[Wilderness] Psssssst... Get down before it eats you

[Winston]

Footprints in the snow

Out in the snowy plains of the early winter landscape surrounding Darbyton, there was a trail in the snow, something

that was easy enough to follow

, but would be

next to impossible to identify

. It appeared to be a great many tiny people or creatures, dragging some kind of large object.

If Hollowbreak followed them, the tracks would lead into a large open plain, covered in snow.

From a distance the tracked appeared to simply stop, with no sign of what created them

.

As he got closer, no further tracks would be found beyond a

little mound of snow, the size of a poney

.

As Hollowbreak continued to approach the curiouse mound, there was a quiet voice that called out to him from some undisclosed location. "Psst... Psssssst... Over here..." If he looked down, just at the bottom of the mound was a little pair of eyes and a fury nose poking out from under

a snow-coloured blanket

. "Yuh betta get down ar dem will see yuh." Winston poured a generous amount of charm into the advice as he pointed with one tiny little didgit over towards a slight hill in the near distance.

It was hard to make anything of any worth out from here

, but there were signs of activity in the snow atop the hill.

"Dem's some Thwarthide. Please, get down... An' take dis." A hand appeared, holding one corner of a second blanket, which if pulled would reveal an entire

second stealth blanket that he could drape over himself, however this one was just metal-coloured

.

"Noh mun, 'im looks friendly." Said the ferret to someone else under the blanket.

"'ere, rub some cake an et." The small Cadouri insisted as he all but threw a handful of cake at/to the man.

If he did, the blanket would start to turn snowy white.

"Watcha doing out 'ere?" There was only a slight hint of urgency to the voice, which was mostly friendly and curious.

[Makar Hollowbreak]

When he awoke this day, Makar had intended for a simple hunt. However it seems life was against him having such a simple thing. No, no instead as he wandered towards Darbyton’s outskirts on this early trial, he’d

spotted peculiar prints

. For as long as he’d lived in Darbyton, he’d not seen its like. It had tugged at his curiosity, especially because there was a trail of something being pulled in the snow. As he leaned down with the palm of his gloved hand trailing the path they took. He'd let out a hum of wonder. If he had followed common sense he'd probably just tell the rangers what was going on. But at the same time, it was likely nothing.

Decisions, decision.

Oh knew himself well enough, as he stood straight and unslung his bow, he'd begin following the trail left behind. Brain tickled at what could it possibly be. They'd not been Molerat tracks nor aye aye tracks. that much was certain as he kept moving, his own feet displacing snow with each step. SO what could they have been?

Soon as he'd arrived to the open plain, eyes scanning the vicinity for the trails only to see them end abruptly.

Well that was good for his piece of mind.... not really. In fact it just stoked his curiosity even more. Wondering where'd they disappeared before. There was none else as far as he could save for a mound of snow which was hardly an unusual thing. He would have gone past it completely, his puzzled eyes scanning the area with a light tilt of his head, only for a voice to call out to him.


Eyes looking down at the small mound. He found a face looking at him, well, parts of a face really. Critter folk?

He somehow looked more puzzled at this. While admittedly he'd known none of their ilk, at the very least he'd expected their feet to be that of regular animals or at least having small shoes that would have left some boot shaped tracks. Oh, and he was beckoning him to get down. Warning him of a danger over yonder.

Thwarthides.

While he'd turned his head to make an attempt to note that himself, he'd seen none of the. Either the signs were subtle or simply too far to pick it up with his meager skills. Best he could pick was there was something going on and not much else.

Getting down near the mound, he tried to form words but the critter person was busy pelting him with this wierd blanket which he'd asked that he'd dawn. And apparently he wasn't alone in his hovel? He was still confused about that. Apparently it was also a blanket?


So many things where happening at once.


And now he had to rub cake on this blanket he just got? IN his confusion he simply did so and watched with awe as its coloration turned white. Matching the snowy landscape they were on. He laid flat over the snowy ground next to the critter folk person, blanket draping over him and acting as camouflage from those who'd spot them.


It was all so confusing as he didn't turn his head to the person, eyes on the horizon where that bout of activity was seemingly occuring.

"Oh uh... I'm a hunter, was goin' out for some game an' saw them there tracks which I'm thinkin' is yours now" He said, trying hard not to turn his head to him.


"You said them Thwarthides were lurkin' over yonder? This close 'ere to ol' Darby?" Makar asked. A hint of worry in his voice "Ought we not tell the Rangers?"

[Winston]

Arms are overrated

The ferret Cadouri smiled. "Oh, yeah-mun. Dem's are Chest's tracks. 'im es nat very stealthy. Dat's why we stapped 'ere unda dis blanket..." He was not whispering as such, but was certainly speaking gently from beneath his cover to help ensure he was not over-heard by anyone they didn't want to disturb.

When the hunter suggested they inform the rangers, Winston hesitated before scolding some unseen individual. "Joe, stap hidin' et's rude.". At which,

a disembodied, floating head

appeared next to the mound. "See? I TOLD you we should inform the authorities." The bearded head protested.

The ferret gestured towards Joe to get down. "Joe, mun, behind Chest.

The head floated down and sank into the snow without disturbing it at all, until just their forehead and eyes protruded from its surface. The spirit looked at Hollowbreak, a smug look on his face. "I told him you know, but he never listens when he's spotted something he likes."

"Shhhh, Joe. Me jost gonna take a quick peek an' make shar everytin' es Oh-Key. DEN me will let de... Ranjas is et? ... know about de pig-peopal." He looked at the newcomer for confirmation, doing a very amateurish job of hiding the fact he was probably not supposed to be here.

"Me name es Winstaaan, by de way." He offered with a smile. "An ef yuh gonna stick around, jost make share yuh keep yuh 'ead unda de blanket." He hid the suggestion from his voice as best he could that he was worried that the Hunter might get them killed if he continued to wander about in the open. Even if he failed however, there was no menace or bile in the comment, mostly just friendly concern. "Dees ting's are nat very bright, bot will spat yuh if yuh es movin' around out 'ere."

He looked over at the mound in the distance, clearly quite eager to go over there for whatever reason he had to be here. "Look, dem jost ova dat mound, me think dem 'ave a lital camp dere an' me was jost gonna goh an' check it out. See wat dem 'ave an' den we cun tell de Ranjas, yeah?" Before finishing the sentence, he'd dashed out from under cover and leaped across the snow-covered ground as if the question was obviously rhetorical.

Now he was no longer under the blanket, he could be seen in his full glory. Measuring no more than one foot in height and wearing what appeared to be

some kind of snowy-white quarter-plate armor,

he scurried through the snow, apparently

unaffected by the cold

.

If Hollowbreak wished to stop him, he could certainly try, but the ferret was quite quick and were it not for the fact that he already knew he was there, every time the little creature settled for a moment to check the mound in the distance to make sure it was safe, he all but vanished completely from sight.

[Makar Hollowbreak]

It was hard for Hollowbreak not to react to a floating head that looked like the nasties told children would gobble them up if they didn't behave. In fact his visage had gone quite pale as he looked at the head and immediately rolled on his back staring at it in fright.

This Winston was friends with a floating ghost head?! He must be if he was talking so casually with it. He found it hard to maintain his composure as he then watched the head float into the snow and only its upper half showed. It was like watching someone peeking out of the water.


Which in a sense if he was if one remembered snow typically was water.


He could only slowly nod at the… whatever it was as it voiced its words that the critter folk had not heeded earlier.


He looked back to Winston who seemed to be following his own beat regardless. Mind made up about something despite his acknowledgement about informing the rangers.

"I…." He began, or so he thought. But whatever words he jad died on his lips as he adjusted the blanket over himself. Then widened as Winston darted out of the mound, leaving the camouflage only to appear in all his small glory dressed in armor.


Honestly he'd find it adorable were his mind not wracked by confusion.


Then he was gone, quick as a critter his size would normally be. Quicker actually, and more hidden somehow as he seemed to disappear from view into the snow.

His eyes turned back to the head in the snow then paused as he never he'd use that phrase in that context even in his head, then to Winston's direction.


By all that was…


He let out a sigh and adjusted the blanket again.


Unlike Winston, his movements were slow. He'd not the speed to follow but he'd the patience. Common sense told him it was best he'd go to the ranger himself but Winston intrigued him with a few simple facts.

One, his name brought a tingle to his mind as if he should know it.

Second, he liked critters and Winston looked like one. That was probably a bit problematic and he shouldn't dwell upon it.

Third, he had to find out how to move like that!


So he crawled upon the snow, keeping a low profile with each inch he traversed. Only moving on his knees with the blanket draped upon his figure to move a few more steps before going to ground, still for a trills, then inche some more before repeating the latter til he could get closer to the spot where Winston had indicated.

Or to where Winston himself would reveal to the hunter.


His eyes tried looking for the signs, but to his eyes it's like he ferreted himself out of existence. Like searching for a specific piece of hay in a whole bale of it.

He certainly hoped the Thwartswine didn't spot himself tho

. That would be a painful embarrassment.

[Winston]

Asset or Liability?

As the man rolled over in fear, Joe smiled and the ferret pulled an apologetic 'oh-oh' face. "Don't worry-don't worry. Dis es Joe. 'im es me friend." He smiled reassuringly in the hope the colour would return the the hunters complexion. Joe meanwhile, seemed quite pleased by the reaction, something Winston would scold him for later.

As he set off towards the mound, the fellow hunter followed, though a little more clumsily. It was going to be a problem if he got himself spotted. One single hog-person-thing was not a big deal, but a dozen would be.

He paused for a moment...

The Devil on My Shoulder
Curiosity: Come OOOoooonnnnaaaahhhhh!! I want to see what Wells they found!
Winston: Bot dis guy es gonna get 'imself intuh trouble.
Curiosity: That's not YOUR fault.
Winston: Well, et es ef 'e fallows meh.
Curiosity: Well tell him to go to the rangers then... OH-oh! We could use him as a distraction!
Winston: NO!
Curiosity: YEAH! It's perfect. Sneak in, grab the Wells and if we get spotted he can cause some noise.
Winston: NO. We are nat doin' dis.
Curiosity: He's still approaching...
Winston: *sigh*
Curiosity: What's he doing with his arms?
Winston: OK, we will make share 'im nat get ded.
Curiosity: Booooooooring! I vote we wipe the cake off his blanket so it turned back to normal and not tell him.

...He made his way back to the fellow as he crawled along the snowy floor. "OK. Ef yuh gonna come wid meh, yuh gat tuh do as me say OK?" The question was polite, friendly and firm. He genuinely loved meeting new people, but not quite as much as he liked satisfying his curiosity.

Truth was, if the larger hunter said no, Winston would just have to try and lose him to avoid being responsible for his demise, so he continued to outline 'the rules' as the man considered his options. "I will leave Joe 'ere wid yuh, 'ere, OK?" Joe smiled playfully. "Me cun talk tuh yuh trough 'im, OK? Yuh shud nat fallow meh. Nat onda any cercumstances, OK? Yuh keep a distance an' watch far anyting incommin'. Yuh be ready to ron an' ef anyting else goes wrang, use de blanket tuh protect yuhself..." He tapped it gently and it gave off a little *tink* sound as if it were made of metal... which to be fair, it was even though it moved like fabric. "It cun take a lat af damage. Now, let's use de tap af de mound far cova an' see wat's wat."

The ferret turned and gestured for the man to follow, if he wished, gesturing with his arms to indicate how best to make his way along the floor without dragging himself quite so uncomfortably.

[Makar Hollowbreak]

To be honest Makar was all too confused by what was going on. But it was clear that Winston, and by the immortals that named niggled at his noggin' something fierce, seemed to be consider him a hindrance. It kinda hurt to realize that to be honest, but if he were also honest Makar knew he probably was. The critter folk seemed to be almost unnaturally too used to situations such as this. But Makar was tempted to stick close, or at least a close enough distance, to see things through. His eyes turned to... Joe and he blinked at the floating head who honestly just spooked the Hunter more than the thoughts of Thwartswine. THough he had to admit the more he looked at the head the more he wanted to poke it with a stick...

Like... how does a head float? Or even talk? AIn't no breath going through that, right?

Oh, he was getting sidetracked. Still Winston said he could talk to him through the head, which honestly he wondered how he could do that if the head was with him....


Oh there he went again, his eyes then focused on Winston. He'd follow his words best he can but it was clear Makar had no intention on leaving until he felt he absolutely had to. One he gave that visual cue and watched WInston run off, he sat their patiently as the ferret did whatever ferrety thing he did to get closer without raising suspicion. His hand meanwhile brushed against the fabric of the apparently not just a hiding blanket but also armor blanket. Honestly all the mind boggling things seemed to ground Makar more because quite frankly there was too many things to focus.

"So uh... yer buddy there um... " He began to the head "He's a bit of a go getter?" Which Makar felt was an understatement but felt like a decent enough question to ask. Then when WInston gestured for him to follow, the
more inexperiance hunter began to follow, keeping his legs crouched as he still tried to keep a low profile as he moved towards the mound. At the same time his eyes tried to focus on whatever signs Winston had seen that indicated this little problem they were all facing. But he wasn't quite sure he was picking up anything that Winston himself had picked.

[Winston]

Asset!

The man seemed distracted by Joe, which to be fair was not all that surprising, but at least he seemed to be coming around to amused rather then afraid.

As Joe floated beside the hunter and the conversation begun, he chuckled in reply. His tone was not unfriendly at all, perhaps 'mischievous' if anything, as they conversed. "Haha! Oh man. Yeah. If by 'go-getter' you mean. 'OH, shiney! What is that? Lets go get it!' then sure." He grinned. "If he's not cooking up some food, he's usually getting himself into trouble." The Diri didn't seem to entirely approve of this tendency and as the ferret crested the mound, he stopped, still in sight of the two of them.

He made a few hand gestures in borken common sign, which Joe translated. "OK. Move slowly and keep low."

As Makar finally reached the mound,

the tracks became much more obvious

. They were not in short supply, but all were passing through to somewhere else and all were of the pig-people.

As he got close, Winston gestured for him to go to his belly. Once he reached the point he could just about see what Winston could, the ferret snuck under the blanket with him. "OK, noh furtha, ar yuh will get spatted. Gently make a lital mound in de snow tuh peak ova..."

As the two of them looked over the mound, the scene they saw was that of at least a couple-dozen Thwarthide, perhaps more. They were setting up several campfires and there was a ramshackle shelter in the centre.

Winston got comfortable beside the larger hunter, wriggling his shoulders as they peaked out from under the blanket. "OK, soh dem..." His voice trailed off as he seemed to stare intensely as one of the unlit campfires. It had three of the pig-things around it, snorting and chortling about something. They shook a cage, which was hanging beside the fire they were still attempting (and mostly failing) to create. Inside the cage, there appeared to be a collection of twigs... Or were they PEOPLE?

"Wassup, Winston?" Asked Joe, detecting his companion's concern.

"Dem are Tunawans!!!" His tone was still hushed, but the alarm was obvious in his voice and he did NOT look happy.

The Devil on My Shoulder
Anger: HOW DARE THEY! KILL THEM ALL!
Winston: Me nat fightin', me don't do dis.
Anger: I DON'T CARE!

Winston looked at the larger hunter, their noses no more than a few inches from each other. "We gat tuh 'elp dem." It was a request. The kind of request that suggested that the ferret was going to try to help them with or without assistance, but with it would be by far his preference. "Ef dem get dat fire lit, den dem es toast!"

The ferret looked pleadingly at his fellow hunter. "Cun yuh sneak in dere an get de Tunawa ef me distract dem?"

[Makar Hollowbreak]

Oh, oh that was a turn for the worse the mixed human had not taken into account. Granted, he didn't take anything to account when this whole thing began but still! And the the Thwarthides were trying to turn them to kindling!


He looked to Winston with a serious face, which looked different from his regular face in that his furrowed brows were more concentrated "Ay, reckon' it needs to be a right enough distracting, though if I'm needin' to get that close" he noted as he looked at their numbers. It was a a whole passel of them after all.

"If ya can get most of 'em off my back I reckon I can snatch up the plant folk an' scuttle out 'fore they can remember they even had 'em"

Of course all that was easier said then done. Thwarthides my not be as smart as their quadruped cousins, but that didn't mean they wouldn't be crafty.

Which drove him to also note "If I was them, I'd have probably set up snares an' other traps alongside the camp. Can them eyes of yours pick sign of those?" He asked the ferret before contuing "Course your floaty friend 'er might help too, either scare 'em or 'elp ferret iut any strings, snares or even a makeshift alarm" the latter likely something along the lines of a line of cord connected to anything that made a loud noise when tripped.

[Winston]

The plan...

As the man confirmed that he would help, the ferret's face beamed and he chuckled quietly. "Oh, yeh mun. Me cun do distractin' al'reet." He nodded an affirmative before considering something.

He pulled

a small device

from his belt and released some marble-sized sweets from it. Offering them to Makar, he explained what they were. "Don't know ef dees will 'elp yuh ar nat, cos yuh gat de blanket... Which really will protect yuh... Bot dees are Alchemical Chews.

De brown ones make yuh skin hard like armour

an' the

rainbow coloured ones will make yuh 'ard tuh see, smell and hear

." He shrugged. "Use dem ar' keep dem. De affect will last break ar soh... Oh! An' dem taste amazin'." He concluded with a grin.

"Joe, yuh stay 'ere soh we cun talk tuh eachodda, OK?" The diri nodded and floated a little closer to Makar, as if to affirm by proximity that he agreed.

With that, unless the larger man had any further suggestions, the ferret shot out into the snow again, all but vanishing completely but for the occasional scitter or well-timed node towards his companions.

He made his way into the makeshift camp, skirting around its perimeter without being seen. Stopping if anything got to close and taking his time in case of any traps... It seemed like traps might be little beyond the intellect of these creatures, or they had not yet had time to create any. Either way, he was not becoming complacent and doing his best to focus on the task at hand, despite the wide array of things lying around the camp that he might usually try to pinch.

Either way, he made his way around to the far side to wherever Makar placed himself to ensure he would be drawing them away from him.

Meanwhile, the floating head, which had an unnerving habit of vanishing and appearing at will as Makar made his own preparations, hovered close-by should there be the need to pass on any messages.

Eventually, the moment was right. "OK, he's ready. You let me know when you are good to go." Said Joe, as the hunter completed whatever preparations he wanted ahead of his approach.

Off Topic

OOC: Some suggestions and Info to play by

OK, so some things to note, just for clarity:

• The blanket and the Stealth Chew (if you use them) give you + one Competence to your Stealth, but these DO NOT STACK.
• The blanket will turn as hard as Emberteal plate armour when it receives an impact. It then returns to a flexible blanket again as soon as the attack has ended.
• Winston has GM Cooking and takes enormous pride in his work, so the chews really do taste amazing.

Of course, you may do entirely as you please, but some suggestions for your next post:

• In the next post, explain whatever 'set-up' and actions Makar takes before he gives winston the all clear.
• Remember that you can control the pig people I've very happy to continue to do so for now, but don't feel like you HAVE to let me decide what they do and when.
• Please feel free to pocket the chews for another day or use them
• Also remember, that you can always decide things go WAY south, please don't feel railroaded by me posting things
• Once the 'set-up' is done, I'd like to suggest a 'combat post' format, if you are happy with that, hence the suggested 'set-up and pause'.

[Makar Hollowbreak]

Looked a tad dubious at the sweets, though he knew it to be silly considering he was wearing the blanket which seemed to do its job well enough. His thumb rubbed against the rainbow colored candy while he eyed the brown one. Frankly he wasn’t sure he’d need the rainbow one, so he stashed in his belt pouch then swallowed the brown one.

He rather liked the flavor truth be told.



He looked to head and nodded to it as he adjusted the blanket upon himself, making sure it hid as much of him as it could before crouching down. Watching Winston skitter away with feretty agility and stealth, his view of him like trying to catch something at the corner of the eye only for it to disappear. He began to move then, crouching low as he made his way to the side of the camp where the makeshift abodes of the creatures was most crowded.


The Thwarthides, it seemed, had not picked up on their presence yet as from what he can tell there were no proper sentries. Once he’d reached his destination, eyes peering on what he was dubbing the ‘rear’ of the camp, he nodded to Joe.

“Good as can be”

Which was as good a signal as any.

Once Winston made his move, Makar would move in. Hoping that the critter folk made a good enough distraction that most, if not all, of the tribal boars would be lured away by him.

If not, well that’s why he had a bow. And just in case he held one of the arrows in his main hand, ready to shoot at a moment's notice.