forum Battledrum Hills (Closed, Stalkers More Than Welcome)
Started by @Young-Dusty-the-Monarch-of-Dusteria group
tune

people_alt 49 followers

@Oakiin

Boss grimaced. "Yeah, those. Anyways, I uhh….could have them help us? Maybe?" He looked back and forth between the other two, taking in Bee's increasingly wary expression and sighing.
"Great, welp, now I really do seem crazy."
Maybe because you are, whispered Nick, ever gleeful to see him in an uncomfortable position.
"Actually," Bee said with an award-winning fake-smile, "I think I'm okay. I'll just take my chances with the people chasing me." At least she knew they were sane.

@Young-Dusty-the-Monarch-of-Dusteria group

"Hey, listen," Indy said. "I'll vouch for Boss, aright? You're leg is shot, girl, you can't hope to make it anywhere now." She glanced at her companion. "What exactly do you think your voices might be able to do, bro? You've yet to explain to me how you weaponize something like that."

@Oakiin

"When you say weaponize," he said sheepishly. "I think it's more…defensive. But anyway, one thing I've done in the past is cloak my movements and I haven't been able to be tracked. We can always try it, right?"
Bee looked very much like she wanted to be elsewhere, but at the same time seemed too defeated to try to escape her new potentially crazy companions.
Who knows, she thought, leaning against a tree to take the weight even more off her leg. They might prove useful.
She could certainly use the help. If she was going to have a hope of staying ahead of him, she needed every advantage she could get. She looked back the way she'd come, imagining the soldiers pouring over the landscape, and a sudden urgency gripped her. They were wasting time, and with every second, the enemy grew closer.
"Well, if you're gonna do something, do it," she snapped. "And let's get going."

@Oakiin

"Okay, wish me luck, ladies," he said, before turning his attention to Nick, who was silent for once.
"Okay, dude," Boss muttered once Bee and Indy were out of earshot. "Time for you to be useful. And I mean it. I can't tell for sure, but that's definitely your dubious silence, so I'm assuming you're not into this."
Of course not, Nick complained. It's against my entire job description as a, you know, DEMON.
"If you don't I'm diving down this ravine," Boss threatened. Nick only laughed at that.
Yeah, scary threat. Worst case, you break a leg, and you'd just be stuck there with only me for company. But look, I'll do it. But only because I'm supposed to keep you alive and Satan knows if those people chasing you wouldn't just do away with you if I, your hero, did nothing.
"Aww, thanks," Boss said sarcastically. "So are we all good?"
As of right now, yessir. You're cloaked in a hidden shadow of demonic energy.
"Great," Boss said, and started jogging to catch up with the others.

@Oakiin

"Yeah," he said a bit breathlessly. "We're all good. They set up a shield around us."
"How?" asked Bee flatly. She didn't believe any of this for even a second. She just knew that she was doomed to some horrible fate, and there wasn't much to be done about it. Nothing she could think of was at all feasible.

@Young-Dusty-the-Monarch-of-Dusteria group

"Uhhh….some kinda magic," Indy said, essentially taking a stab in the dark. She'd never really inquired about the extant of Boss's abilities, being the type of person who preferred not to accidentally stir up sensitive topics among friends. "Right Boss? I admit, I never asked."

@Oakiin

"Long story short, demons," Boss said. "Like actual demons from actual Hell. They are, in fact, real, though no one's happy about it."
"I'm going to need some proof," Bee said suspiciously. Boss shrugged.
"Proof's in the pie. They won't be tracking us anymore, so we can start to turn around right now, if you'd like."

@Oakiin

"We'll see their campfires when we stop for the night, I guarantee it," Bee growled, staunchly struggling forward. "They've been right on my butt since the beginning. I'm barely keeping any lead."

@Oakiin

"Okay, yeah, sure," he said. "I mean, as long as they don't see us, we're all good."
"Then let's go," Bee said impatiently. "We're only losing time standing here."

@Young-Dusty-the-Monarch-of-Dusteria group

~~~
General Gabriel Arc, commander of Bankport city's First Legion and Chief Military Advisor of the Western Region, stood at the edge of the hill and studied the landscape with a furrowed brow. He was tired, and his men were tired, and all of them were dusty and hungry and tired of their mission–but still it had to be completed. If they didn't find the fugitive criminal leader and bring her to Bankport City for trial, there would be consequences. And who knew what kind of chaos said criminal would spread if she remained free.
Gabriel sighed, spotting the scouting party on its way back to camp. He hailed the lead tracker and beckoned, hoping for a more conclusive report than usual.

@Oakiin

The tracker looked even less enthusiastic than usual, trudging her way up the hill to stand next to him and tossing a metal contraption down at his feet.

@Oakiin

"Bear trap," she answered shortly. "The trail lead right to it. She's probably walking on a broken leg now, if at all."

@Oakiin

the tracker grimaced.
"Well, about that," she said. "It lead there, and then…stops. There's no sign she ever left, but she sure as heck ain't there any more. We…lost her."
The tracker really, really didn't like to be the one to give the news that after several months of carefully planned tailing, trying to exhaust their prey until they could strike with ease, they'd lost track of her in the middle of the country, on perfectly trackable terrain.

@Oakiin

The tracker shifted uncomfortably, but didn't move. "Sir, there is no trail," she said evenly. "If there was even the slightest blade of grass out of place, I would know it. She either wasn't there at all, or vanished. I'm sorry, but there's nothing the tracking team can do. If you want my recommendation, Sir, you know her best. If you think you know what her next move might be, you should prepare accordingly."

@Young-Dusty-the-Monarch-of-Dusteria group

Gabriel remained silent for a minute, his mouth a tight, angry line. After a moment, he nodded shortly. "Fine. you're dismissed. I'll think it over and make a decision in the morning. Have the sentries on double-watch tonight just in case, and I want you up at dawn as usual in case I need you."

@Oakiin

"Yes, Sir," she said, saluting and retreating quickly back down the hill. After only a few moment, another woman came to stand in her place.
"I heard what happened," Michael said, her tone only expressing mild interest. "Do you have a plan?"

@Young-Dusty-the-Monarch-of-Dusteria group

Gabriel gave her a vague, annoyed wave of his hand. "She can't have gotten far. She's a cunning one, yes, but we knew that already, and we have her literally on her last leg. We just have to be patient and steadfast. Sooner or later, she'll make a mistake. That's when we strike."
He spoke using his Speech Voice to distract from the truth–that he did not, in fact, have a concrete plan. But that could be figured out later. Right now, he just wanted to sleep.
"Leave it to me," he said with a stiff smile. "I'll keep you posted."

@Oakiin

Michael raised her eyebrow sceptically.
"As your sister, I'll be kind enough to pretend to believe you," she said dryly. "But you said it yourself. She's cunning. If we're not careful, she's be around us and we'll be carrying on this merry chase back the way we came. I suggest we spread out our troops, make a wall of sorts. Something she'll struggle to slip past. The sooner the better too. If we were this close to her, she might be already escaping." She shrugged. "But it's up to you of course, dear general."