Cows and Cretins
The spaceport on Jiangyin...can't really be called a spaceport. This is a backwater planet, people. The landing strip is -dirt-, for God's sake. -DIRT-. And, though of course, there are various people milling around, going about their business, there aren't enough for anyone to get lost in the crowd. Especially if 'anyone' is the one who's just stepped off a Yellowjacket that's recently landed.
It's a woman, dressed in a neat skirt suit, with heels that threaten to gouge holes in the dirt (remember? It's dirt). She's neat as a pin, with dark brown hair and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, though her face is one of those that, should you take off the glasses and let down the hair, she'd probably win Prom Queen. You know the type. She's about as out of place here as a screen door on a spaceship, and from the looks she's attracting, everyone knows it. She looks down at a datapad, lets out a frustrated sigh, and begins to walk down the (dirt!) road.
Coming in the completely opposite direction is a young woman who moves along the dirt road with a certain fluidity in her movement. She would draw a bit of attention herself considering the large poncho she wore that hide most of her small figure. However it seems the dirty plebians are much more interested in gawking at the woman poking holes in their street instead of the dirt encrusted hunter with a bow and quiver on her back with a heavy looking rucksack slung over one shoulder. Lily gawked as well at the woman in the suit. Instead of whispering or starting up any rumours she instead is brazen enough to approach the woman head-on. "Hey there! Welcome to Jiangyin. How can we help ya out?" She has a bit of the drawl, but it's not terribly heavy.
Little Miss Strutsherstuff is actually here with one Beauregard James Compton the Third. It's Syndicate business that's brought them out this way and one of the very few people that know of that connection is Morgana. The two of them arrived in a little Yellowjacket; the Molly Hogan. Beau's standing on the little ramp to the little ship doing his best to keep his eye on the leggy woman that's poking holes in the dirt with her heels. "Who wears shoes like that on a planet like this?" he asks of the air, or Morgana or... someone. It's a mumbled question, likely rhetorical. He straightens a bit and plucks the clove cigarette from between his lips when Lily approaches the object of his attention.
Morgana lurks at Beau's shoulder, her face expressionless, and her boots sensible. "I wouldn't know, Sir." she drawls, lazily. "Haven't worn shoes like that in years." She eyes the dressed-up woman carefully, but it's more in the line of searching for potential hidden weapons than critiquing the woman's wardrobe.
Well, Little Miss Strutsherstuff calls that comment rude. She glances at Beau over her glasses, raising an eyebrow, and just shakes her head. She looks back to her datapad, tapping something onto the screen with a stylus. Maybe she hasn't heard Lily's question...but no, she has, for as soon as she's finished, she looks up at unknown woman who's so friendly like she might be a snake that's about to strike. This woman doesn't -do- friendly. "We're here," she says without preamble and certainly without returning the pleasant greeting, "to see about a cow." This is said with extreme distaste.
There's an individual who is coming off of a shuttle, duffle bag tossed over a shoulder and duster worn as he moves along, hat worn the right way and dark shades hiding his eyes as he walks with that pretty boy swagger that still hasn't worn off, an arm idly draped over the shoulder of a random young lady pressed against his side and whispering something to him and he just quirks an eyebrow, turning to press a kiss against her temple and shake his head as he squirms out of her grasp. "Sorry beautiful, this is my stop...but there's a cattle rancher named Jim who was sitting by us, who's wife just died..." And off the floozy hustles and he walks down the ramp, another slender and young looking red hair man walking behind him carrying a crate, not far behind Little Miss Strutsherstuff and he is...appreciating his view from behind indeed, biting his bottom lip and idly thumbing the side of his nose before he flashes a grin at Lily and waves a hand before looking back to the dressed up lady. "You said We, darling...you mean there are more individuals like yourself coming to see this cow, because its rare that we see such fine specimens of...class and refinement...in these parts, certainly not in such a beautiful package."
Lily stares at the woman with a honestly friendly smile as Strutsherstuff just kind of ignores her for a few long moments. That smile begins to falter rather swiftly and when her politeness is returned so distastefully one eyebrow goes skywards. She tilts her body just a bit so she can make a show of looking over her shoulder at the man and woman behind her, her eyes lingering on the kimono before she looks back to the woman in heals. "Well, Miss, if yer looking for cows I'm sure you wouldn't have to go far to find one." Her smile is catty as she offers a bit of a glare. The arrival of the man and his floozy draws her attention as well. He seems friendly enough, so her smile returns and she smiles and nods to the man. "I know what ya mean, Sir. She kinda sticks out like a shit in a church around here." Yup. See that right there? Class and refinement.
That rumble grows louder. ...and louder. With it comes the distinct and delicate aroma of livestock.
"What in th'..." Name of Hades... but Beau doesn't get to finish his sentence before the dirt spaceport erupts into chaos. Someone is, indeed, driving cattle and they're driving it right into the area. At the center of the stampede are half a dozen men on horseback.
People are diving for cover, screaming, running, standing frozen and just like that, 'outsiders' of different genders, ages, and 'skillsets' are being snatched up and dragged by force onto the the backs of those horses.
Strutsherstuff is about to get snatched.
Likely much to Morgana's dismay, Beau grouses, "Son of a /bitch/," and tromps down the ramp /toward/ the chaos.
Morgana is distracted by the arrival of Rand, but, before he spots her, she spots the ensuing chaos, her blue eyes widening in alarm. Which, of course, only increases when Beau flings himself at the rampaging herd of cattle. Because... Beau. Stifling a groan, she moves after him, her long legs catching up with him, swiftly. "Any reason we're running with the bulls, Sir?" she asks as she catches up with him, as if this is a regular Monday jog.
Miss Strutsherstuff (let's call her Anna, for Benny's player's sake) doesn't even turn around when Rand speaks. She's used to such comments, and no one who'd shuttle here would be worth her time, anyway (sorry, Rand!). When Lily speaks again, she lets out a noise that, were it a little bit less delicate, might be called a snort. "That, I can well bele-..." but she cuts off, because that rumble's coming nearer, and she blinks, really looking around at her surroundings now. She sees the cattle, of course, and then the horses, but before she has much time to react - in those heels, is anyone surprised? - she's picked up and thrown unceremoniously over the back of one of them by a man who looks like he hasn't reached his monthly bathing day yet. She lets out a shriek, and actually has the presence of mind to take off one of her shoes and attempt to use it as a weapon. See? They were useful! But it falls out of her hand in the chaos, and sadly, she can't reach the other one.
Used to these types of reactions? Yeah, Rand just eyes Lily for a few moments and tilts his head to the side at the comment before his lips part to respond and then well, all hell breaks loose and before he knows it he's in the middle chaos and well this is that moment in a scene where a side character is lost from sight for some reason as focus shifts elsewhere.
Lily has begun to glance behind her when she hears that rumble. Her eyes widen in surprise as she bolts like a startled rabbit off the road with impressive speed. She doesn't saw a word, just tosses her rucksack behind a cart and slides in beside it, keeping her head low. Grumbling darkly to herself she begins to unshoulder her bow and notch an arrow. "Juh Shi Suh Mo Go Dohng Shee?" She mutters darkly under her breath.
"That woman is a board member's /niece/," Beau grumbles at Morgana. Y'know those deals where Uncle Suchandsuch wants his favorite niece to experience LIFE. But heaven forbid she be harmed? This is that. He draws his sidearm, but there's absolutely no way he's going to get a clear shot. No way. And what's worse than, 'You're niece was kidnapped, Sir'? ... maybe, 'I accidentally shot and killed her'! He lets out a growl of frustration even as he barely sidesteps out of the path of charging cow. He's spun a little by the need to move quick to get out of the way and then he's just pissed. "SOMEONE BRING ME THAT MAN'S HEAD ON A PLATTER!" Damn but the soft spoken Southy can be loud when he wants to be. He might have just scared one cow right away! Or more likely it just changed paths.
It's still screaming and chaos and cows /everywhere/. They're obviously not from California, they aren't happy cows. It's making perfect cover for the kidnappers to attempt a clean getaway.
Cursing under her breath, Morgana pulls her firearm and shoots through the dust and the cows and the screaming people; an impossible shot, but she manages to hit the kidnapper, and not the kidnapee. Unfortunately, the shot doesn't kill the man, and, while it does cause him to limp, one of his cohorts appears out of the chaos to help him with his struggling burden. <English>
Anna, as has been established, is dangerously close to turning into someone's brood mare, because that's probably all that she's good for in a society like the one of which she's about to become a member. Unless they need to negotiate trades of other useful kidnapping victims, but their tactics are a little bit out of her wheelhouse, so probably not. She's attempting to escape, but is hindered by...well, just about everything about her. She's still shrieking, though.
That shout get's Lily's attention. She pokes her head up over the cart like a meercat searching the savannah... For credits. From over her right shoulder she plucks an arrow and knocks it. She draws the bowstring back to her chin and lets out a calm breath as she sights in on the men as they gallop away with Anna. She holds the pose for a second or so before she lets the arrow fly. Alas, at this range all she manages to do was get her arrow stuck in a rucksack. Those dark eyes are filled with a cold dark hatred as she looks out after the hillfolk, practically ignoring the cattle that are milling about in confusion. With even more dark grumbles and swears she slides her bow on her back. "Stupid woman nailing herself to the stupid road with her stupid shoes. Lookin' down her nose at me..." More grumbles as she slings her pack over her shoulder. A little louder over the din she says, "Fahng-sheen. I'll go find yer snobby little niece lady before she spends too much time with her bare bottom in the air." And a little quieter she grumbles, "And get me arrow back too..."
Beau is livid! And he might be just a little scared. This really can't get too much worse. He's marching his way in the direction of those shrieks while trying to side step bovine and bailing locals both. This is a recipe for disaster. Especially since he doesn't seem aware of the big old Holstein charging right toward him from behind and to his left. It doesn't veer its path when he bellows again. "ONE THOUSAND CREDITS TO THE MAN OR WOMAN THAT BRINGS ME HIS /HEAD/!" He doesn't even hear Lily at this point. Might be the blood pumping in his ears.
Morgana stands, like an island in a sea of chaos, her sidearm still pointed at the kidnapper, but her attention is distracted as she sees the cow charging at Beau, even if he doesn't. The blood drains out of her face, and her body is moving even before the information has finished registering in her brain, as she leaps, full-body, at Beau, pushing him out of the path of the stampede, and landing heavily on top of him, her body crushing his to the dirt. <English>
The man who'd scooped up Anna somehow, in the chaos, manages to sense that he's gotten a prime article. Or at least, prime to someone. If he gets her back home, he may change his tune. For now, though, he urges his horse on faster, calling to his companions. "Faster, boys! Behind me! Don't let 'em get this one back!" The other men begin to urge their horses around his like a wall, riding with a precision that can only come from years of practice.
OOF! Oh Morgana, is that a gun in your pocket or are you....? Well, getting bowled over by a Morgana is probably better than the same by a cow? But the wind is still knocked out of the Mouthy Southy just a little when he impacts the dirt. As soon as the stars clear from his vision and he has enough breath to manage it, he's flailing beneath her and coughing out, "Geddoff me!" It's really just the heat of the moment, he'll likely think to thank her later. "Go get her!" It's more of a wheeze than a bellow, but it still sounds like an order.
Lily is standing far off to the side, right up against the buildings as she watches the swirling discord that is mostly concentrated on the road itself. She winces a bit sympathetically when the kimono-clad beauty barrels the man into the dirt. She calls out, "Not a good idea to be lying in tha dirt in the middle of a stampede! I can't collect that kinda bounty from a dead man!" Even as the horses gallop off into the distance she is hefting her bag and moving to follow. She is following at a rather sedate pace, not stealing a horse to follow or taking off at a dead sprint, just confidently moving off down the road, steer(ha!)ing clear of all the cattle.
Morgana leaps off Beau again as if contact with him caused her physical pain. She takes a moment to adjust the neckline of her (goddammit!) kimono, which has been yanked aside to reveal a simple black bra, and a pair of fucking spectacular breasts, marred only by a large 'X'-shaped scar on the inner curve of the left one, and then goes charging after the kidnapper, her face bright red.
Over ---> there? Rand is doing what his job is, to handle the behind the scenes matters, duffle bag set aside for the time being as he's working with other cattle ranchers or people who can work with rope, working on roping steers that they can rope. He's on foot though, jogging and running along with others, calling out commands. "Ya'll work on getting that pretty little filly back and its a case of high quality booze to every person who's helped out, lets MOVE it you lazy cowsucking bastards, I was born on a mountain and I'm roping more -" He's cut off for a moment to just stare after Morgana. ".../dayum/ I love my job." He throws another lasso to let it lay around the neck of another bull, wrestling her down. "OKAY, you're not IDIOTS! Lets GO BOYS!"
Beau pushes himself up to his knees. He's red faced from being out of breath. He'd be positively purple if he'd actually seen that breast slippage. "Bring..." *coughsplutter* "...her..." *hackgag* "...back in one piece!" What's that? He's actually going to let them go on without him so he can recuperate? Wait? Did a pig just fly by? Mark this day down somewhere.
The horses are rapidly outdistancing those on foot. Shockingly. The cattle are still milling around, but the dust is settling, which is not a good indication about the likelihood of them managing to recapture Anna before she reaches her eventual destination. They're going to have to think of something else, and quickly, because the sun is well into the western sky, now, and they don't have very much time to waste if they want to get the board member's daughter by the time that they'd agreed on.
Morgana charges after the bandits, her long legs eating up the distance, but not as much as the horses' long legs. The kimono flaps open, and she just rolls her eyes at the indignity of it all, and keeps pounding after them, leaving Beau in the dirt. She looks pretty pissed off by it all, though.
Lily glances over her shoulders, her dark eyes bugging out as Morgana begins sprinting towards her. She slides off to the side a bit to give the woman a bit of space. "Two things, gorgeous. Yer tits are hangin' out and yer gonna tire yerself out long before ya get to their little stick shacks up in the hills. Unless those are horses instead of breasts in that fancy slip o' yours, o'course." She points off down the road. "About a hundred yards down the road ye can find a game trail. Too slim fer horses, but it's less windy then the dirt road. Keep a good pace and we can get to the village in just a couple hours with some bushwacking instead of spending half the night trundling down the road."
Rand coughs softly on the dust, tossing off his rope to another person as he makes his way towards where Beau is on his knees, offering him a hand up if allowed as he wrinkles his nose. "You know, I came to this planet to sell shit...honest shit, really good shit...to this family who put me up once, they like my cider. Honest business, now Morgie baby is giving folks a show without being in my lap, Tim's leg got gored and he's a newer hire and somebody's hot ass niece got kidnapped...while a asian Pocahantas wet dream is chasing said hot piece of ass and none of this is happening in my dream so I'm not going to wake up with a smile on my face...did I miss anything Bossman?"
Lily's assessment is quite correct. After a few hours of hard trekking (which has now caused the sun to sink behind the hills), they're led up into the hills, where there's a small settlement. It consists of a large structure which has the look of a town hall, plus several smaller houses around it which aren't fancy, but look well-constructed. People go about their business, skinning freshly killed game, hanging clothes out to dry, and just generally doing things that one might in a place like this.
There are several horses tied up outside the town hall, and if anyone was paying particular attention to the horses in the chaos, they would notice that some of them look to be the same ones from the raid. However, no one needs to be paying particular attention to hear the goings-on inside, which sound like a massive party. There's music, chatter, and the occasional exit of a staggering drunk.
Beau actually takes the hand up instead of brushing it off as he might have done before when things are going to shit. "They had better bring her back," he spits out once he's on his feet. His attempts at dusting off the dirt from his person are useless and not only because it's just not that easy with only one good hand. He's just /filthy/ from that roll in the dirt with Morgana. "What's new is that I just lost the niece of one of Lizzie's 'business partners."
Morgana stops running, abruptly, a little out of breath, and angrily twitches her kimono closed. She nods in grudging agreement and turns back towards Beau and her abandoned duffel bag. She takes a few moments to lace on some decent, if worn combat boots, and shrugs her kimono off, angrily. Ignoring any stares, she digs around in the duffel bag, wearing only her bra, and finds a black tank top, which she tugs on. It doesn't cover much more than the bra, but at least gives the appearance that she's here to do business, not dance on a pole. Morgana also finds a few extra weapons in the duffel, which go into holsters strapped to her calf and one shoulder holster, reloads her side arm, and shrugs a jacket over the whole ensemble, before heading back after the kidnappers. She doesn't look at Beau once during this entire performance, her jaw tense and her blue eyes sparking with irritation.
Who would be so blaze as to stare at a beautiful woman as she changed? Surely not Lily! Lily actually stopped to turn and watch with a silly little grin on her face, tapping her foot in amusement. When Morgana catches up, Lily just continues to grin as she leads the woman down the road and off into the woods. Lily moved through those woods like she was painting with all the colours of the wind. Once they get to the settlement she found herself pressed up against a tree, peering through the split at the horses, specifically the one currently missing it's rider, rucksack and the arrow that was in said rucksack. She glances over her shoulder at those that she had lead through the wilderness. She had unslung her bow and was holding it as well as half a dozen arrows in her left hand. "So beautiful, what's yer plan now that we are here? Kick the door in with guns a blazing? Try and sneak her out and steal some horses? What?"
Rand politely doesn't watch Morgana as he just works on listening to Beau and nodding slowly. "Ahh, right. So." A pause. "You might need to uh, go get her then." A pause. "Apparently the ladies have a headstart on you..." Ever helpful.
The revels continue, becoming more boisterous by the minute. There's not a lot going on in this hill settlement, as one might imagine, and so when someone gets snatched, it's always a party. Dusk is quickly moving on into night, which could be a good or a bad thing for the rescuers, depending on how events unfold.
The doors to the town hall burst open, and a couple of the kidnappers emerge (or perhaps erupt is the better word, since one of them nearly falls over his own feet, he's so intoxicated). "Damn woman's good fer nuthin'!" he slurs as his buddy catches him before he pitches headfirst into the dirt. "Can' even cook! What a lousy find!"
"Morgana can handle it." Wait, wut? At least Beau's praying it's true! Hoping and crossing fingers and toes maybe? "She's knows what she's doin'." He has no idea that Lily's off with her too or he might be worried about an ambush or a back stabbing. He's still a little flushed, trying to catch his breath. And pigs are still flying because he's not rushing in like a fool half cocked and half dead.
Sadly, Morgana isn't there to hear the vote of confidence. She's huddled among the trees with Lily, scoping out the kidnapper's village. Lily gets a raised dark brow for her familiarity. "My name is Morgana." she murmurs, almost inaudibly, so as not to attract attention. She ponders the situation, calculating timing, resources... She looks Lily over, and purses her lips. "You know this town?" she asks, softly.
"Pleasure, Miss Morgana." The little native woman gives a half-hearted salute with her free hand. She is keeping her voice low, though with all the late-night revelry it was hardly needed. "A little. My hometown is a few hours West of here. I'm constantly fighting these jerks the rights to my own damn kills. Constantly poaching my traps and the like..." Lily knocks a single arrow and takes a bit of a calming breath as she tilts her head towards the kidnapper. Her voice is low. "I got a stupid idea, but I'm loving it more an more. You get the girl, I get that idiot. We both grab some horses and ride off into the sunset and try not to get shot."
Rand just arches an eyebrow before turning away from Beau, walking a distance away to snatch up his duffel bag before pressing two fingers against his ear. "Morgiebaby with his Cedris, do you copy?" He speaks into the com with a quirk of an eyebrow, glancing back over to Beau. "You pull this off, I take you to dinner, do you copy?" He looks back to Beau and frowns. "You need something to drink?"
"Damn right," the other man grumbles as he sets the drunk(er) one down on the steps, sitting beside him and shaking his head in disgust. "Woulda done a damn sight better to grab th'other one," he returns, and though he doesn't expand on which 'other one' he means, he doesn't really have to. Either one of the other ones would have been more useful than Anna.
The door opens again, and this time, two women emerge. One of them is about middle-aged, and the other one is Anna, now attired much more sensibly in a homespun dress and apron. And flat shoes, thank goodness. She's carrying a bucket and, from what can be seen of her in the dark, looking extremely unhappy. "Might as well start learnin'," the older woman comments, nudging Anna forward, "Just throw it out, honey." Anna obliges, though she lets out a little sound that might be a sob. After a few moments, the smell of its contents begins to waft toward the forest. It's suspiciously like vomit. The two women then go back inside, but at least now the rescuers know where Anna is.
"I'll be all right in a moment," Beau assures Rand. He is looking a little less winded by the second, but there's no way he'd find Morgana and Co. now. He takes off his hat to beat the dust off of it on his leg. His dark curls are all sweat damp. "All we were supposed t'do is pick up a /cow/." How could it it have gone so wrong?! Of course even he wasn't privy to what was shoved up the cow's backside. He knew it was probably /something/ like that, but... he has know idea what might have been up the butt.
Morgana purses her unpainted lips, thinking... Then the subject of their little quest is revealed to them, and she watches until Anna disappears back into the building. "We have no way of knowing how many more villagers are inside with her." she observes, softly. "And she doesn't appear to be being used for nefarious purposes, just yet." Her lips twitch. "Sun's going down. Maybe we should give it a few minutes, and go in after dusk..." She watches the drunk men make their way down the road, staggering and singing. She looks back to Lily."You think you could take out all three of them?" she asks, gauging the girl's competence.
Morgana blinks and puts her fingers to her own earbud. "Rand, how many times do I have to ask you not to call me 'Morgiebaby'?" she mutters, seemingly at random. "I'm only letting you take me out if you're doing the cooking."
Lily hems and haws a bit. "Maybe. If I do it all silent-like and get a good angle at em'." She is quiet for a few moments. "Alright, we meet in the middle then. We wait till it gets good and quiet and the idiot gets dragged off to bed. I take him out after he's begun to sleep away the booze in him and you ghost the girl from whatever hole they keep her in and then we bolt like bunnies? before anyone knows what's up?" She had a bit of wicked grin on her lips. Her eyebrows raised a bit when Morgana takes the call and her grin becomes teasing as the bumps her hip against Morgana's openly. "Ooooh, Morgiebaby. Cute, but we got a princess to save. And hey, does that guy you were with really want the dude's head? Cause if he will take your word that I put him down, you can smash-and-grab on horseback the next time she comes out with her little bucket there and I can give ya cover from the treeline. Take out the buddy your boyfriend wants ta bleed and make sure nobody follows ya. I can loose these idiots in the woods no problem."
"Anytime they tell you to pick up a cow, singular, it ain't ever going to be easy. Now a dog, sure. A cat...maybe. Hell even a horse. But a cow?" Rand shakes his head and then frowns as he turns back to listen to his comm. "Well I could call you the Queen of Cups but I think that would be a little rude now wouldn't it sweet cheeks? I've got Tim...well no, Tim's injured but I have Gary and Rachelle I could send your way if you need 'em, one of them can be packing some of my babies. You keep me updated, and you get out of there with the classy broad if you can, most important is that you and her get out of there in one piece." He looks to Beau. "And if you screw up I'm afraid Bossman might gut me with a clove so...ya know..."
Morgana winces. "_Not_ my boyfriend. And, yeah, if Mr. Compton wants him dead, he's dead." she says, her jaw tense. "Why don't you get us a couple of horses. If she comes out again, we'll try the smash and grab and if she doesn't, we'll wait until dark, but we'll be prepared, either way." she whispers back to Lily. To her earbud, she murmurs, "I think we'll be fine, thanks. No need to make a fuss. There's two of us against a hillbilly town. And one of us armed with a bow and arrows." Her tone is so flat it's hard to tell if she's being sarcastic. "Why don't you start making dinner? I'm feeling a bit peckish." she suggests to Rand.
TIt looks like the plan's going to have to be 'wait and see,' since Anna does not come out again for the duration. The stars begin to come out, but the reveling continues long after the light's completely gone. Finally, however, the townspeople begin to exit the building, mostly singing loudly or throwing up.
As the only one who -isn't- singing or throwing up, Anna really stands out. She's being led by the older woman and a few others who look to be about her age. They chat amongst themselves, and try to get something out of her, but all she does is look at the ground, tight-lipped. Finally, they seem to give up, and make their way to one of the houses near-ish to the town hall, entering and shutting the door. Soon after, the village is quiet, the only sounds being ambient crickets and a few choice snores.
"Oh yeah, make fun of the girl with the bow and arrow why dontchya..." Lily grumbles a bit and slips back off into the brush, disappearing into the woods like a little ghost. It becomes obvious as to why she wears that big poncho of hers; it breaks up her silhouette in the woods wonderfully. She is gone for a fair bit and with some off-stage shenanigans she returns a bit more than half an hour later by slipping back up against the tree. "Got two nags tied up just off the trail about a hundred yards back." After the time passes and Lily and Morgana watch all the townsfolk head home Lily starts getting a bit anxious. "There she is!" Her voice is a bit of a soft hiss, though her face is glowing in that grin. They wait a bit longer till all is quiet. "So, we split up here? I go fight the sleeping orgre and you rescue the damsel in distress?" She doesn't wait for an answer- she is already beginning to stalk off again.
"I'm not entirely sure her takin' has anything to do with the cow," Beau points out once he's managed to turn his gaze away from the horizon he was hoping to see them coming over. "More like they were out t'get a philly so they could expand the gene pool beyond first cousins." He glances over his shoulder at the little yellowjacket Molly Hogan. "I should start th'ship in case we need t'go in a hurry."
Morgana purses her lips as the smaller woman doesn't wait for a response, but just heads off on her own. Stifling a sigh, Morgana heads towards the women's quarters, sticking to the shadows and stepping as silently as possible in combat boots. She approaches the cabin Anna was taken to, and, silently pulling the door open, steps into the dark interior.
When Morgana pulls open the door, she sees several beds arranged dormitory-style, which house most of the young women of marriageable. Luckily, Anna is near the door, and even more luckily, she isn't asleep, but is rather sitting up on her bed, making some rather pathetic sniffling noises. She lets out a gasp as the door opens, but as she sees it's Morgana, she at least has the presence of mind not to make any more noise. She gets up quietly, moving toward the door with tentative steps, and they're soon outside again.
The aforementioned ogre is, indeed, snoring away in a cabin on the opposite side of the town hall. In fact, it seems to be something of a bachelor pad, as all three of the men who they'd seen earlier apparently reside there. The porch is a little bit more unkempt than the women's house. Okay, a lot more unkempt. Inside the sleeping arrangement is much the same, though, if infinitely grosser. The three drunks are all passed out. The one who'd kidnapped Anna is snoring the loudest.
Lily meanwhile flits from cover to cover as she heads to the building that her targets had gone to sleep. She had found their cabin without much trouble and soon she was standing silently inside the building with the three men in it. With six arrows and a bow in one hand, she nocked an arrow and drew the string smoothly up to her cheek. She stood there for a few long moments as she fought to keep her hands steady. They deserved this. They deserved no less. How many others would they do this to if she did not stop them? even while the morality of her actions still swarmed in her heart she let the arrow loose. Drawing the second and third while shifting targets was a matter of years of practice, plucking an arrow from her opposite hand and pulling it up and back directly onto the string itself. Unless things went completely FUBAR, each man would get two arrows each and a slit throat with a hunting knife and back out into the night she would go.
Morgana puts a finger to her lips, to tell Anna to keep quiet, although the kidnapping victim seems to be cognizant of the need for silence. She leads her silently through the shadows, and back towards the men's cabin, arriving there just as Lily emerges. She looks Lily over, and nods, seeing the smaller woman is unscathed, and hands Anna off to her. "Take her to the horses and get her back to Mr. Compton. I'll get my own horse and catch you up." she whispers, barely audibly.
Luckily for Lily, things did not, in fact, go completely FUBAR. Actually, they went off without a hitch. The men are now dead, never again to kidnap anyone of great or small value. A fitting end to them, perhaps, though if the men could have seen it, they might have bemoaned the fact that their demise had come on the back of a woman who had turned out to be of no gorram use to anyone in the 'verse.
This woman in question is now making her way to the horses that Lily'd so cleverly thought to procure beforehand with Morgana. She's handed off to Lily, and she says nothing, her attitude from before completely gone. Perhaps this little episode will be good for her!
Lily's poncho and hands are covered in splattered blood when she emerges from the building, though little if any of it can be seen in the dark of the night. The scent of fresh death is unmistakable. The little murderer ushers Anna towards ht horses, forcing the princess to move quickly to their getaway nags. Anna gets tossed on a horse and Lily leads her off, one reign in each hand. She would keep up a good pace to get her back to her ship and where she could get enough credits to get off this dustball and set her eyes upon the black for the first time. To taste freedom.
Morgana waits until the other two women are out of sight, and then sneaks back into the men's quarters, pulling a long, wicked bowie knife from a sheath strapped to her thigh. She emerges a few minutes later, her coat off and carefully bundled, and disappears into the shadows. A few minutes later she's mounted as well, and following the other two women at a brisk pace, her jacket bouncing heavily from her saddle horn.
Lily does not have to do much ushering. Anna is perfectly willing and even eager to follow her, and though she isn't an expert horsewoman by any means, she manages to stay on its back. She says not one word. It's probably for the best.
However, when they've made it nearly to their destination, there's a rumbling in the distance. It sounds suspiciously like the rumbling that started this whole mess. It begins to get louder, and is soon accompanied by many angry shouts. If someone were to look behind them now, they'd see a half-dozen men on horseback riding about as fast as they're able, and from the looks of it, they're gaining on the retreating party. Better hurry!
The ramp of the Molly Hogan is down and the little ship is obviously ready to launch as soon as there's an all clear given from the rescue party.
Morgana glances over her shoulder at the rumbling sound and presses her ear bug. "Mr. Compton.." her calm, warm alto voice murmurs, "We've done what we came for, but we have some uninvited company escorting us back. If you wouldn't mind opening the hatch and lighting the fires, your package is incoming..." as smooth as a recorded message.
Lily kicks those horses into high gear as she barrels down the now emptied street in the sleepy little village. With the hanger wide open those two horses damn near fly up the ramp with a loud whooping cry of, one hand raised in the air in victory like some kind of blood-soaked Pocahontas.
They're all on now, even Anna. The men are gaining. The ship had better go now. ...and go it does. Even before the ramp is all the way up!
FIN
{{#ask:Log Characters::~*Merry Men* |?Log IC Date |?Log OOC Date |?Log Short Summary |format=broadtable |limit=20 |link=all |sort=June 5, 2534 |order=desc |headers=show |mainlabel=Scene Logs |searchlabel=… further results |class=sortable wikitable smwtable }}
Fitz is not actually present in this scene, but is GMing.
