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 Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 2:00 pm
 Where: The Spiral Eye When: The second night of the hunt
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 2:35 pm
The way was not getting any easier. They had not had much more trouble with the wildlife, but the tunnels they travelled through had become darker and narrower. The brambles were so thick, it was impossible to see what may have been on the other side. Kursha hated it. He valued the open air, where he could study the landscape and pick his target from a distance. Here he felt like a squeakbeast scurrying through a maze, vulnerable to ambush. Extending his rifle, Kursha used the barrel to nudge aside a curtain of nettles. Without thinking, he passed under them and let them fall back into place. His mind was more occupied by the potential danger ahead than on the frilly seadweller behind him.
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:37 pm
Lorata glanced back the way they'd come, wondering how far they'd come from where they'd started. The path was so narrow and the tunnel the brambles made so dark that she wouldn't have been able to tell even if she could have seen past MeduMa. It felt like it had been far, though, or at least like it would be once they were done. Stepping carefully, she moved in a little closer to Kursha, who seemed determined to keep moving through as quickly as possible. A hero on a quest didn't have time to think of what he'd left behind, she supposed!
"Hey, Captain, do you think-" Whatever she'd been about to ask of the greenblood disappeared with a rush of nettles, sliding around as if out of nowhere to surround her. The seadweller gave a startled shriek, suddenly sure that the plants in the swamp had decided to attack them themselves somehow, and she immediately dashed forward to escape the stinging that came with every brush of a leaf. Unfortunately, in such a narrow pathway, her escape route inevitably sent her crashing full force right into Kursha.
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2015 3:44 pm
“Hm?” Kursha turned to address the seadweller when he heard a shriek, and then something crashed into him from behind. He tumbled forward. Yelping as his balance was thrown, he splashed face-down into the mud, rifle and all. Something landed heavily on his back a second later. Swamp water filled his mouth. He twisted, rolling out from under whatever or whoever was on top of him, and came up coughing. A jet of water exited his mouth. “What the hell?!” Kursha snapped, after he had recovered. He wiped the mud from his face, and glared over at the seadweller. She was just as dirty as he was. Scowling, Kursha kneeled down felt his way through the mud. A moment later his fingers found the slick metal of the rifle's barrel. He pulled it out with a wet pop. “I almost shot you,” he grumbled, wiping down the weapon with a filthy sleeve. It would be a miracle if it still worked.
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Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 9:19 pm
For a split second, Lorata thought she'd reached safety and, though a little stunned by the force of their crash, she was able to latch on to the back of Kursha's jacket. The last thing she expected was falling, and she was only barely aware of landing on top of him before she was deposited into the mud with a disgusting splash. The seadweller flailed, fins flaring, and came up coughing out the disgusting, mucky water. Oh God, now it was even all in her hair.
Grimacing, she glanced up at the Captain and was immediately startled by his glare. Her eyes narrowed. "Don't blame it on me!" She piped up defensively, settling on her knees and lifting an arm to point at the horrible nettles. "They attacked me!" She didn't turn her glare on them until afterwards, and was about to continue on when she realized that they weren't...really doing anything. They didn't look alive at all, did they?
No wait! That one was definitely moving! She tensed, flight or flight taking hold, but it was only one of MeduMa's heads pushing through to peer at them, the nettles sliding harmlessly over its scales. "It...It really was."
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 2:39 pm
At the seadweller's reply, Kursha's temper fizzled and burned out. Quirking an eyebrow as she directed his attention towards the nettles, he felt a spark of amusement. To think something so harmless had rattled her. Even if she knocked him face-down in the mud, he could not bring himself to be angry. Her petulance was too endearing. Satisfied that he had gotten most of the gunk out, Kursha stood and strapped the rifle back over his back. Wading through the water over to Lorata, he stooped down and offered her a hand, accompanied by a smirk. “They can sense fear, you know,” he said pulling her to her feet. “Not hurt, are you?”
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 9:43 pm
Lorata glanced again at the nettles as MeduMa slipped through them and then back to Kursha, face going purple. "I'm not scared," she protested, taking his hand and allowing him to help her to her feet. "Or hurt either! I was only caught off guard." She attempted to brush some of the mud off of herself, flicking another vaguely embarrassed glance up at him. "Anyway, you're supposed to warn me about these things since you're going first, you know!" Maybe he just wasn't used to heroing with an escort, so she'd forgive him this time.
"Here, I'll do it this time! As soon as I see anything, I'll tell you first thing!" Nodding to herself, because yes, this made perfect sense, she turned to start them back on their way. It simply didn't occur to her that with their height difference, he could still see things just as soon as she did, if not sooner. Which was a good thing, because despite her determination to be the best lookout, it wasn't long before she was glancing back over her shoulder at him. "It's too bad we aren't really in a game though, don't you think? I'd just turn them all to stone before they even looked at us!"
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:02 pm
Kursha snorted with amusement. The seadweller was trying so hard and frankly it made it hard for him to stay annoyed with her. “Sure thing,” he relented, throwing her a salute. “I'll watch your back.” As she turned away on him, Kursha broke into a wide grin. The fact that she thought she could be useful was adorable. What could she see that he could not with his vision? While the going was easy however, he saw no reason to deny her some limelight. Scoping out the territory over the young seadweller's head, Kursha set off at a lazy saunter. The brief exchange had relieved some of the tension that had been eating away at him since leaving camp and though he was still alert, his sour mood had temporarily dissipated. “Turn them to stone, huh?” Kursha repeated, boots squelching through the mud. “Might be hard to haul them back like that.”Up ahead in the distance, there was a faint glow. In the shadows of a thick nettle, a cluster of fireflies milled about.
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Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 3:16 pm
"But they wouldn't be able to run!" Lorata stumbled a little as her shoe caught in the mud again, and had to start looking forward again to watch her step a little closer. "We could just call in some drones to collect them, and then once we had them all locked up, I'd change them back for you." She nodded, imagining the scenario happily. "And then you could, um...Say, why did you want to take them alive anyway? Did you just want extra time to think up really good ways to kill them? Have you got any yet?"
A little flash of light caught her eye, and then another, and she brightened at the sight of the firefly cluster. They were so pretty! She hadn't known this awful swamp could be pretty! "Captain, look!" She glanced back at him again as she pointed, flashing a smile and giving a little giggle because this was exactly what she'd meant. She'd seen a thing and now she was telling him!
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2015 4:02 pm
“Oh…?” Kursha made a show of peering around the seadweller. He had already spotted the fireflies, but there was no harm in letting her claim the discovery. Her enthusiasm was infectious too. Ordinarily he would not have regarded them with more than wary curiosity, but she seemed so delighted he gave them a second look. “Good find,” he said, happy to indulge her. He considered her earlier question, turning over her words in his mind. It had been an impulse decision, born out of rage. Even now, though his temper was temporarily abated, he felt the creeping thirst for vengeance. Kill them. Maim them. Use them. Humilate them. Crush their spirit, and beat them into submission. He would win, and he would make sure that they knew it. “Kill them? Sure,” Kursha said, slogging behind Lorata. They were nearing the bramble with the fireflies. “A few are worth more alive than dead though. They just need a little… persuasion.”KitsuneAura Next event coming up soon!
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 8:58 pm
Lorata mulled over that as they approached the fireflies, sorting through what he might mean. Why would they be worth more alive? Maybe they still had information he or the queen wanted? That would make sense, right? Persuasion would just mean torture, then. But maybe he meant something else too? The question bubbled up and, in the habit of speaking her mind without second thought already, she let it. "So...do you think maybe some of them could realize they're on the wrong side?"
Obviously people who went against the queen needed to be culled, but maybe some of them had been tricked? Who knew what kind of horrible things a villainous mutantblood might be capable of? And she was sure she'd seen some higher bloods fighting drones in the caves, so... "I mean, I have a friend sorta like that. I thought she was the worst, but then one day she realized how awful she was and apologized to me. Now she's gonna be a hero one day, like you!"
She glanced back and up to judge his expression. "Do you think there's anyone like that?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 1:52 pm
“Hm? That's a surprise,” Kursha mused. “She did that all on her own, huh?” In his experience, people did not change. Too many of them were stuck in their old habits and were unwilling to embrace a different perspective. How often had he tried—and failed—to get Luxara to see things his way? Vremea? Ganyma? No matter what he did it was useless. They were too slow or too stubborn to reroute their thinking. And yet even now he dared to give them another chance. “There might be a few.” He responded at last. “I'm not sure, but they deserve the benefit of the doubt, right? After all, I used to be one of them.” He flashed Lorata a grin. Let her chew on that for a bit. They had reached the bramble of fireflies. As they passed by the thorny tangle, Kursha caught a colourful glint out of the corner of his eye. He paused. “Hey. Wait.” Crouching down, he peered between the vines. Half floating in the mire beneath the bush was a satchel. The glint he had seen passing by must have been the silver clip on the front. He looked back over to Lorata, thoughtful. The opening in the thorns was too small for him to squeeze through. “You think you could make it?”
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Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 2:16 pm
"Well," Lorata drew out, considering, "I guess she did have a bit of help." Their little fight at Bloodfest was all water under the bridge now, of course, because now they were friends and Aerona was going to be a hero. But she was sure the Captain would think badly of the redblood if she explained how awful she'd been before the apology, and that wouldn't be fair to Aerona at all if they ever met. Best to leave it at that, then, and see what else he had to say.
She nodded immediately as they moved along, content that he'd agreed with her point of view, and then paused as his last sentence suddenly really caught up to her. Her expression shifted into one of pure confusion. "W-wait, you were-!?" She cast back in her memory to the caves, to that stand off before the fighting had started in earnest, and tried to picture him standing on the other side with all those enemies and that mutant, but she just couldn't.
It was one thing to know that Aerona had been awful before she'd been a friend, but despite everything they'd just said it still felt like something else entirely for her Captain to have been a villain before he was a hero. She shook her head. Maybe he was just teasing her. He'd probably been on the queen's side the whole time but had acted like he wasn't for a little while because it was one of those secret missions that Regina hadn't been able to tell her about.
As she let that settle in as the truth she was going to accept, she belatedly realized he was asking her to do something. Quickly moving back over to the brambles to look, she blinked at the satchel, considered the thorny vines all around the opening with a little frown, and then nodded determinedly. "I bet I can." She tugged her goggles down over her eyes as he got out of the way to let her through, then gave him a quick thumbs up before bending to make the attempt.
The immediate result, of course, was stinging. Murmuring little 'ow ow ow's with increasing volume as they stacked up, she stretched out her hand to grab at the satchel. The sooner she got it and got out, the better!
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 4:58 pm
As Lorata plunged into the thicket, fireflies milling about over her head, Kursha kept a watchful eye on their surroundings. If the satchel belonged to one of the fleeing rebels, then he was on the right track. They might even still be close by. Ignoring Lorata's punctuated cries behind him, Kursha considered the next move from his opponents' perspective. The obvious choice would be to keep moving. The smart choice would be to wait in ambush... His gaze wandered from the water-logged path up to the treetops. He had only just activated his crosshairs however, when he returned his attention to Lorata, where she fumbled around in the bramble. With a resigned chuckle, he allowed his pupils to shrink back to ovals. As if the rebels would lay a trap. Such tactics were beyond them. Like the spineless, weak-minded halfwits that they were, they would run until they had no where left to go. Suddenly Kursha heard a distinct popping sound. In less than a second he had unhitched his rifle from his shoulder and flicked off the safety. In the same moment, all the fireflies dispersed. He had no time to wonder why. The mud let out a burp and a gout of flame shot up from beneath Lorata. Cursing, Kursha tossed his rifle aside, tore off his jacket, and began to beat the flames out.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 5:52 pm
The very same moment her hand closed around the satchel, Lorata heard the distinct pop. The sense of something wrong was overwhelming and, before she'd even made the conscious decision to do so, she was retreating back the way she had come, satchel clutched close to her chest. And then the mud burbled up and there was fire- why was everything always catching fire!? She shrieked and picked up the pace, crashing back out at Kursha's feet.
The trip out of the thorns had been quicker than the trip in, but still not quite quick enough to avoid catching a little flame herself. Luckily, it had only caught a drier section of the satchel (amazing, considering how long it must've been in the mud, really), which had been closer to the flame spurt. Between a frantic roll in the mud and Kursha's quick but equally startling reaction to the fire, it was quickly taken care of. As soon as she could, the seadweller pulled herself to her feet, stared miserably down at the satchel, and then shoved it towards her hero.
"I hate swamps," she announced emphatically, and then turned to march ahead, eager to put distance between herself and the apparently fire-belching mud. There was drier ground on the path up ahead, she could see it, and she was going to walk there instead of in this horrible muck for as long as she could, she didn't even care if the Captain didn't like it for some reason. "I hate them, I hate them, I hate-"
There was another sudden yelp and then she was gone, swallowed up by the ground beneath her feet.
Green Minuet I hope you like being a hero, Kursha.
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