten it on his butt or something though, in which case she really didn't need to see.
"What happened, anyway? Shit like that usually kills people unless you're rich enough for a magical healer. You secretly hoarding treasure as well as dogs?"
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Post by Campion on Aug 20, 2017 4:45:51 GMT
Campion was used to the way Kez was about things, and he knew that her comments, though heavily laced with sarcasm, were far from being angry or irritated. All he could do was hold a grin as she casually mocked how he “just lost his other arm”. The daemon was very up-beat around most folk, but he only showed how care-free and sincere he could be around those he was close with. The daemons he’d met through his lifetime, besides Ginger, mostly looked down on his outlook of life. Many also thought he was a joke due to his rabbit influence, but the fact was that he was still a daemon. His mood could shift from happy go lucky, to instant rage and aggression. It just took a lot for him to get that way.
“I mean sure, I needed that arm to like…start fires and stuff, but I can make due. Not like the Savanna gets that cold at night. If you still want to meet with Ginger after we getchya a bow, we’ll probably be sticking with her and my crew for a little while anyways. Gives me time to figure things out.” Bow training took time and a considerable amount of practice. Most likely, Kez would be training with her for a while. The rest of his crew though…it’d been years since he last saw any of them, and Ginger had been in charge. He had no idea who was still in the group and whether they were the same people or not. In the end, they were all cutthroats and bandits. He made a note to be especially wary for Kez’s sake, though he was sure she’d be wary of them herself. She was a smart girl, hence why she was able to live on her own for so long.
He totally called it when she finally gave him some shit for the hyena. The daemon couldn’t help but laugh from how amused he felt about it, a few people walking into the bar giving obviously annoyed glances that he seemed to be enjoying himself about something. The hyena cocked his head at his laughing owner, then looked over to the human girl and ran up to her, circling her feet and sniffing at the floor. “Yeah, they tried to eat you, but damn they were so well trained. So noooooow, we can make him eat them!” He was careful about the sex of the animal. Females were more aggressive and bigger, but much more dominant and harder to control. Males were less dominant, and thus easier to train, yet at the same time then tended to be small. “Plus this’ll make up for Crawk liking you more than me. Haven’t figured out a name for him yet though.”
Not wanting to stay in one place for long, the bunny daemon adjusted the belt around his waist with a small coin purse attached to it. That was the only thing he carried, since it was the only thing he’d manage to bring in. Crawk, Kali, and his axe were all outside the City in a specific area. Campion was sure they’d still be there, as one was magically bound to him, while the other was just extremely loyal.
The statement about Kez robbing a place did not come as a surprise, but he was curious that she’d met up with another person and helped them. She didn’t seem like one to keep too many friends around. “Now that sounds like a good time. Can’t say I felt the same with what happened with me.” Campion was sure he’d be joking about what happened within the past week for years to come. Oh gods…when Ginger found out? She’d die from laughter. Or rip off his other arm and beat the bunny daemon to death with it. No inbetween. “And no, I didn’t get the tat because some Hounds are out to get me. Tryin’ to lay low now.” Which meant when they went to go get her bow, they’d need to do it in a place with low Hound traffic. She’d been in the City more than him, so hopefully she knew where to go. “I’m an easy target with my ears. And changing into a woman don’t really help much.”
“You caught me. I've secretly got a mansion in the high class part of the City. Super rich. Why don’t’chya lead the way and I’ll tell ya the story as we walk? I still got some coin to help you get your bow. Let’s just…uh…avoid those damn hounds.” As they began to move, he whistled for the young hyena to follow after. Every time Campion’s foot came off the ground, he’d happily snap at his heel.
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Post by Keziah on Aug 26, 2017 23:45:34 GMT
Having never lost a limb, what life would actually be like for Campion now eluded Keziah to some extent. But of course - making fires took two hands. Fan-bloody-tastic, she really would have to learn to do it now. Also weapons; he might be able to use his axe but anything two handed was out of the question. She could only imagine how many other seemingly simple but necessary to daily life activities would be more difficult now, and she shook her head.
"Maybe you should stick with Ginger for good. Your dumb ass needs a babysitter, obviously." At least they would be sticking with Ginger for quite a while if they ever found her - Keziah knew training to use a bow was going to take some time. Campion could get used to his new status as an amputee surrounded by people who would protect him. That seemed like a smarter idea than letting the Daemon wander off into the savannah one arm down and confidence apparently not even dented.
"Whose to say this one won't like me better too?" Crouching, Keziah let the small animal sniff and lick her fingers, curious in the way baby animals tended to be. It was comically ugly, so much so that it was actually cute, with oversized round ears and an absurd scruff of hair on the top of its head. Anyway, Campion could keep collecting pets if he wanted to. It was up to him to feed the damn things - Keziah, on the other hand, had grown up on the streets where you didn't keep pets unless they were really, really useful to you. Animals were for eating when you were close to starving - all animals, so you didn't get attached to them. Nie didn't count, of course, because Nie was no more of a pet than Campion himself was.
"It was. I'll introduce ya to Set sometime. He's the friend. What'd you do to piss off the Hounds?" Standing back up Keziah followed Campion down the street. Buying a training bow was the last thing on her list before they left the City - if she was going to ask Ginger to train her, she needed something to train with first. Campion might have a few more errands, though from the sounds of it he'd be better getting the hell out of here sooner rather than later.
"Gods, you stick out even more now, with that stump instead of an arm. If we run into any Hounds on our way out I'm ditching your sorry arse quick smart, right? I'll meet you out where you left Crawk." No way in hell was Keziah getting arrested for associating with a criminal. She had no papers, like most street kids, which meant she'd almost definitely be sold into slavery if she was ever arrested for anything. The Hounds were corrupt in their own ways - you were meant to have papers to even get in and out of the place, but they turned a blind eye to almost anyone who paid the bribe at the gates. Get caught doing something you shouldn't, though, and they'd make their money off you twice over by selling you to a slaver. Bastards.
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Post by Campion on Aug 27, 2017 21:13:40 GMT
“Ouch. That hurt,” he joked. The sheer amount of sass coming from her was too entertaining for him. Perhaps someone other than him would actually feel hurt or offended, but not him. He was still grinning like an idiot, laughing as they began to walk, letting Keziah take the lead. “She’ll give me as much shit as you are now. Might actually beat me for it or find my arm and beat me with it.” Even if it was sarcasm though, she did have a good point. Until he got used to his new disability, he’d need some help and relying on Kez was out of the question. The girl was a wildcard, and he’d never expect her to feel obligated to help him. It wasn’t her problem. “You’ll get along with her just fine.”
The hyena was a little hesitant when Keziah approached it, but when it was obvious she was not going to be dangerous, he made a ‘yip’ and continued his happy bouncing around, circling momentarily around her feet before going back to Campion and nipping at his heels. The bunny daemon frowned though at her statement, brow slightly furrowed. “Let’s not jinx that. I mean he can like you. That’s fine. But well. Don’t need a repeat on Crawk.” He got jealous enough with the giant hyena-like creature preferring to be around Kez than him.
“Uh well. It was…a long time ago? I did some dumb things. Spent a little bit of time on the streets. Stole stuff. Got clapped in irons and Ginger helped break me out. Guess they haven’t forgotten about that. Then I ran off into the sunset with her….into the Savanna.” Hounds were dicks too. That was just the bottom line. Campion had never been a fan of them. They’d find any excuse to cause a hassle to someone, especially if they weren’t human.
Again he laughed and rested his ripped, good arm on Kez’s shoulder, putting a little bit of weight behind it. “Aw common. You don’t want to be ganged up on by like ten different hounds?” He did really stick out like a sore thumb though, and made a note to be even more careful. There was zero expectation for her to stick around though. She was free to do as she wished. “Oh yeah. Forgot to tell you I also got shot in the side with a crossbow. So it wasn’t just my arm.” He was so it’s-no-big-deal about it, it was ridiculous.
There were more and more people that were beginning to show up as they walked. To help keep himself less conspicuous, Campion flattened his ears so that they didn’t stick above the heads of people. The hyena vocalized and stopped chasing after his and Kez’s heels, instead walking anxiously by the daemon, pressing himself against his leg. “Alright. What’chya got on your plate? You got some more things to take care of before we get your bow and head out?”
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Post by Keziah on Sept 2, 2017 5:30:50 GMT
Keziah smirked.
"As she should do. Might teach you to be more careful. Can't wait to meet her, think I'm gonna like her a lot." Apparently Campion had a thing for sassy, headstrong women in his life, which amused her to no end. He had the temperament for it though - even now he was laughing, joking, completely impervious to her acidic wit. Insufferable Daemon!
"It's alright, I'll stick with Crawk. He's badass. Between him and Nie got myself the best inhuman bodyguard a girl could ask for."
Keziah weaved easily through the crowded streets, like she'd been doing it her whole life. And she had, for a big part of it. It was so easy to slip back into living in the City; the well-worn streets still felt like home, or the closest she'd get to it. She was enjoying travelling with Campion but coming back here had her toying with ideas around what she'd do when she stopped. If she could learn to hunt she could go any number of places. She could take Nie and go live out in the wilderness somewhere. But, somehow, the idea of leaving the City for good didn't really appeal.
"You lived on the streets too? Worst luck. Does make them ears of yours a hindrance, you ain't ever gonna get yourself off their list with those making you so easy to identify." Keziah guessed they must know about Sasha, if changing to that form wasn't any help. She was glad, again, to be Human and ordinary-looking.
"No! And them getting trigger happy on crossbows ain't changing my mind. You can look after yourself, if the Hounds find us I'm vamoosing." She slowed as the crowds thickened, settling into a pace that got her through without too much jostling. The fletcher, thankfully, wasn't far - she could already see the sign outside his shop down the road.
"Nah, just the bow. Then we'd better get outta here before you lose another limb. Here's the place, come on." A jangling bell announced their entrance as she opened the door and an elderly man with a curly grey beard glanced up from where he was seated, behind a counter, shaping feathers for arrows.
"Ah, back already girl. You'll be wanting that bow?"
"Aye. I got the coin." She handed over the pouch and he tipped it onto the counter, rifling through the coin quickly before nodding.
"Remember, it's just for trainin' wit. You done go try shootin' a person and it'll scratch 'em up a bit and make 'em mad but not much else. Yer arrows'll bounce off any kind of armor, even hide. Just ain't much power - stick to targets and mebbe the odd squirrel. You practice wit that and come back 'ere in a few months, a year, I'll buy it back off yer and sell yer a real bow."
"Thanks. Hey, Campion....you think you could maybe float me a few coin for some arrows? I just need a couple to practice with."
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Post by Campion on Sept 2, 2017 6:32:18 GMT
“Like I’ve told ya, kid. Gotta hope she don’t put an arrow in us first. She shoots firsts, asks questions later.” It was a fairly common way to live, especially out in the Savanna or even as a street rat. “So when I say duck, make sure you duck. She’s good at not missing when her intention is to kill.” Campion stuck out like a sore thumb, so if she saw his ears first before shooting, there was less of a chance that she’d actually shoot.
He raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “Don’t you get any ideas no. Crawk is sticking with me, even if I gotta put a damn leash on him.” He was joking of course. Kez wasn’t like him, wanting to be surrounded by animals that she owned. Nie was hardly an animal and more like a person. She was also extremely agile and skilled, as well as useful, so she was an obvious exception.
It was all too obvious to the daemon that Kez was used to the City. He followed her as best he could, trying super hard to keep his ears covered, which was next to impossible. Not only was he tall with even taller ears, but for a man with little money and no roof over his head, he was built like a mountain and in obvious good health.
Luckily there seemed to be no sign of hounds. He heard no yells from a random person in the crowd to ‘catch that bunny’ or anything of the sort. “Yeah I did, in a way. Came with my family from the daemon homeland and then just sorta…I dunno, split off from them? Kind of did my own thing for a while. Didn’t do too bad, but I was just as scrawny as you till I met Ginger and the others.” It had been a pretty boring part of his life, so he was very indifferent with speaking about it. The Dream Land was where he had been born, but it never seemed to satisfy him. Then the City was more interesting, but still not quite what he’d been looking until he left and ventured out into the Savanna. Chuckling at himself as he remembered those days, he added, “Yeah, we were pieces of shit. But we had a good time sticking together.” Well, he was still a piece of shit since he kill and stole stuff, but it was not out of malice that he did such things. It was just to survive, really.
Kez led him into a small little shop where she was wanting to get her bow. Campion was sure they had a ‘no pets’ thing, but he never gave a fuck for those kind of rules and let his little hyena follow after. The sound of the bell had startled him, so the daemon ended up picking him up off the ground and cradling him with his one harm, hushing the whimpers he made under his breath and gently petting the soft, grey silver stripped fur at the same time.
When she asked for money, he stopped petting the hyena and scrunched his face at her. “Ah sorry. Totally spent it all on getting drunk. My bad.” He let that linger for a few seconds before snickering and momentarily putting the pup down so he could untie the pouch with the coin. “Kidding, kid. Course I got some coin to help ya. Here.” The daemon handed her two silver and six copper, not too shabby considering he’d splurged on drink the past few days and had also given his healer a healthy sum of coin for her services with his arm.
He had zero need for coin beyond some momentary pleasantries, so he was happy to give her everything he had. After handing it off, Campion went ahead and scooped the male hyena back up into his arms to keep him from destroying anything.
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Post by Keziah on Sept 9, 2017 2:20:46 GMT
Keziah grinned.
"I can duck no problem. And you're a waaaay bigger target, I'll just duck behind you. Apparently it's not even a big deal when you get shot." She glanced pointedly at his side, where the bandaging gave away the damage caused by a Hound's crossbow that he'd mentioned. And she only laughed at the comment about Crawk - as Campion knew perfectly well, she wasn't the least bit serious. The giant dog creature was protective of her, but that was a very different thing to a magical bond, as she well knew. Besides, he was so ridiculously big he'd never fit into her life in the City.
It was intriguing to hear about Campion's brief stint on the streets. Things were different for Humans and Daemons, though. Hell, Daemons weren't even supposed to come into the City without a good reason and the papers to prove it, although the security at the gates was so lax that many did. Still, Keziah had always lived with Human and Shifter bands on the streets - if there were homeless Daemons roaming around, it had been a different part of the City to hers. Humans and Shifters made up the bulk of the City population by a long shot, and were who Keziah had spent most of her time with. Even when she was whoring she'd turn down Daemon clients, considering them too dangerous. Campion was so different to what she'd expected from a Daemon in some ways, and living on the streets in the City for a bit was one of those differences.
"Dick. Thanks. Here, I'll just take a couple to practice with. Whatever fits the bow." Keziah was duly handed two arrows, although she couldn't afford a quiver for them so she just tucked them into her back, pointed ends downwards and feathered ends poking out the top. The bow she slung over her head, wearing it with the bowstring across her chest like the shop owner showed her.
"Anythin' much larger and you'll need to carry it on yer back, but that one ther' is light an' easy enough to carry that'aways."
"Sweet. Come on, let's get outta here before you get arrested. The new King likes to torture prisoners by making their flesh die, did you hear? Last thing you need is to get jailed and lose another limb that way."
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Post by Campion on Sept 10, 2017 1:13:27 GMT
Campion frowned, not sure how he felt about being her meat shield. “Ya know, just cause I don’t feel much pain doesn’t mean I can’t, ya know, die. Nearly died from blood loss when my arm was cut off.” He had felt some of that pain. He was fully aware of how he’d survive mostly out of sheer luck, as well as from being treated by a damn good healer. If he ever need help and was in the city again, he’d go to her for sure. Nice lady. All her kids were adorable as hell too.
He waited for her to get her arrows and bow and, internally, made a note of how proud he was of her. When he’d met her, she was confident and forwards about what she wanted, as well as resilient, but Kez had grown even more. She was getting better at hunting every day, better at survival out in pure nature rather than the City. Even though they’d just started working on her strength a bout a week or so prior, she was even getting a little stronger every day. Now if he could just convince her to make a damn fire on her own.
Campion did have siblings growing up, but he’d never been close to them. There was no way now he could try to contact them. Hell, he had no idea if they were even still alive. Kez was perhaps the closest he felt to a real sister in all his years being alive. If anyone ever harmed her or attempted to do wrong by her, he wouldn’t hesitate to gut them and hang them by their own innards. Campion was hoping that someday, she’d be able to do that herself.
The bunny daemon rolled his eyes and, once they left the store, tried to flatten his ears enough to not stick out as badly, even though he still did overall. Built like a mountain, only had three limbs, tan daemon that can tolerate a lot of sun. Yeah no, the kid was right. He was such an obvious target.
“Kid, you can’t believe everything you hear. Especially on the streets.” He was sure she knew that, but he was just messing with her. “But you’re right. Let’s get the fuck out of here. I’m reminded why I hated being stuck here to begin with.” Losing your arm will do that, he noted to himself.
With no coin, a new stripped hyena, Kez and her new bow, Campion was ready to leave. Already he missed the wide spaces of the Savanna, the endless plains of death and danger. A week felt like too long to go without raiding too. That’d have to be the first thing they’d do after getting out of Hound patrol ranges “Alright. Let’s see if we can’t find my girlfriend, yeah? We could both use the help she can offer.” Gods, he wished Ginger was there to hear him say that. She would have been seething with annoyance and probably punched him in his left stump.
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Post by Keziah on Sept 12, 2017 8:36:40 GMT
Keziah grinned.
"Well, duh. Why'd you think I yelled at you? Still better you'n me though. And maybe if you talk fast enough, she won't shoot ya in the first place. You talk alllll the time, reckon you're good at it by now!" The smile turned winning, playful. Truth be told she didn't think Campion was stupid enough to walk into a situation where actually getting shot and killed was an actual, serious risk. Otherwise he or Ginger would have killed the other long ago...surely?
Or maybe Daemons really were that stupid. Either way, she was ducking behind him if arrows started flying.
When the bow and arrows were secured, Keziah was more than happy to make her way back out into the streets. Already the weight of it felt comfortable and familiar, more suited to her than the axes and swords she'd tried, a better fit even than the knife at her hip - and she'd been carrying a knife since she was twelve. They wove through the crowds easily - not too fast, not wanting to draw attention. At the gates they let Campion through without looking twice at him - Keziah, as usual, got checked for a slave brand before she was free to go.
And then the wide open expanse of the savannah greeted them, endless and golden and sun-bronzed. Keziah paused a moment to breathe in air not tainted by city fumes, air that smelled like air instead of smoke and body odour and death. The sun was hot but a fresh breeze made the grasses ripple and sway like water. A shadow passed overhead - Nie, so high above them she could be mistaken for a large bird of prey, circling on invisible thermals. Keziah could feel her joy. She remember the way back to Crawk and Kali easily enough, but from there Campion would need to take the lead. Scratching the giant warg absentmindedly behind one tattered ear, she glanced over at the Daemon.
"So, how the hell do you even find someone out here, anyways?"
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Post by Campion on Sept 13, 2017 15:48:53 GMT
Ha! Such wit. “Touché.” Was all he managed to reply with. She won this little bit of banter, for now. Campion had no retort to that because…well, he did talk a lot like she mentioned. Would Ginger actually shoot at them? Defiantly. But if he looked a little recognizable to her, she was more likely to give a warning shot and then find out who she was dealing with.
The whole time they went through the fastest routes possible to leave the city, Campion was wary for Hounds. A few patrols went by them from time to time, but they seemed too caught up harassing other poor citizens to pay him any heed. In fact, he was sure they barely even glanced at him. His biggest worry were the hounds that guarded the exit to the city.
One of the men had eyed him warily, as if recalling he’d seen Campion somewhere. To make it seem like no big deal, the daemon had come up with a story about how he’d been trying out all the different drinks around the Red Light District, and the man seemed to accept that as an answer for where he’d “seen” Campion.
Once they were out in the Savanna though, Campion was grinning like an idiot. Gods, it was good to be out! He wanted nothing to do with the City again. If he’d ever go anywhere, even with Kez, he would make the long-ass trek to Spirit.
He stretched, extending his arm up and torso out while holding his breath, then let out a huge breath of relief. Finding Crawk and Kali had been easy. The two stuck out like a sore thumb, and they were just off the road somewhere, waiting for Campion and Kez to return. Of course Crawk went up to Kez first thing getting his much-missed dosed of head scratches, while Kali barked and jumped around Campion, tail wagging furiously as he bent down to show her affection.
The striped hyena was warry of all the noise and commotion and yelped when Kali had come over. Since Crawk had a familiar scent was basically an overgrown hyena, the young one ran directly under him and hid in between his legs. Campion stood back up and put his hands on his hips, rolling his eyes as he watched the scared pup use the giant warg as protection. He’d come around sooner or later. Campion still needed to come up with a name….
There was time for that later. They were still too close to the City for their own good, so the bunny daemon quickly reached into the small pack that he had left attached to Warg when he left, and pulled out his much-missed steel axe. He didn’t have anything to attach it to for the moment, so he was content to just walk with it. Crawk and Kali fell in behind with the hyena pup in tow, while it seemed that Nie was watching them from up above.
The question Kez asked was a fair one. “Uh well, I’ve been here a long time, kid. I’ve got most of the place mapped out in my head. Most.” He had to emphasize that point since he was always finding new places and sometimes getting lost in the process. “Ginger and I are real close, so I know how she thinks. We’ll just have to go to the places where I suspect she’ll be planning on looting unsuspecting travelers.” Ginger was cruel when it came to raiding, at least compared to Campion. “She hates raiding boil caravans like the one we did, so most likely she ain’t South. I’m willing to bet she’s somewhere between the trails that lead to Spirit and the City.” Spirit was a good ways a way, maybe even more than a week’s worth of traveling on foot, but there was also a forest separating Spirit from the Savanna. “Honestly if we just keep on the roads in that direction, we’re bound to run into her. And if she sees all the dogs around me, she’s bound to know it’s me.”
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