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almond

OOC: 7 Swordsmen of Celestial Mountain OOC


The sun's hot rays should've beat mercilessly upon the face of the earth. Yet on the slopes of Celestial Mountain, the constant fog kept the harshest of its rays at bay. Only muted light got through the thick fog and the harsh coldness of the mountain climate made the heat a very unwelcome visitor. Yet it was on this unforgiving mountain that a legend lived.

But this story is not about him, the forgotten legend of the Jade Empire. No, this story is of those who succeeded him in battling against tyranny and unjust. Yet not all heroes are good and righteous. There was never a moral requirement in the first place to become heroes. All you need is a situation to become one.

A lone ragged man draped in thick scraps of animal hide stumbled drunkenly upon the lower landings of Celestial Mountain. He was leaning heavily against a thick stout staff and his face hidden by the cowls of his hood.

Master Star Hammer Wu looked on at a distance from a higher altitude. He saw this ragged person struggling to fight the harsh winds of the element before it stumbled down, unmoving. Master Wu exhaled a thick, cloudy breath as he stood unmoving amidst the cold, holding his gnarly staff tightly in his bony fingers.

He knew his students were close by watching as well save one, his eldest. He had ordered that one to meditate in seclusion until he could find what he was looking for. Until he could fully utilize the gift that he had bestowed.

He still watched on as a pack of six white mountain wolves started to saunter onto the scene, circling the fallen man in a wide radius and closing in on him slowly while growling. Each of these wolves were as big as a pony and much more ferocious. Master Wu simply stood and stared. No one has been to the mountain for quite some time and he was curious as to why this man had braved everything to reach him.

And now his life was about to end... if he let it.

"Help him."

That was all that the old man said. He had no doubt that his students could hear him. Whether they would obey or not however, was not his concern.

Falcifer

Ox was the first to react to Wu's instruction. Not because he was ready to follow the old mans word unquestioningly, but because he had been restraining himself from moving to help the second he'd seen the man. His feet fell heavily against the cold stone steps, eyeing the wolves cautiously. Normally he'd go for the quiet approach, trying to tame the animals. But these beasts were hungry, and intended to kill no matter what.

He stood just outside the circle of wolves, not closing in on the traveller, and closed his eyes.. His feet planted solidly on the ground, twisting slightly as he lowered his massive frame slowly, maintaining complete balance and control. When finally satisfied with his position, he opened his eyes once more. Drawing in a deep breath, he exhaled in a loud, startling bark at the wolves, the sound echoing around the walls and into the sky.

The way Ox figured, this would have one of two effects. Either the wolves, startled by his massive body and shout, would run back to the mountains, and leave the man be, or they would attack him instead. Either way suited him. He moved his arm slowly and fluidly in front of him, his hand flat and pointed, and he waited. Waited for the wolves to fight or flee, waited for the other students to make their approach.

Candi

Xiao Mei was bubbling over with excitement when she saw the wolves approaching. It had been about an hour since she last practiced her arts and she was becoming restless, the promise of a fight filled her body with adrenaline and she was unable to stay still. Her feet were tapping the ground in rapid succession, and then the master gave the order, "Help him."

Ox was the first to approach, and Xiao Mei was hot on his heels. Moving with reckless abandon toward the encircling pack. The other student stopped just beyond the circle and slowly and patiently prepared himself for the upcoming battle. Xiao Mei wasn't so careful, they were just wolves and her wild desire to kick something had overcome her rationality (not that she made use of it when the opportunity presented itself).

The young warrior leaped into the air. She performed a front flip before vaulting off of Ox's large frame as he let out a loud bark - catching the wolves attention. One of them twisted its body to find the source of the noise while the others kept closing in for the kill. Xiao Mei's foot drove itself into the startled wolf's face, the force of the impact pushing the beast to the ground and shattering bone.

The encircling pack stopped it's approach on the poor traveler and turned its attention to the attacker. Xiao Mei was only still for a moment and she immediately dropped into a series of handsprings, carrying herself through the center of the circle and beyond the edge of the ring. The wolves were now surrounded, of course this was merely a side effect of her efforts and she had no intention of compromising their tactical position, but no one was complaining.

Deja Vu

Kah was not the first to respond to the order, most likely because it figured it not his busniess to intrude on travelers paths. But it didn't stop him from being curious as he hung upside down from a branch very near the pack of wolves and thier intended prey. When the order was given he simply released his legs from the branch and turned his weight into a half somersault, landing neatly next to wolf.

Kah's lithe frame had already bent and shifted as he planted both hands on the ground in front of his and handstanded, then pivoted his torso clockwise and his hips counter clockwise as he straightened a leg out into a devastating sweep of a kick which embedded his heel into the jaw of the startled beast. Continuing through the motion he used the momentum as he bent both legs to his chest and swung his body, still supported on his hands, around as he straightened one leg causing the sweep to take the heads off an unfortunate patch of flower. His feet once more touched the ground, this time 180 degrees from where they started, as Kah brought one hand up and pushed off with his newly gained leverage of the planted feet, to somersault backwards into a onehanded handstand complemented with a 90 degree twist of the hips before bringing his waist and legs back down to earth.


Having established his rhythm Kah began his stance of taking one step back, one step forward, trading off on the leading foot each time. He swung his arms and twisted his hips as his finger tips barley caressed the grass. He would wait for the other wolves to attack, mainly because the one he had attacked seemed to be out of commission unconscious. The other students would also join, hopefully.

Ratrilyn

Seated cross-legged beneath the spreading branches of an ancient tree, Du Wei Mao coaxed the snake forward with a simple tune of his dizi. The creature’s bright green coloring betrayed the deadly toxin held within its fangs. Snake and man faced each other, one hissing sibilantly while the other extracted a simple melody from the bamboo flute. The hand not holding the pipe reached out and its efforts were rewarded by a slithering approach. The snake’s long sinuous form wound up Wei Mao’s arm slowly, slipping beneath the sleeve of his loose tunic to emerge from the neck hole. He let it crawl for a moment longer before seizing the creature’s head, pinching just behind the bones of the jaw so that it could not attack. Lifting a finger, he placed it deliberately into the snake’s mouth then released his grip on the jaw. Fangs sunk down, deep into the tender pro-offered flesh. Wei Mao merely smiled and lifted the dizi in his free hand once more, playing a different melody now. As the notes rang out, he absorbed the venom from the snake.

This task was to be left unfinished. For even as he completed one stanza and began to flow into the next verse, the poison from the snake burning hot in his blood, a command echoed across the mountain. Help him. The sound of the flute faltered and faded as Wei Mao returned the instrument to a pocket on his sash. Limp and emptied, the snake flopped bonelessly down from his hand and was carelessly tossed aside. The man stood and brushed himself off, metabolizing the poison even as these seconds passed. Poison was life to a Du. Only by learning enough venoms could they hope to be strong enough to create their own. There were snakes on Celestial Mountain that could burn a hole in a stone with a single drop.

He had not seen the stranger approach, but there could be no confusion as to where he was. Even at this distance, the sound of his fellow students battling echoed on the same winds that had carried the master’s message to him. A leap carried Wei Mao into the branches of the tree. His lightness kungfu was well-practiced. With the barest minimum of effort he moved from branch to branch to the path. Slipper-clad feet did not miss a single purchase. Three leaps more and he was dropping down onto the center of the ring beside the collapsed man. Six wolves for seven disciples. Someone was going to miss out. The party had already started, but Wei Mao selected his target.

A white wolf leapt into the air with a snarl, evidently realizing that the circle and wait to attack tactic would only lead to a dead pack and a lost meal. The Du Poison disciple met him in mid air, beginning the first stance of the viper fang technique. His grasping hands were as vicious as slashing claws, the tiny pinpricks of a snake bite still visible on his left forefinger. They met - nature’s fangs against martial fury. The wolf’s momentum pushed Wei Mao into a midair back flip. When they landed, the man’s hand was deep in the beast’s chest, already excising the poison he had absorbed earlier. A waste – he would have to track down another snake. Wei Mao wiped his hand clean and glanced back towards the unconscious man. He had no qualms about killing a beast driven only by its instinctual desires. Such displays of skill were not uncommon among martial disciples.

Falcifer

By now, the wolves had abandoned their stalking, instead moving for full, frantic agression. Ox took two strides forward, standing nearly on top of the traveller, as one of the beasts took a lunge, pouncing with open jaws. Wan barely noticed. The world was simply a series of actions. Different energies. His right hand drifted up to the side of the jaw, knocking it aside. His left took the legs from underneath the animal, and gently pushed them upwards, upsetting the balance just enough, but not hurting the beast.

His awareness of the world returned when the animal left his grip, tumbling through the air and landing upside-down, skidding across the smooth floor tiles helplessly. Almost becoming satisfied with his work, he was bought swiftly to attention as two sets of jaws pierced into his leg, drawing blood, sending a thick jolt of pain shooting through the muscles. Baring his teeth, he reached down, forcibly yanking the jaws from his leg, the force snapping the left jawbone of the creature. Dropping his right arm around the wolfs side, he bent his knees before pulling the animal up, and flipping it squarely onto its back, kneeling slowly as he did, before ramming an elbow against the neck, applying no pressure, but allowing no room for movement.

It would be much easier to kill the beast and have done with it, allowing him to further combat the wolves. But that was unlike Ox. Still pinning the wolf down, he looked to his allies, trusting their ability to watch his back.

The first wolf, however, had recovered from Ox's incapacitation, and was back to its feet, bounding towards the huge man, towards his exposed back. He was unfocused, his mind flaring with the pain of his injured leg, the fog of battle shrouding his senses as the smaller wolf attempted a second assault.

Cruithne

The call: It transcended time, space and logic. I was unused to hearing voices in my head other than my own. It was invasive and almost offensive. I could feel the deep recesses of my darkest thoughts being pierced by the one man who owned my soul. He speaks. His tone cannot be discerned simply. It is directed at me, but at others simultaneously. I feel the heat of battle crawling up the hairs of my neck, they are undeniable. Death draws near and the smell of blood catches my senses.

I find them: the others. They stare into the face of death and yet do not approach it. I cannot agree with their sense of nobility and grace. The order was absolute. The enemy seek us with their unrelenting eyes and gratuitous slaver. The imperceptible growl within the throat of one is not missed on me. I sense it. I feel it as it breaks the natural sound waves around me. The sound grows deeper; its intent, unmistakeable.

I can see the wolves original target. He is of little consequence to me. His current state would have me imagine he came here on a passing whim. One, having done so should have expected to die, but his folly would surely have shown him the true lesson of moderation. To have no concerns, desiring nothing made infinite sense.

I feel something unusual. There is a foreign pull of energy amassing in one of our foes. There is no special markings upon him to indicate his difference, but he is the core. He is the essential one-sixth of a potentially deadly foe. As I watch the pattern of his movement, he is alerting the others.

One catches my attention. He leaps and bounds toward my larger companion, the owner of Heaven's Fall. But it is futile, he is not fast enough. Like a kiss on the wind, I can see the direct route of the creature's assault. He is no match for me. I dash to cover my comrade's unprotected back and stand forth in the path of the creature. His onslaught cannot be stopped. I hear my music now. Flowing River sings for me. Her tunes of light grace fill my body. I reach for her and it is over in a moment. I cannot see the speed of the blade as it strives forth from its hilt to surprise its target. However, I can feel the spray of its life juices splatter over me, revitalising my senses.

I care not that I can no longer see through my eyes smeared heavily with blood as it streaks over my eyes. I turn to the others now. Their ignorance would be their disadvantage.

"The enemy's mergence is imminent. The third to the left is the core. He is the one to watch. We remove parts of the puzzle, we break the product."

Candi

Xiao Mei's companions started entering into the battle as she flipped through the center of the pack. Ox found himself quickly flanked by a pair of snarling beasts, only to have Liu Mei Yin rush in and intercept the wolf attacking his back. She uttered some strange cryptic words about puzzles, Mei ignored them and went back to her fun.

The wolves numbers were accelerating towards zero, of the six that had originally attacked now only two remained. One of which Ox had engaged and the other was standing confused in by the fallen traveler. Xiao Mei could imagine it's pain. At first a promise of a fresh meal then a team of elite martial artists comes crashing from the sky and eliminated his allies, there was nothing that he could have done.

A handspring to front flip and the petite woman was crouched beside the lone wolf. As her sandalled feet touched the ground she swept out her leading leg and took the wolves support out from beneath it. Then, wasting no time and exerting no effort she planted her hands on the ground and entered into a handstand that she held for a moment longer than necessary before dropping her extended leg across the beasts back. The sound of breaking bones echoed from beneath her and she rolled forward off of the wolves carcass and turned to examine the rest of the battle field.

Things were grinding to a halt, the fight was almost over. The rush of excitement an adrenaline were starting to fade.

Deja Vu

Kah felt, saw, and heard the fight begin to ebb away, and the rhythm fade into a slow tattoo. His shifting dancing stance slowed with the rhythm, and he merely waited for one of the wolves to attack him, which none seemed to very much mind his presence when in face of his fellow students having made their presence known. The Star Chasers swiveled safely in their sheath adorned tightly and securely between his shoulder blades, their freely rotating ability perfect for the constant inversions and multi-axis rotations Kah routinely threw his body through. He had yet to draw them, for one needed not a blade to end a fight, merely the use of ones body as a weapon. Suddenly one of the few remaining wolves leaped at Kah from his left, drowning out the words of a student.

Kah, shirtless with the only article of clothing on him being a very loose fitting set of pants and the Star Chasers, leaned back and let his center of gravity fall as he planted both hands behind him and leverage the rest of his body upward at an angle that left his now strengthened legs in the path of the white beast. Spreading his legs a fraction while swinging his hips with the channeled momentum of the backwards handstand, gave the upcoming move an impressive amount of torque and force to it. The beast's claws sliced cleanly through his trousers, though missing skin, along with snapping jaws angered by the failed attack it had made, all as Kah's legs clamped around the neck of the wolf.

The single fluid movement snapped the neck with ease as Kah's momentum yanked his hips around twisting his legs and the beast's neck, all before releasing as the move reached it's peak in motion. It sent a limp and very dead wolf flying into a tree, and Kah with enough speed left over to perform a triple spin on a one handed plant before he once more let his feet touch the ground. He knew the battle would be over soon, but he also knew voicing any opinion or observation right now would be unnecessary, so he remained silent.

BlackComet

Lao had travelled a great distance. His sandles had been worn away by pebbles, sand and stone. Through his travels, he had never felt as cold as he did on the mountain side. His straw hat did nothing against the mist, but rather caught it between the strands and let it trickle down his face in drops. His bright yellow and orange robes, dirtied and torn in places, barely kept him warm let alone dry. The snow found its way onto his feet and against his ankles, sending goosebumps up and down his legs each time he took a step. He had climbed the mountain with his bamboo backpack, had searched arounds it peak and found nothing and was now descending from it.

He found a small place that he could build a fire in, discovering dry wood hidden under a overhang. There was a ring of stone that allowed him to come out of the biting wind. The fire felt good against his stone cold hands, so he decided now would be a good time to meditate for wisdom. His straw hat was placed beside his backpack as Lao crossed his legs and closed his eyes. There was nothing behind his eyelids, as usual, but he began to empty his mind of the thoughts he carried, scraping them away with care and storing them away for later. Finally, feeling fully relaxed and warmed now to the bone, he began to touch upon the-

"Help him."

Lao opened his eye a sliver, staring into the mist around the top of his small stone circle. There was no one there. But he had heard the words, loudly and clearly as if he had spoken them himself. Carefully, he stood up, using a foot to lift his body before he unfolded his limbs. There was a pulling sensation on his mind, telling him he must go and do something important, important not just for himself but for everyone. He found his hat quickly, strapped his pack to his shoulders and jumped out of the small shelter. Usually, he would have extingushed the flames in fear of causing a fire that could damage Mother Nature, but it was apparent that the mist would quickly take care of that.

Crescent Moon's sandles slapped against the slippery stones as he carefully ran towards the origin of the voice. The mists cleared from his vision and there, he saw a man laying in the snow, surronded by wolves. Before he could take action though, a huge man rushed forward and barked something that made Lao wince in fear. As he watched, a group of men and women attacked the circle of beasts. He felt like he need not attack the people, but should instead somehow help the man. Carefully progressing down the mountain, outside the attention of the others, he knealt down beside the old man and moved his body over, to let him gain some fresh air and to not suffocate in the snow.

But there had been a last wolf, hidden by large stones and snow. It growled as it saw its chances of a meal slipping away and moved slowly forward, hidden against the ground and growling lightly. Finally, it had gained enough ground to loom over Lao's soldier, its teeth bared and drool dripping from its lips. Lao was politely asking the mans name when he heard the crunch of snow. The beast lunged forward, he slowly moved his chest back and tensed up his hand. The wolf's mouth was inches from his face before he finally let his hand fly out. His finger tips hit the creature in the side of its head. There was a crunch, some blood and a soft whine.

"Apoligies, friend..." Lao said softly to the beast, lowering its collapsed form from his chest to the ground. "May you feel no regret when we meet once more, in the world beyond." He closed the beasts eyes and went back to the tending of the old man.