The Twins
Part 1
It's The Slums, outside one of the better known bordello dives, and just a while to go until sunset. This is the place, and this is the time, where it was decided that the intrepid and the gender-distressed have decided to meet to commence the pursuit of a solution to The Curse.
Lenneth casts a quick glance towards the enterance to the bordello and then crosses her arms over her chest while shifting from one foot to the other. "Well at least it's not likely she'll get lost on the way here. But I have mixed feelings about passing on a message to a priestess that basically amounts to 'meet us at the whor-uh... place of ill repute'."
Moiraine says, "I'm engaged to a Sky Captain kupo, I'm also a moogle," Moiraine steps out of an alleyway, tipping back her cylindical hat and looking up at the boys, "People really don't blink an eye, besides its not like i'm the High Priest of Alexander a;ll holier then though and boring. I do go outside and kupo-po kuupop from time to time you know.""
Mordecai stands quietly, looking up at the bordello up ahead, studying it with a careful eye... Glancing at Lenneth then though, he starts to nod, become he's distracted by Moiraine's arrival. Quirking a smile at her comments, he bows lightly and greets her with a simple, "Priestress." Before he turns back to Len, "This place is supposedly clean... As in, I haven't heard of any bad guys running things behind the scenes... They also check weapons. I'll be a minute." And with that, the older man quickly steps away to head into a nearby alley, first looking around to make sure no one's paying him too much mind. And he's gone for about a minute after that... Soon returning, walking back while he re-buttons his coat. The man obviously having stashed his weapons somewhere, for easy retrieval incase they have to flee back outside, "Well, after you, ladies."
Lenneth straightens and looks over towards Moiraine before he chuckles, "Kupo kuupop hmm? That sounds like it might get you in alot of trouble." Not that Len actually knows what's meant by the words. "Thanks for meeting us though.." She pauses and blinks after Mordecai, hand lifting before a smirk follows, "ehn, well guess we're going in there anyways might as well." A hand drops to the hilt of her sword before she looks at Moiraine, "so they say that they have a fortune teller here, that's who were going to go see. Maybe they'll be able to help us out. Shall we?"
Moiraine tilts her head, "Last I checked helkping the misfortunate and homeless and in need in the slums was not a crime kupo" she smiles softly at Lenneth and turns to regard Mordecai, "I see... well I hope we do not need weapons, I have no offensive skills at all kupo. I am a High Priestess." She inclines her head and moves toward the door. "Well lets go on with this"
Mordecai looks between the two, and nods, grinning briefly at them, "Ready when you two are." He rumbles, before he looks at Moiraine and shrugs a bit, "I doubt we'll get in any trouble just yet... Like I said, this place should be safe. But when Len got the curse, we were dealing with some gang issues, and I never deal with gangs without a weapon at hand... But it might not come up anymore anyway." And with that, he starts to idly move towards the whorehouse's entrance.
Lenneth tilts her head towards Moiraine and then with a snerk she follows after the older man. "Riiiight.. one of these days I'll need to learn moogle perhaps." She slips into the bordello then and takes a quick look around before approaching one of the people working there. "Scuse me, we were hoping to get in to see your fortune teller."
Moiraine flaps her wings so she can take off and look at the people, blue robes swirling around her legs, her sandy coloured fur and wings making her stand out more then most. She lands again and smiles warmly at the person Lenneth is talking to, "We would appreciate it muchly kupo."
Inside the Bordello's door is a beefy bouncer-type, shirtless, very buff, and rather tattoo'd, stationed in a roomy foyer area, a bare hint of music coming from beyond the door on the opposite side of the room. The bouncer gives a polite greeting with a rather thugish accent, and looks neither welcoming nor threatening. Just mostly indifferent. He makes the expected request to check all weapons, looking Lenneth and Mordecai up and down, though, interestingly, leaving the priestess completely alone and, figuratively, unmolested. Once weapons are checked and stowed securely in the Bouncer's evidently able care, the group is allowed into the Bordello proper, and the music here is louder than might have originally been guessed. It's fairly busy, crowded but not packed, and barely-dressed ladies (and a handful of barely-dressed adonis-men) wander amongst the crowd, or occupy laps, or are in various other states that one might expect to see in a place such as this. No sex in the open, though; there's a strict rule to take it to rooms, evidently.
Mordecai quietly lets himself be searched... And obviously turns out not to be carrying anything weapon-wise. Afterwards, he just goes to stand behind Lenneth and the priestess, letting them get all the pleasantries out of the way while he busies himself with looking around. Letting his pale gaze wander over the bordello's interior with a poker faced expression, not letting anyone read anything off him, yet also taking in all the important details. Such as likely exits.
Lenneth hands over the sword, after all it'd be odd if everyone was weaponless right? Then she moves inside and takes a look around before looking back over her shoulder. "Something tells me that he's not the one to ask. I guess.." A quick look to you both, "we should find the hostess. Let's try hrmm... the bar?" A quick nod towards where a bartender would typically be found. After all in a place like this booze usually flows pretty freely.
Moiraine bobs a polite nod of her head to the bouncer type and glides inside, she sighs as she looks around at the barely clad men and woman but holds back any comment, just murmurring to Lenneth, "YThat would be best dear kupo, lets find this fortune teller"
Mordecai nods at Len and Moiraine both, and then follows them over to wherever they want to go, still idly looking around as he does so and seemingly not bothered by the sight of scantily clad 'professionals'.
The barkeep the group approaches, who is quite the showman, tossing around bottles and drink mixers like juggling batons and bearing a striking resemblance to a younger Tom Cruise, points to a far corner of the main room (while no less than three objects are IN THE AIR), opposite the bar and piano, where there's a woman dressed in more than most of the women present, wearing a hooded violet robe and sitting at a table covered with a crimson cloth.
"Impressive show.. and thank you." A few gil are placed on the bar, more for the info than the display, and then Lenneth gives you both a nod and starts to cross the room. Granted she glances here and there briefly, but upon reaching the cloaked figure the girl's attention locks in place. "Scuse me.. I understand your a fortune teller? We are in need of your services."
Moiraine smiles at the barman and then follows Lenneth, the moogle doesn't have much to add just curtseying politely to the fortune teller, it never does to be rude to people who might be gifted with the sight.
Mordecai arches his brow a bit at the barman's juggling skill, though doesn't seem more impressed than that. Instead he just turns back around when Lenneth heads for the woman, following silently, and like Moiraine, not having much to add- Letting Len take charge in situations like this. He does however take the time to study the hooded figure some.
The cloaked woman's face is hidden beneath the shadow of her violet cowl, head bowed as the group approaches. As Lenneth speaks, however, the cowled head raises, enough to reveal the bottom half of a rather youthful face bearing a wide smile. The voice is an equal to the youthful appearance, bright and cheerful, "Like, suah, that's what people call me. Have a seat, honey, and, like, tell Lan-Lan what's on ya mind."
Lenneth takes a seat after a brief glance to her friends then back to the woman. "Well.. I've been cursed and everything I've found about how to remove the curse tells me to find the Twins. Gemini.. Can you help us?" To her credit Len doesn't try to look under the cowl, but it's pretty certain she's curious from the brief glances she keeps giving.
Moiraine flaps her wings and glances at the hooded lady, looking at Lan-Lan, she settles into a chair and removes her hat in respect and kupo-pos, "What do you see Miss Lan-Lan, can you aid our friend her to find a way out of this curse, a way in which we can help her kupo?" Her wings flutter and hger pom pulses with a cerulean light as she looks into the cowl, eyes focussing on the unseen eyes of the seer.
The fortune teller, Lan-Lan, listens to Lenneth, her smile widening slightly, "Oh, yeah, the Quo-Feng... Been, like, a long time since I've seen it worn." The shadows of the hood are pierced as Lan-Lan opens her eyes, which, despite the shadows under the cowl, are visible, a shimmering cerulean blue, the fortune teller's gaze moving from Lenneth to Moiraine, "I see, like, a whole buncha things, Madame Priestess. Many of them irrelevant to most people, usually. As for whether I can aid, well... Suah, suppose I can, sweety. A bit, anyway." She turns her gaze back to Lenneth, "So, the old biddy let you walk out with that bauble, eh? Wonder what she's playin' at... But, like, anyway, that's no matter. Y'looking for Gemini, then. Got more of a head start than those before ya, I'll give you that."
Lenneth looks towards Moiraine for a moment and she smiles in thanks before looking back to Lan-Lan. Her brows lift and then a quick look is given the bracelet before exhaling, "at least we're on the right track.. and yea.. she also gave me a book that pointed me to Gemini as the one.. ones who have the clues to fixing it." Rubbing lightly at her neck then Len thinks on what's said before nodding, "how do we find them?"
Moiraine frowns at something and kupos "Miss Lan-Lan.... what will happen to Len here if we do not kupo-po, remove that bracelet in time? From what I have heard their life is threatened by this... this cursed thing" she frowns at the bracelet then looks back up at the fortune teller.
Mordecai stands quietly as Lenneth and Moiraine talk with Lan-Lan... Though his poker faced, serious expression is broken up a bit by mild curiousity as he listens to what is all being said. At the mention of the 'old biddy' though, he nods, and speaks up once there's a break in the conversation, "I was there... The woman gave me what appears to be the grip of a dagger. I've yet to deduce its purpose, however. It doesn't seem to have as... Obvious effects as the bracelet?"
Lan-Lan cocks her head slightly at Lenneth, "Oh-ho, she gave you a book, eh? Well, that's, like, somethin', at least." Her smile widens once more, "And no, yer not lookin' for, like, people with clues, honey. You're lookin' for the creators." She looks to Moiraine again, smile turning to a slight frown, then back to Lenneth again, "Sounds, like, totally serious." Mord draws her attention, and her grin returns, eyes closing briefly before opening again, "Oh-ho, yeah... You'll have fun with that, mistah, once you, like, figure it out."
Lenneth looks at Moiraine and then sighs, "well.. the previous wearers are all dead, though don't know the circumstances of their deaths. Could've been totally natural.. right? ERm... maybe?" A quick look towards Lan-Lan then Mord causes her brow to rise up before finally she looks towards the fortune teller again. "I see.. well that will be interesting. Can... no will you tell us where to locate them?"
Moiraine kupos softly and falls quiet, waiting and listening patiently, she doesn't want to upset the woman before she tells them anything else. She is along to help as neccessary but for now the woman is being helpful, eventually as she finishes talking to Mordecai she pipes back up agai. "What... would it cost us to hve you give us direction, a direction toward these creators that we seek kupo? I can sense you have... some powers, something.... or is such help free?"
Mordecai frowns a bit at the answer about the dagger... But he also just nods some after, not pressing the issue as he's learned that sometimes this whole mystical crap has to just run its course... Glancing at Lenneth then, he briefly reaches out to touch her shoulder reassuringly, "You won't die, girl. We'll figure out how to remove that blasted thing soon enough... Even if I'm gonna have to stab some bad things with my magic dagger."
Lan-Lan hmms and ponders, "What, ya think the others, like, died from the Quo-Feng? Nah, not unless they were idiots. I think one guy killed himself, but that was his own doin'. The others, old age mostly. Mistah there is right: That little thing won't kill ya or nothin'." She grins a little, "Just make yer life a bit of a livin hell fer a while. Yer mileage may, like, vary. Still, if you're lookin' ta get free of it, it's probably, like, puttin' tha screws to ya in some way." She brings her hands up atop the table, folding them, "Ah, now we're to brass tax... My help. This ain't a fortune tellin', so my normal fees, like, don't apply. Will my help cost ya? Sure it will. But not in coin." She winks at Moiraine, "And yeah, I got, like, "some powahs"." She raises one of her hands, "As for what it'll cost, well... First, let's see, like, what you're made of..." And the table, Lan-Lan, and the entire Bordello, evaporate like so much mist in the wind, leaving you all in darkness, formless and without boundary, save for the level surface beneath your feet.
Lenneth smiles at Mordecai before she nods to Moiraine, "a good question..." But that's about all that she gets out as she turns to Lan-Lan and prepares to respond just as the lights go out. Blinking Len looks around quickly before frowning, "well.. umm..." And suddenly her voice is lifted, "helloooooooo? Hello?? Lan-Lan? What /is/ all this??"
Moiraine says, "Well..." The moogle looks around in the darkness then shakes her head, her pom starting to glow with a faint bioluminescence, "This is not what I was expecting kupo-po!" she frowns and stands up, testing the surface beneath her feet, "I think lkike Lan-Lan said... this is a test of some kind in lieu of payment ""
Mordecai blinks once... And his first impulse is to slip into a defensive fighting stance, expecting trouble, though before he can fully do so, he checks himself and tries to relax once more, shaking his fists loose. Letting out a quiet annoyed rumble, he steps close to the other two, and then starts looking around... Staring into the surrounding darkness, and quietly stating, "And this is why I don't like leaving my weapons."
There's no response to Lenneth's call for an explanation. There's not even an echo. Just the inky blackness. It's not darkness, though; everyone can still see everyone else just fine, though it's as if by the light of a lantern at night, not counting any illumination Moiraine's pom gives off. It's just a few monents, however, before things become visible in the blackness again, the shroud lifting to reveal... a forest. A particularly dark and forbidding forest, like out of a fairy tale. To one side is a pole, like a lamp post, with a lit lantern hanging from it's curved top, about eight feet off the ground. Mist floats in patches along the ground, and the group stands on a small road; behind the road stretches into mist-covered fields, while ahead, the road passes into an opening in the tree line just twenty feet away, quickly swallowed by the dark under the canopy. The sky above is dark, scattered with low fast-moving clouds and a large full moon that spends most of it's time partially hidden. And, perhaps most interestingly of all... Everyone who surrendered or stashed weapons before entering the Bordello will find all their weapons in their proper places, having, at some point, been somehow returned to their respective owners.
Lenneth frowns, not realizing that her weapon is back yet, and turns back and forth quickly before the slapping of the weapon against their side causes her to look down. "Well.. that's conveniant at least.." Sighing then the noblewoman murmurs, "but we cannot just stay here.. I'd say we make for the break in the threes up ahead. It's dark, but thanks to Moiraine's light hopefully we'll be able to see our way forward?"
Moiraine tilts her head as the light slowly inceases, smoothing out her robes and kupos and frowns, she flaps hwer wings and takes off and tocuhes a tree, feeling, trying to see what she can learn from nature all around them.
Mordecai peers at the surrounding forest, his expression suddenly a bit grim... And then he blinks once as he feels some familiar weight below his coat. Quietly proceeding to unbutton it, he's surprised to find the shoulder harness firmly strapped across his torso, which he previously discarded... A large caliber sixgun holstered below each armpit, while a larger holster at his side holds his sawed-off lever action shotgun... And he's even carrying that dagger hilt on his belt. He actually looks slightly relieved then, and without hesitation, he drags that shotgun out of its holster, racking the lever once as he takes it into hand with obvious familiarity. The man looking back up at the forest then, "Let's get this over with."
Moiraine kupos and pipes up "This... this is not Ivalice kupo=po!" she flies a bit higher, hovering over the heads of the humans, "This is... this is like Ivalice before the folly I think kupo-po... the mist, it is just.. water vapour, the land it is... at peace kupo-po!"
Lenneth looks at Mordecai and he grins for a few moments before giving him a nod, "right lets do... what?" He looks at Moiraine suddenly while blinking a bit, "not Ivalice? But how is that possible." He looks around then up at the sky before looking at Moiraine again, "is it the spirit realms instead perhaps.. or.. or.. do you think we somehow got sent back in time?" A worried note carrying in his voice over that one.
As the group heads past the lanternpost, a breeze comes up from behind, briefly stirring the patchy mist about their feet and rattling the forest's branches ever so faintly. And as they step over the threshold of the tree line, in the distance behind the group, a long, lone howl rises up, followed by another, and then by more.
Lenneth takes a few steps and then she stills and lifts her head a little while looking around. "That... that's not good. I think we should move. Now. A pack of lobos would challenge the best of hunters." She motions up the road having really no better idea than this.
Moiraine grabs the lantern post with one paw, wings still beating, she shivers as the mist flows through and around them and then pauses and kupos. "Well i was going to suggest it could be some sort of illusion, some sort of kupo-po mind trick and we are still in the Boudoir kupo-po... but... even visions can be deadly kupo!" She looks back then flies onward, "Lets keep moving and see where this leads kupo"
Mordecai starts moving forward towards the forest, his eyes scanning this way and that, and the barrel of his scattergun following suit... At the howling though, he pauses, looking over his shoulder with a frown. He's quick to act then however, motioning at Moiraine and telling her, "Keep flying, miss... Try to stay out of their reach if they catch up. And Len, here, a sword won't do you much good." The man dipping a hand to yank free one of his revolvers, and handing it to Lenneth, "Remember, just like we practised... Now, we better keep going." And with that, he urges everyone on, staying at the back himself with his shotgun.
The howls trail off after a moment... Off in the mist-shrouded distance of the fields, still miles distant but visible to keen eyes, a line of large shapes cut through the low-lying mists, moving swiftly towards the forest, flitting shadows amidst the occasionally moon-lit grey. They distant shapes move with purpose as the group hurries with a bit more urgency along the small forest road, and to eyes that know what to look for, that purpose is clear: The hunt is on.
Part 2
Lenneth accepts the revolver while nodding and offering a brief smile to the older gent. She shifts the weight in her hand before she starts to jog ahead, frowning a bit while commenting, "this won't do us much good... they'll be on us in a short bit. Should we find someplace to stand our ground?"
Moiraine nods to Mordecai, "I shall endeavour to remain in the air Master Mordecai, Miss Lenneth kupo... but we must remember this is... some form of test. We should be alert for anything untoward or out of place, like this lamp-post" she pats it "In the middle of the woods as it is."
Mordecai pauses for a moment to gaze across those fields... Keen eyes soon spotting the loping shapes that are heading straight for them. He flexes his hands upon his shotgun for a moment in response, as if ensuring himself of the weapon's comforting presence, before he speaks up in response, "We could stand our ground here... In the open, we'll be able to see every direction of attack... But I have a feeling the one that's giving us this test wants us to go into the forest." He glances at Lenneth then, "It's your adventure, kid. Time to make a decision."
The view of the fields is lost to Lenneth as she jogs ahead a bit, though still visible to the other two. The shapes cutting through the tall field grasses are coming fast, but even so, it'll be a few minutes before they reach the edge of the forest. The howls of the beasts continue to sound every few seconds, getting gradually louder as the creatures cover ground.
"May be my adventure, but I'm open to ideas.." Lenneth shoots back before nodding to Moiraine's statement. Slowing she turns to peer down the road at the oncoming pack, or attempt to at least, before exhaling. "How many come?" The question asked of Mordecai before she glances towards Moiraine, "can you use magic to give us light to see by perchance? They'll smell us no matter what."
Moiraine flaps her wings and lets go of the lamppost, flying up to perch on top of it and pulls her pom down between her paws, "Light I can do Miss Lenneth kupo, just give me a moment" She starts to concentrate, summoning up the brightest light she can manage to pull off with a soft string of muttered kupo-pos
Mordecai gives a brief, devil-may-cry grin to Lenneth, "I guess the idea is to make a stand." Glancing up at Moiraine then and nodding at her as she provides the light. Staring back across the field then, he frowns a bit as he attempts a quick headcount, before commenting, "Hard to tell... Looks like five, but I'm hearing more. Close to ten, I'd say." He then motions at Lenneth, "Get close to me. Back to back."
As preparations are made, the beasts draw closer through the fields, now less than a minute out. And, finally, one of the beasts slips into view, still several hundred yards away as it slips from the grasses bordering the road. With a clear, if distant, view, the creature is clearly large, perhaps twice the size of a Lobo, but similarly built. It moves like a running shadow, and just as black as one; indeed, it seems to almost be made of shadow, leaving trails of it behind as it lopes along. More of the creatures emerge from the grasses to join the first on the road, forming a double-column of six before yet another joins them at the head of the pack, this one slightly larger than the others, and bearing a crest of white flame down the back of it's neck and between it's shoulders.
Lenneth nods to Mordecai while moving back in to press her back up against his. A glance is given upto Moiraine and a smile follows before she murmurs, "thanks.." Tilting her head towards Mordecai then there's a little bit of a frown before the girl looks towards the lobos emerging from the darkness and the size of them. "This... could be bad actually.." She doesn't shoot yet but does take aim at the one with the white flame crest, taking that as the alpha.
Moiraine kupos and frowns down at the glowing leader and sighs "Well kupo-po, this isn't what I was expecting for a hunt to banish your curse Lenneth dear." she raises her hands, preparing her own magic and frowning down at them. "Do we fight or try and talk first?"
Mordecai, ready as he looks, actually... Kinda smirks for a moment as the shadowy beasts emerge close by, as if some private thought amuses him. He doesn't look at the others anymore, just expecting them to have his back just as he has theirs, and instead focusing his gaze on the pack, and the Alpha in particular... Though he doesn't lose sight of their flanks either, knowing that some predators like to send pack members around to ambush their prey while they're distracted. His shotgun at the ready, he just quietly mutters, "Come on, you bastards..."
The pack continues to approach quickly along the road, and as the group of them clear the edge of the tall grasses just a hundred yards distant, onto the relatively clear ground that leads up the rise to the forest edge, they spread out, shifting from a column to a loose wedge phalanx, not slowing in the least as they race up the rise, Alpha in the middle and three to each side! 70 yards, 50 yards, 30 yards... 15! The creatures don't slow; It's a charge, and the Alpha, the only one still on the road itself, is heading straight for the group!
Lenneth tilts his head towards Moiraine's question and she considers before clearing her throat, "if you understand this.. go on your own way.. we don't need to do this.." She waits, waits for any sign of a slowing of the charge before biting her lip and shaking her head a little. "don't think we have a choice." At 15 yards Len shoots, but with the intent to frighten and warn rather than hurt.. shooting just over the leaders head.
Moiraine says, "Well kupo-po that's that then!" she watches as Lenneth shoots at the leader wolf's head, she just waits and watches, once they are underneath her however then it will be time for a fist punching moogle cannon ball to the head but until then accumulating her strength, powering herself up fore when/if she has to attack."
Mordecai is too focused on the charge to see Lenneth fire a warning shot... Only thing he sees is the bullet missing. 'Luckily', his own intent is quite lethal! And at just below the 15 yard mark, he swiftly slips into an instinctive shooting stance as that shotgun of his snaps up, and he fires a blast of concentrated buckshot straight at the Alpha's center mass! Simply riding the following recoil, and letting his hand be a blur as he works the lever, ejecting an empty shell which still trails some residual energy from the magicite, and already tracking the next target right after. Simply remarking to Lenneth, "Your training!"
The shot over the Alpha's head gets no flinch, though, close as it is, the creature's eyes, the right a burning amber and the left a vibrant green, glowing in the shadows that cloak it, seem to narrow slightly. The shot that Mordecai fires, however, gets a more definite reaction as it almost seems to anticipate the impact of the older man's shot by ducking it's head down and to one side, with a little weave that leaves it to take the buckshot in the shoulder, where it sends out a spray of shadow bits that evaporate into the air before they hit the ground, and cause the Alpha to stumble! The creature is able to keep it's feet, though, it's momentum carrying it back into it's lope with only a little loss of speed, and a couple steps later, just five yards away, the Alpha leaps and... sails over the group's heads, clearing Moiraine by inches, close enough that it's shadow-cloaked tail tags her glowing pom! The contact seems to leave no ill effects, despite the shadow-stuff trailing from the tail, except to cause the pom to bob a bit. Landing behind the group, the Alpha continues it's race down the road, while the three to each flank dive full-speed into the treeline, disappearing into the gloom, causing less noise than creatures that size moving at that speed might be expected to make amongst the trees, though another round of howls makes that inconsequential.
"Warning shot," Lenneth responds to Mordecai just after he fires. The trigger is pulled and she's about to launch off another shot, noticing the black, when the wolf... leaps. Looking around then Len ehs and glances up at Moiraine then at Mordecai as they all just run past, "if they're not hunting us.. Uh shall we go see what they're hunting?"
Moiraine looks up and gapes and kupos, eyes following the leaping alpha. She jumps off the lamp post and flutters down, robe sswirling "Oh now that is just showing off kupo-po! Yes shall we do as Miss Lenneth says and see what they are about?"
Mordecai was all set to fire another shot, this time into the beast's head... But instead he blinks as he stares past the barrel, watching the wolves go past without causing them any harm. Slowly lowering his weapon then, he turns around to stare after them... Before glancing at both his companions, and stating almost a tad sheepishly, "Now I feel kind of bad."
Less than a minute after passing the group, more howls emerge from the forest, accompanied by something else, something that might indicate something more sinister afoot: Screams. The screams of what sounds to be young girls, in fact. The creatures can't be more than a hundred yards into the forest, as the time between passing the group and the screams is about the same as the time it took the creatures to cover the open ground between the group and the fields.
Lenneth tilts her head a little before shaking it. "Actually... don't feel bad.." is all the girl says as she takes off running into the forest, motioning for the both of you to follow. Lenneth takes off at a sprint, though she's sure she won't be catching up, as she zones in on the worrisome screams. "Looks like we know what their prey was now.. let's hurry!"
Moiraine flaps her wings and flies after Lenneth, pom-pom glowing to light their path as she flies above the girls head, swooping through the air to try and catch up with the racing pack and the screams. "Oh kupo-po"
Mordecai's expression turns stern and grim once more as he hears the screams, but he makes no comment, just taking off after Lenneth instead, matching the sprint. Though as he runs, he finds the time to pluck a fresh shot shell from his harness to top off his gun with, replacing the one fired, obviously wanting to arrive to witness the drama fully prepared.
On the race towards the screams, other noises are heard. Crashes of something large and wooden being broken, a few more screams, though these of older people and of pain rather than fright, growls and barks from the creatures themselves, and the beginnings of chaos. Past a bend in the road stands a freshly-wrecked covered wagon, on its side, a couple large and unfamiliar draft animals dead in the wagon's yokes. A couple other bodies are about, a woman and an older man past Mordecai's age, having been swiftly killed. Past the wagon is a roadside clearing, where the creatures have gathered... Four of the creatures have surrounded a middle-age man who's armed himself with a simple staff, harassing the poor fellow as they circle him, while the other three creatures, including the Alpha, have surrounded three girls near a large tree stump some distance away from the man, who seems quite anxious over the situation overall. The first screams were theirs, it seems, and a couple of them cry out for the surrounded man, evidently their father.
Lenneth takes in the carnage in quickly before frowning and beginning to run towards the girls. She slows to a stop long enough to take aim at one of the lobos and fire. While the shot is still running out the swordsm-err woman starts to run once again while letting out a woop and a yell, trying to scare the beasts off, "Get away from them!"
Moiraine blinks at what she sees and veers off toward the girls, "Help the gentleman kupo, I'll try and do something for the ladies" She veers up and over the pack intending to land in the middle of the group and do what she can to help the girls.
Mordecai is quick to act as soon as the scene is revealed before him... The man lowering his shotgun and keeping it in one hand, while the other reaches up to yank free his remaining revolver from his shoulder holster, perhaps not wanting to risk hitting the man with stray buckshot. Veering towards said man as Lenneth and Moiraine go to help the girls, running up behind the beasts surrounding the hapless bastard, and once close, letting loose a high-grain .45 slug towards the back of one of the monster's heads.
The creatures don't react to the group's arrival, which is perhaps fortunate. One creature near the girls takes Lenneth's shot with a yelp, stumbling and falling half-way down before pushing itself back up to it's feet and turning to face her, the other and the Alpha remaining focused on the girls as Moiraine joins them, though the demeanor of the two is at odds: The Alpha almost stoic and still while the other growls and snarls, hunched and seeming ready to pounce at any moment. The creature that faces Lenneth acts similarly, growling and snarling at her, and though having been wounded, shows no signs of it save for some blood on the grass beneath it, the wound itself unable to be seen due to the shadows cloaking the beast. As for the four surrounding the man with the staff, they show just as little reaction to Mordecai. Until one of them falls to Mordecai's bullet, that is, the beast so shot falling like a sack of grain, the shadows around it dissipating to reveal something that looks vaguely like a lobo, but only just, the creature wolf-like and covered in shaggy greyish-brown fur, and with paws the size of large dinner plates, the dead beast, for those lore-minded, matching the description of a creature out of legends past that was once referred to as a Warg. The death of it's fellow causes the other three around the beleagered man to react with uncanny coordination, all heads of the remaining three there swivelling in unison to stare at Mordecai, the creatures going utterly silent.
Lenneth continues moving forward, and then shifts a little trying to circle around the snarling lobo to place herself between the girls and the monsters. "No more warnings.. get out of here and leave them alone!" Another fire is shot off, this one, though, aimed at the alpha again since he's the one that would likely be keeping the others there and under control..
Moiraine flaps her wings then turns and folds them back and plunges fists first at the head of the alpha. She's been prepared to get hands on for awhile now, she locks both hands together and swings with all her weight at the head of the alpha wolf, intending to make it stop and back off from the girls. "This is all most peculiar!"
Mordecai only takes a moment to take in the fallen beast's appearance... More focused on the three remaining ones instead as they all turn their head towards him, the slightly eery display being met with a raise of the man's brow... Followed by the almost stoic raising his his revolver to level it straight at one of the other creature's muzzles, and promptly pulling the trigger again.
The shadowed warg facing Lenneth doesn't make any more to actually intercept Lenneth or prevent her from joining the three terrified girls, instead circling and pacing her until, once she's joined the girls, it is back in the spot it held before Lenneth arrived. The Alpha remains stoicly silent, though, simply standing still, though it does look up at Moiraine as she prepares to strike, glowing eyes narrowing slightly much the same way they did when Lenneth fired the warning shot earlier. And it doesn't even attempt to dodge Moiraine's blow, taking the hit squarely, and rocked a bit by it, head forced down and made to half-step to the side to avoid falling. And there it stays for a few seconds before the head slowly lifts again, that glowing odd-eyed stare returning to Moiraine and it straightens it's posture again. Yes, peculiar indeed, how this one acts. On Mordecai's side, the eerie coordination passes, and as the older man levels his revolver at another of the beasts, the armed father takes his own chance, swinging his staff at another with a yell. The yell seems to snap the beasts out of whatever circumstantial hive-mind they were possessed of, one yelping as it's struck by the staff, a second pouncing at the armed peasant with a vicious snarl, and the third, facing Mordecai's revolver, drives itself to one side, quick enough to avoid dying, but not quick enough to avoid being hit as a spray of shadow erupts from it's flank!
... TO BE CONTINUED ...
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