the war still rages on -- raid boss 2: the Captain

[Verdigris]

[font=trebuchet ms]The month had come and gone.

The sky was tinged with pink like a freshly-cooked shrimp, the sun creeping above the horizon. The forests by the fjord were quiet, the silence only broken by the head of an orca emerging from the water. His eyes swept over the shores, finding no one. He was alone for the moment.

He'd have preferred to do this at the sea town, for sure. The lass and her bodyguard had predicted correctly that the mountain camp would be much harder for him to reach, and the lake was too shallow for his blue whale form. He could still turn the tides, though. So long as he had water nearby, he could make this work.

The target would be easiest to neutralize if she was stranded, but he suspected that wouldn't be possible with everyone on high alert. He was going to have to engage in some skulduggery. Much as he prided himself on his strength, strength alone couldn't win all the time.

Rising up out of the water, he shifted into the form of an albatross and took off towards the mountain's peak. Now, if he had this right, the lass running the Typhoon crew was Goldenluxury, and the scallywags causing a ruckus were the Pitt... yes, he could pull this off. At least, he could get Warringkingdoms right where he wanted her.

Making a note of the patches of ice and snow as he passed them, he eventually arrived at the overhanging rock, and perched at the edge of it. "Avast!" he squawked, lifting his saltwater-soaked wings. "I'm here with a message from the Typhoon, about rumors of a Pittian raid against ye. I'm needin' ta speak with yer Magna."

This probably wasn't going to work, but it was better than whatever in blazes Pluto was trying to do.

"Albert the Albatross"
Health: 100%
Current form: wandering albatross with blue eyes
Powers: ???
Not currently hostile

[nemhain.]

Nemhain was a naturally suspicious figure. Not only because of her position as a persona fit for combat and defense, but also because of her natural personality and the circumstances of her awakening. She had been awoken in the middle of a crisis, with enemies coming from all sides and a user that was slowly falling apart, on the very verge of collapsing in on herself if she didn't accept help from others. This made it so that Nem depended upon and trusted those that were already within Elysium, but those outside of their little tight knit group? Well, she wasn't as quick to trust them. She especially wasn't so quick to trust someone today, when the Captain had said he was going to attack them. The fenghuang might not have been the one who originally received the message, but Rin had relayed it to the rest of them, and after the usual round of people trying to decide whether Rin was worth protecting or not – she always was – they were all on edge, just waiting for the day when their opponent would show up. Nem could feel her every muscle tensed, her feathers pricked and sensitive as she lingered within the mountain camp. She had been stretching, getting ready for the day ahead of her and trying to decide what she wanted to do. Perhaps a hunting trip? Or a border patrol, to make sure that things were alright. She could do so fairly quickly, given her large wings and high speeds, and Rin wouldn't even be able to wake up before she returned.

However, her planning was interrupted by the shrill call of another – albeit much smaller – avian. Lifting her head, she eyed the albatross slowly, looking over his feathers and the saltwater dripping down onto the rock. He didn't quite smell right, at least not for his story. Sure, he smelled of the sea, but he didn't smell of the Typhoon. Nemhain had met enough of their people to know the scent was distinct. Salty, but not just of the sea. The persona's eyes narrowed briefly, her heart roaring in her ears. However, she tried to keep herself calm, not wanting to let him in on the fact that she was onto him. Sighing heavily, the fenghuang folded her wings in tight to her body, her head cocking to one side as she chirped deeply up at him, "...Hello, sir. My name is Nemhain, and I am connected to our magna. So you can speak to me, if you have information. I'm afraid Rim has been under a lot of stress lately. She needs rest." Behind "Albert," Nem attempted to use her powers to slowly raise up some ice shards from the puddles on the ground. She just let the shards linger in the air, pointed towards the albatross but not doing anything yes.

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]The moment Rin heard the loud squawk of "avast" echo through the caverns, adrenaline shot through her veins. While it had been her goal for the Captain to fight them on the mountain where he would be weaker, she hadn't expected him to be so eager to go along with it. Still, she was ready. Taking her quiver from its position against the wall and slinging it over her shoulder, she hurried out towards the overhang.

  As the voice carried on, she furrowed her brows. A message from the Typhoon? Likely story, on a day like this. If Goldenluxury had any cause to send a message, she'd have done it herself, or sent Idyllfields to do it. Sending some guy who hadn't even introduced himself, this early in the morning? Not likely. The odds of the Typhoon getting exclusive intrigue on the Pitt's intentions for Elysium were even slimmer than that.

  Slowing her pace until she was walking, she stopped at the mouth of the tunnel, just out of sight of the overhang. If fighting broke out early, this way she'd be able to assist the others quickly, but hopefully they could get him a little deeper into the caves. Listening to Nemhain's explanation, she took a few steps back from the entrance to the cave, so that the stranger wouldn't see her unless he entered a ways into the cave.

  If he gives you trouble, sound the alarm whenever you feel it necessary, Rin recommended to Nemhain, her muscles tensed. It was theoretically possible that one shot could kill the stranger in this form, but in practice it would never be that easy. I'll stay back until he becomes hostile. Perhaps she could get the stranger to chase her into the caves, but she wasn't going to press her luck just yet.

[Cosmic]

Right off the bat the feline did not trust the albatross one bit. After all the fuckery with the gods and him consuming the soul of the last god they fought, he was tired of their shit. This had nothing to do with the Typhoon, and he always trusted his gut feelings- something was wrong here.

“I don’t trust you.” Mercer stated outright, not giving Halo time to think about his first words to the stranger. “Rumors aren’t a reason to come to our border. Aside from that, I’m sure Goldenluxury would have come to us herself, or with someone higher up. What brings you here? I’m not buying that.”

Halo quietly pleaded in the back of his own mind for Mercer to stop and shut the hell up, but he was shut down immediately by his other half. So he sat back and watched, his physical form showing all signs of this being Mercer and not Halo.

[Mistrim]

Mistrim had been productive, but not social. Maybe perhaps not as shy around Elysites but still quiet and withdrawn. She had been training and working on jarring her memories back to her. Despite her efforts it hadn’t changed...except one thing. Something was off. She had begun to see things a little bit differently and she didn’t know how to explain it.

So it was pretty obvious that something was wrong with the bird yea? Cool, glad everyone is on the same page. Mistrim sat a little bit behind Nemhain, most likely the safest seat in the house for now. Of course, whatever Nemhain saw, Rin knew of too. Mistrim knew that much. That made it easier for Mistrim, seeing as she didn’t need to go warn her.

And then there was Halo...it seemed like this conversation wasn’t going to end well and Mistrim began to doubt herself. She didn’t know if she was actually ready for the fight that was inevitably coming. She sure didn’t feel ready. Despite all her training, she was anxious and shifted from paw to paw.

Gosh, she hoped that everything worked out...

[Verdigris]

[font=trebuchet ms]Nemhain was the first to arrive... he was going to have to plan around that. He'd been hoping staying up on a nightly basis, constantly being on watch, would tire her out enough that she would arrive after her owner, but he could make this work. "Aye, hope she gets ta feelin' better soon," he replied, with a small nod of agreement. "Well, I-"

Looking behind him towards the ocean, he could see spikes of ice pointing up from the floor, directly towards him. "...I'd thank ye not ta shoot the messenger!" he squawked, flapping his wings to fluff out his feathers. "Kidd's beard, are ye all this brash?" This wasn't going well. He was going to need to make a hasty move-

-but not with this beast, no. This was the one who ripped up Pluto like a shark would a dead seal. Listening as he spoke, the albatross then nodded. "Fair enough, but ye might want ta hear this anyway," he said, twitching his tail feathers. "We heard ol' Kydobi's got it out for yer crew, and he's plottin' an attack four sunrises from now. And a little bird over in the Halls went and told 'em that yer one officer lost his hearing." Shrugging, he added, "Sure, it could be false, but we figured ye'd wanna know anyhow."

Spying Mistrim, shifting from paw to paw behind Nemhain, he offered her a grin. Yes, that would do. "Ahoy, lass! Ye must be miss Rin," he squawked, offering her a little bow. "Pleased to make yer acquaintance!" Glancing between the three of them, he went on, "Now, I hate ta intrude, but if Goldie and Idyll were 'ere, they'd want ta know what's stressin' ye out. Can our crew help ye with anything? Food, herbs?"

He could smell the target nearby, he just couldn't discern where. If he could just get a little closer...

"Albert the Albatross"
Health: 100%
Current form: wandering albatross with blue eyes
Powers: ???
Not currently hostile

[Cosmic]

“Kydobi, huh? Funnily enough, he happens to be one of the parents involved in a litter like me.” He was at the ready to attack, but his paws remained un-shifted. He wasn’t buying any of this, especially when he could almost smell the lies at this point.

“We are wary of The Pitt, but I also know that Kydobi wouldn’t order a raid against us. At least if he knew what was good for him.” As for the Halls and the hearing loss of Lemy, he knew from Halo’s memories that the Halls wouldn’t ever do such a thing.

“Why would you come and just spread rumors? What exactly is your goal at the end of the day for this? We’re not budging. At least I’m not. We’re not idiots.”

Mercer’s responses were becoming more and more cold, his tail lashing and eyes narrowed, glowing a sinister red.

“Now, tell us the real reason for arriving here, because to me it’s just sounding more like you’re just itching for trouble.”

[lavi s.]

Warily, the young jedi steps out of the caves.  Attracted by the overlap of voices, Lavi approached the scene with a thoughtful gleam in his chocolate eyes.  He knew the scent of the Typhoon well, since he lived there briefly during his time with Snowbound and while the bird carried salt, Lavi failed to place the scent with the pirate crew.

Rather than speak immediately, the mountain cat simply came to a stand beside Halo.  Silently, he turned his gaze onto the albatross, passive but unyielding.  Unintentionally, he found his thoughts turning towards Tena, rather than Rin or the matters of politics.  His fiery friend would agree with Halo, no doubt, but he saw no sign of her yet.

With a patient smile, the feline took a seat and curled his tail over his paws neatly.  "Thank you, but if that's all perhaps you should be on your way.  We don't require the Typhoon's help and I'm sure you'd like to be getting back."

[teef]

my sweet love

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code by spacexual

sitting up from her spot in the back of the cave, quennel's ears twitched in curiosity,  hearing agitated voices and smelling something particularly salty. getting up, the small wolfess trotted towards the mouth of the cave, her tail wagging slowly at the sea's scent sharp in the air. "what's going on? i wonder if auntie came to visit ... oh. that's not auntie. that's a really big bird." she murmured quietly,
sneaking forward to get a better look at the albatross.

she knew better than to fully approach but was accidentally shoved forward by a careless npc, her eyes going wide as her paws skittered over the rough ground, "woah, you're really big up close." she mumbled as danger thrummed down her spine and she backpedaled, heart hammering. he smelt of the sea but there was no familiar friendly scent of her aunt's on his feathers. there was no typhoon scent on him.

all of the adults words made her head spin, but she understood the unhappiness, the dislike in the air. " [member=10612]Cosette[/member] ?" she asked aloud, wishing her sister would come, wishing for her family member's familiar presence.

watch the air raids

[Ebra M.]

The odd and sudden call of 'avast' had the Demdji standing at the ready.  Having never heard the phrase thrown around Elysium, they felt their brow crease in confusion.  I can see a 'Captain' using that word. They almost snort.  No doubt.

Recalling the previous attack, the sand cat decided to see for themself.  Ever protective of their sister, their eyes flashed from the Elysites present.  Tena's Jedi friend was speaking as they arrived on the scene, polite but Ebra wondered how long the formalities would last from the look in Halo's eyes.  The bird doesn't feel mortal to me.  I see.

The small, but muscular cat found a stand close to the cave's entrance, intently watching the conversation unfold.

ebra anubis

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