Taming The Beast

    A few months ago, Xander obtained, like several others, an item called a 'Dread Branch'. It was an object that when broken would randomly spawn a monster that could become tamed.

What that monster was or its level would be unknown. That was the danger of the dread branch, but for the Salamander Holy Knighht, he missed having a mount. He missed having a monstrous mount that he ride into town on and even more so into battle.

So, after obtaining his new armor, it was now time to move onto the next agenda, getting that mount. With Rylen staying back home to make ready for whatever Xander might bring home, the Salamander calls on those who can afford to come to assist him on tackling whatever may come.

    Then there was the fact Uta needed to be trained in better monster handling and given Xander's profession /was/ Monster Handling, it be a good time to show her some tricks to the trade.

Xander leads the way to the Westelands, dark clouds rolling the sky as a storm seems to be on the horizon. A rare sight to see in the desert, but an always thankful one.

    The Salamander leads the group up a rocky path, helping those who might have trouble getting over some of the rock ledges as he continues to push up; Even as a lightning strike flashes in the distance and thunder rolls across the open air.

Once at the top, he looks out over the flat mesa of the mountain ridge and pulls out the idea, before turning to everyone. "I don't know what is going to happen when I snap this or what will show up. So, everyone needs to be on their guard." The wind moves by the ground as another sound of thunder roars by. "Are you all ready?"

Kauchemar likewise, being the Monster Handler that often ends up faesitting Uta when Rylen is busy, is here.

Of course, she's also here out of her own interests, and seeing just what one of these socalled 'Dread Branches' can conjure up. Because you don't give anything a name like 'dread' without it being dark and potentially powerful. That's just how RPG naming goes.

Unless it's a joke, like naming a huge muscular guy Tiny. But let's hope not, that would be a waste of experience.

The Nightmare is certainly here well prepared though. She's got her haunted shield at the ready, though instead of the companion sword (it's sheathed on her back just in case) she's got her whip in hand. Whips are better for this sort of thing.

Goldenblade has joined this party because she's pretty much always up for a scrap, and beating down monsters is a steady job. She's got the dread branch, too, in her inventory, though she's no equestrian, or pekostrian, or anything other than a pedestrian, so it's wasted on her. Her swords are sheathed as well, she's carrying a pair of ... basically clubs, cudgels, for the subdual of monsters. She's got no idea how this would work, though she's vaguely familiar with rodeo, from a trip in her childhood, so many years ago.

Uta is, as established, ready, standing on guard, white lacquered caduceus-inspired staff clutched tight, showing an intense stare of concentration, and in dire need of being faesit. "I'm so excited. A randomly generated creature. This is so thematic," she says. "I know it's silly and we are not in a novel... but I can't help feeling like this has some special significance for my story arc."

"I hope we get a giant whale," Uta suddenly states, with an abrupt change of subject. "Plenty of experience, great drops, and very little chance of it running around or lunging to attack us. Also, I'd love to see the puzzled faces of Adventurers or Landers who try to explain what a giant whale carcass is doing smack in the middle of the desert- wait." She frowns. "...whales don't leave carcasses in this world. Bummer."

A blink. She looks at Goldenblade, Kauchemar, and Xander in turn. "I mean... I'm ready. Yes!"

    Xander looks over to Uta, "No. Killing. It." He says with a low rumble. His tail flicks, even as the wind moves his fur of his armor around a bit. "The idea is to capture. Not kill. This means we need to keep it from escaping, tire it down, and so I can eventually place the collar around it."

Wait? What collar?

The Salamander then raises the stick above his head. He looks to Goldenblade, then to Kauchemar making sure both are ready before...

            SNAP!

    The twig is broken in half and digitizes into pixels. At first nothing happens, beyond another boom of thunder, then a strike of lightning that flings across the sky almost smacking down near where they were.

There was a few more flashes of lightning strikes before amongst the brilliance of light was a silhouette of a beast that has been summoned. The gold eyes start to glow as the lightning settled. It let out a low, primal growl like that of a large cat.

The heavy paw stepped onto the sand, with black scales entwined with the fur. Its body looked like a tiger, but there was scales here and there, spikes along its spine ridge, horn curving back from its head, and a sharp razor end at its reptile like tail.

As the lightning striked once more across the sky, it let out a tremendous roar and went straight for for Uta! Leaping into the air, with its claws out stretched and massive saber fangs ready to bite directly into her small, ample body!

    The only thing Xander could get out was simply, "Uta!" As another lightning flashed across the sky.

Image Of The Beast: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3a/09/52/3a09521494c7b2f240de5b8662b2f9f6.png

Uta stare of readiness melts away into a wide-eye look of wonder. "...what a beautiful creature...", she utters, the words barely above a whisper. She's in a trance, too engrossed in the creature's beauty to do much else.

In proper Received Pronunciation (aka what is improperly known as 'Standard British Accent'), she begins reciting,

    "Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
    in the forests of the night;
    What immortal hand or eye,
    Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

    In what distant deeps or skies
    Burnt-AAAAH!"

Her distraction cost Uta those precious split seconds: she leaps to dodge, but the feline is a blur of muscles and spikes, and as the beast's paws slam her staff away and pin the Spriggan to the ground. She lets out a piercing shriek of pain as massive teeth sink into her flesh and the affected area glows a red so bright it borders on white.

Goldenblade acks as the tiger-like monster appears. Well, that's a thing! Holy crap! But we're here to subdue it, and keep it from escaping, and from eating Uta, though that maybe wouldn't actually cause the process to fail? Or maybe it would? Some animals, once they get a taste for something, will always bite it, and they have to be put down. But it'd be a shame to put this magnificent beast down if it can be captured, so she'll try and keep Uta safe by clubbing the tiger, trying to break a leg, maybe, which would slow it down, or at least keep it from running off.

Kauchemar raises both brows at the flashes of light and the form taking shape from the twig's power. "That... I have no idea what it is?" Then her ears flare and she goes from mild curiousity to concern. "It's going to be disoriented and unruly from the summoning, look out!" Though the warning is a wee bit late as the tiger-dragon-thing is indeed unruly, and like a predator should turns to leap at what appears to be the less dangerous of those surrounding it. "Hey, hey! No eating my rival!"

There's an audible *CRACK* that's not the thunder from the weather as the Nightmare unfurls her whip and lashes it at the monster, trying to get it around the creature's neck and pull it away from munching on Uta any farther. Hooves dig into the desert soil to try and help brace herself, because this thing is most certainly strong.

    The strange beast of a tiger lizard is indeed trying to /eat/ Uta. Goldenblade acts first as she uses her weapon to slam the creature off of the non-monster handler.

Kauchemar is next as her whip cracks around its neck and she pulls with all her might and Xander is quick to step in as he yells over to Golden, "Check on Uta!" He brings up his weapon, as it flashes with red runes, before he slams it into the ground.

    With the monster pulled away from Uta, the Salamander summons of a wall of fire that rises high into the air, even as the lightning moves across the sky once more. The flames reflectively burning in the beast eyes as it growls at them both.

Its claws digging into the stone, as its tail sways side to side. For the moment its focus was not on Goldenblade or Uta, who are probably safe outside of the wall of flame. The two that had to stay on guard was now Kauchemar and Xander.

The beast suddenly pulls hard on Kauchemar's hold, using its razor tail to cut the whip, before leaping directly at the nightmare, to bring that same bladed tail to bare on her!

Uta's face is scrunched in a grimace of suffering. Shivering in pain, wounds still glowing, she utters, "Is... is there a healer in the party? I need a healer!" Even with the pain dampener in effect, that must hurt like crazy. Eyes still shut tight, she attempts to push herself to stand, but she has no choice but collapse again with a scream when her wounds glow brigher as a result. She rolls on the ground with gnashed teeth, hand held over the glowing damage effect.

Goldenblade looks over to Xander and Kauchemar, but they seem to have this process well in hand. She takes a moment, then, to go over to Uta and urge her, "Relax, don't panic. Take a deep breath of this." Often not good advice, but in this case, Goldenblade has pulled a flask from her beltouch. It's got a leather kind of a cap on that looks, in the right light, like a breathing mask. Kneeling down beside Uta, she'll place the mask over her nose and mouth, and Uta will get a bit of a jolt as the richly oxygenated air aids her recovery.

Kauchemar grabs farther up the whip with her other hand to pull harder and rein the monster away from Uta. While to the surprise of no one she's started singing.

"o/~ So many times it happens too fast, you change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive. o/~"

The bladed tail snaps the whip and for a moment Kauchemar recoils from the lost of tension. Which the monster lunges and sweeps the tail again with its fearsome blade! But the nimble Nightmare moves with lightning speed over her own, twirling away and grabbing her haunted shield to swing it into the path of the attack instead. There's an audible clang as the evasive move deflects the tail-blade away from her.
Nor does she miss a beat in her musical accompaniment.

"o/~ It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight!
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the eye... of the tiger! o/~"

Well they don't want to kill the thing, so instead Kauchemar slings the haunted shield away from herself, arcing into the air until it's behind the monster.
Then draws the ghost sword that goes with it and throws it!.. at the shield. The two slam together like a hammer upon a gong, causing a less physically harmful but still extremely disorienting sonic shockwave.

    The flame wall continues to keep Uta, along with Goldenblade who is helping her safe, while Kauchemar and Xander keep the beast's focus on them.

With the Tiger-like creature having to avoid two shields to the head, this gives Xander the chance to run directly right at it and pretty much grapple the top of the beast, using a broken piece of Kauchemar's whip still around its neck to hold on.

This begins to look a bit like a rodeo. The beast attempts to throw the Salamander off, but Xander holds on tight and doesn't let go. "Come on you son of bitch! Wear down! You are not winning this fight!!"

    This causes the beast to roar in frustration as it then goes racing around the fire wall, even Uta and Goldenblade might catch the display, though Kauchemar might notice that the remains of her whip are staring to loosen as the tiger-like creature runs. It is hard to say how long this will keep up!

Uta breathes in, deep, frantic, and that seems to do the trick. As the glow on her body shrinks and dampens, her expression relaxes and her breathing slows down.

She coughs a couple of times, but at least she seems more or less back to normal. "...my staff... where is my staff?", she asks, weakly, as her eyes try to agree to convege on the same object, but mostly still fail.

Hearing Kauchemar's song, '...rising up to the challenge of our rival? The last known survivor stalks the prey in the night?' Her still-not-quite-able-to-focus eyes move between Kauchemar and the Tygon, each eye at its own pace and not both necessarily pointing at the same subject. "...man, it's so hard to decide who I prefer to be stalked by. How long do I have to decide?"

Once again, distraction ensues, and Uta finds herself staring at Xander playing rodeo through a wall of fire. "...I thought the tiger was supposed to jump /through/ the flaming hoop?"

Goldenblade gets Uta situated with a smile and a clap on the shoulder, handing her back the staff that had fallen to the side, then helps her to her feet. Everything situated there, she looks on to see Xander riding the tiger. "Impressive," she murmurs, then, slipping through shadow, almost, to try and help the situation, a bit like a rodeo clown helping the bronc rider. She's not trained for this, so it's probably hilarious to watch, at least from a safe distance.

Xander grabbed part of the broken whip. It's not going to hold on for very long, that is true. But he has it, and is using it to try and ride the tiger-lizard to wear it down, and that is just enough injucture that Kauchemar needs. Because it gives her something familiar to focus on, instead of having to try and keep up with the rampaging beast and impromptu rider. The spectacles of ghostly flame flare into being around her eyes as she focuses on the remains of the whip in Xander's grasp, and she shifts from singing to more of an ominous chant, complete with a haunting reverb to her voice.

"To the end we must toil
Ties that bind, twist and coil
Gripping darkness to prevail

Catch this tiger by more than tail!"

As it starts to come loose the bit of whip in Xander's hands squirms and ripples, followed by darkness conjured by the Nightmare Bard billowing out of the broken ends. Tendrils of barbed darkness wind around the pair... Not to attack directly persay, but to help keep Xander bound to the beast's backside for the hell of a ride he's on.

    Kauchemar help's Xander stay on, Goldenblade almost gets ran over by the scaled tiger beast and Uta gets to observe the work of Monster Handler Adventurers at their best.

Eventually the monster starts to wear down. It snaps its teeth, but its growling is growing tired and eventually Xander yanks on that piece of whip that is still held on by Kauchemar's magical act. "There ya go." He says calmly, though he is also a little tired himself. "That's it..."

Very carefully he pulls out from his inventory a collar. He also just as carefully goes to move it near the beast. Making no quick movements to start the 'Razortail Tygon' back up again.

The Salamander does glance over to Uta, making sure she is alright. His own mana is getting low by keeping the flame wall up, which is starting to lower.

    As the collar gets closer, they can see it expand and it is in that moment, Xander has to move fast, looping the collar around, just as the tiger tries to reach around to bite; To get that collar on. Which it glows brightly as it adjusts itself around the tiger monster's neck. With that it flashes and as it does, so does the Tygon's eyes, before it actually comes to full calm down.

Xander sits on its back for a moment, looking at it, then to the others, back to it. "I... Think that actually worked." He murmurs gently. Not seeming sure if the relic would hold or not.

Goldenblade gahs as she's trampled by the tygon. Luckily, it's got paws rather than hooves, and her armor is enough to keep her from being disemboweled by the claws. She picks herself up as Xander gets the beast under control, and brushes herself off. She's wearing a bit more turf than she really cares to. "Well," she observes. "That seemed to work out?"

Uta, who had been propping herself up by holding onto her staff, and watching intently, trying to learn as much as she could from the exercise (despite having missed the first crucial moment on account of being distracted by excruciating pain and almost being eaten), limps towards the captured beast. "...has it been tamed now? Is it safe to approach?", she asks, still keeping at quite a safe distance. She breaks into a huge smile. "You did it, Xander! You captured a monster of unknown level and strength! Do you get to name it now?" She cocks her head at the dire feline. "...how about Can Opener?" She gestures vaguely. "...you can... like... spell it Kanopenah to... you know, make it look more edgy when people inspect."

Kauchemar releases the Thorn Calamite spell once the creature starts to slough in energy. It's not quite as draining to cast that on one person as it is a party, but she wants to keep a fair stock of MP at hand in case something else happens. Though it seems the Relic is doing it's job to calm the beast.

Kauchemar snaps her fingers, her Binder weapons responding with the sword resheathing itself at her back, and the shield hanging itself over the sword. Got to keep it on the exterior, its often the one she calls first into action. "So.... does Rylen know you're bringing another mouth to feed home? Cuz that's a pretty big mouth it's got there. Almost ate Uta whole."

    "Yeah, Rylen knowns." Xander says to Kauchemar, reaching down carefully to pat the Razortail Tygon, unsure-- if it is indeed going to behave. It simply lets out a chuff-like sound.

The Salamander looks then over to Uta, "It... Might be. But I rather we keep you and /it/ away until we get back. I hate for this fella to think your like a chew-toy or something." There was an amused smirk, before he goes to hop down carefully.

His draconic eyes look over to Goldenblade, "Also, thank you as well. For one, helping out Uta, but also helping keep it kinda in the wall when it was starting to run a bit wild." He smiles brightly. "You all did great!" Then there was another rumble of thunder in the darkness as another gust of wind comes by. "However," He looks off to the distance. "We might want to head back to town and catch the next boat before this storm picks up."

Kauchemar tilts her head back a bit, an ear twitching as her eyes flicker. "Yeah. I'm no meteorologist but even I know a storm brewing when I see one."

Goldenblade grimaces at the thunder and nods to Xander about getting back to town. "Good plan," she says. "I lost my rain cloak the other night, I need to get a new one." She will make her way, then, back to town.

"That is an excellent suggestion," Uta says looking up at the sky. "I'm in the final phases of calibrating all the instruments and doing the preparatory work like organizing the paperwork, making sure the Tactile Feedback Acquisition Station works properly, and related support tasks. I'm so eager to start some actual work on researching slimes..." Her staff used as a crutch of sorts as she limps forward, she frowns. "With all these side projects I've been delaying my schedules by two months, and now I have a part time paid intern, so I need to seriously get this thing on track." A smile returns on her fetures. "And then enjoy the Storm Festival!" She looks around between Kauchemar, Goldenblade, and Xander in turn. "As much as being stuck here is annoying, I have to admit that festivals are really starting to grow on me." She turns to look ahead of herself, as a few tentative steps are taken, with the help of her 'crutch', on the uneven rocky ground. "I'm really looking forward to this one, and I want to be in my best shape to enjoy it!"

    Xander observes as the beast follows and then hrms. He walks over to Uta who is not moving al that great and unless she protests to loudly, he goes to pick her up; Then sit her down on the new tame. "Easier for you to keep up." He says softly.

Then leads the group down the mountain side once more, so they don't get caught up there when the rain comes and take a chance with a mud slide... As much fun as a mud fight /might/ be.

As they do go down the side, he looks over to Kauchemar. "I owe you one, Kauchemar. I saw what you did to keep the piece of whip on its neck... and if you didn't... Hard to say what may have happened next."

Kauchemar smirks one of those casually mischevious grins of hers. "No, you don't what to know what may have happened." Did she? She does posess Divination after all. "But we've adverted that timeline, so no need to worry about it!" She laughs as she strides along, though with that unsettling bray it's not really a reassuring one.

But she might just be joking. Maybe?

    As the camera pans away from our heroes and the wind gently howls, the only thing Xander can be heard saying back to Kauchemar is a very simple, "... What is that suppose to mean?!" Probably with only her laughter in time with a possible lightning strike.

The world may never know...