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Edited by CommonBlueberry: 1/24/2022 10:05:49 PM
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The Land of Solitha Chapter 3: A Hunt Becomes a Brawl

Nona was unrolling his sleeping bag when he saw the blue fire, flaring in the distance. “Condi, did you see that?” he asked. “Yes…” he murmured, feeling the sway of grass underneath his rough, gnarled knuckles, “I believe my quarry draws near.” He straightened, looking out at where the blue fire came from. He left the half-finished campsite, setting off for his prey. “Whoa, wait a second! It’s getting late, shouldn’t we be looking out for Nightbeasts?” Reke called out. “Nonsense, this may be my best chance to catch him while I can. You can stay here or follow, as long as you stay out of the way.” Condi said over his shoulder. Nona and Reke looked at each other, then Reke grabbed his saddle and handed it to Nona. They had not come across any Nightbeasts so far in their journey, and it was true that Nightbeasts don’t tend to like open spaces. Still, there were rumors, among the few merchants and travelers they shared the road with that the beasties were learning where the roads were and focusing their hunt there. And distant calls at night, even from miles away, were a constant reminder of their presence. They did not want to be left alone, so Nona strapped on the saddle, gathered his bedroll and stuffed it roughly in the pack, fabric splaying out the top, and followed Condi into the plains. It was not long before Nona began huffing, following Condi’s jog towards the shadowy, lumpy silhouettes. Reke dug into his saddle, bouncing up and down against the human’s uneven gait. Slowly but surely, the figures were getting larger, but Nona focused only on taking one step after another and controlling his breath. Condi would have liked to hunt faster, but the human was dragging him down. He cursed softly as the Nightclouds overtook them, dousing the plains in darkness. He did not stop to let his eyes adjust, but solidified the memory of silhouette in his mind, heading towards its last known position. Finally, after running what felt like a mile or two or maybe even three, they reached Condi’s quarry. They stood in a circle of ashen grass, the pile of bavren cleared from the entrance to the arena. Small flickers of blue flame still glowed in the night, stuck to patches of grass or bavren fur. The bioshifter skidded to a stop, and immediately took a fighting stance, one gnarled fist covering his mouth and the other outstretched towards his opponent. His prey stood in the middle of the circle, draped in his cloak, his silvery claw glinting the blue flames. Nona arrived a second later, drenched in sweat. He had his hands on his knees, so Reke slithered down to Nona’s belt and pulled out his flask, thrusting it into the poor human’s hands. “Your reign of terror is over! Leave now or suffer the consequences!” Condi issued his dramatic warning, launching into a series of threats. The figure ignored him, looking curiously at the human. The voices were stirring: “It is human Empty Vulnerable Ripe for the taking…” The beetle-man was clearly the threat, but the voices, they wanted the human. Why? It was a weakling, drinking greedily from his flask. Did it matter why? The voices got what they wanted. They always got what they wanted. He rolled the word ‘human’ around in his mouth, muttering all throughout the bioshifter’s monologue. It tasted good, the word ‘human.’ He pointed his claw at Nona and said it clearly, interrupting Condi in his tracks. “Er, actually you’re here to fight the bioshifter, not the human. We’re just here to watch, sorry,” Reke said. The mysterious madman -blam!- his head, then his claw detached, segments tied together by a long silvery whip. He whipped it towards Nona, sending it flying towards the human’s head, but Condi moved into action, grabbing the whip and pulling it down. The madman stumbled, retracting his whip-claw through Condi’s hands. The bioshifter closed the distance, swinging his arm in a life-ending haymaker, but the madman ducked under it, sending an uppercut blazing with blue flame at Condi’s chin. The bioshifter dodged back just in time, a great blue fireball flying up into the sky. Reke tugged on Nona’s hair, urging the human to keep his distance. The madman fired bursts of flame at Condi’s feet, forcing the bioshifter back. “Nona, get behind me!” Condi yelled, and Nona aligned himself with Condi, looking back out at the plains, unsure whether to run. He stayed, but kept his distance, letting Condi bear the brunt of the roaring flames. When the fighters backed out of the arena, the madman sent another fiery ball at Condi, then immediately broke his claw into whip form and cast it towards Nona. This time, Condi was ready, dodging the fireball and wrapping the whip around his arm. The madman tried retracting his whip, but segments were caught in Condi’s gnarled hooks on his forearm. The bioshifter yanked his foe towards him, then slammed a fist into his face. The madman fell to a knee, blood gushing down his face. Condi approached the downed man carefully, keeping the whip wrapped in his iron grip. Then, the whip began to burn, blue energy coursing through the segments. His skin seared as Condi cried out in pain, jerking the whip out of his grip and on to the floor. He clutched his burnt arm jumped up, retracting his claw, and using his normal arm to punch Condi in the face. The bones in his fi-blam!- immediately snapped, while Condi’s armored face barely took a scratch. Condi kicked him away, holding his burnt arm close to his torso while the madman let his broken hand hang behind him. They traded one-armed blows, slashing, grappling, and pushing against each, desperately searching for any advantage. Nona couldn’t take his eyes off the fight, even with Reke yelling in his ear and tapping on his shoulder. Eventually, the lizlai yanked on the human’s hair, forcing him to look to the West. He couldn’t see well, but what he could see was not good. A very large, very angry, and very da-blam!- four-legged creature barreled towards them, roaring as it raced towards the combatants. Nona yelled, waved, did anything he could to get Condi’s attention. Finally, the bioshifter kicked the madman away, giving him a moment of breathing room to figure out what that useless human wanted. He whipped to the West, eyes widening at the when he saw the bloodthirsty Nightbeast charging at them. It would be on them any second now. A plan instantly formulated in his mind; risky, but there was no time for second thoughts. Condi did not press the advantage of his kick but let the madman stumble to his feet. His pale eyes flicked towards Condi, then at Nona, who was now some distance away from his attacker. Before the bioshifter moved, the madman detatched his claw, raised it above his head, then sent the whip hurtling towards Nona. Condi charged, lowering his right shoulder in the madman’s gut and wrapping his arm around the madman. The tackle ruined the whip’s trajectory, but the tip still caught Nona’s cheek slashing away the skin and leaving a bright red line on his face. Condi twisted and lifted, sweeping the madman off his feet and throwing him directly in the Nightbeast’s path. It leapt, arcing over Condi’s head and slamming into the madman in mid-air. Condi wasted no time. He blew into his carapace breastplate, building up pressure in his armor. With a hiss, Condi released the air through two sealable holes in his back, boosting him up in the air back towards Nona. His arms and legs flailed in the air, struggling for balance, but he hit the ground running, grabbing the idiot human as they fled the scene. They sprinted away, and Nona only looked back once, to see the monster on top the man, and plumes of blue fire arcing up into the night sky. Eventually, Condi slowed them to a stop, with the panicked panting of the three of them the only sound for miles around. Nona collapsed on the ground and Condi clutched his wounded arm, looking back in the direction of the fight, while adrenaline slowly faded from their veins. Nona took a swing from his flask then offered some to Reke, who crawled inside the lip and lapped up some water. The lizlai crawled out then chuckled with relief. “Two birds, one stone, eh Condi?” he laughed. “Didn’t see a body,” he responded, sipping from his flask without taking his eyes off the direction the ran from. “Oh, come on!” No-blam!-, “That guy totally got mauled by that Night monster thing! There’s no way he couldn’t survive that, could he?” “I’ve seen men come away alive from worse. And not everything that gets killed stays dead,” Condi said solemnly. The grins faded from Nona and Reke’s faces. “But, we survived, and that, at least, is worthy of celebration. So get some rest and we’ll plan ahead tomorrow.” … Next Chapter: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/260431863 Previous Chapter: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/260285089?sort=0&page=0

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  • A few lines could use some cleaning up—I lost track of what was happening at a few points. Fight scenes are hard, though, and I don’t actually have any advice because I’m not great at them either. I do think you probably should’ve combined this part with the previous one, too. While the fight was important, it didn’t actually add much story-wise. Very nice, though, very spooky! That was the first player-created character, right? I’m a bit impressed how naturally he’s weaved into the story. I don’t know if you were planning to have the poacher a “player” to begin with, but honestly having to improvise a bunch of new characters into a story sounds like a fun exercise. Makesme tempted to try it!

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