The Draconian Viking (Part 1.2)
'Fur'st Contact
In the course of two weeks he's first arrived upon this strange land, Ketilbjörn had been making use of his surroundings and spending most of his time scouring through the forest; seeking any signs of life. Every time he ventured outwards he'd make markers on how far he made it into the woods every two miles around. So far there had been no such luck. He made good use of his supplies, making sure to make it would last for at least a month. One night, he decided to pray to his tribes' patron god Tyr, the Viking god of war, justice and order. Holding his Mjolnir pendant between clasped hands, an amulet of protection in his culture, he prayed to the gods that he would find someone or *something * that indicated there was some sign of civilization and for his family and tribe to be safe and protected under Odin's watchful eye and that Tyr's shield to keep them safe. Ending his prayer, he tucks himself into his cot and slipped into a deep sleep; the sound of ocean waves beating against the grassy shores and the crickets chirped their harmonious melody.
Sunlight beamed in through the window as Ketilbjörn slowly woke up. He hoped that today would be the day he'd find a village or with any luck a small town. He then got into his gear: shoes, trousers, shirt, tunic and animal fur cloak with chainmail underneath his tunic. He then put on the leather belt next around his waist and over his tunic with a metal buckle and soon armed himself his weapons: a sword, a knife and axe. And then at last, he arms himself with his Viking helm that had a dragon design with wings spread out facing downwards with its face outwards that had a mail hood which was part of his mail body armor, his hardy oaken shield, his nine foot long spear and bow and quiver slung over his shoulder. Along with a small meal for his search today, he set off his search again in hoping he comes across some luck at last. Upon five miles in, he had come across nothing but hills and boulders and even more trees. Another half mile in, he suddenly comes across what sounded like running water. "Could it be?" he thought. Ketilbjörn hustled towards the sound as it got louder. Reaching a small ledge, he looks to see that he just found a large waterfall; pouring down hard from a small cliff into a deep pool of cold water. A narrow rocky surface surrounded the deep lake and along the right side of crevice was a descending path down to the waterfall. Ketilbjörn thought that since he was here, he might as well wash off here. Once down below, he disrobed down to his loincloth and dove down into the cool water. The water felt so good and chilled as came back up for air. Swimming around for a while, he then swam over to the waterfall to feel the water crashing down on upon him.
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Tam'syn grumbled as she looked frustrated in trying to find some food to hunt with dagger in hand. The young tigress ran her fingers through her dreadlocks as she scratched her head in thought. She wanted to be like her big sister Ashaki, to make her proud that she could be one of the big girls. But she always felt like her big sis was always holding her back, never giving her a chance to show off what she could do. She hoped with this she could earn some respect when she comes back with her first kill. So far there was no luck, and she was about to give up. She then decided to find the waterfall and cool off before calling it a day. But as she got there, she discovered a most unusual thing; a two legged near furless creature of some kind that wore a loincloth with some strange clothes not too far away from him, rinsing off in the waterfall. She crept down low to hide out of sight as she continued to watch. "By the goddess, what is that?" she muttered to herself, peeking over the cliff edge and continued to watch. There was never anything said or seen about something like this ever before. A few moments later, she sees it getting out of the waterfall seeing an outline of...a tail?
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Stepping out of the waterfall, Ketilbjörn felt clean and satisfied and went back to get dressed. As he reached for his helmet though, he caught a glimpse of someone or rather something reflecting in his helmet. Easing his gaze slowly upwards, he could see a head of some sorts peeking over the top of the ridge. Pretending not to see her, he resumed to put on helmet and made his way through a little passage that he spotted while he was in the waterfall. He walks behind it and disappeared under the cover of the watery veil.
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She watches the strange being finish getting dressed becoming more intrigued about what was happening. Tam'syn soon sees it disappear behind the waterfall. Cautiously, she then made her away around the ridge to meet him on the other side of the cliff where the passageway would exit out of to confront this thing. Hopefully, she'd live to tell her sister about this.
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Making his way through the little corridor, Ketilbjörn kept a hand upon his sword still in his scabbard in case whatever he saw may try to come after him from either side once he reached the other end or at least if it came after him from behind. He would have to make do in fighting in a closed space. He made his way through the narrow passageway filled with the echoing sound of water dripping from above. About two to three minutes into walking through the passageway he finally sees some light just up ahead. Close to the end, the young Viking carefully peaked outside with his shield in front of him looking at both sides to see if anything was coming his way. He then continued as he slowly drew his sword, treading carefully as he debated about which way he was to go. He didn't have to make a decision for he soon saw a shadow coming in from his right. He leaned back against the cliff wall as he readied his sword across his chest.
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It took a while but Tam'syn was nearing the other side of the small cliff as she treaded carefully, knife in hand. She could hear the pounding of her heart moving up into her ears. She could feel a lump in her throat as she tried to gulp down her fear, for she was going to prove to her sister and the others that she's capable of confronting such dangers; if she lived through it.
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Both Viking and female tiger tensed up as they were unsure about who was going to confront who first. The two beings of different worlds were about to meet face-to-face; how this would go down was uncertain. Unbeknownst to each other, they both turned around the corner and faced each other; Ketilbjörn in a battle ready position with shield in front and sword held high as if it was about to swing down upon the intruder while Tam'syn turned and crouched down, arms out in a combat ready position with fur bristling. The two then paused, both surprised at the sight of the other as they took it all in. From Ketilbjörns' perspective, he saw a skinny looking human-like female tiger that was armed with a knife. From Tam'syns', she saw the strange being in strange looking clothes armed with strange looking weapons and upon its head wore some strange metal covering that had a small dragon facing downwards. The two of them seemed to relax a little but not enough to let their guard down. Neither of them knew exactly what to do next, not too certain about trying to talk to one another. Taking a chance in faith, Ketilbjörn slowly kneeled towards the ground to lay down his weapon and shield to show her that he meant no danger to her and then comes back up with his hands held up in front of him. Upon seeing this, Tam'syn tilted her head in curiosity as she lowered her dagger just a bit. Carefully moving his hands to his head, Ketilbjörn went to remove his helmet to reveal his shaven head with stubbles and small beard. Tam'syn watched as he did so and relaxed as she saw his face revealed from under his metal helm. She had never seen anything like this strange creature before that had little to no fur on its body. His body looked like he had much muscle on him, giving him a sturdy and intimidating appearance. She starts to walk up to him cautiously as he allows her to do so. With dagger still in hand, she hesitantly raised her hands up to his face to look over his features as he stays put nervously but holds his ground as he feels her hands on his face. He resisted as he felt a slight tickle from her feeling his beard with her feline fingers with a slight squirm. She had a slight smile on her face as she saw him squirm a little. She then proceeded to feel his shaven head that still had some stubble as her hand felt soft going across his.
Things seemed to lighten up a bit until Ketilbjörn had looked up to see five other tigresses looking down at them from atop a slope, three of them looking more muscular than the other two. One of them, that had shorter hair also as dreads, had a look of shock with a fierce sense of protection; and before either him of Tam'syn could do anything she came after the Viking with a double bladed axe with a growl. He only had so little time to pick up his sword and shield before getting his shield up to block the oncoming blow from her. He staggered under the powerful blow but he held his own as it dug a little into the thick oaken shield. With a servable amount of strength, he pushed her off and held his sword out towards her as a warning. But it didn't seem to stop her as she came after him again with the axe with a chop from the side with both hands. Bracing for impact, Ketilbjörn readied himself for a second attack as he swung his shield towards the incoming weapon. Upon collision, the blow rocked him a little as he took this moment to do an overhand chop to the handle portion of the tiger's axe; ridding her of her offensive weapon. But that wasn't enough, for she soon charged headlong after him and tackled him to the ground. Letting go of his weapon, both Viking and tigress wrestled and tussled each other, fighting for control. Ketilbjörn didn't wish for it to come to this, but fate didn't just seem to agree with him today and had to do what must to be done. He then used his helm to headbutt her causing her to yowl in pain. Taking this opportunity, he slipped under her through her loincloth and got on top of her from behind. Jut as he was succeeding, he soon felt two pairs of hands grabbing his arms and pulling him off her dragging him backwards. Two of the other tigresses that were as muscled as the one who attacked him had difficulty with restraining Ketilbjörn as he fought to free himself; both with short flat hair but one of them with more covered around her chest area as a sarong. In his struggle, he stomped on her foot hard as she yelped in pain temporarily letting him go. The other tiger that was restraining him landed a blow to his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. As he tried recuperate, the one with the short dreads got up and with a savage blow punched him into unconsciousness. Struggling to keep awake, Ketilbjörn soon succumbed to the welcoming darkness.