Hoku groaned. He didn't know that standing up for himself could hurt so much. He looked down to see a splinter of wood hanging out of his leg. He grimaced and pulled it out, drawing some blood from the gash. Dazed. he looked around him to see Baldervich's muffled shouting and the other scavengers laid out on the floor in various states of disorientation.
Hoku exhaled and peered up towards the sky. Back when it happened, he saw what he thought looked like a laser beam shooting into the sled.
Once his senses returned to him fully, he retrieved Dustblade from the wreckage of wood and junk. He took advantage of the chaos and used it to chip at where his chain was being held. The cubic chunk of metal had already been dented by Baldervich's hammer strike. Pieces of wood were beginning to stick out. Hoku stuck the blade underneath and started chipping into the wood.
It took about 5 minutes before Baldervich finished checking with the other scavengers. His time was up; he started chipping at the wood more frantically, his muscles burning as Baldervich's blurry form made its way into his periphery.
Before the scavenger could close in, A flash of fire scorched the area between them. Baldervich jumped back, his sandals slightly singed, as Hoku looked up.
A robed figure rode atop a blue tiger with a whip made of flames. Several other robed men rode behind him.
"We are representatives of Princess Shari!" The man announced. "We are here to eliminate those who would dare threaten Her Majesty's domain. Should you surrender, we will ensure that your suffering will be brief."
Baldervich clicked his tongue. "Is that right?" He scoffed.
Well, we won't be so kind. Boys! Show 'em what you're made of!" The scavengers gave a battle cry. The scavengers jumped to the edges of the sled and prepared to engage the approaching riders.
"How unfortunate," the central rider said, raising his flaming whip. The other riders withdrew their swords from their scabbards. Their blades were almost translucent in the desert sun.
The first rider approached, swinging his sword at one of the scavengers.
The scavenger violently swung his own curved blade. Sparks flew as both were pushed back. The rider tried to move forward, and the scavenger hopped around to regain his footing. He then drove his curved sword into the rider, screaming, as the he fell into the sand.
The sound of blades hitting one another reverberated throughout the sled. The scavengers fought like crazed animals, completely unpredictable. Another rider was trying to board, but suddenly the sled lurched to the side, knocking one of the scavengers and the rider out into the sand.
The scavenger driving the sled looked back nervously and tried to console the creature. The growing madness only fueled its crazed, wounded state. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught one of the rider knights slashing at his comrade as he made his way towards him. He flinched as the knight brought his sword high. "Yahh!" He yelled. The scavenger opened his eyes, expecting to have been cut.
A grey pellet hit the attacker in the face; on impact, it exploded, shooting a splatter of paint into the man's eyes. He squirmed around before falling off his mount into the sand.
Guppy stood behind the rider. A small mechanical device was on his wrist. He smiled at the scavenger he saved.
Blood and screams and chaos filled the sled.
Baldervich laughed loudly. "You're gonna have to do better than that, sand dogs." Then he looked to the side to see the rider captain approach him. Baldervich smirked. The captain of the scouts spun his flaming whip around and then launched it at Baldervich.
Baldervich ducked to the side, making it hit a crate. He then tried to approach, but the whip flailed and flew at his chest diagonally, making him stagger back. This time, he tried to track the movement of the whip and managed to block it with his hammer. but the whip immediately flailed again, cutting his hand.
Baldervich cursed before the captain could pull his whip back. Baldervich reached out and grabbed the burning whip. He winced, then pulled with great strength.
The whip phased through his hand like actual flame and returned to the wielder. Baldervich cursed at the burns on his hand.
"You were saying?" the captain remarked.
"That hurts!" Baldervich screamed, earning a scowl from the captain.
The scavenger then stole a page of Hoku book by grabbing one of the crates behind him and throwing it at the rider. The captain destroyed the crate as the flame in his whip diminished. But through the remains of burning wood. A hand reached out towards him.
His whip lost its flame, but the captain was confident in his distance. He backed away, but the hand continued flying towards him. It grabbed the captain's arm.
"Impossible!" The captain shouted.
Baldervich sneered as the barely flaming whip flailed and grazed his cheek before returning to dormancy.
"I thought it was weird that my hands were barely burned. Your whip loses power after the first thing it hits. What a lousy power."
"How are you even standing!?" The captain demanded, failing to pull his hand back.
Baldervich was leaning halfway over the edge of the sled. The captain then peered behind him to see that Baldervich had broken the floor with his hammer and was using it as an anchor, hooking it into the broken floorboards.
Baldervich smiled. He stepped back from the edge and pulled the rider captain closer. The captain struggled, and his mount tried to bite Baldervich.
"Stupid animal!" He yelled. Baldervich kicked the mount in the face. The animal whimpered as it had no choice but to move closer. Even so, it continued its resistance.
Baldervich clicked his tongue.
He then squeezed with immense force, crushing the captain's arm, making him cry out. Baldervich let go and casually stepped back from the edge of the sled. The captain limped over on his mount.
Baldervich lifted his hammer up from the broken plank. He took in the surrounding choas on the sled "Heh, looks like they're almost done."
He turned back to the captain, who was slumped over in pain. "You can join the rest of your pathetic squad in hell." He grinned, raising the hammer above his head.
Suddenly, a sharp pain flared in his back. Baldervich shuddered.
He looked behind him to see Hoku standing behind him. Then he noticed the blood-soaked dagger in his hands.
Hoku stepped back, shaking at the action he had taken, but before he could do anything else, Baldervich elbowed him in the gut.
Baldervich looked down at him, his face twisted with a burning hatred. You've long outstayed your welcome-"
Baldervich's intuition kicked in as he quickly turned back around and put up his arms in defence as fire scorched him. The captain's breath was ragged as he leaned over on his mount. He had barely managed to move his flaming whip to his other hand. Several veins popped on Baldervich's forehead.
Hoku got up off the floor, but Baldervich glared at him from the back of his head. A speaking look saying: "Do anything else, and you're dead."
The captain flailed his whip, and Baldervich blocked it with his hammer. The captain was on his last legs, and Baldervich was growing impatient. Hoku watched desperately as Baldervich swung his hammer back again. His breathing slowed as he eyed the scavenger. Slower and slower until his heart became still.
Suddenly Baldervich felt a cold sensation pulling against his neck. "What!?"
Hoku had wrapped the chain that was keeping him captive around the scavenger's neck, desperately pulling it down with his body weight. Baldervich clenched his hammer and waved it behind him. He couldn't hit Hoku, but his strength was beginning to overwhelm Hoku's weight. then.
SLASH.
The captain flailed his whip again, hitting Baldervich across the chest again. The burns weren't deep, but they were certainly painful. Each slash made Baldervich lose a little bit of strength and made Hoku gain a little bit of hope.
Baldervich was assaulted with the fiery whip; he was only half right about the whip losing its power. It's wielder could choose whether to use all of its fire in one go of. In a flurry attack, he could use smaller amounts of fire to keep it ablaze.
Baldervich yelled, "I'll kill you!"
A flurry of fire and a cacophony of screams filled the desert air.
Hoku felt a burning resolve grow stronger as he held onto the chain with all his might. But when he least expected it, he caught a shadow moving behind him.
Suddenly, the scavenger Bones appeared out of nowhere. He jumped off the side of the sled surprising everyone.
He landed on the captain's mount in front of him. Just as soon as the captain noticed him land Bones kicked him in the chest, launching the captain into the sand, a cloud forming where he fell. Bones briefly smiled at Baldervich atop the mount before kicking off the creature's face and back on to the sled.
Baldervich's breathing slowed. "I didn't need your help," he growled.
Bones smiled, and to Hoku it looked like his curved blade didn't even move, but the chain was suddenly cut as the metal links slid away from Baldervich's throat. Hoku stared with wide eyes at the broken chain in his hand, and before he could do anything else, Baldervich punched him to the floor.
Hoku fell back, gritting his teeth as blood splattered out from his lip.
"Look at what you've done! Are you happy now?" He stamped on Hoku's chest. "All those pushovers are finished! Dead in the sand. Are you starting to get the picture?!"
Looking up at the hopeless sky, Hoku's vision was beginning to blur.
"No one's left to save you", Baldervich spat on the floor
"Let's not be hasty now."
Both Hoku and Baldervich looked up at the voice. At the centre of the sled sat a figure seemingly unfazed by the chaos around them. He had a ripped, short black cape and wore silver armour. The man spoke with a flippant tone, though his accent made him sound regal.
All the scavengers turned to the centre, gawking. He sat pouring tea from a pot into a decorated cup.
"Though if by 'pushovers' you are referring to the knights of the sand region, then yes you would certainly be correct," he said.
Then again, as of this moment," He took a break to sip his tea ", I have temporarily chosen to join them, so who's to say?" The man chuckled to himself.
Baldervich took his leg from Hoku's chest and turned to his crew. "Which one of you idiots let this clown pass? Somebody take care of him."
"Sure thing, boss, " one of the scavengers said, stretching out his arm. The scavenger approached the sitting figure as he sipped his tea through his silver helmet. He swung his blade at the man, cutting through him. A spray of red splashed onto him. The scavenger smiled.
Then he looked around, looking for the man he cut.
The scavenger realised that he was still being drenched in red. He looked up to see the man's feet atop his sword as he was pouring tea on the scavenger's head.
"If you want a full cup, then you'll have to ask nicely next time," he said as he brought his cup up to his head. He was drinking it through his helmet, which was yet another strange detail to this man, as it was in the distinct shape of a horse's head.
The scavenger's face turned pale.
"No need to worry. I'm not going to kill you. I am here to arrest you, to the best of my ability," The man proclaimed, performing an acrobatic flip off the sword.
Baldervich scorned, "Don't make me laugh, you knights are just as brutal as us-"
"I refute such a thing!" the silver stranger exclaimed mid landing, surprising everyone. "Ahem, I try my hardest not to stain my hands with blood as it has an undesired effect on one's mental state." He glanced over the scavengers "Case in point."
"What's the harm! You already seem like a nut case and a strong one at that!" Baldervich yelled. "What'da think, Bones? Should we kill him dead?"
Bones was occupied with looking over the edge of the sled.
Once Baldervich took notice too, he rushed to the edge. The sand was passing by at a much lower rate, the hissing quieting. "Hey, why the hell are we slowing down?!" He shouted at the rider.
"Boss.. I tried my best to make it better but there's way too much blood! And... as soon as that guy showed up, blood started gushing everywhere; I can't contain it!
The silver stranger tilted his head downwards. "I do make an exception for beasts," he said, turning his rapier dripping with cold purple blood.
"Shall we begin?"