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 Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 1:29 am
As Cara walked back across the dunes, she sorted the new information in her head into something that at least resembled order. Was it really possible that just a short while ago she'd been rolling her eyes at her mother's bathrobe? She smiled a little. Well... yes.
She was relieved to find that the Paladin she'd confronted earlier was no where to be found, and though some part of her wondered why he would leave his post unattended, the rest of her didn't much care. Completely uninterested in dinner for the first time in a long while, she made her way back to the tent and slipped into the dark interior, taking great pains to be as soundless as possible as she made her blind way over to her bedroll.
After settling herself, she started unlacing her boots, only to pause; what if she had to make a sudden break for it in the middle of the night? After a second, she shook her head sharply and continued. There was no way she was sleeping in combat boots. She did, however, retrieve her little revolver from her bag before climbing under the covers. She knew it wouldn't do much good in an actual fight, but it was a comfort thing; knowing she could quickly lay her hand on a weapon would make it easier to fall asleep. Placing the gun beside her, she snuggled down into her pillow and waited for drowsiness to overtake her.
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Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:36 pm
Alaric couldn't tell if he heard any screams. The sound of the impact was too loud to tell. There were now four paladins confronting the beast, but they seemed unable to gain any ground. They all stood back, taking shots where they could, but they didn't seem to do anything. Red beams lit the area, shedding light on what the creature was. As he had suspected, it looked human, but... Deformed. Mutated. It was dressed in bits of scrap metal armor, though it didn't seem to even need it. It carried a spiked ball on a huge chain. For every shot one of the paladins took, it came back with a massive swing.
The first paladin got caught in the head, and looked to be killed instantly. Alaric couldn't imagine anyone living after having their head taken off. The second got hit in the chest, and was sent flying into another one. He didn't look like he lived for that long either. The third and fourth looked demoralized at this point, and seemed to be retreating slowly. Alaric noticed that they were leading it away from the convoy... As if they were still trying to protect it, with their last actions. Could they be that heroic? He didn't think they cared about anyone but themselves, but now... Maybe he was wrong.
Soon they faded into the horizon, the behemoth following after them. The darkness enveloped them, and Alaric could no longer tell their movements. He wished now for their survival, even if they were the ones behind the attack on their caravan.
He then realized that he needed to warn the others of the new, potential threat. These creatures... If there were more, then they were in trouble. Their guards were now gone, and Alaric doubted that anyone else here knew how to fight off an enemy of that level.
First he realized the need for survival, though. With the paladins dead, they wouldn't need their weaponry any longer. Their armor was unfortunately wrecked, but their weaponry might still have been in working condition. Alaric sprinted shortly to the area, avoided looking at the corpses. The massacre here made him sick. He gathered up their weaponry, displeased to find that neither of the men used the laser weaponry that their comrades had. Luckily, their rifles were still much better than any he had used, so they would no doubt be handy. He picked up the two rifles, checking the ammunition. High powered rounds were both a good and a bad thing here. On the positive side, they were much more powerful than any gun the group possessed, but unfortunately, bullets would be a rarity.
He checked the bodies, taking any spare rounds he could. He didn't know who would be capable of using this weaponry to its full potential, but they would still be useful nonetheless. He then headed back to the caravan, a bit panicked, as well as a bit nervous.
Hopefully, they wouldn't see any more of these creatures until they got somewhere safe...
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:58 pm
((Okay; I've waited like three days. You people obviously aren't going to post again, sooooo....))
Cara's eyelids weren't getting any heavier, but she could feel her body relaxing, bit by bit. It was hard not to melt under the warm blankets after so much cold. It was also becoming easier to think positively, now that she was away from Soldier Boy and all of his compelling evidence; she was still frightened, sure, but her fear was no longer overwhelming. She was confident that they would find a way to deal with the situation. Cara could always count on her brain to find several ways to deal with things.
Then the ground shook, not much, but a definite tremor. With it came a sound that was obviously the product of an impact of some kind. Most of the fear returned to Cara with an unpleasant, almost painful jolt in her abdomen. That sound had been loud, very loud, and it had been a ways away. What could make a sound like that? Biting her lip, Cara forced herself to relax again. The paladins would deal with it. That was their job, after all.
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:23 pm
Jason walked out of the tent after tucking Elisebeth in so she could get some sleep. Looking around he saw Akric talking to the woman who let them sleep in a tent. He noticed the woman leaving with a worried look on her face.
He walked around and talked to a few people picking up rumors here and there. One man even offered to sharpen his blade for him but politely denied. Jason did however see a knife that he could get to replace the one he had given to Elisebeth. "How much is that knife sir?" he asked the portly merchant. "Do you want it for free?" the man said with a disturbing grin. "Nothing is for free anymore. What would I have to do?" he looked at the knife. "Quite right young man quite right. I need someone to carry these boxes on to the truck behind me, my back is killing me and I lost my stock boy to a rival of mine a couple day ago. So will you do it?" he nodded his head yes. After all he was getting a good knife just to carry some boxes. So Jason began to lug box onto the truck for the portly man.
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:49 pm
Deciding to stand by for the time being and watch the many people bustle about, Connor scowled slightly. I miss the old days. I miss her. He sighed. Oh well. I can atleast protect these people. I can atleast try. A more determined expression crawled upon his face. The ground shook abruptly; barely enough of a movement to catch one's attention, but Connor was paying close attention to the world around him. His eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly, and wrinkles appeared in the space between his eyebrows when an impact-like noise rung out. Hm. Those soldiers'll take care of whatever it is. They have better weapons, after all. Regardless of the thought, he kept his fists clenched in his pocket, ever prepared to defend.
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:43 pm
Jewlet sighed and stared out into space forgetting about everything around her. Her mind was going into the past. She stood up and started walking leaving her things behind. After about ten feet she stopped and snapped back. I thought I was laying on the ground? She walked back and looked around.
She sat down and took off her jacket and folded up. She put her head down and tried to rest. She didn't have luck, her mind was going fast.
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 6:45 am
((Sorry, life kinda happened to me. Back now.))
Alaric stumbled back into the camp, panicked look in his eyes. They were dead. The words kept repeating in his mind, over and over. They were dead, they were dead, they were dead... What was he supposed to do? Did everyone really see him as the leader of this situation? He hoped that they didn't, because he had never felt more clueless and rushed in his entire life as he did now.
He was probably an oddity, walking back the way he did. All eyes were upon him. He wasn't sure if it was his crazed demeanor that drew the stares, or if it was the fact that he was holding paladin weaponry. In the end, he supposed it didn't matter what they thought of him. They had to leave, and now.
He needed to get everyone moving, he decided. They couldn't afford to rest anymore, they had to leave. He was sweating, despite the cold. His head hurt, his heart was racing, and he was tripping over his own feet every two seconds. He wondered if his reaction was normal to this type of situation.
He made a quick mental checklist, deciding what should go where. He scanned the camp, singling out his group, knowing that they were able to use guns better than any merchant here. He walked quickly up to Connor.
"Hold this," he said, handing him one of the rifles. He then moved to Jewlet, handing her one as well. He was no marksman. Alex wasn't really able to use rifles... Dimitri was gone too. At least, he couldn't see him. He didn't think that miss James could use a weapon of that magnitude either. He wondered if his choices were wrong as he dispensed the weapons, but knew also that there was no time to think about what-ifs. After handing out the weapons he clapped his hands together, more as a nervous habit, twiddling his fingers for a brief moment. He knew what he had to do.
He found a box, dragging it through the sand. It was relatively large, but it looked stable. It was probably once used to move ammunition. It was empty now, though, and served for another purpose. After dragging it to what he thought was the middle of the caravan, he climbed atop it, barely keeping his balance. He was surprised he was standing at all. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a moment.
He was no leader, but they needed to be warned. He cupped his hands around his mouth, hoping to amplify his voice.
"Listen up!" he shouted, not able to think of how else to get attention. He wished at that point that he knew how to whistle loudly. He probably now only caused panic.
"People, we need to move, now!" he said, not caring about causing panic anymore. It was too late for worry, he decided, "Your guards are gone! This caravan is no longer safe, so we need to get back to the town you came from, do I make myself clear?!"
His voice was probably shaky. He couldn't tell. He knew he couldn't have sounded as heroic as he hoped to. He tried imitating the voices he remembered hearing from the training instructors of the caravan mercenaries, tried projecting an authoritative, commanding tone. He wondered if he did. He was too scared to tell. His legs felt wobbly, and his voice was raspy. For the first time, he was in fear for his life. He hoped everyone would listen to him, because he feared for their lives as well...
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 1:58 pm
As Jason put the last box on the truck, the portly man handed him the knife. "Thanks son, you don't know how much you helped this old man." Jason nodded and was about to say something when he heard a voice yell. He looked back and saw Alaric on top of a box shouting about how they needed to get back to town since their guards were gone. At first Jason had the funny notion that guards had abandoned them, but then he remembered who the guards were. His face went pale. What could dispatch a unit of paladins? Jason immediatly began walking to the tent where he had left Elisebeth. He saw she was ok and grabbed his pack that he hadn't unpakced yet. Walking up to Alaric he looked up,"Just need to wake Elisebeth up and me and her will be ready" he said "but I'm going to let her sleep until we're about to move out." He knew the child needed as much sleep as she could possibly get.
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:22 pm
Alaric looked down, somewhat in disbelief. Had Jason decided to become the mother of the child or something? He could understand his concern for her, but this wasn't exactly the right time for this. If she were to wake just before leaving, her reaction time would most likely be dulled, and if they ran into something...
He shuddered at that thought. Hopefully, the paladin weaponry would do some good. But then, Alaric remembered the slaughter...
No. He couldn't get discouraged now, not while he was giving the commands. If he looked hopeless, then everyone else's morale would more likely than not go down... That was something they couldn't afford. He inhaled, sucking in both his breath and his doubts. They could do this, they had to. At the very least, Alaric would have to try to keep a calm face, in the hopes that everyone else would too.
"Alright. I'll let you know a few minutes beforehand, so you can get her waking up, okay? Get yourself packed and ready until then," Alaric said, looking down at Jason while keeping any sarcastic remarks to himself. They needed everyone to be prepared, or else they wouldn't stand a chance.
He looked around, hoping everyone else was good with the plan as well...
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 5:34 pm
Cara fumbled her way through the tent to the exit, simultaneously trying to get her left boot back on. Something hard and cold had formed in the pit of her stomach. Your guards are gone? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Brotherhood paladins don't just disappear!
Both boots now firmly on her feet, Cara reached down and swung her duffle bag up and over her shoulder, then checked the safety on her little handgun, making sure it was on. Finally, she turned her attention to her mother, who looked pathetically frail standing next to her bedroll in a pink silk nightgown.
Lydia, uncharacteristically, seemed to have been waiting for some sign that it was alright to speak. "Cara, what is happening?" she asked calmly, a sure sign that she was frightened.
"We're leaving," Cara said, her voice clipped. "The paladins are gone, and we're leaving. Grab and extra change of clothes and some of those protein bars; I have everything else." Lydia's jawline tightened, and Cara knew that she was about to insist that there was no way in hell she was leaving her things behind. "You want it, you carry it," Cara added, before the other woman could make a sound, "Shake a leg." With that, she left the tent.
She saw Soldier Boy immediately, and made her way straight towards him, unable to hide a slight smile; for someone who seemed to dislike calling the shots, he sure was doing an awful lot of it. "What's the situation?" she asked, her grey-blue eyes sparkling with curiosity at least as much as with fear. After all, something that could get rid of four paladins was definitely worth knowing about.
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 5:41 pm
"Some... Thing happened... I have no clue what it was, but... It was huge. The paladins... Well, let's just say that those two guns came from somewhere," he said in response to miss James' question, "Two of them were taken out instantly... The other two drew that... Thing... Away from us. I don't have very high hopes for their survival, but..."
He stopped. The memories were so vivid, yet, he couldn't think on how to describe it without painting a hopeless picture. He didn't want to start going on about monsters, but... What that thing was was beyond him. If four of the paladins couldn't take it down, then maybe it was some sort of demon.
"Listen, point is, they're gone. Most likely dead. And whatever it is that killed them happens to still be out there, so we need to get out of here," he said, trying to explain the situation to the best of his abilities. He knew she was stubborn and might not go, but he also knew that anyone who stayed was as good as dead.
"So, you all ready to go?" he asked, watching everyone pack their things. Some refused to listen to him, but once they saw that the paladins were indeed gone, they packed as well. After all, the paladins were their only source of protection at the moment. He hoped they wouldn't need the protection on the way back...
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 3:56 pm
Cara didn't try to hide the smile spreading across her face; it made her feel like maybe she wouldn't have a nervous breakdown after all. "Yes, I'm all ready to go, Fearless Leader. My mom should be out in a second." The smile was suddenly replaced by an expression of mock sternness. "And you can stop looking like your afraid I'm going to do something stupid, like running off after whatever killed the paladins; I'm curious, not suicidal."
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 5:23 pm
Alex stopped immediately, listening.
What was that?
Gunshots, one followed shortly by another. He looked around, seeing the threat was not in the immediate area did not give him much comfort. He checked his gun and moved back towards the group. The first thing he noticed when he arrived was the missing Brotherhood squad, something must have happened, they were not prone to just leave their posts if on a mission. Then he saw Alaric giving instructions for people to gather their things and get ready to go. Alex did not ask what was going on but immediately spread the word to others quietly. Whatever was going on he did not want to be heard by whoever or whatever was threatening them. As Alex listened he heard the girl from earlier say something about paladins being killed, which meant this situation was even worse than he thought.
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 5:49 pm
Connor whipped his head around, locking a fierce stare on Alaric. They're gone? That's insane. If those Paladins are gone, then they must be dead or runnin' like hell. And either way, we're screwed. The left side of his mouth twisted downward in a displeased scowl as he looked downward and scanned himself to be sure that he had everything. He hadn't ever put his things down, yes, but regardless he'd rather be sure. No point in being foolish. After, he took long, speedy strides toward Alaric, staring forward in a very military-esque manner. Halting in front of Alaric, Connor retrieved his weapon and readied it, that same scowl etched on his face.
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 6:38 pm
Jewlet sat up and looked at everyone tired. "Man... I thought I could rest for a bit..." She too to her feet and put her jacket back on and grabbed her bag.
"Gun shots?" She walked back over to the group. "Well, peace doesn't seem to like us." She said looked at them. She saw Conner go up to Alaric. "Well this seems to be the one that will drive the shot that kills hope."
She crossed her arms. "We got to ready our self, but not in a quick or angered manner." She shut her eyes to think of a plan. She started to pace as her thoughts.
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