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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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 Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 9:32 pm
Zebulon had been enjoying his time not being outside in the cold bird chaos when he was approached by a very nervous looking older woman who cleared her throat to get his attention. While he was tempted to just ignore it because he really didn't want to go back outside, he figured there was a reason why he was being addressed, so he turned his attention to her and let her speak. Apparently, her daughter was missing and she hadn't seen her, but was unable to get out of the hotel to go find her. He had a shield, at least, so maybe he could protect himself and hopefully her daughter once he found her? He asked vaguely if she knew where her daughter was, and after a general direction was given, he said he'd at least try--because he couldn't just let a normal civilian die out there, right?--and went off to find a certain Diryas, probably the most obvious partner for him on this mission. When he found him, Zebulon offered a, "Might wanna bundle back up. Apparently some mother lost her daughter and she wants me to go find her." 'Me,' of course, meant 'us,' because not only was Zebulon not going out there by himself, he was fairly sure Diryas wouldn't let him wander off too far by himself anyway.
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Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 9:48 pm
Diryas' frame didn't exactly lend itself well to heat retention, so he was also fairly loathe to go back out into the bitter cold. Zebulon's suggestion was met with one arched eyebrow. On the one hand, he wanted to stay right where he was, where he could be out of the wind. On the other hand... they were here to help. It was their job, and Diryas was not about to slack on his responsibilities. And Zebulon's hunch was right--in no way was Diryas about to let Zebulon go off on his own. Getting to the hotel separated was one thing, but now that they were fairly entrenched in birds... he'd rather not risk it. Did it occur to him that Zebulon's shield and size made him better armed against the bird onslaught than himself with a whip? Absolutely. Did he care? Not really. He shrugged his coat back on and began to fasten the buttons and zippers. He left the wrist snaps until after he had put his boots and gloves back on, murmuring something unkind under his breath when his feet hit the wetness in the bottom of his boots. The snow that had gotten into them had melted, but had not evaporated or warmed very much. He was going to have to deal with it, he supposed, wriggling his toes a bit and fighting a shiver. He didn't move immediately once bundled--Diryas wanted to build as much warmth on the inside of his gear as he could. It would slow down the slow leeching of it by the cold outside. But after a minute or two, he turned his head to Zebulon as he reached for his gear, whip included. "Which way?"
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Seiana_ZI rolled 1 4-sided dice:
3
Total: 3 (1-4)
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 9:51 pm
Zebulon sympathized with the eyebrow quirk and, honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that he was disinclined to let someone die out there if they could legitimately help, he probably would have rejected the thought of going back outside right at the moment. Ugh. Once he got his shield properly fastened back onto his back, he gestured for Diryas to follow him as he headed towards the door that would most quickly get them in the right direction. The faster they got this done, the quicker they could come back inside and maybe find some blankets to bundle up into. Their Southerner bodies weren't built for this lack of heat-- Birds. Of course there were birds. Zebulon peeked his head outside, looking for some way to avoid this particularly angry looking swarm. (Not that they didn't always seem angry.) It was then he saw it -- the birds were not entirely clumped and had left a bit of a clearing where the two of them could make it through. Ducking down a bit so as to not draw attention, he grasped Diryas' hand and quickly moved through the clearance in the bird swarm.
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Amasis rolled 1 4-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-4)
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 6:39 am
Diryas was honestly going to be happy if he didn't see another flock of birds for quite a good while. He also considered this swarm to look particularly angry and was loathe to run through them and figure out exactly how much angrier they were than the previous swarms. But they didn't have a choice, and so he looked for a break in the birds. He found the gap at roughly the same time Zebulon did, and reached for Zebulon's hand the same time Zebulon reached for his. Ordinarily, he would have insisted on running alone--he was not a child--but the last thing they needed was either one of them getting separated like they had on the way to the lodge in the first place. It would leave Zebulon without a dedicated weapon, and Diryas without much protection beyond what his clothing would afford him. He was not counting on that being very much. They darted through the gap with enough clearance to escape injury and out into the mountain slopes themselves. He was relieved to note that the birds did not opt to follow and harass them. "Any particular way?" Diryas released Zebulon's hand to gesture to the snow in front of them.
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Seiana_ZI rolled 1 8-sided dice:
1
Total: 1 (1-8)
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 3:10 pm
Once Zebulon was actually through the birds, he remembered how samey giant piles of snow looked to him. Very samey. "Uh, that way? I think?" Zebulon pointed in a direction that sort of resembled what the mother was talking about, and headed that way. Little did he know, he was definitely going in a dramatically incorrect direction and was not terribly likely to find anyone where he was going. Maybe Diryas would have a bit more luck...
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Amasis rolled 1 8-sided dice:
5
Total: 5 (1-8)
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 7:07 pm
As it turned out, Diryas didn't have any better luck than Zebulon in finding their way. They were decidedly going the wrong direction. Time to go back to the start, see if there was a marker they missed. There was no one and nothing of any significant interest this way. Birds. There were birds! It was Diryas' turn to grab Zebulon's hand and turn to run, this time back towards the hotel.
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Seiana_ZI rolled 1 4-sided dice:
3
Total: 3 (1-4)
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 7:32 pm
Zebulon let himself be pulled away by Diryas because birds were the worst. At least, these mechanical messes they called birds were the worst. He had no interest in dealing with any more of their poisonous excrement-- When they made it back to the hotel, Zebulon shook himself out before peeking back outside. Alright. They just needed to find another opening to get themselves out of this mess. There had to be one around there somewhere-- There! Zebulon spotted the opening and pointed it out before grabbing Diryas and running through the hole once again.
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Amasis rolled 1 8-sided dice:
7
Total: 7 (1-8)
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 7:39 pm
Through the hole again, and back into the woods again. This time, Diryas saw someone moving through the trees and moved for them as quickly as he could. They matched the description, and...! It was the daughter. Thank everything holy. He didn't know how to explain to her who they were, so he didn't even try. "You're missed. Follow us."
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Seiana_ZI rolled 1 8-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-8)
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 7:58 pm
That was ... lucky. Zebulon noted that this time, Diryas managed to come across the woman they were looking for without too much effort. Maybe she had heard them ruffling around and came out of hiding or something... Zebulon took another glance around just to make sure there were no other civilians trying to hide themselves in this area. A quick look told him enough: There clearly weren't. Time to get this poor girl back to her worrying mother.
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Amasis rolled 1 4-sided dice:
3
Total: 3 (1-4)
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 8:06 pm
Adrenaline had certainly kicked in for Diryas, and the return trip seemed to go much quicker than the trip out. He kept a close eye on the girl they were rescuing, making sure that the birds didn't see them or her on their way back. He reached the hotel first, safely even, and gestured for her and Zebulon to follow once he'd unlatched a door they'd be able to duck into. They were so close that Diryas wanted to do everything he could to make sure it went smoothly.
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Seiana_ZI rolled 1 4-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-4)
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 8:17 pm
Zebulon kept a close eye on the woman himself, though he was walking backwards with his shield up to try and fight off the birds if he had to, especially considering they probably had to go back through the area that had a circling swarm of birds earlier... Thankfully, they seemed to have no trouble getting through the birds, this time. Perhaps they had calmed down a bit? Or they were afraid of his shield. He had killed one of the mechanical s**t birds with it already. Maybe they could smell the death-- Doubtful. He ushered the woman inside and pointed her to her mother, who opened her arms as the woman ran to her and cried. It was touching enough, even if Zebulon wasn't one for all those emotional things, and he leaned towards Diryas and said, "Well, at least we managed to do something of use here." One less civilian out in the cold, bird-infested Swiss Alps.
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