| Logs |
2010 August 30
| Neverneverwhere |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: Taps Logs |
Fearful Symmetry
Once Suraksha and Corbett join the caravan, Corbett takes her with him to drop the spices off with Buddy and to let the cook know there will be one more for the communal meals. This is all done while the wagons are still moving. Suraksha is extremely gleeful! Her eyes sparkle, and there's an easy laugh on her lips. She's very pleased! They're still mounted and walking easily alongside Buddy's wagon. The chuckwagon is at the end of the caravan and is pulled by four brawny oxen. The entire caravan moves at a leisurely pace. The bull-necked man looks down at Suraksha from where he sits up on the wagon, obviously taking her measure in some way. He asks, "You got anything weird I should know about food?"
Suraksha blinks up at the man in some surprise, from where she sits astride the calm mare, and puzzledly answers, "Er, nooo... should I?" She looks at him with her Sight, curious as to whether the impressions she's getting from him are correct.
Buddy is very well-balanced for the most part, though his bottom three chakras are a bit stronger than the upper three. His Heart Chakra is largest of all. She can tell he's a good person, but more comfortable in his body than in his mind. He snorts through his nose and tosses his head slightly, "So, you ain't gonna die if I feed you eggs or peanuts or nothin'?"
Suraksha grins at that, making a guess as she leans on the pommel and winks, "Nope! No more than you mind grazing on vegetables, as far as I can tell."
Buddy snorts again and says, "I ain't a vegetarian." He slaps his stomach and grins down at her, "You a carnivore?"
Suraksha laughs at that, then grins and shakes her head, "I'm omni, but thanks for checking -- that's thoughtful of you."
Buddy nods and says, "Good deal. We already got enough special diets on this damn train." Corbett shakes his head, mustache twitching, "Can't have anybody dyin' on us accidentally."
Suraksha grins at Buddy -- then turns and blinks thoughtfully at Corbett. She considers, then nods slowly, "That would be a lamentable thing, especially if it were so easily preventable." After that she pats the mare's shoulder, then smiles at Corbett, "So, now what?"
Corbett nods to Buddy and says to Suraksha, "Now we go find a place for you to sleep. You'll be bunking down with little Joe and a couple other of the hands. Ain't got separate quarters for females right now, 'cept for the ones got their own wagons. That bothers you, you can put a bedroll out under one of the wagons. It'll mean you can't sleep on the move, though.
Suraksha shakes her head and smiles again, "I'm not worried." She isn't; she doesn't See the people here as the types to put up with harassment of the smaller caravan members. Further, if worst comes to worst, she can always change shape!
Corbett nods and says, "You shouldn't be. I don't put up with shenanigans. Flirtin's good. Fuckin's fine. But it's gotta be consensual. I only ask if someone gives you trouble that you come to me before you try to handle it on your own. I want to know the good and the bad about my people." Suraksha gives the large man a slightly startled look, but then smiles and nods at the request to be told about problems first. The older man goes on, "I mean that rule about not stickin' your nose in where it ain't wanted, too. This bunch works well because we don't give a good goddamn about shit like who you fuck or who you pray to or what color your skin is. You preach to anyone don't ask for preachin' and you're off the train."
Suraksha grins at the emphatic reiteration about minding her own business, and when he's done she inquires mildly, "Do I look like someone nosy, then? Or was my teasing of Buddy inappropriate?" She's faintly scandalized at the rough language, being rather a sheltered young woman in some ways, but is also excited at actually being out and about in the real world. She happily decides she can handle it!
Corbett's whiskers twitch again and the smile is almost visible this time, "Nah. But some people gotta hear it a few times b'fore they realize I damned well mean it. Better safe than sorry. Joan is my right hand. If she says it, assume I will back her up. She's got a solid head on her shoulders. Little Joe'll show you the ropes." They've been moving up along the train steadily, Corbett inclining his head or touching the brim of his hat to all and sundry that speak. Suraksha smiles brightly at everyone Corbett nods to, and makes mental notes about how the people seem and react. She'll be caravanning with them, after all, so she wants to get to know them quickly.
About halfway up the caravan is a long, boxy wagon with what looks like a dangerously high pile of boxes and bags on the top. It's driven by a curvaceous woman in a bright, ruffled cotton blouse that's paired oddly with heavy jeans and cowboy boots. Her hair is a mass of shining black curls that have been pulled back more or less into something like a giant pushy ponytail. Corbett calls up, "Sabrina! Got someone that'll be bunking with the boys!" Suraksha smiles in curiosity up at Sabrina, and wonders what other boys will be there. Joe is someone she's sure she can get along with, but she is interested in who her other bunk-mates will be.
Sabrina looks down at Suraksha and smiles with a mouthful of square, white teeth, "Oh, that'll be fun for them. Little Joe was already telling me about you. Suraksha, yes?" The woman's accent is clipped and proper. Suraksha nods silently, wondering why she'll be fun. That phrasing, oddly enough, makes her feel a bit... wary. She smiles cautiously at the woman. Sabrina's smile is friendly and her eyes are wide and bright, "He likes you, else he wouldn't have sent you to Buddy. Little Joe's a good boy." From inside the wagon there's an indignant voice, "I'm not a boy!"
Suraksha laughs aloud at that, tossing her head back, and a few errant wisps of her hair curl around her small face. She's grinning delightedly when she finishes with a giggle, cheerfully adding, "That's all right, because I am actually a girl." She can't help a mischievous wink at Sabrina as she waits for the reply to that one!
There's a silence that almost sounds pink from inside the wagon and Sabrina grins down at Suraksha, "Billy-Joe and Franklin are also bunking in this wagon, but they're driving for now. Someone has to get the cargo where it belongs." To Corbett she asks, "Did you want to leave her with me or take her on up the line?" The caravan leader looks Suraksha over, as if he's not yet made up his mind. Suraksha smiles serenely at Corbett. She has lots of other skills she hopes to demonstrate for the caravan leader, but she also doesn't want to seem pushy. She'll wait and follow his lead, for now -- she suspects he's the type to simply ask if he wants to know something, after all. That's fine with her; she prefers straight talking herself as well, even though she's very good at diplomatic double-talk when necessary.
Corbett says, "I'm going to leave her with you for the time bein' and go check in with Joan." To Suraksha, he asks, "You want to ride the mare or ride up with Sabrina? I suggest up."
Suraksha nods relaxedly, "Up is fine. Where should I drop off the mare, please?"
Sabrina pulls her wagon to a stop; there's plenty of room behind her for the others to see she's stopped. Corbett takes the mare's reins, "I'll take her on with me." Sabrina kicks the brake on the wagon into place and leans over to offer Suraksha her hand.
Suraksha grins and tosses the reins carefully over the mare's head to Corbett, then drops the stirrups and stands in the saddle. With unconscious (and unwittingly non-human) fluidity, she lightly takes Sabrina's hand and leaps onto the wagon's bench seat. She steps carefully into a spot next to Sabrina, then seats herself and turns to look curiously back at all the cargo piled up behind them. "So... is there a place where I can drop my backpack there?" She wonders at putting so much luggage so high on a house-wagon -- doesn't that make it a bit top-heavy?
Sabrina grins and says, "It's where everyone else puts their random luggage, so your backpack will be right at home." Once she's up on the seat, Suraksha can see there's a window into the bunkwagon behind Sabrina. Joe's face is visible through it and he grins at Suraksha, "Glad to see you came along."
Suraksha brightens, "Hey, Joe! Thanks for letting me help!" She beams, then adds, "Can I pass my backpack to you, so you can toss it on a free bunk, please?"
Joe nods and reaches through the window, "You want a top or a middle? Both the bottom ones are already claimed."
Suraksha thinks a bit, then grins, "Goodness, stacked three high? I'll take a top one, then -- I'm small and light."
Inside the wagon Suraksha can see two sets of bunks, one on either side of the wagon. They are three high and the back end of the wagon is made up of cleverly-designed cupboards and drawers. The bunks all look sturdy and are currently folded up against the sides of the wagon. Joe grins as he takes the backpack and stashes it not on a bunk, but in a sturdy wooden locker in the wall, "It's not so bad."
Suraksha laughs quietly and thanks him, then cheerfully chats with the young man and the other woman. She's curious about the various members of the caravan, but wary of asking too many personal questions -- so she simply asks broad questions that encourage them to talk: who their favorite animal in the caravan is, where the most dangerous section of the trail is, what city they most enjoy, which is the most troublesome wagon and why... things like that.
Both Joe and Sabrina are very forthcoming. Sabrina is the scion of a wealthy family on the eastern seaboard who ran away from home to escape an arranged marriage. She laughs about it, "Silly little twit, wasn't I? Still, I like this life. Corbett's a good man and he keeps a good company." Joe is an orphan who took up with the caravan as a way to earn his living when he was barely twelve. He bashfully admits that he's a Tap. "Not a strong one, mind you," he's quick to add, "Just strong enough to be able to read the weather. I can feel the lightning."
Suraksha is fascinated to hear the stories of both, and she grins at Sabrina's comments. "Do you ever go back and say hello so they know you're all right?" She smiles at Joe, "That's a really useful skill, I bet! You could save lives with that."
Joe blushes, "So far, it's just kept us dry. But being dry is a good thing on the road." Sabrina laughs and shakes her head merrily, "Oh, heavens no. But I do write them every so often. My mother is scandalized, of course."
Suraksha grins and pats Joe's hand through the little window, "I bet folks really appreciate your skill, Joe, even if you don't realize it yet." She smiles quietly at Sabrina, murmuring, "It's good to stay in touch with family."
They're just getting to the part about discussing the dangerous parts of the trail when there are shouts from up ahead and wagons begin stopping. From here and there, able-bodied people are rushing to the front of the caravan. Sabrina swears like a sailor, still in that very proper accent, and says, "Bandits."
Suraksha blinks, one small hand tightening a bit on the edge of the seat. "Oh, dear. So close to The City? That's a bad sign. What should we do?" She glances around warily -- good tactics say an ambush should be used on a caravan. That means what's up ahead is just a distraction, and the real attack should be further back, in the middle of the caravan.
Sabrina reaches under the wagon seat and pulls out a crossbow that looks downright enormous in her delicate hands, "This close to the City means we've got a full cargo – easy pickings for some of the low-lives that haunt the trails." She jumps down easily and says, "Joe, you stay put. I'm going back to help Buddy. If they've stopped us up front, it's because they're planning to attack the rear."
Suraksha glances puzzledly at the departing Sabrina -- then shrugs mentally. If she's gotten no instructions on what to do, she'll do what she thinks best. She smiles at Joe, "Can you come out here and keep the horses calm, please, Joe?" As the young man does so, Suraksha slips down and slides stealthily between the wagons, searching for a good hiding place near the back of the caravan. She's happy to help defend her new companions, but she's not going to potentially panic everyone there by shifting without good reason. Plus... hm. It occurs to her that if she can slip into the underbrush and shift, maybe she could take out several of the bandits from behind? That could potentially save lives! That would be good, and not scare her caravan. Without even realizing how her loyalties have changed, Suraksha searches for a good spot for diving out of sight into the underbrush.
Joe wriggles out onto the driver's seat and takes the reins, clucking soothingly to the horses drawing the wagon. There are a lot of good hiding places along the sides of the road, which is likely why the bandits chose it for their hiding spot. Suraksha can hear shouting from both ends of the caravan. She's not been in a "real" battle, despite her age. Fearsome Grandmother trained her to fight, of course, but there is a large difference in sparring and an actual combat. As she's working on shifting, she can hear shouts and bellows of pain. It's a little distracting and causes it to take a little while longer than normal to shift. Once she does, however, she catches scent of blood and steel and -- rare and dangerous -- gunpowder.
Suraksha winces slightly at the shouting -- she'd better hurry! She wriggles hastily out of her clothing, reminding herself to be patient: as Fearsome Grandmother is fond of noting, the ability to shapeshift one's clothing as well is but a characteristic of increasing maturity, and not simply impatience! Once she's a tiger she drifts silently through the underbrush, following the scent of gunpowder. If the bandits have such a dangerous weapon, she should take that person out.
She comes upon the gunman first, since he's hiding out in the bushes and taking careful aim for his potshots. From the looks of things he's already hit Buddy once, though that hasn't slowed the big man down. The bandit is taking his time reloading his gun -– not that he has a choice, since it's the black powder sort that requires tamping and loading and all sorts of preparation between shots. Suraksha's eyes flare in sudden fury at sight of Buddy wounded. She leaps silently to directly behind the rifleman and snaps her jaws firmly closed about the back of his neck -- then with a powerful wrench she tosses the hapless attacker off into the underbrush. That should break his neck quickly. She looks around with a low growl for other attackers.
The gunman just barely has time to yelp before his neck snaps and he's tossed away like so much refuse. Buddy is roaring in pain and anger, laying about himself with a cast iron skillet in his whole, unwounded arm – it seems to be his right that took the bullet. Sabrina has apparently expended her crossbow bolts and is likewise bashing people with a large wooden paddle. The other hidden bandits aren't so easy to see, but Suraksha can smell them over on the other side of the trail. She can also smell more gunpowder.
Suraksha stalks swiftly through the underbrush, slapping down attackers as hard as she can as she passes them in search of the other rifle users. She's a bit disturbed at these bandits: not only are they shockingly close to the city, but they're startlingly well-armed! Could these be some City gang looking to pick up some easy loot? She's focusing hard on doing her job well -- and carefully not thinking too much about how fragile humans are under her powerful, heavy paws. The two she finds hiding on this side of the trail go down with barely a bellow, but then she's going to have to cross the caravan's trail to get to the others. Buddy and Sabrina have put down three themselves, but there's another half-dozen swarming them and the baggage wagon.
Suraksha takes a deep breath, licking her chops a bit nervously as she glances around. Looks like no more shooters... she needs to go help, but that means she's likely to be seen. She doesn't fancy being smacked across the nose with a cast-iron frying pan, either. She lifts her head, reminding herself fiercely: she is of the lineage of queens and warriors! She is not afraid; she is going to save her companions any further harm! With that she bursts out of the underbrush in a silent gallop, deliberately slamming her powerful body through the midst of the bandits in an effort to scatter and demoralize them -- and get to the other side of the trail. She's worried about that continued scent of gunpowder, and if there's someone there tamping in a fresh shot, she wants to stop them soonest!
Suraksha's plan doesn't go quite the way she expected. She slams right into the middle of the bandits -- but from there things go pear-shaped. The reason they were gathered together that way turns out to be two or three kegs that smell very much like gunpowder which they were trying to wrestle beneath a heavy, nondescript wagon. In her feline form, Suraksha can smell the iron reinforcing it. In the tangle of bodies, one of the bandits gets lucky – and it feels like fire laces itself down the right side of her ribs as a knife slashes through her thick fur and into the skin. The pain is bright, hot, and immediate. It's also infuriating. Suraksha roars indignantly, slapping her clawed paw through the bandit and tossing him aside. She's furious with agony, flashing through the remaining bandits in a flurry of teeth and claws until only she is left standing by the barrels. The shouting around her is getting more panicked and there are a couple of screams of pure terror, but the remaining bandits are running off through the woods. She pants slightly, her anger fierce and fiery and fed by the pain as she looks around and listens for more attackers.
There are only two left standing. Buddy and Sabrina have taken care of a few and Suraksha herself has taken care of over half a dozen. The one bandit that got lucky, however, seems to have gotten very lucky: the blood is coming fast. Someone comes running from the front of the caravan, yelling that the bandits are running. Suraksha blinks a bit groggily, then hastily ducks into the underbrush. She curls up immediately, trying to put pressure on the wound. She decides she'd better not shift shape like this -- she'll be nude, and she has no idea if she'll faint or something in human form. She doesn't want to find out the hard way either. She tries licking around where her paw is pressing against the wound too, thinking fiercely, [Stop bleeding! I need to go back!]
There's a crashing through the brushes around her and a rumbling voice, "Damn. That don't look good." Sabrina's voice says, "No, it doesn't. Go get Joan. Quick."
Suraksha blinks up a bit blearily at the two figures, sniffing as she reassures herself: they're friendly, right. She goes back to trying to stop the bleeding with the single-minded focus of someone trying very hard not to give in to pain. It's several heartbeats later that she blinks and looks up again. Wait, that was... Sabrina and Buddy? They're not... they think she's friendly too? She shakes her head a bit, wishing she could think straight. She'd really like to flop out and close her eyes, but a small sapient part of her brain is shouting at her and not letting her do so. Sabrina is stripping off her shirt and murmuring, "It's alright, puss-puss, we'll get you squared away...." She tries to lift the big cat's paw off the gash.
Suraksha rowls unhappily -- she knows that's not a good thing to do! If Sabrina tugs, though, the tiger shifts her big paw, bracing herself to slap it back if necessary. It's a slightly awkward position for her, so she hopes the nice woman will push on the wound for her. The human smells nice too... not all bloody, like she does... when the paw lifts, Sabrina shoves her shirt against the wound with both hands, muttering to herself about being caught out in her chemise. The garment under the blouse is, if possible, more frilly and feminine than the blouse was. Through the blurriness, Suraksha hears more crashing through the brush and catches the scent of something antiseptic along with more blood and saddle soap.
Suraksha shakes her head slowly -- whoa, bright lights floating in front of her! She blinks at them a few times, then realizes there seem to be more people around her. Huh! When did they arrive? She should pay more attention, tsk! Fearsome Grandmother would chastise her for not greeting them properly. The big tiger mumbles, "H'rrow," as she looks around, weaving slightly in place.
Joan is one of the people that have arrived and she says, "Hullo indeed. You just lay yourself down, girlie, and let me have a look at that." Suraksha blinks again, then looks down. Isn't she already laying down? Yes, she is... that's the ground right there under her. Looks... surprisingly inviting, in fact. She sighs and lets herself flop out now the chirugeon has arrived. Nice... soft... supportive ground, yes... Joan takes a bottle of something out of a heavy leather satchel and soaks a rag in it. This she holds up to Suraksha's face and says, "Breathe deep. You'll be happier if you don't remember this." Suraksha blinks blearily. She's supposed to breath deep and forget? Hm... she should be able to do that... as the voices around her mumble and rumble, Suraksha slips off into a strange dreamland.
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