"Crap!"

The serene silence of the Deku Woods was destroyed by the young Nomad's pounding feet and heavy breathing. He was late for something important once more. He sprinted to his destination, skillfully dodging trees and jumping over logs, even as sweat poured down his face into his eyes, blocking his vision. A simple hand could fix that, but not the sweat that got into his mouth, causing him to cough then stop momentarily only to start running once more.

He hated to run.

It's not like he wasn't used to it, no, the ambidextrous Nomad had been late for several things: contracts his group took, meetings he set up with possible apprentices, that sort of thing. In fact, today he was late for a meeting with a possible apprentice. This one was called "Akisu", and seemed to show promise. He was a Ranger. It wasn't unknown that Rangers and Nomad's differed only slightly, due to the fact that both clung to the wilderness, and each class was able to learn it's ropes. Rangers, however could disarm traps, but Nomads could find food or drinks to restore health or spell.

He still held knowledge over ranger skills, though, and would hopefully be able to help Akisu out some, but would probably stick mostly to battle training, since, in Hyrule, that's probably going to be the most necessary. Especially when South Hyrule Finally opens up.

"Almost there! By Din, he better not have beat me!" Nullus said to himself as he approached his destination--a circle of trees that almost formed an arena-- knowing Akisu was probably there.

OOC: This is a topic between me and Akisu only, so don't post if your not Akisu.

Akisu had been waiting for a couple of minutes and he had been tracking his new master for a minute or two. He put his on a green cloak the color of alge it wouldn't help him blend in but he might look cooler. Hoping Nullus wouldn't see him he scurried up a tree like a squirrel . He remebered what people thought about rangersure theirs that they dabbled in the black arts but in fact they where better than most would be in a lifetime even the humans. He saw Nullus and threw and pulled his dagger out of it's place in the sheild making sure his dagger wouldn't glint hoping he wouldn't be seen he lined up his target and threw it hoping it would land in front of Nullus and not hit him.

OOC sorry if you don't like it.

OOC: How did I know you would mention something from Ranger's Apprentice?

IC: Nullus finally stopped running as he reached his destination. He was happy now. He was happy every time he stopped doing something he didn't like, and running was up pretty high on that list. However, would be apprentices who thought they could sneak up behind Nullus were even higher.

Nullus reached down to his swords, removing them from the sheathes that held the twin blades. He held them with expertise, each hand moving with equal skill; he was ambidextrous, which proved unfortunate for several of his foes, and, quite likely, Akisu would fare less as well in battle to Nullus, who considered himself a man of many blades.

Along with many blades came many tricks up Nullus's sleeve.

He skillfully rotated himself around by his toes, and leaped to a low branch of the tree Akisu was on. Without using his hands or arms, he jumped up, branch by branch, until he was on the opposite side of the tree as Akisu was. Wrapping his left arm around the trunk of the tree for balance, he swung his right hand sword down on Akisu's hand in an attempt to disarm him [Disarm L3].

He succeeds in landing a hit, dealing 8 damage, and disarming the Ranger at the same time. Akisu would likely have a shock going up into his arms from the hit and might even be discouraged to see his dagger bouncing off of branches on it's descent to the ground.

Nullus grins slightly as he jumps back and away from Akisu onto another branch, crossing his swords into a more defensive stance as he awaits Akisu's retaliation.

OOC: Guess we might as well get started with the battle. Here are Nullus's stats:

Nullus-L10 Shiekan Nomad

Stats
STR 3
DEF 15
AGI 5
INT 1
SPI 1
HP 71
SPL 11

Skills-Shadowmeld, Disarm L3, Dual Wield L3, Calm beast L3, Track L3, Find Sustenence L3, Excepional Endurance L3, Exceptional Health L2

Items-Deku Sword x2, Leather Jerkin,

Also, since you're disarmed, you have to spend a round picking up the weapon before resuming any physical attacks. You could use magic, but can't use the weapon until the round after you retrieve the weapon. Ya pickin' up what I'm puttin' down?

Akisu:
HP-23

Nullus:
HP-71

Akisu did not expect a fight so he was taken completely by surprise when Nullus started an attack on him. He felt a shock go up his arms so he jumped around tell he hit the top of the tree and hoping that would give him time to check out injuries and access the current ground situation. He looked his right hand and saw that his thumb was shaped awkwardly back and the bone was protruding obviously it would be hard to fight now then he used his ranger vision to see the dagger on the ground. From their he jumped he felt the air whipping in his face his hood fell off and he landed on his feet and prepared himself for battle.

OOC: I'll assume you didn't get the dagger that round.

IC: Nullus eyed Akisu with a bit of intrigue as he climbed very quickly to the top of the tree. "Not bad!" he said, mostly to himself, since Akisu would probably not be able to hear it. The Nomad lowered his defenses as Akisu scanned the ground for his dagger, which he is quite successful in finding lodged in the ground, pointy end down.

Nullus carefully walked to the end of the branch he stood on and jumped down as Akisu fell. "Nice abilities," Nullus said as he descended with Akisu. "To be able to find your weapon from so far-- you hold quite a bit of promise!" Nullus continued, "but can you get your dagger before I finish you?!" the Shiekan finished, intentionally making himself sound creepy to throw the Human off.

It probably won't work, Nullus thought, he doesn't look like a ditz, but i could be wrong.

Nullus landed on the ground next to Akisu's dagger softly, bending his knees to avoid shock and knee problems. He stood up straight, holding his left sword out, pointing to Akisu. He gave the would be apprentice a chance to compose himself, but not enough time to grab his fallen weapon before he charged with both his swords, bringing them down toward the Ranger's collarbones [Dual wield L3], dealing a massive 18 damage before Akisu even had a chance to move.

Nullus move back to assess the damage. He now stood between Akisu and the dagger. "Are you going to take a chance?" Nullus asked. "Hopefully the pain's not to much to bear."

OOC:

Akisu
HP-5

Nullus
HP-71

Since Akisu knew he was going down anyway he decided he might as well take a chance. The problem was Akisu knew he probably couldn’t do much with his hurt collarbone. He did wonder one thing was this guy trying to sound creepy because of he was it was pitiful. Then flashback.

It took Akisu back to a meadow where him and his father would often train for hours and every time Akisu winced in pain his father would scold “Akisu you fool pain is nothing but imagination”

Back to the present Akisu decided it was now or never so he took a running start then jumped doing a twist in the air landed next to his dagger pulled it out of the ground brought his shield around and hoped he could block Nullus’s final blow.

Akisu definitely didn't take much time to regain his senses, and get over the pain as if it was simply an imagination. In a way of looking at it, that's what it was: direct contact is picked up by nerves that sent messages to your brain, and if one was able to block that out, they could get over pain, but one wouldn't be able to tell if they were exerting themselves too hard, so it worked as a good gauge in battle, otherwise it was an extremely effective nuisance.

Akisu had ignored it very well to be able to do such a good somersault, then grab the dagger and go into a battle stance so quickly.

Well, they do say ignorance is bliss.

"Very good. First test: pass," Nullus said, giving Akisu a nod of congratulations. "Now, to end this." Nullus tightened his grip on his swords and ran towards Akisu. As he got close, he jumped to his left side and Nullus brought his right sword to Akisu's back, landing the final blow likely knocking him down, but not knocking him out. No, he left Akisu conscious so he didn't have to wait for the Ranger to regain it.

Nullus sheathed his swords and walked over to the tree that the fight had begun at. "You would have done better if you hadn't have lost your weapon," he said, reaching out to the branches and grabbing a blue colored fruit about the size of his thumbnail. "Here," he said walking back over to Akisu and, bending down, held the fruit out to him. "Eat this. It'll heal all your wounds, and restore you to normal."

He waited for Akisu to accept and eat the fruit. "Now for your second test. There were a few moblins in this forest-- two to be exact-- that someone saw in this area. So, I want you to hone your Ranger skills, and use your track ability to find these beasts, then we can take them down.

OOC I think this is better.

Akisu took the blue fruit from Nullus’s hand and devoured it feeling the juices run down his throat he let out a sight disappointed in his performance he guessed it was well enough considering he passed but his father would be mad. Finally getting off the ground he realized he had to track some moblins and all he knew about them was that they looked liked pigs and probably didn’t smell any better and usually carried spears. So Akisu using his ranger eyes [Track L1] spotted them and said “follow me”.

As Akisu greedily ate the berry, Nullus walked back to the tree and picked five more, leaving several others on the branch after he finished examining them and passed them by in favor of others. His father had taught him everything about vegetation; mostly berries as they seemed to have more healthy effects than many fruits. Because of this, he owed quite a bit to his father, as the knowledge he learned had kept him alive in many near death experiences.

He hoped to not have any of those experiences fighting moblins, as they were easy foes for the skilled adventurer, but Nullus worried slightly about Akisu; moblins had an awful tendency to go after the one that seemed as if it would fall first. Nullus simply pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind and decided to move on. He probably wouldn't have to worry much about Akisu anyway, he seemed to be able to handle himself enough to be a good Ranger.

Nullus doesn't have to wait long for Akisu to begin proving himself, as he is able to find the tracks of the moblins with ease, and begins following them, beckoning Nullus to come along as well. Nullus yawned and began running quickly catching up to, then passing, the slower human.

He comes to an abrupt stop however, and motions for Akisu to stop as well and to be silent. He walked over to the cover of a tree, and stood behind it, poking his head out to see what was going on.

Not far off, the two moblins that Akisu and Nullus were tracking were walking single file until they reached a strange door. They each placed their spears into the two slots available, then pulled them out. The door opened and the moblins began to walk inside.

"Elemental Explosion-Light!"

"What?!" Nullus shouted in surprise, hearing the words of a rather familiar seeming mage. "Cover your eyes!" he shouted, putting his head down and throwing an arm over his face as a flash of bright light emerges from within the moblins, and erupts, creating a rather gory scene, and a bright light that lasted for several seconds that could damage one's eyesight for some time.

After he was sure the light was gone, Nullus looked back up to see a Sheikan in black silk robes standing over the bodies of the moblins. He had somewhat dark blue hair that formed a short ponytail in the back, and in the front, bangs that got close to covering his eyes.

"Come on," Nullus said to Akisu, walking over to the mage. "Fancy seein' you here," Nullus said to the mage.

The mage nodded to Nullus, and completely ignored Akisu. "The boss gave me and Montagna a mission to clear out the moblins here," he said. "He didn't mention you."

"I stumbled on those moblins with my apprentice," Nullus said. "We came to kill them as well."

"If you want to help, your welcome to," the mage said, retrieving the spears and shrinking them with magic so the would fit in the small satchel at his side. "Just don't expect any money in the end," He finished, walking through the door, not seeming to care whether Nullus and Akisu followed him through the long, dark, wide corridor.

Nullus watched as the mage seemed to disappear into the darkness. "Might as well," he said, leading the way for Akisu to follow, as he drew his weapons to prepare for any battles that might come.

OOC: Just as a note, when you perform a skill like track that requires an innate check, they don't automatically succeed; the GM determines their success.

Akisu was hoping to outrun his master but he passed him up like the wind and all Akisu had to say to that was “darn”. When he finally managed to catch up to his master he realized his master had known where the moblins were the entire time but he continued to survey the area until he heard Elemental Explosion-Light!


Akisu heard Nullus shout out “what” and “cover your eyes” which Akisu didn’t have to be told twice and closed his eyes and covered them waiting for it to be over. In what seemed an eternity Nullus eventually told him to “come on” Akisu stopped paying attention after Nullus started talking to a Sheikan mage in black silk clothing and dark blue hair. The only sentence he heard was “don’t expect to get paid” which was spoken from the Sheikan. This made Akisu wonder about his master a few seconds later Akisu learned he had been volunteered to go into a cave with everyone so like his master he drew his weapons taking his dagger from it’s spot in his shield and braced himself for the horrors which he might face in this cave.