Post by Shard Prime on Feb 20, 2009 17:56:48 GMT -5
The tavern door opened. As soon as the rain-soaked giant that opened it stepped inside and into the light, he was met with a myriad of staring eyes. The beast was a huge mountain hare, dressed in dirty, black pants bound to his waist by a belt of chainlinks and leather, and thoroughly drenched by rain and half-coagulated blood. He was armed by a colossal bow, nearly as tall as himself. Shutting the door casually behind him, he continued in, ignoring the staring eyes and walking through the path that was made for him. With every step he took, a dull clank was made by the metal on the bottoms of his boots against the wood floor.
He was using his bow as a sort of walking stick. After a couple of steps into the place, he smoothly bent it against the ground and unhooked the thick string with his footpaw, converting it into a giant staff with a string fastened atop of it. He made his way through to an empty table, avoiding the curious eyes of anybeast, and chose a random stool at. As he sat a loud creak could have been heard, if the place were not so noisy. He was trying to completely ignore everybeast there, and hoping everybeast else would mind their own business... The day had been troublesome enough.
He slumped his head down a little, allowing his ears to droop and the huge staff to rest against his shoulder, and called to a bartender in a thick highland accent, "Barkeep, fetch me a tankard o' beer." The hare tossed the bartender a large silver coin from his pocket; he caught it and quickly went about his duty.
Just as he was handed his drink, his ears picked up a familiar voice from the other side of the tavern. It was difficult to hear exactly what was being said due to all the noise, but he was sure he knew who the voice belonged to. He slumped over further, closing his eyes and twitching his ears in concentration. Then he heard what he was waiting for.
"...Barely escaped...Giant with a bow...Ruined my raid...Killed Taiga..."
He only heard bits of the conversation, but it was more than enough. A little less than an hour ago, the giant was battling against a notoriously ruthless group of vermin led by one called "Bankan," a cunning, evil fox; he interrupted their raid on a defenseless camp of innocents. Enraged, he slew most of the vermin quickly, but one posed more of a challenge to him: Bankan's bodyguard, who was a vicious wolf as big as the hare was. The wolf's name was "Taiga." All that was left of him now was quickly drying on the hare's fur and clothing... This one was not merciful to his enemies, and took the phrase "an eye for an eye" quite literally.
The massive beast stood, forgetting his beverage completely, and headed to the source of the voice, not even attempting stealth in any way. The speaker was a fox, in his prime, conversing with a couple of old ferrets who would nod occasionally at his explanations. He stopped in mid-sentence, turning to see what the source of a loud stepping sound was. His eyes widened, his jaw dropped, and his face went pale as he saw the monolithic beast, whom he recognized immediately as the one he fled from not long ago. He dropped both the tankard of ale in his paw and his conversation and bolted through the tavern and out the door, closely followed by the mountain hare, who left a path behind him, as he actually ran through a table.
The second they were both outside, the hare caught his prey and slammed the tavern door behind him, throwing the fox against the outside wall and pinning him there with a huge paw to his neck. The suffocating fox uttered his last word, "...Mercy!"
The big mountain hare twisted his paw, causing his victim to turn his head to one side, and whispered into his ear as he increased the pressure of the stranglehold, "Nobeast escapes Nido."
Simple. And true, thus far. Nido carelessly tossed the lifeless body of Bankan into a large bin for disposing of waste, and reentered the tavern, taking the same seat as before. He was met with even more stares this time, many tinged with fear and wondering what just took place. The place was no quieter than before, however, and he was almost pleased to find that his drink had been untouched.
Nido sipped his beer and thought. He told himself it was justified; the punishment for one taking a life should be death... That's rather ironic, he thought.
His ice-blue eyes shed a single tear, unnoticeable due to the rainwater that soaked him, as they stared at their wavy reflection in the tankard.
He was using his bow as a sort of walking stick. After a couple of steps into the place, he smoothly bent it against the ground and unhooked the thick string with his footpaw, converting it into a giant staff with a string fastened atop of it. He made his way through to an empty table, avoiding the curious eyes of anybeast, and chose a random stool at. As he sat a loud creak could have been heard, if the place were not so noisy. He was trying to completely ignore everybeast there, and hoping everybeast else would mind their own business... The day had been troublesome enough.
He slumped his head down a little, allowing his ears to droop and the huge staff to rest against his shoulder, and called to a bartender in a thick highland accent, "Barkeep, fetch me a tankard o' beer." The hare tossed the bartender a large silver coin from his pocket; he caught it and quickly went about his duty.
Just as he was handed his drink, his ears picked up a familiar voice from the other side of the tavern. It was difficult to hear exactly what was being said due to all the noise, but he was sure he knew who the voice belonged to. He slumped over further, closing his eyes and twitching his ears in concentration. Then he heard what he was waiting for.
"...Barely escaped...Giant with a bow...Ruined my raid...Killed Taiga..."
He only heard bits of the conversation, but it was more than enough. A little less than an hour ago, the giant was battling against a notoriously ruthless group of vermin led by one called "Bankan," a cunning, evil fox; he interrupted their raid on a defenseless camp of innocents. Enraged, he slew most of the vermin quickly, but one posed more of a challenge to him: Bankan's bodyguard, who was a vicious wolf as big as the hare was. The wolf's name was "Taiga." All that was left of him now was quickly drying on the hare's fur and clothing... This one was not merciful to his enemies, and took the phrase "an eye for an eye" quite literally.
The massive beast stood, forgetting his beverage completely, and headed to the source of the voice, not even attempting stealth in any way. The speaker was a fox, in his prime, conversing with a couple of old ferrets who would nod occasionally at his explanations. He stopped in mid-sentence, turning to see what the source of a loud stepping sound was. His eyes widened, his jaw dropped, and his face went pale as he saw the monolithic beast, whom he recognized immediately as the one he fled from not long ago. He dropped both the tankard of ale in his paw and his conversation and bolted through the tavern and out the door, closely followed by the mountain hare, who left a path behind him, as he actually ran through a table.
The second they were both outside, the hare caught his prey and slammed the tavern door behind him, throwing the fox against the outside wall and pinning him there with a huge paw to his neck. The suffocating fox uttered his last word, "...Mercy!"
The big mountain hare twisted his paw, causing his victim to turn his head to one side, and whispered into his ear as he increased the pressure of the stranglehold, "Nobeast escapes Nido."
Simple. And true, thus far. Nido carelessly tossed the lifeless body of Bankan into a large bin for disposing of waste, and reentered the tavern, taking the same seat as before. He was met with even more stares this time, many tinged with fear and wondering what just took place. The place was no quieter than before, however, and he was almost pleased to find that his drink had been untouched.
Nido sipped his beer and thought. He told himself it was justified; the punishment for one taking a life should be death... That's rather ironic, he thought.
His ice-blue eyes shed a single tear, unnoticeable due to the rainwater that soaked him, as they stared at their wavy reflection in the tankard.
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