[Maaike]

Maaike hugged the dirt on the side of the track where Espur's fields stretched up the delta toward distant Nubia. Tall stalks swayed overhead, not dense enough to hide her from view if anyone looked closely enough or Neme popped out from behind the clouds. She'd picked a spot behind the rim of foot-high grass to maximise her cover, but they didn't get a lot of notice about this caravan so she'd been forced to improvise and hope for the best. Dark clothes were all well and good if she could blend into the soil and she could keep quiet long enough to let the main group pass. Then it was just a matter on sneaking up on the stragglers and taking them out quickly and quietly one by one... The wheat stalks would help with that, too, hiding the bodies from cursory rearward glances. She just had to hope the others could be quiet enough to make this work. Aiden, at least, had proved he could stalk prey, but the youths they'd brought along with them were largely untested outside of the forest and none of them had ever gone up against other people. Maaike worried that they'd hesitate, or balk at killing if they had to, or rush the attack to get to the captives.

The rattle of multiple wheels grew louder and Maaike hunched further into the grasses that hid her, flexing awkwardly to try and see what was coming without giving herself away. One of the cart wheels had an intermittent squeak that made her wince, overloud in the near silence of the night. The awful noise tensed all the muscles in her shoulders and she glanced across the path to one of the youths to see him fidgeting. She twitched her head enough to make him settle; his eyes were too wide, his gaze fixed on her instead of the approaching caravan as if she could explain to him what under Hel had possessed him to tag along. Maaike frowned and jerked her head sideways to indicate the caravan. He grimaced, but turned to watch, shuffling back into his own burst of grass as the slavers drew closer.

Everything in Maaike tensed as the caravan slowly passed, three covered carts surrounded by guards of various size and armaments. She thought she recognised a couple from the Hesian compound, but they tended to look the same after a while: big and brutish, hundred-yard stares as they kept an eye out for predators and the law, a multitude of weapons on display. Maaike could hear whimpers and muffled sobs coming from one of the carts, sounds that the mercs tuned out, noises that seemed withdrawn. People tended to stop wailing after a while, when it became obvious it was going to get them killed or ignored, so the fact that someone was still crying - even quietly - suggested they were recent captures. That tied into their intel on this op well enough, and she twisted her head a little to seek out Aiden's gaze, giving him a minute nod to tell him she was satisfied that they should go ahead with the attack.

[Aiden]

Aiden's cat form stared unblinkingly as spoked wooden wheels rattled across dirt. One grated so sharply that the cat had to bite back a hiss as his ears flatted against his head. Ambient noise was a good thing though. It meant that the guards were less likely to hear snapping twigs. Or unconscious bodies falling to the ground. Or sleeping people being dragged into the grass. But there was not enough coverage, Aiden thought sullenly as he surveyed the expanse of grass that surrounded the road. While the grass was tall enough to hide their group, it wasn't concentrated enough to lend full stealth.

Once the first caravan went safely past him, Aiden crouched forward. With his jaw and belly close to the floor, the spotted cat advanced closer, positive that if darkness of night wasn't enough, then the patterning of his fur would help hide him in the wheat. Then the second caravan rolled by with another four escorts, and Aiden held his breath uneasily as one of the guards—a burly apali with a mace at his belt—angled his head toward the grass and squinted warily into the night. In the apali's hand was a shevrock, and the blue-white glow seemed ethereal as it extended out of the stone and circled the caravan occasionally.

A muffled inhalation sounded near Aiden's side as the wisp of light drew close to Rowley...

...and slowly floated back to the apali. Holding back his sigh of relief, Aiden shook his head as a reddish-grey fae squirrel (Eilisa) scurried to Rowley's shoulder. Though skilled hunters, the younger therians rarely left the forest, let alone take on veteran slavers. He really worried for them, and if they had more time to plan, he would have tried to recruit alternative members for their ragtag team. However, there wasn't enough time. So along the way toward the delta, he relayed as much advice as he could to the young ones. Stay in the grass, don't let a target lead you away from the group, it's okay to call for help if you're outmatched in a fight, run to Kiel if things fall apart. Call him an old worrywart, but at least they'd be safer.

Hushed whispers and desperate prayers to Xanth-the Aides-Danae-anyone drifted from within the third cart as it squeaked closer. If the captives were still awake, it meant an easier escape. The cat's tiny heart pounded with anticipation as Aiden tilted his head toward the patch of grass that concealed Maaike. Seeing the signal when the caravan was halfway along their group, the cat emerged slightly from the grass and trailed behind the rearguard.

The fae squirrel darted nimbly under the cart before hopping onto the axle, pausing, grasping onto the wooden sides, and then scurrying up and under the canvas covering. Lersa, who had been directing light toward anywhere but herself, was unseen by the guards until the blade of her hand collided with a startled skotadi's temple. As Aiden shifted to regain his full height, he placed the second rearguard in a chokehold. Bracing a palm flat against his opponent's mouth, he tightened his grip as the shorter lackey fought back, and nodded to Lersa as she pulled her crumpled skotadi into the grass. Patiently waiting as the struggles grew more frantic, he watched as Lersa emerged from the shrubbery and tipped the skotadi's hat over her head. She moved with efficiency, just like the old days. Under the half-baked guise of the skotadi rearguard, Lersa sidled behind the next lackey. But really, if the 'vari just looked at Lersa, he'd realize that she was no skotadi.

As the henchman fell limp, Aiden fluidly shoved the sleeping man into the pasture.

((Not sure how many guards per wagon -- there's at least four by the middle one. The last one is missing at least two rearguards. ))

[Maaike]

OOC: We'll go with four per cart plus three drivers?

Aiden's team's part went well enough that Maaike almost sighed with relief, but this wasn't over yet by a long shot. Maaike waited a beat to make sure no one had heard anything, then signalled for her own group to go. Cian lunged forward - too fast, too clumsy, but at least the noise from the wheels covered the scuff of his bare foot against a pebble. Maaike mirrored him, a lot more careful, and grappled one of the remaining two rearguards into a chokehold. He struggled, big enough and strong enough to be a problem, but his grunts sounded enough like the whimpering coming from the cart. Maaike kicked the back of his knee to bring him down a notch and take him off-balance, and he eventually slumped against her. His weight almost knocked her down, but Rowley was there taking the guard's shoulders and helping Maaike dump the body in the edge of the field.

Bree waited a beat, just long enough for Maaike and Cian to take out the last of the rearguard, before surging out of her own hiding spot and clambering up onto the driver's seat, enough like a monkey even in human form that she reminded Maaike of Sammy, completely sure-footed. The driver - all of the drivers, really - had looked like she was in a bit of a daze. They weren't paid to guard the stock, only get it from A to B, and it was a long trek on an uncomfortable seat. Maaike could imagine how the rhythm could put someone to sleep, or in enough of a trance that Bree's attack didn't elicit even a squeak of surprise before Bree was handing the body down to her brother and Cian was rolling it into the grass.

Bree took up the reins and tucked her chin to her chest, and the group moved forward.

OOC: One cart down!

[Aiden]

Having spent the day on the road, the pair of tarochs still moved persistently, though their heads dipped close to the ground with fatigue. After Bree took up the reins, one of the landstriders lifted its head slightly as it recognized the change of ownership. Experimentally, the taroch and its partner slowed down to a trot, and then a walk, until Bree had to shake the reins and try spurring them back into motion. Problem was, taroch commands varied by region and breeder, and though she was accustomed to horses, Bree didn't know the proper instructions. Pacing briskly to approach the side of a taroch, Aiden patted it on the rump to urge it forward. As the tarochs leaned further into the reins and increased their pace, Bree breathed out a sigh of relief.

Still wearing the skotadi's hat, Lersa appeared by Aiden's side, and as she glanced at him, her eyes twinkled with the thrill of challenge. Smiling grimly, Aiden quickened his stride until he was a safe distance ahead of Bree's tarochs. The footmen were more alert this time. As he checked their patterns of movement, Aiden walked with a hand slightly raised as he flanked the next guard. This one was actually yawning, though she still glanced from left to right out of habit. When she happened to turn and see Aiden, the anyeli's mouth was still caught in an 'O' as their eyes met and his fist collided into her gut. Grey wings flared in shock as the anyeli collapsed forward. Wrapping his other arm around the anyeli's neck, Aiden stood tall and held on until he heard a gurgled choke.

Wings tucked under the cloak on her back, Lersa tiptoed toward the left of Aiden as he dragged the stunned sentry into the grass. With a burst of speed, she ducked against the shadows of the cart as the light from the mace-bearing apali made its rounds. The ghost-light hovered languidly, and Lersa made sure to stay in the shadows (ironic for an apali) as she waited for her window of time.

Within the last cart, the fae squirrel tilted to one forepaw as Eilisa slowly and painfully grew out of her smaller form. The prisoners sounded alive, though they smelled off. Blinking in the dim wagon, she hastily identified the largest prisoner and fumbled to untie his bonds. The man was freed after minutes, and as the captive half-laughed in relief, she made shushing noises and motioned for him to help the others. He complied, though his movements were clumsy. In fact, he tipped excessively with each movement of the cart.

With a sinking feeling, Eilisa urgently tugged at the thick rope around another prisoner's legs. If the slavers noticed that something was amiss, their captives would have to run immediately. “Bree,” she whispered in sylvan to their stand-in driver, “they're really drugged with something.” She had hoped that they wouldn't be. Her fingers tangled into a string of beads around a captive's arms, and she felt as if she were being pulled under...it had been such a long day, and her limbs were fatigued...if she could just close her eyes for a few seconds as the others finished their work...

Wrenching back, Eilisa gasped for air. “And charmed with something powerful.”

((6 down out of 15 guards/drivers!))

[Maaike]

For a second there, when Bree's cart started slowing down, Maaike thought the rescue was about to blow up in their faces. Luckily, Aiden's swat to the landstrider's rump was enough to get the pair moving again, and the widened gap between the third and middle carts actually gave them more room to work with. If any of the guards in the front turned to look back, it would just look like the 'striders had begun to lag out of exhaustion - not uncommon in a run this long - assuming they didn't also notice Lersa's wings suddenly changing from black to white, or that the space around the carts was much emptier now...

On hearing Eilisa's warning, Bree whined, then bit down hard on her bottom lip to stop it from escalating to audible levels. She twisted on the driver's seat to catch Maaike or Aiden's attention, but Maaike had already moved up to the next pair of guards, and Aiden was out of hearing distance. All she could say to Eilisa was, “Then get the charms off already.” It wouldn't be that easy, of course: Aurumi charms were difficult to target at individuals, so they would influence whoever touched them - in this case, Eilisa when she tried to get them off. Eilisa knew that, though, so she'd be careful, and once she got a couple of the captives free, they could help her free the rest. Still, Bree felt bad that the burden was squarely on Eilisa's shoulders to deal with something so insidious.

Maaike got the smaller of the guards this time. Experience had taught her not to judge peoples' combat ability by their appearance, but this one was wily and faster than she'd expected. The woman also must have incredible instincts or senses, because Maaike was sure she was quiet on the approach. She came up behind the guard, arms going around her neck. The woman immediately drove an elbow back into Maaike's gut and spun, boots scraping the dirt. Maaike grunted and doubled over - Xanth, that punch had some strength behind it, she couldn't breathe - and grabbed Maaike's shoulders to hold her in place. The woman's mouth gaped open - fangs, crap, fangs! - and Maaike ducked into the "embrace" rather than let the vampire latch on to her neck. Maaike rammed a knee up, but they were too close for the kick to do any damage. The vampire hissed and dodged back, fingernails like claws gouging into Maaike's biceps.

Maaike bit her lip to hold back the cry of pain, hoping they were far enough away from the front cart and its guards that they wouldn't hear the quiet scuffle, still trying to be stealthy. The vampire drew back a fist aimed at Maaike's face, but Rowley was suddenly there and grabbing at the woman's wrist. He couldn't stop her punch entirely, but he slowed it down enough for Maaike to duck sideways and bring up her knee again. The vampire doubled over as Rowley hopped up on her back, pummeling the side of her head with his fists. Maaike thrust her knee up for another two kicks to the vampire's face, all the while praying to Xanth that the other guards were deaf, dumb and blind to the commotion - and that, if they weren't, Kiel at least had kept his promise to keep pace with them from the middle of the field, because they were probably going to need help if the remaining guards noticed that -

A shout went up from the rear of the front cart as the vampire listed to the ground. Maaike squeezed her eyes shut because - yup, the guards were on to them now.

[Aiden]

Talking to Bree had been no help at all. Biting her lip, Eilisa reached at the hem of her shirt to use it as a buffer between herself and the 'vari charms. She'd never seen or felt anything as weird as these things. Even with the fabric, she could feel the charms darkening her vision and clearing her mind. It felt awful to wrench herself from sleepiness, but with a quick yank, the string broke and sent the beads scattering. The beads were small enough that the sound wasn't that loud enough to reach the other cards. However, Eilisa still flinched from the noise. And suddenly, someone up ahead let out a loud shout that was quickly followed by other exclamations and curses. “Crapcrapcrap!!” “Help me untie the others!” her voice was a shrill whimper as she urged the other freed captive to move faster. Panicking, she fumbled to rip out the beads around another therian before shaking the both of them out of slumber.

When the scuffle broke out between Maaike and the vampire, Lersa quit waiting. Stealing the ghost-light for herself, she grit her teeth as it shot into her hand. The light was bright enough that it hurt her eyes, but with a shake of her hand, it scattered and returned to the sunstone that originally housed it. The other apali had sensed the hijacking, and as he whirled to look for Lersa, he immediately bent his knees into a crouch to avoid the fist toward his face. As he blocked Lersa's next punch, he lunged forward to knock her out of balance, but as he came close to her, she side-stepped and used his momentum to push him further out of balance. Aiden was there, then, to sock the man in the face. It wasn't enough to knock out the man, and even as the anyeli staggered, he had enough wits to catch Aiden's right arm as it swung toward him again.

Lersa didn't have time to help Aiden though, for immediately after the anyeli yelled, she heard the sound of daggers coming out. Leaving Aiden to grapple with the other anyeli, she braced an arm-guard against the dagger-arm swinging toward her neck. Dammit, another 'vari.

And though Cain wished he could move and help Lersa, he froze instead...the two carts had quit moving now, and their guards were rushing them with swords and maces.

[Kiel]

After that whole speech about him hanging back so he didn't alert the guards with his "mouth breathing", Kiel had to laugh when it was Maaike who failed to stealth -- until he realised, like, oh crap, she'd failed to stealth and now a bunch of guards were bearing down on his pals -- some of whom he'd only just met and would like a chance to properly befriend, okay?

With a click of his tongue, Shane was surging out of the grass at the side of the road, little more than a blur of shadow as she sank fangs into a 'Varian who screamed and flailed and abandoned the fight in favour of face-planting into the field. Kiel winced because he'd felt those fangs, okay, and they stung like nothing he'd ever felt before even when she was, you know, playing.

Kiel followed the shadowkin into battle with a war cry that sounded like a yowling cat, katana flung high in the air and whistling as he slashed at the bulk of a Rutilus. He let his momentum carry him further into the battle and, like, up the line of carts, and hopped up onto the back of the Apali trying to pummel Aiden.

Kiel grinned over white wings as he knocked the hilt of his katana into the Apali's skull, glancing down in startled bewilderment when he realised that, like, it didn't actually sound that much different than a set of drums, which, that was just weird, okay?

“Hey, Ai-er, dude!” Right, right. No names. “Fancy meeting a guy like you in a place like this.” The Apali hunched under him and flapped his wings. Under any other circumstance, Kiel would have come away with heavy bruises, if nothing else. He thanked Xanth that Anyeli wings didn't bend backwards, though, and continued with his mildly flirtatious -- because Aiden was a buddy and (probably) wouldn't take him seriously -- line of inquiry. “Come here often?”

[Maaike]

Maaike squeezed her eyes closed briefly as she heard Kiel's screech, hunching her head down and her shoulders up in an instinctive attempt to protect her hearing. She'd been really hoping they wouldn't need his help, but as she opened her eyes to the utter chaos of battle, she was (minutely) glad he'd agreed to help out.

Xanth, she hated when Aiden's good ideas involved people she'd just as soon feed to one of those leech vine things that had suffocated Rusty to death back in Acantha.

Literally shaking off her annoyance with a full-body shudder, Maaike kicked the Rutilus' knees out from under him as he staggered, clutching his ribs where Kiel's katana had sliced clean through. She clutched the 'Varian's head between her palms and wrenched with no remorse, letting his body slump sideways as Shane burst out of the grass to latch onto another victim. Maaike dodged a fist and weaved around Lersa and her opponent; every duck and hit brought her deliberately closer to the third cart because Eilisa was taking way too long.

Bree was not in the driver's seat when she got there. She was on her back on the dirt track, knees up and her claws raking someone's face. Maaike assumed Bree had been dragged off the cart when it stopped, but she was holding her own, and then Rowley was there hauling her assailant back and off, so Maaike didn't need to step in. She turned away and clambered into the back just as Bree darted forward with her fangs gaping wide, clearly planning to rip out her attacker's throat like a good little wildling.

“What the Hel is taking so long?” Maaike snarled as she found her feet inside the covered cart, the canvas dropping heavily back into place behind her. She stalled when she found Eilisa struggling to get the manacles off the last shackled slave, the others cringing back into their makeshift seats at Maaike's appearance.

Eilisa snapped her teeth, dumping her sweet temperament at Maaike's feet -- along with the clatter of a bunch of charms that immediately set Maaike's teeth on edge because their combined effects were already trying to lull her to sleep without even touching her skin. Maaike gingerly kicked them out past the canvas, off the cart altogether, and breathed easier with just a foot or two distance.

“They're too scared to hop out into a fight,” Eilisa finally, grudgingly admitted. The captives whimpered in sync as a body slammed into the side of the cart, rocking them all in their seats.

Maaike staggered sideways and grappled with the bars that held the canvas in place over their heads to regain her balance. She turned, scowling, and called out over her shoulder as she hopped down out of the cart (carefully avoiding the pile of charms as she went), “Then you best help us end the fight, eh?”

[Aiden]

As he broke out of the anyeli's grip, Aiden grunted as the anyeli's fist flew forward in an uppercut that grazed his jaw. Enduring the sting, Aiden grasped for the anyeli's now-extended arm, clenched his jaw, and threw his weight downward as his forehead crushed the anyeli's nose. The anyeli stumbled with a howl that merged with a much shriller yell—one that drew Aiden back to the Acanthan days. When a shadow blurred above the carts, Aiden knew enough to step away as the Weight of Kiel brought the apali's knees to the ground. Delivering the finishing blow to the anyeli, Aiden shook his head in mock exasperation that was betrayed by a grin of relief. “Glad too see you too!” he said as he clapped a grateful hand on Kiel's shoulder. Then, he ran onward with a parting yell. “That's three guards so far. Catch up, yeah?” Shouldn't be difficult for Kiel.

The 'vari's dagger skidded off the edge of Lersa's armguard, but the damn dual-wielder's second dagger split the skin on her left arm. Shouting in pain, she drew energy from the enemy apali's sunstone and hurled the shards of light at the 'vari's face. They were thin as paper, but sharp enough to draw blood. The 'vari pressed closer though as Lersa fought for distance. When the 'vari's successive attacks broke through Lersa's shields, she took the chance. Catching one of the dagger-hands, Lersa twisted it under and over the 'vari's head, and as the 'vari turned with his arm, she plucked the dagger for herself. She returned it fairly quickly though. As the 'vari fell forward, gurgling with a dagger in his back, Lersa heard a pained scream.

Sometime during the battle, Neme had emerged from the clouds and exposed the team to the archer at the first cart. Fallen, Cain clutched at his leg and rolled in pain. As another arrowhead whizzed into the dirt close to him, he felt a rush of wind as someone charged at him and dragged him across the ground. Dust and grass collected at the heels of his shoe, and Cain struggled for an instant until he recognized his second assailant.

“Stay here. Don't touch the arrow,” Aiden huffed as he hauled the younger therian behind the second cart. Damn it. He'd recruited Cain and it was his fault! Flattening his shoulder-blades against the wooden wheels, Aiden risked a glance around the corner of the cart and frowned when he saw the enemy skotadi fit another arrow. His gut clenched as a sickening sensation rolled over his shoulders. Grogginess radiated out of the covered wagon and intensified. Of course, the slavers had hired an aurumus.

Still sitting in the third cart, Eilisa clutched at her head as the entire cart swayed and made her even dizzier. As the charms' residual power sank into her skin, she lurched forward and out of balance. Palms flat against the ground, she murmured before succumbing. “Sorry Maaike, but all those charms...”

((Is it 11 out of 15?))

[Kiel]

OOC: Er. We'll say it is.

“Three? No. What? No! That one counts as mine!” Kiel yelled after Aiden, flailing both hands at the body by his feet. “Two! You're at two! Two-One!” He wasn't even sure Aiden was,m like, listening, but if they had entered some sort of competition without Kiel's knowledge, he wanted the stats, you know, correct, okay?

Also, did Shane's kills count as his? Since he was, you know, her Chosen, he figured her kills should count as his...

The scream had Kiel whipping around, scanning the road to get a better idea of the chaos. Like, it really was chaos at this point, difficult to tell who was who. It wasn't like one side was wearing red and the other blue or something, you know? Although, Kiel set that notion aside for future endeavours. Like, Maaike would probably kill him for suggesting she wear anything other than black, but maybe they could wear, like, armbands or something. Ge'd lagged behind a bit, at least, so he was on the outskirts of the fight, just far enough to avoid the Aurumus's area of affect and to get an idea of—

Shane growled as she launched herself from the top of one of the carts (like, how had she even got up there in the first place without shifting into her monkey form or something?) but fell short of the Skotadi archer pinning Aiden and another guy down. The archer diverted his aim towards Shane, and, like, Kiel was having none of that, okay? It was bad enough his friends were in danger, but not his babykin, okay?

“Oi!” Before the archer could swing his bow around again, Kiel was lobbing a knife at him, and then another just to be sure. The first lodged into the archer's shoulder — down went the bow with a clatter and a hiss of pain, black wings flaring wide and then curling in like a shield too late to actually protect anything — and the second into his neck.

[Maaike]

Maaike staggered under the sudden weight of sleepy despair. She heard a thud from the cart she'd left, and Eilisa's mumble, but she couldn't make out the words. She had to flatten a palm against the wooden base of the cart to keep herself upright, shaking her head frantically. She stumbled around the rear end of the cart and peered around, spotting Aiden's giant figure hulking by the wheel, and another prone form beside him. Shane was a blur of shadow racing across the dirt track to leap at one of the last few remaining guards (three, she thought; there were three left). The weight of the charms kept Maaike pressed to the cart, knees trembling with effort. It wouldn't hurt to just sit down and rest for a minute...she was perfectly safe here...

Kiel yelled — Xanth damn him — and startled her so hard she jolted against the cart, knocking the back of her head against the wooden base. She realised with a start that she really had sunk slowly to sit on her haunches, feet wedged under the back of her thighs and her hand curled around the spindle of a wheel. She was lucky she hadn't face-planted, actually.

The jolt was enough to send her shooting to her feet, handfuls of charms trapped against her chest. She swayed and side-stepped, unwittingly crab-walking — crab-staggering — toward the field. She wasn't going to make it all the way, her eyes already drifting shut as her stomach heaved, so she turned her fall into kinetic energy and flung the charms as hard as she could into the tall stalks of wheat, hoping momentum would carry them far enough away for the others to come back to their senses.

Dirt didn't taste very good.

[Aiden]

Something in the cart had wafted over him and Cain, though Aiden couldn't smell it. Eyelids fluttering shut, he yawned as sleepiness pulled at him. One hand braced on the edge of the halted wheel, Aiden's head dipped perilously forward as he fought back the sensation of sleep. Despite the warnings that chimed in his mind, the other half fought to dismiss it. It would be so much easier to lie on his side and take a break. A sharp bellow caused Aiden to blink in confusion and eye his surroundings again. Lersa had leapt from the range of the charms and was hurling light projectiles at one of the sword-wielding slavers, gradually leading her opponent away toward the edge of the road. The archer lay defeated with two daggers in his torso.

Resting against Aiden's back, Cain appeared to be only mildly affected by the aurumus. However, the boy was pale and sweating from the pain in his leg. Yawning again, Aiden nodded blearily at Cain. “Hang in there.” Eyes rolling to the back of his head, Aiden's palm slapped and skidded on the ground as he pitched forward in stupor. As another wave of sleep tried to claim him, Aiden raised his arm in desperation and bit down hard.

Instantly, his nerves screamed in pain as a circle of red formed at the middle of his forearm. Mind cleared, Aiden spat blood out of his mouth and staggered to his feet. With a roar, he charged toward the final slaver wagon. An enemy stepped forward, sword brandished to cut at Aiden. Right arm raised to defend, Aiden stepped outside of the enemy's guard, and as the sword slid past his shoulder, Aiden and caught and pulled the vampire's outstretched arm downward and to the side. Elbowing the vampire's skull, Aiden felt a brief recoil as the vampire's neck moved to an impossible angle. The driver of the cart hopped off with a mace in hand. With a growl, Aiden shoved the vampire at the driver and prepared fists again.

Hidden within the carts, the aurumus sent another lull of sleepiness. However, with the charms in the third cart now gone in the fields, Eilisa stirred from the floor. With a squeak of awareness, she turned to the nearest therian and tried to shake them awake again. “Wake up! You need to move!”

[Kiel]

OOC: The "back" button on my mouse and I have a love-hate relationship. Mostly hate: I have to type this out all over again. And I realised I think this post was being difficult because it's kind of disjointed, like they're all fighting separately right now because of the way the fight scattered them. We totally need them to go to a pub to celebrate after this.

Shane snarled. Kiel whipped around to spot her, like, hunkered down at the side of the road with her top lip pulled back to bare her totally-awesome-not-deadly-at-all-Zeph-stop-yelling-at-her-for-chewing-on-your-staves fangs at him in the darkness. Kiel waggled his eyebrows and pursed his lips ("whassup, baby girl?") and she shook herself bodily at him, turning her head a bit so her eyes fell on the last, front-most cart ("get over here you idjit" — and, like, dude, she'd totally learned that move off of Zeph, okay, Kiel was going to be having words with his bee-eff).

“Okay, okay, like, sheesh.” He loped towards her, eyes flicking left to right 'cause, like, he'd been ambushed one too many times, okay, and he could still hear fighting so there were clearly still guards they'd missed. “Like, this plan was not thought out well at all,” he told a stalk of wheat as he dove into the dirt along Shane's side. She rumbled at him, nudging her nose at the cart again. Kiel scratched his chin in thought. “Like, more slaves?” He probably wasn't the best person to wade into a cart full of slaves and be all, like "yo I'm your saviour, dudes!" at them. Like, too many of the guards here were 'Vari, okay, and it wouldn't matter that he was trying to help them because they'd be too scared and all, like, mad and stuff.

Shane rumbled and shook again, though, so like, okay. Not slaves. “Bad guys?” She snarled and, like, hello fangs. “Okay.” He planted his palms in the dirt and kicked up onto his feet, smacking the dust off his hands. Shane shifted beside him, tail curling around her haunches as she got into lunge mode. “If there's more than one guy in there, I am so totally with-holding feeding services,” he grumbled. She purred and licked his boot. “Like, ew, disgusting, ew, get my foot outta your mouth. Ready?”

Another lick, and then she was pouncing at the cart. Kiel blinked, and then he was chasing after her with a war cry that stalled in his throat as he was hit by an almost literal wall of, like, sleepiness or life-suckage or something. Shane seemed immune, already clawing at the back of the cart to try and get through the curtain. Kiel, on the other hand, was staggering and trying not to plant his face in the dirt like a total moron, katana swinging listlessly. “What the Heeeeeel, dude.” His whine coincided with a thud from the rear cart as Eilisa drooped onto the road and rolled, screeching, “Aurumus, Aurumus!” like her life depended on it.

Like, hey, dude, maybe her life did depend on it. Kiel rounded the back of the cart as Shane growled, loud and more ferocious than he'd ever heard (except, like, that time Kiel accidentally stepped on her tail, okay, it wasn't his fault his arms were full of boxes of cupcakes and she'd been sitting in his path, okay, and he'd paid for it with new teeth holes in his ankle). A body flailed out of the cart with Shane at his throat, gold eyes flashing in anger, and Kiel proped himself up against the wooden cart bed with his katana wavering at the Aurumus' throat.

“Stop doing...” He yawned and waved his katana around vaguely, sleepily. Like, he could totally use a nap, okay? The road was looking more and more like a pillow. Like, if he squinted (he was squinting), it kinda looked like Zeph's abs, okay, and Kiel had acclimated to using his boyfriend/boss as a pillow. Mm, pillow. “Stop doing that thing with the thing, okay, and just.” Shane growled, fangs bared and— was she drooling? She was totally drooling. Kiel grinned; he wished he could high-five her because she was totalling hamming up the 'ferocious feral predator' thing right now. “Stop.”

The Aurumus sneered. He kinda looked just as feral as Shane, except Kiel was inured to glaring Dracovari by his boss, okay, so the sneer just looked like constipation or something. Shane inched closer in, though, and her jaws gaped like she was seriously hungry for some neck. The Aurumus hissed and jolted back on his ass, flapping hands at Shane as she stalked closer. Either the distraction paid off, or the intimidation worked 'cause Kiel was suddenly standing on his own two feet without a crutch and blinking free of the sleep.

“Duuuude,” he whined. “That's just so wrong.”

[Aiden]

((Oh no! Can you re-configure the button to something else if it's not that useful anyway? I always use shortkeys instead for navigating back anyway. BTW I'm assuming Maaike got caught by the aurumus' sleep charm so I'm posting. Let me know if I should edit. Also I agree on the pub thing! ))

Running into the weight of the fallen vampire, the driver cursed and pushed the body aside as it fell. That pause gave enough of a window for Aiden to lunge in, yank at the mace handle, and bring his elbow into the throat of the driver. As the driver choked and stumbled, Aiden disarmed him of the mace and tossed it far into the grass. Stepping forward, he delivered a kick that collided with the driver's crossed arms, instead of the face as he'd intended. The driver pushed enough for Aiden to stumble backward---and at the moment, another wave of fatigue enveloped him. Drunkenly, Aiden wavered and tried to find space—his reflexes were too fogged up. He couldn't trust himself in close combat.

“Aurumus, aurumus!” Eilisa's scream pierced his ears, but not in time to fully wake him. A heavy fist drove knuckles into Aiden's cheekbone. That cleared his mind. Head twisting to the side, Aiden stumbled again, and coughed as another fist collided into his gut. Before the third strike, Aiden tackled the other driver, and as they fell, he brought up his arm. He didn't know if his last punch did it, or if it was the driver's head colliding with the ground, but regardless, the man went unconscious.

Panting, Aiden rolled to the side and planted both palms to the ground behind him as he tried to regain breath. In the distance, he could see Lersa tossing flashes of light at the sword-wielder as distraction while the combined team of Rowley and Bree brought the man down. They've got it in control.

Aiden's forearm was chilly from congealed blood, and he groggily wiped at it with his shirt. The shirt was dirty though so why did he do it. Gah, he couldn't focus.

And then, his mind cleared as if it had never been foggy at all. Aurumus, down.

Twisting to stand, Aiden both walked and surveyed the field as he made a beeline for the place where he'd last seen Maaike. Already, Rowley and Bree were checking out the carts and reassuring captives. Among the ones still standing (Cain was sitting but that was the arrow's fault), Aiden couldn't see her, and that chilled him with dread. Running the last few steps, he peered into the cart, ("Maaike? You there?") and his gaze fell across strangers (wide-eyed people, people cringing into the edges of the wagon as they saw the roughed-up bleeding therian hulking over the entrance, people whose teeth were bared as they assumed he was just another slaver). Seeing therians, but none of them Maaike, Aiden turned to survey the fallen.

The sight of tousled auburn hair on the floor was like a dagger in his chest. Breathless and stone-faced, he approached the body. What would he tell Sammy? Niamh? Ellery? What would he do without her? Please don't be...

And thank Xanth, as Aiden kneeled beside Maaike, he saw her fingers move.

[Maaike]

OOC: Aww, Aiden bby don't fret But yeah, the love-hate part comes in because I do actually use the back button, it just also happens to be right where my thumb tends to rest when I'm not paying attention so I'll be writing/reading something and suddenly be three or four pages back and I'm like my PC is haunted! until I realise actually, no, that's my thumb... It's annoying more than crippling, usually, and I don't normally mind having to rewrite posts because the rewrite is inevitably better, just that the last one was being an absolute pain and when I finally had something worth posting, suddenly it was just gone.

Since marrying Ashton, Maaike had learned to WAKE UP, WOMAN at the slightest hint of trouble, and having Sammy had only made her even more of a light sleeper. Growing paranoia from her job and the targets she'd painted on her and Aiden's backs had only strengthened her ability to go from full rest to full waking in the space of a heart beat or two, so she was rolling over onto her back and up onto her feet not long after her fingers started twitching, cheeks flushed in sheer embarassment at falling asleep on the job and her fists curling ready to defend herself against—

“Aiden?” She twitched a frown at him, scouring head to toe for injury, and frowning even deeper when she realised he was covered in them. He didn't seem to be at death's door, thank Xanth, but she still reached out to touch his arm in comfort, reassurance, concern — and then snatched her hand back without actually making contact, fingers curling into a fist, because her touch wasn't welcome anymore.

To hide her concern — too late, probably, but she could at least make the effort — she tipped her head away to check for assailants, allies... “Oh, come on!” She'd missed the last of the fight, damn it, and she stomped a foot in an echo of Sammy's tantrums that she would deny to her dying day.

“Everyone alive? We good? Injuries?” She could at least take solace from her heroic act in ditching the charms, except someone was probably going to have to retrieve them, somehow, so passing travellers and farmers weren't accidentally whammied and then mugged in their sleep or eaten alive by opportunistic scavengers. Maaike volunteered Kiel for that job. No way was she getting close to those things again. Or maybe they should send one of the slavers on threat of being blinded by one of Lersa's light-blasts. “We should get out of here.”

[Kiel]

“Dude.” Kiel swiped the back of his hand across his forehead, pulling a face at the volume of sweat that came away. It might be the tail end of Espur's summer, but it was still hot as ba— “Gah.” He totally dodged the katana blade he'd accidentally swung at himself in the act of wiping sweat of his face, jerking back, like, hard enough to give himself a concussion on the side of the wagon if it hadn't been made of cloth. As it was, he totally bounced off the canvas and giggled. “Dude.” Fighting always made him feel so totally drunk, it was awesome.

The Aurumus watched him with, like, an increasingly puzzled frown that quickly turned into a narrow-eyed look of concentration. Or, like, constipation. Kiel totally wasn't gonna judge, you know, but life on the road meant a weird crazy diet that didn't always included a lot of fibre, you know? In any case, Shane started growling, like, that totally threatening, I'm-gonna-eatcha growl that she only seemed to manage when she was, like, acting (or hungry and threatening Kiel's lunch). She mostly used that growl for getting Kiel's attention while, like, simultaneously (trying to be) intimidating Zeph into giving up his lunch. Kiel whipped around from inspecting the crazy awesome weave of the canvas he'd bounced off (like, why was it bouncy?) and glared at the Aurumus, wobbling the point of his katana in the 'Varian's face. “Oi, oi. Quit it. Whatever you're doing. Like, what are you doing? Whatever dude, but quit it, okay, 'cause is it way too early for my bed time.”

“Xanth save us,” Lersa grumbled, like, totally coming out of nowhere, dude, was she playing light tricks on him now too?

“Argh! Where the Hel'd you come from, dude? Like, for sers. What are you doing?”

Like, 'cause she was whacking the Aurumus out cold and turning a cold glare on Kiel. “Stopping him from putting us all to sleep again? Because it's bad if that happens?”

Kiel nodded. “Okay? Yeah? Why are we talking in questions?” Lersa pursed her lips to bite back a laugh (like, she was totally laughing with him, dude) and turned away, grumbling. Kiel hopped after her, ruffling Shane's fur on his way past while she hunkered down to guard the knocked-out dude. “Hey, hey. Everyone's okay, like, right?” Probably should have checked that first, before trying to figure out why the canvas on the cart was so bouncy. “Like, 'cause we should all totally go get drunk someplace cool, okay, like, not just cool like "this place is mega awesome and I wanna be seen here" but like, dude, it's so hot I'm gonna melt, you know?”

[Aiden]

“Hel. Yes. I'm parched.” Lersa allowed a tired smile to break through her otherwise grumbly behavior. She admired Kiel for what he'd achieved with the archer and aurumus, but the battle had drained her so she wasn't feeling charitable enough to give compliments. Maybe after a pitcher. Patting the neck of the taroch pulling the cart, she reached for the reins and gently yanked them toward the side. “We'll need to be careful though because of those two,” she inclined her head toward Maaike and Aiden. She wasn't even sure if they'd agree. “Now help me get everyone moving, Kiel?”

Aiden had been reaching to wake Maaike when she sprung up on her own, fists clenched and ready to kick some ass. If she'd wanted to punch him, she would have taken him off his guard. He should've known better, especially after their days in Acantha danger was everywhere and everyones' nerves were strung thin. He'd learnt to become a light sleeper, though it seemed that Maaike had always been one.

Under Maaike's scrutiny, Aiden placed his hand on a knee to stand, and he barely hid a wince as he finally began to feel that last driver's punch. Lethargy or not, the fight had been sloppy, and the tackle had been dangerous. When Maaike half-reached for his arm, then recoiled and diverted her attention toward the field, Aiden shrugged wearily. Ever since that talk over a month ago, about Ashton, an odd-feeling sort of rift had formed between them. At times, it was so bad that he felt more comfortable talking with Sammy rather than Maaike. Something to think about later.

Seeing that Maaike was mostly fine, Aiden waved an arm in the direction of the second cart. “Cain caught an arrow in the leg. He'll need help.” Surveying the field as he walked, he saw that Eilisa was working with one of the freed slaves to to turn the last cart around. At the second cart, Rowley was already working on bandaging Cain's knee, with the broken arrow shaft lying discarded on the floor. Bree, despite a bleeding shoulder, had climbed into the cart to work on loosening the slavers' binds.

There was still so much to figure out, like what to do with the knocked-out slavers, or where the freed therians should go. Aiden also hoped to find something in the carts that would incriminate the higher-ups of the slaver chain. The slavers were always carefully secretive, but one blunder would be enough.

“Ugh...these damned charms!” called Bree from the second cart, her tone slightly slurring.

[Maaike]

Maaike glanced about, her lips quirking more and more as she realised she and Aiden were largely unnecessary now the fight was over. The Sullivan kids had things under control, though she still an unhealthy amount of glee from barking, “Kiel, go help Bree with those stupid charms!” She smirked at Aiden, forgetting herself for the brief moment it took to share the joke, and then wincing and looking away. She desperately wanted to draw his arm around her shoulders and prop him up, but she didn't have the right anymore, if she ever did.

Damn it. They couldn't afford for this... this thing between them to stay sour. It was her fault, she knew that, no matter how good her reasons for keeping Sammy a secret. She couldn't expect Aiden to forgive her so quickly, if at all, but they needed each other if they were ever going to defeat Thanatos. That meant sucking it up and being the first one to offer an olive branch, but it would have to wait.

“All right, listen up.” Her raised voice drew the attention of the slaves Bree and Eilisa had freed. A couple were hovering close enough to their unconscious/deceased captives to aim a few kicks. Maaike didn't blame them, necessarily, but she couldn't think it was healthy and was glad to divert their attention. “A couple of us—” Meaning not her and Aiden or anyone else wanted by the law. “—are taking this cart and all these wastes of space to the nearest town for prosecution.” Maaike glanced at Aiden with another smirk and murmured for him alone, “I have a couple of ideas for those manacles and charms.” To the rest, she added, “The rest of us are heading back the way we came. You're welcome to join us.”

A couple of the freed Therians were moving towards the turned-around carts before she'd even finished speaking. Most of them were withdrawn, shoulders hunched in and their heads down. One was rambling almost incoherently about the things she was going to do when she got home.

Maaike eyed up Aiden's scrapes and bruises again. “Rowley's got Cain. Do you need a hand?” And it killed her that she even had to ask before trying to touch him.

[Kiel]

“Oh, come on!” Kiel cried, like, flailing both arms up and totally stomping his left foot. Like, he was already responding to Bree's slurred curse when Maaike ordered — ordered, like he was some kind of mercenary! Oh, wait — him to help her, okay? He grumbled his way off the dirt track and into the field where Bree was, like, rummaging in the grass. “I mean, I don't see why we should be looking for them, you know? She's the one who flung them over here in the first place! You know?”

Bree cocked an eyebrow at him but, like, kept on rummaging. She staggered a bit, so Kiel totally grabbed her arm and, like, hustled her out of range of the charms. “Let's take it in turns, huh?” Like, the charms weren't quite as powerful with the Aurumus unconscious, but they were still totally potent, okay, she deserved a break.

Bree nodded and curled over her knees to breathe away the nausea. Shane totally hunkered down beside her to stand guard, all cute and ruffled. Kiel trotted off to beat at the grass Bree had been searching. He came up on a weary whoop!, one charm clutched in his fingers and raised over his head in victory. Except, like, “What the heck are we meant to do with them when we find them?”

Bree lifted her head on a chuckle. “I've just been making sure they're separated. Increments down the length of the road so we know where they are.”

Kiel blinked and, like, tipped his head in a so-so gesture. “Dude, that's cool.” He stumbled further up the road to drop the charm in place, then, like, slumped at Bree's side with a heavy sigh. Shane practically crawled into his lap which was, like, no small feat in her 'kin form, okay? “I'm tagging out. Your turn. Like, but. Pub?”

Bree scoffed as she stood, pressing her fists into the small of her back with a yawn. “Xanth, yes.”