| Logs |
2005 January 23
| Idlewild |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: Idlewild Logs |
January 23
Moments after sinking his teeth into the neck of Sol's attacker, Aiden is standing on the ruffians' kitchen floor again with a dead man below him, an undamaged Soleil, and the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. The dead man's throat gapes, and the smell is equally strong to Steven as the deep red puddle leaks across the floor, surrounding a fallen onion. As it mingles with the scent of simmering stew, it... really doesn't smell bad.
Aiden turns towards the next one in the room, his fur bristling at his neck, mouth open and ears back. He'd be practically daring this one to try something, but there's not nearly that much coherant thought involved.
Steven shakes his head to clear it. He does NOT want to be distracted in this way right now.
The only other one actually in this room, thanks to Steven's earlier handling, is equally unlikely to start something-- he's lying there in a very 'dead' fashion by the stairs, a discarded ragdoll. Clairchiare looks up from the floor as he gets his breath back, long fingers resting on his own throat. His lips mouth a soundless "Thanks." The noise from the next room continues unabated, the knife fight still in progress, though someone yelps in pain over the noise of cheering... but whether it was the small, dark figure Steven spied, or the burly man, it's impossible to tell, as no one here knows either voice.
Aiden glances back up the stairs, trying to gauge where the room that he peeked into is in relation to the room they're currently in.
Steven nods his head once to Clairchiare, then moves quietly about the room, trying to get a feel for the room. he moves to the side of the doorway of the next room from where the shouts are coming from, wanting to not be in the line of sight of anyone who comes in.
As best Aiden can tell, the room with the children shares a wall-- but not an entrance-- with the side of the kitchen opening into the room with the knife fight. The rest of the childrens' room should continue beyond that wall, with a possible entrance from the other-- noisier, and more violent-- room.
Aiden goes over to the adjoining wall and paces the length of it a couple of times looking for some hint of a hidden door or something. He'd rather get them out quietly than have to go into the room with the knife-fight, if at all possible.
Hidden doors are sadly not forthcoming, even when Clairchiare joins the search with a hopeful look and higher reach. Aiden does smell the children clearly through the wall's cracks, however-- fear, urine and the scent of young things, as well as mildew and rot. Some are elven, by the scent, and some might even be human. Others smell like nothing familiar. As he waits, Aiden hears one crying, too. The wall might not be very thick.
Steven's pacing brings him the same smells, with mildew and rot near overpowering once away from the blood or children. Listening to the next room as he moves, he also gets the impression that there are at least thirty people in it, given the size and noise.
Aiden puts his side up against a spot in the wall that smells strongly of the rot and mildew, but isn't too close to the door to the other room and pushes his weight against it.
Steven's nose twitches, and he really does not like these scents. He also doesn't like the other room, since with that number of people.... He tries not to think of the children-smell coming from the knifefight room.
The wall gives just a little, and creaks... but it will likely take more than Aiden's weight alone to break it. Soleil notices what he's doing first, and changes shape to lift an inquiring foot, silent query.
Aiden bobs his head up and down and leans his weight in again.
A knothole recommends itself just at Steven's eyelevel as he paces. Through it, he sees that the cheering men are mostly of greenish-yellow hue, and seem to have.. tusks. The slight dark figure fighting on the table is perhaps half the height of its opponent, who matches his fellows.
Sol presses the wall with his foot, and it gives more... but not enough. Frowning, the golden elf mimes a kick along with a questioning look toward Aiden as Clairchiare joins them. Seodil stays a wolf, pacing by the room's open doorway and its potential dangers.
Steven blinks a little. They aren't human? Human or not, it shouldn't matter, they're still sentient, and yet they're also still scum for -- oh, by Pelor.... He stifles a low growl in his throat, glancing back at the others. He pads over quietly, hearing the creaking wall. it's now even more imperative to get the children out, and wreak havoc on whomever is holding them.
Aiden shifts smoothly out of his wolf-form. Maybe he can get more weight on the wall in his elven form. He tries again, determined to go through this wall and not into the other room.
Aiden's shoulder, in combination with Sol and Clairchiare, makes the wall groan audibly and give-- until Sol gets impatient and pulls back to hit it harder with a shoulder. Soleil's upper torso promptly disappears into the black darkness of the wall's new shoulder-wide hole, and children scream, high and shrill.
Something continues to trouble Steven about the slight little knife-fighter. There was something familiar about it, somehow.
Steven's eyes shoot to the doorway, and he moves back to his position where he can't be immediately seen by anyone coming in. he hopes that there's more than enough shouting in the other room to conceal the shrills.
Aiden is unceremoniously dumped into the room by Soleil's impatience as well. That impatience, in concert with the shrill cries it starts in the children evokes more than a bit of annoyance in Aiden. He stands, quickly, and puts a finger to his lips. "Shhh. We're here to help you.."
Sol flinches, but adds his voice to the mix in nothing but reassuring tones. "Sorry, folks... it's ok, shh, listen, we're on your side." The kids subside quickly, whether out of fear or hope, leaving Aiden looking at smudged young faces in the filtered kitchen light from their brand new door. One of them is definitely elven. Another looks rather like Kabi's kind, with furry feet. The not-quite-human smell remains, too. Someone new, at least part human, is in here... somewhere. There look to be about twenty-odd children.
Aiden looks them over quickly, looking for the one with the single eye.
Coarse laughter from the next room draws Steven's attention, and through a crack he sees the slight fighter rising from one knee. Her opponent is no longer in sight above the onlookers' heads. The dark brown figure runs a hand over its forehead, turning to face Steven's side of the crowd. It's wearing an eyepatch.
None of the children meet Aiden's gaze with less than two eyes. One of them smiles nervously back and meets his gaze with three.
Steven blinks again, and shakes his head. Dammit! He turns to the others, chuffing softly and indicating the other room. he tries to cover one of his eyes with a paw, once he catches the others' attention.
Aiden smiles back at the one that smiled at him, trying to look friendly despite the adrenaline and wolf still strongly present in him. He frowns at Steven for a moment and then slips over to look into the other room.
The dark brown knife-fighter standing on the table is small enough to be a child, scrawny enough that it could be either male or female despite being stripped to the waist, and is definitely wearing an eyepatch. It's also making a rude gesture at the crowd, and yelling something in defiant tones. Laughter greets this, and someone hands it a large mug.
Aiden steps back and frowns. He goes back to the kids, kneeling down close to them. "We're going to get you all out of here, but you have to be very very quiet and listen to us. We're not going to hurt you or anything like that, we just need to make sure those guys out there don't try to hurt us either. It's better if they don't know about us being here until you're already gone. Do any of you now Dessis? Is she the one that's out there?"
Steven then notices all the children behind Aiden. A bit stymied as to what to do when he sees them, he tries very hard not to yawn or even show his teeth. he tries to portray a picture of being a innocent feline, like a housecat. Considering his size and obvious big-cat features, he likely fails.
Children murmur and nod affirmatively at Aiden's words. Yes, they'll do as they're told. Yes, they know Dessis-- A beautiful little blond boy pipes up, "Did she kill them all yet?" He looks quite hopeful. Next to him, the three-eyed little munchkin opens all three wide as she looks past Aiden at Steven and says breathlessly, "Kitty..."
Aiden smiles at the blonde boy. "I bet she's got a few of them by now." He turns his attention to the little girl with the three eyes and says. "He's a very nice kitty, too. He's going to help protect you." He glances towards the door and says. "Does anybody know when Dessis is going to come back here to stay with you?"
Steven tilts his head to the side a bit at the 'kitty.' Well, it beats someone cringing from him who he'd really rather not have cringing from him! He bobs his head at Aiden's comment, glancing quickly to the door, andpeeking through the knothole again.
Twenty-something little heads shake solemnly at the question. The definite elf brushes tangled hair back with inhuman grace and says "They think she's a boy. If she wins her fight she gets to stay out when the hoors come." The little girl's violet eyes give Steven adoring looks. She whispers, "Can I come out of the dark yet?"
Aiden looks up at Clairchiare, "We leaving the way we came in? I'd like to get them all out of this room."
Steven sees the figure, who is pretty much certainly Dessis, drain the large mug and turn it upside down, standing hipshot in a motionless swagger. Not a drop falls to the ground. The crowd rumbles another cheer and someone else hands Dessis another mug.
Clairchiare nods, "Was planning on it, unless we killed them all and walked out the front door. As things are... I'll get them started going up on the roof. I hear you on that. Sol, stay elven, I could use the help." Sol glances at Aiden for confirmation, quick.
Steven winces at the commentary from the elf. What the hell kind of monsters are these? No matter... they will meet their fates. He glances back to Claichiare and nods, quickly.
Aiden turns back to the kids and says, "My friends are going to take you upstairs where it's safer. You just have to remember to be as quiet as little mice and listen to them, okay?" Aiden actually looks like he's in his element with these kids.
They respond to it, too. Shy little smiles turn trusting, and then all underaged eyes turn to Clairchiare and Sol as the two elves start leading the little ones to relative safety, coaxing and smiling the whole way. Soleil cajoles rather well too, as it turns out-- his little entourage is remarkably mouselike. The ones Clairchiare talks softly to actually make little mouse ears with their hands on their heads before sneaking off.
Aiden covers his mouth with his hand. The smile on his face is definitely not appropriate for the severity of the situation, but the mouse ears nearly killed him with cuteness. He stands up and walks to Steven's side. He whispers. "How are we going to get her out of there?"
Steven has to smile at least a bit, at the mouse ears. he's glad the kids have kept their sense of humor through this. he glances up to Aiden as he approaches, then peers through the hole again, shaking his head. "Rrrr."
Aiden waits until Steven has finished peeking and looks again himself.
Seodil drifts up to Steven's side and shifts. Elven, he murmurs "I could account for five, I believe. I cannot swear to more in this form." Over by the stairs to the attic, a quiet child-debate erupts, catching everyone's attention for a moment. Sol's group started it. Sol ends it by grabbing a kitchen knife, a bit of discarded rope, and handing out quick mousetails. Satisfied, the children resume their silent march up into the attic.
Aiden clamps his hand back over his mouth again, shoulder shaking.
Through the peephole, Steven sees Dessis drain what is at least mug number three and toss it into the crowd. She still appears steady. The crowd approves, rumbling, but when Aiden's eyes check the view, their attention is turning away from Dessis in a decidedly different direction.
The rumble from next door takes on a new tone.
Aiden steps back. "Something's got their attention. I can't see."
Steven tries to see himself, then shakes his head, unable to see.
At approximately the same moment, Steven and Aiden realize that the newest testosterone-laden rumble is not violent, but lascivious.
The hoors have arrived.
Steven has the sudden feeling that this is about to get worse.
Seodil murmurs darkly, "It might be best to get her out before they realize she is not, in fact, male... but a headlong charge will likely be the end of us. Do you wish to try?"
Steven considers, opens his mouth to speak, then shakes his head and shifts to his form that can actually speak in somethign other than meows. "The 'hoors' might distract them long enough to get her out. Whatever the hells they are, anyway."
Aiden frowns at Seodil and says, "We should try to get her attention while they're distracted from her."
Steven nods to Aiden.
Aiden goes towards the door, getting himself behind it, ready.
Soleil returns from child-herding alone. "Chi's still with them," he whispers. "What's the plan? We need him back?" Hearing Aiden's last, seeing Steven and Seodil nod, he looks grimly serious as he follows Aiden. "I'm brighter colored than you two... want me to do it?"
Aiden looks at Soleil and answers, honestly, "No. Don't want any of us to have to do it, but.. I'll go."
Steven says softly, "Wait. We don't even know what's about to happen there." he glances at the door. "Think we could crack the door and peek outside without being noticed?
Aiden nods. "That's what I was going to do."
"I," Seodil points out quietly, "am palest and most noticeable if that is what we wish." Sol looks over at him with an odd expression, and shakes his head. "Better it were me. But..." as Aiden answers him, Sol subsides, hating it but obedient. Seodil nods at opening the door and says, "I am ready at your back when you do, Aiden."
Leaning in close, Seodil whispers in Aiden's ear, "I can flash the ends of my hair through the crack like a flag, before you need expose yourself to harm. Permit me this. She may notice."
Aiden moves a little so that he's at the doorjamb instead of right behind it. He says "ready," and then opens the door a little more than a handwidth, looking at the spot where he last saw Dessis.
Dessis is still standing on the table, looking not entirely steady. Attention is solidly focused on her table, which now also contains a handful of scantily-clad females, most of which meet bare minimums for attractiveness. The crowd of greenish men is cheering. Dessis' eyes are in constant motion, looking all around the room-- she sees the door open, and pauses to look longer. Seodil tosses the end of his braid through and flutters it a moment, before drawing back to wait. Dessis' eyes narrow. Moments later, she yells something about beer in a loud voice, and jumps off the table to disappear into the crowd.
Aiden shuts the door as soon as Dessis yells and stands behind it waiting to block the entrance of anyone aside from her.
In a few more moments, there is a knock-- a few quick raps-- and a contralto female voice yells with an accent, "More beer, you swine of a cook! Let me in!"
Aiden opens the door just enough to let her in.
Dessis eels in and starts shaking noticeably as she looks around. "Jailbreak?" She sees the hole immediately, and stiffens. "You get 'em? Who sent you?"
Aiden shuts the door and leans on it. "Kabi. Let's go. They're waiting for you."
Steven remains out of sight form the doorway, just in case there's anyone watching her enter. He nods at Aiden's words.
"Lead the way," Dessis says simply after confirming quickly that the hole contains no children, and follows her rescuers out without another question.
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