| Logs |
2011 July 13
| Neverneverwhere |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: Taps Logs |
Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat!
The leader of the kidnappers is ordinarily a trusted man of the Warlord of Houston. Currently, however, Sam is also a man in some disgrace, due to having had the misfortune -- some whispered it was only he who had the balls -- of publicly telling the Warlord that hostage-taking was wrong and dishonorable, and would backfire in the Warlord's face. This particular mission is a last chance to regain the Warlord's good graces, with a sort of looming and implied 'or else.'
The rest of the kidnappers are just a mercenary band of cut-throats whom the Warlord secretly plans to have murdered later, en masse, so there's nothing 'official' tracing him back to the kidnappings. Instead it will all be but rumors and hearsay, since with hostages he can force whatever public pronouncements he may wish. Sam, however, is no fool; he knows the likely fate of the men he's with, and he's starting to have doubts regarding his own future in Houston. He's also at heart a gentleman, and so he is quietly making sure to treat the king's fiancée like a lady, keeping her safe from the other men and apologizing to her for the "inconvenience."
Sulochana behaves herself admirably, sincerely thanking the leader of the kidnappers for locking her alone into the small cabin. The last sight Sam has of her is of the small woman sitting on the tiny bunk, her tense face half shadowed by the small lantern he's left lit for her. She watches him intently, one hand resting at her throat and her eyes wide with apparent fear. The gentleman cowboy shakes his head to himself as he locks the door from the outside and slips the key onto a thong tied around his neck. Too many of the men with him have the look of footpads and pickpockets for him to trust the pockets of his jeans. He's already starting to feel disgusted with himself as he stalks away from the lady's door, snarling irritably at the ruffians lazing about the boat, "Git us underway! The sooner we git ta Houston, the sooner this is over with."
Within the cabin Sulochana takes the time to slowly inhale, then exhale, ten times. Once she feels calmer and more grounded, the Hetaera rises and glances swiftly around the cabin as she pulls off her dress and all her clothing. She carefully folds everything into a small package, hiding it under the bunk's thin, lumpy mattress... then she tilts her head for a moment as she regards the door. True to her expectations, she can hear soft murmuring and ticking/scraping noises there -- someone is trying to pick the lock! A slow smile curls up the corners of her lips, although it does not reach her cold eyes, and she sits on the edge of the bunk and waits, hands peacefully folded in her lap.
It doesn't take long for the shoddy lock to be picked, and there's a small, hoarse crow of triumph as the door swings open. Two men rush in, one of them instantly turning to close the door. The other is frozen in shock, however, at sight of the small, nude woman who smiles and murmurs, "Just in time. Come, I've been waiting for you." Both men stare at her wide-eyed -- this is not the reaction they expected! As she turns to gently blow out the lantern, they both laugh coarsely and head toward her, eyes gleaming.
Back on the Proud Mary, Roy and Eacharn have stripped down to shirtsleeves and slacks; Roy has called for and put on his comfortably sprung boots, and Eacharn is barefoot. The pair of them slip into a dinghy and head out -- when you have a Water Tap as powerful as Roy on board, there is no need for oars. With Eacharn's eyes and Roy's sense of what's going on in the water, they are able to slide in the direction of the pirates' escaping boat. The King of Baton Rouge is crouching in the bow of the dinghy and Eacharn waits in the stern.
Aboard the scruffy old wooden boat the kidnappers have "appropriated," initially all seems peaceful. It drifts slowly and silently downriver -- toward where horses and a covered, barred wagon are waiting for the ride back to Houston -- with only the red and green running lights lit. There are the usual occasional noises of sleepy nightlife drifting from the banks, echoing oddly over the river, but nothing alarming... until there's a sharp cracking noise from the side of the boat where the king's fiancée is currently incarcerated. Sam was walking the length of the deck on the other side of the boat from 'Chana's cabin. Upon hearing the loud noise he immediately thinks, [Goddammit, Enos!] and whirls on his heel.
Further upriver, Eacharn can't see Roy's face, but it's not hard to imagine the feral grin when something that sounds like a small explosion can be heard out on the water -- and the Baton Rouge king almost purrs, "That's our cue, mon ami." The small boat leaps forward toward the direction of the kidnappers' boat.
On the boat itself a small, weak groan can be heard, followed almost instantly by someone hoarsely and intently whispering, "Dallas! You come outta there, son -- whutcha doin', idjit? You kilt her, yer gonna answer ta Sam, boy!" The next thing Sam hears is a full-throated scream of terror -- instantly choked off into a disgusting, gurgling death-rattle.
Shouts of alarm and running feet echo on the boat as the rest of the men leap into action, grabbing weapons and lighting lanterns, calling out to each other to figure out who's missing. Sam, not being an idiot, pulls out his Bowie knife and crouches down. He creeps around the boat's end-cabin, keeping as much to the shadows as possible to avoid showing up as a shadow himself. Once he gets to a place where he can successfully do so, he flattens himself against a wall and carefully peers down the deck along the side of the boat where Sulochana's door is... or was.
As Sam peers carefully around the bow cabin he can see a lit lantern still sitting by the lady's cabin door; the door itself has clearly been shattered. Interestingly, the broken pieces all seem to be scattered outside the cabin -- and as Sam cautiously studies the scene he can just spot something moving slowly into the room. It's hard to tell in the poor light, but it looks almost like... like the booted feet of someone being dragged into the cabin? Sam presses more tightly against the wall, crossbow held carefully upright. He strains to listen, trying to pick out from the shouts and panic just what in Sam-Hill is going on! He's not stupid enough to rush into this fight without knowing the lay of the land.
It's at that very moment that one of his men thunders past him, yelling and completely missing Sam in the shadows as he runs towards the lady's room. Another man with a crossbow is in the second level bridge, leaning over through the open window frame as he calls down that he's covering that side of the ship.
It's rather nightmarish to Sam, in a way; happening too fast for the eye to immediately register or the brain to comprehend: the sudden flash of movement of the enormous form pouncing silently out of the room and crushing the man on deck; the hoarse yell of the crossbowman above as he swings around his weapon to fire. The monstrous form whirling with the screaming man pinned in its jaws, rearing up impossibly tall so the fired crossbow bolt thuds sickeningly into the writhing human shield -- the abrupt silence as the struggling man's screams cut off. The soft thud as the body drops to the ground; the crossbowman abruptly realizing he's cornered and his weapon is empty! -then the bloody jaws snap closed on his arm and he's violently yanked down to the deck. He manages one choked scream before there's a sharp snap and he too goes limp and silent -- and then the impossibly large, shadowy, striped form casually hooks claws into both dead bodies, sweeping them swiftly off the deck to lower them quietly into the water.
There's a moment of almost dreamy horror as Sam realizes what he's observing; he's never seen a live one before, but he's heard descriptions and seen pictures of tigers. Despite the ill-advised calling-out of the Warlord, Sam is not a stupid man and he's a seasoned warrior; things click into place very rapidly: the door having been burst outward by some enormous force; the giant, angry female cat; Roy's known propensity for non-human folk in his court. A few more quick calculations and Sam decides he'd rather have his sorry hide in one piece than have the good will of a man that's rapidly becoming nothing but a tyrannical monster.
The cowboy sheathes his knife and drops the crossbow. After he fishes his white hankie out of a pocket, he slides around the corner and kneels, praying the creature recognizes surrender. The monster is crouching carefully on the narrow deck, her tail flicking impatiently over the water, as she looks up and prepares to leap up onto the bridge -- but at the soft sounds Sam makes, her head whips around and she spots him. Instantly her ears pin back and her gory jaws gape in a silent snarl of fury as she whirls and charges him, bloody claws wide-spread! The man kneels with his hat off and his head down, both hands up above his head to show them empty save for the white handkerchief. Racing heart, sweating palms, and all, he stays just where he is, barely daring to breathe as the enormous cat leaps for him. This, he figures, is a better death than the one he would get in Houston.
Out on the river, Roy and Eacharn are moving quickly toward the boat, which is suddenly easier to see since lights flared to life in the wake of 'Chana's dramatic escape. Roy had gotten the dinghy close enough to find the bodies dropped into the river, and with a snarl of anger he puts his hand on the first one and pushes. Humans are, after all, mostly water; the mauled body slips below the surface of the Big Muddy, Roy's Lady taking her due. Moments later the other two join it. They won't float to the surface for a very, very long time.
The quiet thunder of huge paws keeps charging toward Sam on the boat, and he can hear the soft huff of angry panting. The old wooden planks under Sam quiver faintly as she lands next to him, and the almost sticky scent of blood clings to her hot breath on the side of his face... but she's gone still... almost as if she's waiting for him to make the next move. It takes several heartbeats for him to pull together, but he finally speaks. His voice is husky with adrenaline and fear, "Forgive me, lady." That's all he dares to say; he just barely dares to flick his gaze upward -- to look into the huge, hovering maw of the formerly-rampaging tiger.
There's a long, terrifying moment of stillness where Sam stares directly into the fangs of an enraged creature large enough to easily bite off his head, her breath rank with the bloody scent of violence and fury... then she gives an irritable growl and steps back. She lowers the claw-fringed paw she'd been about to smash into him and, eyes flaring scarlet in the lantern-light, she gives one sharp nod. Sam almost faints with relief. In all his years as a soldier and warrior, this was the most intense near-death moment of his life.
Even as the huge tiger nods, however, quite abruptly all hell breaks loose on the other side of the boat! Screams of terror, crunching and cracking noises, the bugling trumpet of an enraged stallion... the monster's head whips around, and she leaps lightly over the kneeling man, darting silently off to deal with whatever she finds there.
When the ruckus breaks out on the other side of the rickety boat, Sam surges to his feet unthinking. The boat is rocking slightly from the great beasts shifting swiftly back and forth on it, and as Sam rises he spots what looks like yet another nightmare coming around the other end of the boat from him! It pauses for an instant, the glowing red eyes swiveling instantly to him at his movement. Then, with that same bugling scream, the midnight-black stallion's ears pin flat and it charges him, hooves flashing and bloody foam flying from its bared teeth.
This is one shock too many -- Sam's crossed arms fly up, guarding his face from the flying hooves of the enormous stallion. He has a fraction of a second to think, [A goddamn horse?] before he steps back, feet tangling together and spilling him unceremoniously onto his ass. He doesn't so much yell for help as holler, "Nononono!"
Mere fractions of a second before the nightmare stallion would impact and trample Sam into a thin red paste... there's an abrupt, heavy thud of something immense landing directly over the man, where he's fallen. The little light there is, is blocked by the hugely muscled but surprisingly soft-furred body crouching over him, and the boat sways violently again at the sudden weight dropped on the deck. Simultaneously there's a deafening roar of challenge, and the horse screams furiously as it throws itself sideways to avoid slamming into the tiger, hooves scraping and scrabbling on the blood-slick wooden deck.
For an instant it appears there's going to be a battle right on top of Sam! -and then abruptly the huge stallion bolts away with an angry, bugling neigh, charging off to deal with the few remaining men. The big tiger remains warily in place for a moment, a growl bubbling up from its chest... then it slowly straightens and steps away from Sam, glancing down at him with slitted scarlet eyes.
On the other side of the boat the screaming and shouting seems to have died out -- one man even leaps into the river in an attempt to escape the infuriated stallion as it rears and tramples and shatters the old wooden planks in its efforts to violently root out all the remaining kidnappers. That man finds that the river is less forgiving than ever when he leaps into it -- only to be almost literally swallowed. Roy's Lady reaches up and pulls him down into her muddy, silent depths, to join his cut-throat compatriots.
Sam scrambles to his feet and pulls his Bowie knife from its sheath, muttering, "Never did like these thugs anyway."
In the next heartbeat the big tiger snarls, knocking Sam down and placing one huge paw on the hand holding the Bowie knife. She's not crushing him, but he can feel the delicate prick of her claws as she glares down at him, her teeth just above his throat, "Neh! Drro'bh kna'hf!"
Sam immediately drops the knife, "Lady, I swear to you, I was going to help you!"
The huge tiger goes still and silent for a moment... then steps back. She's still growling deep in her chest, and her ears are still back, but she's giving him room to get up. "No fhaa'hding." She thinks a moment, then tilts her head in a 'follow me' gesture and pads to the remains of her cabin. Leaning in, she's large enough to easily drag out one of the mutilated bodies she stashed there. She delicately claws off the shirt and bats it over to him, rumbling, "Here. Blin'dh fh'old."
Sam can't quite make himself leave the Bowie knife behind, but he slips it back into its sheath. He's pretty sure he's just been told not to fight. It takes him a moment longer to figure out what the talking tiger... for a moment his head spins... is saying. Then he rips a strip off the shirt and wraps it around his own eyes. There's a gruff, "Gh'ood," and then the thick fur of her shoulders sliding under one of his hands. "Fh'ollow." She starts pacing along the deck, slow enough for him to stay with her even though he cannot see. Sam clenches one hand in the fur of the tigress and does his best to follow blindly on the wildly pitching, blood-soaked deck.
On the other side of the boat Eacharn in riverhorse form whirls, head and tail up as he trots springily along the deck. His nostrils flare as he snuffs for more potential attackers, but there aren't any more for him to trample to avenge his Lady's honor on their worthless corpses. Now that no more bodies are being dropped over the side, Roy cautiously ties the dinghy to the rickety vessel, ready to join in any fighting that might be left. The big stallion slows, glancing over towards Roy in the dinghy to see if the human is all right; then his big head swivels abruptly as the monster tiger comes padding slowly around the bow-deck of the boat -- with the last remaining attacker at her side.
Eacharn had been warned by Roy there might be something... unexpected... on the boat, although the Water Tap hadn't said what exactly. The river-horse, having made up his mind that 'Chana was a fire elemental, assured Roy he'd be fine -- and then... the tiger. The huge stallion comes to a halt, nostrils flaring and one hoof pawing at the slippery deck as he prepares himself to charge this creature and the man with it, to save his Lady. The big tiger's bloody jaws gape in a lazy grin at the stallion and she growls relaxedly, "Dh'aangz fh'orr hel'bh," as she pads with silent footsteps toward the dinghy. To Roy she rumbles, "Dh'iz one surren'dhrr'dh. No hur'dh, bh'leaze."
Eacharn's blood is high and he's not quite sure what's going on, so he puts his head down, ready to charge. Roy, catching sight, sings out, "Whoa! Hold up, boy! That's ma cherie!" The stallion -- able to understand Roy's Louisiana drawl better than 'Chana's fanged rumble -- stops and blinks, then neighs in startled inquiry. In the dinghy, Roy rumbles, "Sure you don't wanna just make a clean sweep, cherie?"
The broad, heavy head swings around to the stallion, and her whiskers droop with dismay as she rumbles surprisedly, "'S me, p'hony!" Roy's question draws her attention back to him, and she growls firmly, "Neh! Bh'romiz'dh." She gives an irritated chuff at how her lips don't work the way she wants, and tries again, "Swore. Mine now." She reaches out one massive paw to draw the dinghy close to the side of the boat, adding to her prisoner, "Gh'edh inna boa'dh." Then she gently takes Sam's free arm in her massive jaws, leaning so he knows which way the boat is.
Roy is obviously not happy about it, but says, "Alright then, cherie. Won't just chuck 'im over the side... there any more bodies up there?" He reaches for the blindfolded man, helping to guide him into the dinghy.
The big tiger nods, releasing Sam's arm to growl, "Dh'hangz. Yah. Momen'..." Once Sam isn't touching her any more she turns and heads back toward her cabin. She's walking a bit more slowly than usual -- she's tired and ouchy and starting to run out of energy. Eacharn, seeing there is no more need to avenge his Lady, turns to clop after her to the damaged cabin. Along the way, any bodies he comes across are kicked unceremoniously into the water for the Big Muddy to take care of. He's feeling a little dizzy; he knew she wasn't human, but this wasn't what he was expecting!
Sulochana, still in tiger form, is also shoving bodies off the boat and into the river -- she even pulls out and tosses the first two she had to stash in her cabin. She gives a small, tired chuff of amusement as she realizes Eacharn is helping kick bodies overboard, and lets him deal with most of them. Once that's done she lays flat on the deck in front of her cabin with her front paws hanging over the edge, and takes a moment to splash water over her clawed paws, her chest and front, and her broad face; she wants to wash off the blood splashed liberally on her fur. After that she rises, shakes off the worst of the water, and steps into the cabin.
Once inside Sulochana changes (with some effort) to human form, then sinks slowly to sit on the bunk -- she's so tired! Carefully she pulls out her hidden, clean dress and dons it... then she simply sits in the darkness, blank-eyed and almost dazed with exhaustion. On the far side of the boat, Roy has secured Sam into the dinghy, tying his hands. There aren't actually any oars in the boat, so he isn't concerned with the cowboy using it to escape. He climbs aboard the larger vessel and comes looking for 'Chana and Eacharn.
Eacharn waits just a moment before carefully sticking his head into the cabin. Seeing how tired his Lady is, he stretches out his nose to her and gently lips at her hair. When she doesn't really react he slides back into his human form, leaving himself nude except for his halter. His voice is quiet and concerned, "My Lady?"
Sulochana stands up hastily, suddenly recalled to herself. She smiles reassuringly up at Eacharn as she starts to step toward him, "Sorry, sorry -- I'm fine! I w-wa- uhh..." She blinks as her vision blurs, staggering -- and then it's suddenly all too much for her; she's completely tapped out on energy tonight! Her eyes roll up and she slowly collapses. Eacharn steps forward double-quick and catches her, eyes wide with worry.
It's about then Roy comes through the door. He clucks his tongue and rumbles, "She tends t'do that if she does too much. Think you can carry her back to the boat?"
The river horse blinks at Roy and shifts 'Chana's weight until he can be sure he's not going to drop her. His face is worried as he looks down at her. "She'll be fine, right?"
Roy steps over and brushes her hair out of her face, "Yeah, after about half a cow and maybe some..." he pauses there, "...some rest. She'll be fine, man. C'mon. Let's git 'er back to the Mary. There any more bodies roundabout?" Eacharn shakes his head, and the two men get 'Chana back to the dinghy.
Sam is doing his damnedest to be very quiet, very still, and very cooperative. Sulochana is gently laid out in the dinghy for the moment it takes Eacharn to hastily pull on his breeches, then carefully gathered back into his arms. It's as he's doing so that she drifts groggily awake just enough to brush her fingers lightly over the chest of the man holding her, mumbling, "G'nna need'ja lots t'night, lover..." before she fades out again; she doesn't realize it's not Roy holding her. Eacharn blinks at that, flushing as she caresses his bare chest. He's fairly certain just what she means, and that he knows what it was Roy was hesitating over.
Once Roy is back in the small boat, he gets them out a bit from the kidnapper's boat -- then turns loose his fury at the kidnappers themselves. He's very good at what he does, even without the baton -- the river roils and rocks, swamping and dragging the wooden boat under. The Baton Rouge king growls, "An' t' hell with 'em all..."
Once the little group are back at the Proud Mary, Travis and Elijah meet them on the mostly-clear starboard side of the boat. The bodyguards help haul the blindfolded, bound Sam up onto the paddleboat, asking Roy what to do with him. The king snorts in disgust, "Ma cherie seems t' wannim alive, so chuck 'im inna room and keep an eye onnim till we get back." He then helps Eacharn get 'Chana aboard, and sends Elijah to tell Theophile they're going to need every scrap of meat the chef has left. Fortunately for everyone, Lizbet and Fantine were able to coax Mary to bed; they and the little girl are all exhaustedly asleep.
Eacharn is cradling 'Chana worriedly close to his chest; Roy holds out his arms, "Lemme have 'er. We done been through this before. Promise she'll be fine." The river horse king is reluctant, but Roy seems gravely sure of himself, so Eacharn surrenders his Lady. There are a million questions he wants to ask, but now is not the time. Sulochana groans softly as she's shifted, nuzzling groggily against the person holding her -- but that's about it; she really is tapped out. Roy kisses her hair and murmurs, "You're safe, cherie... getcha on yer feet in no time."
Eacharn follows along, still worried. "Do you need any help...?"
Roy smiles wryly, "Eacharn, buddy, you'n me're gettin' friendlier, but I ain't that friendly with ya yet. Promise she'll be fine. You go get some rest."
Eacharn takes a deep breath and forcibly reins himself in, "I'll go help watch over the prisoner she took." He touches her hair softly, then reluctantly leaves.
The king of Baton Rouge gets 'Chana into his stateroom and undressed. He starts washing off the last remaining traces of blood, humming quietly under his breath. Once the food comes, he tries to coax her awake to eat. Unfortunately the Hetaera has been extravagant in her energy use this night, and about all the reaction Roy gets to attempting to wake her is a protesting groan.
Since he can't get her awake to eat, Roy starts carefully caressing and kissing her skin, murmuring to her unconscious form in his Creole patois and pouring as much desire and love into it as he can. His body slides slowly against her, giving her as much skin contact as he can as his lips and hands move over her. Truth be told, Eacharn too could have done this for her, but Roy's possessive side has taken over. He's determined to be the one to give her the energy she needs. The Hetaera's slow, soft sighs show how much he's helping her; the fact that she's not yet awoken shows just how badly she's currently burned herself out. She'd unwittingly poured far, far more energy than usual into her command voice, so she'd be sure the pirate leader truly wanted her, more than little Mary. It worked magnificently -- probably on everyone in the room, in fact -- but now she's paying the energetic price.
Roy is relieved when 'Chana responds even that little bit and continues to lavish every ounce of desire and love on her that he can. Though the original intent was to just give her energy, having her warm and soft against him soon has the Water Tap king falling more and more into his own desires. She's long since given him permission to do this, so he doesn't worry what he's doing is unethical. He's careful to make sure she's not twisted into an uncomfortable position and he continues murmuring to her as he slides himself into her body, burying his face against her throat.
Sulochana drifts slowly awake, feeling like she's nearly swimming in the most wonderfully loving emotion. Her soft sighs gradually become dreamy murmurs of pleasure as her body responds to the attentions of her beloved, and she draws her small hands in butterfly-light caresses along his bare skin. Roy feels the last knot of tension release as her hands flutter along his back. His voice is gruff against her ear as he growls, "Welcome back, cherie..." and then he throws himself completely into the moment. The arching and rocking of bodies against one another, hungry kisses and the gasps and growls of pleasure, carry them through the next couple of hours until 'Chana finally wriggles her way out of bed to devour the food Theophile prepared -- and then she climbs right back into bed. Sunrise finds them wrapped up together in a tangle of sheets, limbs, and hair, happily sated.
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