forum I summon thee @Young-Dusty

Started May 08, 2019 by @amber_is_in_a_loop

tune

Slash scowled petulantly. "Okay, when did you fight three Deorns? And why?"

Jessie wrinkled her nose, thinking. "It was… 2 years, 6 months, 17 days and 4 hours ago. I did as part of a training, where I was put outside in the wilderness for 3 days and told to survive by any means possible. It was fun!" she finished excitedly.
Ahead of her, Charlotte was able to remember the exact moment where they'd kicked out Jessie as a frail little 12 year old, how terrified Jessie had looked and how guilty Charlotte had felt. Axel had been the one to lock the gates with Jessie outside of them.

(If that's the case, tbh, then unless the Deorns were rabid/crazy/artificially provoked to aggression, they would have never attacked Jessie in the first place. No Deorn of any age, gender, or upbringing will hurt a kid, even a human one. However, a lot of military Deorns were in fact driven to insanity or blind aggression due to the 'training' they received, so it could have been a band of human-hating killing-machines that attacked Jessie, if you want XD )
Slash looked doubtful. "Huh…..so how did you win the fight?" He honestly didn't sound disbelieving of her story–just slightly annoyed at the thought of being potentially bested by a human.

(I’m so sorry)
(Ahhhh I’m so sorry I’m butchering your creatures :( I was thinking they were artificially provoked by the organisation, if that’s okay? Again, I’m so sorry for getting all this out of the blue)
Jessie shrugged. “I don’t remember, it’s a bit of a blur. I didn’t get our uninsured, but still victorious!”
“I remember it exactly,” Charlotte murmured to Rick. “It was a bloody fight, one she barely survived. She didn’t actually win, either. The last Deorn, near death but not quite, was called off just before it could finish her off.”

(It's okay fam!! Like I said, that would absolutely work, so no worries ^^)
Rick shook his head. "Still, I'm impressed to hear she got as close to winnin' as she did." Seeing that Slash was still looking very indignant, and probably seconds away from continuing the argument, he distracted the Deorn by calling out to him. "Hey Slash, are we almost done detourin' around that territory yet?"
Slash grudgingly lifted his head and sniffed the air, glancing around for the hawk they'd seen earlier. "Yeah, we're close. Just a couple more hills, and then you gotta tell me where we're going from there because I have no idea."
(Also, I'm actually working all day today, so I won't be back until tomorrow morning ^^; )

“Will do,” Charlotte assured him, looking up along with the Deorn. The sun wasn’t quite halfway through its course yet— it was still early.
“Rick, how much longer are you estimating the trip to be?”

Rick squinted one eye, calculating. "If I'm reckoning right, we're pretty darn close now. We could get there as early as tonight, but more likely it'll be sometime tomorrow. Now when we get there, what's our first plan of action? You know Axel better than I do–what do you think will be waitin' for us when we find him?"

Charlotte fell silent, flitting through all the possibilities in her mind. "Let's say for argument's sake he'll have caught wind of us moving his way. He's not one for games, which means there undoubtedly will be a fair troop of men at the gates. Whether or not they attack, however, isn't easy to guess. It's true that he's cautious, but at the same time I doubt his ability to pass up seeing Jessie and I again. We'll be able to gauge hostility levels from a distance which should give us a couple miles of preparation. We'll have to be stealthy either way though," she added, glancing pointedly at Slash.
Her tone had clearly changed to a bolder, easier tone: she was in her element.

Slash caught her look and snorted. "I can be more sneaky than any of you if I want." To demonstrate his point, his form shrunk and he became a pine marten of the usual size, only a couple feet long from nose to tail-tip. "See?" he said. It was odd to hear the deep voice of a grumpy young man coming from such a small creature.
Rick glanced at Charlotte. "I do agree that the further away we are when we figure out Axel's plan, the better chances we'll have of gainin' an advantage. Maybe we should just focus on doing some scouting first of all, then make a better plan from there. Slash can help with that….if we tell him what to look for….and I've got a pretty good rifle scope I can use to read the situation from a distance. Sound good?"

"Yes indeed," Jessie piped up, scooping Slash into her arms with a suppressed laugh.
Charlotte watched Jessie run ahead with Slabs in her arms in confused amusement, before nodding Rick's way. "That sounds like a plan."

(heyyy, sorry I vanished for days on end there…..been dealing with a ton of housecleaning on top of work and I just didn't have extra time or energy for the internets. I'm not even out of the woods yet–gotta work all weekend and two days after that. T.T BUT I thought I'd finally post here anyway, just to show I'm alive ^^; )
Rick smiled at the younger two as he walked after them. "So, let's pretend for a second that Axel just wants to talk, at least at first. Where do you want me in that scenario? Would you rather I helped with the talkin', or kept my trap shut?"

(That's okay! Glad you're not dead, but take it easy on yourself and I'll see you whenever you can be on)
Charlotte pondered that possible situation, reflexively tying her hair back as her expression went slack with thought. "I think it might be best if I do the talking, unless I signal you otherwise."

(Sounds good, thanks fam ^^)
"Aright, can do." Rick swept his gaze across their surroundings to make sure nothing had changed. "Now, s'pose it's not like that. We snoop around a little and see that he's plannin' to attack us on sight. Then what? do we start looking for a way to infiltrate?"

"Absolutely. We should only fight if there is no other choice, his men are extremely well trained. The only thing I'm sure about if they attack us is that they'll be ordered to kill us all except Jessie. He raised her, and I'm completely sure he's not about to kill her." She paused, looked down at the ground for a moment. "Have you done a lot of stealth missions?"

"I've done all kinds of missions in my time," Rick responded. "Actually, I've had to get really good at stealth jobs ever since I started workin' alone. I know I don't look very sneaky, but as it turns out, you can get a lot done with just some camouflage and strategic movement." At that point, his bodyguard instincts kicked in briefly and he glanced ahead for Jessie and Slash. "By the way, the kids seem a bit too far ahead for my tastes. Let's maybe catch up and tell 'em to stick closer." He would have called out to them himself, but he didn't want to risk alerting the area to their presence just yet.

Charlotte nodded. At a mild jog she caught up with the little ones and told them to stick closer. Jessie nodded submissively, setting Slash back down on the ground.
« Promise. »
Charlotte smiled down at her, and bent to kiss her on the forehead. « I’m glad you’re safe, you know? »
Jessie nodded, hugging Charlotte’s side briefly and smiling back at her acting mother.
Charlotte glanced around, hand on Jessie’s shoulder. « I’m estimating about another half-day, does that sound right? »

Rick searched his memory momentarily, then nodded. "That sounds right to me. In that case, do you think we should set up camp now, while we're still a ways off? The sun's gettin' lower, and I don't really wanna hunt for shelter in the dark."

Jessie nodded, and Charlotte followed suit. “Let’s do that, and head off early tomorrow. The earlier we’re there, the less time they have to prepare.”
Charlotte looked off into the forest around them, trying to spot a clearing through the interlocked branches.

(alright I normally wouldn't say anything especially since it's really not a big deal, and it's understandable that we'd forget since it's been a while since we updated this rp but they're not in a forest right now–they're actually walking through hilly grassland with a few pine trees in the valleys. Like this basically: https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&id=2F7C4984F4D09860C5FF760244403521D1F3BE9B&thid=OIP.pD5z8y_fbh851gy7jb-CkQHaFj&mediaurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmagazine.outdoornebraska.gov%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F06%2Fsnakeriverscene.jpg&exph=720&expw=960&q=nebraska+hills&selectedindex=1&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&eim=1,2,6 I just remembered it's probably my fault because I had them hide in a copse of trees and then didn't make it clear when they left it. Again, I normally wouldn't say anything but I've noticed that whenever I try to put plains or grasslands in an rp, the other players start to slowly add more and more trees until we're in a forest again lol. I'm not annoyed or anything, just reminding you ^^)
Slash wrinkled his nose at Rick and Charlotte, then shook himself and returned to his larger size as he trotted forward. "We should find some water so I can fish. D'you guys still want me to hunt for you?"

(Fucc I’m sorry. Let me fix that)
Charlotte looked off towards the rolling hills and fields, trying to make out the glint it water.
“Yes, and yes. We can walk a little further then, find a body of water.

(Thanks! Again, it's not a very major thing, but I really appreciate it ^^)
The Deorn nodded. "Okay. And by the way, I already told you I'm not a kid. Maybe Jessie likes all that cuddly-wuddly stuff you just gave her, but I'm an adult and I don't need it anymore. Especially since I'm doing the hunting." He surreptitiously glanced back at Jessie, as if to see what she thought of him now. "Okay?"

Charlotte paused, looking over at Slash. She was obviously resisting smirking, but nodded seriously towards the Deorn boy.
« Of course. »
Jessie, however, didn’t let it go. Eyes twinkling with malice, she added: « How are you though? »

"How old am I?" Slash lifted his nose to a proud angle. "Sixteen. I was born on the first snow."

"Well," Jessie started, still looking straight ahead, "in human years you're a child. Therefore, to us, you are a child and nothing will change that." She smiled innocently, finally looking over at Slash.