Overtly Barbaric (Broomhandle45 and BobSaget)

Artus moved slowly through the dense foliage of the greenwood forest. A land predominately controlled by the elves, yet the only means of access from the far north to the human capital that laid to the south. Well, of course not the only means, but to cut the travel time in half was a necessity for him. The only issue here was the magical beasts that inhabited the trail from the elven kingdom through to the grasslands of the humans was far too powerful for the average adventurer or warrior. Although, not the 'average' warrior, Artus wasn't necessarily the most skilled being amongst humans anyways. He wasn't necessarily the strongest or the most efficient, but what he lacked for in battle power he made up for in strategy and overall agility.

The reason Artus so vehemently pursued the dream of becoming a warrior was based on a fairy tale from his younger ages. The story of a lone barbarian warrior with the power of a thousand men. The ability to strike down entire hydras and even rival the strength of a god. Said to have stopped tsunamis with a single breath, and calmed quakes of the earth with a single stomp. The story of Yael was world renowned as a tale amongst children and adults alike. Many knights and warriors built themselves in the image of Yael, a powerful man built like a mountain with the elegance and agility of the wind itself. The reality of it was, Yael was Artus' idol. In every sense. Artus had built himself in his image, unable to build muscle like the folk hero he managed to make up for this lack of strength by building his knowledge of combat through texts and long stories passed down from generations of demigods that fought amongst themselves. Artus built himself in the hope that one day he could serve Yael, as a disciple of the nigh godlike entity.

Yet, the only way he figured to find Yael was to build his own name. Serve the human kingdom and produce his own stories and tales in hopes that Yael would find him out of what he could only presume would be curiosity. Although, Artus was far too young, and inexperienced to travel alone. In his mind however...he was more than ready to take on the world and the dangers that lay within. But he could never have been more wrong.

A loud screech resounded throughout the area. The shrill cry caused his blood to freeze as his movements stopped in his tracks. The tall hooded figure placed a single hand on the hilt of his blade that sat on the right side of his hip, his eyes peering from beneath the dark hood over the large crystal blue lake that lay beside him. As if attempting to peer into the depths of the dark waters his eyes failed at seeing anything other than his own reflection, that is until the large green tentacle that fired out from the surface of the water struck him in the side. The open pores of the tentacles suction cups pressed against his back pulling him into the grasp of the beast that lay beneath the blue waters. The stories of the forest were true, guarded by a demibeast said to have been placed by one of the gods himself laid a Kraken. The massive creature reared it's ugly head from the water as it's massive mouth spread open to reveal hundreds of rows of razor sharp teeth. The creature reared it's head back as the screech that followed caused him to reel in physical pain. If it were not for the enchanted earrings that adorned him, he would have surely lost all hearing up to that point, yet the creature in the water did not finish. Then followed the dozens of tentacles that broke the surface of the water once again, lashing out wildly around the lake as it struck trees and wildlife that approached the surface of the clear blue water. He had been too transfixed on the direction he was going that he had let down his guard, unable to pay attention to his surroundings and thus ending up in a...not so great situation.

"Fuck!" Artus exclaimed at the top of his lungs as the tentacle wrapped around his shoulders, pinning his arms to his side as he was pulled over the lake. The Kraken stood an easy twenty feet tall, yet Artus felt like he was in space from the height he was now held...surely this would be the end of the young adventurers travels. And...sadly he had only just begun.

If you knew the way to travel around Greenwood, you'd never meet the Kraken. But the problem with that was that you'd have to be friends with the elves of Greenwood, which was a more complicated proposal for most people. The elves liked the out of place beast in the areas surrounding the woods, the many deep lakes and ponds were often connected together and served as a travel point for the guardian beast. It kept wayward people out, and if they happened to get eaten by the Kraken, then that was just an unfortunate journey for them.

The ear-splitting screech caught the attention of one wiser traveler, her golden eyes narrowing faintly as she cast her head to the side with a faint frown, her golden hair rolling off her shoulders before heaving a long sigh. She'd probably lose the deer she just caught, but she couldn't leave someone to die to the Kraken, could she? With a deer settled over her shoulders, she took off in a sprint to the sight of the disturbance, catching the man hoisted high above the Kraken.

She rolled her shoulders smoothly as the deer dropped off her shoulders and she leaped into action, there was little hesitation...or ground that she didn't cover with that heroic leap, her hair whipping beind her as she grabbed the boy by his shoulders, her muscular arms tight around him as her fingers somehow managed to sink into the spongy flesh of the trashing tentacle, her fingers curling the massive suckers off him slowly with a thick pop to free one of his arms. The Kraken was already starting to lash the tentacle, but the woman held on in an iron grip.

"Grab onto me," The woman said, her voice determined and husky. "Unless you want to be eaten."

Artus found himself thrashing around beneath the tight grasp of the Kraken's tentacle. The stench that erupted from every orifice and pore of the gargantuan beast can only be described as a combination of death and sewage. From what he could recall the Kraken was a phenomenal beast amongst water sources, to be put into perspective armies of ages ago would encounter the monster and be forced with only one choice, run. Not having much experience against aquatic behemoths put Artus at a disadvantage, and being all too new to 'adventuring' in general he wasn't necessarily an expert in combat by any sense of the word. Yet, it wasn't like he was about to go down without a fight. Shaking his shoulders he attempted to free at least one arm in a futile attempt to figure a way of escape, yet the suction from the tentacles was far too strong for his smaller frame to pry himself free, his hands were digging around within the tentacles seeking some part to grasp or hold onto, yet could not find anything.

There was a loud clacking noise that he could only describe as the vague sound of a small quake off to the side of the lake. Unable to turn much he managed to tilt his head only to see the blurred view of a large figure dashing towards him, or was it flying? He wasn't certain but the sheer speed of the figure approaching him caused him to stare in pure unadulterated awe. The figure ripped the tentacles grasp around him with a single twist of the hand before extending there other hand for him to hold onto. Yet, the few seconds it took for the single figure to do so would've been impossible by any normal mortal. Even so, Artus found himself trying to make sense of the situation in the quick moments that passed, unable to think any further he subconsciously reached his hand out to grab hold of the figure before him and without a moments hesitation they took off.

The Kraken bellowed after them thrashing angrily after seeing it's prey ripped from the edges of it's grasp. The creature lived off of the soul crushing of others that invaded it's territory, and to have it's newest prey taken from it left it in a state of pure anger. The monstrous beast thrashed about the water, small waves erupting from within the lake as the echoing crash of the waters against the side banks of the surrounding foliage began to grow louder as the creature increased its efforts. Without a moments hesitation the Kraken turned with an abnormal speed, almost too quick for something of it's size as the large behemoth focused it's attention on the newcomer. Large pale green tentacles lifted high above the figure as it opened it's mouth to blare out one last gurgling roar. 'Arugggggh' the strange creature exclaimed, almost as if trying to communicate before all twelve of it's tentacles struck down towards the new combatant, no longer seeking to simply consume the figure from before, but now out for blood and vengeance. The Kraken would not go down without a fight, not with having been so close to a new meal.

Tch. That was going to be a problem, for the moment. She had no desire to fight the Kraken, especially since a dead Kraken would earn the ire of the elves that were undoubtedly watching. So, there was no choice but to give away her rightly earned dinner for some foolish boy who decided to wander into the woods alone. When she landed, the tentacles slammed onto her back with bone crushing force, kicking up wind all around. She dug her heels in with a faint grunt, the Kraken was upset...and was pulling at the fabrics of her tunic so harshly that that the stitching was starting to rip.

For the moment, the boy was safe.

"The deer," she grunted, letting go of him to grip the ground and slam her knees down with an audible thud. "Get the deer!" It wanted food, it'd get food. She wasn't happy about it, but she'd rather the deer than some wayward traveler. What was this boy doing out here anyway? Did he have some kind of stupid death wish?

Artus barely had a moment to collect his bearings as he heard the loud piercing commands of his savior. Their voice boomed almost as if the sound alone was somehow imbued with power. And what was that? A tone he wasn't quite familiar with, was it....feminine? The thought crossed his mind, but with the urgency of the situation at hand found himself with a lack of the luxury called time. Fingers splayed across the ground between the tufts of grass as the figure released the grip on his torso, his toes bent against the floor as the light fabric that he utilized as 'shoes' flexed with his foot as his toes formed a ninety degree angle with the rest of his sole bending upwards. He lunged forward, the soft whistle of his training allowed him to move with excessive speed, he was quite skilled when it came to movements, the only issue was he hadn't quite honed it to be done at will. All of his strikes an abilities required a 'wind-up' period in order to activate or occur, but when they worked they were quite potent.

The grass before him parted with sheer velocity he moved forward, the sound of his movements caused a strange whistling to erupt from the location he was at previously as he quickly dashed across to the other side the figure had appeared from. Digging his palms into the ground with his feet repositioned to the side opposite the location they had been previously he managed to slide himself to a halt about a foot on the other side of the deer. He clambered towards the corpse of the creature before him unable to pay much attention to the Kraken that continued to beat down on his overbearing hero he dug his hands around the neck of the creature before him. Fingers grasping onto the meaty heft of it's neck he managed to place his feet firmly against the hardened dirt of the ground below him, a grunt escaped his lips as he firmly pushed his chest outwards arching his back and hips as he utilized the weight of the deer to assist him. Spinning. Spinning. Spinning. He continued to do so on the balls of his feet as wind and dirt kicked up around him before ultimately unleashing the corpse of the dead animal outwards towards the lake.

One spin. Two. Three. The dead animal spun mid air from the power he had managed to muster in the short span of time as it landed squarely between the eyes of the Kraken that had erupted from the water. The tentacles reared back from the sudden impact as the Kraken was suddenly knocked off balance, the large monster was forced beneath the waters as the lake shot up from the behemoth that was shoved beneath it's surface. The water came down in a torrential downpour for a moment or two before the surface of the lake settled back down, the sounds of the Kraken beneath the surface of the water was terrifying to say the least. A gurgling sensation of what sounded like a thick-like substance followed by the cracking of what he could only presume to be bones.

"We should probably escape while it's preoccupied!" Artus exclaimed, his hands cupped around his lips as if to forcibly increase the volume of his words, the distance he had put between himself and the figure had made it difficult to distinguish their features or whom exactly they were, but he had figured...they must be an ally of some sort. Artus moved quickly, his feet picking up into a brisk jog that would equate to a run of the average traveller as he distanced himself from the lake, not slowing down until he came upon a paved road a good half mile out from the lake utilized by many merchants and caravans in the area. Sliding to a halt he placed his hands atop his slightly bent knees, his breathing was ragged and heavy as the adrenaline pumping through his veins reduced significantly, the situation was definitely an experience...yet he wasn't quite prepared for something of that nature to occur.