[Quest/Event] Training with Undead [Sasha]

Flying was by far the most exhilarating experience of Sasha’s young life. The wind whipping her hair into a blazing trail behind her, the air rushing past her head and the blood pounding in her ears drowning out everything Hilda said; the whole trip was a confusing mix of excitement and wonderment warring with the instinctual fear that Terran’s were never meant to be this high off the ground.

The Hippogriff’s wings beat rhythmically and each time those wide appendages flapped she rose and fell in the air steadily. The ground sailed along under them far below, the mountains grew closer with each passing second and while Sasha spent the entire trip with her arms tightly wrapped around Hilda’s torso and her face buried in the space between the woman’s armoured shoulders, her face was split in two by the largest smile the girl had ever worn.

She would never get used to this. She would never forget this. And she loved every second of it.

This alone could have been my prize and I wouldn’t be disappointed.

They reached the ground and Sasha followed Hilda’s lead in dismounting from their mount, sliding roughly to the ground with far less grace than the human representative. While Hilda spoke to her Hippogriff Sasha backed away from it on shaky legs, head still high in the clouds and grinning like a giddy idiot. She regained her composure slightly when the creature turned to face her, before it looked away from her and the cave dismissively.

When Hilda’s attention turned to her she sobered entirely, wiping the smile from her face and meeting the halberdier’s gaze evenly. This was, after all, one of the most important people on Terra; a powerful warrior and important politician who had taken the time out of her assuredly busy schedule to train a girl like her. She realised how big of a chance this was and she wasn’t going to mess it up.

Listening to Hilda speak it was not long before the grin was back in place, more confident than star struck this time. “No apologies necessary. This is important, and I learn better through action than lectures anyway.”

Seeing Hilda preparing to enter the cave Sasha checked her own equipment as well, thumping a gauntlet against her armour lightly before testing her weapons against each other, fists meeting before her with a resounding clash. “I’ve never battled a Phantasm before. It’ll be fun to see how tough they really are.”

Not bothering to mask her excitement Sasha too turned to face the cave. She breathed deeply and exhaled slowly before she walked forward, leading the way into the cave.

----

Tagged - Hilda Brandr

Sasha slowed as she entered the cave, enthusiasm giving way to caution as they left the relative safety of the outside world behind. She picked her way carefully over the stone floor, though the cave remained well lit even after they left daylight behind it still wouldn’t do for her to turn an ankle of some unseen rock because she was being careless. That would put a sudden end to her training not to mention be highly embarrassing to make such a mistake before the more seasoned warrior.

The torches were something of an interest to Sasha, she hadn’t expected Goblins to be smart enough to craft objects like that; but then again she usually heard Goblins described as wielding crudely made weapons and wearing armour of equal quality. Presumably they made these items themselves, she doubted a merchant would sell to them, so maybe she was doing the Phantasms a disservice by thinking of them as unintelligent.

They were able to descent quite far into the cave before they encountered their first opposition, a trio of animate skeletons and a single Goblin. Sasha saw them first, coming to a halt and allowing Hilda time to catch up. The Goblin, a small creature of unidentifiable gender and apparent ugliness, spoke to the skeletons in harsh, rasping, guttural sounds that Sasha couldn’t even begin to understand.

Apparently it was some form of command however because as one the animated dead charged her. They were unarmed, flashing sharpened finger bones dangerously, and couldn’t possibly bring much force to bear with no muscles powering their movements. Feeling the adrenaline beginning to stir in her blood Sasha moved to a ready stance as comfortably as breathing and prepared to meet them head-on.

Before she could be given a chance however Hilda inserted herself between her and them, diverting two of them and blocking the third entirely. Of the two one still managed to scrabble at her with claw-like bones but the weak action slid harmlessly off Sasha’s armour.

"Strike them when they're vulnerable, and be wary of the Goblin's poison!"

With a deft motion Hilda swept her halberd across the skeleton before her, disarming the skeleton in quite a more literal way than Sasha was used to, arms being struck to the ground with some force.

You didn’t get more vulnerable than that and Sasha got the impression that Hilda intended for her to fight the armless, harmless skeleton while she dealt with the rest. Looking past Hilda, looking past the other skeletons, Sasha saw the Goblin at the back of it all, still not taking any direct action in the fight.

Goblins, she was beginning to understand, were more intelligent than she gave them credit for, or at least smart enough to cause problems, and with their knowledge of poison craft and nasty habit of spreading what they made on their blades a hit at the wrong moment could cause a lot of trouble.

So, it was probably best that Sasha deal with that enemy as a priority over anything else. Besides, while she knew that this mission was important and was being done for the safety of the people these creatures might attack more than anything else, Sasha didn’t much feel like fighting an opponent who had already been neutered.

Charging forward under Hilda’s arm, surging past the skeletons before any of them could make a move to stop her, Sasha came to a sudden halt before the Goblin and prepared to strike. She slid to a stop, right arm already pulled back, and lashed out as soon as she had a solid stance to strike from, hips twisting and shoulder rotating with the blow. Seeming even shorter now that she was closer, Sasha needed to aim low to be able to hit the Goblin, arm lashing out in a simple, straight punch directed at the Phantasm’s eyes.

Sasha lunged forward, following her reeling, blinded opponent, and delivered a second punch. She made use of her height advantage to strike down at her opponent’s head, planning on overwhelming her opponent with attacks from multiple directions, further confusing and pressuring the Goblin until it was over.

----

Remaining HP: 50/50

Action 1: Used Obscuring Hand against Goblin – 25/30 HP blinded for 3 turns

Action 2: Used standard attack against Goblin – 20/30 HP blinded for 3 turns

Tagged - Hilda Brandr

As intended Sasha’s first strike had removed her opponent’s vision for the time being, freeing her to focus on her attacks without having to worry about retaliation. There was a moment’s hesitation on Sasha’s part when the Goblin drew its blade, even in the dim light of the cave she could see the sheen the coating of poison gave the metal, but once it became apparent the Phantasm couldn’t see Sasha to hit her any fear of the weapon or the toxins it carried faded entirely.

Nonetheless Sasha quickly sidestepped to the right before advancing on the Goblin a second time. Even with her opponent blinded there was a slim chance of a lucky hit, or of her opponent simply attacking where they last knew her to be if they were smart enough, so she would continue to move around and confuse her target until the fight was over.

Approaching now from the Goblin’s left side Sasha threw a straight punch with her right hand, leaning forward and aiming slightly low so that her metal gauntlet would catch the Phantasm along the jaw line. Stepping into this attack Sasha then followed with an uppercut from her left side, fist rising from a low position to catch her opponent under the chin and throw their head back with the force of the hit.

Chancing to take her attention away from the Goblin Sasha turned to see how Hilda war faring. Not out of concern for the more experienced warrior, Sasha had confidence she could more than handle a trio of skeletons, but to see how she fought.

How Sasha had not noticed the flames before was a mystery to her, perhaps she was more engrossed in her combat than she realised, but now that she had they were unmistakeable. They brightened the cave more than the torches did and even filled the air with a little heat. One skeleton was already charred to dust and the other two did not look far behind.

Sasha was surprised, she was not aware that Hilda possessed the gift of magic, but now that she looked closer she could see that the flames emanated from her weapon, not from her hands. An enchanted weapon then; Sasha imagined herself doing the same, fire bursting forth from her fists as she battled, and became slightly envious.

"How is it fighting a Phantasm for the first time, Sasha?"

The question shook her from her reverie and she looked from Hilda’s weapon to the woman herself, before looking back to her opponent. The Goblin still reeled from the last attack, its eyes were still unfocused and Sasha could see the way it was breathing heavier and nursing the pains of her previous strikes.

She meanwhile felt only the adrenaline coursing through her and the energy that gave her.

“To be honest it feels a little like bullying.” That was the honest truth. Sasha had been excited when she had heard about this mission, despite what the Representative might have thought when informing her that their traditional training was being cancelled. She had been itching for a fight as she entered this cave and so far she was a little disappointed. “Is it wrong to want a fairer fight?”

----

Remaining HP: 50/50

Action 1: Used standard attack against Goblin – 15/30 HP blinded for 2 turns

Action 2: Used standard attack against Goblin – 10/30 HP blinded for 2 turns

----

Tagged: Hilda Brandr

Sasha was a little surprised to hear how blunt Hilda’s response was, almost as if the older woman was annoyed at her answer. Pausing long enough to see where the Goblin’s next wild swing would strike, side-stepping slightly just for safe measure, Sasha turned to look over her shoulder at the other warrior to see what sort of expression she was wearing, only to notice the two skeleton’s now advancing on her.

Whether they were drawn to her because of something she had done, or if they were simply trying to get away from the intimidatingly strong knight, they were coming at her with their arms raised and sharp, bony fingers practically glinting with malice.

Letting out a sigh of frustration Sasha weighed up her options. She doubted her armour would be enough to stand up to an attack from the skeletons, weak though they were, so the prudent thing to do would be to block or dodge the attacks.

That would be simple enough if it weren’t for her ugly little friend; the Goblin appeared to be getting luckier with its swings but looking closer at its eyes she could see the dazing effect of her earlier attack seemed to be wearing off. If the pintsized Phantasm managed to get its act together she could end up with something worse than just a scratch.

Three-on-one was not easy to handle.

Considering the priorities in her head she made a conscious decision to turn her back on the Undead, positioning her back square to them to at least ensure her armour took the brunt of the attack. The skeletons reached her and she felt the weight of their attacks on her back, feeling the sharp bony protrusions of their fingers biting through the leather to graze her back.

Almost immediately after she heard the swish of steel through still air and the clatter of bones on the cave floor and didn’t need to look to confirm that Hilda had just taken care of the Undead.

Now a little more fired up from the burning points in her back Sasha charge forward and delivered a harsh straight punch at the Goblin’s head. Not giving the creature time to recover Sasha pivoted on her forward leg, spinning in place and whipping a hand around to strike at the Goblin with a spinning back fist.

Just in case that wasn’t enough to finish their little friend off Sasha jumped back, placing her further away from the Goblin and closer to Hilda.

“Ok, point taken. Little less fun when the odds aren’t in your favour.” Turning to glance at the other warrior Sasha flashed the knight a grin. “You don’t need to worry about me. I take fighting seriously; fair or not, I don’t hold back.”

----

Remaining HP: 44

Action 1: Standard attack on Goblin

Action 2: Standard attack on Goblin

Tagged: Hilda Brandr

Seeing the Goblin slump to the ground Sasha allowed herself to relax, dropping her guarded stance letting the tension flow out of her body. For the moment there were no sounds in their small section of the cave, not from her or Hilda and not from the remains of their opponents, allowing her to hear for the first time the sounds emanating from deeper underground.

Already she was starting to breathe a little heavily, her body coming down off of it adrenaline high in the wake of the fight. This let down brought pain with it, her back flaring around the points where the skeletons got her. She ignored it for the time being. She was not about to let a couple of little scratches get the better of her.

When Hilda spoke it drew Sasha’s attention to her in time to see her shift the halberd in her grip. Her experience with polearms in general was lacking but even a novice like her could see that it would not be easy to strike the way Hilda was holding her weapon, but it would be a simple matter to block an incoming attack.

Hilda had stepped forward to defend Sasha against those skeletons earlier, being able to halt all three at once before Sasha could even react. She wore heavy, plate armour and wielded a weapon inclined more towards slow but heavy strikes. These facts, along with what the halberdier was saying now was giving Sasha some insight into the way Hilda fought and approached fighting in general.

It was a style and mode of thinking that greatly contrasted Sasha’s own and while she knew the older woman was trying to teach her and was just looking out for her, it was a lesson Sasha didn’t want to learn.

“I understand what you are trying to say, but a strong offense can make for a pretty good defence as well. One that has never let me down.” Sasha faced Hilda and took a fighting stance, raising her hands up in front of her and making sure their eyes met. It was a gesture that could be construed as challenging, even threatening, if it weren’t for the natural grin on the girl’s face that helped defuse a lot of the tension.

“If you put pressure on an opponent you give them fewer chances to attack. Ending a fight quickly is the easiest way to make sure you don’t get hurt.” Letting her aggressive posture drop she shrugged expressively, her whole arms moving with the motion. “At least that’s how I was taught.”

Sasha followed when Hilda began moving deeper into the cave, staying behind her as requested. The sounds further in continued but Sasha wasn’t able to identify them. Were they expected? She couldn’t tell if the noises and occasional voices she heard were agitated or not, whether the fight had been heard and if there arrival further in was expected. Things could get dangerous if they were.

It was a little worrying, not knowing what they were going to be walking in to, but a little exhilarating at the same time. A journey in the unknown. A mysterious danger lurking in the dark. Perhaps that was romanticising the situation, but this was exactly the kind of things she had in mind when she left home for a life of an adventurer.

----

Tagged: Hilda Brandr

Sasha was surprised when the Goblins descended from the darkness above, closely followed by the rattling masses of skeleton’s, but once the shock had faded he was not at all surprised to find they had been ambushed. The way their weapons and claws slid harmlessly off her armour however, it did not appear as if Hilda was at all concerned with the ambush whether she was taken off guard by it or not.

She had to admit Hilda’s defence was impressive. She could even admit that if the ambush had targeted her instead of the knight she would have been in trouble. Even so Sasha still couldn’t imagine herself fighting while wearing as much plate mail as Hilda was; so much armour would only weigh her down and cause more harm than good.

Sasha needed to be quick and light on her feet to be able to hit as hard as she could and move as fast as she needed.

Catching Hilda’s words even over the sounds of combat, exclamations of disgruntled Goblins and incessant rattling of bones, Sasha returned the older woman’s smirk and watched as she nearly burnt everything around her to a crisp. The way they kept going back and forth with each other Sasha couldn’t tell if they were getting along or were seconds away from turning their weapons on each other.

Even from where she was standing Sasha could feel the heat of the flames prickling against her skin. The Goblins and skeletons had it much worse off and once the flames had died down it was clear none of them had much of a fight left in them. This fight wouldn’t be as long as the last had been, even with more than twice as many enemies before them. Sasha would not take it easy either, just because her opponents were weakened; she would show Hilda she could take this seriously and finish them off quickly.

Well, moderately serious anyway.

Sasha’s grin widened as she recalled Hilda’s challenge to ‘show her the offense she had trained’.

She charged the nearest group of opponents, the three skeletons which had appeared from the left hand tunnel, and stopped to stand almost in the centre of them, putting herself right in the middle of the fray. Sliding to a halt Sasha utilised the residual momentum of her charge to pivot on her forward leg and swing her back leg around in a powerful arc to kick the skeleton immediate in front of her. She raised her leg high enough for her foot to be able to make contact with the skeleton’s temple, her leg carrying enough force to continue on after the impact and complete its arc to the ground.

Having turned with the kick Sasha now stood with both feet on the ground and her back to the skeleton. Keeping the momentum going Sasha pushed off into another spin, this time lashing out with the arm which was inward to the spin and attacking her target with a backhanded punch to the side of the head.

Finally coming to a stop Sasha flashed a brief challenging look at Hilda, breathing rapidly from the energy she had just expended.

“It’s hard to show off against opponents so weak, but I’ll do my best to show you what I’m made of.”

----

Remaining HP: 44

Action 1: Standard attack on Skeleton A

Action 2: Standard attack on Skeleton A

Tagged: Hilda Brandr

Sasha’s display had earned her a little more attention than she had anticipated as all of the skeletons suddenly crowded in around her, making it harder for her to move in the already cramped conditions. Hilda managed to intercept one of the skeletons before it could reach Sasha and even deflected a second so as to make its attack useless, its sharp, bony fingertips scratching harmless across her armour.

Her grin returned slightly at this development but the warrior felt a flicker of doubt enter her mind as she realised the seriousness of her predicament; with this many opponents around her she was not going to get past them unscathed. While she knew she could get out of this situation one way or another she wondered at how much further they still had to go to find the source of all these Goblins and Skeletons and whether she would last long enough to reach it.

One thing she would not allow herself to do was get hurt before they reached the end of this cave. To fail before then and forcing Hilda to abandon her mission so that Sasha could safely return to the surface was something that her pride would not let happen.

Three Skeletons were certainly more manageable than five, but even so with so little room to manoeuvre Sasha wasn’t able to mount a proper defence. Three sets of claws cut her skin, armour or not, including one set which raked lines through the flesh of her arm, setting her nerves alight.

Letting out a growl of pain and frustration Sasha advanced on the Skeleton’s immediately in her path, determined to separate herself from the huddle of clanking bones even if she had to force her way through them. The close proximity prevented her from even building up for a proper punch and Sasha once again cursed the Skeletons and their lack of sense for personal space.

Instead she curled her arm inwards and lashed out with an elbow, the blow aimed for her opponent’s skeletal jaw. “Back.” Sasha then straightened the same arm, fist swinging wide to backhand the opposite cheek with as much force as she could muster. “Off.”

Dashing through the small opening her assault produced Sasha freed herself of the cluster of former Terrans and hopefully bought herself a little room to move for the rest of the fight.

----

Remaining HP: 35

Action 1: Standard attack on Skeleton D

Action 2: Standard attack on Skeleton D

Tagged: Hilda Brandr