Time slowed, gears turned and churned till they overheated. On the inside, Iye was quite panicking.
'What now? There is an inferno coming closer and closer and the shelter I need to take is in this heat-resistant hole, to make it better I'm carrying a heavy vegetable, no offense young man'
Her wooly hand rested at her hips, looking completely unbothered to the outside.
"So, you can talk, yes?"
No
Iye nodded, going along with whatever crap they were aiming for.
"Aha so you can't talk, gotcha"
No
But its repeating vehement refusal left her confused, specifically to the one on the left.
"?"
The Oksi traced a claw to its throat, the Adam's apple.
Why is food speaking?
Its question came out genuine, not understanding why its prey talked back.
"Because I ain't"
You have a way with words cute bread
"What do you even find appetizing about something invisible?"
As she spoke and argued with the Oksi, her feet slowly danced towards Cale.
'Let's just get this guy and leave, don't want any trouble with these'
Her wooly gloves clasped behind her back, the wildfire burning the Ohrn trees singed her entire back, she glimpsed back at the flaming hurricane.
'Fuck, fire is going to be a huge problem'
She glanced back at the Oksi, instinctively taking a step inside in the wet interior of the tree, solidified soles on translucent feet carrying the owner's weight.
'My options are extremely limited'
Sprinting and hopping to another Ohrn tree proved difficult to achieve in this kind of situation.
'My insight could easily fix this problem, however the penalty would slow me down overall too much'
Stamina needed to be conserved more than anything right now, handicapping herself in this situation was the wisest choice she could make, despite also being the most riskiest.
'Ah, it's starting to close up'
The gaping hole in the tree contracted and began closing in on itself, luminescent hanging lights inside lit up in variety like glowsticks in the dark. Swaying slightly to the sides, dangling on the dark surface of the ceiling.
Iye hopped inside, roots cushioning her soles molding invisible bare feet, while Cale remained cold close at her side, she resolved to end the Oksi as quickly as possible.
'There is only three so there isn't much of a problem numbers wise'
But those were just words, one opponent wasn't much but handling three at the same time? The difficulty naturally spikes up. Even Iye couldn't focus her attention on all three of them
So what was the best plan she could make in this kind of situation? To make sure her survival chances remained at a stoic high percentage. What could she do?
"Oh my~"
?
??
???
All Oksi tilted their heads in confusion, each head growing more astonished by the exaggerated body movements of Iye, or well her clothes anyway.
The silence dragged on, so much so that the hole had almost closed up, Iye's hands that rested on her hips were both raised, a mocking tone soon followed her gesture
"THREE Oksi!"
She brought her hands to the side, the hole behind her closing completely with her slow dragging movements. Next, arms flexed and thumbs were pointed at her.
"Yet only one Iye!"
She voiced a complaint like the good consumer she was. A fist clenched tightly under the cruelty she was placed under
"You attempt to gang up on me with sheer numbers due to your lack of skill!"
Then, in a prideful, noble manner she pointed on the Oksi at the middle
"Shame on you! Animals devoid of noble pride! Does your manly fighting spirit simply not exist?!"
A....brilliant strategy centered on manipulating pride. Using the target's overconfidence to your advantage.
'As if I'm fighting all three! I'd rather fight a swarm of wasps instead of whatever this bullshit is!'
Avoiding the constant use of insight would be difficult if Iye were to fight all three, this was the best she could come up with in the current present, but the Oksi appeared to have other priorities.
Sooo, can we like, eat you? Now that you are done with your final words and all.
The one on the left said, yawning ever so slightly, brushing broken off smelly branches that laid on the floor.
"...."
'Ah right, they are animals, so why would they have any pride?'
The plan failed miserably to say the very least, but it felt like it was worth a shot in the current situation. Still Iye tried to act nonchalant and bite off of sympathy.
"Oh? So you will, in the end fight me like the little brats you are, truly the nature of the spineless, you show your ancestors the proud animal you are"
These words were not taken lightly against the Oksi, the one on the right growled with a festering desire to force prey on going back on their words.
How dare this mere cloth speak....
Let it be brother.
But!
I said let it be, she is only an ignorant fool that speaks uncouth words
'The middle one, is it their leader?'
The one on the middle calmed its brother on the right, the other on the left only spoke with claws scratching its back.
Whatever, lets end this quickly and feed our tribe
"Pf"
?
A chuckle escaped Iye's invisible lips, all the Oksi turned to her, completely ignoring Cale which worked for Iye regardless of anything that might occur next.
"Who knew the Oksi could be this dumb"
What did you just say?
The Oksi on the left stopped scratching its furry back and glared with bloodshot and salivating mouth at Iye.
"You heard me dum dum"
She stopped her playful tone and turned serious. Body shifted and twisted to the side, a stance that made her easier to be 'pushed' away, a structure made to be collapsed.
A leg was pulled back, ligaments strained and flexed, fist raised like a sword's unmovable structure. Stance shielding her core by angle, as if gripping an invisible rapier that just did not exist.
Huh, what the hell is that?
Hah! Even her way of fighting is uncouth Brother!
Iye was slightly taken aback by what she heard, not because they insulted her stance but for another reason. Quickly, however, she regained composure.
'I see, so that's it'
Her stance broke and relaxed. The giant Ohrn tree quaked with the raging fire that lashed out with physical strikes. The Oksi in the middle crossed its long claws together.
Are you not gonna take that weird stance of yours?
"No need"
?
Iye cracked her knuckles, popping sounds syncing with the loud bangs that could be faintly heard outside.
"I can beat you with just dirty tricks"