[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

[kingsroads]

Strange is a little confused about all this. He gives Shura a look that implies 'I hope you know what you're doing' before he gingerly hands over Bell to Shura. Moving the hare is like moving a balloon full of water: Bell isn't trying to fight back or trying to panic, she's just letting herself get draped and moved and handed about.

"Thank you," Strange says, with a little nod. He's serious about this: Shura looking after Bell means a lot to him. "I'll take her back after I break any enchantments."

After all, he suspects that it would be hard trying to fight off things while also worrying about a rabbit. Taking Bell back as soon as possible would be for the best.

[exaomori]

Shura barely has any idea what she's doing. But winging it usually worked, so she isn't worried, taking Bell with both hands and trying to arrange her on her shoulders.

"I ain't gonna do it again," Shura grumbles. It's kinda weird, babysitting someone else's soul animal thing. But Bell is soft and warm, so it's like having a living muffler, so Shura's complaining is limited for the moment. When she draws her hood back up, it doesn't quite look right, but they'd both mostly concealed, if a bit lumpy.

"C'mon, I think they're ready to head out." She could do this, and she'd hand the rabbit off to Strange as soon as his hands were free. Simple.

[kingsroads]

Bell continues to let herself be moved around and adjusted about like a beanie baby. Strange gives Shura a little nod. "I'll see you when all this is done."

And he finishes the loop of the scarf around his neck and becomes invisible.

The breaking in and freeing the wolf goes off relatively easy. It's only later when the orcs attack that things get a little chaotic. At the moment, Strange is nowhere to be seen. But Bell is not enjoying this. The hare continues to wriggle and move and try to get herself off of Shura's shoulders to hop down to the ground.

[exaomori]

Bell does not have to enjoy this, Bell just has to stay still for another bit until Shura can dump her back on Strange.

"Quit it," she hisses at the hare. But it's Strange's animas, it probably won't listen to her, and she's really reconsidering the wisdom of agreeing to take Bell on. What was that about no good deed going unpunished?

There are too many orcs around for Shura to slip through quietly with bell; she has to go on the offensive. Which means drawing her sword with her right hand and trying to hold Bell down with her left. Man, this makes stabbing orcs difficult, but Shura is a professional. So long as Bell doesn't get too excited, this will probably work out.

[kingsroads]

It's less that Bell's excited, but she is visibly frightened. The hare is so frightened that, after a close call of almost being sliced, the berserker strength activates. Bell pushes herself off from Shura's shoulder, doubles in size, then starts downright trying to rip open the throat of the orc that attacked her.

Strange reappears a few feet away from Shura a few seconds later, unwinding the scarf from his neck. There's a brief moment where he just stares at Bell before he remembers right, they're trying to kill me, and bends down to focus his magic through the earth.

"Well! That's new!"

This is pure talking to cover up the sheer terror at the situation they're in and the sheer confusion at the fact that his animas is now a murder bunny.

[exaomori]

That's new is a mild way to put it. Shura is equally as dumbfounded as Bell slips out of her grip and launches herself at the orc's throat, watching in an adrenaline-fueled slow motion as the hare tears into the orc's throat. It might not be the strangest thing she's ever seen in her life, but it's going to probably be on the list. She hadn't done that before, what was going on now??

"The hell is going on with her?"

Shura has the advantage of knowing how to react in spite of whatever shock she might be experiencing, and so when Strange starts his spell, Shura moves in to defend him while the squishy wizard is vunerable, leaving the first orc to Bell and Strange and charging in on the one that's deciding to move in on Strange while his back is to him. It isn't hard to read the fear behind Strange's blustering; she just had to make sure he could get his job done. This isn't the time for looking good, this is the time to ensure that there are no witnesses.

[kingsroads]

"If I knew, I'd tell you!"

Because Strange has no idea what the hell is going on with her. They can focus on that later, though, as he finishes casting his spell. Spikes of earth a few feet tall shoot up from the ground at odd angles. One of them impales an orc, one of them seriously wounds another orc, but all of them do a damn good job further separating Strange from the rest of the orcs.

Bell continues to maul that poor orc to death like she's starring in Pet Semetary or a terrible slasher movie.

[exaomori]

Bell’s behavior is odd and a little frightening. Shura really doesn’t want to handle a homicidal rabbit, but was Strange going to be able to grab her? Shura thrusts her sword into one orc, skewering some poor fool orc through the stomach and then kicking him off of her blade. That one incapacitated, she’ll try to direct the chaos, somehow. Time to use her serious tone and try to be authoritative enough to make Strange listen to her and maybe hopefully coach him through this.

“Get her and run!” That orc had to be dead, he wasn’t exactly struggling against the murder bunny at this point. “I’ll cover you, just grab her and go.”

[kingsroads]

This time, Strange is going to listen to Shura. He drops the spell, scrambles off of the ground a little bit and rushes towards Bell.

The orc she's attacking is indeed dead. Bell's size starts to shrink a little as she looks around at the chaos, still obviously a little tense. And then, she shrinks a lot as Strange awkwardly scoops Bell up and holds her to his chest as he runs, unintentionally blocking the enemy from her view.

He doesn't have many rapid-fire quick use spells, so Strange is just focusing entirely on running and getting Bell and himself out of this mess. Hopefully Shura's close behind.

[exaomori]

A part of her is honestly a little surprised that he's obeying her order. He had wanted to let her know last time that he was only going to listen to her under specific circumstances, which hadn't reassured her at all that he was ever going to listen. But grabbing her and running means Shura can focus her attention on guarding them, which is something she's quite capable of handling. By that point, the number of soldiers pursuing them is dwindling, leaving only one desperate soldier trying to trail after them. Shura will put him out of his misery quickly.

Safety feels too far away, and Shura can't deny the feeling of relief that rushes through her when they finally make it out of the fray. There's a feeling that Shura can't shake, one that's telling her they got through this all too easily and that worse was to come. For now she'll keep that to herself, giving herself a moment to catch her breath before she looks to Strange and Bell.

"Still in one piece?" Two pieces, but whatever.

[kingsroads]

In Strange's mind, it's obvious as to why he's obeying Shura's order. This is a situation where he's hilariously out of his depth. Not the fighting part, Strange will happily remind people that he served in the war thank you very much, but the part where his animas (who he's developed a strong attachment towards) has suddenly turned into a murder bunny and he has no idea what the hell to do about that.

When Shura reappears, Strange is still holding Bell to him. The hare is back to her normal size and looks perfectly calm and not at all murdery. Strange looks like he needs a fuckin drink.

As Shura approaches, he looks up and nods. "I have no idea how the hell she did that," he bluntly responds. "Or why the hell she's back to her normal size."

[exaomori]

"I wasn't expecting her to have that much strength," Shura admits. She doesn't feel guilty about Bell escaping her, but she had told Strange she would keep track of her, so it warrants some kind of acknowledgment. Next time, she wants to say, don't bring her into battle. But she doesn't, feeling that same need for a drink as the adrenaline starts to wear off. Alcohol is a perfectly acceptable remedy for trauma, but there was the business of figuring the wolf out before they got to that part.

"You did good out there." Shura can say this because he did. Strange did the job he was told to do and come out of it alive. Taking a quick look around proved that most of them came out of this in one piece, so things were going smoothly. "Go get her cleaned up, we'll go out after this."

[kingsroads]

It's a little pathetic at how much Strange enjoys the compliment. He looks confused before the weight of Shura's words sit in and Strange's expression shifts from confused to pleased. He did good out there. It's always nice to hear something like that, especially when coming from Shura.

"Thank you," Strange says, with complete sincerity. "And thank you for keeping Bell alive." The hare nuzzles him slightly, resting her head on Strange's arm.

He's only letting the moment stay sappy for a little bit, though. He has a sneaky feeling Shura isn't the sort of person to indulge in schmaltzy sentimentalities like that (Strange 100% is). His expression shifts from a genuine smile to a teasing grin. "So now begins the second part of this quest, finding soap in all the chaos. Bell and I will meet up with you later."

[exaomori]

Shura gives praise when she thinks it's deserved. It's nothing more than that.

"I ain't doin' it again," she grumbles, mostly to herself. Strange's instinct is right; Shura isn't inclined towards sentimentality, and his thanks, however genuine, makes her feel just a little awkward. It's a relief that he doesn't linger in the moment.

"Just use some water, give her a bath whenever you get back to the inn." A nice, warm bath. They could all use one, a bath and a drink. That would be heaven. "Be careful and call for help if you need it." Shura's confident Strange can take care of himself, though, and she'll leave him to his new quest to join up with the others.

[kingsroads]

Strange nods. "I'll see you all again later."

Once things have been figured out with regards to 'where are they keeping the wolf' or 'what are they doing with him.' Strange trusts that everybody will keep him in the loop. So, he gives Shura one final smile before turning around and heading back towards the inn.