09-11-06

Characters involved: Darklett & Keita.

Western Shore

All Darklett is trying to do is talk his way out of a fight. That's all. Three rather large sea rats seem to have blocked the Major's path home this morning, and have all drawn their crude, jagged scimitars, their points trained on him. "Look, I'm not really in the mood to fight. I was having an incredible last few days, and really, I think if I had to trade metal with you three, it'd probably ruin it." Darklett doesn't have any weapons out at the moment, holding his empty paws up. "Really, just step aside. I don't even have any valuables on me."

"Exceptin' yer knives!"

"Oh, alright, so I do have those."

If there's one thing that really steams Keita's cooker, it's rats making a bad name for themselves. I mean, honestly. Sea rats. How stereotypical can you get? Think of your brothers, rats! Become clown rats, instead. Keita slows as she nears the small foursome, her eyebrows going up. How curious. "... 'Ey, who called fer a beach party 'n' didn't invite me?"

Darklett's head tilts up as suddenly, there's a Keita involved in the situation. He doesn't look away from the rats, taking a few steps backward as they walk towards him, but they are distracted by the doe, too. "Keita, how great of you to stop in. Uh, you can probably just walk /around/ us..." However, the searats are showing an interest in /her,/ as well. Haha, way to go.

... Huh. Keita quirks an eyebrow, eyeing Darklett rather curiously. "... So, wait. What? I'm /not/ invited, then? Fine. I see how it is. No more free drinks fer /you/..." Tsk. She shakes her head, giving the sea rats a look of exasperation. "C'n you believe this guy?" Tch.

One of those sea rats breaks away from the trio and starts to walk towards Keita. "Arright, now, missy, gimme all yer possessions, quicklike." Meanwhile, the two sea rats harrassing Darklett actually attack him, and he jumps backward, unsheathing his melee daggers and engaging them. Oooh, that's not good. Darklett was expecting to take care of these two real quick, but he seems to be having a little more trouble than he thought he'd have, as they keep him on the defensive, backing him up continuously down the slippery slope of the sand dune.

Come on..." Clink, clinkclank! "Couldn't you just..."

Clackclingclangggg! "Let me go?""

"Fat chance, longears...""

Keita's eyebrows shoot up as the rat comes toward her, though her attention strays to the two now attacking Darklett. Oh, bother. She returns her attention to her own personal ratty rat, for the time-being. Her arms are spread open wide. "Well. I haven't really /got/ any possessions, ya see, 'less ya want m'peg leg. Those always come in handy, doncha know? 'Cause ya evah lose yer own, y'know, ya've got a handy replacement." She flashes a quick grin, and a shrug. "Othah than that, I've got m'drinkin' flask, but m'afraid it's empty." She hms, considering the sky thoughtfully for a moment. "/Could/ head back t' Halyard t' fill it up for ya, buuuut. That's a rathah long walk, innit?"

The single rat looks a little thrown when Keita says she's got no possessions. "Well... 'ow about you come wit me, then?" And he steps forward her, real close, that blade still looking threatening. And whoa, Darklett's been chased all the way down the dune, stepping backwards and... Really, only not falling because that's what makes him a good fighter. Once he reaches the bottom, though, he looks a bit more comfortable, and parries and dodges the strikes easily. Keita's rat's breath smells, and the way he's advancing, she may be able to tell.

Hum. That blade does /not/ look very cheerful. Certainly not going to win any awards for beauty, no sir. Nor is its owner. She eyes the advancing rat with a slight furrow of her brow, first her head and then her whole body moving back. Nose wrinkle. There's that bad breath kickin' in. "... Waaaaait a minute. Noooo nonono. How 'bout /you/ come with /me/? I've schedule m'self fer a bartendin' shift at the tavern 'n' I need some customahs t' keep me company. First drink's free. What d'ya say?" She flashes a rather winning grin, which quickly puffs out when she realizes she's got to breathe again. Blech. She waves a paw before her snout. "... Mayhaps we'll get ya some mint tea, too. Heh."

Try not to blink. One second Darklett was on the retreat with the sea rats after him, and the next he's behind the two rats, with the vermin on knees and one paw, their other paws both clutching at their respective stomachs, paws staining red and dripping blood. In near unison, they collapse to the ground. Without much of a hesitation, Darklett races back up the dune, 'cause Keita's not in sight.

Speaking of her, that rat makes a pretty daring move. He thrusts his scimitar forward, but not to kill her, just to put her on guard while he rushes behind her and tries to hold her with blade to throat.

It's times like this that make having only the one leg rather inconvenient. Keita's maneuverability is rather less than would be desired, especially in the sand, and so with wide eyes she steps and them stumbles back, only to find herself... well, sort of caught by the rat. How considerate of him. 'Cept for the blade at her throat, natch. She grits her teeth, tilting her head back as seems natural to do in this sort of situation. It's the 'afraid to swallow' reaction. But /nothing/ could make her too afraid to talk. I mean, come on, this /is/ Keita we're talking about. "... Are you /kiddin'/ me?"

Darklett crests the dune, and slows to a halt upon seeing a blade to the doe's throat. "...Hey." He puts away his daggers. "She doesn't have anything of worth on her. Leeeeet her go."

The rat doesn't look so quick to do that, though. The blade stays. "Get back! You do, longears... Gimme yer knives."

Humph. This is so embarrassing. Keita rolls her eyes skyward, giving a minute shake of her head. So not so much a real shake of her head, because that would require moving her neck. Huh. "... Since when're sea rats short on weapons, exactly? 'Cause... from where I'm standin', you've got /more'n/ enough. Too many. In fact, mayhaps you oughta just hand me that there blade, eh?" And she starts to half-heartedly raise her paw, like he'll actually give it to her. Yeeeah.

Well, Keita, you are not good at being held like this. When the paw goes up, the rat takes it as an aggressive sign, and pushes the blade a little bit inward against her throat. Hey. I'm in control here, Keita. "Keep yer trap shut, girly..."

Darklett raises both his paws as if he's trying to keep Keita from doing just that. "Kei... Hold on, alright? Don't do anything stupid. Okay, now, I'm gonna take off my belt," he warns the rat, his paws going downward as he keeps his distance.

... Urk. Keita feels the blade slice into the top couple of layers of skin - feels a few drops of blood well up. It's finally enough. Her eyes shift to Darklett, focusing in on the other buck for the first time since all of this started. Slowly, very slowly, she lowers her paw back to where it was.

"Alright..." The buck's paw is now holding up the belt, offering it out. The rat holds the blade to Keita's throat with one paw while the other reaches out for the belt.

"Ye made a good decision, rabbit. Hrrlk!" A quick twist of the paw drops the belt full of knives and sends a quick jab right to the throat of the rat, stunning him and making him back off the doe. But he's still got his scimitar in his paw, and goes to swing at Keita! At the moment, Darklett looks to be doing something about it. But he hasn't yet.

... Well. That leaves a freed Keita serving as the filling in this little oreo sandwich of doom. Bother. It takes her a good couple of seconds to react to being free, and when she does her first impulse is to catch at her throat, pulling her paw away to examine the blood. S'not really so bad, honestly. Whew. But... hey. There's a grunt, or some sound, or /something/, that signals to Keita that something's going down in the Land of Behind. She looks around just in time to see the blade swinging at her and, with a surprised curse, ducks forward and toward Darklett. Not quick enough, K. A shallow slice manifests itself, and there goes another perfectly good shirt. She hisses in surprise, stumbling to a knee in front of the other buck more from momentum than anything.

The swing from the rat clips Keita! Darklett doesn't waste time, ducking, grabbing a knife from his belt and throwing it up. The vermin now has a knife in the center of his chest. And this time, he /does/ drop the sword, and falls backwards, dead. He stays on his knee, watching the rat tumble down, making sure of his kill before turning his attention to... "Kei!"

So they're kneeling face to face. Well, Dark's face to Keita's lowered head, anyway. It's a shallow cut but /man/ it's like a giant paper cut and it's across her whole back and oh it hurts and owowowow... It's a delayed reaction. She sucks in a breath and lets it out in another slow hiss between gritted teeth. "... Well. There go three perfectly good customahs." Heh. Eh heeeeh. She glances up at him then looks away, smirking rather humorlessly. "Gimme a paw up?" She reaches out.

"I'm sorry, I should have just handed over the knives... I'm sorry." Gawwwwh. Darklett gets off his knees and almost tugs Keita up. Though he looks around her and at her back. "Sorry... That was /stupid!/" He curses himself, shaking his head and muttering. "How does it feel, are you alright?!"

Erk. Keita didn't expect a /tug/. She grunts in surprise, eyeing Darklett in a rather unfriendly manner when she's set to rights. Just for the tug, not the rest. She merely shakes her head to the rest, reaching a minutely shaking paw around to touch tentatively at her back. It comes away with blood on it. She looks away, making a face. "... M' /fine/. If ya'd just handed 'em ovah, they prob'ly would've gutted me anyway." Then, quieter, "You know that." She squints and starts to turn away. Gritted teeth, that's the ticket. "Mountain's closah. C'mon."

Darklett kneels down and picks up the belt, walking over to the rat and yanking the knife free, wiping it off on his pants and placing it in its spot. Then he turns with Keita, walking with her with an exasperated sigh. "Following me home, anyway, eh?" He looks over to the doe, nervous smile followed by a nervous laugh as the tension of the moment fades away.

"Looks like yer the one followin'," she observes with a sideways glance. Yowch, this all stings. Her ears twitch back. "Guess bein' a smart mouth doesn't work s'well when ya can't run away, eh?" She hehs, shakes her head and then... smirks. It's like the grieving process in fast-forward. And it ends where everything with Keita ends. "Well. 'Least Mel'll have a reason t' nurse me back t' health, now." Ha. Haaaa.

Snort. "Ah. So she's like /that,/ is she?" Crazy. The snort, in retrospect, could have been a shocked surprise or an amused one. Either way, Dark's expression's the same. Brow raised, and only a hint of a smirk. If she looks quickly, she'll catch it spreading into something a little wider and more playful.

Dark gets another sidelong glance, and this time the smirk is /very/ amused. "Like /what/? Carin'? Supportive? Great bedside mannah?" Oh ha. Haha. The smirk twitches into a grin, and she looks away with a shake of her head, considering the shoreline. "Let's just say... we share similah interests. Yeah?"

"Understood, heh. Loud and clear." Darklett grins, looking at her back for a second glance over the wound. "We should head a little quicker, if you can," the conversation neatly cut short at the introduction of THE ALTERNATE INTEREST, because that's what Mel is, of course. Why's she gotta be so nice. And a Long Patroller, too?

That buck's getting a /lot/ of looks from Keita. This is of the displeased variety. She snorts. "... You c'n eithah carry me or grow me a new leg, but this is just about top speed fer me in the sand." Each step is like a little lesson in why it's good to have a larger surface to distribute the weight across, instead of a little peg leg which sinks in just a little bit too far each time. She rubs absently at her neck as they continue along. A few seconds pass when, "... Anyway. Mel's practically just a friend. M'not lookin' t' get invested in anythin', again. I've had m'fill of 'commitment'."

Darklett turns his head to Keita questioningly. "Really? She seems pretty fond of you, that's for sure." Shrug. "Well, we only met briefly, but that's the impression I got." And onward they walk towards the mountain. Even an attack from rats can't draw Dark's attention away. And he seems to know he needs to STOP, 'cause he grimaces and just... Walks.