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 Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 8:19 pm
No one needed to get hurt? Xelloss chuckled darkly at that as if it were a joke. The humans had shamed him, his family, and all mazoku. They would get hurt, whether or not Renna liked it. He considered telling her that and pushing the issue, but decided not to. It was best to keep things simple until he was back with the advantage again. He'd use her for her bird and planning now, and kill the humans as he liked after.
"So your plan is to have the birds distract humans while we break loose the captives. How many captives, exactly? All of them? And we just hope that the entire human herd doesn't come back to attack while we're carrying this out?" He shook his head. He knew himself to be a good fighter, but he didn't think he could kill an entire herd of prepared humans without help. They were soft and easily handled on their own, but remarkably dangerous in a group with their improvised weaponry.
The plan would certainly work if they were just looking to save their own, but not if Lorenna was trying to suggest they play the heroes.
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 7:20 am
Lorenna didn't like the way Xelloss chuckled, that sound never meant anything good. She would have to keep a close watch on him. "Yes, all of the captives. Why would I leave anyone to suffer in the hands of slavers?" She countered irritably. If she left some behind to suffer than she was no better than one of those humans that reduced her kind to hollow husks. She wouldn't mention the others, of which there were five, to Xelloss. They were most certainly soquili but they acted like common beasts of burden. They had lost whatever was inside them that made them them a long time ago. Scars had formed over wounds and they stayed close to the humans. It was not in her power to save them no matter how she wished she could. Nothing deserved that fate.
"Only seven of the nine are tied. Five are only bound by a single rope and a muzzle strap and we can worry about the muzzle binding later. I've seen kalona tails bite through skin, muscle and even bone. I've watched Othelia feed and seen how her teeth rip through even the toughest sinew. Are you trying to tell me that you don't think you can handle this? What kind of kalona are you?" She was playing against his pride now. She knew he had it, no one that carried himself like Xelloss did was pride-less.
"The birds will work to drive the guards away from the rest of their kind. I will make sure the gate is wide open as well as ensure that everyone runs with some sense and stays calm in your presence. You have another child hanging about. If you're concerned bring him as well. This can be done and one way or another it will be done." Lorenna spoke with authority and she hoped somewhere deep in Xelloss everything registered itself as a good and doable plan. Without Xelloss it would take time to find another way to cut the ropes quickly. Sneaking them out one by one didn't seem fair. She needed his cooperation but a little over half of her was still expecting him to take the information, free his children and leave everyone else to rot.
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 11:49 am
As if reading Lorenna's mind and seeing her insecurities, Xelloss stated his own caveat. "If you want to play nice and free everyone, fine. But I'm letting go my kin first." If they had to retreat and leave some of the captives there, it wouldn't be his children. While he wasn't pleased at the idea of freeing more soquili than he needed to, another part of him acknowledged it.
If anyone was going to torment soquili into lassitude it would be the mazoku, not the humans. The humans had no right to steal prey that was rightfully theirs.
"And need him or not, Xellra is coming." Xelloss finally addressed his son, who stood silent on the outskirts. "He left his brothers, so it's his job to come and rescue them again." A thought occurred to him, a little something else to jab at her with. "I'm sure it'll be easy for you to recognize my children. After all, you know the mother." Xelloss smirked and gave his wings a small flutter. "They have their mother's little wings, you know."
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 12:26 pm
Lorenna nodded her head in understanding of Xelloss's choice. Of course he'd free them first. It wasn't remotely surprising. She just hoped that this wasn't some confirmation that he was just going to do everything she worried he would. "They can help too then." Not long after the words left her mouth Lorenna's brain shut down. Had Xelloss just said what she thought he said? She knew their mother? The image of a golden-eyed face popped into her mind and with it a wave of nausea washed over her.
"Othelia?" She managed to say weakly. That was the only one he could mean. Lorenna knew many creatures but few with wings and even fewer that would stand with Xelloss. Lorenna needed to be sick but that would have to wait for another time. "Regardless..." Her voice broke slightly so she cleared her throat. "We have a short trek ahead of us so we should get morning. It would be best to strike at night when most the humans are abed." With a quick flick of her tail Lorenna turned from Xelloss and headed north to walk just to the side of the thick forest trees. As soon as she approached no less than 65 birds took off to follow overhead. Lorenna smiled, her scouts were with her. At least if Xelloss tried anything she would have a head start to deal with it. Her new allies had already been instructed to keep an eye on the kalona after all.
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 12:45 pm
He was pleased by her reaction to that bit of news. How it must gall her to know that her friend betrayed her so completely. Othelia really did make for a fine mazoku, to be capable of that. "A little night mission sounds lovely to me." He glanced sideways to Xellra. "Come along, then."
With Xellra, they moved towards the human encampment. Xellra looked like he wanted to ask questions, but a glance from Xelloss stilled his tongue. There would be plenty of time for questions later. For now they would work together in their uneasy alliance. Once the mission was complete they could get back to their own business...
And that business was revenge.
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 1:24 pm
---------------------------------
They had all reached the human encampment early in the night. There was a little wait before the majority of the humans were asleep and in that time Lorenna had shrunken down and stolen away to converse with the birds away from the kalona. She was certain that Xelloss had some tricks so it would be best to keep some of her own up her sleeve. The first being to not listen to Xelloss or his kin at all after the escape but if he called for help during they were to assist. After he would be on his own. The second being a code word to let them all know to flee no matter what was happening. The third was a word to let them know that the kalona had turned and needed to be stopped, it would mean to the birds 'aim for the eyes.'
She would work with Xelloss. She would help him launch stealthy plans, an area that he seemed to fall a bit short,. She would keep look out for guards. She would never, however, trust him. She'd already learned that lesson and didn't need reteaching. After precautions had been set in place and scouts sent to watch the humans Lorenna landed back on the ground and took on her normal size to conserve energy.
Nearly two hours passed before a series of sharp whistles reached Lorenna's ears. "It's time." Lorenna said loud enough for Xelloss and his son to hear. Lorenna didn't need to say a word to the rest of the birds, they had already left their trees and were flying in four groups, one for each of the guards. "Let's go!" Right after she spoke her body shrank down to a size not too different from a sparrow's and she flew into the sky to join the birds. In the inky blackness of the night her dark form vanished from view except when she blocked out the light of the stars.
She followed the birds into the camp and watched as they flew directly at the faces of the drowsy guards. Alarmed the guards stumbled blindly backwards, toward the trees, swatting at the birds. Any time one tried to call for help a bird would silence them with a stone, a twig, anything else they could find or even their own bodies. It was a strange sight to see and likely nothing humans had ever encountered before but she had no time to admire. Her job right now was to figure out the locking mechanism on the gate.
As soon as she saw it she wanted to beat her head into something. It wasn't locked. The gate was only closed by two ropes, one looped over the top and a second loosely tied at the base. She returned to her full size and pulled at the ropes to open the gate. The two that weren't bound were probably that way due to some form of inherent stupidity.
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 6:40 pm
Xelloss and Xellra flashed through the gate the moment it was open. The birds were causing quite the problem for the humans. It was amazing how purely annoying such small and seemingly harmless creatures could be in a large enough group. Xelloss would have tried to think of a metaphor for that if he hadn't been so thoroughly occupied.
The smell of soquili was thick in the air. It didn't take long to find the captives, but in the rush of the moment it felt like much longer than it was. Xelloss saw a soquili bound by the muzzle. Somehow, the soquili seemed frightened rather than grateful that two kalonas had appeared to rescue them. Smart creature. Xellra looked like he might stop by the first bound soquili, but a sharp rap of Xelloss' tail got him moving again.
"There!" hissed Xelloss. He had spotted Tythoss and Zelcion tied to a tree, as Lorenna had said. "Free Tythoss!" Xelloss himself rushed to Zelcion's side, preparing to bite some ropes.
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 7:04 pm
Zelcion couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. He wasn't even sure what was more shocking the fact that his dad had managed to find them or that he had bothered to come for them at all, with Xellra too! He made a few muffled noises trying to figure everything out but the rope wound around his mouth was stopping him from actually speaking.
Lorenna followed Xelloss and Xellra into the pen stopping to make sure the gate stayed open. Immediately she recognized the fear in the eyes of all the captured soquili as well as hope two pairs of very familiar bright green eyes. Lorenna felt her chest swell with relief to see that the twins, while frightened and clinging to each other as much as possible, were completely unharmed. She smiled at them but didn't move from where she stood. She could check on the twins later. It was more important to calm the others now.
"Everyone please listen, believe it or not these kalona are going to free you. As soon as your bonds are cut you must run." As Lorenna spoke, in hushed tones, she moved away from the gate and slowly wound her way to the twins passing by as many of the soquili as she could. "Do not wait for anyone else. We will free everyone tonight but you must get yourself to safety before worrying about the others. Hanging around will only put everyone in danger." Lorenna took a breath and looked around at the captive audience. They still seemed nervous, an appropriate reaction, but not like they were about to panic. "Those of you that are not tied, run now. The others will follow! My birds can only keep the guards occupied for so long."
The moment she finished her speech the two soquili bolted, thankfully in the right direction away from the humans. They had some sense after all. Quickly she looked to the birds to see how they fared. It looked like they were starting to ware out after the long day and all the energy spent taking on humans. Still no back up came for the humans which was a good sign.
"Xelloss how is it coming?" She asked finally reaching the twins who immediately leaned up against her legs.
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 7:27 pm
"It's coming just fine!" Xelloss found the fibers between his teeth distasteful but it didn't stop him from biting loose Zelcion. He saw that Xellra was doing the same with Tythoss nearby. He scanned over the two of them. They both looked some levels of injured, but nothing serious. They could potentially help free other captives, but Xelloss didn't trust them to get anything done right. Though they were still muzzled, they were untied now. That was good enough.
"You two!" he hissed at them. "Get out of here! Leave the humans!"
Tythoss was just as personally just as surprised as his brother that Xelloss hadn't left them there to rot. It was humiliating to go running off muzzled and injured, but he didn't see an alternative. His snarl was choked off by the muzzle as he started running off. Dark blood glistened on his hide from where the humans had stabbed at him and each step pained him. He had been defeated by Lorenna before, but that didn't come close to what he felt now.
"Now, the others."
Xelloss had stopped thinking of it as helping strangers so much as harming the humans. They wanted to use Soquili as beasts of burden? He would deny them that. He would make this trip and the danger they faced utterly worthless. His spiteful heart would demand nothing less.
He bit through more bonds and commanded Xellra to do the same. He had to smack one of the captives to make them stop twisting in fear, but he even they were soon running free. He spared some attention for Lorenna and noticed her precious twins running away, safe and sound. He felt a stab of regret that he hadn't thought to send Tythoss and Zelcion after them, but it was too late for that.
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Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 6:52 am
Zelcion couldn't believe what he was hearing. They were to leave the humans alive? What had happened to their father? Had he been brainwashed by this flutter mare? Zelcion recognized her from that herd. Had she wormed her way into their father's mind like she had with that herd? He couldn't ask, his father had left his mouth bound shamefully. Zelcion glared at Xelloss but couldn't say or do anything so he ran off after his brother. He would deal with this later.
Lorenna watched anxiously as each captive was freed and didn't bother scolding Xelloss for smacking one of the more frightened ones. There wasn't any time for it and even she would deem the action necessary. Before long the pen was empty except for the rescue team. She looked to her birds for the thousandth time and saw their efforts were starting to lose against those of the humans. "Time to go!" She said sharply running for the gate. The birds, hearing her call started to pull back little by little. By Lorenna's calculations the birds' method would give the three of them just enough of a head start so that the humans wouldn't be able to catch up.
Lorenna did not turn around to see if Xelloss and Xellra were behind her. She knew they would be or perhaps in the air. They wouldn't get caught and if they did she knew they'd just kill the humans. That thought made her turn her head quickly to check that they actually were behind her and not on some mission to slaughter everyone. In the distance she could hear the humans calling for help.
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:04 pm
Xellra flapped over the fence while Xelloss bounded back through the gate. It was done. Captives were freed and humans were disrupted. Looking back over his shoulder one last time at the ruined enclosure, he suddenly locked eyes with a human.
Though Xelloss was no expert at reading human emotions, he was fairly certain that it was rage blazing in those dark eyes. Xelloss slowed for long enough to let the human know that there was recognition. They were both thinking, reasoning, and likely quite cunning beasts. Xelloss could respect that in an adversary, but that didn't make him merciful. The humans had overstepped their bounds. If they didn't remember that they should fear kalonas, it was time to give them a reminder.
He thought about lingering and saying a few final words to Lorenna, but decided against it. He had his children to deal with for now. He changed his course slightly, veering away from Lorenna and soon out of sight, Xellra following him. First he would teach his children a lesson. Then, the humans.
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Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 11:20 am
Lorenna's blood ran cold when she realized what she was looking at. Xelloss was watching a human and the human was watching him back. Not good. Lorenna turned sharply preparing to run back and intervene if she needed to but Xelloss was leaving. His son was in the sky and he was running away. The humans would live. The second she was certain that Xelloss was on his way out she turned and continued to run eager to locate the freed captives. She only managed to locate two: Fletcher and Thatcher.
She found the twins behind a large rock with Fletcher trying to work Thatcher's muzzle off with his cloven hooves. Lorenna had to admire the level of trust Thatcher was displaying to let those sharp little hooves so close to his eyes but she had the sense to interrupt before any accidents happened. "Come here you two. Let me get those off." Lorenna managed to get the ropes binding their mouths off with a combination of gnawing and pulling. For once in her life she found herself wishing that her teeth were sharper. Once the twins were free Lorenna moved out from around the rocks. It didn't look like she had been followed by humans, only birds."Lorenna?" Fletcher started quietly, his voice cracking from the dryness of his mouth. "Can we go now?" He was worn out from the days events and while he was pretty sure that Lorenna couldn't see it he could feel his legs shaking. He wanted to be brave for his brother though. Thatcher was showing no signs of fear. His jaw was set stubbornly and his brows were low in anger but Fletcher could see no fear. Fletcher would be the same way. "We can in just a moment. There is one thing I need to do first." Lorenna kept her voice soft for the benefit of the twins. They'd had a trying day and night that was entirely because of her. If she had never found them, if she had never brought them with her, then none of this would have happened. She had dragged them into her troubles but it was something she would have to worry over later. Now she needed to secure the area.
Turning to the birds she took on her usual business like demeanor, "We need to set up a perimeter around those humans. We can't let them catch any more of us. They aren't at all like the Kawani in the east. Will you help us with this?"
------------------------------
Negotiations lasted until dawn but the birds eventually agreed. It was no easy task for them, a fact Lorenna respected, but it was still crucial that the area was safe for soquili kind. Soquili were not slaves, if they lived with humans than it should be their choice. Not just soquili though, all animals. Life did not deserve to be caged, not like that. Seeing the real need led the birds to consent with promise from Lorenna that she would send agents to check in and see if they ever required anything on a regular basis. It was a fair deal.
With that settled she roused the twins and departed to go check in with Hisoka, Torao, Sabella and hopefully their daughter Uwasa. Xelloss had been handled for now but she had not forgotten about the operative she had sent into the jungle that to her knowledge was missing. There was also the matter of teaching all the birds on the network codewords so they couldn't be used again. Lorenna sighed, this truly was a thankless task but she was certain that it was worth it. It could make the land safer for everyone. Her eyes wandered down to the twins dragging their feet sleepily along at her side.
Perhaps not everyone. Doing this had painted a target on her back and also on the backs of those closest to her. She frowned. There was no helping that. All she could do was take it one step at a time and fight to keep them safe.
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