Post by Argoth/Maximus on Apr 20, 2012 16:27:53 GMT -6
The hot sand nearly scorched Argoth's bare feet as it seeped in between his toes. It was approaching noon and the sun hung directly overhead, transforming the sand into a lake of magma. The heat was just as oppressive on Argoth and it felt as if he had an enormous hot plate on his back. Beads of sweat trailed down from his temples and coalesced over his brow. A group of unnervingly large vultures circled above for they knew the upcoming events and eagerly awaited their next meal. A friendly smile spread across his face as he glared at his captors, "Alright guys, that's enough, I don't want to have to hurt you all now." Argoth warned. His voice was forgiving but unmistakably austere, and the words he spoke did not match his true intentions. Argoth was absolutely going to hurt them, and he wasn't going to be the least bit merciful. Unfortunately, the inbred monkeys that abducted him didn't catch on.
"Ha! You 'ear that lads? He wants us to let 'im go or he is going to hurt us! Whatever shall we do? Hahaha." The man had a terrible time pronouncing his H's and Argoth came to the conclusion that he wasn't very bright. An uproar of laughter arose from the crowd of bandits and they began to cheer him on.
Earlier in the day Argoth had picked up a contract from an elderly man, the contents of which desired the extermination of a certain group of bandits. He was told that they were just some unorthodox group of misfit thieves that kept terrorizing the village. It wasn't until he was well into pursuing them that he realized he had fallen into a well orchestrated trap, and that these bandits were no ordinary thieves, they were human traffickers, and their leader had come up with the ingenious idea of capturing an assassin because they would sell at an unimaginably high price. Unfortunately for them, it was the biggest mistake they ever made. Although Argoth did credit them for for their ability to conceive and actually execute their plan successfully. However, the old man did get one thing right, this particular group of bandits were clumsy, arrogant, and altogether incompetent. Now Argoth was in the middle of a ring of them, hands bound behind his back and in nothing but a navy blue tunic and some white cloth shorts. His tunic had the assassins of Hyrule insignia patched into his shoulder in white so that the buyer knew he was authentic.
The burly and over confident leader stalked right up to him and latched onto his hair. His first mistake. The massive meaty fingers wrenched backward, exposing Argoth's bare throat. With the other hand he placed a rather obnoxious knife where his jugular vein lie underneath. "You might wanna keep yer mouth shut if ya know what's good fer ya," he threatened. Argoth could tell he was trying his damnedest to sound and appear intimidating because he leaned in as close as he possibly could as he spoke. Every word was less intimidating then the next as far as Argoth could tell, and the way he performed it was even less appealing. The man smelled of piss, intense body odor, and rotten fish, but that was just his bodily aroma, since he was so close Argoth received every breath directly in the face, and it relentlessly assaulted his sense of smell with the stench of alcohol and vomit. Argoth kept his composure, trying his best not to breath was part of his strategy. He glanced down to take a close look at the leader. As his eyes scanned up and down he almost wished he hadn't. The first piece of utterly revolting he noticed on the man was his neglect for personal hygiene. His clothes were tatters, days old sweat stains remained under his armpits, bits of food and drink were scattered all across his attire, dirt patched his clothes and skin, it also heavily covered his hands and under his fingernails. As Argoth looked at his face he almost cringed away, the lack of dental care alone was enough deter even the vultures from scavenging his body, greasy and unkempt black hair hung loosely from his head, and a stark black beard flecked with bits of food and dried spit were all his face consisted of. Finally, Argoth couldn't take any more, "You smell like shit, please back away before I beat that horrifying stench out of you." Argoth said, absolutely disgusted.
The expression of utter perplexity and shock fell onto his face, "What the 'ell did you just say to me?" his voice was quiet but every word was wreathed in anger as he spoke. Silence fell among the rest of the group, nobody dared say a word or risk being killed. In a way, they were just as surprised as he was, none of them have ever heard anyone talk to their leader like that and they were all very curious to see what he would do. "You're a dead man, dead!" he shouted and raised the knife high above his head. His second mistake. In the seconds it took him to raise the knife Argoth flexed and wriggled his way out of his bonds, years of vigorous practice with the assassins made it as rudimentary as breathing. By the time the knife was descending on him Argoth already had his hands up to catch it. As he stopped the blade from skewering him he said, "You probably should have tied these tighter," his third and final mistake. Argoth shifted his grip on the bandit leader's arm, twisting it to force the man to stab himself. He applied as much resistance as he could, but was no match for Argoth's superior strength. The knife dug deep into the chest of the amateur thief leader and he began to wail in pure unadulterated horror. With an unmerciful look in his eye he jerked the knife in a ninety degree angle and applied an immense amount of pressure, forcing him to surrender his upright position. He howled at a greater decibel and began to whimper. Kneeling before him Argoth raised his other fist, cocking it back like a loaded gun. He fired directly into the face of the pitiful thief with such power it whip lashed his neck and tossed him across the sand.
While Argoth was making a rather malicious demonstration of their leader the bandits surrounding him could do nothing but gape in astonishment. They just could not wrap their feeble minds around the fact that someone had destroyed their leader with such ease. When Argoth looked up to ready himself for the ensuing battle he noticed nothing but stares, Wow, he must have really brainwashed these idiots, he thought. Argoth chuckled a bit, "Well?" he challenged. After a moment one of the men stepped forward, "G-get him!" he shouted. The assassin prepared himself for the the fight, shifting into battle stance.
Once the first man reached him his fate was already sealed, a quick dodge of the blade and four precise punches sent him sprawling into the sand. Another two approached simultaneously thinking that their advantage was with the extra man. To their misfortune, Argoth put them both down as the first one attacked with an overhead stab, much like his ill fated leader, and deflected it into his companion. Blood gushed from his partners wound and while the two of them were panicking he reached over and stole a knife from the dying one. In one fluent movement he dispatched them both with slices to the throat. They fell over each other in a crumpled heap and the thief behind didn't realize in time as he tripped over their carcasses. As the incompetent bandit fell forward Argoth smashed a knee into his face breaking his nose on contact and ejecting him from consciousness. The bandit horde began to drop like flies as Argoth disposed them with unfathomable speed and precision. However, Argoth could not allow for all of them to die so quickly, what fun would that be? A large grin stretched from ear to ear, "Let's have some fun, shall we?" he announced to the remaining six bandits. He finished off the one he was fighting with an uppercut and a spin kick to side of the head.
Argoth began backing up slowly, the rest of the bunch were all facing him and inching forward in step. Fear was all that Argoth could see in them, but he knew they would fight for their fallen chieftain. "Follow the leader," he said, winking at them, and took off in the opposite direction. The men hesitated for a moment, then built up the courage to give chase. Argoth sprinted a good quarter mile before letting up; smiling and laughing the whole way. He purposefully slowed so that they could catch him. Just before the first one reached him he rolled forward, grabbing a handful of sand. He spun around as he popped up and whipped the sand into the bandit's eyes. A surprised and panicked scream escaped his lips right before Argoth ended it with a powerful knee to the gut. As the first assailant rolled off his thigh he stepped forward to engage the second one. He dodged a fist aimed for his head and shifted to deliver a punch to the side of his skull. The attack landed with enough force to spin the bandit, and when he was facing Argoth again he kicked him to the ground. The last Four advanced on him simultaneously in hopes that their numbers would advantage them, but they were as foolish as the last ones who tried this. Argoth blocked every punch, kick, or stab they tried on him, all the while backing up to ensure his safety.
Although as he was backing up he unexpectedly bumped into something. It surprised him so much that he nearly jumped and messed up the synchronized blocks he was performing. All of a sudden the men stopped attacking and gaped up at whatever was behind him. "What?" Argoth said, confused. He turned around to take a look at whatever had disturbed his fun and whatever it was that he had bumped into.
Argoth couldn't believe his eyes. A forest, about one acre of it, just up and grew in the middle of the desert. "What the hell..." he breathed, absolutely bewildered. The men behind him recomposed themselves and attempted to attack Argoth while he admired the odd phenomenon. However Argoth wasn't completely ignorant, and was obviously expecting them to do so. He rolled forward and into the forest thinking to himself, It'll be a hell of a lot more fun fighting in here. A smile found it's way across his face as he smashed through the thick brush.
The bandits behind him were hesitant to follow him, all of it seemed a bit too suspicious, but they did anyway.
As Argoth pushed his way deeper into the jungle he heard a faint buzzing sound next to his ear and then a sharp pain on his neck. "Ah! Dammit! What the hell was that?" he questioned, abruptly stopping and placing a hand on the sting. He looked around for what stung him but could find no trace of it. Argoth shrugged and continued until he hid behind an enormous tree. He awaited his prey in silence.
The four remaining thieves waded cautiously through the forest; suspicious eyes flicking this way and that. About a hundred yards into the jungle something strange began happening to the bandits. The jungle seemed to come alive. Vines, branches, tall grass, the roots under their feet, all began to lash out at them. A vine snaked its way down from a low hanging tree and wrapped itself around the neck of an unsuspecting thief, hoisting him upward until he could no longer draw breath. The next to fall victim was attacked by a tree, the very roots ascending from the underground and wrapping themselves around his feet and calves. The man cried out in horror but his companions were already gone, taken by the jungle itself. Branches came next, lazily drifting down from above and writhing itself onto his arms like a serpent. There was a grotesque crunching and ripping sound and suddenly the tree literally tore the arms off of the bandit. A scream like nothing Argoth had ever heard before echoed throughout the jungle, and then as quickly as it began the screaming abruptly stopped. The tree twisted his head in the complete opposite direction, silencing his howl instantly. After the bandit was deceased a vine slithered its way down and lifted him into the air as if to hang him as a decoration.
Argoth heard the scream from where he was hiding and immediately rushed to the scene. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth when he witnessed the unmitigated maliciousness of what he saw. "Damn," he began, not the least bit worried, "Wonder what the hell did that." He waved it off as somebody just trying to ruin his fun, although he wasn't so naive to think that was alone in this jungle. He would keep his guard at the utmost level of caution, but not let the mystery of their deaths bother him. Argoth turned and began to casually saunter through the forest. He was trying to find his way out, but for some reason no matter how far he seemed to walk in either direction there was no way to leave.
"Ha! You 'ear that lads? He wants us to let 'im go or he is going to hurt us! Whatever shall we do? Hahaha." The man had a terrible time pronouncing his H's and Argoth came to the conclusion that he wasn't very bright. An uproar of laughter arose from the crowd of bandits and they began to cheer him on.
Earlier in the day Argoth had picked up a contract from an elderly man, the contents of which desired the extermination of a certain group of bandits. He was told that they were just some unorthodox group of misfit thieves that kept terrorizing the village. It wasn't until he was well into pursuing them that he realized he had fallen into a well orchestrated trap, and that these bandits were no ordinary thieves, they were human traffickers, and their leader had come up with the ingenious idea of capturing an assassin because they would sell at an unimaginably high price. Unfortunately for them, it was the biggest mistake they ever made. Although Argoth did credit them for for their ability to conceive and actually execute their plan successfully. However, the old man did get one thing right, this particular group of bandits were clumsy, arrogant, and altogether incompetent. Now Argoth was in the middle of a ring of them, hands bound behind his back and in nothing but a navy blue tunic and some white cloth shorts. His tunic had the assassins of Hyrule insignia patched into his shoulder in white so that the buyer knew he was authentic.
The burly and over confident leader stalked right up to him and latched onto his hair. His first mistake. The massive meaty fingers wrenched backward, exposing Argoth's bare throat. With the other hand he placed a rather obnoxious knife where his jugular vein lie underneath. "You might wanna keep yer mouth shut if ya know what's good fer ya," he threatened. Argoth could tell he was trying his damnedest to sound and appear intimidating because he leaned in as close as he possibly could as he spoke. Every word was less intimidating then the next as far as Argoth could tell, and the way he performed it was even less appealing. The man smelled of piss, intense body odor, and rotten fish, but that was just his bodily aroma, since he was so close Argoth received every breath directly in the face, and it relentlessly assaulted his sense of smell with the stench of alcohol and vomit. Argoth kept his composure, trying his best not to breath was part of his strategy. He glanced down to take a close look at the leader. As his eyes scanned up and down he almost wished he hadn't. The first piece of utterly revolting he noticed on the man was his neglect for personal hygiene. His clothes were tatters, days old sweat stains remained under his armpits, bits of food and drink were scattered all across his attire, dirt patched his clothes and skin, it also heavily covered his hands and under his fingernails. As Argoth looked at his face he almost cringed away, the lack of dental care alone was enough deter even the vultures from scavenging his body, greasy and unkempt black hair hung loosely from his head, and a stark black beard flecked with bits of food and dried spit were all his face consisted of. Finally, Argoth couldn't take any more, "You smell like shit, please back away before I beat that horrifying stench out of you." Argoth said, absolutely disgusted.
The expression of utter perplexity and shock fell onto his face, "What the 'ell did you just say to me?" his voice was quiet but every word was wreathed in anger as he spoke. Silence fell among the rest of the group, nobody dared say a word or risk being killed. In a way, they were just as surprised as he was, none of them have ever heard anyone talk to their leader like that and they were all very curious to see what he would do. "You're a dead man, dead!" he shouted and raised the knife high above his head. His second mistake. In the seconds it took him to raise the knife Argoth flexed and wriggled his way out of his bonds, years of vigorous practice with the assassins made it as rudimentary as breathing. By the time the knife was descending on him Argoth already had his hands up to catch it. As he stopped the blade from skewering him he said, "You probably should have tied these tighter," his third and final mistake. Argoth shifted his grip on the bandit leader's arm, twisting it to force the man to stab himself. He applied as much resistance as he could, but was no match for Argoth's superior strength. The knife dug deep into the chest of the amateur thief leader and he began to wail in pure unadulterated horror. With an unmerciful look in his eye he jerked the knife in a ninety degree angle and applied an immense amount of pressure, forcing him to surrender his upright position. He howled at a greater decibel and began to whimper. Kneeling before him Argoth raised his other fist, cocking it back like a loaded gun. He fired directly into the face of the pitiful thief with such power it whip lashed his neck and tossed him across the sand.
While Argoth was making a rather malicious demonstration of their leader the bandits surrounding him could do nothing but gape in astonishment. They just could not wrap their feeble minds around the fact that someone had destroyed their leader with such ease. When Argoth looked up to ready himself for the ensuing battle he noticed nothing but stares, Wow, he must have really brainwashed these idiots, he thought. Argoth chuckled a bit, "Well?" he challenged. After a moment one of the men stepped forward, "G-get him!" he shouted. The assassin prepared himself for the the fight, shifting into battle stance.
Once the first man reached him his fate was already sealed, a quick dodge of the blade and four precise punches sent him sprawling into the sand. Another two approached simultaneously thinking that their advantage was with the extra man. To their misfortune, Argoth put them both down as the first one attacked with an overhead stab, much like his ill fated leader, and deflected it into his companion. Blood gushed from his partners wound and while the two of them were panicking he reached over and stole a knife from the dying one. In one fluent movement he dispatched them both with slices to the throat. They fell over each other in a crumpled heap and the thief behind didn't realize in time as he tripped over their carcasses. As the incompetent bandit fell forward Argoth smashed a knee into his face breaking his nose on contact and ejecting him from consciousness. The bandit horde began to drop like flies as Argoth disposed them with unfathomable speed and precision. However, Argoth could not allow for all of them to die so quickly, what fun would that be? A large grin stretched from ear to ear, "Let's have some fun, shall we?" he announced to the remaining six bandits. He finished off the one he was fighting with an uppercut and a spin kick to side of the head.
Argoth began backing up slowly, the rest of the bunch were all facing him and inching forward in step. Fear was all that Argoth could see in them, but he knew they would fight for their fallen chieftain. "Follow the leader," he said, winking at them, and took off in the opposite direction. The men hesitated for a moment, then built up the courage to give chase. Argoth sprinted a good quarter mile before letting up; smiling and laughing the whole way. He purposefully slowed so that they could catch him. Just before the first one reached him he rolled forward, grabbing a handful of sand. He spun around as he popped up and whipped the sand into the bandit's eyes. A surprised and panicked scream escaped his lips right before Argoth ended it with a powerful knee to the gut. As the first assailant rolled off his thigh he stepped forward to engage the second one. He dodged a fist aimed for his head and shifted to deliver a punch to the side of his skull. The attack landed with enough force to spin the bandit, and when he was facing Argoth again he kicked him to the ground. The last Four advanced on him simultaneously in hopes that their numbers would advantage them, but they were as foolish as the last ones who tried this. Argoth blocked every punch, kick, or stab they tried on him, all the while backing up to ensure his safety.
Although as he was backing up he unexpectedly bumped into something. It surprised him so much that he nearly jumped and messed up the synchronized blocks he was performing. All of a sudden the men stopped attacking and gaped up at whatever was behind him. "What?" Argoth said, confused. He turned around to take a look at whatever had disturbed his fun and whatever it was that he had bumped into.
Argoth couldn't believe his eyes. A forest, about one acre of it, just up and grew in the middle of the desert. "What the hell..." he breathed, absolutely bewildered. The men behind him recomposed themselves and attempted to attack Argoth while he admired the odd phenomenon. However Argoth wasn't completely ignorant, and was obviously expecting them to do so. He rolled forward and into the forest thinking to himself, It'll be a hell of a lot more fun fighting in here. A smile found it's way across his face as he smashed through the thick brush.
The bandits behind him were hesitant to follow him, all of it seemed a bit too suspicious, but they did anyway.
As Argoth pushed his way deeper into the jungle he heard a faint buzzing sound next to his ear and then a sharp pain on his neck. "Ah! Dammit! What the hell was that?" he questioned, abruptly stopping and placing a hand on the sting. He looked around for what stung him but could find no trace of it. Argoth shrugged and continued until he hid behind an enormous tree. He awaited his prey in silence.
The four remaining thieves waded cautiously through the forest; suspicious eyes flicking this way and that. About a hundred yards into the jungle something strange began happening to the bandits. The jungle seemed to come alive. Vines, branches, tall grass, the roots under their feet, all began to lash out at them. A vine snaked its way down from a low hanging tree and wrapped itself around the neck of an unsuspecting thief, hoisting him upward until he could no longer draw breath. The next to fall victim was attacked by a tree, the very roots ascending from the underground and wrapping themselves around his feet and calves. The man cried out in horror but his companions were already gone, taken by the jungle itself. Branches came next, lazily drifting down from above and writhing itself onto his arms like a serpent. There was a grotesque crunching and ripping sound and suddenly the tree literally tore the arms off of the bandit. A scream like nothing Argoth had ever heard before echoed throughout the jungle, and then as quickly as it began the screaming abruptly stopped. The tree twisted his head in the complete opposite direction, silencing his howl instantly. After the bandit was deceased a vine slithered its way down and lifted him into the air as if to hang him as a decoration.
Argoth heard the scream from where he was hiding and immediately rushed to the scene. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth when he witnessed the unmitigated maliciousness of what he saw. "Damn," he began, not the least bit worried, "Wonder what the hell did that." He waved it off as somebody just trying to ruin his fun, although he wasn't so naive to think that was alone in this jungle. He would keep his guard at the utmost level of caution, but not let the mystery of their deaths bother him. Argoth turned and began to casually saunter through the forest. He was trying to find his way out, but for some reason no matter how far he seemed to walk in either direction there was no way to leave.