Difference between revisions of "All Soul and No Heart Part Two - RPLOG"
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<div></div><br> <br>It was raining again. Not even a little rain, either! The sky was dark, and thunder echoed in the skies above, creative quite the dramatic environment. A single silver spike with a pink ribbon tied around it was wedge into the earth outside of the cave, signifying the meeting point. Inside the cave, it wasn't so bad. A nice little rug, some mathemagic crystals for light, a table, a pair of bedrolls, and a single chair, to which was sitting the vixen that had answered the door the night before. Surprisingly, she wasn't tied or bound, nor did she look particularly mistreated.<br> <br>Natska steps into the cave, releasing the swirling wind that had shielded her from the worst of the rain; still, she was a little damp, and rain dripped from her hat as she took stock of the cave's interior. The jaguar gives the vixen a small nod, but decides she will not be the first to speak.<br> <br>Well, what better way to get to the meeting point than to follow Natska? The Husky made sure to keep her gear hidden beneath her heavy cloak so that her powder and other essentials do not get wet. "Rain rain rain rain... ALWAYS RAIN! I like rain as much as any other rain lover but I'm seriously getting rather tired of this." The Husky continues to mutter as she ducks into the cave to look around as she takes up her place next to Natska.<br> <br>"Don't like rain, Wulf?" Walking into the cave, soaked from the rain, Thelergramor doesn't seem at all bothered by the rain. No coat or hat with him; scarf wrapped around his head with his plague mask over it and armed with his full assortment of weapons. Catching sight of the vixen, the wolf grows confused. He gestures to her, looks to the others: "Why ain't she tied up?" He keeps a hand on his blunderbuss and watches the vixen closely.<br> <br>Fenris slips quietly into the cave in his guise as Denali the fox. The lithe, boyish red fox is wearing his tight leather pants and soft boots as usual, but has put on a short coat that exposes his midriff in consideration of the rain. Still, rainwater drips from his tail and whiskers. "This one apologizes for his lateness," he says in a high, warm tenor as he crosses his arms across his chest and bows low to those gathered in the cave. He can't help but wonder why a formal interrogation was being held so far from the city proper, but he keeps silent, as an unimportant witness ought to do.<br> <br>As the group enters, the ocelot pair look over them, before Claud nods to his brother, the tower-shield wielding feline moving off to cover the entrance. "Hmm. I half expected an ambush group, to be honest. We had this fancy trap prepared and everything. But genuine answers are just as well." Claud leans up against his spear and gives a nod to those that came. "Thank you. Yes, I recognize several of you. Well met and good to see you again." He turns to the vixen and gestures. "The others were... Resistant, but she agreed to speak with us as long as we picked a defensible spot away from prying eyes." | <div></div><br> <br>It was raining again. Not even a little rain, either! The sky was dark, and thunder echoed in the skies above, creative quite the dramatic environment. A single silver spike with a pink ribbon tied around it was wedge into the earth outside of the cave, signifying the meeting point. Inside the cave, it wasn't so bad. A nice little rug, some mathemagic crystals for light, a table, a pair of bedrolls, and a single chair, to which was sitting the vixen that had answered the door the night before. Surprisingly, she wasn't tied or bound, nor did she look particularly mistreated.<br> <br>Natska steps into the cave, releasing the swirling wind that had shielded her from the worst of the rain; still, she was a little damp, and rain dripped from her hat as she took stock of the cave's interior. The jaguar gives the vixen a small nod, but decides she will not be the first to speak.<br> <br>Well, what better way to get to the meeting point than to follow Natska? The Husky made sure to keep her gear hidden beneath her heavy cloak so that her powder and other essentials do not get wet. "Rain rain rain rain... ALWAYS RAIN! I like rain as much as any other rain lover but I'm seriously getting rather tired of this." The Husky continues to mutter as she ducks into the cave to look around as she takes up her place next to Natska.<br> <br>"Don't like rain, Wulf?" Walking into the cave, soaked from the rain, Thelergramor doesn't seem at all bothered by the rain. No coat or hat with him; scarf wrapped around his head with his plague mask over it and armed with his full assortment of weapons. Catching sight of the vixen, the wolf grows confused. He gestures to her, looks to the others: "Why ain't she tied up?" He keeps a hand on his blunderbuss and watches the vixen closely.<br> <br>Fenris slips quietly into the cave in his guise as Denali the fox. The lithe, boyish red fox is wearing his tight leather pants and soft boots as usual, but has put on a short coat that exposes his midriff in consideration of the rain. Still, rainwater drips from his tail and whiskers. "This one apologizes for his lateness," he says in a high, warm tenor as he crosses his arms across his chest and bows low to those gathered in the cave. He can't help but wonder why a formal interrogation was being held so far from the city proper, but he keeps silent, as an unimportant witness ought to do.<br> <br>As the group enters, the ocelot pair look over them, before Claud nods to his brother, the tower-shield wielding feline moving off to cover the entrance. "Hmm. I half expected an ambush group, to be honest. We had this fancy trap prepared and everything. But genuine answers are just as well." Claud leans up against his spear and gives a nod to those that came. "Thank you. Yes, I recognize several of you. Well met and good to see you again." He turns to the vixen and gestures. "The others were... Resistant, but she agreed to speak with us as long as we picked a defensible spot away from prying eyes." | ||
| − | The vixen looks up and perks her ears, before frowning. "It's not worth losing my life over. If you can make sure I won't regret it later, I'll gladly tell all of you whatever you want to know."<br> <br>Natska nods at the two ocelots, thoughtfully considering their words. She gives the vixen a small nod. "I can promise to treat you fairly, and impartially, and offer my protection while you are in my care, if that works. Are we in danger? Expecting trouble?"<br> <br>Wulf remains quiet, instead keeping her eyes on the cave enterence while those inside speak thereby leaving the husky to listen and think over the discussion.<br> <br>Thelergramor shrugs, steps closer to the vixen. "As she said, you'll be treated fairly. So long as you do answer our questions." He looks to the ocelots, then to Natska, Wulf and Denali. "But, I'll keep you safe if you talk, yes." He holds his questions for after Natskas are answered.<br> <br>Denali stays near the entrance for a few moments, allowing himself to drip dry a bit before moving lightly toward the fire. He wanted to be somewhere he could see the vixen's face during the interrogation. And where he could keep an eye on Thelergramor. He didn't trust the wolf half as far as he could throw him.<br> <br>Claud decides to answer that one, himself. "Possibly. The other night in the shanties wasn't the first time something like that had happened. My brother and I are bounty hunters, you see. We've been chasing a woman from Cliffside for doing the same thing there that she was trying to do here." The vixen stares at the ground and frowns. "She came in speaking a lot of sense to us. She shared our own concerns, and said she'd help us do something about it. She escaped that night, though, when you came knocking. I don't know where, but I'll tell you everything I can."<br> <br>Natska raises her eyebrows,.then nods. "Go on," she says, tone encouraging. "Tell us then." She places her hands on her hips, and waits.<br> <br>Thelergramor coughs. Crosses his arms and leans back. "Don't stop there. Give me a name, doesn't matter to me which one of you talks." Referring to th ebounty hunters and the prisoner. "But, the name. Now." Tone much less friendly than Natskas, tries the time-tested 'good cop/bad cop' routine. He glares at the bounty hunters from behind his mask, doesn't like that they withheld that information last time. Or, maybe he just missed it. Either way; they know more than they are saying.<br> <br>"Why steal soul gems?" comes Denali's warm tenor, "They are readily available at the Church and from the guilds, aren't they?" The fox fingers the gem glittering from his cuff earring. It is a decoy, of course. He didn't want his actual gem exposed after the way he had worried over it last time. "Why would you take them from those who need them?"<br> <br>Despite the thunder having gone, the rain still falls heavily enough that it obscures most of the area outside of the cave. Claud looks at Thel and raises a brow. "Calina. She's a nasty mage from the academy there. Doesn't care much for getting her hands dirty, though, so she has others do it for her," he says, gesturing to the vixen. "Case in point." She fox squirms uncomfortable at Denali's question, looking between Natska and the other fox. "I, uh... We... Well. Only a few of us actually live in the shanties. I don't. But we feel like the soulless have too much power," she mumbles meekly. "The way they can just master all those talents as if it was nothing. Some of us get disgruntled by that, then she comes in, saying she knows how to make them pay. Asks us to take their soul gems. So we do."<br> <br>A scowl creases Natska's features, and she fixes the vixen with a stare. "While I can understand your feelings on the matter, do you *know* what it is like for one of us to be without a soulgem?" she asks, her tone injured. "Have you seen what it reduces a *person*, one of your fellow citizens, to? And you know that it leaves them vulnerable to the Shadows, yes? There is no coming back after a Shadow has devoured someone's mind." Natska pauses, her ears drooping. "Firmament is practically one big family, and you would do that to your brothers and sisters because you feel they have it too easy?"<br> <br>Husky ears flick and she digs into the side of her cloak to unsheath her sabre with a silent snick of metal leaving leather. Looking at Geoff she lifts an eyebrow to see if he heard the sound as well before she slides into the darkness of the cave. Best to hide and suprise the suprise. If anyone looks at her funny the husky with motion for them to continue as they were. | + | The vixen looks up and perks her ears, before frowning. "It's not worth losing my life over. If you can make sure I won't regret it later, I'll gladly tell all of you whatever you want to know."<br> <br>Natska nods at the two ocelots, thoughtfully considering their words. She gives the vixen a small nod. "I can promise to treat you fairly, and impartially, and offer my protection while you are in my care, if that works. Are we in danger? Expecting trouble?"<br> <br>Wulf remains quiet, instead keeping her eyes on the cave enterence while those inside speak thereby leaving the husky to listen and think over the discussion.<br> <br>Thelergramor shrugs, steps closer to the vixen. "As she said, you'll be treated fairly. So long as you do answer our questions." He looks to the ocelots, then to Natska, Wulf and Denali. "But, I'll keep you safe if you talk, yes." He holds his questions for after Natskas are answered.<br> <br>Denali stays near the entrance for a few moments, allowing himself to drip dry a bit before moving lightly toward the fire. He wanted to be somewhere he could see the vixen's face during the interrogation. And where he could keep an eye on Thelergramor. He didn't trust the wolf half as far as he could throw him.<br> <br>Claud decides to answer that one, himself. "Possibly. The other night in the shanties wasn't the first time something like that had happened. My brother and I are bounty hunters, you see. We've been chasing a woman from Cliffside for doing the same thing there that she was trying to do here." The vixen stares at the ground and frowns. "She came in speaking a lot of sense to us. She shared our own concerns, and said she'd help us do something about it. She escaped that night, though, when you came knocking. I don't know where, but I'll tell you everything I can."<br> <br>Natska raises her eyebrows,.then nods. "Go on," she says, tone encouraging. "Tell us then." She places her hands on her hips, and waits.<br> <br>Thelergramor coughs. Crosses his arms and leans back. "Don't stop there. Give me a name, doesn't matter to me which one of you talks." Referring to th ebounty hunters and the prisoner. "But, the name. Now." Tone much less friendly than Natskas, tries the time-tested 'good cop/bad cop' routine. He glares at the bounty hunters from behind his mask, doesn't like that they withheld that information last time. Or, maybe he just missed it. Either way; they know more than they are saying.<br> <br>"Why steal soul gems?" comes Denali's warm tenor, "They are readily available at the Church and from the guilds, aren't they?" The fox fingers the gem glittering from his cuff earring. It is a decoy, of course. He didn't want his actual gem exposed after the way he had worried over it last time. "Why would you take them from those who need them?"<br> <br>Despite the thunder having gone, the rain still falls heavily enough that it obscures most of the area outside of the cave. Claud looks at Thel and raises a brow. "Calina. She's a nasty mage from the academy there. Doesn't care much for getting her hands dirty, though, so she has others do it for her," he says, gesturing to the vixen. "Case in point." She fox squirms uncomfortable at Denali's question, looking between Natska and the other fox. "I, uh... We... Well. Only a few of us actually live in the shanties. I don't. But we feel like the soulless have too much power," she mumbles meekly. "The way they can just master all those talents as if it was nothing. Some of us get disgruntled by that, then she comes in, saying she knows how to make them pay. Asks us to take their soul gems. So we do."<br> <br>A scowl creases Natska's features, and she fixes the vixen with a stare. "While I can understand your feelings on the matter, do you *know* what it is like for one of us to be without a soulgem?" she asks, her tone injured. "Have you seen what it reduces a *person*, one of your fellow citizens, to? And you know that it leaves them vulnerable to the Shadows, yes? There is no coming back after a Shadow has devoured someone's mind." Natska pauses, her ears drooping. "Firmament is practically one big family, and you would do that to your brothers and sisters because you feel they have it too easy?"<br> <br>Husky ears flick and she digs into the side of her cloak to unsheath her sabre with a silent snick of metal leaving leather. Looking at Geoff she lifts an eyebrow to see if he heard the sound as well before she slides into the darkness of the cave. Best to hide and suprise the suprise. If anyone looks at her funny the husky with motion for them to continue as they were.<br> <br>Thelergramor chuckles, both at Natskas shift in tone and at the foxes answer. Looks over to the ocelot: "Calina? Hmm...Don't know the name..." He turns back to the vixen. "Bitch. So you feel weak. Get the fuck over it. Instead of complaining about how easily we can learn things, pur more effort into mastering a talent yourself." He shakes his head. Glances at Wulf, noting something is wrong. Impulsive as always, he grabs his blunderbuss, readies it but stays near the vixen.<br> <br>Denali's face falls in horror. "Don't you know what happens to the soulless without a soul gem?" he cries, "What kind of monster are you?" The foxy boy-toy shivers, not wholly an affectation. Fenris remembers well what it was like to be torn, to become one of the soulless. "It is cold and dark," he murmurs, "Your body seems distant, and the noise! The noise and the dark are terrible!" He whimpers and slowly sits on the ground.<br> <br>Geoff draws his sword and brings up his shield, giving a nod to Wulf as he takes a step back further into the shallow cave, staying at the ready. The vixen lays her ears back and narrows her eyes. "Look, I didn't say I was proud of it, alright? I didn't say it was reasonable, or logical. Yes we know what happens when you take them. We know the feeling. That was the -point-!" She snaps before taking a few deep breaths to settle herself. "We can work all of our lives to master something, and they can do it in a week! And master several things many times over. But she, Calina, made the plans. She didn't tell us what her goal was, only that she intended to bring them down a notch. We were just the hands."<br> <br>Natska sighs, and rubs at her muzzle. Her tail flicks. "Right. Business. How do you contact Calina? Where is she? How do we find her?"<br> <br>Natska sighs, and rubs at her muzzle. Her tail flicks. "Right. Business. How do you contact Calina? Where is she? How do we find her?" She looks over at Thel as he readies his weapon,then glances to the pair on guard; her ear flicks and she thinks a moment, then looks back at the vixen in the chair.<br> <br>Wulf gives Thel a glare, telling him that he should obey her this time if he'd like to get out of here alive. She doesn't say anything however and prepares to strike at the figures that hopefully show up soon for their demise.<br> <br>Thelergramor supresses a laugh; Wulf telling him what to do. Glorious. He obeys, for now. An eye kept on the vixen. "Alright, have anything useful to add? You know, something that isn't spiteful bullshit?" He looks to the cave entrance, keeps his blunderbuss ready to fire; and hopefully not hit anyone with its spread.<br> <br>Denali snorts, a very un-delicate sound from the delicate fox. "Most of us would gladly give that up," he says, "To be whole." The fox notices the commotion at the door and tries to keep the vixen's eyes away from whatever is happening there. Hopefully there is time to learn more before trouble shows.<br> <br>Unfortunately, the vixen notices the prepping of weapons quite easily, and becomes visibly uncomfortable. "We never really contacted her. She always contacted us. She and her companion escaped through the tunnel, and we haven't seen them since. We've been in custody that whole time, and healing up from... Whatever knocked the house over. They always came by the shack every other day to collect the gems." She starts to stand, only to get pushed back down into the seat by Claud. Firmly, but not forcefully. "What's going on out there?" She asks, looking a little more worried.<br> <br>A black arrow flies into the cave, seemingly blind fired into the cave, rather than aimed at anyone in particular. Unfortunately, Natska happened to be in the arrow's trajectory, but she's spared anything particularly bad when it glances off of her. Interestingly enough, there seems to be a small rain-flecked note scrolled tightly around the arrow.<br> <br>Natska's ear flicks at the sound of- she suddenly twists, a wind snapping up to help her pivot, and the arrow catches in her jacket. It twists with the fabric as she completes her turn, and she jaguar growls under her breath as she feels at her side. "Felt something... a note?" She pulls the arrow from her almost-new coat, eye twitching.<br> <br>Wulf stays near the entryway, despite a suspicion that was the only thing that would happen. "Black arrow? Looks ominous."<br> <br>Thelergramor blinks as the arrow shot at one of his friends sets him into a rage. He charges the entrance, ignoring whatever was on the note. "Oh, you're fucking dead!" Wolf does not like to be attacked, even blindly.<br> <br>Denali takes a quick step forward as Natska mentions a note attached to the arrow and scoops it up. Unrolling the little scrap, he scans it quickly.<br> <br>As Thelergramor charges out into the thunderstorm, he is treated to the sight of... A whole lot of nothing, really. Water and the gradual onset of darkness as the sun sets. The vixen gives a squeak of panic when the arrow flies in, and Geoff retreats further into the cave, taking up a position in front of the woman with his tower shield, while his brother swaps places, moving closer towards the front with his spear.<br> <br>Natska pokes at the tear through her coat and scowls, darkly, raising her gaze to stare out towards the front of the cave. She considers this new development, ponderously, and ajusts her position so that she is behind the cat with the tower shield as well. As she does so, she fishes her dual pendant out from inside her shirt, reverses the places of the two gems, then tucks it away again. "What does it say, Denali?"<br> <br>Wulf snarls as Thel runs past her, that idiot needs to get in better control of his actions and learn some patience. You'd think he'd listen to a soldier but noooo. Shaking her head she sets her attention to Denali, an ear flicking in curiousity.<br> <br>With a loud 'bang' Thel fires his blunderbuss randomly out into the night. "You better run, asshole!" Didn't see anyone, knows someone had to have been there though. He turns around, starts to reload his blunderbuss; pouring the contents of a pouch down the barrel. Nails, small pieces of jagged metal, etc. No real shot though. Walking back inside, he announces: "Didn't see anyone. Check the arrow for poison." He looks to Wulf, noting some disapproval. "What? I wouldn't have moved were we not attacked." He shrugs, moves to keep the vixen in her chair.<br> <br>"They want her," Denali says, "They know she has talked to us and want her for themselves." The fox looks around the cave. "What do we do?" he asks.<br> <br>For a time, nothing happened. But after Thel throws his shot and taunts into the rain, a reply is given in the form of an arrow being loosed through the dark. They weren't poisoned, but they were smudged with dirty, to reduce any glinting that might otherwise reflect off the light. The vixen goes pale from behind Geoff and his tower shield. "What? You can't give me away! I told you everything I could! You promised you wouldn't let me come to harm!" She pulls her legs up and hugs them to her chest, distraught.<br> <br>Natska frowns as Denali relays the message, then rolls her shoulders in a shrug. "I have given my protection. Nobody is being handed over." She peers past the cave entrance, then draws her heavy knife and moves over against a wall of the cave. She frowns with concentration and quickly begins scratching equations into the wall to help her focus; basic callings of wind and water first, growing more complex as she works. "I can provide a distraction and cover. Perhaps enough to drive them off. Denali, move her with us. Wulf, you have our backs. We can get clear, and slip past them without having to fight our way out of this bolt hole." |
Revision as of 04:22, 12 August 2014
Participants
Date
11/8/477
Log
It was raining again. Not even a little rain, either! The sky was dark, and thunder echoed in the skies above, creative quite the dramatic environment. A single silver spike with a pink ribbon tied around it was wedge into the earth outside of the cave, signifying the meeting point. Inside the cave, it wasn't so bad. A nice little rug, some mathemagic crystals for light, a table, a pair of bedrolls, and a single chair, to which was sitting the vixen that had answered the door the night before. Surprisingly, she wasn't tied or bound, nor did she look particularly mistreated.
Natska steps into the cave, releasing the swirling wind that had shielded her from the worst of the rain; still, she was a little damp, and rain dripped from her hat as she took stock of the cave's interior. The jaguar gives the vixen a small nod, but decides she will not be the first to speak.
Well, what better way to get to the meeting point than to follow Natska? The Husky made sure to keep her gear hidden beneath her heavy cloak so that her powder and other essentials do not get wet. "Rain rain rain rain... ALWAYS RAIN! I like rain as much as any other rain lover but I'm seriously getting rather tired of this." The Husky continues to mutter as she ducks into the cave to look around as she takes up her place next to Natska.
"Don't like rain, Wulf?" Walking into the cave, soaked from the rain, Thelergramor doesn't seem at all bothered by the rain. No coat or hat with him; scarf wrapped around his head with his plague mask over it and armed with his full assortment of weapons. Catching sight of the vixen, the wolf grows confused. He gestures to her, looks to the others: "Why ain't she tied up?" He keeps a hand on his blunderbuss and watches the vixen closely.
Fenris slips quietly into the cave in his guise as Denali the fox. The lithe, boyish red fox is wearing his tight leather pants and soft boots as usual, but has put on a short coat that exposes his midriff in consideration of the rain. Still, rainwater drips from his tail and whiskers. "This one apologizes for his lateness," he says in a high, warm tenor as he crosses his arms across his chest and bows low to those gathered in the cave. He can't help but wonder why a formal interrogation was being held so far from the city proper, but he keeps silent, as an unimportant witness ought to do.
As the group enters, the ocelot pair look over them, before Claud nods to his brother, the tower-shield wielding feline moving off to cover the entrance. "Hmm. I half expected an ambush group, to be honest. We had this fancy trap prepared and everything. But genuine answers are just as well." Claud leans up against his spear and gives a nod to those that came. "Thank you. Yes, I recognize several of you. Well met and good to see you again." He turns to the vixen and gestures. "The others were... Resistant, but she agreed to speak with us as long as we picked a defensible spot away from prying eyes."
The vixen looks up and perks her ears, before frowning. "It's not worth losing my life over. If you can make sure I won't regret it later, I'll gladly tell all of you whatever you want to know."
Natska nods at the two ocelots, thoughtfully considering their words. She gives the vixen a small nod. "I can promise to treat you fairly, and impartially, and offer my protection while you are in my care, if that works. Are we in danger? Expecting trouble?"
Wulf remains quiet, instead keeping her eyes on the cave enterence while those inside speak thereby leaving the husky to listen and think over the discussion.
Thelergramor shrugs, steps closer to the vixen. "As she said, you'll be treated fairly. So long as you do answer our questions." He looks to the ocelots, then to Natska, Wulf and Denali. "But, I'll keep you safe if you talk, yes." He holds his questions for after Natskas are answered.
Denali stays near the entrance for a few moments, allowing himself to drip dry a bit before moving lightly toward the fire. He wanted to be somewhere he could see the vixen's face during the interrogation. And where he could keep an eye on Thelergramor. He didn't trust the wolf half as far as he could throw him.
Claud decides to answer that one, himself. "Possibly. The other night in the shanties wasn't the first time something like that had happened. My brother and I are bounty hunters, you see. We've been chasing a woman from Cliffside for doing the same thing there that she was trying to do here." The vixen stares at the ground and frowns. "She came in speaking a lot of sense to us. She shared our own concerns, and said she'd help us do something about it. She escaped that night, though, when you came knocking. I don't know where, but I'll tell you everything I can."
Natska raises her eyebrows,.then nods. "Go on," she says, tone encouraging. "Tell us then." She places her hands on her hips, and waits.
Thelergramor coughs. Crosses his arms and leans back. "Don't stop there. Give me a name, doesn't matter to me which one of you talks." Referring to th ebounty hunters and the prisoner. "But, the name. Now." Tone much less friendly than Natskas, tries the time-tested 'good cop/bad cop' routine. He glares at the bounty hunters from behind his mask, doesn't like that they withheld that information last time. Or, maybe he just missed it. Either way; they know more than they are saying.
"Why steal soul gems?" comes Denali's warm tenor, "They are readily available at the Church and from the guilds, aren't they?" The fox fingers the gem glittering from his cuff earring. It is a decoy, of course. He didn't want his actual gem exposed after the way he had worried over it last time. "Why would you take them from those who need them?"
Despite the thunder having gone, the rain still falls heavily enough that it obscures most of the area outside of the cave. Claud looks at Thel and raises a brow. "Calina. She's a nasty mage from the academy there. Doesn't care much for getting her hands dirty, though, so she has others do it for her," he says, gesturing to the vixen. "Case in point." She fox squirms uncomfortable at Denali's question, looking between Natska and the other fox. "I, uh... We... Well. Only a few of us actually live in the shanties. I don't. But we feel like the soulless have too much power," she mumbles meekly. "The way they can just master all those talents as if it was nothing. Some of us get disgruntled by that, then she comes in, saying she knows how to make them pay. Asks us to take their soul gems. So we do."
A scowl creases Natska's features, and she fixes the vixen with a stare. "While I can understand your feelings on the matter, do you *know* what it is like for one of us to be without a soulgem?" she asks, her tone injured. "Have you seen what it reduces a *person*, one of your fellow citizens, to? And you know that it leaves them vulnerable to the Shadows, yes? There is no coming back after a Shadow has devoured someone's mind." Natska pauses, her ears drooping. "Firmament is practically one big family, and you would do that to your brothers and sisters because you feel they have it too easy?"
Husky ears flick and she digs into the side of her cloak to unsheath her sabre with a silent snick of metal leaving leather. Looking at Geoff she lifts an eyebrow to see if he heard the sound as well before she slides into the darkness of the cave. Best to hide and suprise the suprise. If anyone looks at her funny the husky with motion for them to continue as they were.
Thelergramor chuckles, both at Natskas shift in tone and at the foxes answer. Looks over to the ocelot: "Calina? Hmm...Don't know the name..." He turns back to the vixen. "Bitch. So you feel weak. Get the fuck over it. Instead of complaining about how easily we can learn things, pur more effort into mastering a talent yourself." He shakes his head. Glances at Wulf, noting something is wrong. Impulsive as always, he grabs his blunderbuss, readies it but stays near the vixen.
Denali's face falls in horror. "Don't you know what happens to the soulless without a soul gem?" he cries, "What kind of monster are you?" The foxy boy-toy shivers, not wholly an affectation. Fenris remembers well what it was like to be torn, to become one of the soulless. "It is cold and dark," he murmurs, "Your body seems distant, and the noise! The noise and the dark are terrible!" He whimpers and slowly sits on the ground.
Geoff draws his sword and brings up his shield, giving a nod to Wulf as he takes a step back further into the shallow cave, staying at the ready. The vixen lays her ears back and narrows her eyes. "Look, I didn't say I was proud of it, alright? I didn't say it was reasonable, or logical. Yes we know what happens when you take them. We know the feeling. That was the -point-!" She snaps before taking a few deep breaths to settle herself. "We can work all of our lives to master something, and they can do it in a week! And master several things many times over. But she, Calina, made the plans. She didn't tell us what her goal was, only that she intended to bring them down a notch. We were just the hands."
Natska sighs, and rubs at her muzzle. Her tail flicks. "Right. Business. How do you contact Calina? Where is she? How do we find her?"
Natska sighs, and rubs at her muzzle. Her tail flicks. "Right. Business. How do you contact Calina? Where is she? How do we find her?" She looks over at Thel as he readies his weapon,then glances to the pair on guard; her ear flicks and she thinks a moment, then looks back at the vixen in the chair.
Wulf gives Thel a glare, telling him that he should obey her this time if he'd like to get out of here alive. She doesn't say anything however and prepares to strike at the figures that hopefully show up soon for their demise.
Thelergramor supresses a laugh; Wulf telling him what to do. Glorious. He obeys, for now. An eye kept on the vixen. "Alright, have anything useful to add? You know, something that isn't spiteful bullshit?" He looks to the cave entrance, keeps his blunderbuss ready to fire; and hopefully not hit anyone with its spread.
Denali snorts, a very un-delicate sound from the delicate fox. "Most of us would gladly give that up," he says, "To be whole." The fox notices the commotion at the door and tries to keep the vixen's eyes away from whatever is happening there. Hopefully there is time to learn more before trouble shows.
Unfortunately, the vixen notices the prepping of weapons quite easily, and becomes visibly uncomfortable. "We never really contacted her. She always contacted us. She and her companion escaped through the tunnel, and we haven't seen them since. We've been in custody that whole time, and healing up from... Whatever knocked the house over. They always came by the shack every other day to collect the gems." She starts to stand, only to get pushed back down into the seat by Claud. Firmly, but not forcefully. "What's going on out there?" She asks, looking a little more worried.
A black arrow flies into the cave, seemingly blind fired into the cave, rather than aimed at anyone in particular. Unfortunately, Natska happened to be in the arrow's trajectory, but she's spared anything particularly bad when it glances off of her. Interestingly enough, there seems to be a small rain-flecked note scrolled tightly around the arrow.
Natska's ear flicks at the sound of- she suddenly twists, a wind snapping up to help her pivot, and the arrow catches in her jacket. It twists with the fabric as she completes her turn, and she jaguar growls under her breath as she feels at her side. "Felt something... a note?" She pulls the arrow from her almost-new coat, eye twitching.
Wulf stays near the entryway, despite a suspicion that was the only thing that would happen. "Black arrow? Looks ominous."
Thelergramor blinks as the arrow shot at one of his friends sets him into a rage. He charges the entrance, ignoring whatever was on the note. "Oh, you're fucking dead!" Wolf does not like to be attacked, even blindly.
Denali takes a quick step forward as Natska mentions a note attached to the arrow and scoops it up. Unrolling the little scrap, he scans it quickly.
As Thelergramor charges out into the thunderstorm, he is treated to the sight of... A whole lot of nothing, really. Water and the gradual onset of darkness as the sun sets. The vixen gives a squeak of panic when the arrow flies in, and Geoff retreats further into the cave, taking up a position in front of the woman with his tower shield, while his brother swaps places, moving closer towards the front with his spear.
Natska pokes at the tear through her coat and scowls, darkly, raising her gaze to stare out towards the front of the cave. She considers this new development, ponderously, and ajusts her position so that she is behind the cat with the tower shield as well. As she does so, she fishes her dual pendant out from inside her shirt, reverses the places of the two gems, then tucks it away again. "What does it say, Denali?"
Wulf snarls as Thel runs past her, that idiot needs to get in better control of his actions and learn some patience. You'd think he'd listen to a soldier but noooo. Shaking her head she sets her attention to Denali, an ear flicking in curiousity.
With a loud 'bang' Thel fires his blunderbuss randomly out into the night. "You better run, asshole!" Didn't see anyone, knows someone had to have been there though. He turns around, starts to reload his blunderbuss; pouring the contents of a pouch down the barrel. Nails, small pieces of jagged metal, etc. No real shot though. Walking back inside, he announces: "Didn't see anyone. Check the arrow for poison." He looks to Wulf, noting some disapproval. "What? I wouldn't have moved were we not attacked." He shrugs, moves to keep the vixen in her chair.
"They want her," Denali says, "They know she has talked to us and want her for themselves." The fox looks around the cave. "What do we do?" he asks.
For a time, nothing happened. But after Thel throws his shot and taunts into the rain, a reply is given in the form of an arrow being loosed through the dark. They weren't poisoned, but they were smudged with dirty, to reduce any glinting that might otherwise reflect off the light. The vixen goes pale from behind Geoff and his tower shield. "What? You can't give me away! I told you everything I could! You promised you wouldn't let me come to harm!" She pulls her legs up and hugs them to her chest, distraught.
Natska frowns as Denali relays the message, then rolls her shoulders in a shrug. "I have given my protection. Nobody is being handed over." She peers past the cave entrance, then draws her heavy knife and moves over against a wall of the cave. She frowns with concentration and quickly begins scratching equations into the wall to help her focus; basic callings of wind and water first, growing more complex as she works. "I can provide a distraction and cover. Perhaps enough to drive them off. Denali, move her with us. Wulf, you have our backs. We can get clear, and slip past them without having to fight our way out of this bolt hole."
