Riding The End (L3 | Archived | Fantasy/Sci-Fi)

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

"I don't imagine we'll be given much support beyond verbal morale boosts," he answered. He was completely serious, but he didn't bother to explain why he figured as he did. The fact of the matter was that Donnie always earned himself a place in the missions that were the most dangerous; what's more, it was usually in enemy territory, which meant no support. Hunting a Fae that was supposedly beyond the control of its own people sounded to DuPont exactly like this sort of a mission.

"Let's get moving, though. We need to make the best of the daylight."
 

[SirBayer]

Trajan nodded. Time was wasting. "Again, I assume you were given more detailed direction of travel. I have to at least hope that we have some idea of where we're gonna find this little elf." Trajan felt grim, but he didn't let it show. He imagined this was going to involve a lot of strong-arming of civilians, perhaps so far as massacring. That was the last thing he wanted to do, but... well, he had orders, and he had to fulfill his orders as best as he could. This was going to be a mess, that was all. He stood.

"At least they could've gotten a helicopter or something to bring us in sort of close. Oh well. That's life, I suppose."  

[SiberDrac]

Nine clasped his hands in front of him, narrow eyes smiling gleefully up at the Grand Oak. He then glared poisonously at Osiris. "Those are my kills. I killed them. You will do no such thing." Back to the tree.

Behemo had asked what he would like. "I want," he began, and took a deep breath before continuing, "you to release me and give me free reign to slaughter as many people as I want in this town. I want you to then boil in your own anger while I pour kerosene over the whole of your people stationed here and light it with this-" he produced the cigarette lighter- "handy-dandy doodad." He flipped it open, closed, and put it away. "I want you to watch them burn so I can enjoy the sight of an old man crying for something other than joy, and then I want you to stand still and let me drive a pike through your head so I can collect the sap in a goblet made from Rendi's head, mix it with Cougar's blood, and sip on it while I sit on a throne made of assorted human body parts."

For a brief moment, the spark of sanity lit his eye and Nine switched his focus, knowing he at least needed to make it out of here in one piece. His gaze became as deeply penetrating and infuriated as it had been whimsical moments ago, although his voice was eerily quick and controlled as he spoke. "Particularly that last part. The humans are a particularly interesting and savage breed, and in the interests of preserving this earth, whether it happens to benefit you in the end or not, I propose you do your best to shut down any political tension that my little game might have caused. Honestly, I was just having a little fun and don't see why it means anything, but." He caught himself before pursuing the tangent.

"I am the most proficient, politically unbound murderer this world has ever known. Let me go and gather a force of my choosing, and I can personally ensure the deaths of thousands." He had been leaning further and further forward the entire time, as though his body was a coiling spring, his hair shifting around his face during his period of seriousness, and then Nine quite literally bounced back into his normal demeanor. "Thousands of humans. Humans only. Naturally. And all by my hand." He looked back and forth quickly between his two hands, then pointed at his left one. "This one. The other one will take care of the rest."  

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

"Yes, we speak with Major Kelso who is in the camp," he answered and led Trajan from the inn a tent within which was the aforementioned Major. DuPont saluted. "Sir, we're here on the matter of Saturnine Rhapsody and were told you had intel for us."
 

[SirBayer]

Trajan followed, saluting mutely. Wait for the talkers to get their stuff done. Better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.  

[Isa-sama]

The Grand Oak remained quiet after Nine spoke. Ashling was not at all sure if he was just going to stomp on the puny man or not. He then narrowed his eyes.

The tall Trent then turned to look at Osiris. He then shook a little, as if to laugh.

Ashling was in the background pulling Zuberi off her branches. I think he's about to pee in his pants, the little whelp. Stupid Fae fearing flesh bag.

----------------

When Trajan and DuPont met with Major Kelso, they saw how busy he was. "Oh, you're here. Just a minute." He turned to a few men and gave them their orders to leave. "It's been a rather busy day - they've been sent to face the elves that are attempting to breach our defenses."

He ran his hand through his hair. "Not much has been said about Nine. But from what I could find, he was heading in the direction of Zangar. Possibly accompanied by a Trent and two Druids." He gave them a look of pity. "I wish you luck on your endeavor. Kill that b*****d, and you'll get yourselves a good long break."  

[Jokerman-EXE]

Osiris bowed his head in acknowledgment of the Grand Oak's words. "Thank you for your magnanimity, Grand Oak," the Druid said. "I ask only for information. I am on a mission that might bring me into contact with the one called Aeon. Great Tree, I ask for any information that you might have that would aid me; anything about this man or what he means. I know your roots run deep, and you must have heard something. Please, Grand Oak."

Osiris remained kneeling, now looking up beseechingly.  

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

DuPont was silent during the briefing which was rather... well, brief. Afterward he saluted and left with Trajan. Once outside, he sighed. This was a bit more than he had been expecting; they were to- without support- hunt down the deadliest Fae known to mankind and that Fae happened to be walking around with a Druid and Trents? This was quickly revealing itself to be more than two-man mission. But orders were orders, and the Dane wasn't one to shirk his duty to defend his people nor one to back down from a challenge- even those of a perilous nature.

"Zangar, then. Nothing but hostile territory between here and there and we don't even know if Saturnine is actually there. A poor situation. Any ideas?"
 

[Isa-sama]

The Grand Oak stared down at the group. He remained stoic while speaking to the others - even though they were allies, it seemed that Behemo hadn't forgotten the fighting between Aros and Ulla.

He turned to Ashling. he pointed at Nine, Ashling bowed.

The group turned to leave, and once they got outside, Ashling turned a furious eye on them. she told Nine, Looking at Osiris, she said, Looking at Zuberi (who'd now hidden behind Osiris), she said,

She'd have gone on about it, but something strange happened. She got stabbed in the arm by an arrow. She ripped out the arrow and noticed that it had writing on it. It was written in Trow language.

It read:
Trent. I need your protection. I cannot ask this of Aros, nor of my people. In return, I will give you information on Aeon. If you agree to this, meet me at the Northern edge of the city.

Trow

Ashling (who might have normally been irritated that someone used paper), looked at the group. Unfortunately. She passed the paper to the others to read.

---------
Phallo had been on the roof (rather far away). He'd meant to hit the ground in front of the Trent, but someone (Theridan) had broken his finger. "Please help me..."

He wouldn't have done this if it weren't for the death of his brother. Should Theridan go out to see his brother, he'd find nothing but the man's tongue resting on the table - the Trow sign for traitor. I can't be alone anymore. I need help.

----------

Before the two humans could leave, a small lanky man came running to them. "Wait!" He stopped in front of them to fix his glasses. "Sorry about that really brief meeting, but well, Major Kelso is about to meet with General Asmodius. It's getting really hectic in there..." He stopped to look at the two men. "I'm Private Jack Archer. I'm going to be helping you guys from here." He gave a weak smile. "You guys are going to need all the intel you can get."

He started looking through his pants and pulled out a map. "I don't know if you guys have a map of the place, but this is the latest edition of it. I also put some places that you might want to avoid - we've managed to find some of the villages the elves have, but it's not all of them." He gave it to DuPont.

He started to feel up his jacket and pulled out a walkie-talkie. "And this will give you access to me. We're on channel 3. If I hear of anything, I'll send it to you - and if you've any questions, you can contact me. And if things get really bad out there, we'll try to send you help and supplies. No promises on that though." He passed this off to Trajan. "Oh! One more thing," he pulled out a slip. "Here's a free pass to the armory - go there and stock up on ammo. It wouldn't be bad to go and get some food and the like. But you probably knew that."

He cleared his throat to stop himself from rambling. "Anyway, good luck to you." He saluted the two, and then started running back to the tent where Major Kelso was.  

[Jokerman-EXE]

Osiris was instantly ice-cold when he read the note. He had a horrible feeling that he knew what this was about.

"I'll get there first," Osiris said, passing his bag to Zuberi. "Zuberi, stay with Ashling, she'll keep you safe. Nine, you should arrive immediately after me; I imagine there will be loads of killing to be done, and soon. I'm off."

With a smile to Zuberi, Osiris transformed into a falcon and shot off towards the North end of town, tearing through the air quickly. He arrived and landed lightly, nerves and senses strained to the max as he looked around.

It was about then that he realized that there was no reason for them to get involved. They could get information other places, and they didn't owe the Trow anything!

Oh well. Too late now.  

[SiberDrac]

Well, that had gone rather decently. Nine was alive, but then again, that shouldn't have come as a surprise - so far, he was quite immortal. Behemo was firmly under his thumb, as well, at least from a psychological standpoint. As Nine allowed himself to be dismissed, he turned and waved cheerfully at Behemo, pantomiming drinking out of a goblet before catching the eye of a decidedly angry Trent and turning the motion into trumpet-playing. Complete with buzzing lips.

Outside, he was positively overjoyed at Ashling's attempted insult. He grabbed Osiris' shoulder and whispered, "Did you see? She said the highest degree!"

The arrow struck. Almost reflexively, Nine followed the wind pattern back through the air and located the shooter. A few tugs at the air to draw some from Phallo's position, and he sniffed. "Yeah, it's definitely a Trow. And he's afraid." Nine grinned happily. He had garnered quite a bit of experience with the peculiar aroma of fear sweat.

Aeon. Aeon. AeonAeonAeonAeonAeon

"Are we waiting? Why are we waiting? We need to go." He spoke over Osiris, just barely listening to him, and dashed off after the bird, pushing himself ahead with small bursts of wind for added speed. Ignoring the other two entirely, except for a small wave to Zuberi, he made it to the Northern gate as quickly as he could. Which, granted, was not that great even with the wind, but it was certainly faster than the tree could keep up with.  

[Isa-sama]

Phallo stared as the two Aros people ran off in the direction that the letter said. "Heh. So they fell for that." I managed to get them to leave. Too bad the kid stayed with the Trent. The note had been sent in hopes of getting the party away from Ashling - Trents weren't known for their speed.

He ran his wounded hand through his hair. "Time to meet 'em I guess." He ran across the roof tops and worked his way to Ashling. Once he met the tree, he held his hands up. "Peace, Trent. I am the one in need of your protection."

Ashling was ready to stomp after the two idiots, but then got stopped by the Trow. Huh. What a small world.

"Please, just hear me out. My brother," he choked up, "my brother is dead. And I know I'm next. I need someone to protect me. I'll--I'll lead you straight to him!" There was no need to say whom; he'd already stated it in the letter. "But I don't know if we can trust the other two. Nine and a Commander of the Druids. But if you swear to protect me, I swear to lead you to where you want to go."

Zuberi stared at the man. Ashling pushed the boy behind her (accidentally making him fall over). She faced the Trow again.

Phallo shrugged. "I have no idea. But please, help me. If not for me, do it for our kingdom." Ashling didn't do anything for a few minutes. Finally, she relented.

-------
By this time, Osiris and Nine realized they'd been tricked. There had been no Trow meeting them there. They ran back (including Osiris - understanding falcons were much different from understanding owls) to Ashling hoping that they hadn't missed any vital information.  

[Jokerman-EXE]

Osiris was stinging at being tricked, but it was partially acceptable due to the fact that he would still be able to complete his mission. After hearing what Ashling had to say, Osiris thought of something.

"Actually, I know where we can find the other Trow. I ran into him earlier." He glanced briefly at Phallo. "He can probably be persuaded to join us, if he's also a target. Just...what did you guys do?" he asked this last of Phallo.  

[Isa-sama]

Phallo stared at Osiris with distrust. "So you met up with him? He's still alive?" There was no reason for the Druid to lie. He chose to believe him, and stated, "He probably is. It might be good to have him along."

Ashling stared down at the Trow. Phallo stared up and said, "Take it easy, he knows nothing. I'm not changing our agreement at all." Trents valued promises greatly. It was dangerous to break one.

Phallo now turned to answer Osiris. "We...failed a mission, to say the least." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't what they were being hunted for. "So where's my fellow Trow?"

Zuberi ran to Osiris and clung onto the man.

((Zuberi is now being lent to Joe.))  

[Jokerman-EXE]

Osiris patted Zuberi on the head. "I'll protect this little one. And I don't really think that we'll need to protect the other one; he's very proficient. If anything, he'll help to protect us. And I saw him at the Tavern," he said to Phallo.

He paused. "Now...wait a minute. You failed a mission, and you're being murdered for it? What mission?" He looked rather coldly at the Trow; it was rather obvious that he wouldn't trust the Trow until he got the full story.