[SRP] Intervention (Adar, Destati, Spectre, Suu)

[Epine de Rose]

 

[Epine de Rose]

[ADAR]

It was with purpose that the black lion strode into the camp. His duties tending to the spoilt noble had long since been passed on to the more patient Havase and he had been permitted to go about his duties. This had served to benefit him and the Collective far more than any of them had been able to predict and it was for one simple reason... It had allowed him to trail the Justicar's son once more to ensure he didn't need to be fished out of any hot water.

What had initially proved to be an exceedingly boring watch, had soon transformed into something much more interesting. As the warbands had grown restless, the young son had moved away from them to gather his thoughts and ponder his next plan of action. It had been there that he had taken up position by the river, one that Adar hadn't placed much merit in... Until something very, very important had walked out of the forest.

Surrounded by swarms of fireflies, the 'phantom' could scarcely believe his eyes as the ethereal being had stepped into the open. A shadow of his former self, but still recognisable, he was the very being they had been searching for this whole time.

...Somehow, fate had led the Justicar's son to the source of it all.

"Destati!" Adar roared, no doubt interrupting whatever meeting might be in progress between those who were currently in the camp and the Justicar. "I have news; and you are going to want to act on it immediately."

Words: 259

 

[Epine de Rose]

[SUU'MARLE]

"You can be so very rude sometimes, I hope you know that," the lioness purred as she slipped out from the cave and turned her piercing gaze towards the phantom. Yet it was clear she was intrigued by his declaration... It wasn't often that the phantom announced his presence at all, let alone proclamations that demanded the immediate attention of their superior. Whatever he had found was of great significance; either the scourge had changed the game, something had happened to the boy, or Adar had found something that would change the game for them.

To her knowledge, Adar hadn't yet installed himself within the ranks of the scourge again. Consequently she doubted that it had little to do with the scourge and their methods unless the change had been overheard. Hell, he'd only just returned from the Al-siq as well, perhaps he had been pursuing other avenues of investigation until their conclusion?

The lioness had no other choice than to settle herself comfortably to one side. Adar's presence had been felt and the Justicar would be on the move shortly once he had finished addressing matters that Gideon had brought to his attention. Still, she was positively giddy at the prospect of something interesting finally happening - well, no interesting so much as potential progress.

...If the Vikings had felt like they were stagnating, they had no idea how the Collective felt. Suu'marle had been at this for years, forget the months that these young lions had sank into it!

Words: 254

 

[Epine de Rose]

[DESTATI]

"Quite the entrance, Adar," Destati stated as he strode from the cave and turned his gaze towards the black lion. Yet the edge that should have been in his voice wasn't there. Even Gideon had slipped out to find out why their usually quiet and aloof companion had chosen to enter in such a dramatic fashion. This was one of the very rare times in which Adar had acted in such a peculiar way, they were so rare that Destati could count them on one paw without issue - in all their long years together the lion had only done this once or twice before.

...And it had always been in relation to the scourge.

"What have they done?" he said at last, electing to get straight to the point. If the game had changed then they all needed to be aware so that they could subtly move the army they had inadvertently acquired towards the right point...and ensure they adopted the right strategy. It had proven to be an awkward task with the Stormborn determined to go about things using their own methods rather than tried and true... But they had eventually begun to come round, Suu'marle's weapons had caused quite a few to gain an appreciation for the less primitive arts.

"Or more importantly, where have they gone," he added and tilted his head to the side. He hadn't sent Adar into the warrens again and he hadn't really intended to do so unless he absolutely had to, but the 'phantom' did have a way of tracking them down whenever he needed to, it was as if he had a sixth sense. Give Adar enough time and he was sure to find them much more quickly than the rest of them could...

Words: 293

 

[Epine de Rose]

[COMBINED POST]

"There's not enough time," Adar shook his head and motioned for them to follow. "If we don't move now we'll miss our window of opportunity and it will most likely be gone for good," he stated softly. There was a tenderness to his voice, one so out of place that it would have unsettled those who hadn't known him since youth. Whatever he had found had been enough for something sentimental within him to stir.

Without another word the black lion turned on his heel and strode away from the camp.

Suu'marle was the first to follow him, the one so accustomed to being his companion in the thick of battle. It was an automatic reaction despite his lack of explanation. Adar had never set them on the wrong path before and it was unlikely that he was going to do so any time soon. It was in her best interests to allow him to lead her to whatever he had found that was considered to be such a special opportunity. Though where they were headed proved to be a mystery as he began to move away from not just their camp, but also the Stormborn one...

"Adar?" Destati murmured.

He glanced over his shoulder and gave Gideon a nod, an indication that for the time being he had the helm. Without another word he then set off after the phantom, who had begun to walk significantly faster once he was aware that he now had both the Justicar and his favoured partner with him. As he broke in to a lop, Destati realised that whatever they were after was on the move, and it was moving at such a speed that they would miss it if they didn't match, or beat the rate at which it was moving.

...Evidently Adar had sprinted the whole way here, and the Justicar was beginning to suspect that what he had found wasn't the scourge.

"You found him," he realised, his eyes widening.

"Your son," Adar corrected as he ran ahead of the pair, silently crossing the expanse in what was to be another flurry of fireflies. A sea of light that was to wave and ripple as he and his two companions bounded through it.

"Even he knew," he glanced over his shoulder.

"He managed to live this long..." Suu'marle murmured appreciatively as she leapt over the fallen tree drunk and continued on her way. "All these years he's evaded them."

"He has unique capabilities," Destati reminded her, not necessarily dismissing the lioness's remarks, but Spectre's ability to outrun everything and everyone wasn't necessarily a fluke. Unlike the rest of them, Spectre had always been able to 'see' what they couldn't.

"What state was he in?" he demanded.

"Not well..." Adar replied grimly.

"Suu'marle?"

"I'll fix him." She replied simply, determined.

Words (Adar): 147
Words (Suu): 141
Words (Des): 181

 

[Epine de Rose]

[SPECTRE]

It had come in a whirlwind; like a gust of wind it had knocked him from his paws and to the ground. His eyes had widened as the visions rippled through his mind, the three shadows making for him. What had once been an empty expanse had suddenly become just as he had always predicted. It had been quiet for far too long and they had finally come for him - on swift wings they had leapt from the shadowed warrens and they were making their way for him.

With gasping breaths he managed to pull himself to his feet and scramble forward. A slow lop soon turned to an exhausted run, but one he had become so accustomed to. He could do nothing more than keep moving and then perhaps the daylight would come, and the shadows would disappear. He would have a brief reprieve, a moment in which to breathe and consider which direction would be most safe to walk in.

...Alas, even he knew that the dawn was so far away.

Had the strange, familiar lion been a warning? Had he appeared, had he echoed Spectre's own warnings deliberately? Had that particular lion been a spirit rather than a warm blooded creature...? Spectre had no answer to the many questions that began to bubble up within him, but he couldn't afford to dwell on them as he pressed on. Anxiety had already begun to set in, this would undoubtedly become panic - for so long he had managed to outrun them and they had never been this close.

Was he going to lose...?

Words: 264

 

[Epine de Rose]

[COMBINED POST]

"I see him," Destati was the first to catch sight of the gleaming pelt in the distance. Sure enough the lion looked like a disaster, but his tenacity was undeniable. The Justicar had little doubt that the glowing lion's visions had struck him, the panicked manner in which he was now running indicated as such. Adar's initial observations were correct though, not only did he look a disaster but there was definitely something amiss, Spectre had never been the erratic sort and they had always wondered what had happened the day that he had vanished...

"We need to cut him off," Adar muttered as he fixed his gaze on the lion ahead of him. Despite being malnourished Spectre still knew how to run, Adar had to give the old boy credit where it was due. Then again, Adar would have expected nothing left of any in a Justicar's collective. After all, they were deliberately placed into trials that would either kill them, or turn them into the most elite weapons a Justicar had in their arsenal. If Spectre had simply rolled over and died, then he definitely wouldn't have been a part of such a unit.

"Herd him," Suu'marle ordered. "I'll go left, Adar you go right," she continued and nodded towards the Justicar. "Try to get in front of him, if you can make him pause, even briefly, then I should be able to get to him," she added. It wasn't the most spectacular of plans and they were treating their own ally as a preybeast, but in the given circumstances it was the only way. If they all continued to come at him from behind then he was simply going to weave in and out until he evaded them... And he would evade them.

Destati hadn't been joking about those skills.

"Go," Destati ordered as he plunged forward, darting off to the side as he covered the distance away from the pair, if they did this right, then they would eventually chase Spectre into him. Well, they would provided that Adar's abilities were still up to the task.

"Don't let him get through this side," Adar snarled as he darted forward. If an observer had thought he was running quickly before, they would be surprised at the speed he was achieving now. What had seemed like an almost impossible distance to cover was closing rapidly and it seemed that Adar was putting his intimidating appearance to good look. He would apologise later, some day, when his old ally was less erratic, but for now the only way they would successfully capture their friend was to spook him.

...With that in mind, the gleaming white smile and the glistening red eyes were soon put into effect.

"I won't," Suu'marle promised as she closed off to the right to ensure Spectre couldn't turn back. He truly was to be treated like a preybeast on this occasion, one that's fate was to be herded into a corner. She didn't envy him, at least not in the state that he was in, but even at a glance she knew that sometimes you had to be cruel to be kind. Spectre might be frightened but if he continued to run, he would die from exhaustion, and none of them could allow that to happen...

Eventually they began to gain on the white lion, who despite his best efforts, couldn't hope to outrun all three of them. Even as he tried to place distance between himself and the wraith behind him, he found it all for naught. A dark wind seemed to carry the beast upon it, fate seemed determined to catch him, and even as he attempted to feint towards a different direction, he was met by another obstacle.

...Though this one wasn't black.

What?

The lion came to a grinding halt as the 'familiar' vision once again struck him; though this time, it didn't dissipate. Instead of the markings disappearing, the spots remained. He knew this one, he didn't know how, but this one was someone he was definitely supposed to know. They had met before, and by the look within the lion's eyes it appeared his suspicions had been confirmed.

"Spectre..." Destati murmured softly.

Words (Des): 147
Words (Adar): 208
Words (Suu): 202
Words (Spectre): 149

 

[Epine de Rose]

[COMBINED POST]

Spectre abruptly glanced over his shoulder to confirm that the wraith was still pursuing him, only to find that it wasn't. Somehow the very vision of terror that had grinned manically at him had vanished as though it were a mere figment of his imagination. Worse still, as he glanced to the other side, the other shadow that had been chasing him had also disappeared. It left only this lion standing before him... a lion that knew his name.

Yet Spectre didn't know his, though he knew he should.

That needling that seemed to indicate that he was missing something, something so important that it might as well have been breathing.

"Who are you?" He asked hoarsely as he took a step back, one that he found some relief in when he wasn't immediately followed.

"My name is Destati," the lion replied smoothly, though a brief instance of pain flickered through his eyes. "I am here to help," he continued and closed his eyes, albeit briefly. It was a brief, but very clear instruction to the lioness who had settled herself deep into the grasses in preparation to strike. She did need the perfect angle after all, if she got it wrong then it would result in a fatality.

...And then it came, as the lioness sprung from her place within the undergrowth and on to the skeletal lion's back. While he had given a roar in retaliation and made to throw her off, it was already too late. With her claws plunged into his shoulders, the poisons she had painted upon them would soon take their effect and he would find his world truly dark.

Small favours however in that it would be painless, it would simply be like falling asleep, something that the lion dearly seemed to need. Thus she lay low upon him and waited, all as the Justicar looked on, until the large lion finally slumped on to the ground.

"He's worse up close," Adar remarked as he finally moved in front the shadows and regarded the now slumbering lion at his paws. His expression mirrored the sentiment of his companions, while they were all relieved that their ally and friend was alive, the situation still remained dire.

"We need to get him back," he added and glanced at Destati. "I've hauled bigger, if you would be so kind as to prepare for his arrival," he finished.

"Suu'marle?" Destati glanced briefly at the lioness who had finally unseated herself.

"The sooner we get him back and settled, the sooner that Havase and I will be able to determine what we need to do," she agreed. "He will be out for a considerable amount of time, it should be more than enough to transport him back," she peered at the fallen lion again. "I don't imagine he will wake up peacefully though," she remarked.

"I'll handle our curious allies," Destati murmured dismissively. "Let's bring him home," he finished and broke into a lop as he went ahead to warn of the impending arrival.

"You seem pensive," Adar remarked towards the lioness as he set about positioning himself to slip the lion onto his back.

"He's far worse than I imagined," Suu replied softly. "I'm not confident," she confessed. "But I'll try," she reassured him as she made her way to follow the Justicar.

"That's all anyone can ask..." Adar uttered, even though he wouldn't be heard. Eventually he would follow after the pair, once he was certain the lion was secure and safe to move...

Words (Adar): 130
Words (Desi): 115
Words (Suu): 208
Words (Spectre): 135

 

[Epine de Rose]

FINAL WORD COUNT:
Destati: 736
Adar'Malik: 784
Suu'Marle: 805
Spectre: 548