RP:A Dangerous Grin

Part of the Repairing the Irreparable Arc

Events Preceding: Kang returns from Xalious and finds his ward maimed and dying. The creature he'd left in her care had escaped, a path of periodic destruction left in its wake. He immediately arranges for the second-best Goblin tinker to care for her. He would have sent her to a healer, but he needed to conserve time and resources. The crafty preklek also needed a reason to contact the Goblins. Once the vital tasks are set into motion, he contacts a lycanthrope to aid in the neutralization of a threat that much of Lithrydel isn't prepared for: the foul beast that had done so much damage to Kang's cause.

Tracking a Foul Beast

Kang treks deep into the Dark Forest, doing his utmost to follow the trail of destruction. Then again, being so close to a city of undead makes discerning destruction from natural decay difficult. The ever-wary preklek had enlisted the help of one lycanthropic being, assuming that wolf-senses would be better at tracking than Preklek intelligence. Training can only do so much, and when that training is focused on military strategy and tactics, side-skills get left by the wayside. He brushes aside some dank black brush and listens carefully. Off in the distance he hears a very familiar howl, almost a whistle, or triumph. They were closing in on the beast.

Desparrow was following along in a hybrid humanoid lupine form with light-medium armor built to fit the body. Magic surged through his limbs, through his blood it circulated through the body giving him a source to project it in any manner he found necessary. On all fours he stood by Kang's side, the curse on his chest in the form of a blood crescent moon gave him the ability to speak in a common language should it be necessary. "So..." his voice low, rough like gravel, "That way?" His eyes had altered now, his left one giving him a sort of magical sight allowing him to see the weave of reality when it was entirely necessary, and the threads of magic when being used. Des was entirely on wait for Kang's command, for he knew nothing of the hunt.

Kang nods slowly, not raising his voice above a low murmur. "Yes, I believe so. She's not native to these parts, so she should stand out." He brushes his hand over a heavily dented section of mithril armor on his left side, courtesy of the beast. "Careful, she's fearless, and has probably killed by now. She's relentless in her stalking, never stopping until her very last reserves are exhausted. I need to contain her before someone traces her antics back to me." He follows the sound of howling roars, screeches of pain, and loud hissing. The Grin had found something that matched her ferocity, or big enough that it just now noticed her mindless malice.

Desparrow wasn't necessarily a good guy, and just last night he tried to murder someone in Frostmaw so the fact the target was dangerous and perhaps villainous did little to concern him. "Interesting." He pointed his snout in the direction, ears turning to further catch noise should it be necessary. His senses tuned to the specific scents and sounds their target created and was comprised of. Other unrelated ones that would be deemed unimportant were tuned out. "Let's go after it then." he growled, ready to move forward.

Kang said, "Very well." He marches carefully through the brush, careful not to make any noise in his passing. He can't however hold back a few inappropriate comments about not being prepared for this. The preklek's wariness is unfounded. When they reach the clearing where the battle was taking place, it becomes quite clear that none of the combatants can hear them over the cacophony of blows, roars, and animalistic screams of pain. An enormous oily ebon hydra, standing twenty feet tall screeches from it's twelve remaining heads as two grow from each of four severed stumps. Opposite this daunting beast, seemingly nothing, but when one focuses on that nothing an image appears, a disruption in the pattern. "Oh--" Kang shouts exactly what one would think, but in Chthonic, to spare bleeding ears. "We have a swamp cat, looks to be a thunderback."

Desparrow doesn't know which one they are hunting. The cat? He didn't care as magic flourished, pumping out of his pores to surround his body in an ethereal mist. "Which one!?" The hydra would be a bit tough to take down he figured, but certainly not impossible, and together it should be even easier. Perhaps even some interesting magical things could be harvested from its corpse. Regardless his eye was caught on that image, using his magic sight to hopefully bring some more clarity to the creature. All the same it was a waiting game; Des wouldn't move in on either creature until Kang gave an order, or made his own attack. "You go, I'll be your support. Or.. could always just leapfrog off my attack since you probably know where to strike when it comes down to it."

Kang winces as he realizes he has to deliver the bad news. "Neither of them are the target. I don't see her, but I know I heard her." Despite not seeing their target his presence had not gone unnoticed, the swamp cat lunges at him. Kang only notices because of vague disruptions in the air currents, which of course he'd been monitoring once he'd realized there was a giant invisible tiger in the area. He taps a quick tempo on his walking stick and it shifts into an urumi. "Seems we have to side-step our main objective for a moment." He leaps into the fray, practically dancing with the swirling segmented blade circling around him dangerously, keeping the feline at bay for now. It growls low in it's throat and makes a few swats in his direction, but can't get through the flurry of steel. The hydra arcs several heads over at the preklek, who neatly dodges them. He knows that severing them is a bad idea.

Desparrow didn't know how to exactly kill a hydra. The cat also was a question. Regardless it would be necessary to try. Switching to a bipedal stance the lycanthrope moved to amongst cover, figuring the preklek could keep their opponents occupied while remaining safe. Channeling a spell he quickly rushed the cat, flanking it and going for a grapple with its side. Claws would dig in and he'd go for a bit around the creature's neck. Sure it would fight but with a grasp on its spine perhaps it would calm down and any injuries sustained in the process of overcoming the monster would be taken in striked, grip never wavering.

Kang turns his whole focus on the hydra, now that the wolfman had taken on the invisible tiger. Must be instinctive, cats and dogs. Now that the preklek can spend all his attention on the hydra he sees why it didn't attack with all twenty heads, or at least the twelve it had before they arrived. The reptile was severely injured, and had a giant gouge out of it's side. Three heads were biting at it, and Kang had a bad feeling. He shifted his blade into a bowstaff and braced himself. Seventeen heads arced at him, since he was the easiest target. He bopped them neatly, knocking one or two unconscious, dodging most. One managed to latch onto him, but his armor was heavily reinforced. This hydra might be a bad-ass, but almost nothing can penetrate Kang's armor. He whistled a faint ditty that he'd learned during a brief stint in Dagoba. His bowstaff quickly shrank into nothing more than a hilt. Several moments pass with nothing happening except a hydra trying to swallow him with more than one mouth and Kang swearing quite fluently in Chthonic. "By the power of George Lucas, I summon thee!!" He screams out into the night, the little spark that normally hovers nearby races into the clearing and pops into the hilt. A bright red laser-blade comes forth, and Kang begins chopping the heads holding him, sautering the necks as the blade passes. His moves are all defensive for now, but he's waiting for the inevitable other shoe to drop.

Desparrow didn't know what kind of sorcery that the Preklek was up to. All the same the lycanthrope wrestled with the cat, managing a grip on the neck of the beast even as its claws dug and gouged out his leg. Pain ripped into his lower body while blood poured from the new wounds. It was several seconds until it began to knit itself back together, though with a burst of adrenaline he managed to launch the cat into the air and then with a swipe of his claws open up a wound in its side. "Die you beast!" as it landed, spitting and snarling with fury Des launched a bolt of lightning from his mouth. It would strike it target with surprise, and as it remained paralyzed and writhing with pain he would launched once more to grab at its spine with his teeth for a kill bite. Regardless of the fact that his own spell would work against him in the form of mild shocking throughout his body he had every intention of slaying this beast.

Kang barely notices the passing of the thunderback swamp cat, his focus on the quickly failing hydra. Large though it may be, the damage it had sustained was grievous. Kang watched for the signs. A misstep here, and the preklek hamstrings the opposite good leg. One head looks weak, he severs and cauterizes a strong one. On and on this process goes, until the one moment he'd been waiting for. The central head eyes Kang blearily, blood trickling from the corner of it's mouth. It begins coughing, as if it's about to cough up a furball. Ironically enough, that might be accurate. Kang leaps high into the air to cleave the beast from the juncture of neck and body all the way to the ground, puncturing heart and lung on the way, ending the beast once and for all. He walks calmly away from the twitching corpse, waiting for the real fight to begin. The hydra's body stops moving and begins to cool. Kang continues to watch the head, the neck bulges and explodes, expelling a small blood-soaked furry creature with way too many teeth. The howl it emits is one that Kang is all to familiar with. They had finally found the infamous Glasgow Grin, in all her tiny ferocity. Small as she may be, her jaws had destroyed many suits of armor and weapons and even limbs. Now, she'd hunted and killed. Abandon all hope, ye who face this beast.

Desparrow ripped his jaw free from the body of the cat, completely unaware until his eyes had laid upon the corpse itself that Kang was doing more than fine on his own. That sword was considerably interesting and looked like a neat artifact to own. Oh well if Kang were to die sometime, if it wasn't an inherited weapon to someone else then Des himself would attempt to claim it. Of course none of this was voiced. His wounds had become little more than superficial at this point as the flesh mended itself. Supernatural regenerative powers were great for that. It was that howl and the appearance of a rather demonic looking monster that made him take a step back in preparation though, his face shifting just a bit in a dog-like grin, blood from the cat still moist on his lips. This was going to be fun. More magic channeled through his limbs and suddenly from his claws did ethereal extensions sprout; magically enhanced to be heavier than the lighter than air they were comprised of so that the swipes he would deliver couldn't be so easily deflected. As strong as steel and heavy like a hammer's bludgeoning force the new claws would be a devastating weapon on regular flesh regardless of hide thickness.

Kang taps the release mechanism on his staff and the spark ejects to hover nearby, awaiting orders which it may ignore entirely. Glasgow Grin eyes the spark, recognizing the one foe she could never conquer. The preklek trills a sharp whistle and the spark grows into a large tiger, identical in form to the one Desparrow had just killed, but composed of flame rather than invisible flesh. The tiger stalks towards the Grin, fearlessly. She lunges at the tiger, but the flames have no substance when they don't wish to, and all the Grin receives is singed fur. Once, this would have cowed her, but no more. She lunges again and again, singeing herself quite often, but despite the odds, damaging the tiger. Kang darts in occasionally to thwack the beast. Despite bruises and burns, Glasgow Grin does not waver or slow. Her focus remains on the flamebeast, the one foe she sees as a true threat.

Desparrow didn't know what the tiger was. Perhaps it was Kang's other pet. That weird one he kept on a chain. Interesting. The lycanthrope again moved for a sneak attack, blending into the shadows with his black fur and circling to the creature's blind spot. He didn't know if it would work, or how this creature truly was but if it could be captured, enslaved, or if harvested in its death then perhaps something could be gleaned from this experience. Dragging his extended claws on the ground as he advanced they dug small trenches in the soil, until he lunged forward with a howl. One swipe followed another towards the side of the creature, backing away immediately after each blow regardless of he hit just in case any retaliation came from the beast. At the same time he minded the distance he held against the flaming one, so as to hopefully not accrue its attention.

Kang is content to leave the actual fighting to the tiger and Desparrow. Glasgow Grin snarls at the wolfman's attacks, but cannot seem to break her fixation with the tiger. She lunges at the flames again, only to get thwacked by Kang and his staff that is once again, just a staff. The tiger doesn't even attack, just taunting the little beast with a virtually unkillable foe. The damage she'd done was surprising, but as a creature of chaos, the tiger was used to the rules changing.

Desparrow didn't mind if Kang didn't join in. Not that he cared, in fact he didn't have a clue that was even the case. The lycanthrope was irritated his attacks seemed to have little effect. The ethereal claws on his right hand melded into a single blade, the size of a dagger with which he grasped and lunged at the beast, hoping to dig in the claws of his left hand and then impale the beast and disembowel it with the dagger. He was wary of any retaliation but at this point he only cared about the glory of triumph and the blood on his claws.

Kang calls the tiger back, and it shrinks back into a spark. The Grin finally takes notice of him and growls her recognition. Her ears tilt back and she limps forward dragging the lycanthrope by his ethereal claws. She'd been eaten by a hydra, and gnawed her way back out. Twice, if the gouge on the hydra's chest is any indication. The pain of Desparrow's claws barely registers. The weight however does, and she twists her head to bite a chunk out of him. Either he moves out of the way so she can charge the preklek, or she rips off a limb. Either way, less weight to carry. Seeing her momentary distraction, Kang darts up and muzzles the dangerous monster. "Bad girl," he says. "I told you -NOT- to bite your babysitter, but did you listen?" He begins roaring at the small creature, who hunches her shoulders and tries to claw the muzzle off. Kang bops her on the head again. "Not to mention all the worry I had about you running off. Something could have happened to you!!" Because all this blood and viscera is totally par for the course with a Not-Alpaca. She merely growls louder at Kang. He leans over and pinches her ear between his claws, causing the beast to yelp in pain. "Submit, foul beast. This is the consequence."

Desparrow saw the danger and didn't know what to do except make a retreat. That angered him the most but it was what it was. His claws withdrew from the beast and he tumbled to the ground. "Damn it!." he growled though as he watched Kang take over he figured this beast apparently was not meant to die. So this hunt was to simply subdue a beast that obviously was more than capable of holding its own. Where did it come from?! "Alright then.. So what is this?"

Kang finishes hog-tying the little critter. "Possibly my most expensive mistake. This is the cub of a deadly Frostmaw predator. I thought I could train it. So far. . ." The preklek gestures at the carnage surrounding them. "Well, you get the picture. I gave her over to a pet-sitter when I was hunting mutants in Xalious. I didn't want her contaminated and getting more deadly." He straps the angry and confused Not-Alpaca to his back and begins walking out of the clearing. "She ate her babysitter."

Desparrow was intrigued by the story. "I see.. Well. Good thing we were able to stem this little problem before it grew any larger. Hopefully you aren't too hurt out of this? My own wounds are nothing to be concernced with. I'll heal in good time. Fun hunt though." spoken as he began to revert into an elven appearance. "So.. what's your next step?"

Kang shrugs. "Usually she destroys my arms, my armor, or both. I suppose I could continue to attempt to train her, but she's a special case. Nothing works for very long. Only three modes with her: Kill, Eat, Sleep." Gigi yawns as if to illustrate the point. She'd already done the first two, and she was tired. "I still need to fix up the girl who reported the escape. Lost limbs, face torn, a whole lot of damage. Don't know why I keep her." He doesn't specify whether he means the girl or the creature that maimed the girl. Maybe he means either. Both are trouble no one needs.

Desparrow nods. "I see.. That is certainly a life you have. I apologize for whatever trouble your companions have caused and hope that it isn't too hard for you to fix it. Is there anything else I can do for you specifically? Not that I didn't enjoy this thoroughly. Its been a bit since I've hunted with someone else. Especially one that wasn't my kind."

Kang said, "Not unless you want to take a shot at training this monster? Clicker-training, she ate the clicker. Shock collar, she didn't even flinch. Whistles, she just got confused and bit everything."

Desparrow raised a brow. Hmm. "Why not? I can sure try. Should be entertaining."

Kang said, "Careful, she can gnaw through anything given time." He hold up his left arm to display the shredded mithril. "That muzzle and rope won't last five seconds when she wakes up. Stay vigilant."

Desparrow nods. "Interesting. Well I'll give it a try. I have a lot of chains at home for subduing the new lycans. An entire chamber is being built for their imprisonment. I will have to try it out."

Kang nods and departs. "If she escapes, send word. I'm willing to help. After all, she's kind of my fault. If she eats you, have someone else send word."

Desparrow would chuckle before departing for his own home. "I'll be sure to."