02.15.09 - The Rain of Wildcat

Location: Somewhere in Mossflower

Characters Involved: Darcy, Sivaine, Magramba, Kaen

The spider bite has been slowing Harper down a bit, so he's actually spent the day in the back of the group, with Darcy toward the middle. They're trekking through a woodsy area when she glances back and. Where is he. "Hey," she calls out to the others, a little ways in front of her. "Hey! .. we lost him." She looks perplexed.

"What." Sivaine half-turns, grip slipping up the shaft of her halberd. She sounds slightly annoyed; it's been a pleasant day so far, with minimal bugs and no signs of bandits. There's even been some cheery birdsong from some early migrators. "How long's he been gone?"

Magramba keeps walking, walking, walking... No one's following. The squirrel turns around, leaning on a handy tree-trunk. "I'm sure he hasn't lost us. Our stealth is near-deafening."

Darcy takes a few steps back in the direction they came from, looking around, then back at Sivaine. "I have no idea. I just .. looked back and he's nowhere." Her hands come up, cupping around her muzzle. "/Harper/!" the doe calls into the woods.

"I'm not so worried about him losing us as being unable to follow," Sivaine replies and follows Darcy's shout with one of her own. "/Harper/."

Darcy shouts, "HARPER SUTTON!!"

Magramba lets the female half of the party perform their natural task.

Little aware were they, that 30 feet above them, they were being very closely watched. The wildcat chuckled at the squirrel's remark about stealth...Then his mind went back to dinner. It had been awile since he had squirrel but the doe looked much easier to kill...He lunged soundlessly into space, the long claws coming out with a srrrrk sound as he falls toward the hare...

That doesn't really give much time to react. Darcy isn't even aware of the big feline until he's /on/ her. The doe releases an involuntary sound as she's flattened by Kaen's weight, the air knocked out of her.

watches in horror as a tremendous brown /thing/ lands atop Darcy, drawing his sword and dagger as it makes impact. The squirrel takes off at a run, closing the distance, hopefully fast enough.

Sivaine falls silent, waiting for an answering shout from the woods, ears perked forward and alert and eyes narrowed at the concealing brush. And then a half-dressed wildcat falls on Darcy. "What-" She levels her halberd at Kaen, stabbing forward. "Magramba!"

Kaen gives a snarl of rage as he sees the other two beasts charging down, if he wouldn't have missed, his claws would have drove into the doe's brain, dead meat. He quickly sumersaults forward and mostly out of the way of the creature's blades, thinking fast he makes a dive for the weaker mousemaid than the squirrel, claws drawn back for a strike.

Well it's a good thing for Darcy that her brains haven't been skewered. The doe takes a strained breath, pushing her hands to the ground, getting to her hands and knees and struggling to breathe for a moment. Being slammed into the ground like that has left her a little dazed for the moment.

Oh, that's not good. Magramba changes direction when the cat does, pushing off a tree with one foot. He lowers his shoulder, aiming to bowl the cat away from Sivaine.

The weaker mousemaid is wielding a long polearm taller than she is, and it's clear she means for Kaen to stay on the business end. She aims another jab at the wildcat as he charges, leveling the long, wicked top spike at his chest. Her eyes are wide and alert; this is all a bit of a surprise.

Kaen twists to the side as he sees the halbard coming at him but it still rips across his shoulder and he hisses in pain, the next second that tasty looking squirrel charges into his stomach, and due to the wildcat's greater weight, doesn't quite knock him over. He hisses again and brings his paw up to slash down across the warrior's back.

Darcy rises, and sort of staggers sideways, one hand against her ribs on one side as she takes little shallow breaths. Her lungs don't really want to expand all the way. "Nnh," she wheezes, "someone.. /kill it/.."

Magramba feels his cape and duster shred, hears the shriek of claw on steel. Noticing his convenient position, the squirrel stabs ferociously with his dagger before attempting to roll between the cat's legs.

Sivaine sidesteps, ignoring Darcy; the doe is sort of preaching to the choir. Now that Magramba is in the way, things are trickier, but once the squirrel's attempted to get out of the way, she aims a slashing sweep at the wildcat's unarmored side.

Luckily for Kaen, the dagger missed him and he spun around to see the halberd swinging in at him again. He whips up his left arm to catch the blade on the steel and leather buckler before spinning and grabbing the shaft with his free paw, aiming on yanking it from the mouse's grasp.

Darcy backs up a few steps, well out of the way of the fight. Her dirk is gripped in one hand, weight on the balls of her feet, body tensed with adrenaline and ready for quick motion. The aggression toward Sivaine gets a faint growl from the doe. She stoops, finds a rock, and hurls this at Kaen. "Hey! Hey, you big-fat-ugly piece of feline! Over here!"

Magramba grins delightedly as he is ignored. With a laugh, the squirrel runs at the cat, placing a quick foot on the small of Kaen's back, pressing up, putting the next on the shoulder of the large cat. He rockets off the shoulders, twirling like a ballerina in mid air to face his foe, and directing a strong, downward slash at him with the sword.

Ugh, the rock hits him on the side of the face and Magramba's sword slices down through the muscles on his chest. He crouches down to all fours before springing at the squirrel with a roar that almost shakes the leaves from the trees. His paws go for the warrior's throat, breaking his neck is all the Wildcat can think about.

This is a bit of a problem, but it's, well, bad form to drop your weapons and Sivaine digs her claws into the shaft, losing her footing and stumbling forward with a grunt. Good thing she's not fighting this one alone, so when Kaen looses his grip on her weapon she takes a second to recover and stabs for his side again. Somewhere in the region of the kidneys.

And Darcy. Darcy finds another rock, and hurls this. And another one. At Kaen's head, mostly, but she doesn't really take the time to aim or anything. "Hey! STUPID ARSE! Dinner's getting cold!!"

Magramba manages to move back enough that his waist and chest are in grabbing range, not his neck. And... holds his sword out to impale the cat.

Kaen snarls and grabs the blade in his bare paws, stepping forward which is all that saves him from the halberd, though the rock does hit him on the shoulder. He pushes the blade aside then grabs the squirrel in one paw and throws him with all his massive strength at the closest tree before springing again at the doe.

Darcy backs up a few steps, hastily. She has a rock in one hand, larger than her fist, and the dirk in the other. A 'hrk!' sound comes out of the doe as, for the second time, she's knocked over by the wildcat's weight. She lands on her back, effectively tackled to the ground, and brings up the dirk and rock. The blade is stabbed at one side of Kaen's head and the stone is smashed at the other side.

When she misses Sivaine draws her weapon back and- what the heck. Quick strides bring her forward and the axe head comes into play now, with a downward chopping motion at Kaen's exposed neck. "/Darcy./"

The oak shakes visibly as Magramba's armored form crashes into it, and the squirrel falls momentarily senseless at its roots. After a brief recovery, the squirrel gets up, his breathing ragged and hitching. He retrieves his sword, the dagger lost, and he's looking rather annoyed now. The squirrel dashes towards the cat and his friends, sword held low, tip dragging the ground, prepared for an upward slash. A swing like that is hard to miss.

Darcy's rock smashed into the side of his head and he half fell, so the dirk just knicked the back of his neck. Then, seeing he maid attack from the corner of his eye, Kaen throws himself backward then giving a great jump toward the tree that was behind Darcy, sinks claws from all four of his paws into it before springing back, over all their heads, where he lands nimbly and unslings the mace from his shoulder, sheathing the claws with another srrrk sound. "Come and get it!" He hisses, eyes narrowing even more.

".. actually. I'm all for /not/ coming and getting it," Darcy mutters, cringing as he stands up, even stumbling a little. She has claw marks on her now, and shoots a glare off at the cat. "We're too difficult for eating, go find someone else!"

"Darcy get over here /now,/" Sivaine orders, breathing hard with adrenaline. The halberd comes up to a 'guard' position, ready to strike or impale Kaen if he makes a move.

Magramba, on the other hand, is too angry for reason. The squirrel charges once more, sword at the ready.

Kaen gives a sadistic smile and crouches, the mace balanced easily in one paw. The wildcat is bleeding freely onto the snow but he doesn't seem to notice at all, orange eyes never leaving the charging squirrel.

"Mag!" Darcy snaps at the squirrel. "Idiot! /I'm/ the one who's going to have to sew your limbs back on!!"

"I can take him!" Magramba nears the wildcat.

"H'h," Sivaine exhales, thoroughly irritated. She may as well make use of the distraction, though, and lunges forward for Kaen's side.

Giving another snarl, Kaen spins forward and deflects the halberd with his buckler, swinging a backhanded blow with the mace at the same time, this was going to take Magramba's head off if it landed.

Magramba ducks the blow easily, bringing himself close enough to do some damage. The warrior directs a sweeping blow from the ground to the cat's eyes, hopefully getting everything in between.

Well clearly this method is going nowhere. Darcy holds her dirk in her teeth, ditches her pack on the ground, and steps up behind Sivaine. A coil of rope is attached to the side of the mouse's pack, and she tugs this free, then skirts around, circling Kaen well out of reach, tying one end of the rope into a loop as she gets around sort of behind him and to the side.

Jabs and stabs don't carry a lot of sideways momentum, and Sivaine circles, getting herself on the side opposite Magramba. The blade dances out again for Kaen's back.

Kaen steps back as the squirrel attacks, grabbing the shaft of the halberd he swings it in a semi-circle that blocks the swordblade before it can cut into him, then spins again, aiming the mace for the mousemaid this time.

Magramba sees the swing at Sivaine, and throws himself in front of it, giving her a shove before the mace catches him in the side, hurtling him off to side, where he thuds to the ground. His sword is lost, back with the mouse and wildcat.

Darcy is now a climbing bunny! She hops up onto a stump, and from there onto a rock, and reaches up, grasping a treebranch, hefting herself up with her arm hooked around it and feet against the trunk. The rope loop is made wider, larger, functioning on a slipknot, and with a slight spin she tosses this lasso-style at Kaen, trying to catch the loop around his neck.

"Nrh!" A combination of Kaen's swing and Magramba's shove and Sivaine loses the grip on her weapon, going sprawling in the half-melted snow.

Giving a victorious screech as Magramba falls, Kaen is interrupted as the lasso falls around his neck and draws tight, the Wildcat drops his weapon and stumbles back, clawing at the rope until he trips over a rock and falls flat. Hopefully for them, someone will nail him before he thinks to slice the rope with his claw...

When the lasso pulls tight Darcy pulls the end. It's slung over the tree branch and she drops her weight, pulling furiously, to choke Kaen or at least keep him in place with the 'leash'. "Rrk! Siv! Stab the moron!"

Sivaine mutters something, shedding her pack as she rises. /That/ is much better, and much easier to move. She snatches up her halberd again and advances, thrusting forward and down at the wildcat's torso while he's occupied.

Kaen hisses and extends the claws on his footpaw, slicing out at Sivaine just before the tip of the polearm drives into his ribcage. He screams in pain and with a wild effort tugs free of the lasso, bolting into the woods with a trail of blood.

All Darcy's weight is on the other side of the rope, so when Kaen is free of it. She drops. There's a thump-grunt-rustle as she lands in a bush.

The claws catch Sivaine just below the knee, raking across her calf as she withdraws, breathing audibly. "All right?" she asks, not letting her guard up yet.

Darcy just lays there, in the bush, panting and staring upward. She grunts again, shoves one hand down into the ground, and sits up. "... where the hell is Harper."

"Who knows." Sivaine straightens up and heads over to Magramba. "Help me with this one."

Darcy uses the tree to help haul herself up. "Hah. Yeah. No. You .. sit down," she directs, wincing at her sore ribs. "Siv? Seriously. Sit. And please for the love of all that is holy tell me he didn't hit you in the belly."

Sivaine sits, sinking down onto the ground next to the unconscious squirrel. "No. No, he didn't," she confirms, keeping an arm wrapped loosely around her belly while she stretches out her leg to get a look at the slashes. They're not deep, just long. "This is.. ridiculous. Darcy. This whole trip is ridiculous and we're not even a week in."

"Hey. Relax." Darcy moves to find her satchel, tugging it free of her pack and carrying it over. She brings out the healing kit. "And that's not nonchalance. I mean it. Relax. Getting all tense does no good for the babe either. .. I /know/ this is bleedin' ridiculous but. Just calm. Breathe. Chew this." She offers the mouse a piece of valerian root.

"I'm relaxed." And for good measure, Sivaine closes her eyes and takes a series of deep, measured breaths, curled protectively in on herself. "I am. The rain of wildcat, singular, has ended and- what's that?" She glances at the valerian.

"Valerian," Darcy says, still holding it out. "It's calming. It'll help ease the adrenaline a little, slow your heartrate. Just chew it, it tastes fine." She glances at Magramba, reaching to feel his pulse. He's alive, just knocked out. Not bleeding out, either, so after a quick check over him she starts sorting out the items to take care of Sivaine's injuries. "Anything beside the leg?"

Sivaine takes it between two fingers and nibbles at it thoughtfully. "No," she shakes her head, mulling over something.

Darcy squints questioningly at Sivaine, and pushes the leg of her friend's pants up, exposing the scratches. A cloth is dampened with some water out of a flask and she works on cleaning them.

"Hnh," Sivaine murmurs. She makes an odd sight - sitting down in a forest with one leg stuck out, chewing on valerian and holding onto a polearm the glistens with crimson at the tip. After a moment she glances over at Magramba. "Matter of time?" she asks.

Darcy glances over at Magramba, nods. She sloshes a bit of brandy on the cuts, adds some salve, and wraps her calf loosely in a bandage to keep them clean - all with a sort of quick efficiency. "He'll come-to soon enough, and I'll tend to him then. We were lucky. ... just hope Harp's okay."

"He didn't run the way we came-" By 'him', Sivaine means Kaen, "-so hopefully they'll miss each other." She wrinkles her nose at the brandy, which stings. "We'll make camp and look for him."

Darcy nods. She closes the kit and glances around. ".. how does he just. /Vanish/. What a turd." Grump.

Sivaine tugs her pants leg back down, flicking at the new tears with some distaste. "He doesn't. He wanders off or gets stuck or falls behind."

"Well I don't really appreciate it, however it happened," Darcy grumbles, standing up. "If we /lost/ him, you're the one who has to explain that to his kid."

Sivaine draws herself up with a slight sigh of exasperation. "We didn't lose him. Come on-" She glances up at the sky. "May as well set things up here. Get that one-" A nod at Magramba, "-in a tent, and I'll go look for Harper afterward."

"Right," Darcy mutters, "that." And she gets up to start setting up a tent.