Tacitus Silanus was far away from civilization. He had his faithful gladius sword, his shield and his armor with him. Silanus was walking near a small lake at the sunset, che was searching for something… Or someone. Not even he knew where his crazy and adventuring mind would send him. Silanus sat on a big rock and dropped his heavy shield and weapon to the ground; he sighted deeply. The young lad was tired…

Silanus unwrapped a loaf of bread he had with him, when suddenly the ground started to shake; a wild colossal crab walked from the water, and was thirsty for blood. Silanus flinched bit then grabbed his weapon and shield, fearing the worst…

A love of animals does not, necessarily, make a vegan, no matter its intensity. Natsumi's empathy with animals made it difficult for her to hunt, but, thanks to her time spent with predators, she had come to accept it as a natural fact of life. Rauru explained this concept to her long ago, stating that there is no shame in one's nature, especially if focusing solely on their diet.
 
'Some of your human ideals are a welcome addition to this place outside the walls,' he had told her long ago, 'but the insistence of some on not eating meat makes no sense to me. Will you allow your empathy to cause your starvation? That is a mark of pride, not of intelligence.'
 
His explanation on how his species dealt with hunting beyond that point was to the effect of thanking their prey. The eagles understood the chatter of other animals, just as Natsumi did, and were even acquainted with some; but they still killed them because they needed to eat. All they could do in exchange was thank them for their sacrifice, because that was the way of nature. The young druid took this to heart whenever she hunted, and became especially mindful of only hunting animals that upset the balance of nature whenever possible.
 
In keeping with that rule, one hunting trip led Natsumi to the shore of Egjora in search of a rather large crab. To the strange warrior she encountered there, the crustacean was simply a monster, something eager to make him into a meal. To Natsumi, however, the creature was a menace to the entire environment. It had been gluttonous, consuming far too much for the local area to sustain it. That was the reason for its girth, and also the reason why Miss Yamauchi had it marked for death despite her normal coexistence with animals.
 
When the creature emerged and the warrior prepared his stance, the young woman was already walking down the shore toward them. An orange cloak, green tunic and gray pants hid her features, making sure that the only things truly obvious about her were the mastercraft claws she was wearing on both hands as well as the swaying tail underneath her fabrics. To any around, she would simply seem a menacing, mysterious, sub-human entity that had approached in near dead silence.
 
"Need a hand?" she asked as her boots came to a halt in the soft ground. Her stare landed squarely on the soldier, watching and waiting for his response. Perhaps he would say no, but Natsumi didn't care. So long as the crab was removed from existence as painlessly as possible, she would be pleased.

The warrior was looking at the crab, with his shield raised preparing for the beast´s first move; however when he heard the mysterious stranger voice, Silanus got distracted and looked at her. He wanted to say something but the crab moved one of it´s huge pincers to attack the Silanus. Since he wasn´t paying much attention, not even his big shield could protect him from the migthy hit; Silanus flew away and crashed against a tree. His heavy lorica segmentata armor protected him against the creature's blow, but when Silanus got hit he accidentaly dropped his sword… Now he could only defend against the crustacean with his shield…

The crab was only paying attention on Silanus and ignored Natsumi. The savage beast got closer to Silanus and tried to hit him again with his pincer, but this time he dodged the attack quickly. In a fast movement, the creature hit the ground, causing it to shake; Silanus couldn´t stand the moderated quake and fell to the ground. The crab grabbed Silanus from the ground with his pincer and constricted him. Silanus could not move and was doomed to die, he then said to the spectaror:
"Are you just going to stand there and see poor Silanus suffer!? H-help, quickly!" 

Xallithelid watched the two from a nearby tree with open boredom, reclined on the branch and seeing the massive crab swimming in for the kill. He yawned, atleast that is what it would be, if it didnt sound like a man drowning. The crab came in, and the Illithid was thoroughly amused when he saw the sand at the odd man's feet get just a little more gold-tinted. The man did, to his credit, manage to lift his sword, but looked away when it mattered most, his jaw nearly dropping to the ground when he regarded the fair young lady approaching him, but, Xallithelid mused, it wouldn't have gotten there in time as the claw came in and around the man.

Xallithelid hopped down from his perch, never actually hitting the ground, levitating nearly two feet from the grass. The young woman looked like she must know what shes doing, what with the awkward pose and menacing claws and such. But Xallithelid didn't care, all he wanted was some crab. He prepared one of his favorite spells - Not really a spell, more like many of the same spell cast repeatedly - And started to launch arrow after magical arrow towards the beast and the man, not caring if he hit either. The arrows simply clanked off of the creatures massive shell, and the Illithid stopped the barrage, instead launching a shimmering ball of cold. The spell hit the beast, and simply shattered into small shards of ice, not affecting it in the slightest.

Silanus was trying to release himself from the crab´s huge pincer, when he saw the wave of magical arrows coming he covered his head with his left arm, since he couldn´t move the right one thanks to the beast. One of the arrows hit his galea helmet, piercing the stainless steel. Luckily for Silanus, the arrow didn´t even touch his head; who knows what could have happened if he wasn´t wearing his so loved galea today… Many arrows hit the crustacean´s shell, however some of them crashed against his huge claw, the grab did some odd noises as he opened his pincer releasing the Tacitus. Blood spilled out from his claw as he turned his attention on Xallithelid and ignored the now defenseless man. 

The blast of cold crashed against the beast, however it´s shell protected him. Many shards of ice scattered everywhere, and a cold, white mist came out from it. The crab may be a marine beast, but that didn´t mean he was not smart; this crab tries to find every possible way to take advantage from it´s prey, and this time that mist was all it needed. While the mist covered the crab, it grabbed and chopped one tree with it´s pincer. After that, the beast throwed the trunk, hoping to hit Xallithelid.

Silanus slowly walked, trying to not catch the crab´s attention. He grabbed his gladius sword and then his shield. Now that he had his weapon back, Tacitus didn´t care if he was wounded or not, all he cared was to destroy this monster and recover his honor. He yelled at it: "Ohh what do you think you´re doing, stupid crab? You think Silanus is done with you? Mmmhhh? MMMHH? Ohohoh, well, try to avoid poor Silanus as much as you want, but it will be your downfall!!!" After he said that, Silanus charged against the crab, targetting it´s legs…

Valiant, but ultimately futile: that was how Natsumi described the events that followed her offer of help to the clearly mad warrior. The illithid companion nearby had not escaped her senses, and she had hoped – in vain, perhaps – that the two would quickly kill off the beast before she had to lift a finger. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Though obviously trained, both showed a clear lack of efficient battle strategies for their current opponent's species. In fighting a crustacean, a warrior should always aim for the face. That was the cardinal rule of any creature with hardened carapace, but both these warriors were simply going for everywhere but that target.
 
Was it hunger? Idiocy, perhaps? Who could say? All the young druid knew was that the crab would suffer intensely before death rather than passing quickly at the current rate, and she wasn't about to let that happen.
 
"Sleep…" Natsumi said in the crab's own language as she reached out toward the creature's mind at the beginning of Xallithelid's assault. Hibernation energies flowed from her person into the crab, gradually slowing its movements as the battle raged on. Its senses were dulling at the same rate, even as it ferociously tore apart the landscape to attack the inhuman mage.
 
This was the only action the young druid committed at first. She waited for the next opportune moment before continuing: the point at which the mad man struck out at the creature's legs. Then, and only then, did another spell flow out. With a swift slam of her palm against the ground, Yamauchi called up a stone wall underneath the crab's front end. The force was great enough to throw it off balance, given its already loosened footing at the hands of hibernation and Silanus's attack. It began to tip over, as a result, allowing the quick footed Natsumi to rush in for an attack.
 
"I am sorry," she said as she jumped onto the creature's mandibles and plunged her steel claws deep into the creature's, one, soft, vulnerable area. "Be at peace." The aquatic animal twitched as Natsumi tore at its vitals and nearly moved to fight her until she finished the struggle by summoning her spear in the hand already deepest within the creature's flesh. The sharp object moved all the way through the crustacean's brain, killing it instantly.
 
So ended the battle, but the young woman's task was not quite finished. She was a firm believer in not wasting resources, and wasn't about to let the dead crab's carcass simply rot. Nay, she would use its sacrifice to benefit those left alive, but not before she assured the safety of the people that had allowed her the opportunity to grant it a quick death.
 
"I assume you two are, mostly, still intact," Natsumi asked while retrieving her spear and jumping off the dead crab. Cleaning her weapons on the nearest grass, she continued with genuine appreciation. "If not for your distractions, I couldn't have killed the crab so cleanly. Of course, that also means I put you in the most danger. Sorry about that." It was a fake apology, even if a well-concealed one.    

Xallithelid watched as the woman went up to the crab and talked to it, then killed it, destroying it's brain and ruining it for him. He huffed and floated over the water, looking for another creature to consume the mind of. He had no business with those that murder his perfectly good food before he could get a taste.

Silanus stared at the huge corpse of the crab. He touched it's legs and sometimes he lifted one of the pincers. Silanus looked at Natsumi and walked toward her; Silanus touched her right ear and said: "You did what? You said strange words and then jumped to the food's face! How can you jump so high..? Speak! Silanus wants to learn!" 

Silanus sheated his bloody sword and then walked away from Natsumi. It was unexpected how Silanus did not even wait for the druid's answer… Silanus picked up a stone from the ground and silently stared at Xallithelid; after some seconds he threw the rock, aiming to the Illithid's head. 

Companionship was certainly lacking in the wake of the crab's death, much to Natsumi's expectation. The illithid left in arrogance, probably upset that the druid hadn't allowed him to torture the creature's mind before death, and the mad man remained in stupor. His sword still drawn, he prodded the crab as if out of disappointment, and then tried to grab Natsumi's ear in order to shout into it.
 
"There's no need to be so loud," the young woman said while backing up away from her guest's unsettling grasp. She kept a wide berth between her and Silanus, assuring that she could dodge whatever melee attack this man attempted. More than likely, he would attempt something, eventually. Even Natsumi, whose encounters with madness were limited, could tell when someone was dangerously psychotic. The only reason she remained instead of running away, despite her best interest, was because she needed some food to add to her diminishing stores. She couldn't go home empty handed after such a big score. "I'm not like normal humans. The power in my legs and my lack of armor allows me to jump a sizeable distance. I can also speak to animals, so I was talking to the crab before I killed it. The rest of how I attacked was mostly magic combined with hunting experience, since I've been getting food the old fashioned way in order to survive for a couple years now."
 
Removing her hood to expose her fox ears, Natsumi watched as the rock Silanus threw at the retreating Illithid fell harmlessly into the water. She couldn't blame the mad man for his attempt at retribution, considering that the arrogant creature he was aiming at had shown little regard for his life mere moments ago. The druid, herself, didn't care for that flagrant interloper, but her reasons seemed menial compared to Silanus'.
 
Despite this, she did try to advance the situation regardless of her "guest's" hurt feelings.
 
"Forget about him," she began anew while cleaning her weapons on a nearby patch of grass. "You called the crab, "food," so I assume you and I had the same purpose in attacking it. What say you? Split it between the two of us since neither party can eat the whole thing before it spoils?"

Xallithelid turned slowly as he heard the splash of the thrown rock. He looked back to the man who had thrown the missile, and pure hatred burned in his eyes. raised his hand towards the human man, and produces a rift from the nether reaches, and from there a massive barbed tentacle out towards his intended victim, who by sheer chance narrowly dodged it. He raised higher into the air, nearly ten feet, and launched a lightning bolt, which arced farther to the left than he had intended, missing once again. He decided the forest would be a bit more of an easy target, so he shot a fireball towards a tree. igniting it and it's neighbors.