Headlamps of the Hart/A Grand Tour [Trip/Rich]

Sephus had been holding his breath for a while there, once he heard the gasp from the crowd there was a plume of steam that whistled through his teeth. ‘This doesn’t sound good.’ Those gasps certainly didn’t sound like the ‘oh my god he did it’ sort of gasp. Generally positive. This sounded like the ‘Oh god what has he done’ sort of gasp. Generally negative.

The Tanist’s words certainly didn’t help. Though he wasn’t going to disagree that his blow was a desperate one. He just didn’t want to lose. Now he was in for some real trouble it would seem. “What?”

He was getting more worried by the second. The words of his assigned coach certainly didn’t help with that. He was made of stern stuff, but whatever was in that tin made him shiver to his core… He was glad he didn’t evolve with the ability to vomit because he would have lost his lunch by now… Still it helped ease his nerves. Though now he was looking at the strange rune being painted across his chest like. What the hell is this for?

And oh boy he would get his answer. “A next stage? I thought…” He thought that would be it. A nice lovely tie. N O. His serpentine Pupils noticeably widened into disks after hearing he was now in what was essentially a deathmatch with the Tanist with these painted runes stopping them from actually dying. “W h a t ?” He was anything but alright with this madness. But he couldn’t step out of the pacing he was being swept up in.

Being pushed right back into the arena he could confirm that Anne had a similar rune on her chest. One he didn’t look at for too long and instead focussed on her face. ‘Why does she look so apologetic…?’ He tried not to take what she said as a backhanded compliment. But in all honesty, he had fun with that fight for how terrifying it was going up against an Amazonian tank in close quarters combat. It was thrilling to face an opponent like this.

“You don’t need to apologise for anything, noble Tanist. I promise not to hold a grudge as long as this rune does its job. If I stay dead after this I’ll be very cross.” His tone was rather light, even jovial, for the grim note of the conversation. And he did so with ease, there was no false bravado in his words. Only the truth. He has spent most of his life before Zether founded the Kingdom in constant conflict. An existence of life or death offensives against creatures of equal skill and cunning. So fighting the Tanist was rather refreshing. A worthy foe with a truly honourable concept of duelling.

“And don’t sell yourself short. You well and truly had me. You just underestimated my drive to win even if it meant bodily harm. As long as I can still walk, bite, lift my arms, then I will fight until I no longer can. So do me a favour Tanist… Do me the honour of fighting me with everything.” He knew he was asking for trouble with that. But right now… This was a fight to the death. Sort of. His eyes showed that he was more than ready, as he brought his claws out… Ready for this fight to begin. Win or lose. He was going to fight to win.

The Tanist seemed almost confused at Sephus' words. She cocked her head to the side a little. "Good Lord Commander Sephus, it is the nature of Reanach to fight with every ounce of strength to overcome your opponent. I would do you no less than to respect the rules of the match." She took a deep breath as tears welted in her eyes, "forgive me for my weeping." She wiped her face, "crying like a babe." She sighed and took another deep breath. "I am not a killer or an animal. I may have felled foes before in combat but there was honour and pride. But it has been a long time since I've killed." She spoke with a soft, motherly tone. Her voice and sad face were juxtaposed to her hulking physique, posed as if reading a pounce. Her claws extended at the nails, she looked ready to grapple Sephus. Then it clicked for Sephus! She was not sorry because she sold herself short. She was apologising in advance for killing him.

As the order was given to begin the duel, Anne practically phased off the ground and Sephus found her already on top of him. Her claws and fangs were going straight for his throat. Her eyes may be blinded with tears but her nose and ears were as active as ever as Sephus found the Tanist's fangs and claws aimed straight for his neck. The fight would be over soon if he did not act fast.

Hearing the Tanist’s word and getting some more context. He felt like he really jumped the gun on this. And apparently she was already fighting with everything she had… Within the confines of a duel of course but still. She was giving 100%. And his words now may sound… Well like he was insinuating she was holding back. “Ah.” Now he felt like quite the prick. “Er.” One that was digging an even deeper grave for himself.

It was a good thing this was a match to the pseudo-death. Otherwise this feeling of wanting to crawl into a hole and cease breathing would feel overwhelming.

‘Should that really be the better alternative though?’

The click in his kind did come. But for him there were things that did not change.

“You… You have nothing to weep about.” He already felt terrible. But it was no lie when he said that she should not apologise to him. “I’m still firm that you have nothing to apologise for. Even with my fancy titles and honours, I am a killer. No more than an animal before given higher intelligence. Born and raised to kill for my god, my father. My former King of Blades. And now I will kill for his daughter. The Empress who sits on his throne. If I fall, outside the fact that I’ll get back up after if this thing works, then I will have fought with everything and died well to someone worthy of that fact.”

He talks big, he speaks of pride and honours of a warrior. But the void behind his eyes spoke a deeper truth. Death was the fate of all warriors. Even for his people who were created to destroy the enemies of their God, their creator, their father. Sethus has the desire to march on in the face of the inevitable but until then he will fight on and live to continue his journey. But he would not curse whoever stopped it. That is not what the Firstborn are about.

Sephus watched as the ground was crushed underfoot as the Tanist pushed off the floor. To Sephus, the world slowed to a crawl as the Tanist’s fangs and claws were aimed at his throat.

If he did not act. His death would be painful and bloody.

In place of any plan. Of any strategy he could think up in the moments he could possibly consider this close to death. Sephus let instinct rule his movements while his mind considered what to do next.

No matter how overwhelming, Anne had rushed straight for him and was now off the air. Aiming to pin and tear his throat out most likely.

So then… What should he do?

Sephus used all of his strength to just do one simple thing, he would dodge. His feet crunched against the area floor as he leaped to the left. But here is where his retreat ended. Midway into his dodge, Sephus twisted gracefully in the air before his feet pounded against the ground, he jumped off the ground, putting himself in the air above the Tanist… Making himself quite the target.

But the look in his eyes while he was in the air was of anything other than prey. Right now this was a fight to the death because he dared to draw… His eyes were narrowed into fine golden slits. Cold… Yet… They brimmed with the same fiery sympathy that he held towards Liline when they had their little spat back on the Capital world. He could understand that she didn’t want things to end like this and was sorry… But then so was he.

His tail would lash out from behind him, aiming to coil itself around Anne’s neck… With the structure of her head, he didn’t need to worry about her biting it with it coiled around her neck. But she could still claw against it or him… So he used his frankly frightening tail strength to pull himself onto her back, tail side up against her neck, where he could wrap his legs around her shoulders and lock them to restrict her arms and his own arms around her waist so he could dig his claws into her sides.

Sephus aimed to break her neck using his tails freakish strength. Anne could feel it the instant the pressure started, if he used this during the duel he could have broken bone if he used it on her arms. This was his way to win without too much bloodshed. Quick. Brutal. But ultimately. Efficient.

There was more to his promotion of Lord Commander than just his close friendship to the Imperial family.

Anne's neck was thicker than Sephus might have been prepared for when he tried to coil his tail around it. And indeed the moment he tried to pin her arms he felt that something was wrong. His claws dug into her sides and drew blood for sure, but Anne just seemed to power through it all. As his legs wrapped over her shoulders and his tail squeezed her neck, she just seemed to power through the pin. Her arms broke free of his grip and suddenly she dug her own claws into his tail. Sephus remembered the Creach were well adapted to be diggers, their upper body strength was adapted to move rock and dirt with just their claws and strength. Sephus' pin was just not enough to restrict the warrior's arms. She easily pried his tail from her neck, though her skin was bruised, she now had Sephus in a very bad position. She had him firmly within both arms, and that was when Sephus suddenly felt a crack and felt all the air leave his lungs. His vision got blurry on the peripherals but then there was the sound of a chain breaking and suddenly felt the uncomfortable sensation of all the air that had left his lungs rush back in. His vision returned to normal and he felt nauseous. He felt his feet firmly touch the ground again and after a few minutes of regaining his composure, he saw Liline smirking and Anne kneeling next to him.
"Well, Lord Commander I expected you to uphold my honour better. Now the duchess is three crowns richer." She laughed as behind her the duchess was standing with a drink. "A bloody bad blow you took there, love. She broke both your neck and back in one motion. It was... quite impressive if not terrifying."
Anne was still teary eyed, "Good Lord Commander you fought bravely and better than all I have faced. You have earned my respect as a warrior. My hide will forever remain scarred with the wounds given by a magnificent warrior such as yourself." Sephus noticed her sides were still bleeding from where he dug his claws in, and indeed as she pulled him off he had created long and deep wounds that still bleed even now.

The Duchess approached, "Good lad, good. You proved yourself a good fighter. Almost had my Anne there, but alas. Still, jolly good. Fetch a bath for these two and then dinner. My servant will take you to a room you may use to rest a while. They'll fetch you for dinner." She said as she walked off. The same meascthan maid from before approached and bowed. She led the couple through the castle to a small room in the upper sections where Sephus was expected to clean himself after his fight. Liline sat near a window and watched him.
"Well you gave her a good thrashing, love."

Sephus could feel it as he used the full might of his tail to try and break Anne’s neck. He underestimated just how strong her own neck muscles were compared to his tail… A human neck would have been an easy thing, a Watrike would have been more of a struggle based on the variation of Trike but it would have been doable… Seems like Creach was the limit for the foreseeable future. Once he realised that, Sephus just had a soft grin on his face before the sudden crack came and all the air left his lungs.

It was his loss.

Once he woke up again, as air filled his lungs and the momentary delirium of being very dead a moment ago, he had to overcome the shivers and nausea that came from his revival. His first words?

“Ow.” He croaked to the two women looming over him. He did look up to Liline first and then Anne. It was actually easier for him to look at her now after she killed him, guess some of the embarrassment from her lackey of modesty got the wind knocked out of it after a crushed spine but ah well.

Liline’s smirk was not expected seeing as he was just pushing up daisies but it was pretty much guaranteed that he would come back. So no harm. And to her quip he did look surprised and slightly offended. “Only three?!” He gasped in mock astonishment. He didn’t actually expect to bet, even then bet on him winning. He was up against a fuzzy mountain… Then again he would have likely done the same. “I wish I could say I gave as good as I got but that would be me coping. If I ever have to do this again, in which case punch me if I say yes to another deathmatch, I’ll make up for those crowns in spades.” As Liline recounted the blow that took him out he rubbed his neck as he grimaced softly, still feeling a little stiff. “Mmm it did feel that way, love.”

He then looked to the tearful Creach woman who had just broken his neck and beck. Now that his head was clearer again he rubbed at his neck for an all too different reason, feeling rather bad for putting her through all that. He didn’t hold any grudge against her, she did as she had to and honoured him for his time in the fight. Even if she absolutely squashed him. He did notice that she had not tended to the claw wounds in her sides, something he was worried about but he knew better than to be fussy right now. So instead he just gave a sigh and offered his hand. “You fought valiantly too despite the curveballs I threw at you. You are one of the very few people in my life that have made me fight so hard for something, present company included.”

Soon enough he could start to get to his feet as the Duchess approached, he thought it was rather generous of her to say that he had Anne there for a moment. But if he went further then it was likely he could have, but that would have been him fighting as a beast not a warrior. Still he did give it his all, and he couldn’t ask for more. “It’s kind of you to say so, Duchess.” He says with a bow before the maid from before started to lead him and Liline away.

Which was perfect once they were led to a room where he could finally get washed up, so much dirt and blood was making him needlessly nostalgic. The only thing that would complete this was actually hunting down some Zerg. But still he gave a satisfied sigh as he cleaned himself up while Liline gave him some kind words. He gave a smile back over his shoulder. “I got my butt kicked, I’m not exactly broke up about it though. But thank you, love. The difference in weight class was the biggest issue there.” He says as he finishes washing up and starts to dry himself off. “Aaah if only I was 2ft taller, and many 10 more stones. I would have won.”

Liline seemed offended by Sephus' comments, though in a casual and joking way rather than seriously offended. She shook her head, "and whatever will we do with a warrior who blames his defeat on his opponent's size alone. Does the dear and good Lord Commander blame his defeat purely on his size? I thought he would own up to his loss." She said with a sarcastic patronising tone. "Perhaps then, he lost before he even set foot in the ring. Having decide he was too small to defeat the Tannist."

When they reached their temporary lodging, the room was cozy and old. It smelled dusty, clearly having been cleaned recently after a prolonged time of disuse. The maid showed them in and walked off soon after. Sephus was free to have the bath to himself as Liline helped herself to a small chair by a window.

As Sephus finished bathing, the maid returned to fetch them for their feast. When he arrived downstairs with Liline, the two were sat at a large wooden table with dozens of others. The Duchess sat square in the middle of the table and sephus and Liline were sat opposite of her and the Tannist. The other creach party attendees were sat around them. The food on the table consisted of a decent spread, some bloodpie, cheese, sausage, mashed turnips, bread, beer, wine, and a large roast stag. The stag had been butchered into two racks of ribs, the shoulders, and the thighs. It's antlers were being used as a decorative centrepiece on the table. As soon as Liline and Sephus took their seats the party went about helping themselves. They scooped food onto their plates and started eating and maids went about filling glasses with whiskey. Though guests were serving themselves wine or relish in bumpers. The wine was an old and earthy red, the relish a dark stout beer. Liline took after the party and grabbed herself a scoop of bloodpie and a small dollop of white soft cheese to top it with. She then went for a slice of the stag and some turnip. Finishing her plate off with a bumper of the relish over the wine.

Sephus kept his mouth closed but he pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek as he took his lovely partner's jokes on the chin. Though he does use his tongue to make a clicking sound as she patronises him in her own joking way. Deciding he should give some of his own back. “Oh of course. Perhaps size was not my only mistake. Perhaps I was truly doomed from the start. Afterall, how could I possibly focus with all the spectacle and sights.” He teased given the strange tribal nature of the fight. Nevermind the revealing attire they had to wear. “How could I possibly put up a fair fight in such distracting conditions.”

He says as he lifts a hand to his face, making the motion of wiping a tear from his eye. Hamming it up just a little. “My poor reputation, tarnished by my inferior height and male brain. Oh the shame!”

Once they were in the temporary lodging, a room that stimulated his sinuses into sneezing with all the freshly moved dust still hanging in the air, he took the time to wash up. Getting all the mud, sweat, paint and blood off of himself. Which was a welcome relief, he may have once loved the toil of combat. The feeling of blood and war… But that was when he was a far more base existence. A creature of war instead of a being capable of thinking and reasoning. Still it was a nice event, spine snapping and embarrassment aside.

More than that, this time in the bath allowed him to process the fact of his near death. Or perhaps averted death is the better way to put it since he had actually died but was brought back thanks to the seal. It was a strange thing to come to terms with. He doesn’t remember anything of the beyond but felt he did see something… He couldn't recall. Perhaps it was better that way. No ending was worth spoiling after all. It ruins the journey.

After getting all cleaned up and drying off he can hear the maid coming in so he secures his towel before checking on what was the issue. Being told that she came to collect them, Sephus got himself ready and downstairs with Liline and the maid without any more time wasted.

Once he laid eyes on the full table and the Duchess sat near the middle, he was pleasantly surprised by the variety and local flavour. He sat down across from the Dutchess and the Tannist with Liline, taking in the full spread of food as fighting and a near death have a way of working up a full appetite. Seeing that everyone else was already tucking in, he looked to Liline before he smiled and joined in as well. The Lord commander grabbed himself some stag ribs, cheese and bread along with some wine though had developed a taste for brandy. Though that was in part to the Firstborn establishing their own brand of it by having a Agri-world that specialised in making the ingredients of many culinary delights.

The chieftain grinned as the two final guests joined. She stood and raised her glass, “and finally we have our two honoured guests. As Chieftain of Clan Donnchadh, I want to welcome them to our Castle Lyall. I know our shaighdear Martha was the one we should thank for bagging this mighty stag this morning for our feast.” Elizabeth said as she pounded the table in place of a clap. The rest of the table clapped and Martha raised her own glass to take a sip. “But we must thank our great guests for coming such long distances to be here with us.“ Elizabeth raised her glass to Liline and Sephus. She looked to her side and rested her hand on the shoulder of an older Creach man in a suit, he smiled a bit. “And my husband, Tiffany who has been a faithful consort to the clan for a lifetime. I ask the Moon to bless him with a life no shorter or longer than my own.” She took another break, “and to my own granddaughter Mary and my curaidh Anne who shall both inherit this clan in their own times. Ruith Raon Luath.” The table echoed this phrase and the chieftain sat down. She slowly returned to her eating.

Anne leaned over to Sephus and smiled at him, “in good spirits are we, noble friend? I hope you and I may be considered friends even to this hour. And if not I shall present you a gift of the clan.” She snapped her finger at a male creach who grabbed a small box from a maid and passed it over. Anne both presented and opened the box for Sephus. Within was a sgain dubh, a wonderful blade with a black leather grip and an arcalite pommel. “From Donnchadh to you, accept this gift as a sign of respect from a warrior to another.”

As he and Liline were introduced he did give a short head bow out of respect before they were seated at the table. He wasn’t sure if he should do more but he settled for being respectful. ‘Yet again the names they hold perplex me. I was sure Tiffany was a human name. Ah it could just be a coincidence.’ The lord commander thought to himself before he waited for the Chieftain to take her seat before he continued eating.

He peered up from his focus on the food he had picked for himself in response to Anne talking to him. He found it strange that she would comment on there being any other outcome than them being friends at this point. He was by no means a sore loser, and the battle was beautifully fought in his opinion. “Well of course we can consider ourselves friends-” Though he was pleasantly silenced as a gift was presented to him.

His attention was stolen from his meal entirely as he looked upon this splendid gift that Anne was offering him. He was ever ashamed of himself for not preparing something in kind. Though that could be remedied at another date perhaps. He does know where this place was now after all. Bringing up his grievances and dismay at not having something in kind would cheapen the experience. Instead he accepts the box, taking a better look at the Knife within. Though simply calling it thus was inadequate.  A delighted smile fills his face as he looks back up to Anne. “I am honoured to accept such a gift, and I swear to offer something of equal quality to the gift of combat and armament you have given me.”