Fruit Ninja! (attn Yriel, Arinth and Quibby)

[The Bard Babe]

With a bounce in his step, Arkin trotted towards the Citadel after a day of scouting out the surrounding area and more recently, exercising horses with his mates. He had settled into the Band quite well, his heart and mind still quite unused to settling anywhere. He had friends now that he could actually get attached to without having to explain why he would be leaving the next day Sending a grin over his shoulder to Arinth, who was plodding along behind him, Arkin began to pull out the wraps he kept in his pocket for scouting shifts. He had refined his walking peddler's wagon appearance, stripping it down to the bare essentials for his sentimental collector's mind, but he still had a fair amount more colour and noise than was a good idea to be shifty with.

 

As an experienced thief in his early life, Arkin was quite skilled at ensuring that his stealth was complete, that no-one would hear him when he approached from around the corner, but in the colourful foregates and big cities that he was used to, Arkin had not had to make use of camouflague. And so, he had begun to re-invent his old stealth systems.

When he'd first begun to wear bells, Arkin had immediately developed wraps that he could don quickly to dim their bright tinkling, and now he used those wraps, dyed in the colours of the forest. One covered part of his hair as a bandanna, successfully holding his bells silently in place. As for the colour on his arms and legs, Arkin had wraps that wound up his trousers, and his best invention to date, a coat. He had dyed the inside of his coat as camouflague, and sewn the pockets into both sides, so all he need do for perfect camouflague, was to turn his bright coat inside out and quite literally wrap up.

 

Arkin was broken from his ritual preparations by a large mound of fruit that caught his eye, piled carelessly beneath a tree. Looking around for an owner and seeing none, Arkin flitted over and gave a sniff. Yep, the fruit was off, and it smelt quite bad, but only if you breathed through your mouth.

 

Turning and shrugging at his friends, Arkin pulled out a knife and gave a swift cut to a mango that was within arm's reach. A grin taking over his features, Arkin spun to the men with him and felt a glint of mischeivous glee enter his eye. "Ok, we can't just leave this stuff here. We have to do something with it."

[Yriel]

Yriel yawned, he was comfortably sitting under the shade of a rather large oak tree which gave him ample shade. The book lying half happen at his side, attests to why he was out rather than in the camp. Travels of Jain Farstrider, he enjoyed it as a guilty pleasure ever since he left his own home, but was well aware of the ridicule he would be given if he was caught reading it by any of the band. However after the first few hours he had quickly fallen to sleep in the comfortable warm shade. He stretched as he stood up and twisted his neck back a small crack could be heard in the clearing as it snapped into place. He was feeling pleasantly relaxed as he looked around the clearing, as relaxed as he had ever felt while not drunk.

 

He had already done several chores today and had not had any time off during the day since joining the band, so today after running reports between outlying camps he'd decided to drop of the radar while the weather was nice, it was hard at times like this to believe in anyway those that said the great battle was coming. Yriel checked his sword on his hip and the crossbow propped against a tree next to where he had been resting, he then checked the trap he had set. His traps were now more set out of habit than out of need for food, but it still came in handy with bribing a quartermaster. Luck, one had caught a nice juicy rabbit, he strapped it to his waist.

 

As he was starting to walk back to camp he heard a voice he recognised.

"Ok, we can't just leave this stuff here. We have to do something with it." Yriel smirked at Arkin's voice, he wandered through a few bushes in the direction of the voice wondering what the small scout of found, he almost sighed when he arrived next to the small group of people and saw the large pile of fruit, he was just hoping he hadn't walked into a food fight in the planning. He checked the quiver of bolts on his hip as he thought the other direction this might go in.

Edited June 14, 2012 by Yriel

[Arinth]

Arinth walked easily. The sun was up and it felt like a good day. Arkin walked a few paces ahead , the man was bouncy and sometimes seemed to grow impatient with Arinth’s slower, more steady pace. The scout was wrapping in some new type of camouflage of his own design. Who was Arinth to comment though. His own clothes were old and faded and even new had been little more than dull. Arkin would draw a few comments in the taverns though. Arinth would shut them up fast enough if they felt the need to be overly loud though.

 

He began humming. He realized after a moment that it was the tune he had sung to Arkin in the tavern about the Cavalry. Maybe he could convince the one time singer to write a few more verses of the sound. It was always fun to find ways to get under the cavalry’s skin.

 

The mound of old spoiled fruit was a surprise and a nice diversion from what might have been an otherwise boring day. Of course if he was so easily entertained by a pile of fruit it was unfair to suggest that he wouldn’t be entertained by rocks or grass, trees of even air. He shrugged that thought off though. There was fruit to deal with.

 

Arkin slashed through a mango, cutting it in half. Arinth laughed and picked up one himself. He tossed it in his hand for a moment before throwing it straight up in the air. He drew his sword and slashed at the mango. He missed and the force of the swing sent him spinning around in a circle. Luckily Arkin had been sure to stand far enough away not to be in danger. Arinth was still laughing when he stopped spinning. It was not as easily as it looked. He picked another one up and tossed it into the air towards Arkin who deftly used his knife to dispatch it.

 

Arinth noticed Yriel walking towards them. The young infantryman appeared to be holding a book in his hand. Arinth would definitely let him hear about that. An educated man in the infantry. He snorted. He couldn’t be too educated or he would have chosen to avoid the infantry all together.

 

With a grin he called out to Yriel and tossed a mango at him, it arced high in the air and came tumbling down towards him.

[The Bard Babe]

Arkin laughed loudly as Arinth attempted to slice through a mango, missed and the man began a spin. "Maybe I can teach you to dance ballet, Arinth! You'd fit right in with the cavs!" he laughed, jumping back before the man could hit him with his momentum swing. Now that he knew of Arinth's intense hate for the cavalry, Arkin had been throwing comments about them in conversation as often as he could.

He wasn't expecting the mango that flew towards him, but he sliced through it with his quick reactions, a knife and an emphatic yelp, throwing a glare at Arinth.

 

Arinth, however, was watching as Yriel wandered towards them with his crossbow in one hand and a book in the other. Seeing Arinth's 'oh, he's gonna hear about that later' smirk, Arkin rolled his eyes at the man, picking up a a few pieces of fruit as Arinth sent a mango sailing at the newest infantryman. Arkin was probably the only person safe from Arinth's ribbing after he told him he wanted to become literate. Again, that desire to read and write hit Arkin in the stomach, but he was quickly distracted as he grabbed a few pieces of fruit and began to juggle them as he watched Yriel's reaction to the flying fruit.

[Yriel]

Yriel groaned as he saw both men's eyes go straight for his book. Sometimes the wheel just wasn't fair others, it just seemed to want a good laugh. Dropping his book and he drew his sword as the mango sailed towards him, he swatted it with the side of the blade as it got close. His one-handed aim, unlike Arkin's, was rewarded with the mango exploding in a shower of rotten fruit all over him. The wheel was defiantly laughing at him today.

 

"Light cursed mango." He swore as he began pulling small pieces of fruit out of his hair, clothes and crossbow. He wiped his blade on his trousers before he leaning down and picking up his book sliding it into his jacket. Scabbarding his sword he brought his ever cocked crossbow up to hold with both hands. He walked forward towards the pair. The rabbit bouncing off the front of his thigh. Watching Arkin's juggling he smirked. The little Cairhein man would have made a good gleeman by his estimate. He turned to Arinth.

 

"In compensation I claim a drink off one of your flasks." he smirked outrageously at Arinth, he could bet the man would be fumbling for some way to get out of giving him his precious booze. Yriel was willing to bet none of the flasks the man carried ever had water in. He rested his crossbow on his shoulder leaving him one hand free should another piece of fruit come flying at him from either of the men.

[Arinth]

"In compensation I claim a drink off one of your flasks."

 

Arinth swallowed back a groan. He didn’t mind sharing most things but a man shouldn’t be separated from his alcohol. On the other hand though a man shouldn’t be denied alcohol either for no good reason. Arinth would be able to get more. Besides Yriel was a friend.

 

He tossed the flask at Yriel and hid a smile. He could share but that didn’t mean he had to warn the man how strong the drink was. He had always been told surprises were a good thing. He watched Yriel’s reaction from the corner of his eye as he turned back towards Arkin. A grin escaped his mouth as he watched Yriel.

 

“What was that you said about the cavalry?” He asked Arkin. He acted like he was about to heft another mango at Yriel before turning his shoulder and hurling it right at Arkin’s chest. Arkin was fast and shifty but at such a close range he was unable to avoid the Mango that splattered across his chest.

 

“Fit right in you said? Well if I am not mistaken you are the one who looks like a cavalry man who just finished his meal.”

Arinth tried to appear to stand easy but he was ready to whip his sword up and slice the next mango that came his way…from either man. He had a feelings things were about to get fun.

[Quibby]

"Hmmm... interesting properties, rapid expansion brought on by the introduction of flame. Possible uses as propulsion mechanism? Doubtful. Too hard to control. Must be some way to use it, though." Corporal Pahl Ebersol- a title that was still startling to him, though he knew that it was only an honorary rank- was wandering through the Citadel, his mind laboring on his "special project," something given to him by the Commander himself. He found that walking and talking to himself helped his brainstorming, though it had led to a certain reputation among some circles of the Band as being an utter madman. His clothing certainly did not help the reputation, with all the heavy leather and the goggles.

 

Unfortunately, wandering the Citadel led to its own little distractions. Near one of the still-wooded areas within the walls, Pahl's eye was caught by a group of soldiers. They had weapons out, and they were swatting away at what looked to be flying fruit. Pausing mid-sentence, Pahl pulled the goggles down over his eyes, then flipped one of the new lenses down in front of the main one. Immediately, the distant men grew much larger. "Definitely fruit. Why a large pile of fruit left in the middle of the Citadel, though? Forgotten rations for the men? Doubtful. Not likely to be left out here. Rotten, then? More plausible. Why play with rotten fruit, though? Must investigate." After taking a couple of stumbling steps towards the men, Pahl took the goggles off his eyes, resting them against his forehead.

 

The activities seemed to be growing more and more spirited as he approached. Soon, he could see showers of burst fruit as they struck swung weapons. After a moment's hesitation, Pahl drew the goggles back down over his eyes and raised the stiff leather collar of his jacket so it covered the lower part of his face. As an afterthought, he took his newly rebuilt quarterstaff weapon out of its shoulder holster. This newest iteration had a new spring system that allowed for the weapon to lock out individual blades instead of forcing both blades to activate. Feeling more secure in himself, Pahl continued his approach. "Umm... excuse me, but wah-what are you doing?"

[The Bard Babe]

Arkin felt the air leave his body in a rush as the mango connected with his chest. Voicing as loud an 'ooomph' as he could under the circumstances, he took a step backwards as Arinth drew his sword to ward off flying fruit.

 

The second the larger man's eyes were on the equally suspicious Yriel, Arkin scooped up a few mangoes in each hand and ran at his drinking buddy, quickly clambering up his frame to come to a rest sitting on his shoulders. A couple of mangoes were quickly squashed over Arinth's head.

 

Ratcheting his arm back to throw another at Yriel, Arkin let loose, but the old servant easily deflected it.

 

Arkin, as a scout, was the first to notice Pahl's presence as the man approached with his staff and his magnifying glasses, and even as he spoke, Arkin had sent his remaining mangoes at the man in favour with a raucous laugh, grabbing hold of Arinth's neck so as not to get bucked off when the man recovered from his speedy flight.

Edited August 16, 2012 by The Bard Babe

[Quibby]

After a few stumbles, Pahl managed to approach the three men and the pile of fruit. Two of the men were completely unfamiliar to him, but the third was Arkin Fletcher, the man who had done all the talking when the scouts had brought him into the Band. Behind the leather mantle, Pahl smiled. At least there was a familiar face to explain what was happening. The more that Pahl watched the men, the more confused he became, and maybe one of them could shed some light on the situation.

 

All thoughts of asking questions came to a halt as Arkin turned on his heel and threw a piece of fruit at him.

 

Pahl's immediately began to assess the situation, his thoughts a clutter as the fruit- a mango, from the look of it- flew towards his face. Somehow, he managed to communicate to his feet that it was a good time to be someplace else. He was able to avoid the first of the fruits thrown at him. The second, however, was also on its way towards him. With the time that he had been given, Pahl had enough sense to press one of the five buttons on his quarterstaff. With the sound of metal rasping against metal, one of the two blades slid out of the wooden handle. To Pahl's surprise, there was a click; the blade lock had engaged properly. Pahl was now armed and ready to- The mango struck Pahl in the middle of the chest and exploded, showering him and leaving him festooned in fragments of fetid fruit.

 

A third mango was hurling towards Pahl, and his eyes narrowed as he watched it. Despite his mildly clumsy and absent-minded demeanor, Pahl was perfectly aware of where he was at all times; most of the time, he was too busy concentrating on other matters to remember that, but when his mind focused on himself, he knew his exact position in space, which in turn allowed for near-astonishing coordination. It was this focus that allowed Pahl to deftly side-step as the fruit approached, and neatly cut the offending fruit down the middle with a careful swing of his curious sword.

 

Of course, this tight focus left Pahl blind to the fact that there was a fourth fruit on its way towards him, which struck him in the stomach. It was only the stiff leather of his vest that kept Pahl from having the breath driven from his lungs by the blow. Again covered in fruit, Pahl reacted the way that seemed most appropriate: he took the two halves of rotten mango and hurled them back at Arkin, then slowly crab-walked to the fruit pile. He was going to need ammunition. "Wuh-well, it seems a-a-apparent what is guh-going on here," Pahl stuttered as he made his way towards the fruit. "Allow me to a-arm myself, and I wuh-will fight back with guh-gusto."

[Arinth]

Arinth stumbled backwards as he found Arkin up on his shoulders. Mango juice ran down his face and into his beard. He spit out the little that found its way into his mouth.

 

A strange man that Arinth had not seen before approached them. Arkin seemed to know him and before the man realized what hew as getting into he had been peppered with mangos. He responded quickly as he recovered some mangos of his own.

After hefting a mango he turned to look at the men surrounding them. There was a moment’s hesitation as he appeared to consider who was best to attack. Arkin still sat on Arinth’s shoulders with his legs locked tightly in place.

 

The man probably assumed that taking out two with one shot was the best approach. In either case Arinth found himself trying to stop the mangos that flew towards him. He deflected the first one and dodged the second. It seemed he was improving. Just when he was admiring his new found agility he was stuck with another mango. He stumbled backwards. His heel caught on a rock and he sat down sharply.

 

He took the opportunity to grab Arkin and wrestle him off. He got in a headlock and mushed some mango into his face that he found. Then he rolled away and stumbled back to his feet.

[Yriel]

Yriel had dived into the bush for a moment before wiping the mango off of his shirt. He sighed, it hadn't been what could be called clean before but now it was soaked it the slightly fetid fruit juice, He would need to find a washerwoman to fix it last thing he wanted during a long march was a bug to come and sting him after mistaking his sent for that of the mango. As he wiped he noticed a new person appear one who he didn't recognize in the slightest.

 

He watched the proceedings with a smirk and used the distractions to stockpile fruit. Once he was ready he began hurling handfuls of fruit at the trio in front of him. Giving no mercy to the newcomer with the strange contraptions.

 

However while he was switching location, rather sneakily in his opinion, he felt several not so solid blows explode round the back of his head causing him to fall to the ground rather flatly. Letting out a low groan Yriel sat up at his knees seeing three smirking faces. Apparently he was not as sneaky as he thought he was.

 

Pushing himself up, Yriel nursed his damaged ego by dodging a quick volley and smacking Arkin on the back of the head with a particularly ripe mango before retreating to a safe distance. He must remember to keep as many of them in sight as possible.

[Arinth]

Where had all this fruit come from? Arinth wondered as he stumbled around. The ground was littered with the decimated fruit. His clothes were covered in the remains. His hair and his beard were drenched in the warm, sticky, fruit juice. He looked around at his companions. Their appearances were all similar to his own.

 

The day was beginning to turn from warm to hot and he found that the juice combined with his pouring sweat made for a very pungent smell. The fruit pile was vastly diminished. He assumed someone in the kitchens would be very upset when they didn’t have the fruit they had planned on using. The thought that the fruit was part of dinner made him scratch his head. He couldn’t ever remember it being featured in the meals that were served. Though if other soldiers had the same inclinations to destroy stocks of fruit he could see why.

 

He laughed as he remembered catching Yriel with a particularly ripe mango in the back of head. The explosion had been a thing of beauty. He sat down on a rock breathlessly. The others recognized the momentary truce and took their seats as well.

 

Before anyone could speak, they heard someone coming. Arinth, assuming it was whoever owned the fruit, dove behind the boulder and held his breath. I hoped the others had been as quick as he was or it was likely that there would be consequences for their actions.

Edited July 30, 2019 by Arinth

[Arinth]

Arinth felt his heart pounding in his chest as sweat dripped into his eyes. He blinked it away painfully as he tried to hold his breath. A fly began buzzing around his face. He tried to swat it away quietly with as little movement as possible. The last thing he wanted was to get in trouble with the kitchen staff. It was never a good idea to get on the bad side of those that fed you. They could serve him disgusting food. They could spit in it. They could even poison it.  The fly settled on his nose and his eyes crossed as he looked it and tried to wiggle his nose to get it to move.

 

He listed as the footsteps continued shuffling forward until they came close to the tree where the fruit had been left. They stopped suddenly. Maybe they wouldn’t notice? A string of angry curses reached his ears. Had they said something about holding the person responsible down and making them drink a warm cup of milk? Would it be possible that he could also get some cookies with the milk? He looked around for the others. They must have all found better hiding spots then himself. He didn’t see them anywhere. If he could just wait a little longer, he would be in the clear.

 

Suddenly he felt his hamstring tighten up from the way he was crouching. With a painful groan he fell forward, rolling past the rock and out into the open. There was a sudden cry of surprise followed by an angry shout.

 

“You stole the fruit! You smashed it up and left a terrible mess. You have the maturity of a two-year-old child. How can you call yourself a soldier?”

 

Arinth held up his hands. “It wasn’t me.” He said as he tried to duck his head and back away at the same time. “I was just walking past and stumbled. I fell on something. It must have been a piece of fruit.”

 

“Lies! You have fruit all over yourself, your hands, your face, your clothes!”

 

He felt a thud and an explosion as something his him. He looked down to see a smeared piece of fruit. He looked up just in time to see another piece flying for his face. He ducked and felt is fly just over his head. Another piece followed and he was forced to step lively to the side to dodge it. Another piece came even more quickly, and he twisted to avoid it. A melon came flying towards him and he jumped, lifting his knees up as high as he could to make sure it missed its mark. He heard the sound of it striking the ground behind him and breaking apart. He landed roughly on his feet and dropped down to one knee. He looked up in time to see yet another piece of fruit lying towards him. This one he was unable to avoid. It crashed straight into his forehead and he toppled backwards.

Edited August 4, 2019 by Arinth

[The Bard Babe]

Arkin lay in wait. He was behind Arinth now, almost perfectly in position. They had been discovered, but that had only been a matter of time. Arkin had been surprised they'd gotten away with it as long as they had, to be honest. 

He checked again on Pahl, whose hiding spot was really only adequate enough because Arinth's had been worse. And of course, the big man couldn't stay still for longer than a minute. 

Arkin, on the other hand...He snuck closer, snaking through the undergrowth, a fruit in each hand until the perfect time aaaaand -

 

Splat.

 

He ducked back into the trees, just in time to miss a barrage as their seriously affronted discoverer gaped at Arinth, mouth wide open as sickly sweet fruit ran down their shirt. It had been a very good shot, Arkin thought. 

Fruit started pelting Arinth - he dodged one well enough, but the others not so much. Arkin took that as his cue to start howling like a madman and make a break for better cover. Besides, he couldn't let Arinth cop all this on his own. That wasn't how they worked. 

His well intentioned thoughts survived right up until he next glanced at Arinth and saw the big man, dripping with fruit, a melon in each hand, eyes full of malice. 

Maybe he had misjudged this particular occasion. 

 

Arkin scrabbled backwards as not only Arinth, but their discoverer started hefting fruit at him. The first apple went wide, the next fended off with his blade, but in his efforts to dodge Arinth's first hunk of melon, he slipped in some remains of some poor fruit that had never made it to breakfast, and fell onto his rear. He was forced to throw his knife at the chunk of melon to split it, and it blocked his view of the next missile. Yelping, he rolled, barely dodging, and picking up a great deal of dirt with his sticky clothes and skin. One knife down, on the floor, it was all down to dodging now, and Arkin tried his very best. 

The barrage finally slowed, and Arkin lay back, spread eagle, eyes briefly closed as he caught his breath. They had to be out of fruit now. The sun was far too hot for this sort of smell.

Arkin heard it coming, but he merely groaned and snapped his eyes open as Arinth loomed over him. Oh. So he wasn't out then. 

Arkin just lay there, waving a brief come at me gesture. 

[Arinth]

This must be some kind of magic fruit Arinth thought as the supply never seemed to end despite the vast amounts that had been smashed. He had thought the fun would be over when the kitchen helper showed up but Arkin's antics had distracted her and Arinth couldn't help himself from taking advantage of the opportunity. Arkin was usually a slippery guy that it was tough to get the best of. This was a fun opportunity to get a chance to tag him once or twice without causing any real harm or hard feelings.

 

Arkin was good though. He used used his knives very skillfully to deflect the fruit. At one point he even tossed one of his knives to stop a fruit dead when he was beginning to get overwhelmed with the volume hefted at him. Arinth was glade his aim was true, otherwise he might have been the one catching the blade of Arkin's knife.

 

Their breath and willingness to continue seemed to slow before the amounts of fruit were extinguished. At some point the kitchen helper had disappeared, shaking her head and muttering as she left. Clearly she had recognized the futility of the situation and did not have the luxury of tarrying longer when there was work that needed to be done.

 

Arinth stumbled over to his friend and offered out a hand to help him up. As they locked eyes Arinth realized there was a devious twinkle in Arkin's eyes. Alarm bells went off but he could not disengage and retreat fast enough. Arkin had a firm grip on his hand and from his other a fruit appeared. Arinth squeezed his eyes shut.

 

OCC I think you only one more post for this to be able to count towards your weapon score BB

[The Bard Babe]

Arkin took the pummelling he deserved while on the floor. Out of habit more than anything else,  he checked where his knife had landed. Not one of his best knives. Not one of his best throws, come to think of it. He let his gaze slide to Arinth, looming above him. Everything stank. Arkin stank. Arinth stank. Then again, he always stank. The kitchen staff had vanished - probably for the best, though Arkin didn't doubt they would have solid aim when it came to throwing their food around. Surely that was a highly honed skill developed in the kitchens. Grinning to himself, he felt the pleasant aching of his muscles and the winding down of the energy around them. The fruit simply had to have run out by now. Well, other than what was lying around their battlefield, of course. 

Quite content at this point to stay where he was and watch the clouds for a while, Arkin sighed when Arinth offered a hand up. Taking it, he pulled, hard enough that he practically flew to his feet. The big man had just enough time to catch a glimpse of Arkin's fruit-filled hand before it spattered right over his face. It was more mush than it was structurally sound at this point, orange flesh mixed with soggy blades of grass. A bit of pulp dripped off Arinth's eyebrow, and Arkin laughed as he leaned against his friend, surveying the damage they had done to the open patch of grass. 

He waved a hand at the carnage. "An orchard would really add to the Citadel's homely aesthetic, I've always felt."