Strength - Fighting off the Spring's Defender

Nami finally wandered away from the water, flicking droplets from the tips of her long ears. "I think you guys are just worrying too much, honestly. Look how pretty this place is! Are you really going to let some silly little fears ruin it for you?"

As if by fate (fate decided by someone with a very twisted sense of humor at that), the trees seemed to almost explode behind her as she finished speaking. Lichen and bark sprayed everywhere as an extremely large nightmare burst into the clearing, snarling. Its voice was choked with rage, loud enough to shake the very ground they stood on. "The only one ruining the beauty of this spring is you lot! Begone, trespassers!"

Nami barely had the time to turn and face it before it charged straight for the three of them.

Yasu left her head as she heard the sounds before seeing the nightmare coming right them before she jump in front of Nami. "We where not trespassers." she growls as she eyed the nightmare and use her body as a shield as the nightmare ram into her and she push the nightmare down to the ground. "We only came here to the spring as rite of passer." She flicking her tail she look over at Nami.

Mahaziver looked at her companions who seemed to be unhappy or overall angry. Her ears pulled back as her tail lashed behind her. "I don't care for whatever is going on but calling us trespassers is a lie. Begone foul beast or thing."

The little sprite didn't seem too ruffled. Though she seemed all but rooted into place earlier, she now easily trotted ahead to Yasu. "Wow! You're pretty fast for your size!" The nightmare clawed its way out of the dracus's grip as soon as her head was turned, ears flattened in anger. "You lie, all of you! You are not welcome here in Modasheu. Leave this place and crawl back to the kingdoms you came from or I shall drive you out by force!" It didn't seem to care about or even notice Nami's complete lack of fear, nipping Yasu's leg as it was the closest thing within reach.

Nami dashed over and let out a hiss, her high voice not nearly as threatening as she intended it to be. "Maybe if you'd stop fighting and listen, you'd realize that we're not lying! We have as much a right to be here as any stinky old nightmare like you!" Before she could continue, she found herself swept off of her feet by a simple well aimed kick to her side. Her small body went flying across the clearing.

She growls but heard what Nami said and look to the nightmare before Yasu put her claw feet into the nightmare face. " Listen that is what we are here and we where about to leave so there was no need to attack us like we are the enemy here." she let out a snorted. She saw Nami go flying and look at the nightmare. 'You could've hurt her or worst and we did nothing to you for us to fight you." She was unsure if the nightmare would listen or that would end up fighting the nightmare.

Mahaziver looked at her small companion. As little as she actually wanted to fight she seemed to know that deep down that wasn't a option. A low growl rolled away from her. As much as the q'lin didn't like her anger at the moment it was justified by that things actions.

The nightmare twisted its head to bite at Yasu's wrists, growling. "You don't seem to understand that you are the enemy here! You having not left by now proves that."

Despite the sheer distance she'd been thrown and the speed at which she hit the ground, Nami didn't seem to be too injured. If she was hurt at all she didn't show it, having popped back up as quickly as she'd been kicked down. "I'm fine!" She chirped to Yasu, tail lashing, then ran over to their other companion. "Why are you just standing there?" She whispered rather loudly to the q'lin. "With all three of us fighting we'll be sure to drive it off!"

She rear up now feeling the nightmare teeth in her wrists and landing on her back as she flick her tail. "That it." She set up and look at the nightmare circle it like a wolf. "I had it with the way you are acting tower the others. You almost hurt Nami and i will not take that one bit." Shaking herself she slap the nightmare face and then kept her pin down as she look at the others. "Do we fight this nightmare or leave?" she asked the other two.

"Fighting would most likely make the most sense." Mahaziver said with a cold tone. Her tail almost protectively wrapped around the much smaller drakiri.

"Yeah!!" The little sprite squirmed slightly, both in excitement and in an effort to get free from Mahaziver's long snake-like tail. That thing was thicker around than she was! Her predicament didn't seem to put a damper on her spirit in the slightest, mostly likely because she knew that the q'lin was a friend and wouldn't hurt her (at least not on purpose).

"Ha! I can hurt you and your friends a lot more than 'almost.' Just-" Any further retort was cut off as it shrieked in rage upon being slapped, easily being pinned under Yasu's weight and flailing angrily underneath her. Though it seemed too blinded by rage to do anything initially, it slowly uncurled its vicious scorpion tail and reared it back to strike her hindquarters.

Nami, seeing this, wriggled in Mahziver's grip more insistently, shouting a (rather unhelpful) warning. "Aaaaaaah, Yasu!!!"

Yasu heard the smaller draks shouting and just in time as she jump away from the nightmare tail and growls as she snorted. "Miss. She flick her tail to knock the nightmare drak over and look at two two but then back at the nightmare. "You left us no choice but to fight you."

Mahaziver not even really thinking let out a low growl. As far as the q'lin could see the nightmare needed to be ripped limb from limb and left for the crows to feast on. Her tail loosened just enough to drop the extremely small sprite maybe a foot or two off the ground.

Nami was glad to be let free and didn't even use her chance to run right for their opponent, surprisingly enough. "I think the first thing we should do is take care of that tail," she whispered. "You guys don't have any resistance to venom, you're not sprites." She left out the fact that because they were not sprites and closer to the nightmare in size, they would find fighting her to be much, much easier.

The nightmare herself didn't seem too fazed by the threats or growling, getting up quickly and clawing at the ground. "Scared?" She looked at Mahaziver in particular, daring to step a little closer. Nami let out a hiss in warning, tail held high. "Hiding behind your little friend there?"

She look at Nami and she was right. She and Mahaziver could get killed if that where not careful. "So how do we go about cutting the tip off?" she whisper to both.

Mahaziver pulled herself back from her more primal form of mind. She looked at them both before letting out a weak growl. "To be fair I don't know what you two were talking about. I blank out sometimes but if it means I can rip that nightmare to shreds then count me in." Mahaziver was oddly enough protective of the two very strange and downright funny drakiri. Nothing in her mind could tell her otherwise

The nightmare took a step back to where it was before, confused and more than a little annoyed at the lack of response to her idle jibe. Mahaziver seemed to be the only serious one of the three intruders, but was she actually an airhead too? It was hard to tell. She growled, pawing at the ground again. "Well? Are you just going to stand there or are you going to fight?" Another growl, and a lash of her scorpion tail. "Or leave entirely. It's not too late for that, you know."

Nami ignored the continuous threats. "I can distract her, if you guys want." She wrapped her tail around her feet for a second but was too antsy to stay still for very long, quickly unwrapping it and waving it from side to side in excitement. "She seems to get angry super easily, after all. You guys can actually land the punches....If you're fast enough to keep up with us." She let out a giggle.

She look at the Q'lin. "We will but aim for the tail. if one of us get hit we could die out here so we need to remove that stinger and maybe she will back off." she look at both. "If you can keep her busy me and Mahaziver could take her scorpion tail out."

Mahaziver smiled darkly. Her tail once more wrapped around her precious golden pearl. She loved the feel of it. "I'm up for that." Her eyes locked on the nightmare like they were some kind of pray.

Nami dashed off away from the two, skidding to a stop past the nightmare. It didn't turned to face her, instead staying in place and growling at Yasu and Mahaziver. "Sending the little one to do your bidding, are you? That's the move of a coward."

Nami pranced back into her line of sight, hoping her plan wasn't failing already. ....Then she remembered what she said. She had to actually distract her. Duh. "Hey you! You keep calling them cowards but I think that you're doing that to cover up the fact that you're scared of me!" She had a smug look on her face, as if she was just waiting to be punched. (And she was, wasn't she? Luckily speed was on her side.)

Just as she'd hoped, the nightmare let out a roar and whirled away from her friends, tail twitching in anger.

Yasu look at the nightmare but heard what Nami said and chuckles to herself but look at Q'lin. "You ready?" She give the Q'lin no time. She move quickly to go for the tail grabbing the ball end with her claws but making sure the tip never come any close to her to sting her. She then bite down on the tail holding the nightmare so it would not go for Nami.

Mahaziver took one glance ant the nightmare before losing herself once more to the madness. All she could remember was the color red and the taste of blood as it filled her mouth. How was she to know that she had fully torn off one of the nightmares legs.

Nami ducked back as the Nightmare lunged towards her. ....Except it wasn't lunging at all, only collapsing with a shriek, not out of rage but of pain.

It writhed on the ground, burning eyes wild with fear. "Are you insane?!" Due to her tail still being stuck in Yasu's mouth, she couldn't even begin to crawl away. She wasn't even sure whether she wanted to. Maybe it would be better to inflict as much damage as possible before losing too much blood. But then that risked being damaged herself... Well, she couldn't exactly escape at the moment.

Nami had crept closer to inspect the damage while the nightmare was distracted, her gold eyes wide with surprise. She paid for this oversight dearly when the nightmare sunk its teeth into the tip of her tail. Squeaking in surprise, she tried to escape, but to no avail. She was pinned just as the nightmare was pinned by Yasu.

"Get your friend to let me go, or I'll rip your damn tail off entirely," the nightmare growled through gritted teeth.

Yasu saw that and growls as she flick her tail not sure if she trusted the nightmare. "If we let you go will you not hurt us and let us go?" part of her felt like this nightmare will attack as soon as she let go but another part did not want her to let go of the tail. She look at the Q'lin.

Mahaziver dropped the leg. Her mind slowly coming back from the darkness. A look down showed blood everywhere. With a slight nod at yasu she looked at the nightmare. "One wrong move nightmare and I will be adding that pretty pelt of yours to my hord. You hear me." Mahaziver growled. Her ears were already pinned back and her tail lashed back and forth.

"I hear you loud and clear," the nightmare grunted through her grip on Nami's tail. "Not like I have a choice. Do what you will....as long as this spring is not harmed. Leave it as it was before you came."

The sprite tried to wriggle away, but each movement sent those long, sharp teeth in deeper and deeper. She looked at Yasu expectantly, face set with a grim determination. But her eyes sparked with fear, fear that she didn't want to admit to and show that she really was in a vulnerable position.

Yasu look over at Nami. She saw the fear in the sprite eyes. Yasu let go of the nightmare tail and watch her careful.

Mahaziver held the broken and torn off leg that once belonged to the nightmare in her clawed fingers. Her eyes were narrowed and she didn't seem to show any sign of trusting the already injured nightmare.

The nightmare let out a sigh as soon as her tail was set free, effectively letting Nami free as well.

Giving her tail a few licks in an effort to stop any immediate bleeding, Nami stepped back. She couldn't help feeling a little bad, even if the nightmare had given her a nasty bite... She'd certainly come out far worse. Maybe, just maybe... They should do something about that.