Meanwhile, not too far away on the shore the thunderclap of power was heard and startled the sailors that were busy trying to get their ship back in working order.
Hearing the sound resonate across the rocky beach, the captain of the ship looked up from the map she was leaning over and gazed towards where she believed it came from. Her crew however, heard and felt the vibrations echo through their bones, and none of them enjoyed it. Sailors tended to be a superstitious group, and the Captains crew was no exception. She however, was led more by her curiosity than her fear of the unknown.
Standing upright, a mischievous glean shone in her eyes, and looking at her, the First Mate already knew what was about to happen and sighed in instant resignation.
"First Mate!" The Captain barked out, loud enough to get the entire beach's attention. "That sound has perked my interest!" The crewmen around the beach groaned out their protest while the First Mate simply hung his head.
"Aye Captain, you know I'm standing right here don't you?" the First Mate snarkily replied. "You needn't have to yell so loudly... What if you drew whatever made that sound to us? You know the crew doesn't like this place already!"
Grinning back at her First Mate, she ignored his complaint and simply issued out her orders. "You stay here and finish up the repairs to the ship and get her ready to cast off! I want you, you, and... you! Come with me to hunt down that sound! Oh, and weapons at the ready just in case!" She laughed while pointing out several of her sailors, volunteering, no, drafting them to help satisfy her curiosity.
Groaning and cursing their luck, the hand picked sailors all hustled and quickly picked up their gear and surrounding their Captain as they once again were forced to accompany the Captain on some wild hunt. Giving them the once over to make sure everyone was set, the Captain nodded and spun around, sprinting in the direction she was sure the noise came from.
As sad as might be, A'kuri was in fact rather close to where the Ship had beached itself. A few moments more and she would have been in sight of the Captain and her Crew.
Cresting the small hill in front of them, the Captain and her party were greeted with a horrendous sight. A young woman laying in the grass, reaching towards a glowing orb of aether and a single hunter was closing in with his weapon drawn. As the Captain stood there watching, she was trying to figure out if she should intervene, and if so, on who's behalf. What she did not see, was the smear in the grass that had been the first hunter to reach the young woman.
Standing there, off to the side, the Captain couldn't decide if she should intervene, and if so, who would she aid. As she was about to make her choice, the entire scenario rapidly changed before their eyes. A second orb of aether had materialized, this time golden in color, and began to rush towards the remaining hunter. With each "step" this golden aether took, the ground shook as if a boulder was careening across the ground.
The hunter had turned to run, but even from the Captains viewpoint, it was a pointless effort for she already realized that the golden aether was gaining momentum and catching up to the retreating hunter.
As the small group of sailors stood watching, the mass of aether caught up to the hunter and slammed into him. The sound was absolutely horrendous, as if a wet bag of ripe fruit was dropped from somewhere up high and left to splatter on the floor. They saw the hunter go limp and then tumble across the ground in a manner that no body with bones should be capable of.
It was then that the Captain took note of the other Mi'qote that had just reached the top of the hill opposite of them. Quickly realizing that this would not end well for the girl, the Captain spurned on her Crew to reach the girl before the Mi'qote did.
Hearing the sound resonate across the rocky beach, the captain of the ship looked up from the map she was leaning over and gazed towards where she believed it came from. Her crew however, heard and felt the vibrations echo through their bones, and none of them enjoyed it. Sailors tended to be a superstitious group, and the Captains crew was no exception. She however, was led more by her curiosity than her fear of the unknown.
Standing upright, a mischievous glean shone in her eyes, and looking at her, the First Mate already knew what was about to happen and sighed in instant resignation.
"First Mate!" The Captain barked out, loud enough to get the entire beach's attention. "That sound has perked my interest!" The crewmen around the beach groaned out their protest while the First Mate simply hung his head.
"Aye Captain, you know I'm standing right here don't you?" the First Mate snarkily replied. "You needn't have to yell so loudly... What if you drew whatever made that sound to us? You know the crew doesn't like this place already!"
Grinning back at her First Mate, she ignored his complaint and simply issued out her orders. "You stay here and finish up the repairs to the ship and get her ready to cast off! I want you, you, and... you! Come with me to hunt down that sound! Oh, and weapons at the ready just in case!" She laughed while pointing out several of her sailors, volunteering, no, drafting them to help satisfy her curiosity.
Groaning and cursing their luck, the hand picked sailors all hustled and quickly picked up their gear and surrounding their Captain as they once again were forced to accompany the Captain on some wild hunt. Giving them the once over to make sure everyone was set, the Captain nodded and spun around, sprinting in the direction she was sure the noise came from.
As sad as might be, A'kuri was in fact rather close to where the Ship had beached itself. A few moments more and she would have been in sight of the Captain and her Crew.
Cresting the small hill in front of them, the Captain and her party were greeted with a horrendous sight. A young woman laying in the grass, reaching towards a glowing orb of aether and a single hunter was closing in with his weapon drawn. As the Captain stood there watching, she was trying to figure out if she should intervene, and if so, on who's behalf. What she did not see, was the smear in the grass that had been the first hunter to reach the young woman.
Standing there, off to the side, the Captain couldn't decide if she should intervene, and if so, who would she aid. As she was about to make her choice, the entire scenario rapidly changed before their eyes. A second orb of aether had materialized, this time golden in color, and began to rush towards the remaining hunter. With each "step" this golden aether took, the ground shook as if a boulder was careening across the ground.
The hunter had turned to run, but even from the Captains viewpoint, it was a pointless effort for she already realized that the golden aether was gaining momentum and catching up to the retreating hunter.
As the small group of sailors stood watching, the mass of aether caught up to the hunter and slammed into him. The sound was absolutely horrendous, as if a wet bag of ripe fruit was dropped from somewhere up high and left to splatter on the floor. They saw the hunter go limp and then tumble across the ground in a manner that no body with bones should be capable of.
It was then that the Captain took note of the other Mi'qote that had just reached the top of the hill opposite of them. Quickly realizing that this would not end well for the girl, the Captain spurned on her Crew to reach the girl before the Mi'qote did.