no you don’t + tanglewood rescue

[toboggan]

+ it should be noted that long posts on mobile can be inconsistent

Leroy Starkweather had completely forgotten that Axle existed.

All he saw that drifter as was a wanderer whom made the decision to temporarily move to the confides of Tanglewood’s swamps during his travels. The large canine hadn’t really interacted with Axle - and hadn’t wanted to due to his careless actions on that night a fellow Tangler had been injured, putting the whole situation on him while Leroy and a medic attempted to elevate the plight together. It was impulsive, it was perfunctory - it was too much like himself. Once Axle sort of disappeared from the glades, he disappeared from Leroy’s mind as well, never reentering those idolatrous thoughts of his until this very moment.

The wolfhound was present in this desert out his own will. An antidote for a piece of broken technology, being his prized worn-down jukebox, could not be found in the radioactive expanses of his group’s territory, thus, he left, setting out at sunrise, and finding himself here at sundown. Though the Pitt was guilty of a few things against the good of Tanglewood, including the capture of Arrow, and being prime suspects in the vandalization of the docks Morgan had recently orchestrated, it was purely by chance that he was within reach of the desert’s sands; he knew little to nothing about other groups’ stomping grounds. Nihility garbed that burly figure of his, barring that shaggy jacket of dark gray, which blended in nicely neath the dim night overcast (and unbeknownst to him, allowed Leroy to slip into the Pitt’s territory), as well as that leather attaché of his, subsumed inside were the usual tools, as well as a glass canteen.

For the Tangler whom remained captive inside the fortress, great catastrophe nigh became fact as Leroy turned tail and began pacing away. There was no way in hell he would traverse this wasteland. Sand felt fucking awful, and wind continually spat it into his runny nostrils, forming  gritty accumulations of mucus and eugh, eugh, eugh, this was this not right for him. Fortunately for Axle, it was those same bouts of gust that conveyed a certain canine’s distinctive scent to within the guardsman’s watery snout, and that’s the precise moment when he took notice. There. Through a gaping fissure in that there those outskirts of the fortress. Axle, chained up to a pole like a circus freak. God, he wished he had brought his Polaroid along so he could show Axle a picture of this after he was saved. Oh yeah, he wasn’t going back without him.

After about an hour, he had devised a plan. There were some bolt cutters in that carry-on of his, the ones in question, though miniature, would prove quite useful on those shackles securing the prisoner, and those few matches loose in his kit, they could be used as a perfumed distraction. All in all, a very foolish stretch of actions was about to be committed, with a chance of him getting caught by the same force that got his comrade not entirely far off. But it was a risk he was willing to take, to save someone he wasn’t wholly a fan of.

Okay. It was happening.

Some lone succulents and shrubs had caught his eye, erect in the dark of the environment, possibly standing in their exact position for years, and now smoke arose from them. The same with medicine, Leroy held no knowledge of botany, so whether or not these plants caught on fire he did not know, but they were smoking, and regardless of it being a good distraction or bad, it was enough. He’d then wait, and as soon as the mutt could swear he’d heard movement, he’d dash in the opposite direction. Entering the area where all the adversaries could be was possibly the worst decision he had made until this point, but he did. And he arrived at Axle. And he chopped the chains. And he looked his crony square in the eyes, nimbly stating "We gotta go, th’ fuzz’ll be hot on our tail’s fo’ sure."

+ please don’t reply until [member=1501]AXLE[/member] does!

+ i originally planned for them to fight their way out and have it interactive, but i’ll be inactive over the weekend, so they’ll get chased out instead (i really hate to make that decision). i won’t post again in the thread after this one, so i’m relying on pyro to provide their exit ).

[HAMMOND]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 60%; font-family: georgial; font-size: 11pt;"]It seemed that a great deal of animals wanted him to be confined. They saw the look in his eyes of an animal who had traveled too far down a lonely path, they saw rickety teeth bared at anything that was deemed a threat yet they heard nothing from the Heeler other than growls which the male himself couldn't even translate. Once upon a time, he was fine with such shackles, back when he hadn't been anything more than a guard dog for a little girl, but the warmth of human civilisation had long since left him. Chances to spread his metaphorical wings had been so few and far between a year ago, it was difficult to imagine going back to a life of being ordered around by 'superiors'... that was why he had been so defiant in the face of slavers. Pragmatism dictated that he pretend to play the part of a non-threat, pride and honour thought to have been abandoned when traversing clan lands demanded he do another thing - he'd listened to his heart far too often recently, and the events that had happened this week were no exception. Such impulsiveness was why he found himself chained up, a fatigue shining over wide honey coloured eyes as the curled up canine shot daggers at his surroundings. Axle's senses were on overdrive, made only worse by an empty stomach and dry mouth.

Every stranger was a victim to his aggression, from those who played a part in creating this dastardly group to the newcomers and the slaves who weren't here by choice. Darkness seemed to shelter him from the pain of interacting with more of these desert dwellers, with most seemingly evolving into a human-esque, comfortable lifestyle of being diurnal. Axle didn't have such satisfaction, but in situations like this it seemed to be beneficial. Movements across the dune, though subtle and perhaps even belonging to something as insignificant as a hare, were the first things for the tricoloured creature to notice as being off in the lands. Shuffles of guard's paws and their gleeful murmurs about their days seemed to be an afterthought as the Tangler squinted, nostrils flaring as the realisation that the figure was too large to be a rodent kicked in. His cranium raised up from sand-bitten forelimbs, a low and frustrated grumble escaping Axle when the lone wanderer's outline left his vision, concealed behind stony walls. A mirage caused by the smoldering heat, or a lone Pittian coming back from an odd patrol? For a while things seemed to settle back to normal again until the lingering smell of smoke traveled up his nostrils.

Help me a little voice cried to him, shell shock written over the male's expression as memories overwhelmed his brain again. You were supposed to protect me, where were you? You ruined my life... you ruined everything! Off towards Neverland Axle's gaze beamed, heart racing and sweat beginning to pool at his paws. The Heeler was well aware of how these memories tended to go, instinctively his head started turning just ever so slightly to see if he could catch a glimpse of his girl - she was no where to be found this time. No ghostly fingers running through his mottled fur or heat on a black ear telling him she was right behind him, the hallucinated figure was no where to be found. Concerning him more, the bandanna wearing vagabond stood himself up, exhaustion an after thought when adrenaline pumped through his veins. The clink of metal brought him out that state, instantaneously Axle whipped his head around and snarled at whoever was messing with his chains, gaze softening when the identity of the other became clear in his foggy mind. Leroy, a Tangler, to be more specific.

Axle stood there waiting in seeming awe whilst the other canine worked on the restraints, bewildered how the other had thought to come and find him, blissfully unaware of the whole truth. From what the Heeler knew, the only blood spilled on Tangler territory the day he went missing was not his own, with his loner tendencies too well documented already it should've been obvious that he chose to leave by himself. Yet, the mutt was here to free him and such confusion caused him to remain silent throughout the whole ordeal. A great pressure lifted from his neck as the final bit of steel was severed, Axle worked on removing his makeshift collar as the other spoke of his 'plan' - there wasn't one other than to run. Across such flat and coverless lands, Axle was aware of the difficulties of that - they were going to somehow have to outspeed those with powers and those who had eaten good meals. Not impossible by any stretch of the imagination, and as the Pittians were currently dealing with a fire, it was do or die.

Only a small nod was given in gratitude to Leroy for such daring actions, finding there was no time to admire or grovel anymore. Entering a crouch typically seen in herding species, Axle hastily made his way through the passages which Leroy had come from, silent and opting for the other to be the same. There he saw the distraction in the works, a couple of lowly grunts trying to snuff the potential health hazard out, smoke blocking the enemy's senses from the lingering presence of Tanglers. So simple, yet so effective, Axle could only be grateful that it wasn't the bosses hanging around his quarters at such hours. Wisely only spending a second gawking, Axle continued on, teeth gritted as his claws scraped across a piece of uncovered slab. Opting to let Leroy go first beforehand, figuring that the other knew the way better than he did (Axle had been knocked out before he arrived here after all), the one or two Pittians that turned around got to see a marvelous view of the male's tail as he scurried off to cover for lost grounds.

Presumingly having dealt with escapees before, the next call was one that caused Axle to nip at Leroy's heels as if the other were a sheep, a warning to get a move on. Even now the bustling from earlier seemed to have stopped, replaced with the horrific screech of a drunken feline seconds afterwards. "WE GOTTA RUNNER!". The alarm well and truly rang, Axle swore that he saw the slavers crawling out of holes in the wall to begin their own sprint towards recapturing the fresh meat. The two were out in the open by the time enough threats had sprung to action though, Axle using generational herding techniques to try and convince Leroy to make a break towards the jungle spotted off in the distance. They were Tanglers, they held the advantage where the ground was muddy and the trees were overbearing. Like his life depended on it (which it probably did) Axle sprinted towards this promised land, a high-pitched pant escaping from parted lips when his vision began to get hazy again.

You were the one who killed me! He'd found the girl he was looking for earlier. Her transparent face started running towards his own, such horror slowing the Heeler down just slightly, enough for the first chasing creature to catch up with him. Just a cat, it tried jumping onto his back, however like a cobra he spun around and struck the other down, jaws catching the other's face and ripping a huge portion of skin clean off. The howl that came from the wounded animal was horrifying, but Axle gave it no thought as he spun around again and began trying to catch up to Leroy. Some chasers stopped to check on the gravely injured creature, others had began to pace themselves as the burn of lactic acid occurred in their joints. Axle felt it too, screaming at every muscle in his body, but once again he ignored it. Living through agony and the agony of others was just something that needed to be done for survival, feelings be damned. Even as he was sure that they'd started giving up by now, Axle continued on despite his body's best wishes, all up until the point where his paws made contact with all to familiar and mushy ground.

"Split..." the dog finally spoke in a hushed tone, convinced that it'd be harder to be found if they traversed the lands separately and met up in familiar territory again. Who knew how long these bastards were willing to chase their prey for?

/ 1423 words and i wanted to write more but had to stop myself... rip
tl;dr: best bois escape into the jungle