>>144265"Umph!"
Koptis stands back, evidently surprised by this hit, but lunges punches again
[1d20+8 = 28]
>>144264"Wah!"
The griffon whomps the stallion, knocking them both to the ground. Silver starts laughing, holding his Jubee tight and planting a kiss on her beak.
>>144266>>144265He hits Iron near the face
[1d3+3 = 5][1d20+8 = 18]>>144267"Hehe"
She kisses him back
>>144268>>144265For double damage
Iron has sustained 19 damage
>>144268>>144269Iron's snout scrunched, flinching considerably before soon returning to focus on the minotaur.
Yet his nose started to bleed and his breathing was a bit ragged, the many wounds he's sustained starting to catch up to him. Yet he couldn't let himself surrender like a coward against such a powerful, humble opponent. Reminded him of Silver in how he carried himself...
There was no way he'd be able to keep up with him with speedy attacks with how things are going, so he had to cash in on slow, powerful strikes in the hopes he can knock this hunk of a bull down.
With that strategy in place, he opted for another buck once again, harnessing the energy of what he was fighting for in order to boost his morale up.
[1d20+5 = 12]<Unarmed Strike (-5 to hit, +5 damage)
>>144268He smiles at his beautiful griffon after, happy as can be. It fades slightly as he moves on to his next topic.
"There is one more thing. That stallion we found on altar at Hoebuck, I visited him in hospital. He asked if he could stay with us, for moment at least."
>>144272Seeing Iron's hooves, and evidently with memory of the last kick, koptis moves with fear in his eyes. And he moves out of the way of Iron's hooves, letting them graze his fur. The miss is narrow, but never the less, a miss.
He returns with a punch of his own
[1d20+8 = 27]
>>144274>>144272And he hits. At least he misses Iron's shoulder, narrowly, preventing the blow from knocking Iron down
[1d3+3 = 5]>>144273"Uh... sure" she seems a bit surprised
>>144275He nods, and resumes cuddling his griffon on the floor.
"I went to spa to set up couple session after our dinner. I convinced them to let us stay after they have closed so you and I can get full spa package together."
>>144275>>144274Iron's condition was starting to worsen as he wiped off the blood flowing from his nose, struggling to breathe properly yet willing to keep fighting regardless.
Perhaps there is another way to do this: If he is able to trip him up, Koptis' attacks will be weakened considerably, thus maybe allowing him one last shot at clutching victory.
With a heavy heart at this somewhat dubious move, Iron rushes forth, hopping up on his hindlegs in an attempt to physically force the bull to trip and fall to the ground.
[1d20+10 = 27]<Melee Touch Attack
>>144276gasp"
Really?"
Her voice is exceptionally high pitched now, and she almost vibrates with excitement
>>144277Hit
>>144278He nods vigorously.
"Everything spa has to offer, we will experience together. I can not think of better way to relax."
>>144279Opposed
[1d20+3 = 9]>>144280"That sounds great!" she says, hopping up
>>144281Silver takes the opportunity to get up as well. He resumes smiling at Jubilosa.
"Our dinner reservation is at 5:15, so you have until then to get
really excited."
>>144282She spreads her wings, which touch the walls, and fortunately do not threaten to turn anything over
>>144281After pushing the minotaur onto his back, Iron took an opportunity to quickly strike at his chest.
[1d20+10 = 13]<Fast, non-lethal bonk
>>144284And with this, Iron lands a hit
>>144286Iron lands a hit on Koptis, who then reaches for his side scabbard, and tries to stand up
Iron's eyes widened, clearly not expecting him to try and pull out a weapon out of his scabbard, yet he didn't have much else to do rather than go for another hit as he stood up in a mildly desperate attempt to knock him out.
[1d20+10 = 24]<Fast, non-lethal bonk.
>>144289He stands up, and attempts to stab Iron with a long, double bladed knife
[1d20+8 = 27]
>>144283He gazes at the wonderous sights before him, stars in his big blue pony eyes.
"Glorious..."
>>144292>>144289>>144288By bad luck, the final stab - which likely would have been only moderately concerning in its own right, seems to down Iron.
The disheveled and heavily breathing Koptis stands back up, over Iron
>>144291She hugs him as tightly as she can manage. Considering her size, her grip is very firm
>>144289>>144293One final contingency
[1d20+3 = 10]
>>144292>>144293>>144294Failure... Iron hated this feeling... no amount of morale boosting can stop this, and he could tell as his legs gave out.
"Good... fight," he complimented the minotaur, chin resting at the floor, unaware of what was about to happen. No begging, no bargaining, no requests to spare him.
>>144295>>144294"That Should teach you" Koptis says, still holding up the knife
Running up behind Koptis, White Sands sling some object at Koptis' back
[1d3+2d6]
>>144294The squeezed pony hugs back, enjoying both the outer warmth of Jubilosa's body and the inner warmth he feels from being with someone he loves, and who loves him back.
"I love you, Jubee."
>>144297>>144295But it isn't enough. Koptis turns around ,and engages White Sands
[1d20+8 = 15]
>>144299"I love you too!" she says, hapily
>>144298Koptis Thrusts a knife into White Sands, who gives a loud, angry, and pained
"
HISS!"
[1d20+2 = 15]
>>144300>>144299>>144297>>144296>>144301>>144302Iron's eyes widened, seeing Sands start a battle he was meant to finish. He tried his best to stand up in an attempt to help her, but he found his limbs to be uncooperative.
Just more lemon juice onto his wounded ego, gritting his teeth.
>>144302>>144295Precisely what goes on between White Sands and Koptis is hard to say for anyone without a very clear view of the two, but they remain in close proximity. Koptis stabs White Sands at least twice in her torso, with her only seeming to be able to respond with a glare. But he stumbles for a moment
[1d20-1 = 16]
>>144300"D'aww...so, what was my Jubee listening to before I interrupred."
Wow people started early. I'm ready to play if you are.
>>144303>>144304Never once does Sands land another hit on Koptis, and never once does Koptis stumble, or fall down. Yet something is clearly happening there, so the bright flashes of green light tell, though obscured from Iron's direct view by Koptis's body. It seems Koptis must have either lost interest, or was otherwise dazed, because he loses his grip on White Sands, who darts past him, and then kicks him - though her kick is entirely ineffective. He stumbles almost like a drunkard for a moment, and White Sands attempts to drag Iron with her teeth and magic.
>>144305"It was a radio play. They have those here."
>>144306Hello. Perhaps
>>144307"Ooo, what was it about?"
>>144307Iron was currently looking incredibly dejected, allowing his heavy, 280lbs body to be carried by the mare he was supposed to be taking for more social interactions, and yet here she was, carrying him like a foal after breaking his leg after a miscalculated dive from the waterfall.
He did try his best to be as carryable as possible to help her in that regard at the very least.
>>144309She tugs at him, looks back to Koptis, who is starting to find his footing. She then pulls something out of her bag
"Here"
She takes some sort of needle, and injects him with it.
In the matter of some seconds, Iron feels his heart pounding - not necessarily the best of things when you are bleeding. His eyes focus - yet remain blurry - and he feels full of energy, and yet drained, like the experience of waking up after a 30 minute nap after days of no sleep.
"Run!" she says to Iron
>>144310Run?
Iron quickly darts his head around, wondering where could they even go... or even better, if he could actually fight a little longer against the bull to stop his self-loathing from crumbling even more of his spirit.
>>144311It's hazy, like a dream almost. Iron is leaking blood onto the ground
"This way!"
>>144308"Oh, it's this little thing about a mare who is trying to hide a manticore from her husband. It's nice and funny."
>>144312"Heheh, that does sound funny."
>>144312Ergh. No way he's gonna be able to fight even a fly in the first place.
Without any other choice, Iron opts instead to follow Sands' voice.
>>144314Do lesser animals experince limited, lesser forms of consciousness? No one can say, but that is what Iron is experiencing now. A dazed, limited perception, where all he can tell is that he is being chased by a grave danger, like a rabbit fleeing a hawk. White Sands - who herself leaks a purple blood, and is breathing heaving, bounds in front of him, going to opposite way of the car, past buildings, past bushes, down a road, past another building, and even further
>>144313"Oh yeah, it's rather nice."
>>144315Iron, of course, followed Sands along, not seeing any reason to stop after what she just done to the bull: A backstab like that is going to garner resentment... although he wasn't sure if Koptis
was going to kill him or not. It was kind of up in the air in his mind.
>>144315"Would you like to continue listening to radio play?"
>>144316It's not clear that Koptis hasn't killed him already. Each heart beat is loud and echoes against his mind. The bushes and grass mix together, and drain of color. White Sands places her hooves together and leaps like a greyhound as she moves. The two go even further away.
>>144317"Sure" she says
>>144318He wouldn't have dreamt Sands saving his sorry flank from the jaws of death. That much he knew about himself.
Although the constant running made it feel like he was in a... everconstant terrain that the gods pulled from at a similar speed that he was running, because it felt like he was dashing in place.
>>144318Silver trots over with Jubee to the couch, and sits down with her to listen to the radio play.
>>144319Sometime passes. It feels like half an hour, but maybe it was one minute. Time doesn't really seem to pass normally. White Sands leads them into a building, then into a room and shuts a door.
>>144320So it sounds like there is this guy who is trying to hide a trained manticore he took from a... managerie? A circus act? It's kind of hard to tell, but some rich guy. And this guy is a business partner of the husband so the wife doesn't want the information to come to life, but she also doesn't want
him to know, or anyone, really, because of how obviously illegal this is. So they are trying to hide it in a room, but then the husband comes in and they have to pass off the manticore as a foreign exchange student that the wife is giving piano lessons. And the only sounds the Manticore can get out is "Roo" so the Husband thinks the Manticore is a foriegn exchange student named "Rue."
At least that is what Silver can discern so far
>>144321Iron kept running towards... somewhere, unsure if he should still do so, considering the abnormal circumstances...
...Sands could stop him from running further if she wanted to, right?
>>144322If she cannot, the walls can. Iron is in an enclosed room now.
>>144321Silver can't help but laugh and chortle at the antics of this family as he listens.
>>144323Thus, Iron crashes facefirst into a wall in his drug-induced, animalistic panic, hopefully without going into a coma or becoming unconscious.
>>144325It's not clear that either of those two things wasn't going to happen anyways
crashAnd things start to go dark
>>144324And now her parents are over. And they want to hear "Rue" play the piano, to show off his progress
>>144326And as they went dark, all he had to think of was... he failed.
>>144326"Heheeee, this will not go well for them."
>>144328Fortunately the need for a performance is saved by the arrival of... the police? Well... that's not a good turn of events
>>144327"You'll get 'em next time," Sands seems to say. Or maybe she didn't say it at all. It's a bit hazy. Iron goes black
>>144330They are looking for... Gasp! The missing Manticore! Shame no one has seen it. But they will stay for tea, however. Anyways, the guests want to know more about Rue's homeland
>>144331Iron wakes up after some time, in severe pain, and feeling weak.
Actually he feels better than he did a couple days ago, to be honest
>>144332Iron groaned softly, his legs twitching softly in wherever he was right about now. Honestly, the pain served to wash away some of his shortcomings as he couldn't quite focus on them just yet.
(This is awful...) he grumbled in his head, with tempered anger.
>>144332"Heheheh, how come none of them notice? This is very silly."
>>144334Rue is reticent to talk about his homeland, though it seems there may be a communication barrier.
Then things come to a true head when the rich pony who owns the Manticore enters, evidently following the police there.
>>144333There's a sensation of burning, as it seems White Sands - bandaged herself - has placed bandages on Iron
>>144335Iron simply sighed soon after, being reminded once again of his failure to keep his word, simply staying silent with a dejected, shamed demeanor while staring at the floor.
>>144337The unicorn immediately accuses Rue of being the missing Manticore, to which the mare has to explain that the owner is simply ignorant of griffyaks and really should apologize for his insensitivity. A loud argument breaks out, with the police and the husband not knowing who to believe. The husband in particular is concerned about possible deception.
>>144336He may as well, feeling as weak as he does.
Sands says nothing at the moment
>>144338"Ah, lies are like building house on sand. It will always have flimsy foundation."
>>144338Thus, only his thoughts made him company while laying on the floor with a vacant look on his eyes.
Not only did he fail to take out the exemplary bull that would've sent the message of not messing on Waterfront's turf, he had to be saved by the mare he was supposed to show how reliable this is...
It won't be long before they try and send assassin squads, scouring around the city with the minotaur at the front, looking for them to finish the job. Sure, he may have had pretended to be some disgruntled lover, but soon, the pieces will fall together and the many gang members will realize what his role actually was. They were going to be persecuted for as long as they remained here the moment they find out.
A big failure all around... and condemning White Sands to die or flee due to his incompetence.
>>144339>>144337But as the unicorn owner goes forward to definitively prove that Rue is actually a manticore, there is a new development:
The husband accuses the wife and the business partner of conducting an affair. He's noticed the two being around either other a lot lately, trying to lock doors, and always seeming like they are hiding something. They both immediately deny this, but the argument stops the unicorn's efforts to uncover Rue's true identity
>>144340Now she speaks
"I told you they were dangerous."
>>144341Iron simply exhales, as if to say he knew that already.
>>144341"I can see why you like this, Jubee, this is riveting!'
>>144343>>144342"Now they will try to find us" she says
>>144344The confrontation heats up, with the husband standing up against the business partner, and the unicorn against Rue. With the husband yelling at the partner, the unicorn makes a run for Rue, but collides with the business partner. They both fall to the ground...
To show a marking on the leg of the Unicorn. The police immediately recognize the marking as a scar belonging to a dangerous sorcerer who is known to use animals as puppets for attacks. He got in a confrontation with Imperial Guard and escaped, but was wounded in the attack, hence the scar
>>144345Iron weakly nodded before trying to stand up, just wanting to get this over with.
>>144346The room is kind of hard to identify. It looks like the back room of a commercial establishment. At least there is a couch, which Iron is laying on.
"Where shall we go tonight?" she asks
>>144347"Someplace that heals me," Iron replied in a monotone, somewhat tired voice. "Cannot complete mission like this."
>>144348The sorcerer quickly uses spells to immobilize both police officers. At this time, the parents - who have tried to stay off to the side of the room - admit to not liking the wife's piano lessons, playing, or even griffyaks. This distracts the sorcerer for long enough for the business partner to tackle the sorcerer to the ground. This works, until the sorcerer gets far away enough to use his horn on the business partner. But the sorcerer is immediately pawed and smashed down by Rue's paws, knocking him out
>>144349"No. You cannot. I don't know that you can complete it at all now. You need a hospital." she says
>>144350"Wow! What amazing climax to story!"
>>144351"All I need is to send those killsquads with a kick in their flanks back to their chieftains," Iron mumbled, looking for an exit to drag himself out of. "All I need... is a revitalizer. An invirgorator..."
>>144352The sorcerer is knocked out, and when the police are released from their magical hold, take the sorcerer into custody. The parents are awkward, both because of the fight and their words about their daughter's chosen hobby.
Although the mare and the business partner wait until the police leave, they come clean. They explain that Rue is actually a manticore they have been hiding. The parents seem to believe it, but admit they couldn't tell the difference between a forest monster and a foreign creature anyways. They leave. The husband, however, does not believe this story at all, and seems to believe this is a crazy story to cover up an affair. With uncertainty, he leaves the room. The business partner and the mare collapse onto the couch, while Rue curls up and goes to sleep.
fin>>144353"You'll need a lot of revitalizers" she says
>>144354"I know," Iron breathed out, starting his tentative walk towards somewhere where he could look at outside, or another room elsewhere. Basically anything that could possibly try to get him out of this debilitating state and into action once again.
>>144354Silver stomps his forehooves against the couch in applause.
"Bravo!"
>>144356Jubilosa giggles, while the radio gives a listing of the names of the actors involved in the performance of "A Mare, a Friend, and a Manticore."
>>144355There is a pair of windows with the blinds down, and the one closed door
"Where are you going?" White Sands asks
>>144357"I will not find the revitalizers in here," Iron answered, opting to shamble to the blinds in order to see any spots where he could get the treatments he needs right about now.
>>144357"If this is what it is like listening to radio play, imagine what it is like watching movie..."
>>144359She opens her mouth wide
"Can we do that?"
>>144358"Stop. I'll take you to one. Unless that Zebra of yours can help you."
>>144360"She can, yes," Iron nods softly, his extended foreleg shaking the slightest bit as he kept himself from opening the blinds. "She knows a healer and is also a healer in her own right."
>>144361She flaps her wings
"Eeek!"
>>144362"Let's get out of this town" She says
>>144363He holds onto his precious griffon tight, as if his life depended on it.
>>144363"Have a route to take?" Iron humored, not wanting to get Sands too worried and get himself killed without even downing one extra griffon.
>>144364Griffin is held. Very tightly.>>144365"Down Percheron" she says
"The question is, how will we get there?"
>>144366"Walking," Iron mumbled, thinking through the pain "If you can somehow change your appearance right now, you can cover me in a blanket and escort me out of town."