Name In Progress (1x1 Fantasy RP with Krowe)

[Zeren the Morph]

"A fellow has his needs. Mine just so happen to be... particularly acute." His tone seemed almost serious for a moment, a somewhat worried look as he stared into the water. He then quickly shrugged it off with a chuckle. "But hey! Other people like to have fun too, right?" He looked over his shoulder at her with a slightly forced cheerful nod. The truth was more dire than he let on. But she didn't have to know, right?  

[Heavenly Kitten]

She ignored his question, chalking it up to being a rhetorical one. After a short pause, she sat upright on the shore and looked over to him. She didn't look too closely for fear of seeing something she would, at this time, rather not. She still needed a bath of her own, they'd been marching, more or less, for about 4 hours now and she was fairly sweaty from it. She thought about it and chuckled softly at the thought of why he would be sweaty and in need of a bath, in spite of his rather leisurely travel. Philanderer... was all she thought to herself before taking her eyes from him and slipping into a rather deep portion of the stream, fully disappearing beneath the surface for a moment before shooting back up from the water and pushing her now damp hair behind her ears. With that, she reached for the clasp to her own neckplate and undid it, setting it on the shore where she had been sitting. She didn't wish it to become tarnished in any way. It was a prized possession of hers. After that, her eyes caught him in her stare once more, deciding she would keep the other garments on to prevent any awkwardness, being far too modest herself.

She lay back in the water, floating along the surface comfortably now, eyes closing as she relaxed, cool air passing over the exposed flesh of her belly and tail as she steered a little with the tail as the current carried her to and fro, making sure to keep a good fifteen foot minimum between she and the incubus, as though leaving an invisible divider between the two. She did not say a word, only floated the surface, dipping a time or two to fully submerge, feeling naught but the cool water on her skin and scales, sighing happily.

After a short bit, her eyes opened to the holes in the canopy. Given the light and that the sun had already passed noon, she assumed that dusk was only a few more hours away. They would march another four, this being a good halfway point between the capital and Medusa's Den. Once there, they would likely all need food. She had eaten prior to the dispatchment, so she could go a while before needing more food, but she would likely be hungry when they arrived at their destination. It was only now that she turned her head slightly in his direction, his form still out of view as she spoke, "Hey... I was curious... did you happen to bring any provisions with you? I doubt anybody here brought their own and, while we could hunt for something and make a fire, on-hand food would be more convenient. You can even charge it to the queen as a necessary expense." She paused a short bit before resuming, "Or, if she won't pay, I'll take it out of my own salary." She didn't need to, but, as she admitted, "We're all going to be too tired to hunt once we reach our destination. Well, save the few that ride with you." Again, a bit of a grimace at the thought of the filthy male bedding her troops, but she soldiered through that, "It would... just be easier... a-assuming you're not opposed of course." What was she asking for? She thought to herself. She was a Field Commander. She could just demand he share his rations. As she thought about this, she shrugged it off, chalking it up to her good nature.  

[Zeren the Morph]

"Only enough for myself. We could distribute that, but it won't be much for all those men and women. However... Let's just say I can hunt for you. Got a few things that'll make that task fairly easy." He felt a tinge of animosity from her. He was used to to that. Folks have some fairly good reasons for not liking demons. He slogged out of the water, shaking his wings and using them as a curtain to preserve his modesty as he pulled on his pants.

"So. How about it? I betcha I could pull in some deer for ya."  

[Heavenly Kitten]

She thought about it a minute, eyes skyward as he left the stream, floating about as the water cared to push her now, idly gliding for a bit. "Well... if you've not enough supplies, we have little other choice. However, I'll not have you go hunting alone. I, at the very least, will be both keeping an eye on you, and helping in the hunt, tired or no. It's my responsibility as Field Commander to make sure you don't run off and that food is properly procured. If you think there's enough to tide folks over while we hunt, then all the better. We can distribute them upon arrival." She said, in a more orderly fashion.

With that, she floated back over to her neckplate, climbing up out of the water, being careful not to get too muddy while still a bit wet. The oils in her scales helped with this substantially. She then bent over and grabbed the neckplate, carefully brushing it off so it was clean again, reaching into the water-tight pouch she had stuffed the document into earlier and pulling out a wipe to polish it quick before replacing it over her neck, then making her way to her sword, shield, and helm, looking to him now as she worked to replace them. "What say you to that suggestion, Ser incubus?"  

[Zeren the Morph]

"That's a fine suggestion, m'lady." He buckled his pants, folding his wings. "It'll be a good time to field test some new equipment. You'll get quite the show, I promise." He chuckled.  

[Heavenly Kitten]

She was finished and looked to him curiously as she led the way back down to the camping point, speaking over her shoulder, "Is that so? I shall be quite interested to see it." She continued a bit further and called back to let him know, "Things may get a bit treacherous terrain-wise in the road ahead, but... we will still be sticking to the main path. I certainly hope your contraption can handle obstacles" She said with a nod. She then broke into the clearing where the others had been spending their time. "Hold that thought..." She said, holding back a finger to him before getting into a more clear position.

She cleared her throat before calling out, "Alright then, pack it up everybody! We leave in five minutes!" With that, the crowds began finishing what they were doing. Some bathing, a couple making out with one another, the guards shuffling a bit near the coach, one even peeking inside. She sighed heavily and snapped, "I said move your asses!" Everybody began scurrying a bit more quickly, the guard shooting from the coach and getting in line, everybody getting in proper order. She sighed, rubbing her temple before turning back to him. "So... might I inquire as to what it is you use for hunting...?" She asked him curiously, a bit of irritation in her tone now.  

[Zeren the Morph]

"A crossbow. I've been working on weaponizing black powder as a means of delivering projectiles, but that's far from the field testing phase. However, my crossbow is unique in itself. You'll see." He nodded to the irritable Valeria.  

[Heavenly Kitten]

She was intrigued, a vaguely apparent twinkle in her eye. She, herself, knew little of the great technologies of the world, but that did not mean she wasn't fascinated by them. She simply had a bit of clumsiness in trying to operate half of the fancy things she touched, a sad admittance. One she knew better than to make, merely keeping her eyes off such fancy treasures. However, her voice became more chipper as she replied this time around, seeming as though she had a total mood swing. "Well! I look forward to seeing it then!" She said simply before turning her back to him again and making for the group so they could finish their preparations and make for their next destination, everybody quickly getting in order per her request.  

[Zeren the Morph]

He found himself slightly perplexed by her sudden shift in demeanor. Nevertheless, he was glad she was pleased with the idea. He turned on his heels and made his way to his coach, several people hanging out beside it.

They shot him an expectant look. Oddly enough, he felt uninterested. A strange concept, since his sex drive often overwhelmed his sensibilities. Nevertheless, he shooed them away.

"Not tonight, ladies and gents. I'm not in the mood."

A few grumbled audibly as they walked away. Perhaps his fault for charming them earlier. But it's not like it won't wear off soon and come to the realization that they found something akin to an angelic gargoyle to be literally irresistible. He clambered into the driver's seat and followed the moving army, staying in his place in the middle formation.  

[Heavenly Kitten]

~ 3 Hours Later ~

Night was beginning to fall. A bit sooner than expected. They were still a little ways from their destination, but with little to no issue yet. It was a surprisingly dull trip thus far, save the interesting conversation or two that caught Valeria's ear. However, very few and far between on this long stretch. Some had even begun to slow down which was only causing further delays, "Come now, everyone!" She called from the front of the pack. The path had gotten quite tricky, many large, hard rocks about a path no longer used, brush rampant and no sight of a clear route. However, Valeria knew the way. "We need to keep going! You can't quit on me now!" She called back to them, not turning, merely directing over her shoulder. "You can't s**t out on me so close to-" Her voice cut off. An ominous feeling all about her now.

She raised an arm to the assembled group, panic now in her heart. "Everybody hold!" She commanded in a more hushed tone, but still loud enough for all to hear her. She could hear noise in the brush all around them, they had gotten surrounded, but by what? She couldn't tell like this. Dusk was beginning to set. This is not good... A shadow slipped quickly past her vision and she quickly grabbed her blade, drawing it and yelling, "Draw your weapons! We are under attack!" Quickly people clambered for their weapons, but, in an instant, a large wolf, the size of a pony jumped from the brush and mauled a lowly Naga who was not fast enough with his spear. Seconds later three more appeared from behind and a more from each of the sides. Three in the back, two left, and one right.

At that moment, a larger one, a size and a half of the others, approached Valeria slowly from in front of her, her eyes growing wide. An Alpha... She thought to herself, a bead of sweat running down the back of her neck, fear gripping her. It was the biggest thing she had seen, but she had to do this. They were likely hungry. She only hoped they could hold out. Her mental count was approximately 45 miscellaneous humanoids against 6 Greater Wolves and a Greater Alpha, which would, no doubt, be her target while the others handled the 6. It wasn't fair, but it was her duty. This would be one Hell of a fight. She braced herself for the attack.  

[Zeren the Morph]

Zeren was never one to let an ambush get the best of him. When a massive wolf approached his coach, he dove inside.

"Don't you do it..." He murmured as he threw on a prototype suit of brown armor. It resembled leather, but was actually layered with light metal plates. The wolf dragged it's claws down his coach, marring the paint job. He winced, as if empathic to the coach's pain. In truth, it was just an expensive paint job.

"Well. Now you've pissed me off." He pulled the pneumatic bow off the coach's wall. He grabbed a cylinder-shaped metal object from a shelf and pressed it into the a groove underneath the bow. It clicked in place noisily, the noticeable hiss of steam forcing the a small mechanism fastened to the crossbow's string all the way back into a locked position. A bolt clicked into place, the cylinder being a source of ammunition.

He jumped back out from the side of the coach, the doors sliding open as he leaped. the wolf darted backwards in surprise before surging towards him, going in for the kill. Zeren shouldered the crossbow and held down the trigger. The bow hissed repeatedly as it fired bolts in rapid succession, riddling the beast full of arrow. It hit the ground a few feet from him, dead. He turned his attention to a nearby wolf and loosed a volley of bolts at it as well.  

[Heavenly Kitten]

She did not take the time to look back, to see how her troops were doing. While Zeren had already made short work of one, the others adapted quickly to this surprise and became more weary of him, the second he fired at swiftly dodged the latter half of his volley, severely impaired, but still going, another of it's brethren joining it while the other three Greater Wolves tore through the ranks elsewhere, the disorganized bunch scattering and fending for themselves, horrible tactics indeed. A few bunched into small groups, but in a few minutes of fighting, already a dozen or better of Valeria's troupe lay dead on this field, torn. Some in half, others less recognizable still.

A group of 5 with varying weapons managed to fell another, but in the moments to follow, the dying wolf used a powerful bite to snap two of the men in half, killing them instantly. Already the numbers on Valeria's side had fallen to her, Zeren, and about 30 various soldiers, still scattered and fighting poorly with the two wolves, one injured, circling Zeren's coach in opposition, one dead by the coach, one dead from the small group that seemed to be trying to survive, and still two more rampaging and decimating Valeria's troupe further.

Meanwhile, Valeria had been playing a rather evasive game with the Alpha. He was easily twice her size due to his build. She was lean for a Lamia, which server her in evading, but she just couldn't find an opening, longsword or no. She nicked it here and there in her dodging, but it was only frustrating the beast who was growing faster and more savage. She would knock away it's mighty jaw a time or two at the last moment with her strong tail, but this was proving difficult and the long journey had tired her some, not to mention her hunger building atop that. She was fatigued. She could not have asked for a worse time to have to fight this of all things.

As it lunged at her with a vicious bite, she blocked with her shield, holding firm, but her arm crumpled under the force of the wolf's powerful jaw and she cried out in pain. A bone somewhere in her arm had been broken by the attack and her shield fell from her grasp to the ground at her feet. Her arm had gone limp and she knew if she didn't try harder somehow, she'd be dead. Quickly after, it brought a large paw at her and she tried to evade, but the pain was slowing her, arm or no, it still hurt, and the claws scraped her side. Not deep, but enough to make that bleed now as well. She was losing this fight. Meanwhile, the two not fighting Zeren had downed another half dozen. Thirty became twenty-four, but then, another triumph in their ranks as one of the two fell, just one left alive as the scattered masses began to regroup.

Battered and bleeding, Valeria became more feral in her combat now, throwing her blade, with great force, at the large wolf, sinking the blade into it's shoulder, going about mid-length in, a good, solid hit. The large wolf yipped at this and she took the moment to lunge with a loud hiss at the wolf, biting into it's throat. The wolf struggled against her, trying to turn it's head to tear her off, but not succeeding as Valeria continued to stave off it's massive jaw with her thick and powerful tail, sinking her snake fangs into it's throat and pumping a severe necrotoxin into it's veins, the wolf only fighting a few moments longer before falling, it's struggling rapidly becoming more pathetic and weak until she released her fangs, flying back in a heap, unable to keep upright, bleeding out from all the excitement. The flesh around the bite had been dying rapidly with the increased rate of deliverance, until the Alpha had perished, whimpering and whining all the way down. Valeria's consciousness faded shortly thereafter, her pulse weak, but noticeable if any were to find her after things calmed.

(So... my status: Bleeding from mild, but large, claw wounds in one side, causing her to slowly bleed out, a broken bone in her shield (Left) arm, pulse weak, but alive.
Feel free to handle what happens with your injured wolf and good wolf as well as the one still fighting the twenty-four survivors. Don't care how many more you kill, but kinda go with how I've been describing things thus far. I expect anywhere from another 2-6 losses. :3 You can streamline any of the events I listed in my post, in your post too if you want to paint the picture more from your perspective as well. :3 Have fun! ^_^)  

[Zeren the Morph]

They were adapting based on the situation. Not too much of a surprise to Zeren, Great wolves are known to be very intelligent.

He found himself on the top of his coach, deciding to put his experimental black powder to use. His automatic crossbow lying at his feet, he noced an arrow on a simple recurve bow. The arrow itself looked different, a light metal shaft with a rounded head, a fuse trailing out of it.

He flicked his flintbox, lighting it and pulled the arrow back. Two great wolves made the mistake of being too close together, as if the healthy one was actually defending the wounded one he hit earlier as they tore through a line of desperate soldiers. Eight more dead, while the remains of that particular unit ran like hell. Just the opening he needed as he waited to get out of the way.

He released, the arrow whizzing towards the two wolves and then, a deafening explosion. The two beasts were reduced to a smoldering crater, bloody gib raining down, dotting his face and his wagon with red specks.

"Holy s**t... I can't believe that actually worked!" He said to himself, astonished. He took a mental note that he used too much black powder. Overkill. He needed to tone down the formula a bit. He then dropped the bow and picked up his crossbow, taking potshots at the remaining wolves. Panicked by the explosion and harassed by bolts, the surviving wolves darted into the forest. Whether they were in full retreat or just hiding was anybody's guess.

He leaped down, casually putting a bolt in a nearby wolf's head, the once still-living animal now completely dead. "Hmph. Smart for lupines. Not smart enough, since you ******** with-"

Turns out they were hiding as the remaining two suddenly darted at him from the bushes, intending to eliminate their greatest threat so they can resume their hunt, alpha or no. He swung around and planted a salvo of bolts rapidly into each of their heads, neither creature having any time to respond.

" ... Me! Dammit, you interrupted my tough guy line, you bunch of rock ******** stupid quadrupeds!" He snapped at the two corpses, kicking the nearest one with his boot. He sighed before navigating the field as the remaining soldiers picked through the wounded and mourned for the dead. He grabbed the arm of a nearby grunt, the man paled at the sight of him.

"Where's Valeria?"

The man shrugged. Zeren turned to eye the carnage, shocked to have seen it go to s**t so quickly. He was used to small bands of thieves looking to steal his wares. This was new territory. He begun his search, stopping every so often to assist someone.  

[Heavenly Kitten]

After things had finally calmed down, the few remaining soldiers counted a mere sixteen plus Zeren and Valeria. As things calmed and soldiers waded through the bodies of wolf and friend alike, a medic, one of the remaining sixteen, crawled out from under Zeren's coach. A human girl, about 20 years old. She had been a servant at the castle, under queen Ismaire, though not held in terribly high regard. Her skill was satisfactory, but they were not particularly useful to the generally well-guarded queen who could heal her own injuries on top of it all.

She had been hiding from the time of the first attack under that coach and had only waited till things sounded less chaotic. Once it seemed all was well, she had crawled from under it and rose to her feet, dusting off her decorative top and skirt. It was fancy, but looked oddly suiting of their little caravan. She reached under the coach and grabbed her medical satchel from beneath it, brushing it off as well. It contained supplies needed for tending the wounded. She looked around at the gory sight. All the mangled, torn, and dead bodies. A frown caught her lips, trying to see if anybody could yet be saved. After a sweeping gaze, she sighed. The wounded were too far gone and the dead could not be saved. However, as her gaze caught their Field Commander, Valeria, she gasped. She could see a bit of moving, she was still alive!

The girl dashed over to the fallen Lamia warrior and she immediately went to her knees, skidding right next to her. She looked terrible, bad gashes across her right side and her left arm looked like there was something quite wrong as well, probably broken from the looks. Just another grim sight on the field of battle, but she looked over and saw the heavily damaged corpse of the alpha with a bit of surprise. There were no other warriors around. Did Valeria truly take out the large creature on her own? She looked back to the wounded commander. It made sense. It's not as though she didn't have more than enough sign of it, but she could yet be saved, and that was the important thing.

The medic quickly got to wrapping and making a composite brace. She would be able to move the arm, but it would not be very weight-bearing. The human girl doubted the woman would even be able to carry her own shield for a time. At least until it healed, which would be a good week at best. Even then, she would need to be careful for a bit. Perhaps when they returned home, a bit of magic could take care of speeding the healing, but this girl was no healer, relying solely on her exceptional nursing and doctoring skills, which she had garnished and honed over the past 4 years. Hence her ability to craft such a complex brace in such a short time and with so few materials.

She then tended the wound in the woman's side. It was already beginning to coagulate, which was no good because of the risk of infection from it being untended so long. She offered the unconscious Lamia words of apology at what she had to do before giving a gentle slice to each healing wound with a small, surgical knife. The Lamia stirred, groaning and wincing, but not reviving. The human was quick to grab a canteen of alcohol which she kept for this purpose, pouring it out over the wound. This caused the Lamia to cry out in pain at the burning, but she still did not fully wake, likely too much blood loss. She then scrubbed it with a rag until she was satisfied with the clean and quickly bandaged it. with more supplies from her satchel. Now that the injuries on their commander were tended, she made her way around the battle, aiding those yet alive with as much finesse as she could manage, leaving the Lamia to rest for now with her head on an offered blanket from the medic. She would come back to her, if nobody else did, once she had finished with the wounds of the others. For now, the woman needed her rest.  

[Zeren the Morph]

"Is she okay?"

The incubus caught sight of the woman and Valeria, blazing a path through the chaotic field and silently arriving at the woman's side. He eyed the lamia's wounds, fraught with concern. It'd be a terrible thing for the Valeria to die. They're in the middle of nowhere, a bad place to be without someone to take lead. He changed his gaze to the massive wolf nearby. Two bloody lacerations on it's neck, the tissue around it in advanced stages of necrosis.

Lamias have venom?