| Logs |
2004 August 08
| Idlewild |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
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| Realms: Idlewild Logs |
August 8
The party stands-- or sits-- mostly in states of various undress, Lauren holding her ripped dress up to cover her tender young bosom and Sol and Aiden flat out naked. Seodil is also naked, but he has changed back to a wolf at some point during the escalating noise of the group argument, and so it hardly matters. Grennit and Zhi stare in dismay at the elf accosting them, Steven beside them. Standing with an arrow nocked and pointed at Lauren is the spitting image of Kip-- if Kip were filled out more in the shoulders, had light grey eyes instead of brown, and a very long bow.
The not-quite-Kip with the nasty-looking arrow shifts to point it at Seodil as the silver wolf moves. "Call off your dog, or he will be first but not last before any of you can reach me, I assure you. What are you doing here?"
Seodil freezes.
Lauren gets a sidelong, crafty look for about a split second before she begins to sob piteously. Not a bad fake job, either. After a few seconds she's got tears and everything. The very real threat of getting all of them shot helps.
Aiden gives the elf a quick up and down look, freezing when he points the arrow at Seodil. He keeps his hands down at his sides, open. It's not like he has anywhere to pull a weapon from. His sword in with his clothes, somewhere on Lauren's horse. His bow likewise.
Steven tries to remain very calm, and collected. He doesn't like the recurring attitudes that they seem to be getting from people, but then again, this guy is probably someone looking out for their family and territory. He glances at the others, pretty sure that this is not the time to be fabricating stories, especially since Kip's already been 'caught.'
The stranger's bow does not waver, though he rolls his eyes at Lauren. "Please. I have had enough of that for the past five months. Now, someone speak without blubbering. Who are you and why are you here... naked?" He's one of the least arrogant people that have accosted the party, small consolation that is.
Calm, he sounds like he genuinely wants to know and is going to keep asking til he gets an answer.
Steven Lets out a breath. "We're looking for a friend of ours who went in this direction," he says reasonably. "We're concerned about him, and we want to make sure he's safe and all right."
Lauren dries up her sniffles with all due speed. "They're naked because...um...their clothes are on my horse, and...we're...what he said."
Aiden, who so often seems to end up as the mouthpiece of the group, speaks up. "We were trying to ensure the safety of Kipyranyllie."
The elf's eybrows arch high at Steven's answer-- his mouth twitches suspiciously at Lauren's, though he still looks at Steven as though about to ask something. Aiden's answer gets a moment of shock, and then the bow goes down, arrow pointed at the ground. "Tell me where you fit in and what happened to Kipyranyllie, quickly, and please keep your voices down." The elf steps closer, still wary of the wolf and watching the rest as though anyone could produce a weapon instantly.
Aiden drops his voice when the elf comes closer. "We really just met him a couple of weeks ago. He's around here somewhere, but we lost track of him."
Steven relaxes some, and nods. "He helped us out in Summer, and we're concerned about him."
Lauren blurts out, "He zapped out here because he was afraid of me."
Aiden winces.
The stranger hesitates, clearly torn. "You know his name, but he's been missing for months. Word's gone out. What does he look like?" Lauren gets a really odd look that takes in the dress, barely on... the elf says dryly, "You do seem... accident-prone."
Steven stifles a chuckle at that. "Uhm. Missing? We didn't really know that much. All we really know is that we're worried about him and he stood by us in some unpleasantness in Summer which is thankfully all resolved."
Aiden says, "He's about this tall.." He motions with his hand. "Long chocolate-brown hair. He looks like you, actually.."
Lauren bobs her head toward Aiden. "It's his fault. Anyway Kip has brown hair and brown eyes and two tattoos and he was wearing a vest..."
Steven briefly wonders if they just ran into Kip's brother or a cousin.
Zhi and Grennit start to say something; the stranger nods them silent, with a curt but half-amused "Foxcatcher, Nameless, hush. These others at least have no prior reputation with us." He regards the answerers solemnly, relaxing, then freezes in horror when Lauren speaks. "...was he wearing anything else...?" comes the rather plaintive, strangled query.
Aiden has no idea what the answer to this question is, but supplies, "Pants. He was wearing pants."
"Pants," Lauren says carefully. "He was definitely wearing pants."
The Kip-lookalike is clearly relieved. "Thank the Lady," he murmurs half-outloud.
"We, um, we heard about last time," Lauren says. She has the grace to blush just a little. "It wasn't like that. Promise."
Steven says, "Er... if I can ask... what the relief?"
Aiden ventures, "Can I get some pants, please?" He turns and smiles at Lauren. "Lauren? Shut. Up."
Lauren shuts up, coloring further and looking decidedly sullen about it.
The elf looks at Lauren and says, "Hope not. I haven't got anyone to marry you off to before the baby comes," and smiles with less than sincere amusement, this time. He eyes the rest and says dryly, "Five months ago? We found pants, but no Kip. An entire family has been trying to find Kip.. with no pants... ever since. MY family has been trying... well." He sighs. "..I have simply been trying to find my brother."
Lauren continues shutting up, though her face lights up at this revelation.
Aiden says, "We think someone's already found him."
Lauren eventually processes the bit about marriage and babies and goes back to looking affronted.
Steven didn't realize pants were such an important part of kip's family life. he nods a little.
"Someone has," says Kip's brother. "That's where I come in." He looks at them thoughtfully, almost calculating. "And so do you." He doesn't seem to notice the progression of Lauren's moods.
Aiden tilts his head to the side. "How so?"
Steven thinks Uh, oh.
Lauren un-shuts up. It's just too much effort. "So you want to get him back too, right?"
"Wrong family has him," smiles the elf with utter lack of matching smile in his eyes. He looks more feral, now. "Yes. We're going to get him back."
Steven thinks that this suddenly got quite a bit more dangerous. "Could you elaborate on that 'wrong family' part?"
"Doesn't MATTER," Lauren chirps, much happier. She bounces on her toes again. "Damn it, I told you I could have been there by now. Let's go. Now now nownownow."
Aiden glances over at Lauren, then back to Kip's brother. "To what end? You don't intend him harm, do you?" Aiden's got that look. The one he was wearing when everyone was telling him that rescuing Lauren was a bad idea.
"Certainly I can elaborate," says Kip's brother. "The girl's family is the wrong family. My family is the right family. My family doesn't want to try him for a crime."
Steven says, "... Silly question: WHAT crime? and WHAT girl?"
Aiden clears his throat. "That girl, Steven.."
Lauren fidgets. "Oh. Mrs. No-Pants."
Aiden winces again. He does that a lot around Lauren.
Looking pained, Kip's brother starts to answer, looks at Lauren, and starts laughing silently. He seems as surprised as anyone to find himself doing it. Holding his sides, he says after a few hard-breathing moments, "Yes. That girl. The pregnant one who wasn't married when she got that way and my brother besmirched her honor, her good name, and her family's reputation."
Steven nods a little, making a silent 'Ah.' THAT girl. And judging by what Kips brother has been saying, THAT girl has a little Kip Junior. "So. What's the plan, then?"
Aiden nods. "Right. So. We're getting him away from her family, yes?"
"Yes. The plan," says Kip's elder image, "is not to kill anyone while we do it... and now that I have you, it's going to be your fault if anyone has to get seen. It cannot be mine, or there will be war... especially if the plan to avoid deaths, fails. I cannot choose between my entire family and one wanderlost brother." One rather has to wonder if, in the party's absence, however-- he was going to do exactly that, despite his words now.
Steven folds his arms, slowly. This had better be a good plan if he's going to be played as a pawn. Again. he glances to Aiden, who's been 'played' even worse than he.
Lauren says, with a willing shrug. "I'm game. Can we get MOVING already?"
"Your answers quickly, please," says Kip's brother. "If you are not his friends enough to help, I need to be on my way alone."
Aiden walks over to Lauren's horse. "Right." He gets his clothes, and weapons and puts both on, quickly. "We probably don't have long before they've got him somewhere we can't get him." Aiden glances at Steven. "He's my friend, Steven.. I have to try."
Steven lets out a breath. "He's my friend, too, remember." I just don't like being used. Oh, one wonderful thing we of course forgot to ask this guy.... "What's your name, by the way?"
The rest nod and murmur assent. Kip's brother relaxes, puts the arrow back in his quiver, and says "Thank you. I know where they should go; they will rest for the night. We should follow as soon as possible; I welcome your plans, as you know your strengths. Remember, no killing if at all possible, or they may kill Kip assuming we are my family attacking in breach of the truce his marriage was supposed to seal." He looks at Steven, bows slightly from the neck. "I am trusting you with it, as I trust you to aid my brother with me. It seems a fair trade. My name is Melierel."
He looks like one.
Steven nods a little. "I'm Steven. Thank you. All right. How far away are they, and how quickly do we need to hit them?
Aiden nods, "I'm Aiden."
"L-lauren," says Lauren, wiggling her toes in the grass. "I am SO serious that we need ot go RIGHT now, all right?"
Aiden says, "Lauren.."
Lauren says, "What?""
Aiden says, "Relax. Charging in isn't going to help Kip, and is more likely to get him killed than rescued."
Lauren does not relax. "If we'd charged in when I SAID we should, we'd HAVE him by now. See what talking does? Let's DO something."
Steven has the feeling Lauren isn't going to listen to that argument any more now than she did before. "We can get to where he is fairly quickly, I think, if we're not too cautious about sound."
Aiden puts a hand to his temple.. Lauren is giving him a headache. He looks at Melierel. "Do you want to take him back while they're resting this evening?"
Melierel looks outright surprised when anyone gives him their name; he apparently wasn't expecting that. Sol adds his; Zhi and Grennit do not, and Seodil stays a wolf. Melierel answers the swirl of questions and comments, "They will shoot any of you without hesitating. They have three archers, four swordsmen. Myself, they would hesitate for... but then their deaths would all be on my conscience." Nodding to Aiden, he says "Yes. We take him tonight... we do not rush in, or most of you will simply and quite uselessly die. We start walking now, and talk softly about attack. This way."
Steven nods quietly, reviewing what his teacher had instructed him in how to be gentle while at the same time meeting violence with violence.
"I have a few tricks," says Grennit in subdued fashion. Melierel says calmly, "Foxcatchers usually do. What are yours?"
Lauren sets off in the direction indicated, jumpy as a deer. She'd obviously rather be running.
Aiden follows. "They'll have watch overnight, I assume? Seems to me that we ought to go in when the smallest number of people are on guard. Knock out the guards, grab Kip and go."
Aiden shrugs, "I'm a warden..." He's not sure how else to explain that.
The entire party moving, Grennit says "I can cloud the area with smoke, if they have a fire. Other than that... does anyone have darts? I assume you don't want to shoot them with arrows. And I could make them sleep-- if we could reach their food."
Melierel nods to the 'grab and go' idea. "They will have a watch. At least one archer. But all the rest will wake quickly if we allow noise. A... warden? A guardian of what?" He sounds puzzled.
Lauren volunteers: "I could probably reach their food. I mean, as long as it's not TOO far away from where we're hiding."
Aiden says, "No darts, I'm afraid. We're probably better off to go after their food if we can get to it." Aiden turns and half-smiles at Melierel. "These days? Mostly them.." He nods back at his friends. "But the forest and the creatures within it, generally speaking."
Melierel looks interested. "How, Lauren? What are your talents in this, and how strong?"
Melierel laughs at Aiden, looks mildly surprised, and relaxes further. He looks approving. "Then we have something in common."
Lauren smiles a little. "I have help," she says, and winks at her trusty squid. He's bobbing along not too far behind her.
Steven frowns, wondering why she turned her head and winked. Does she have somethign in her eye?
Moopy says, "You betcha, Boss. You know I can do fancy tricks with the power of my magnificent will. Got anything in mind? Oh oh. Am I carrying drugs to their food?"
Aiden nods at Melierel. "Two things, actually."
Melierel says, "I was already counting Kip." He smiles.
Under his breath, Zhi murmurs, "You have help..." and shakes his head, smiling.
"That is exactly what you're doing, little guy," Lauren whispers. "Invisible. It'll be like a spy movie. You like those."
Moopy makes a noise remarkably like "JOY!"
Lauren blinks in incomprehension at Meliriel. "I didn't mean Kip. Don't worry, I got it."
Aiden shoots a "told you" look at Grennit.
Steven frowns. "Uh... right."
Grennit sidles over to Lauren and whispers, too low for anyone else to hear, "Hey. You sound like you already have something good you take for your health. Care to share the recipe?"
Grennit gives Aiden a puzzled look.
Lauren tucks her head closer to Grennit and, in a puzzled tone, confides: "Well, multivitamins mostly...um...Ortho-Novum?"
Aiden pinches the bridge of his nose. I'm going to die. It's going to be her fault. My sister is a psychopath. I hope that's not genetic. At least I don't answer when I talk to myself though, right? Right.
Grennit blinks, murmurs back. "That sounds... well. Huh. I dunno. ...Wanna trade for a day?" She grins.
Lauren grumbles. "Can't. My prescription was in my CAR. And they SHOT my CAR.Maybe we can figure something out later."
Aiden turns around and smiles at Lauren. He beelines for her and says, quitely. "Lauren? Stop talking about the Grey World. Now. Or you're going to get us all killed. Got it?"
Melierel gives up on the girls contributing further, and says dubiously "So. We intend to sneak up on them and try to drug their meal. If we cannot, we wait til they set watch, hope the rest sleep, and take out the guard... a fragile hope, but at least they will rest. What shall we do if they do not sleep?"
Steven says, "ONly thing I can think of is cause a distraction of some kind."
Lauren eeps. "Fine, fine. No more grey world, Aiden. Promise." She looks a little cowed.
Aiden walks back towards Steven. "We can shoot Lauren. That'll cause a commotion."
Lauren says something that sounds like this: "..."
Melierel nods to Steven, "And lead them away while the rest knock out those guarding Kip, and flee? Who is fastest, for the diversion? I do not intend to bring you to harm through ill planning. If none of you are good runners, I am."
Steven considers, then nods. "I think I'm the fastest."
Lauren mumbles with fresh grumpiness. "No y'not."
Steven glances to Lauren. "well. We probably need more than one person to retrieve kip anyway, if they've drugged him.
Lauren shrugs. "Whatever. Let Steven go then."
Aiden leans down and gives Seodil a quick scritch behind the ears, since he's close anyways.
Grennit slyly presses something small, cool and hard into Lauren's hand. She whispers, "This'll fix anybody you please who's being a spoilsport... not tonight, though. It'd get 'em killed in combat. Makes 'em happy." She winks.
Seodil butts his furry head against Aiden's thigh affectionately.
The group travels on, obeying Melierel's directions on when to stop and trying not to make noise-- easier for some than others. Crenshaw is unwontedly quiet, picking her way through the woods silently with great concentration. Close to where Melierel tells them they can start expecting to find Kip's captors, the elf points out a landmark-- a large white rock bigger than Lauren's ex-car-- and suggests that if separated, they should try to come back here to meet. He leaves them twenty minutes later to scout. Darkness has fallen. When he returns, he looks grim and tight. Curtly, he says, "Two archers are on watch, either side of the camp. One is in a tree, the other on the ground. Kip is bound and hobbled. They are cooking. It is time. Unless Lauren can move unseen, one of the archers must be silenced before she can work."
Grennit hands Lauren a small clear vial and pats her on the back. "Sleepies. Here you go. My special batch."
Aiden glances at Steven. "You and I can probably take one guard out, right?"
Steven glances at Grennit and wonders what other concoctions she carries around with her. "I think we can take out the archer on the ground without killing him, yes, Aiden."
"What can I do?" asks Sol, quietly.
Aiden nods. "Right. Let's do it then. Sol? You want to make sure Lauren doesn't get caught? Play guard for her?"
Lauren smiles just a bit dopily at Grennit. "You're SO good at this," she enthuses, and hands the vial off to Moopy. Moopy is distracted by something else, obviously, because Lauren ends up dropping the vial onto a patch of dry grass instead.
Zhi looks grim. "I did not bring many weapons." He looks unarmed. "What I have... may kill. Can you use me?"
Aiden watches Lauren hold the vial up and then drop it, apparently quite intentionally. "Maybe you'd better go with Lauren and make sure she doesn't forget anything." He looks at the vial pointedly.
Sol nods to Aiden, "I can." He touches Aiden's shoulder swiftly, smiles. "Be safe, or I'll have to come to you instead. Where shall we send Seodil? Guard in the dark for whom?"
Seodil does not blow his cover as a wolf to answer that himself. He looks calmly at Aiden.
Aiden glances at Seodil. "Wherever you want.."
Seodil gives Lauren a pointed, sidelong glance, before looking back at Aiden. He looks remarkably like a wolf with one eyebrow raised higher than the other.
Aiden kneels and whispers, to Seodil. "I'm sending Sol with them because I don't trust her not to cock this up. If you want to join them to be an extra safety, you can, otherwise, come with Steven and I."
Lauren retrieves her vial, looking irritated. And why shouldn't she? Everyone is looking at her funny.
Seodil licks Aiden's face and trots over to Lauren, putting his vote clearly in "Not cocking it up."
Aiden stands up. "That's sort of what I was expecting. Steven? Ready?"
"It's time," says Melierel softly. "I will wait and take the guard in the tree if need be. Who gets Kip?"
Steven nods, "All set."
Aiden looks at Zhi. "You want to get Kip?"
Zhi nods, eyes solemn. "Crenshaw and I will do that when they sleep."
Aiden nods, "Alright."
Melierel nods, and creeps off into the darkness with no further ado.
Sol says, "C'mon, Lauren. You me and Fuzzy, as soon as they get their guard out cold."
Aiden sets off quietly in the direction of the guard on the forest floor that he and Steven are after.
'Fuzzy' gives Sol a long, slow look.
Lauren gives Seodil-Wolf an uneasy look. "All right..."
Steven follows along after Aiden as silently as he can.
Steven and Aiden both see the well-hidden guard from a good distance away and adjust accordingly.
Aiden pauses and waits for Steven so he can whisper to him. "You can knock him out?"
Steven nods a little. "I can at least stun them, which will let us knock him out a bit easier without alerting the others." Or at least try to stun him....
Aiden nods, "Right.." He carefully unties the sheath of his sword from his belt. "You stun him.. I'll make sure he goes the rest of the way down." Aiden creeps forward, waiting a little behind for Steven.
As yet, the elven archer on guard shows no sign of seeing them-- and Steven is not sprouting feathers...
Steven nods, hoping that Aiden means that the guard is going to be knocked out. he doesn't want another needless death on his conscience. He creeps forward as best as he can, keeping out of sight of the archer, and making sure none of the others from the camp are anywhere close.
The archer suddenly widens his eyes and starts to turn toward Steven, raising his bow.
Steven grimaces. Hell. He leaps forward, aiming his fist for the pressure point his teacher taught him, the one that'll make the archer pause for just long enough for Aiden to knock him out.
Aiden moves to get behind the charging elf, swinging to whack him in the back of the head with the flat of his still-sheathed blade.
Steven's blow connects, a bit shakily from lack of real practice but by gum it works. Aiden's swing hits with a painful dull thunk felt through the sheathed weapon; the guard falls, unconscious.
Sol pokes Lauren lightly, out of sight range but apparently sure. "It worked. C'mon forward and try to keep quiet..."
Aiden quickly ties the sword back and moves the guard behind a tree, out of the line of sight of the camp. He gets down behind it himself, listening, just in case.
No one seems to be coming to investigate from the little prisoner camp.
Steven moves out of sight as well, helping pull the guard behind the tree so a body where the Fall elves' guard was standing won't attract too much suspicion. Just in case.
Lauren nods silently toward Sol and sneaks forward as best she can.
Guided by Sol and Seodil, Lauren makes it past the hiding Aiden and Steven to a tree close to the fire. Luck is on her side-- one elf is stirring the pot, but his attention is on all the others, who are clustered around a small figure, doing... something. The tone that carries isn't friendly.
Lauren whispers something too quiet for anyone to hear, handing a vial to...something. Whatever it is, it isn't visible. With a wave, Lauren sends it off toward the cookpot.
Miraculously, it goes floating through the air this time.
Sol gives Lauren the hairy eyeball.
Moopy says "Hellll YEAH! Incoming!" as he sails across the open expanse with uncorked bottle in.. tentacle. And upends it successfully into the pot. "Elves SUCK IT!"
Lauren makes frantic hushed shushing gestures, back at the hiding spot. Nobody else, of course, can detect any reason why.
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