Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-3293219-20140217201750/@comment-3293219-20140305164514

(Hey guys, remember when I said that I wouldn't finish the piece before late tonight?

I LIED!


 * Walks away, whistling happily, while everyone boos.*)

Traditional weakness
Kaizen approached the minotaur lair, accompanied by his armed escorts. Several minotaurs appeared, growling at their guest in an effort to intimidate him. The Argonian wasn't moved, he found it quaint.

Kaizen began his ascent, slowly taking in the animalistic atmosphere as he stood, waiting for his gracious hosts to approach him, from behind and 'encourage' him to pick up the pace with a sharp jab in the back. He decided to prompt himself, stepping forward, towards the mouth of the cave, where he would meet the leader of these beastly people.

The commander grunted, gesturing for Kaizen to enter the grotto. The Black Argonian gazed inside, feeling something that he hadn't felt in so long...

Apprehension...

Kaizen's feet did the walking, his brain no longer had a say in the matter as it would most likely submit to his reluctance. What dwells within these caves? What beasts could have the survived the centuries of persecution, that the minotaur people have had to endure?

Kaizen knew, full well, what it took for an outcast to survive in this world. When society deems you an invalid, you have two choices...

Survive or die.

And the survivors are never the people they once were as Petra will soon find out...

The Argonian, slowly, shuffled along, through the caves. The smell of the damp atmosphere was the first thing to hit him. He was familiar with the smell as the caves were his second home, back in the day. If a target was likely to wander the roads, then he would clear out a cave and sleep in it, waiting for a chance to jump them, when they eventually cross paths.

He heard the grunting and chanting of the beasts, the noise echoed throughout the caves as he approached. He knew that they had plans for him, if they had gathered an entire army to watch, what was going to happen next?

Kaizen was right. An arena of over 1000 minotaurs greeted him, with their growls and jeers. He was almost deafened by the thunderous cheering. Once again, he was an outcast but, unlike in the human world, Kaizen knew his place here...

It was in that throne, sadly, it was currently being occupied by a weak, old fossil.

Kaizen stopped before the king of the minotaurs as the crowd continued to cheer, the king gazed into The Black Argonian's eyes and tried to read the Argonian, in a similar fashion to the way that the commander had 'read' him before.

Kaizen knew this gaze...

He knew it well...

Right now, the king is trying to figure out his weaknesses. Kaizen didn't need to do it back, as it was obvious that his opponent was weak. He was old, for a start but it was more than that...

He wasn't just 'old,' he was feeble. The totem he carried wasn't for bravado, he needed it to walk and his men weren't cheering out of respect but out of fear.

Fear of who? Kaizen had established that the king was weak, it was obvious that the fear was truly of his lieutenants, they held the authority but the king still clung to the throne.

After studying him, the king slammed the base of his staff against the floor. To his credit, the old fool still had some strength in his arm.

Dust flew away from the point of impact, scattering away from his feet, as if it was afraid. Kaizen wouldn't be surprised, if he had paid the dust to move...

The cheering stopped and Kaizen became the center of attention.

"Argonian!" The king slammed his totem on the floor. His voice echoed, throughout the chamber.

"We know that you have been looking for our city!" He boomed, slamming his staff on the floor in a vain attempt to intimidate Kaizen.

His ‘reading’ had obviously failed…

“I presume that your scouts found me…” Kaizen replied, placing his hands in his pockets.

“Those ‘scouts’ caught you exploring our former territory, from the third era.”

“Yeah.” Kaizen confirmed, looking around, like he owned the place, he may as well get the feel of it as he will do soon…

“I was hoping to find you, to discu-“

“You have come here to finish us!” The King interrupted, causing the crowd to erupt into a chorus of jeering and growling as Kaizen was silenced. The Black Argonian persevered the insult for a few moments before raising his hand to quieten the crowd. It took a moment but the balance of power had shifted to him as the minotaurs died down.

“I assure you, I have not come here with any intentions of harming you or your people.” The Black Argonian ended by glancing around, meeting the eyes of as many minotaurs as possible before moving on to the next part of his speech. “I have come to you, in the hopes of forming an alliance with your clan.”

The King leaned forward, his ears had pricked up, he was intrigued…

“Speak to us, of your… ‘Alliance.”

Kaizen just glared, prepping himself for what he was about to say.

“Like you, I wish to reclaim my home, I’ll need support to do that and you need the rabble, down south, to disappear.” He paused, letting his harsh words sink in. “I’d say that we have common interests.”

The King stood up, his knee wobbled as he did but he was able to disguise it.

“An alliance with you?!” The King scoffed, trying to belittle the Argonian and remain calm as his authority was at risk of being undermined. “You are one man! You aren’t rich or powerful, you are just…”

“Driven…” Kaizen interrupted, pacing back and to.

“Ambitious…

Strong…”

The King stepped forward, unable to hide his rage   as he was called weak and apathetic by the stranger.

“That maybe the case Argonian but you are still one man!”

“True, that is why I came here.” Kaizen explained. “I know exactly what you people have been through, what you’re are going through now and the evil that you face, every day.” His speech was obviously aimed at the crowd. He had completely omitted the king from his target audience, he wasn’t worthy of salvation.

“You people are outcasts! ‘Imperfections,’ that have been cast aside and left to die!

The ‘civilised’ people have hunted you, like animals, literally pitting the whole world against you!” As Kaizen finished, he turned back to the weak, feeble Minotaur King with a look of disgust, the look that his eyes cast upon him was almost… pitiful.

“And even your own leaders are in on it…”

His audience gasped; even they understood the accusation, that had been put forward to their king.

The king was frozen on the spot, growling for several seconds. The rage build up, inside his chest, his fists clenched. An outsider had insulted him, this could not go unpunished.

“Silence! No one insults King Ogdar and lives!”

Kaizen just rolled his eyes, he was growing bored of this fossil already…

“You mean; nobody questions you and lives? Nobody asked why they have been reduced to simple beasts, living in the mountain with no culture or honour of their own! You have only lived this long, because you have been reduced to nothing but raw instinct. You haven’t kept these people alive, they simply exist and as their king, you should be the one who brings life back to your people, not just smother it out of them and keep them in this vegetative state!”

“Enough, kill this foo-“

“I can lead you away from that! I can give the Minotaurs more than this… rock! I can give you a home, where you can raise your young with clean water and security and without fear of disease or the constant threat of hunters, breathing down your necks! Tamriel is currently undergoing a revolution. Everything has changed and the things that haven’t? They’ll soon be destroyed, built on or burned…”

By now, Kaizen had truly stirred up the crowd; half of it was cheering him on, while the other half roared to defend their buffoon of a King.

“So I put this to you. This is your lives in the balance…

I ask you; would you continue to simply exist, with Ogdar? Simply waiting for the civilised people to come and unknowingly finish you off? A proud, might, race; destined to go out with a whimper, through no fault of your own. All, because of your weak leaders, who are crippled by   their cowardice!”

The minotaurs cheered again, it seemed that the majority of the beasts were in support of Kaizen at this point, he had promised them something that they hadn’t ever felt before… Something that hadn’t been in the grasp of the minotaurs in over 200 years…

Hope…

“Enough!” King Ogdar snapped, bringing his totem down with another, almighty thud. “I will suffer this, no longer!”

Kaizen laughed inside his head, shrugging as he did.

He’s got that right…

“No…” Kaizen replied, firmly, as he drew his weapons and turned to face him. “You won’t…”

The two of them circled each other, facing off as the crowd grew more and more restless, they all knew that someone was going to die tonight.