Everyone mounts, ready to go. Couth looks to Robin and is about to say something, but is interrupted by Van, who says "which way, Lady?"
Paige doesn't hesitate, "Couth, take the lead while Robin and I discuss King-talk.
"Eagle Eyes, Arthur, if you would flank Couth left and right at thirty yards," she suggests. "Van bring up the rear."
Van looks disgruntled at this assignment, but moves to the rearguard.
The others take their stations and begin to move forward.
Robin gives Couth a liitle flip of the rein in the direction of the trail to the mountain. Just in case. Then she falls back to ride besides Paige.
She waits for them to start before looking to Robin. "So what's the word?"
"King says it wouldn't hurt to call once in a while." She grimaces sympathetically to her cousin. "He also said that if we split up, I should call him before that happens." Which makes total sense in Robin-thought.
"Aaaannnnddd he wanted to make sure you knew how to use our Heritage to hang onto yourself strong enough that no mere creature of shadow could turn you to stone. You can do that, right?" Robin's pretty sure that Paige knows but the King said check, so she checks.
"I assume he's speaking of the same sort of thing that I did to protect the twins from their great-grandmother," Paige begins. "Just localized to myself.
"Have you had to do it before?"
"Iiiiiii'mmm not sure how to answer that, Paige. I know what I do with the Pattern Within when I'm out-badassing shadow critters. But I don't know what you did to protect the twins from their great-grandmother." Robin's brow furrows. This is probably a good conversation to have with a red-head, but she's not sure the words are going to match well. At all.
Paige nods, getting that there's a difference in vocabularies. "Maybe you'll have to teach me directly, if I'm to become Broceliande's biggest badass," she chuckles. "What I had done was to focus on Order near me, in the whole area in fact. I've been lead to believe it's the best defense against Deep Green, short of Weyland's weapons, and that Random has no current intention of having one tied to his Pattern, at least not yet. Of course, I begin to wonder on their number with the cosmology shift my conversation with Brennan covered."
Well, Robin was there at the start of that trail, but by the end the girl is blinking rapdily as she tries to prcoess a veritable barrage of concepts.
[Paige] shakes her head, "Sorry. So you're saying, focus on the Pattern within me, the Order inherant in my blood?"
"In your Blood, yes." The girl nods.
"It sounds like what you did to protect the twins was reinforce Paige's Order on the area near you, which overrode the Dragon's Order in that area. Kind of like winning a shouting match. And yep, that's effective against the Deep Green as long as you can keep shouting or are in a place that prefers your voice to Hers.
"But instead of shouting your Self over an area of shadow, focus on the Pattern Within to anchor yourself to who and what you truly are. If your hold is strong enough, nothing of Shadow can change your nature.
"Don't get me wrong. It doesn't render you invulnerable by any means. You can still get squished by a landslide or sliced apart by an army of zombies. Buuuttt it's a really useful trick if something's trying to turn you to stone, glamour you or possess you.
"Errrrr, I also wouldn't recommend you do it too often or for too long. That path leads to unreachable soicopath." Robin finishes with a wry grimace.
"And yes, I've done it before. On a number of occasions."
"Hence the self-knowledge of the dangers?" Paige teases back. "Alright, so focusing inward instead of outward."
Robin nods avidly with a winkle in her eye for the teasing.
She glances about at their company, ensuring that she's not losing herself in the conversation to the exclusion of their mission. "And to think, for years Martin told me not to be so self-absorbed." The redhead winks at her cousin.
Robin snorts ironically. Self-absorbed drama is one of the things that she and her red-headed cousin share most strongly.
"And, as I predicted, Couth looks to defer to you," she sighs. "Suggestions? I realize I'll never be Julian or you, but these new Rangers need to respect me, and if the Seniors I have don't..." The concern in her tone doesn't match the confidence with which she sits her saddle, in case any of the party is watching other than Robin.
Reassuringly, the party is highly alert and paying more attention to possible dangers in the virgin forest than they are to their leaders.
"Weeellll, first thing. Don't assume Couth was 'defering' to me. He might have just been about to ask me where the trail was. You're right that the Rangers need to respect you. Buuuttttt... " Robin scratches her nose as she thinks about it.
"I saw Solange get all hung up on this during the Regency. And I saw Brita do just fine. And I think it's got to do more with Rangerin' than anything else.
"See," the Ranger shifts in her saddle as she tries to words to things that have just... been her whole life. "Rangers don't 'defer' to leaders. Not like your man Van does. And Rangers don't give respect just 'cause. We ain't Fleet and we ain't Guard. There's no Officers or Ranks or anything like that.
"Couth might've appeared to defer to me. But that wasn't 'cause I'm Me. Or 'cause I'm the Warden's daughter. It's 'cause I was the Ranger on the scene, who knew the trail and had experience with cockatrices. Were we in your townhouse, I'd defer to him as the Ranger on the scene, who knew the rooms and had experience with, I don't know, manners and furniture and such.
"And what Rangers respect? Results. Objectives achieved with a minimun of casualties and collateral damage and fuss.
"I tell you this, Paige. You keep Broceliande, Xanadu and your men safe by screwing into submission everything you come across? You'll earn their respect far quicker than you would by being a 'good leader.'"
Paige stops herself from snorting in laughter, not that it would give them away anymore than their horses or movement. "I'll keep that in mind, but I'll focus on Rangering, and less fuss. And I'll do my best not to get hung up on my own lack of Ser or Dame in my title, so I don't over compensate."
Robin nods once, but not sharply, with a smile. That'll work.
"Keep the suggestions coming, and whatever I can do for you, well..." Paige lets it go, knowing there's something she's missed in her focus on Broceliande, something more than the obvious neglect of her children, but she's not going to push her cousin.
Green eyes turn to Paige in momentary confusion. A shrug ripples through Robin's frame. "Ah, it's just new trails stuff, Paige. I haven't been around civilized folk much and I seem to keep stepping in the poop. Either I'll learn to keep my boots clean or I won't. Either way," Robin smiles wryly to her cousin, "looks like Random's got use for me. And that's nice."
The bobbed red hair bounces as Paige nods, "A use for us, yes."
"Ssooooo," [Robin] says, changing the subject. "You thinking about keeping Rangering as the solution? Or are you just going to stabilize with it while you work out your own approach?"
"Unless I find a better solution, it's the one," [Paige] admits. "Like I said, I don't think Random's going to let someone tie themselves to Xanadu by bearing a Patternblade, and I don't know of any laying about, although as I wonder on it, I can't help wonder if Lilly won't eventually carry one aligned with Avalon."
Robin blinks rapidly. There's a bunch of implications in there that she wasn't aware of.
"Any way, Rangering, it's what worked for Arden's Wardens as I understand, well, that and two of them fathering multiple Arcadian dieties. The third had a blade, which as I mentioned, I don't, so..." Paige shrugs.
"Maybe once things stabilize," here she rolls her own green eyes, "I'll have the time to consider my own approach, or the twins will tell me what I'm doing wrong."
A wry chuckle ripples through Robin's frame. "I wouldn't look for things to stablize any time soon. There's too many of us shouting into the wind. Best I can figure is how to ride the storm.
"Speaking of storms, what're the twins like these days?"
Robin notes that Couth has picked up the pace and is approaching a rise looking down into a new valley. The poorly named Van is maintaining his distance, and the older of the two Ponca youths is not as good a ranger as the young man who says he is Hannah's father.
Other than that, it seems business as usual.
"Not much different than last you met them, I'd think," Paige answers. "They're a handful."
The redhead seems thoughtful for a moment. "Storms might be the right answer. Elemental forces, both."
Robin nods, keeping one eye on Couth and her ears on everyone else. As far as she's concerned, the entire Family is elemental forces. The twins just youthful ones.
Couth whistles a signal. Not an all clear, but no immediate danger. He's stopped just this side of the top of the rise, and has dismounted. Presumably there's something to see.
Paige dismounts, ties Pippin to the nearest branch and makes her way on foot, the spyglass now in hand, but still in its case, so as to prevent a flash that might give their position away. She uses hand signals to call Van up from the rear, before reaching Couth.
"What do you see?" she asks, making her own survey while minimizing her own profile on the rise.
Robin stays mounted and back from the rise. With both Couth and Paige taking the forward look-see, she keeps her eyes, ears and nose tuned to the sides, back and top.
Couth points out towards the far edge of the valley. "People, moving. In quantity. Every now and again you catch a glint of something, and the only thing that moves trees that way is people."
"Marching people," adds Van, who has caught up.
"Yup," replies Couth.
Paige first looks for the trail they've been following to determine if its headed toward and intersection with the travelers, while surveying the horizon for the high ground that started all this. Opening her spyglass, she tries to get a better view of the movement. [OOC: What can she read of point of origin, direction, speed, etc?]
"Any of you willing to hazard a guess on numbers?" she asks the men as she waves Robin forward, at least enough to be included in the conversation.
Robin slips off her horse and creeps forward, staying low.
"I'd prefer to not waste the King's time on a Trump call explaining that we don't know anything, but we saw something in the woods. Let's focus on reconning that movement without being seen ourselves. A column of that size will have its own outriders."
Robin nods her understanding and agreement. Her green eyes dart around in excitement, making sure that her three flying but non-verbal and in-experienced friends are staying low and out-of-sight.
She looks to the Ponca and immediately to their boots. "Iron Eyes, Arthur Elm. Your woodcraft good enough to get close?"
Iron Eye speaks first. "Yes." He looks at Arthur, who is hesitating. "I will help Arthur Elm, as well." The two men slide into the valley like a garter snake disappearing into the greenery.
A few moments after they depart, Van points to a third spot, across the valley on a plateau atop a hill. "Someone's doing something showy." Far across the valley someone is burning a fire and it is changing color from moment to moment.
Couth spits. "Magic."
"That's not normal for Arden and its environs, nor Xanadu as I know it, at least not without Familial affiliation or to flaunt it, so I'd think it's less likely here as well," Paige says, uncasing the spyglass and lifting it to her eye. She's careful to not let the lens reflect and give her position away.
"Broceliande, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways," she chuckles as she tries to identify the tresspassers.
"Options?" she asks the knight and Rangers.
Even with the spyglass, it's too far to make out detail. Clearly a fire built by someone on a flat, rocky plateau. Clearly magicked to change colors. Paige is searching nearby for the fire starter when the fire suddenly extinguishes itself. In it's place, a roiling cloud of thick white smoke appears and conspicuously doesn't dissipate.
Couth smiles. "Our friends across the way have seen it too. They've stopped. That'll make the Poncas' job harder. Hope they're as good as they say."
Van nods. "Iron Eye is teaching the older one, on his own initiative. We should consider him for an instructor."
"I'm unsure if the Ponca will wish to stay, but they'd be welcome," the Warden answers.
Robin's eyes have fixed on the conspicous column of fire. Her excitement translates itself to a toothy grin. Family or flaunty, hunh? She raises a wry eyebrow to Paige.
"I ain't subtle, but I reckon I can deal with that. You want to keep Couth with you so we can stay in contact?"
Paige looks to Couth and considers for a moment. "I've enough whistles and handspeak that we should be good, unless you plan on being too subtle... oh, wait, that's not an issue," she grins.
Robin grins back.
"Couth, keep up with her," Paige suggests, knowing that she doesn't need to tell him to follow her lead, he's a Ranger. "Remember, the Corruptor, the Twins, and our missing Rangers are the focus, unless that's what remains of Huon's army. It's recon and report.
"Van and I will shift further up the ridge," she says, indicating keeping the cover of their current position while following a parallel course to the column's travel.
A little bit of the gleam leaves Robin's eyes and she nods to Paige.
"Twins. Rangers. Corrupter. Recon and report." Her blond head bobs with each word, fixing them in her mind and assuring the Warden that she's back on trail.
Sliding off her horse, Robin tips her head in a come-along gesture. Her grin shades a little into a warm smile. It's been a while since she's been on a scout with Couth and she's looking forward to it.
"Yes, Warden," says Couth. The old Ranger grins and goes with Robin, letting her lead [and not just because she is the PC, either].
Van is by her side. "Lead the horses or leave them?"
"If that column is marching, mobility and maneuver might be our allies," she answers. "We lead them."
Letting her higher ground block their passage from the column below, Paige leads them toward the mountain, knowing that Robin and Couth will beat them to the person of interest there. "The Ponca should be able to track our change in movement. Iron Eyes seems capable enough."
She doesn't come above the rise again for a few minutes to check the column's presumed position, and when she does, she leaves the horses with Van, below the horizon of anyone down in the valley.
Unless something of note is observed, she uses the ridge as cover again and moves toward the mountain.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Van stops her as she's returning from her second check of the valley. He points to a tree with some scratches in the lower bark. Something with claws was here, sometime since the last rainfall. Maybe much more recently.
The horses are nervous.
"Tie them," Paige decides. "We don't need them spooking it or it spooking them out from under us."
The Warden kneels at the tree, trying to discern something more about the claws, looking for tracks, expecting the cloven hooves of the cockatrice or the pads of Leif's paws.
Van nods and silently leads the horses a bit away, and ties them to a sapling.
While he is gone, Paige begins her examination. She finds what she was looking for. Cloven hooves, in quantity, and they go up into the tree. The wind shifts and Van stiffens. Paige smells it, too. There may be a dung-hill nearby.
Paige draws her blade and scans the tree tops while focusing on the Pattern that dwells within her, drawing it into her own being, reinforcing her own Reality and specific gravity on this edge of Shadow.
Paige's woodcraft is good enough to notice an obvious nest, high in the tree. It's large, and would be spacious for a family of eagles.
A few moments later, Van spots it as well. He points at it and at himself. He means to investigate it.
Paige nods, stepping back far enough to get a good look. "Watch your gaze," she cautions.
She whistles a bit of Cadence, Nest found. Investigating.
From the center of the valley a whistle comes back. Tracking Rangers Tracking Rangers. Need Help?
The warden responds. No. All well.
Van goes up the tree and looks over the top of the nest. He comes down quick, and less quietly than a ranger might. "A nest, Lady Paige. There's a snake in there. On top of a pile of eggs. I'm all for burning the tree down."
Paige quickly appraises the surrounding vegetation, considering the risk factors that would lead to such a fire spreading. "I can't burn it down until I know what the forces in the valley intend," she decides. "I need the Poncas' report, that and Robin's assessment of the sorcerer on the mountain.
"Hell, maybe we can get him to burn it down for us," she chuckles. "Harder tracking things that can fly, you know? Its been said the Warden of Arden can track a falcon on a cloudy day, but me? I'll have to rely on probability."
Van nods. If he understands or is just agreeable is unclear.
Paige convinces herself that it's unlikely that the parent will return, not with so much activity on the mountain and in the valley. They're eggs, not young.
Paige feels the flare of her gifts in her blood, and suspects her pattern use will work for a time. This far from Xanadu and its Pattern, it should be easy, but there may be some chaotic influences in the valley. Pattern work is difficult.
She whistles again. Report.
All Safe. Bide, gathering report.
Three in nest. No adults. Widening search before firing nest.
"Van, let's spread out a bit. Find what direction to expect the parents to return from," she directs.
"Watch for wolf scat as well," the concerned mother adds. "This seems like something Leif would be drawn to."
Paige waves Van left as she heads toward the valley again, with more scrutiny.
Van nods and moves out in the direction Paige directed.
Once Robin and Couth are off into the brush, she holds up a 'stop here' hand. Shortly, the two are joined by the fluttering trio of Peep, Chirrup and Ooot.
Robin strokes and chirps to her friends, letting her heart tell them that it's quiet, sneaky dangerous times before sending them off to follow while staying hidden in the canopy.
Then she does something that Couth may have seen before -- at least the parts that are visible. Taking a few deep breathes, Robin summons up her Heritage, leeting the blue fire of the Pattern run through her.
The first thing she does is anchor herself into herself so that no mere creature of shadow can change what she is. Then Robin will convince herself, hence the universe, that Couth and the firelizards are likewise not going to become stoned in the next watch or so.
Once she feels secure about all of that, Robin will spread her team out and fade into the woods. Recon and report. Recon and report. Twins, rangers, cockatrice. Plus a little checky on the fire-maker.
Couth watches them launch. He indicates in Cadence that if they split, he'd like to head for the river. He has a hunch.
There's enough going on in these woods that Robin doesn't want to split her team. Spread them out, yes. Split them up, no.
But she trusts hunches. Far more than logic or observration. So with a nod of understanding, she waves Couth on and fades to a support position.
Couth is down the hill like a ghost, although quieter than the ones Vere conjures. Robin can easily keep up with him, but he's moving quickly. If the two Ponca scouts slow for the river crossing, Couth may catch them there. Or whatever he's hunting.
Even from here, and even while they are trying to be quiet, Robin can tell where her reptile friends are. They're too young to be really good at quiet and are easily excitable. Something is exciting them, towards the direction Edan is supposed to be. Or was supposed to be.
An inaudible sigh ripples through Robin's frame. Always with the choices.
Robin maintains her position, shadowing Couth from a support position. But half her mind is with her excitable friends, trying to keep them out of trouble while trying not to catch the same youthful excitement that she is so prone to herself.
Luckily Robin is good in the woods, because she's trying to shadow one of the best Rangers in service to the Warden and keep her mind on her friends. They've found something, and they've coming back to get Robin. It's hard to tell if it's one of the things they're supposed to find, or a particularly tasty looking rabbit.
Couth on the other hand, is at the riverbank, examining it for marks of recent passage. It's not much of a river, and it looks quite passable here. Couth is heading straight across.
Robin continues to cover the Ranger as he crosses the river. But once (or if) he makes it across, she flutters a quick burst of Cadence to Couth, letting him know that she's breaking off to investigate something on this side.
Then she settles and waits, anticipatng the rabbit with fondness for her little friends who figured out how to bring something to her all on their own.
Couth replies, his cadence clear and loud. Paige wouldn't hear it up the hill, but the scouts might. Chasing scouts/pulling back, he replies. If the Ponca know Cadence yet, he's at least warned them he's here.
With that he disappears and Robin waits.
The lizards return, all three of them carrying something. It's not graceful and it's not as quiet as they should be, but they do manage it. They drop something at Robin's feet and return to the tree branches, where they can get airborne quickly. It's a bird, or it was. Perhaps it was a sparrow or a wren, before it was petrified.
"Hunh." Robin blows a little fluff that lifts her bangs off her forehead.
Then she grins up at her friends. Nice, nice work. She is very proud of them. Much better than a rabbit.
Robin squats to examine the bird, just to assure herself that it is actually a cockatrice victim and not some other little game that Broceliande might be playing. [Assuming it is] She stands quickly and sends another burst of Cadence to both Couth and Paige that she's got monster sign and is on the trail.
As her grin sharpens with delight, she gestures to the firelizards to show her the way.
During her travels, Robin uses a brief flicker of her Heritage to find a somewhat weather-worn but still sturdy blanket that had been lost under a tree during all of the recent refugee activity.
Robin finds what she needs quickly, and continues on her way.
The firelizards lead her towards the mountain, by way of what looks like a pool ahead. It would be an ideal spot for an ambush. Or two.
From the signs on the ground, this is where a Cockatrice hunts.
Robin hears a bit of cadence, fast and idiosyncratic, as if the rangers using it had been inventing their own.
??? Approach(s). Wait for ???
Robin grins. Sounds like it's about to get complicated and messy. Surveying the area around the pool, Robin picks her and the firelizard's spot with care. She wants a place -- preferrably in the trees or on other high ground -- where they've got maximun visiblity and a chance to ambush all the other potential ambushing parties.
Once she's got the layout and plan, Robin ghosts through the green to her place.
Robin moves into place hopefully invisible to the eyes, ears, and other senses of multiple ambush victims. Her friends are nearby and are not as quiet as she is, but less noisy than birds are, if there were any birds here.
The first and most obvious thing Robin can see here is a ranger, or at least one of the King's new ones. He's running through the forest right for the clearing, which is a dead end.
Right behind him is a cockatrice, or something that looks like one. It could be a wild turkey, but it seems to be trying to breathe on the boy.
The ranger's strategy may not work for long, but he's survived longer than most of the evil bird's victims.
In the distance, Robin hears Cadence whistles. Sounds like Paige and Couth. Neither seems to be in any danger.
Sharp pointy teeth sneak into Robin's grin. Sooooo much better than talking or negotiating. Or thinking. And with that, the girl slides into instinct.
What she's hoping is that the Ranger will run by (or beneath) her. Whereupon she will swoop down on the chasing cockatrice, blanket spread. Scoop the Corrupter up. Twist once. And slam blanket and all into the nearest hard thing, well, very hard.
After that, back into cover as quick as she can carrying what she hopes will be a bag of broken cockatrice.
It all goes brilliantly, until Robin swoops. Instead of landing on the cockatrice, Robin finds her trajectory intersects a girl. She, like Robin, was diving for the beast. Both efforts fail and both would-be ambushers fall to the ground. Someone says "Oof."
The ranger hears the noise and lets out a brief and unhelpful bit of swearing and starts yelling as he reaches the pond. He doesn't slow down, but wades directly in without looking back.
Another animal, this one small, brown, and tailed darts after the cockatrice. It screams as it leaps, and the bird looks up at him and breaths a cloud of evil looking green gas.
From the ground, Robin whips her blanket out toward the cockatrice. A flare of Heritage runs through her as she attempts to disrupt the cloud with the wind of the blanket's passage. If she can cover the bird with something before Small, Brown and Tailed gets too much of it in its claws and teeth, even better.
The blanket blows some of the gas away, probably.
[However, I don't see any way to accomplish either of the other goals. The mongoose has already screamed and leapt, and the cock has breathed poison at it.]
At this point, she'd even settle for getting SB&T out of the fight.
[OOC -- is the girl Brooke by any chance? 'Cause Robin's been in a doggy pile with her before.]
Now that you look, yes, the girl is Brooke. "Get off me, Aunt Robin! We have to help Leif!"
"Oh, yeah, we do." Robin grits out wryly. But she rolls off her neice and underhands a knife toward the cockatrice, confident that it will find its mark and not her nephew.
The knife throw goes in, but it wobbles as it nears the mongoose, and the mongoose pauses. It scratches across the scaly backside of the creature, who hisses.
Brooke has a sling out and a stone follows the knife in an instant and does no more than irritate the beast.
As quickly as possible, Robin will follow the knife with her person, intent on getting Leif a la SB&T out of there.
Brook grabs Robin. It's enough to slow her down, but not to stop her. "Stop, Aunt Robin, you're breaking his concentration!"
The mongoose fights on, and more and more green miasmic smoke swirls around the pair of them. The mongoose is fighting like a thing possessed, and while he has taken some claw and beak hits, seems to be giving as well as he gets. In the wild, Robin would call this a toss-up.
Robin reluctantly allows herself to be slowed by Brooke. How she'll ever be able to expalin to Paige if she lets her nephew get killed is beyond her. But her respect for the man on scene is deeply ingrained and she's willing to let anyone have at least one shot at proving their competence. Besides, Brooke and Leif have much more experience with their own style of fighting than herself.
"Fine," she growls in irritation. "How do we help him without distracting him?"
The girl throws a couple more knives at the cockatrice for good measure.
"I don't know! Eyeshot would be best. Don't use the Pattern, It'll keep him from being a mongoose, and mongooses are immune to cockatrice breath. We can't let it get away! We won't have a better shot at killing it."
Brooke is right, but Robin can see that the bird will either win or get away if she doesn't do something.
From the valley someone, probably Couth, taps out Royal Tourist here. He's made contact with someone.
"Right," Robin grits out. The girl lifts a piercing whistle of Cadence. Hostile engaged. Two Royals assisting.
She slides quickly into regular speech, "Leif! When I shout, get out of there. To the rear."
Robin shakes off both Brooke's grip and her own Heritage, draws her sword and darts toward the mongoose/cockatrice tussle. "Now!" she shouts leaping into the air. Her intent is to somersault over the bird and miasma. Strike downward as she passes overhead with a killing shot and hopefully a minimum of exposure to the creature's poison. To land crouching on the other side.
[OOC - It's Wire-Fu Robin. ;) ]
[OOC:Sounds like a card draw to me...]
Leif pulls back when Robin yells, but the creature is also fast and stays on the mongoose. Robin's knife merely pins the bird's tailfeathers to the ground.
The unfortunate movement of her target also puts Robin off-balance and she lands badly. Her right shoulder is numb and her arm hangs limp. At least Robin hopes it's from the fall, because she did pass through the creature's noxious breath.
Robin is between the bird and the most likely escape route, other than over Brooke. It's not much of an improvement, and her knife is still in the ground.
[OOC:Yep. It was a card draw. Striking the Dragon's Tail.]
[OOC: Aaack! I am soooo probability-challenged. Oh well, at least it wasn't 'Stab Your Cousin.' ;) ]
[OOC: 'Stab Your Chicken, Reversed'...]
[BTW, Robin struck with a sword, not a knife. I'll play it as it lays assuming that she lost her grip as she passed overhead. Does that work for everyone?]
[OOC: My intent was to have her literally stab the monster's tail, and do no good, but I'm easy, as long as the end result (no sword, no stabby the bird, hurt shoulder stands, I can have my misapprehension corrected without being fashed.]
Robin ticks her tongue in annoyance. Yep, complicated and messy.
What she needs right now is a really long club. Her green eyes dart around briefly to see if Broceliande has furnished such a thing. Or if she has landed anywhere near her previously thrown blanket.
But mostly, she wants to keep the cockatrice's attention on herself, rather than on Brooke or Mongoose Leif.
The blanket is nearby, as are several of the knives that were previously thrown and several of Brooke's sling bullets. Brooke is lining up a shot, but it's all still too messy.
Robin grits her teeth, growls and shakes her head. She can't think of any pretty way to do this, so it's going to have to be the ugly way and just there's enough left of her on the side.
The girl crouches down and picks up one of her knives in her left hand. Lining up her shot carefully, Robin takes a deep breath, steels herself and rushes the cockatrice. Her intents is to put the knife in the critter's eye and hopefully rush out the other side, but she's not taking any chances with her shot. She'd rather get the kill and rely on Brooke and Leif to save her bacon than miss.
Holding her breath against the creature's magic, Robin rushes the deadly beast. She reaches out with her off hand and grabs it, steadying the head for the deadly blow to the eye.
She finds herself in a sort of fugue-lke state, where the entire affair, which can only take seconds, seems like it is a day. She notices the sharp and slick nature of the beast's feathers, covered in some sort of oil and also with blood. Whose blood Robin can't tell.
The bird's head turns towards her and it begins to open its awful maw to breathe petrifying corruption at her, but she stays at arm's length and turns her head away, knowing that her hands can do this without exposing her.
She slashes and feels a momentary resistance, followed by a ripping, like a balloon being popped. Robin rolls through and turns to see the results of her mayhem.
Leif is crouching on the ground, alone, and in human form. "Damn it!" he says.
"No," says Brooke, "this is better. She's bleeding and you broke her wing, so she can't fly. She won't be hunting for a while. No, we get to follow her back to her lair."
Leif looks up at Robin. "Want to come hunting?" The trail is obvious and runs up the side of the valley.
Robin looks at him, a little wild-eyed and strange, but quickly shakes it off. "Damn straight." She says with a big toothy grin. "But first we report in."
Pursing her lips, she sends another burst of Cadence in the forest air. "Hostile contact, injured. Friendly contact, good. Patrol contact, half good."
Turning her green eyes to the floundering Ranger in the pool, she calls. "Warden's on your high far de'Gauche. Report in as soon as you can.
"Okay, then. Let's go." She grins to the twins as she recovers her sword, blanket and other weapons.
"Yes Ma'am. Will do, ma'am," replies the Ranger. He's a new one, and still pretty green.
"Wo--" says Leif.
"No, " Brooke says, interrupting him. "Like this."
Leif nods. "Aunt Robin, you track it. We'll flank you and keep you safe."
Brook looks at her. "You should make a spear, so you can fight it from a distance."
"Good plans." Robin nods again with a smile, thinking that Brooke's grandaunt, Britomartis, would say the same thing. The girl sheathes her sword and various knives and slings the blanket over her shouder. Trotting a little bit away, Robin rummages around in the bushes for some spears dropped by previous trekkers throught Broceliande.
"You want one, Brooke? Leif?"
Brooke nods. "A short one."
Leif shakes his head. "I can take form again. We know its weakness. Weaknesses, now."
Brooke takes a spear from Robin and plays with it to learn the heft and balance. "If it were me, I'd either flee to someplace we couldn't find it, someplace it was safer, or to someone who could help me. It stinks too much to do the old fox trick of crossing the river to break the trail, and it might be smart enough not to lead us directly to its lair, so something midway, and towards the rim of the valley, where the trees are dense.
"Eyes open, down and up. It's a tree-dweller, even if it's not in good shape, it might try to get up a tree." It's unclear if Brooke is talking to Robin, Leif, or herself. She's clearly the more vocal of the pair.
Robin nods at Brooke's assessment, gives her own spear a quick circle-snap to get a feel for it and trots off up the trail. Eyes open, up and down.
Robin finds the trail and speeds off, at first holding back to not overrun the others, but she quickly finds that they are competent and quick enough to keep up with her. She picks up speed, and gets in the rhythm of the twins, who manage to keep up a steady stream of cadence that Robin suspects no one else can hear. Basic position and location and concerns; "De'gauche air greentree" or "A Brise devant rabbits". There's no formality to the message: no sender or priority or sign-off, but it's clear to Robin that it's how they hunt together. And they don't seem to care if she knows.
The cockatrice seems to be getting tired of the chase. He (or possibly she) is running faster and not bothering to try to hide her trail. She may also be panicking.
Robin throws a casual comment noting a potential for ambush, into the twins' Cadence chatter. Trusting the two to keep her flanks, she pushes forward readying her spear.
Robin's call slows the twins and brings them tighter in.
"Devant Trouble!" comes from Robin's gauche while a loud animalistic hiss comes from her droit.
Ahead, on a low hanging branch, is a cockatrice, unblooded with wings puffed up in a threat display. It crows and insects die in the miasmic outpouring from the creature's mouth.
The bird chose a good spot; it will be hard to take it from the ground and it can spew its paralyzing breath on anyone trying to pass it.
Beyond the ambush spot, Robin hears the wounded one continue to run to safety.
Luckily not all of Robin's allies are on the ground.
Robin throws herself off her course abruptly, trying to dash completely around the tree the cockatrice sists in, trusting her skill to pick up the wounded one's trail later on. Meanwhile, she lets a hope flash through her that her little ones take the ambushing cockatrice from above and behind, staying away from its 'fire' breath.
Crossing just in front of Robin is a leaping Leif, his form changing as she watches. His leap changes as his legs and body become those of a mongoose again. It slams into the chest of the swooping bird, knocking the breath out of the creature.
Robin hears Brooke trying to spear the bird on the ground.
Robin is around the tree. She can continue the chase without the twins or go after the unwounded cockatrice.
Family first, monsters second. That's Robin's mantra. Spinning in place, she sticks near the twins. This time being more careful not to cross their lines of fire or entangle them, but instead to offer support or corralling as needed.
The Ranger also sets her firelizards to monitoring the wounded cockatrice and keeps one of her own ears just in case it decides to circle round too.
It fights wildly for several moments, but the combination of Brooke and Mongoose Leif is powerful. Brooke hits it solidly on the head, and Leif goes for the creature's neck.
It decides the two of them are more than it wants to take on at the moment.
It attempts to flee, straight at Robin.
Robin leaps right in, letting her instincts guide her. Blanket in weak hand for flapping away any clouds, spear in strong hand for sticking the bird.
Robin leaps in, catching the Cockatrice in the breast. Leif is a moment behind and has the neck firmly in his jaws and the head pointed away from Robin.
The creature jerks and dies.
Brooke takes the blanket and puts it over the beast, "In case it releases a bunch of poison from its corpse."
Leif smiles at Robin happily, his face and teeth sorta bloody.
Robin smiles at Leif happily, her face and teeth sorta bloody-minded, and breaks into a quick triumphant barking dance. Before settling down and retreiving her spear.
She nods to her approval to Brooke and adds a couple hand-sized stones to the corners of the blanket to hold it down.
"Come on," she chirps to her neice and nephew with an excited wave, "one still on the run." And off she goes.
It's hard to say who hits the trail first, as all three are running hard. The chatter begins immediately and soon the blood of the wounded bird is obvious. It's along an animal trail--deer or their equivalent take this to the stream. There are small, petrified animals along it; either the cockatrice is killing them as it goes by, accidentally, or else it's been here before.
It's hard to tell how long a petrified creature has been dead.
Robin is the first to catch a glimpse of the bird, just at the limits of her vision. It's about to enter a natural clearing. There's a break in the trees ahead. If it can still fly, it's about to have a chance to get airborne.
Despite her rather unimpressive history with spears in tight quarters, Robin is not about to let that cockatrice get away. However, she is also not about to stab something unknown in these crowded woods. The girl slides to a quick halt, cccaaaarreeeefully lines up her shot and hucks the spear for all she's worth. (Her intent is if she does miss the cockatrice, the spear will hit a tree or hillock shortly thereafter. And not going wildly winging off into the green.)
Once the spear is out of her hand, Robin is leaping forward again, Achilles-like in her attempt to catch up to her own weapon. A quick whistle to the firelizards leaves her lips as well. If they can safely slow the cockatrice down, Robin would be a happy camper indeed.
Robin flings the spear, and knows as she releases it that it will miss. Her shoulder is apparently not fully recovered from the start of the fight and the throwing motion was too much. Pain is a feedback mechanism, and her body is saying 'don't do that with the arm just now'. [The Lion Reversed: Weakness]
The firelizards are above her, and Robin is nearing the edge of the forest clearing, her twin guardians to either side. From where she is, she can see the bird again. It's attacking a man who is lying on the ground. If no one does anything soon, he'll be petrified in moments.
Robin's curse is heartfelt. Spears! Pfui!
Though she's loathe to do it, she whistles and gestures to the firelizards. If they can at least harry the cockatrice's head and wings... distract it from the man... that'd be great. She gestures sharply to the twins, cockatrice theirs, man hers.
Her bright plan? Charge in there and whip the guy out from under the cockatrice. Best she can do when she's having this kind of day.
The valley is wide but narrows to the north, near the plateau where the fire had been. It's remarkably still, as if the fauna native to the land is avoiding the noisy foreign predators.
There's some commotion near to the plateau, but it's not clear who or what.
After a moment Van circles into sight. He shakes his head, once.
Paige sees signs that the Cockatrice has been through this area, as if it headed into the valley some time ago.
It must have been here for a while, because there are at least two trails it's followed.
"Blaze the tree so we can find it again," she orders.
"We'll follow the trails into the valley and see what we can find of the parent."
Van takes a piece of cloth from the saddlebags and ties it to the tree. It should be noticeable for some distance. "Shall we ride or walk? I can track better on foot, Lady."
"Agreed," Paige answers. "Foot it is, the mounts will likely be content," she decides with the weight of Pattern behind the proclamation.
As they head down into the valley the Warden whistles, Tracking into the valley.
There's a cracking of cadence--rock on rock, most likely from Couth. Unexpected Person.
Paige moves quickly toward the Cadence, but slowly enough to keep her eyes on the trail.
It's some distance away, and not on the direct trail of the creature. The sound comes from the north. It will take Paige a while to get to it, and longer if they're looking for signs of the cockatrice.
Van looks up at her. "Lady Paige? The tracks go this way."
Paige nods. "Worries about the others, I suppose," she answers.
"Lead on," the warden directs.
The tracks are a mix of new and old and sometimes it's clear that the monster doubled back upon itself, because there are multiple sets in the same area. The tracking is slow-going, as the beast circled and was clearly hunting, but there are signs that it was hunting.
Paige spots the half-eaten carcass, preserved as if it were stone, of a small deer. It's while examining the kill that she becomes convinced that there are at least two cockatrices, possibly a mated pair.
"More than one," she points out to Van, indicating the tracks.
Van nods, looking grim.
"I wish I knew I what the appetite of two cockatrice was and how much more hunting they might do after this," she says pointing to the deer. "Based on the half-eaten, I'd think they had their fill. So next, rest?" the new Warden muses scanning the trees before carrying on.
"Hmm. I have no idea how long they stay fresh after they're petrified. The beasts may be stocking their larder. They may have been interrupted. And they may not get along. They're supposed to be solitary hunters, aren't they?"
Other than multiple trails, Paige doesn't see anything. The birds around here are quiet. Or petrified.
"And I'm supposed to be a hedonistic demimondaine, but the re-Ordering of the universe has changed many a thing," Paige answers. "We drive on. Eyes open for the cockatrixes or whatever the plural is."
There's a noise ahead. Something's coming this way. It's not very worried about who might hear it.
As they prepare to resume the track, they find the cockatrice has made their task simple. It bursts from the edge of the clearing and comes straight at Van. It's running low to the ground and seems to be wounded.
Paige thinks he's going to stab it when he throws himself backwards to the ground. A spear lands quivering about where he had been standing, and he's saved himself from death by spearing, although not from petrification. Whoever threw that spear will be in the clearing in seconds.
The wounded cockatrice is almost on top of Van.
Sure of her sense of self despite her cocky answer earlier, Paige launches herself across the cockatrice's front arc, trying to cut between it and Van.
Paige intercepts the bird and Robin comes in behind her. Robin grabs Van by the armpits and pulls him away. "Let me go! I''ve got to protect her!", he yells.
"She's better at this than you!" Robin hisses in response. "Support her by not making her protect you." She lets him go and turns to secure any possible cockatrice escape routes.
Paige feints with her blade and continues toward the cockatrice's flank, getting it to turn its head away from Van, or at least giving her an attack from the flank.
Paige strikes and as she does, a host of others descend on the beast as well, making it dodge away from her blow. First, a giant mongoose, brown and chittering, leaps for the beast's neck. It's followed by a flock of miniature dragons, who are breathing fire at the head of the thing. This seems to dissipate the gas, but not completely.
No one in the clearing will ever forget the smell of the cockatrice's foul breath, on fire. It's not clear if it would still turn anyone to stone, or only make them wish they had been.
From the edge of the woods, Paige sees her daughter. "Mother, be careful! The mongoose is Leif!"
Paige swears under her breath, something short and curt in Creole that doesn't translate for polite company in Thari.
Robin barks a quick laugh at the chaos, which breaks off into a cough at the incredible smell. She sends a thrilled chirrup to her excellent friends and calls for them to retreat from the scrummage.
The attached son-goose makes slashing difficult, and Paige hesitates before lunging for any vital organs. She expects the cockatrice to try to shake Leif off, before rearing back to throw him. When the opening happens, either her son being thrown or the enemy rearing back, she strikes for the lungs. Her only train of thought is that denying it breath, denies it the chance to breathe that miasma again, or at least as efficiently.
Leif has the head like a cobra and when he sees Paige pulls it back, using his weight and muscles to fight the bird's resistance. Paige is given the perfect opportunity and strikes true.
[Card draw: The Griffon upright]
The bird dies, and falls to the ground, the grass petrifies where it bleeds.
"Hello, Mother," says Brooke.
Yep, definitely time for Robin to secure the perimeter. Her green eyes are sparkling with repressed humor and mayhem as she makes sure that nothing else is sneaking up on the group. While at the same time giving mother and spawn all the space they need.
The Warden nods to Robin, a slight grin on her face for their momentary victory. "It's a mated pair I believe, haven't burned the nest yet, but it's ordered for the return trip.
"Also, see if Couth's heard from the Ponca," she suggests before turning to Van.
Van finds a blanket and puts it over the dead bird. If his duties allow, he'll head back to the horses and get a shovel to allow him to bury it.
Robin returns the nod, "Got another kill on the way in." Teeth flash momentarily. And she can't quite hide the spark of interest in her eyes at the mention of the nest. While she diiiiddd promise Random not to bring any cockatrices back to Xanadu, she also knows someone who might appreciate a well-shaken cockatrice egg.
But the girl turns to her business of checking in with Couth.
Before she can start, a quick tattoo of Cadence tells her all she needs to know. Couth's signature and style, and coming across the river. He always one for full formal headers on messages, which was odd, considering he didn't talk very formally. "Others de Droit, not-enemy, not-friend. more than ten. with high muckety-muck. magic."
Brooke smiles, amused by something.
The daughter and songoose are next. The Warden addresses them. "Do you have anything to report on the missing patrol?" she asks without any maternal inflection.
Brooke nods. "Yes, Mother. We found Ranger Trainee String in the valley. He was helping us ambush the cockatrice when we found Aunt Robin."
Leif is sitting on the ground, now, clad almost entirely in dirt. "He is behind us, on his way here. Something in the valley smells of father's mother's mother."
At a break in the conversation, Robin sends a quick message back to Couth, complete with headers and signatures. "Message received. Spawn found. With Warden. Two magic-creatures found and eliminated. Patrol half found. With guides?"
Couth's reply is brief. "Yes. We will join you. Expecting trouble. You?"
Paige lets Robin deal with the incoming Cadence, catching enough but focusing on the Dragon reference. "Alright, anything more solid than scenting Dragon?" she asks.
"No. I haven't figured out how to make Aunt Brita's nose. Yet."
Robin gives a confirming nod from where she stands. She can't make Brita's nose either, but she concurs that there's something subtly Draconish... around... ish.
"Right," the Warden answers. She seems like she can't wait any longer and decides that perhaps it's time, before the others arrive. Paige gathers her children into her arms protectively. "Don't run off like that, please, especially when there's the scent of your father's mother's mother, alright?"
"There wasn't when we r--" Brooke puts her hand on Leif's shoulder. "Yes, Mother," she replies.
Paige chuckles softly as she releases them, almost business again. "Any word of Poach? I'm sorry to say Cotter met the cockatrice before we met him."
"There's a nest a ways back," Van tells Robin. "Are there any more around?"
"Can't say for certain." Robin answers. "Probably not, but best to stay on alert. Can you describe where the nest is?"
Robin listens closely to Van's reply but she keeps herself busy tightening up the cluster of horses and folk, retrieving her spear, sending her marvelous friends up to scout, just preparing for trouble in general.
Van nods. "Backtrail 1200 paces, up a tree you can't miss. I can show you, if you'd like."
Robin nods. "I can find it. Thanks though."
"Still waiting on Couth and the noble of some sort?" Paige asks her cousin, "Or off to deal with the nest?"
"Yep. And he's expectin' trouble. If it ain't hatching time anytime soon, it may be best to coordinate." She shrugs one shoulder. It's Paige's call. Other than a close call for Van (blush), spread out chaos seems to be working fine. But with trouble on the horizon, maybe not a good plan now.
"Let's keep it close for the moment. There might be the mother... or the father," she chuckles. "I never got to take a look," the Warden admits.
"Van, you're with the twins," she orders for the moment. "Brooke, Leif, lets stay in human skins for the moment, until we know what we're dealing with."
Leif protests, not unexpectedly. "But Mongeese are immune to Cockatrices! Couth said so!"
"And that's fine, but we're going to meet humans, not cockatrices. If another one comes close, you've my permission to shape it again," his mother allows.
"My Lady," replies Van. His sword is not drawn, but he seems ready to do so. "Shall we head in and meet up with the others?"
She nods, sheathing her own blade. "Lead on."
Robin picks up her non-Van-targeting spear and heads towards where Couth's Cadence's source, keeping her eyes, ears and senses alert.
The children and Robin head towards the heart of the valley, with Paige behind and Van unhappily in the rearguard. For all his martial prowess and woodlands skills, he's not a descendant of Oberon. Even without the years of experience that the others have, Paige is no slouch in the woods.
There are voices in the clearing ahead. If Couth is with them then he knows Van is coming.
As they approach, Robin hears cadence. "Three Rangers, Maybe Five." Signed Couth. He definitely knows they're here.
Robin replies in quiet Cadence herself, "Ranger, Warden, two Spawn, one other. Inbound. Clear?"
Paige focuses toward the Cadence herself, but doesn't comment.
"Eye of the storm. Safe for now. Come in easy." is the reply.
Couth has a perimeter set up. Iron Eye and Arthur Elm. The twins are moving to take them out.
Robin sends a quick whistle of casual cadence to her neice & nephews. "Pickets friends." Though an evil part of her is curious regarding a potential Iron Eye/Leif dust-up.
With a glance back to Paige to make sure all's well, Robin eases into the clearing.
Last modified: 27 March 2011