| Logs |
2011 May 11
| Neverneverwhere |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: Taps Logs |
Stalking the Night
There's a rustling of wings overhead as the two entities move about, cleaning up the slaughter -- it wasn't really much of a fight, after all. The fluttering comes to a standstill several yards away at a boulder. Suraksha looks up alertly, palming a throwing dagger -- she's relieved she had enough time to clean up a bit and change back into clothed humanoid form before the boy arrived. She's also glad she stuck to walking on the bare rocks; there are no huge tigerprints in the snow. Chanticleer too is ready, drawing the bow back fast. After several moments of stillness a boyish voice asks, "Did you get them all?"
Suraksha whispers with amused sternness, "Little one, what are you doing here still?! Didn't I tell you to get safely home?" She slides her dagger back into its sheath, murmuring to Chanticleer, "Nuadha's nephew." Chanticleer lets out a breath, lowering the bow, still alert but relieved that it was just the boy.
The voice sounds amused in the way of teenagers everywhere explaining things to adults, "You did. But that's my home. I did get down in the trees for a while, though. Put a deadfall in their way."
Suraksha straightens and laughs softly, "That was you? Well done. Yes, the current crop of ambushers have all been dealt with. Now, do you need a lift home? Guaire may have more than one group of folks out here, after all." She glances over at Sova thoughtfully -- perhaps the boy can keep her safe until Morganna's representative arrives? "Hmm... also... would you be able to keep someone there at your caves, safe for us until someone arrived for them?"
The wings rustle again and the young flyer lands near them, folding his dark wings carefully, "I am home." He points toward the cave, "I live there." He flaps his wings lazily once, and a zephyr flits through the clearing, stirring snow.
Suraksha grins as she adds, "Do you have a name, boy?" She's still on high alert despite not considering the boy a threat, glancing around to make sure no one sneaks up on them. She knows for best results she and Chanticleer need to hide these bodies, as well as the bloody marks all over the snow. She blinks at the wind fluttering the snow, reflexively crouching a bit -- then relaxes as she realizes it's just the boy. Her eyes widen at a sudden thought, and she breathes softly, "Snow... you can manage snow, like your uncle, yes?"
The boy shakes his head, "No. I can manage the wind. That's how I did the deadfall. But snow doesn't listen to me."
Suraksha grins delightedly, "That's good too! Could you-" she hesitates, abruptly realizing she's drawing the boy into this lethal game. She's silent a moment... then shakes her head, "No. Sweetie, you need to get home safe and stay with your people." Chanticleer nods in agreement with Suraksha. This is... too, too deadly for a youth, even a fey youth. Suraksha glances at Chanticleer, "We need to search the bodies carefully, Chanti -- that'll tell us a great deal about what they expected to find. Then we need to hide the bodies away so they're not easily found. The sooner they're found, the sooner a new group will be shooting to kill at us, after all."
The boy rolls his eyes, "This. Is. My. Home." He flicks his wings again and watches them curiously as they search the bodies.
Each of the attackers has a pack with enough provisions to last three days or so, along with tools for mountain climbing and field dressing animals. Each of them also has at least one steel blade and a small bag of salt. Suraksha raises a thoughtful eyebrow at the results, murmuring softly to Chanticleer, "So... they didn't expect this to take too very long or to require them to leave the mountains... and they expected ground-bound, steel-allergic fae." She smiles slowly and unpleasantly as she adds quietly, "Excellent."
Chanticleer grimaces a little; if this is the boy's home, then that makes it a lot more difficult. But he goes over the findings with Suraksha, nodding in agreement -- albeit also discomfort. "I didn't seriously expect them to not expect a fey opponent," he says quietly. Well, at least Suraksha won't have to worry about it.
Suraksha will, with Chanti's help, do her best to hide the dead supernaturals. She stands a short while later, hands on her hips, and frowns down at the bloody splotches on the snow. "We need to cover these... and make it look natural." She sighs, "Branches?"
The flyer youth sighs dramatically and says "Step back. I'll blow some snow around to cover the blood if you want."
Suraksha raises an amused eyebrow at the boy again, then smiles, "If you can do that, it would be enormously helpful. Can you blow a bit of snow over where the bodies are stashed too?" She's already stepping back and away, preparatory to heading back to the gryphons. She adds quietly to Chanticleer, "Remember, take nothing of theirs. We don't want to unwittingly pick up a tracer of some sort." She knows Chanti's smarter than to do that... but this way she'll have subtly warned the boy too. She grins and winks at the sidhe when the boy's back is to her.
The young flyer hops up onto a nearby boulder and spreads his wings, slowly flapping them. Wind begins whispering through the area, first barely stirring the snow and then whipping it around to obscure the bloodstains. It takes him a little more effort to get snow over the bodies, and it gets in Chanti and Suraksha's eyes as he does. Suraksha turns her back, sheltering her eyes -- she needs to protect her vision. Chanticleer nods to Suraksha, then blinks, and quickly half-shields his eyes as the snow whips up. The boy is puffing a bit, but grinning widely with pride as he wings over to them when he's done, "You're going to follow Uncle?"
Suraksha nods silently, then adds quietly, "Boy, this may indeed be your home, but for your safety I pray you'll listen: do no more favors for anyone for the next month, or until you hear this bet is concluded. Stay out of this. Your uncle will not be happy if he finds out you got crippled or killed in trying to help him. Do you understand? You did very, very well here, and made things easier... but we want you to stay alive and hale."
The youth says, "My name is Lloyd." He pushes his chest out proudly at the praise, "I'm fast. No one's likely to find me." The boy has obviously forgotten they found him.
Chanticleer's silent answer is, [Well, best to be on the safe side and hide for a whole month, now, isn't it?] But he doesn't say that. He'll let Suraksha put it with more politesse. Suraksha gives the boy an amused glance, "Mmhmmm. Well, if you insist on helping... then can you help us by guarding Sova until Morganna's people arrive for her?" She waves a hand, "She's the woman you were untying when I caught you. Guaire will want her dead as soon as he discovers this." She figures if she cannot convince the boy to be cautious, perhaps she can at least give him a job that will require him to stay out of sight... for at least a bit. She's not above subtly reminding the boy he's been caught once today already, too.
Chanticleer remains alert as Suraksha speaks to the b- Lloyd. [Lloyd? what a curious name for a fey!] He's watchful for any other approaching enemies -- or approaching anyone for that matter. Lloyd's chest puffs out even more as he's given a job, "How will I know it's Morganna's people and not Guaire's, then?"
Suraksha looks up, pointing, "See the ravens? Morganna's people will have a raven. Come, I'll get Sova for you." She turns, heading for the gryphons, and adds over her shoulder, "Can you keep her warm? Also, don't let her go, no matter what. She won't be safe out here."
Lloyd is obviously on the edge of crowing, having been handed an adult's job to do. "Of course! I'll make sure she's kept safe as houses. Are you taking all three of the gryphons?"
Suraksha frowns thoughtfully... then shakes her head, "Not if you can also manage a gryphon -- she'll need a ride safe back to the palace, after all." She studies the boy thoughtfully, "Can you handle that too? Will your family allow a gryphon and a stranger into the caves?"
Lloyd nods, hair flopping carelessly into his face, "I'm sure they will. To make sure we're taking care of Uncle, they'll do a lot." Suraksha pauses at that, studying the boy's chakras -- that's directly contradictory to what Sova said! Could the chameleon-fae have lied to them... or simply not known? They boy isn't exactly lying, but he may be exaggerating the truth a bit to impress them: "I'm pretty sure I can handle the gryphon long enough to get it safe inside." He is, unsurprisingly, very much connected with the air and not very grounded. Whether that's his flyer nature or his status as an adolescent is hard to tell.
Suraksha nods in relief -- that should be enough to keep Sova safe until people arrive to take her safely home. "All right, come on then!" She heads up the mountainside to the gryphons, checking they're well and ready to go. As she does so she murmurs to Chanticleer, "We'll see Lloyd to the cave, then take off after Nuadha, all right?"
Chanticleer nods to Suraksha. "Sounds like a good plan, yes," he murmurs.
Sura puts the still-bound Sova on Horus' back, patting the woman's leg, "Sova, Lloyd here is going to take you to the caves and guard you until Morganna's people arrive for you. Please trust him, stay quiet and safe, all right?"
Sova has been limp, though conscious, for the past bit. She nods exhaustedly and says, "I will do my best. My Lady will likely not have much mercy for me, but I was a traitor to her."
Suraksha says quietly and firmly, "You did not betray her, Sova. When push came to shove, it was she who did not adequately protect her people from Guaire... and you told us of the ambush well before it happened. Remember that." She looks at Lloyd and says quietly, "Did you hear that? Will you tell that, exactly that, to the people who come for Sova? It was due to Sova that we were able to completely take out the first wave of Guaire's attackers." She adds to the raven on Chanticleer's shoulder, "I would like all of you to remember that too, should Morganna wish verification."
Sova nods, still seeming rather despondent, "It may take them some time to come after me." Lloyd has crept up, watching them get Sova settled across the gryphon's back. He nods, "I'll remember that."
Suraksha nods in approval to the boy, handing him the reins before she swings up onto Triumph. "Good job, Lloyd. Let's see you and Sova to the cave -- then we'll take off before dawn after your uncle." Chanticleer nods resolutely to Suraksha.
The cave entrance seems plain and shallow, but Lloyd easily disappears behind a cleverly hidden wall in the back, leading the gryphon and the sidhe woman with him. He's talking quietly to Sova as he goes on, assuring her that they'll be fine as his voice fades with distance.
Suraksha sighs in relief, calling a quiet goodbye to them -- then she turns to Chanticleer and nods a bit grimly, "Off we go. Things will likely get more dangerous from here, old friend... we must remain on high alert."
Chanticleer nods to Suraksha, smiling a little tightly. "Dangerous, maybe; but we've been through more difficult -- if not more lethal."
Suraksha smiles at Chanticleer, grateful for the reassurance. She rides Triumph off and out of the cave, ducking down low over his withers as he leaps into the air, huge wings beating ponderously. The gryphons both screech as they launch themselves into the air but are quiet thereafter. Suraksha aims them in roughly the direction in which Nuadha was last seen heading, scanning slowly and carefully back and forth for any sign. She didn't want to talk about this before the boy, but due to how long the ambush took, she and Chanticleer are in desperate need of some sign or clue if they are to find Nuadha again. She keeps the gryphons just above tree level; it'll be harder for those on the ground to spot them that way. Also, it means they themselves can keep an eye out for any high flyers.
They have an idea of the direction in which Nuadha set out when the mara began its hunt, so they head in that direction. Perhaps it's Chanti's nervousness about being involved with the Courts again that causes him to miss the first sign they have that Nuadha has veered off the track, but Suraksha catches it and steers them correctly. With his mind thus back on track, the sidhe is equally keen-eyed -- and they both catch sight of some unnatural-seeming snow-drifts below them. It looks as if someone built themselves a bit of a fortification, but judging by the state of some of the drifts, it didn't last long. After that, there are footprints leading into the tree cover nearby.
Suraksha heads them down to the ground, landing in a nearby clearing. She pulls her backpack of equipment from the saddlebags, then ties up all the tack so nothing is swinging loosely -- that way, should the gryphons need to defend themselves, or head home, they can do so easily. She quietly whispers to Triumph, asking the two gryphons to wait for them, hidden just under the treeline. While Chanticleer gets similarly ready she nods once to him, then slips from her clothing and wraps it neatly up into the backpack -- as long as Nuadha stays on the ground it will be her nose which is important for tracking him. The two of them have worked together often enough that she knows she doesn't need to coordinate with the sidhe; he'll be her cover as she tracks, and if she can actually get her paws on the mara the sidhe will try to plant a salt circle around them both.
The trail is uneven. There are places which look like Nuadha was running quite fleetly, the strides long and the footprints light as if he were perhaps using his wings to augment them. Once or twice the tigress finds sign that the flyer stumbled and hit the ground on all fours, even crawling some distance the second time he went down. Chanticleer murmurs, "Why is Nuadha crawling? That seems... unusual for a winged fae..." Suraksha's only reply is a worried chuff -- she doesn't know, but she can imagine the mara taunting him so. For one stretch it looks like Nuadha crept -- possibly literally tiptoed -- from tree to tree. Suraksha sighs softly, worried for the poor entity, but continues tracking carefully. The closer they get to him, the more likely they are to find the mara, after all. Even if they cannot aid the flyer directly... pulling the mara's attention away from Nuadha will help.
They come to a clearing in the woods which Nuadha seems to have stumbled forward into. There are more drifts of snow circled around like a barricade again, and the ground in the middle of the area is swept nearly completely clean of snow. There are obvious signs of a struggle, but no blood. If the mara caught Nuadha here, they're both gone now. Suraksha glances around worriedly, but simply continues determinedly tracking. She trusts Chanti to keep potential attackers off her back. Chanticleer keeps alert for anything unusual while Suraksha tracks. He trusts her to look for signs of Nuadha or any unusual tracks; he'll watch for other signs of possible attackers.
The wood is unusually quiet. Not only are there no night birds, there are no insects singing or underbrush rustlings, aside from those made by the ravens who are following them as they track. There's no trail leading out of the clearing on the ground. From what they can see in the snow, it does look like Nuadha took back to the sky here. By now, the sun is beginning to come up. Suraksha growls a bit frustratedly -- they really need to find Nuadha and stand guard during the day. She glances back at Chanticleer, rumbling, "Ge'dh gryphonz here fas' -- he flew. I search more." Chanticleer nods and goes to retrieve the gryphons as quickly as he can. Sura paces slowly through the underbrush, circling around the clearing and continuing to search for any other tracks, clues, or markings, as she waits for Chanticleer to return.
There is ample evidence something besides them has been snuffling around the clearing; if they're behind Nuadha, it's a good chance the mara is as well. Suraksha carefully memorizes that scent. She doesn't think it's the mara, since she doubts anyone else would dare tangle with the flyer to cause the signs of struggle in the center of the clearing -- few are foolish enough to mess with a fae bet -- which means the mara already knows where Nuadha is. However... this third party might be willing to tangle with anyone sent by Morganna.
The scent Suraksha picks up seems to be mostly mammalian, though there's something musty and reptilian about it from time to time. There are no real tracks going out of the clearing, however, so whatever it is isn't completely ground-bound. There are, however, signs around that something has been up in the trees. Suraksha hmms quietly to herself, then more carefully circles the trees around the clearing. With her size she can easily rear up to 15 feet, so she checks for scent there as well. The new scent seems to have gone tree-borne to leave the clearing and it's heading roughly in-line with the tracks that lead into the area. There are clouds in the pre-dawn sky, making it seem darker than it is. Suraksha wonders thoughtfully what this thing might be... a cockatrice perhaps? But why would it track these two?
Chanticleer returns in time, with the gryphons following along behind him; they're all quite alert and eager to be in the sky again. Suraksha shifts swiftly back into humanoid shape, and after lining up on the tracks, the little group takes once more to the skies. Sura updates everyone on what to look for once they're in flight -- gryphons and ravens as well as Chanticleer -- then has the gryphons fly as slowly as they can while the others all scans the surrounding area as thoroughly and intricately as they can. The tiger-woman is quite anxious to at least locate the flyer before dawn -- and if possible the mara too, although she'll settle for just standing guard near Nuadha during the day.
Perhaps it's the strain of so much tracking, or maybe it's simply because they've had a full night, but Suraksha has a hard time picking up any signs of where Nuadha or the mara might have gone. Chanticleer isn't having a lot more luck at first, but then he looks up and notices an odd pattern to the clouds: there's a band of thick, dark clouds -- like the ones that bring snow -- moving among the other clouds. It looks like simple shadows at first, but then he realizes he's seeing Nuadha's trail and cover. Chanticleer frowns a little, then grins softly. He points out the clouds to Suraksha. "Hopefully," he says quietly, "his other pursuers won't notice that." He follows the clouds along with Suraksha.
Suraksha brightens in relief, "Fantastic, Chanti! Lead the way, dear." She keeps an alert eye out for potential attackers while the sidhe is concentrating on following the cloudy trail.
As night becomes a dreary, cloud-covered day, they are able to see where Nuadha landed. Where he made barricades of snowdrifts before, he seems to have made an enormous wall of snow here. There are a couple of places that look like someone might have burrowed into it. Chanticleer blinks at the snow wall. "He's not exactly being subtle, is he?" he comments.
Suraksha nods quietly, "Excellent. No, he's not -- which is why I suspect he's not there. But unless Guaire's people are very clever, they'll assume he's here, and camp here to keep an eye on him. Let's land in a nearby clearing, and then I'll try tracking to see if he floated away a short ways and is sleeping in a tree or something nearby." She frowns, musing aloud, "We'll need to eat and sleep too, although I suspect alternating watches would be good. I don't recall, though: what did Sova say the mara would do during daytime?"
Chanticleer arches a brow. "I didn't get the impression he's not quite that clever... then again, if he caught Morganna's eye... still, I'd rather not overestimate him. But you're right, let's see if he's around here."
Suraksha smiles over her shoulder at Chanticleer as they land, "If I'm wrong and he is here, scent will tell us that as well, dear."
Shortly thereafter the big tiger is slowly and methodically scouting around the clearing, checking to be sure the flyer is either there, or trying to discern where he slipped off to. Hopping silently from tree to tree above her, a raven keeps overwatch for her. Nearby, Chanticleer sets up camp, starts hot food for the two of them, and feeds the hungry gryphons and watchravens with him.
Nuadha is not actually in the snowbank, though he's done a good job of making it look like he is. Instead, Suraksha and the watchraven find him some distance off to the side, having made what looks like a very uncomfortable bed in the crotch of a nearby tree. Suraksha sighs softly, feeling sorry for the flyer. She'll whisper a request to her raven to first come get food with her, then go with a companion to keep a discreet eye on Nuadha through the day, please? She doesn't want to go close enough to either give away the exhausted flyer's location, or awaken him. Having two ravens there, too, means one can continue keeping watch if the other needs to fly back to call for help.
The raven clicks its beak a couple of times, then flits down to land on Suraksha's head for the walk back to camp. She pads off to their camp and offers to take first watch, since she's already in tiger form. She sprawls out next to the tiny fire, still in tiger form and with the raven sitting between her ears, "Feed ray'fhen, please? He'll wa'dh'ch flyer." The big black bird hops off the tiger's head and waddles over to where the other birds are eating. They're lovely and graceful in the air, but rather comical on the ground.
Chanticleer nods, and makes sure the ravens are fed -- enough, but not that they' re gorged. He huhs softly at Sura's update. "I guess he is being rather more canny than I thought he would be. That's a good thing, on the one hand. On the other, it makes it harder for us to find him."
Suraksha grins at Chanticleer, "We wan'dh mara, no'dh him!" She shifts to humanoid form, eats, then curls up to sleep. Chanticleer remains on alert throughout most of the day, letting Suraksha rest -- she needs to rebuild her energy, he knows, after being in her tiger form. He makes sure their camp is discreet and well-hidden, and keeps alert for any of the ravens spotting something or being startled.
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