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Realms: Taps Logs

I Fear Rivers Overflowing

Chanticleer catches up to Sulochana and Alg outside of the camp. "The king isn't coming?" he asks, sounding surprised.

Suraksha grins cheerfully, "Nope! Pierce caught him just in time!" She lithely scrambles up onto Chevrefoil's rump, calling a polite, "Thank you for the lift, Chevre!" then pats Chanticleer's back, "Okay, just follow Alg! He's had time to sniff around here and get the half-ogre's scent. As soon as we're out far enough to be thoroughly out of sight of the men back there I can shift, too."

Chanticleer nods and tugs a little on the reins to have Chevrefoil follow Alg. "All right," he says. "Mami Chat is wounded or dead? Or we don't know?

Suraksha shakes her head, "Don't know yet, dear. But if we stay hot on the half-ogre's trail, he won't have time to either set traps for us, or to do something to reanimate her." She adds dryly, "Honestly, most things with a flaming crossbow quarrel in their throat die... but I'm not assuming here."

Chanticleer grimaces and nods, "We'd like to think that, at least." He hopes Alg can pick up on the trail fast; he's all set to let Chevrefoil go as fast as possible. Alg is cackling away, scampering happily through the swamp. He seems utterly in his element here, and soon has the fairly obvious trail: broken branches and splashes of blood mark the passage of the half-ogre.

Suraksha adds quietly to Chanticleer, "Chevrefoil can see in the dark, as a fey thing, yes?" She pulls out her small crossbow and readies it, in case they come unexpectedly upon the half-ogre.

Chanticleer says, "More or less. He can see well in normal darkness. But I'd not be surprised if we get unnatural darkness."

Suraksha shakes her head and grins, "I bet we don't get it -- that's Mami Chat's purview, and as soon as you knocked her down the false shadows fled!" She doesn't quite bounce excitedly on the bounding stag's back, "If we can be sure Mami Chat and the half-ogre are no longer a threat, then we can go check and be sure your friend is fine, Chanti!"

Alg loses the trail when they come to a muddy and roiling stream. The water is moving much more quickly than the rest of the puddles and streamlets they've encountered in the swamp. As he's snuffling about, looking for some sign of which way to go, Chevre bugles and dances back from the suddenly-collapsing bank of the stream. Chanticleer tries hurriedly to get Chevrefoil calmed, and at the same time away from the bank. "I don't think that's natural," he murmurs.

Suraksha looks a bit concerned, nodding, "Yeah, let's... be careful here." She calls to Alg, "Are we right on top of the half-ogre, or do I have time to- holy snakes!" All around them the earth is becoming a quagmire with unsettling speed. One moment they are standing upon firm ground; the next, everyone standing is knee-deep or further in oozing, swamp-scented mud. She hastily shrugs out of her top and shoves it and the crossbow into her bag, calling to the goblin -- as the smallest entity there, "Alg, can you grab a branch and get up into the trees? Chanti, get us out of here, please!"

Chanticleer takes in a sharp breath. "He'll have a better chance if we're not on him," he says, hurriedly trying to get Chevrefoil to get away and out of the mud quagmire!

Suraksha laughs and slides backwards off the stag's rump, "Working on it!" As she hits the water and starts to sink, she shifts shape... and a moment later she's a huge and muddy tiger instead of a tiny and muddy woman. She rowls, "Algh, riidh!" and glances back to make sure Alg is safe as she starts slogging towards safety. Chanticleer plans on getting off of Chevrefoil as soon as he's out of the quagmire, hoping to land on his feet with his sword drawn, to cut down the tentacles and find where they're all coming from.

Alg is squawking and snarling as he grabs at what seemed to be a handful of vines, only to find himself tangled up in writhing, snakelike tentacles of Spanish moss. The same tentacles are slithering blindly through the quick-mud, giving it an unsettling living appearance. Suraksha pauses at the squawk, glancing over her shoulder -- then the big tiger's jaw drops in her equivalent of a grin, and she turns and heads determinedly for the goblin. She trots through the messy water, splashing up a huge spray as she forces her way through mud to the goblin. She'll reach out and gently grab him in her jaws to make sure he doesn't get swept away. She waits for him to grab hold on her fur so she can release and he can swing up onto her back.

The goblin screeches and tears at the long strands of moss, thrashing desperately as it tangles more intensely around him. In the soupy mud, more strands are wrapping around Suraksha's legs -- and trying to trap the legs of the swift stag, missing only by inches as he bounds to the edge of the mire. Suraksha turns, her head high to keep Alg above the water, and with sheer muscle power she'll start dragging him and herself away from the area. As a tiger weighing over half a ton, she can bring a lot of muscle to bear! Once she's free she'll slash with her claws to get Alg free as well.

Had anyone been less swift or less strong, they would now be hopelessly entangled. As it is, they're safe on opposite edges of the quagmire with a mass of squirming moss between them. Suraksha gently sets Alg down, carefully pulling the last of the moss from him. She sniffs worriedly at him to see if he's all right. Alg is spitting goblinish curses at the moss, interspersed with, "Bad plant! Bad, bad plant!"

Suraksha whews softly, running her tongue in a few quick, affectionate licks over the aggravated goblin's head. She chuffs a quiet laugh, then glances over to Chanticleer and calls, "Here!" She adds to Alg, reminding him of what they're tracking, "Smell?"

Chanticleer can't quite seem to find a central part to the tentacles, and then he realizes it's Spanish moss. Oddly animate Spanish moss, but still Spanish moss. He starts to hack at the nearer tentacles, making his way to Suraksha. The big tiger blinks at Chanticleer in amazement, then calls, "Ch'yump!" Chanticleer goes to retrieve Chevrefoil, mounting the stag and having him make a quick, running-soaring leap over the writhing fronds. Suraksha grins and chuffs, "Ghoo'!" then looks to Alg hopefully, "Smell?" She starts sniffing around carefully herself as well, trying to help the goblin.

Chevre's heels come down just on the edge of the mire; the stag stumbles on the verge of falling for a split-second before getting safe footing again. Alg is too agitated to pick the scent back up; he's prowling angrily just out of the reach of the muddy tentacles of moss. The smell of the half-ogre is more than half-submerged in the green-growing-rotting smell of the swamp, but Suraksha manages to pick it up. It's across the bog.

Suraksha gives a short, chuffing roar of triumph, "Goh'd 'im!" and heads at a swift pace on after the half-ogre. Then she sighs exasperatedly as she realizes the ogre doubled back across the boggy Spanish moss. She calls, "Algh, riidh!" as she takes a few steps back. She wants a running approach to the moss, to try and leap as far as she can before she has to claw the rest of her way through it.

Chanticleer grimaces. "Too smart for his own good," he murmurs, as he follows Suraksha across the bog again.

Suraksha takes off at a gallop for the moss once Alg is on her back and has a firm grip on her fur. Unfortunately the bank gives way slightly under her as she takes off, and her leap does not get as far as she'd wished. She lands with a mighty splash! Alg screeches as they miss the bank, and leaps blindly. This time the moss behaves itself; he ends up high in the branches of a cypress tree, dry and safe off the ground. The big tiger is spitting and swearing by the time she fights her way to the far bank, with shreds of Spanish moss draping her like a particularly ambulatory tree!

By the time Suraksha makes it across she's one bedraggled and muddy cat, but she's safe. The moss seems to have gone inert, whatever animated it having fled. Suraksha hmfs aggravatedly at the now-quiescent moss, and shakes out one large paw at a time, then her entire body from nose to tail-tip, fastidiously getting all the Spanish moss off herself. After that she goes back to following the half-ogre's trail, growling grumpily under her breath. Chevrefoil and Chanticleer are somewhere in the middle of that arc of muddiness, but they're all together now and all pointed in the right direction.

The half-ogre's trail doubles back for a bit and then breaks off to go in a different direction. They soon find themselves looking across another bog at a rambling, shack-like house. Chanticleer frowns. "This could be the place," he murmurs. "But they're sure to have prepared..."

Suraksha growls in quiet agreement where she crouches in sheltering underbrush. She's not happy about this, but she's also not willing to leave quite so dangerous a foe alive and angry. She rumbles quietly, "Gh'over me," then starts slinking slowly and carefully forward, stalking her prey. The house is dark and could have been the exact thing they had in mind when they invented the word "ramshackle." It looks like it started life as one small building, but now it wanders and branches like the streams in the swamp, rooms splitting off and becoming whole wings. There is a scent about it of long-dead meat; of green, growing things -- and of blood. From somewhere there is a wailing, a mournful and angry sound.

Chanticleer grimaces, the smell being unpleasant to his nostrils as he slips from Chevrefoil's back. This close he doesn't dare speak, instead hefting the crossbow, looking to Suraksha and holding the weapon at the ready. Suraksha waits until Chanticleer is in place to be able to stay back and cover her, but still follow so he can continue watching her... then she starts heading for the sound of the wailing. She figures they'll find the half-ogre there.

The wailing leads them around the house to a sort of courtyard. It has been build out over the swamp -- parts of it floating on barrels roped together, part of it on poles sunk into the swamp. There is something that is unmistakably an altar, and the half-ogre stands over this, wailing his dirge and arranging the body of the tiny old woman. Suraksha pauses, watching thoughtfully. If the half-ogre appears to be simply preparing the body for internment, she doesn't really want to interrupt. An altar, though... she sighs unhappily, then glances over her shoulder at Chanticleer. She tilts her head sharply, indicating he should shoot the ogre.

Chanticleer chews his lip, then nods, raising his crossbow and aiming carefully. He too would rather not... but he has no idea what the ogre is going to do with the bokor's body. Suraksha is already slinking swiftly and silently towards the ogre, heavy body low to the ground -- she intends to pounce on him and finish him off quickly. The bolt flies fast, straight and true, taking not-George just to the left of his spine. There's a gurgle and gasp as he sinks to his knees, then collapses to his side. Around them all, the house is beginning to creak and sway. Chanticleer lets out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, then quickly reloads the crossbow, standing to cover Suraksha's approach.

Suraksha breaks into a gallop once the quarrel strikes, rushing to the ogre's side. She doesn't want him to suffer -- and she wants to be absolutely sure Mami Chat is dead! She intends to burn the bodies, if she can. Not-George is still alive, by the barest of threads. Mami Chat too is breathing, but only with great effort.

Suraksha sighs unhappily -- she really doesn't like killing like this. She studies the half-ogre, then raises a paw... then pauses. If she could just talk... no. No, she tried talking before. To talk to them now would be just a form of blackmail: "we'll let you live only if you do what we want." She sighs again, growling a small prayer for both their souls. Chanticleer comes up closer, his crossbow at the ready. He looks around, wondering if any more of the bokor's creatures will come out of hiding, or if this really is the final chapter of a story that's gone on for more than a year.

Unhappily, Suraksha cannot think of a single way to truly befriend at this point, especially when Mami Chat has proclaimed her unwavering dedication to Roy's death! The big tiger takes a deep breath, then slaps her paw down sharply to swiftly break the half-ogre's neck... then she turns and does the same for the terribly wounded old woman. She's careful neither body is knocked into the water as she does so -- it's important to make sure both bodies are truly dead and burnt in cleansing fire, she suspects. Just before her blow lands on Mami Chat, the old woman whispers, "Thank... you..."

Suraksha blinks... then relaxes a bit. That makes her feel somewhat better, oddly enough. She's not sure what might have been driving the old woman, but Sura's trusting it was a thank-you for permanent soul-release... rather than a thank-you because, say, the big tiger has just allowed a malicious spirit to go roaming free! She gives a wryly amused chuff at herself, then pulls both bodies into one pile. She looks around to Chanti, "Burn now."

Chanticleer nods somberly and carefully sets brush and tinder as appropriate, ensuring the two bodies will be completely consumed along with the altar. Then, from a distance away, he lobs a torch into the pile. Suraksha stands next to the sidhe and yowls a slow, chanting prayer for them both as the fire mounts. She will wait until the bodies are burning well and thoroughly before she sneezes at the unwholesome smell, turns to Chanti, and rumbles, "'Hank 'oo."

Chanticleer nods quietly to Suraksha, not entirely trusting himself to speak at the moment. Alg is also strangely quiet. He creeps close to Sura and puts one paw-like hand on her shoulder. Suraksha settles slowly down until she's reclining like a sphinx. She gently scoops Alg around so he's seated between her front paws and under her chin, then simply waits patiently for another hour or so, crooning a slow, quiet ballad as she waits. After a moment Chanticleer sits beside Suraksha as well, letting her have her time before they should return to the king's encampment. Roy can wait a bit.

Once the fire has died down somewhat, and the big tiger is sure both bodies are mostly ash, Suraksha rises to her feet and rumbles quietly, "We g'ho now. See Roy is ghoodh."

The trip back to the encampment is much less eventful than the trip from it had been. The swamp feels less dangerous; less fraught. It's like the whole of it has just taken the first deep breath, after a long time with no air.

Suraksha makes sure, before they come anywhere near the encamped men, that she rinses off the worst of the mud, shifts shape, and pulls on her tunic once more. After that she'll hop up behind Chanticleer again as they follow Alg back to Roy's camp. She knows the guards are likely twitchy still, so she makes sure she's singing as they come within earshot -- a cheerfully teasing rendition once more:

"Don't go out tonight!
Well, it's bound to take your life!
There's a bad moon on the rise!"

She exclaims in sudden, amused dismay as they reach the guards, "Oh, foo! How are we going to prove we are who we are, Chanti?"

One of the guards is John; he relaxes visibly, "I'm guessing, from the fact you lot are alive, that the fire was a good thing?"

Chanticleer says cheerfully to Suraksha, "I'm sure Roy or Pierce will come up with something suitably embarrassing from our past." He nods to John. "Aye, 'twas. Mami Chat won't be bedeviling King Roy any more."

Suraksha giggles at Chanti's comment about their pasts, then smiles and waves, leaning to see past the slender sidhe, "Hey there, John! Yes, that was the funeral pyre for them both. We said prayers over them." Glancing further into camp, she adds, "Where is he- er, they? I figured the song would call them?"

John says, "You'll have to go on in to see them. I think Roy might actually be asleep... or pretending to be."

Suraksha bounces lightly off Chevrefoil's rump and darts cheerfully over the line of salt, between the guards, "Oh, excellent! Er, wait..." she pauses, looking down at the buckets next to the guards, and inquires hopefully, "Is that holy water, or can I use it to rinse off the worst of the mud?"

John says, "Holy water. You'll have to go in for water, too."

Suraksha gives John a puzzled look, "Go into what?"

John grins and motions the others across the line, "Into the camp. Pierce is at Roy's tent with Roy. Like I said, the king might actually be asleep."

Suraksha grins and waves to the guards, "Excellent! Thanks; back in a bit!" She adds to Alg and Chanti, "I think we're good now, and can relax... I suspect Roy's going to send some of the men on to check on Carrefour, but I also bet Pierce is going to practically drag Roy back to Baton Rouge right away!" She giggles, then takes a moment to hug Alg, Chevre's head, and Chanti to say thanks to them all... then she nearly skips off to Roy's tent, peeking inside and stage-whispering, "Hello? Can I come in?"

Chanticleer hugs Suraksha back, then makes sure Chevrefoil is taken care of first -- the stag has oats and some honeysuckle, has all the mud groomed out of his coat, and his cloven hooves checked. Then, for his own part, the tired sidhe looks for a place where he can nap for a few hours.

In Roy's tent, Pierce is up and scratching down something in a thick book. He looks up as Sura whispers, and motions her in. Roy is indeed in bed and shows every evidence of being asleep. Suraksha beams at Pierce as she tiptoes in, whispering, "Hi! All good now." She shucks off her tunic -- Pierce is a doctor, and may even have already seen her nude, for all she knows -- and rinses off the mud a bit before she sneaks carefully into the cot with Roy.

Roy shifts in his sleep and turns over, wrapping an arm over her. He mumbles something sleepy and vaguely inquisitive sounding, and pulls her closer. Pierce smiles and murmurs, "I believe I'll take a short walk."

Suraksha grins blearily at Pierce, whispering, "No need... kinda tired m'self." She's been up for nearly 48 hours now, after all. She nuzzles up against Roy, slipping easily into sleep herself as well.

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Last modified: 2010-Aug-28 20:29:49

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