Acumin Under Attack [Private - Marnia & Mortimer]

[Lichen]

OOC: Guys, Ahana was going to take this thread but as she has been dismissed I'll go ahead and post it.

IC: Mortimer and Marnia were sitting in the tavern, enjoying free food and ale, when suddenly everything came crashing down on them. Literally. Their table was so close to the window that when the undead but immensely heavy giant came crashing into the tavern, they were showered with little bits of glass. The giant promptly went through the people in front of them, chopping halfway through a halflings arm and then charged directly on towards the katta and the dwarf. It all happened so quickly that the two didn't have time to do much more than reach belatedly for their weapons - and then the giant reached them. One mighty hand reached out and grabbed the cornor of the tabel. With a grotesque grin, the giant heaved the table up and over, spilling the dwarf and his companion onto the floor and then pushing the table on top of them.

Marnia was caught beneath a bench, but Mortimer was not so lucky - he was caught from the knees down under the actual table, and the bench was landed solidly on his chest. This wouldn't have been such a problem, save for the fact that the decaying giant -looking please with himself for such an ingenious attack- decided to add insult to injury. Laughing loudly, the giant stepped on the underside of the picnic-style table. He didn't step directly over Mortimer, which was fortunate for the dwarf, who wouldnt' have survived if this was the case. Instead, he stood back a bit - enough to get a lot of weight on o the dwarf and the katta woman, but not enough to kill them. Mortimer thought his legs were going to collaps under the pressure, and the bench on his chest made it hard to breath.

Meanwhile, Marnia was far closer to the giant, who decided that jumping would be even funnier. Her shoulder popped under the pressure of the first step, as that was the only section of her trapped under the bench. However, as the giant came back down from his first jump, the sudden pressure popped her left shoulder completely out of joint with a wrench that caused the katta to scream in pain automatically. She could manage to get out from under the bench the next time the giant jumped up if she tried... but she only had one arm to attack him with. Her weapons consisted only of her claws, and the only hard object anywhere near her was the mug she'd been drinking from, it's contents spilling out on the floor.

The jumping was painful for Mortimer too - each time, the boards squished his legs and threatend to crush his shins, and his breathing was labored and nearly knocked out of him with each jump. Unfortunately, Mortimer's axe had been jettisoned out of his grasp when the table had been flipped. He could probably still reach it, if he strained, but it would be difficult... and even then, he wouldn't be able to reach the giant. But he might be able to hack himself free... it was worth a try.

[Mortimer]

Mortimer's eyes went completely wide as one of the inns windows exploded. Mortimer saw the beast coming at them. It was a giant, but something was off about him. Mortimer immediately grabbed his axe, but was thrown down to the ground under the table and the bench. His legs were pinned and the bench made breathing much more difficult. Mortimer looked at their adversary and realized what was off. The giant was not of the living.

Mortimer tried to get out from under the table, but the undead giant pinned them underneath. Mortimer gasped as the giants immense weight took the air out of his lungs. The dwarf was nearly overcome with panic. But he calmed himself, even though the pain he was receiving was terrible. He looked over and saw Marnia was also trapped under the table by her arm. The giant began to jump up and down. Mortimer felt his legs strain under the pressure and his breathing was even more difficult. Marnia jerked in pain and cried out. Mortimer knew if he did not do something, they would both be doomed. He did not plan on dying here. He had too much of the world to see.

The dwarf looked around him and saw his only hope. His axe had been knocked from his hand, but it was just within his reach. Mortimer gathered the little breath he could muster and reached with all his might for the weapon, knowing that he might be able to cut himself free if he got ahold of it. He stretched all of the muscles he could to reach the axe.

[Marnia]

Instintivly, Marnia had tried to cover her face when she realized on the the windows... or something made of glass, was shattering. Her eyes looked ready to pop out of her head. Something huge had headed towards her and the Dwarf, she didn't even register the figure in time, only that it wasn't the friendliest of... things. She didn't even realize she was on the ground until the giant jumped on the turned table.

The pain of the giant's landing was so immense. It was beyond describable, "ow" seemed like an understatement, but it was the only thing she could really think of at the moment. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. She heard herself scream from the pain, not even realizing what she was doing until she'd shut up, she extended her claws in result of the pain, as a natural reaction. To keep from screaming again she bit painfully into her tongue, also seeking a distraction from the pain.

Marnia had to chill, remember her training. Though it didn't cover what to do when you're until a bench and some big mass of who knows what is into jumping onto the table you're under. Still, there must be something from her training that would help. But the pain was too distracting to think of anything. She didn't even remember her tutor's name, much less what to do in such a situation. Her attempts to sort things out mentally only worked partially, which seemed to tangle her up even further.

She tried to squirm in place to fix her shoulder, but she knew it was a hopeless try before even attempting. If only she could get out from under, or get an arm free and take a good swipe at the giant's legs... she tried to push her intact arm out from under the table in hopes of clawing the bastard who thought it funny to pick on a Tigron.

[Lichen]

Mortimer inhaled deeply and stretched. It would have been a lunge if he hadn't been trapped beneath a picnic table with a giant bouncing up and down on it, but as it was it was simply a stretch. It felt as though the dwarve was expanding and over-stretching every single sinew in his body in his desperate grasp to reach his axe... he'd suffer for it later, no doubt. Still, his perseverence worked - he managed to touch and grab onto the axe as the giant gave a particularly powerful leap. Of course, it was only when he finally got a hold on the axe that he realized that how badly he'd strained his arms... he'd easily pulled a muscle in his bicep, and while it would still work, it wouldn't work nearly as well and would work with a lot more pain and trouble than before. He'd have to be very very careful where he was swinging the axe... he didn't have as much strength and control as normal.

Meanwhile, Marnia was not faring very well. Her arm screamed at her to fix it, hanging from her shoulder in a very disjointed and uncomfortable fashion. Such was the pain that Marnia didn't realize that her other arm already was free - the bench had only fallen on her dislocated left one. However, in her efforts to swipe at the giant with her good hand, Marnia managed to roll herself out just enough that the bench nolonger fell directly onto her shoulder... instead, it pinched the flesh of her arm in a way that made the katta know that she was going to have a huge purple bruise and swollen arm under all her fur for the next week or so. However, she could easily free herself from that, even if the bench was on top of her at the time... it was now a matter of fighting back. Her right arm was fine, but she had no weapons... all she had were here claws and the glass mug on the floor next to her.

[Mortimer]

Mortimer felt all of the sinews in his arm tense and pull as he reached for the weapon. He gritted his teeth when a muscle in his arm pulled. The dwarf momentarily forgot the pain when he realized he had grabbed the weapon. his exultation was soon forgotten on the giants next jump. Fighting the pain the dwarf examined his body's position under the table. He figured the axe could split the wood, but that would help the dwarf very little if he hit himself. Mortimer decided it would be better to hit the table away from him. He could try to catch the wood in a way that the seam of the table would split.

Mortimer hoisted the axe up, struggling against the pain of a strained muscle, and brought it down on a seam in the wood about a foot to his left. Hopefully the wood would crack, freeing the dwarf. If not, he would try again and again until it did, or the giant came a little closer.

[Marnia]

OOC: Since you (Lichen) said I could easily free myself, just going to assume my attempt below was successful, if I shouldn't, just yell at me and I'll edit ^^

IC: Marnia hardly felt the relief of the pressure coming off of her shoulder. The pain of the pinched skin was much too distracting, as the Katta quickly trying to rip her arm towards herself and away from the bench that was clamped on it. It felt like she'd lost skin by pulling away so forcefully, but Marnia was a bit distracted to go check, she assumed she at least lost a good bit of fur.

The very thought of a small bald spot on her arm pained her. Imagine the teasing she would get from other Katta, she could see them calling her a smooth skin already. Marnia didn't seem to recognize that she knew no Katta in the town, so she was actually safe from teasing for the moment. She was too vain to really consider that at the moment it would seem lucky for her to live to see another Katta.

Marnia glanced to her side and saw the emptied mug. Quickly, she reached her uninjured arm after the mug, her icy blue eyes refocused back to the giant. She finally realized it wasn't a normal violent giant, but in fact something was... off about it. Something a bit disgusting.

She hadn't really taken in anything else that was happening, and was suprised to even see the mug near her. The Tigron had completely blanked about Mortimer, it was a scramble to live and kill the giant, and the Tigron wasn't going to get killed while trying to help the Dwarf. He could help himself. Dwarves loved to prove themselves anyway, didn't they? Marnia ignored her ignorance on the race.

The Katta quickly decided once she had a good grip on the mug to aim it towards the giants head and throw as hard as her untattered arm would allow without straining it. She doubted it would do much damage, but a well aimed mug she figured should stop him from jumping up and down. And stopping him from that seemed like a good short term goal at the moment.

[Buccaneer]

OOC: Oooorr, maybe in a week. Terribly sorry...

IC: Mortimer's luck seemed to hold. That is, it seemed to stay bad. For while his axe bit deeply into the seam in the table, it was not really deeply enough, since the dwarf didn't really have enough strength in his arm to break it, what with his strained muscles. What was worse, the axe was now stuck fairly fast in the table, and it would take a bit of work to get it out.

For the moment and the next several seconds, Mortimer would have to home that the Katta could hold the giant off. And several seconds, in a fight, might as well have been an eternity.

Marnia, meanwhile, had freed herself successfully, although she felt like she might have been bleeding very slightly from some fur and perhaps a little skin that she left behind trapped under the bench. She flung the mug at the giant's face, and it shattered with a satisfying crashing sound, hitting him more or less dead on his nose. The giant looked confused more than anything else, looking around the room and trying to find the source of the attack. He stood on the table while he did this, causing Mortimer's breath to be forced out of his lungs with an audible whoosh.

After a second or two that seemed like forever, the undead giant saw Marnia looking up at it defiantly, and moved towards her. Unfortunately for Mortimer, this involved walking across the overturned table. As the giant took his one step near Mortimer's feet, the table pressed down on the dwarf's chest, causing excruciating pain. Mortimer felt one of his ribs finally give under the pressure, and he felt it break with a small but audible cracking sound. After that, though, the terrible weight was blissfully lifted from his chest, and the giant moved on, bearing down on Marnia with evidently murderous intent.

[Marnia]

Watching the painful looking strike hit the Giant, Marnia momentarily basked in pride of her good aim, or good luck, whichever it was. It took her a moment to snap out of her triumph and realize that the giant had come to his senses and was heading towards his attacker. She hadn't exactly figured that far out in her incredible plan. It looked like Marnia would improvise until Mortimer got himself out from under the table to help. She hoped he was fairing well, though Marnia hadn't been taking in much notice of what had been happening to the Dwarf. She'd been far too caught up in the chaos.

Realizing the mad Giant was heading towards her dangerously, Marnia's mind raced back. Instinctively her snowy and black striped fur was standing on end as she took half a step backwards. She was partially crouched, to prepare herself for the monstrous Giant's next move. Her ears flattened back down on her head as she watched the Giant with alert eyes, trying to hide her fear and surprise.

"Mwaa mmnin pa." Marnia spoke in Kattaspeak, remembering the taunt well from childhood games. She was challenging the Giant to see if he could fight, even though Marnia truthfully figured he was a good enough fighter just by judging his brute strength and size. Nonetheless, the taunt made her feel bolder and more confident, which was what the Tigron needed at that moment. She grinned cockily at her new boost of bravery.

Her body was partially crouched, her legs were tense and ready to jump out of the way if the Giant got too close for comfort. Her elbows were bent, her arms outwards, and her neck was lowered and poised slightly forwards as she glared at the invader with her icy eyes.

The Katta stepped backwards, trying to match the pace of the incoming Giant with quick, almost jump-like steps, as she tried to keep out of his arm length. Marnia was too distracted with keeping an eye on the advancing Giant to glance back to watch where she was stepping backwards into. She intended to stall as long as she could, since the Katta new her chances facing the Giant alone were much slimmer than if she fought it with Mortimer.

[Mortimer]

Mortimer's axe struck the table and penetrated the wood. But it did not crack it as the dwarf hoped. It merely stuck in the wood. Mortimer began to let out his loudest dwarven curse when he felt the weight on top of him grow. His curse came out in the form of a gasp. The dwarf winced as he felt one of his ribs crack. Trying to ignore the pain, Mortimer watched the giant approach Marnia. He had to get free of this blasted table.

Mortimer grabbed the handle of his axe and wiggled the blade with all the strength he could muster. If he could just get it free he might be able to crack the table with a second strike. When the giant got off the table, Mortimer took a deep breath and continued to wiggle and pull on the axe. No matter what happened, the stubborn dwarf would not give in easily.

[Buccaneer]

The giant bore down on Marnia with vengeance in his undead eyes. Vengeance for a minor annoyance on the giant's part, but vengeance that would undoubtedly mean Marnia's demise should the giant be successful. Her backpedalling was working so far at distracting the giant, luring him away from the injured and trapped dwarf while still keeping him away from her.

Meanwhile, Mortimer finally succeeded in getting his axe unstuck from the table, but he suffered great pain in so doing and exhausted much of his strength. He did, however, think that he had at least enough left in him to lift the table off of himself and get out that way, rather than risking further damage to his axe or to himself.

Just as the dwarf's axe finally came free of the wood, however, several unexpected and undesirable things happened, all at the same time. The inkeeper, who had just dispatched a zombie, happened to glance over in Marnia's direction. "OY! You! Katta woman!" he yelled, "Watch out for the table behind y--" The innkeeper broke off in a gurgling scream, however, as a skeleton he had not noticed came up from behind him and neatly ran him through from behind.

Marnia was unfortunately already commited to her next backwards hop, which brought her smack into the table the innkeeper had tried to warn her about too late. She collided with the bench of the table, knocking her feet out from under her while her torso continued on its way. This had the regrettable result of her head meeting the edge of the table with a resounding CRACK! She remained conscious, luckily, but she would definitely have trouble seeing for the next several minutes, as the sudden hard bump on her head had caused the world to grow much darker and multiply itself by two. It was all the Tigron female could do for the moment to get to her feet, and she knew that even that effort would cost her several moments of dizziness and rather a lot of pain even once she had finally managed to do it.

[Mortimer]

Mortimer's eyes opened wide in pain and exultation as he freed the axe. He also noticed that without the giant on the table, it lifted a little bit. The dwarf could free himself. He watched the innkeeper die and Marnia fall. Mortimer knew he needed to get free for her sake as well as his own. Mortimer grasped the edge of the table and put his strength into lifting. Deciding not to strain his arm anymore, Mortimer lifted more with his good arm than his bad. His arms flexed as he tried to lift the table and finally free himself from the accursed wood.

[Marnia]

Marnia's ears perked at the word "katta" and her head had begun to turn to the source, but she absorbed the warning a bit too late. She couldn't really remember falling, but she knew she had fallen, and that her head hurt like no pain she'd ever known before. The sounds of the impacts from her head seemed to echo in her ears. The Tigron closed her eyes tightly in the pain, digging her teeth into her tongue to try and stop the throbbing. She didn't realize that she couldn't see or that she was completely out of it until she forced her eyes to open.

It was then she realized she didn't have time to sit and wince in her immense headache, along with every-thing-else-ache. There was, after all, still an undead Giant running around with less-than-friendly intentions.

The Katta cursed her luck and this blasted city loudly, Marnia tried to partially roll, partially scoot herself out of harms way, behind the table she'd collided with; or behind anything for that matter since she couldn't make out one solid object from the next. Standing up would only make her look and act like a dizzy drunk, and the Katta's head hurt far too much to deal with her vanity. Not to mention that by staying down, she figured she had a better chance of realizing her head so she could see and concentrate again.

[Buccaneer]

Marnia rolled around for a bit, the added pain in her skull from the yelling and the rolling but an unnoticeable shadow added to the rest. She finally managed to take shelter under the table that had so grievously injured her. The undead giant, not having been bright, even in life, even for a giant, seemed perplexed by the sudden disappearance of its prey. It stood there, dumbfounded, wondering exactly where the Katta had gone.

Mortimer used the big lug's distraction to take the opportunity to laboriously climb out from under the table he had been trapped under. As the dwarf painfully propped himself up and got to his feet slowly, he realized that he was not going to be very good in a fight. He would have to end this, and FAST, or both he and the Katta woman would end up substantially less alive fairly soon. Luckily, however, the giant was not looking his way at all, but rather beginning to look under nearby tables and benches for Marnia, whose headache and double vision were clearing, albeit slowly.

[Mortimer]

Mortimer stood on his legs and took a look around. The katta had managed to hide from the giant and the stupid creature was too busy looking for her to realize Mortimer was free. Mortimer hefted his axe next to him in a ready stance. He knew this was the opportune time to strike. Mortimer also knew he was too short to reach the giants head and end the undead beasts second life quickly. He had to immoblize the giant.

Mortimer moved towards the searching giant. Mortimer took aim at the back of the giants knee joint. If he could damage the leg, the beast would surely fall due to its own weight. Mortimer brought his axe back with his good arm, and took a swing at the giant's knee joint. He used his non-strained arm to power most of the swing while the other one guided the axe to its destination.

[Marnia]

Marnia stayed as still as she possibly could once she realized she'd rolled to the safety of the table. She ignored that it was the same table that had defied her; after all, shelter was shelter at this point. The Tigron didn't dare to look around the side of the table for a peek at the Giant or to see if her Dwarven companion was okay, it was too risky. She was sure the Dwarf was fine, he wasn't screaming or anything after all, and that had to be a good thing. Or a really bad thing. But the Katta was being awfully optimistic for the situation. It didn't pay to be plagued by negative thoughts.

She tried to steady her head to see straight, since her hiding spot seemed to be buying her some time. Her claws were extended and fully prepared to scratch out the Giant's eyes if he peered over into her hiding spot. Things seemed to slow down remarkably now that she wasn't face to face with the Giant, and suddenly the pain from her injuries seemed to rush back to her mind. She winced regrettably as she tried to keep her mind clear to help get rid of the headache and look out for the Giant. The Katta breathed slowly and as quietly as she could, trying to slow her heartbeat which sounded thunderous to her.

Her ears were perked up for any sign of the Giant discovering her, she knew the spot wouldn't last long, so she had to be fast. If he was to find her, she would jump for the face, Marnia would've considered the throat if she had more confidence in her aim, but the face was a bigger and easier target.

With her injured arm, the Katta dared to slowly move her hand to the back of her head where the table had attacked to check to see if it was a bleeding injury. Her other arm was tense in case the Giant tried to suprise her while she was checking the damage. Marnia tried not to wince as she moved her arm, she needed to stay fully alert, meaning her eyes had to be focused, not closed in pain. As focused as they could get at least.