[Closed] Wolf Liberation Mission

[rocketraccoon]

Character(s): Rocket, Daud, Billie, Shura, Strange, Kylo, Dany, & Jon.
Status: Closed
Location(s): The City of the Free Peoples/Defenders' Warcamp
Date(s): February 1st, pre-kidnappings
About: A small team of riffraf break into the Defenders' Warcamp, steal an abused wolf, and then try to figure out what the fuck they do next.
Warnings: Animal abuse and the team kills some people.

They have had weeks to figure this plan out, the team spread across the cities during it but in contact via courier. Daud had used Mercy to get an idea of the routines they were dealing with and all that they had needed after forming a plan was the distraction to kick it off. That distraction came somewhat unexpectedly on the first of the month when the orcs belonging to a group that called themselves Tsekour's Stormers made a heavy return.

With a quick word passed between the members of the team, they gathered not far from the warcamp, avoiding the fighting going on between the two armies outside the city, and set their plan in motion.

As luck would have it, the city's resistance had decided to take the same opportunity and so they had had a surprisingly simple time rescuing the chained and caged wolf, cutting down any defenders that got in their way on the way out and leaving no survivors.

The only problem? The wolf is in a state that healing alone can't fix and the team is left trying to figure out what to do with a starved wolf that members of the team suspect may either be the missing captain or related to him in some way.

Comments

post rescue

[redwhaling]

Billie... isn't jumpy, actually. Someone suddenly appearing is a concept she's familiar with — the Sea Wolves all knew the same teleport spell, so this happened fairly often — and that part doesn't bother her. No, what she reacts to is someone being far too cheerful right up by her ear as she's in the middle of pulling her whaler's mask off.

Yeah, she can tell it's Strange by voice alone. That just means he doesn't get punched. Instead, she gets the mask off and immediately turns to put a hand in the mage's face and shove him away.

"Never do that again," she tells him, firmly, like she's scolding an idiot who's just learned to do that. Which is, in fact, what it is. "Unless it's to put a knife in someone's back, which I'm pretty sure you don't do."

[kingsroads]

Strange is working on taking the scarf further off and is about to start folding it up before Billie spins around, shoves her hand in his face, and pushes him backwards some. He stumbles, but manages to stay upright. He gives Billie a slightly indignant look before realizing that if he was close enough for her to shove her hand in her face like that, then he might have been too close.

Maybe. He's still not 100% certain he was too close.

"I'd need a proper knife first. After that, who knows?" They both know he wouldn't stab someone in the back, that's something which is blatantly obvious. There's a brief moment before Strange decides to talk a little bit of shop. "By the way, that teleportation magic of yours is impressive. Self-taught?"

Because he has a sneaky suspicion Billie didn't go to one of the magical universities like he did.

[redwhaling]

Billie hooks the mask back to her belt and gives Strange a funny look when he jumps right to the magic bullshit part of the rescue. Admittedly, it was her magic bullshit and she likes it very much, but still, there's something irksome about him assuming she's 'self-taught'.

So rather than take it as a compliment, she takes it as a reason to get a little sarcastic, her reply coming out deadpan with, "What? You're so sure someone like me couldn't come from one of your fancy magic schools?"

[kingsroads]

"Most people from my fancy magic schools don't immediately jump to using their magic to put a knife in someone's back."

Strange gives Billie a little shrug as he says that. It's said in a very obvious tone of voice, completely unaware of any implications that he might be making about how posh (or not) Billie is. While he talks, he starts to unwrap the scarf from around his neck, brings the ends together, and starts to fold it up.

[redwhaling]

"You must have run with the dull crowd in yours, then," Billie replies, "I've heard academics are better backstabbers than I can ever hope to be."

That said, she'll actually relent after that and give Strange a real answer.

"But no, it isn't self-taught. I picked it up during an—" A what? Definitely not a class, certainly not a school. "Apprenticeship."

[kingsroads]

"Usually that backstabbing is metaphorical," Strange cheerfully responds, grinning all the while. Still, she's given him an actual answer, which he's fairly pleased about. He can still talk shop and drill Billie with a billion questions if it was an apprenticeship.

"For a profession, I take it? What were you before all this?"

Before they were brought back, though he doesn't specifically say that much.

[redwhaling]

"I was whatever I needed to be before all of this, so it varied," Billie gives the vaguest answer of all gods-damned time, complete with a shrug and turning away to go check on the wolf. It isn't much more than a few steps away, though, so it's not like that means she's ditched Strange.

[kingsroads]

What an annoyingly vague answer. Strange can't help but give Billie a little frown before he follows her. Yes, her checking on the wolf isn't ditching him. But he doesn't want to give her the impression that this conversation is over.

"Which of that whatever involved teleportation?"

[redwhaling]

"Most of them," Billie carries on giving Strange absolutely no clues as to what most of them even are. "You can find a use for that kind of spell in pretty much any trade, you know?"

[kingsroads]

Strange gives Billie a Look that plainly implies 'you aren't being helpful and I'm honestly quite annoyed at how unhelpful you're being.'

"I'd love to hear your justification for how teleportation could be useful in the banking or farming industries."

Not that he expects Billie to have been a banker or a farmer. But if she's going to give him grief, he's going to give her grief right back.

[redwhaling]

"Delivering paperwork? Moving crops across the field without having to carry it the whole way? Sure makes it easy to get goats off of the roof, too."

Billie can rise to this bullshit occasion just fine, thank you very much.

[kingsroads]

Goats get up on the roof? Unsurprisingly, Mr. Posh Upper Crust didn't know that. He manages to keep a neutral expression as Strange continues to match bullshit for bullshit.

"I am terribly sorry to hear your arms are so weak that you can't even manage to carry paperwork or crops a short distance," says the person who undoubtedly can't carry crops a short distance. "Perhaps you should see a doctor?"

[redwhaling]

Goats climb all sorts of shit and it's hilarious but that's not the topic they're on. It'd be nicer if they were, to be honest, but oh well. Billie just looks back, eyebrows raised high.

"What? Never heard of working smarter instead of harder? Like you wouldn't jump around with magic for any reason you could come up with."

Admittedly, Billie doesn't do that. So far all her blinking around has involved doing the actual job given to her. Get to the wolf, get the wolf out, make sure the wolf gets somewhere safe. Beyond that, she's just been walking around the cellar, though that is fairly small.

[kingsroads]

"As a matter of fact, I wouldn't." Strange can't help but smile a little, giving Billie a wry little smirk as he continues talking. "I'd save my time and energy for something more impressive than jumping."

And then, as if to show off a little, Strange flicks his hand in Billie's direction. A gust of wind goes from his hand towards her, possibly blowing her hair back a little.

[redwhaling]

"Yeah, a gentle breeze is so much more interesting," Billie says with a snort. Well, whatever. The wolf is still sleeping, which means she can't really linger by him much longer without it getting weird, so she's up and walking back over to rifle through her own bag.

"Anyway, if you're planning on going anywhere else tonight, do it invisibly. This is kind of a suspicious place for being to be walking in and out of."

With nothing more to say about where or why she picked up her little magic trick, she just changes the topic back to business.

[kingsroads]

The annoying part of all this is that Billie's suggestion makes sense. Because not only is this place suspicious to walk in and out of, Strange himself doesn't fit the place in the slightest. Nobody looks at him and thinks 'blacksmith' and he knows it.

"I know, I know," he sighs, as if this is a major inconvenience. "The problem here is that I'd want to take Bell with me and the spell only covers one being."

So it's either him leaving visible or a hare leaving visible: both kind of obvious in their own ways.

[redwhaling]

Billie frowns down at her bag, then slowly, slowly turns to eye the elf. Like... Was he joking? No, he isn't, is he?

"Strange, no one is going to look at a bunny rabbit suspiciously."

[kingsroads]

There's an awkward pause because he doesn't know how to say this without it sounding weird and unbelievable.

"Earlier today she turned twice her size, mauled an orc, then shrunk back down to normal size once she killed it. I don't know why she grew bigger but if it happens again...." He trails off, with a little shrug. If it happens again, that's bad news.

[redwhaling]

Okay, now he has got to be joking. Billie gives him a smirk.

"Did she sprout wings, too, or what?"

[kingsroads]

Strange's expression changes to slightly annoyed, partly because he's put out that he doesn't have an answer yet as to why his murder bunny is now murdery, partly because Billie is obviously teasing him.

"No, but she grew strong enough to take a portion out of that orc's throat. You can ask Shura," he continues, defensively. "She saw it happen as well."

[redwhaling]

"Yeah, yeah, I'll do that," Billie says, absolutely not planning on doing that whatsoever. Regardless, that seems to be all she has to say before she turns back to sorting through her supplies.