Bending the Rules Pt. 11: Jealousy

"Why am I even bothering? I don't know," he muttered to himself.

The bird snapped at him as he came back.

"Woops, looks like infatuation's worn off," he said.

"No surprise!" Dayo called.

He ran around the back, and as Dayo came in from the front, he ran up on the bird's back and started striking at the base of the skull. It honked anxiously, then twisted to look at him, making him lose his balance and slide on his knees off of its back. But Dayo used Shadow Walk and suddenly was there leaping up and around from the front, right on the other side from the beak where it couldn't reach. Legs locked just below the skull, Dayo held on upside-down for dear life and the valkyrie's arms struggled to maintain their grip lower down the goostritch's throat. There was much grunting, squeaking, and cursing. The bird's wings flapped frantically, keeping Nuru from being able to get close for a long minute. Two minutes. Then the neck began to sag, and the bird's head slowly collapsed to the ground.

"Take over for a sec," Dayo said, panting. "Make sure it doesn't get air."

Nuru got on the neck in her place and squeezed the windpipe in as hard as he could. Dayo knelt down, getting their breath back.

"Phew! That was rough. I could have cut with the scythe and been done, but I had to make sure this body would be intact."

"Can I let go now?"

"Not yet, hold on."

Dayo threw a rune down and held the head into the liquid ground; then once it firmed up, jumped free.

"OK. Its breath is blocked, you should be good."

They sat back and watched its HP slowly tick down. Nuru listened closely. "Sounds like they're doing alright out there."

Dayo cocked her head and listened to the distant screams of angry goostritches, perhaps growing fewer in number than before, then kicked the body to drop it to 0 HP. "Just making sure we get that kill EXP. Let's go find that nest."

The two got up and picked their way back as they had come, marvelling at the dirt clods flung about, heavy footprints, and trampled grass from the fight.

"Hot dang, you weren't kidding," Nuru said, lifting a weighty egg with both hands. "Hard to get these back to town if we're going to."

"We'll take one each, then leave the rest for the lyenas," Dayo said.

"Not gonna get one for Mesi?"

"She wouldn't eat it, doesn't like the thought of animals dying, especially the babies, even for food. She'd eat only plants if it were possible; I think she tried it once and got sick, she still does it as much as possible. I suspect that's one of the reasons she stopped adventuring."

"Even monsters deserve to live?"

"Something like that."

"No way around killing them on the regular questlines, from what I hear. Funny, that's the least controversial part of the whole thing for most people."

"I'm sure there were more reasons."

"Not disagreeing here. So what's the next step?"

Dayo motioned him to follow. They went off in the direction they'd heard the commotion. Here and there, massive plumes of feathers had been knocked loose and lay on top and inside of the high grass, some of them red with blood. They came to a goostrich body, mauled and devoured.

"!Rai Magudana!" Dayo's lantern glowed purple.

She nodded to Nuru, and he nodded back; they both continued on. They found the lyenas lounging in the middle of a massacre, no less than five goostriches, three of them heavily consumed. Jaheem got up quickly, looked them over, then hung his head. Tusa lay down and looked up mournfully.

"Forgot to come check on us?" Nuru said.

Whimper

[Sorry, we got caught up in the moment.]

"Don't worry, we're fine. Hey, isn't that a golden goostrich?" Nuru said, pointing to a yellow one.

"Heard they're called 'chokobos'," Dayo said.

"My teacher always got mad when anyone said that. Never did figure out why, he just kept saying stay away."

"Maybe that's the name of a friendlier species."

"One can hope. Not a single golden egg from this one in the nest, either."

Dayo went around collecting soul power from the bodies, until she got to the last one.

"!Rai Magudana! Come."

Everyone followed Dayo back to the buried one, where she dug its head back out, cleared the dirt out of its beak holes, and then leaned over, whispering something. The lantern flared and opened at the bottom, and amethyst blobs dripped out into the goostrich's head. Dayo muttered something else, and the lantern snapped shut and vanished. The goostrich jerked, and raised its head. Dayo dropped a rune and whispered, and it stood up and followed as Dayo walked away from the liquified earth. She motioned, and all five of them went another direction. After awhile, they reached a crossroads with a sign bearing a skull.

"Looks like goblin territory," Nuru said.

"It is," Dayo said.

They continued into some treacherous terrain, heavily broken ground that took some care to climb over, and then reached a small fortress covered in barbs and crude banners depicting various forms of death and dismemberment.

"Looks cozy. We gonna knock on the door?"

"More or less.!Manufa Makiya Cikin Mutuwa!"

The goostrich let out a loud HONK and ran in the direction Dayo pointed her staff, carefully balanced on her shoulder - right at the front gate. Two goblins guarding the entrance jumped, dropped their weapons, hurried to pick them back up again, and ran inside, closing the gate solidly. The bird charged headlong straight into the gate with a loud clunk. It fell over, stunned, but after a little bit regained its senses and got back up, pacing left and right. A horn sounded and several false panels pushed out, letting some warthogs with goblin riders jump down to the ground. They ran around somewhat aimlessly, but one by one the goblins managed to turn and direct them towards the goostrich. Once in range, the warthogs and goostrich snapped at each other. A goblin clumsily struck out at the bird as well, which skillfully dodged and countered, knocking the goblin loose to fall on the ground. It stood quickly, waving its cudgel, and circling, screaming and waving its arms menacingly.

"Looks like a regular live goostrich," Nuru said. "Fresher is better?"

Dayo just nodded.

"Alright. Where to next?" Nuru said.

"We're not done here," Dayo said, holding up a finger. "Ask Jaheem to stay quiet and out of sight unless you call him. Please."

"Sit this one out for a bit will you?" Nuru said.

Jaheem sat down; Tusa took off, clearly bored.

"Go get the eggs left in the nest if you can carry them!" Nuru called after him.

"I'm going to collect some warthog. Stay out of the way, these guys are nasty in groups," Dayo said.

Nuru started up a dramatic drum sequence as Dayo stepped out confidently. The goostrich was getting pummeled, but had made a few warthogs start to hobble and limp as well. The goblins couldn't get very close, but archers were starting to line the walls, waiting for a signal. The goblins in the yard turned to face Dayo as she stood at the edge of the combat space, and started jabbering at her with strange emphasis.

(What's the regular translate for goblin?)

/!Fassada!/

"Just need some warthog, fellas," Dayo said.

"People business."

"Because you keep capturing them all, and there's none left for anybody else."

"People share space with you, you share warthog with people."

Dayo struck suddenly with an arcane blast, killing a warthog.

<-people. You bad PEOPLE! No listen GOBLIN!>

"You know, I've got a use for goblin too, if anyone wants to volunteer."

The goblins looked at each other. Dayo leaped, thrust the staff forward like a spear, knocking over a warthog that was limping. Then she spun the staff and lanced right into the warthog's side with the scythe blade, dealing a mortal, but not quite instant, blow.

"!Rai Magudana!!Rai Magudana!"

Dayo absorbed the souls of both dead warthogs after their throes subsided. The goblins circled her in, swinging threateningly.

"I have a use for warthog. Warthogs joined me. Also have use for goblin. Any goblins want to join me?"

They backed away uneasily, one of them being thrown to the side by another warthog; caught himself quickly and hopped away.

"I take half of warthogs. Leave you half, and bodies. Also, goostritch, good eating, you can have. Fair?"

"That one's pregnant. You'll have more soon."

"!Jira Cikin Mutuwa!" Dayo cast, and the goostrich stopped pacing and stood up straight, ignoring the warthogs except once or twice as they snapped at it.

Dayo killed a third warthog with an arcane blast and gathered its soul. The goblins retreated, watching Dayo carefully; they poked and prodded the goostrich, forcing it through the gate, and corralled the remaining warthogs. Dayo walked slowly, rubbing their chin thoughtfully, and Nuru followed. Dayo snapped their fingers and strode away more firmly, with purpose. Jaheem trailed behind as they went.

*****

"Uh... this is the 'circus,' isn't it?" Nuru said, looking around.

"That's right."

A large wooden house stood along the road. There was a statue in front of it, exquisitely shaped in plaster. A great mixing bowl sat right next to it.

"Perfect," Dayo said. "We're just in time. They haven't applied the hardening coat yet."

Dayo pulled out a blank scroll and started scribbling.

"Now, you're a wanted man, so keep your head down. I'll be back, and then we'll see something fantastic."

The scroll finished with a flourish, Dayo walked out with a normal stride, wandered around the far side of the statue, waving at the guards. They waved back, exchanging pleasantries. Dayo disappeared around the far side, then reappeared a short time later. One of the guards pointed back the way they had gone, but Dayo ignored him. He jogged slowly behind the statue, then came back waving something, yelling at Dayo's back.

"Hey! You forgot this!" he yelled, puffing to catch up just as Dayo reached Nuru.

"Keep it!" Dayo called back, spinning around and aiming her staff carefully.

The guard stopped in his tracks, frozen with uncertainty, scroll case gripped in his outstretched hand. Dayo muttered something under their breath. The guard opened the scroll case, holding it carefully, with suspicion. A puff of smoke emerged as the cap came free. He ran off to the side as a purple light emitted from the end of the staff, and quickly grew in brightness; three warthog heads formed and then merged.

"!Manufa Kalma Kai Zalunci Cikin Mutuwa!" Dayo said, sounding a bit angry.

The guard dropped the scroll case and leaped to the side, then turned and ran back towards the statue until the glowing purple warthog barrelled past him, and he stopped to watch as it quickly accellerated faster and faster, incorporeal feet barely touching the ground. The two guards remaining by the statue held their ground until the last moment, leaping out of the way as the creature smashed into the statue and, with the whine of a great many strikes falling so quickly that they blended into one continuous sound, the base of the statue was pounded. A protective rune activated a sphere of protection, but it glowed with absorption of the damage only once per second, and the vast majority of strikes made it through. Bits of plaster and a cloud of dust flew. After a few moments, it cleared enough to show a great chunk torn out of the corner base of the statue, and part of one foot missing, right at the ankle.

"Time to go!" Dayo said, starting to run and slapping Nuru on the shoulder on the way by.

"I have so many questions. And you won't answer a single one, will you?"

"Nope!"

"Will Onyekachi answer them?" Nuru asked, running after Dayo.

"Maybe, but we can't go back there right now - we'll have to wait until the excitement is over."

"They're going to be angry, aren't they?"

"Oh yes. That was an act of war!"

"We just started a war!? Why didn't you ask if I wanted to participate or not?"

"Not an all-out war. High and Low Factions have been at war as long as there have been factions. This was just the latest salvo. They'll scurry around, watching for us for awhile and then everything will go back to normal."

"As if I wasn't in enough trouble already."

"Relax. When they catch you, I'll come speak for you at the trial."

"What do you mean, when!?"

"Nuru, you can't escape justice. The rate things are going, Home Town here is going to be flooded with paladins from all over the world map. Demons attacking temple grounds, high-level monsters kidnapping people under High-Faction protection, Low-Faction guerilla warfare - Nuru, the Level Eleven+ gate keeps you in, but it doesn't keep anybody out except the big monsters. You're going to have to face the music soon, whether you like it or not. You'll get your levels, but probably not before someone catches you, and you won't be making any daring escapes again with the trackers they'll be using. I just hope it doesn't happen before my birthday."

"An act of war isn't helping my predicament any!"

"Oh, relax. It'll take longer than my birthday for the high-levels to show up in force. They're all busy on important high-level quests again now that the demon issue is dealt with. But make no mistake, they are taking notice again, and they will be back."

"I don't suppose the Chosen would be willing to hide me."

"Not unless you join us."

"Is this Onyekachi's grand plan, to force me to join you?"

"Oh hell no - Mesi would have my head if I went along with that, and I have full discretion in that matter; but this is more than you or I, Nuru. We are pawns in a bigger game."

"Are you sure your word will be enough at my trial?"

"Well... good point. My faction doesn't have pull like it used to. I'll have to call in a favor."

"Then I owe you one."

"No, I brought this on you, under orders from my faction. This is a debt that we will pay. It's one of those rules... you know."

"Unspoken."

"Right. Thus endeth the lesson. Now we'd better get back and fill Mesi in on everything, and see if you can stay the night."

"I don't want to impose."

"If you want to do me a favor, I choose this one: let us be the judge of what is an imposition. I'll feel better if I know you're not sleeping in a hedge somewhere."

"Consider it done."

*****

"Oh my gods, Nuru!" Mesi said, rushing over to hug him.

"Your makeup is slipping," Nuru said to Dayo. "She recognized me right away."

"It took me a moment, actually. But I knew there was nobody else Dayo would bring in our home."

"I do have friends, you know," Dayo growled.

"Spirits of the dead don't count," Mesi winked at Nuru.

"Hey! Woman-!" Dayo said, yanking her away and pulling her in for a tight hug.

"I love you," Mesi said, grinning.

"You're lucky you're so cute," Dayo replied, kissing her on the forehead. "Question. Can Nuru stay the night?"

"I'm afraid not," Mesi said.

"Come on, just one night," Dayo said. "I hate the thought of him out there hiding in a haystack or whatever."

"I know, but this is the first place they're going to look. You know that. They come here every day, just about."

"Dayo, how attached are you to this thing on your birthday? I mean, the day of. You've got the faction party happening too, right?" Nuru said.

"Yes. Where are you going with this?" Dayo said.

"What if we did it tonight? I know that's not what you planned but-" Nuru said.

"Dayo, you might not get another chance. If they catch him before the weekend-" Mesi started.

"I know, I know. You still on board with it, babe?"

"I'm... nervous. But yes."

"Then I guess I don't see why not. Are you sure this is what you want, Nuru?"

"I think I might turn myself in tomorrow. If you're sure I'm not getting away without having to go in before I hit Level Eleven-"

"I'm sure of it."

"-then I might as well get it done sooner rather than later. On my terms."

"And this way if you can't make it to the actual party, you've got a great excuse," Dayo said.

"You invited him?" Mesi said.

"My boss did. So, you know."

"Yeah," Mesi said, eyes flashing with anger.

"Well, I'd like it to be his choice too. And it'll be hard to drag him into a party he won't like if he's in jail for a few days," Dayo said.

"And at least we can send him in with some good memories to help get through it," Mesi said with a softer voice, winking at Nuru.

He grinned back. "And if they give Dayo a hard time at the party about it, there will be some good memories to help get through that too. You see, it's not the worst plan."

"I'm OK with this if everyone else is," Mesi said. "You want to tell me everything else that happened today afterwards?"

"Maybe tomorrow. Let's see how late we stay up," Dayo smirked.

*****

An hour of primping and dressing up - or in Mesi's case, dressing in jewelry only - and awkwardness started to set in.

"Alright birthday-person, how's this all going to work?" Mesi said.

"Oh gods, don't put that pressure all on me," Dayo said.

"No, I don't mean it that way," Mesi said. "Let me rephrase. How were you hoping this would go? We'll adjust however we need to, but it's your fantasy we're bringing to life."

"Well, uh... don't make fun of me!" Dayo said, blushing hard.

"Paladin's honor," Nuru said, holding a fist over his chest.

"I um... Gods damn it, I don't know how to talk about this," Dayo said, blushing even harder.

"Too bad we don't have your succubus anymore, she'd probably have some ideas," Mesi said.

"Yeah..." Nuru said, frowning. "Maybe I can channel her even so."

Tug.

/Why, Nuru, you didn't forget. I'm flattered./

(You're unforgettable. Wanna help facilitate?)

/What's the matter?/

(We're not sure where to start. Dayo's having trouble telling us what she wants.)

/Alcohol. Unless you want me to start casting./

(...of course. Could you do that?)

/I'm capable, but Mesi isn't into you. My auras don't discriminate. She might regret something if I get her by accident. How much did you say want to keep them as friends?/

"Have we got any wine?" Nuru said.

"I'm not sure if spin-the-bottle is the best idea," Mesi said. "No offense, but..."

"No, no. Just a drink, to loosen up," Nuru said.

"Ah, ok," Mesi said, rummaging in a sack in the corner. "A gift from my parents. All the way from Crimson Valley. Three years I've been saving it for a special occasion, and I can't think of a better one."

"Mesi, you don't have to-" Dayo said.

"-no, I don't," Mesi cut in roughly. "I want to."

"I love you," Dayo said, voice cracking and hugging Mesi close.

"Love you too, hon."

"How does this even work?" Nuru asked, inspecting the top.

"They don't just wax-seal it, they stuff a cork into the end so long that it needs a special tool to get out," Mesi said, producing a curly bit of metal from the sack as well.

"How curious," Dayo said. "Doesn't that make it hard to get open?"

"What can I say? Rich people buy this stuff," Mesi shrugged.

"Enhances the anticipation I suppose," Nuru said.

"That makes sense," Dayo said.

They watched Mesi struggle to open the bottle. Finally it came free with a hard jerk, and some of it spilled on Mesi's chest.

"Noo, save it!" Mesi cried, sitting stiffly, trying not to let it all drip to the floor.

Dayo wasted no time licking up as much of it as she could.

"What do you think? Is it good?"

"I'll need to try some more of it, but so far, it seems quite deep, with subtle notes of dancer."

Mesi burst out laughing. "You're such a dork!"

"You don't agree? Try some," Dayo said, gesturing to the bottle with a grin.