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 Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:08 am
(This is the thread for the scouting mission for the Sun Court Fey. Please don't post unless you have permission from Shiaree, Sajhiri, or myself. And I'm pretty sure you already knew that.)
After leaving the room with the others still talking to Spina he had swiftly made his way to Orin's stall. The place he had agreed to meet Muris at. After arriving he pulled out a sugar cube from his stash in the stables for the horse who accepted it happily. Alces then leaned against the door to the stall, gently patting Orin's head to try and calm his own nerves while waiting for Muris to show up; he knew it wouldn't be long.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:12 am
Muris had mostly been attempting to get out of that room with that crazy Moon Court character as quickly as possible. So she didn't stay up in her room very long-- there really wasn't anything she could think of to bring along with her that would help out in this mission. Still, it'd been a moment to calm her roiling stomach. Not only were they going into the heart of Moon Court territory, but she was to be alone with Alces, and they still had not spoken of...many things that would probably best be discussed than left alone.
Giving each of her dolls and stuff critters a quick hug, she clambered down the ladder, smiling as she skittered towards Orin's stall. It would be better not to worry about that right now-- there were more important things, and she could still enjoy her time with Alcie though things were left unsaid.
"Hey there...ready?" she asked, slipping her arms around him for a quick hug.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:19 am
He hadn't been facing the ladder to Muris' room and turned around when he heard her speak. When hugged, he happily, or as happily as he could considering the situation at hand, returned the hug. "Yes." He answered, though that was half a lie. He hadn't meant to volunteer for the scouting mission. Alces had hoped to go on the rescue mission, but if his king wanted him to go on the scouting mission than go he would. "Are you?" he asked, despite the fact that was a rather pointless question.
"Did you get what you needed?" He asked another question while going to talk half a step back from her so he could look down at her easier.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:25 am
Muris nodded,
"I'm ready," she said, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach. She was an adult now, and it was time to act like one. Besides, she was currently in the service of the King, and that was no time to act unprofessional.
Without waiting for a response, the mouse-woman jogged out of the stable. She could hear Alces follow her, and continued in the direction of the Moon Court castle. Muris herself was fairly adept at stealth-- she could sneak around, hide in shadows, walk quietly, all of that. But she worried about Alces. No only was he a rather large man (especially with those antlers) but she wasn't certain that having the Elk as a totem would make him stealthy at all.
Well, if the fates were on her side, he would manage not to get caught. She really didn't like the liability he presented, and she was going to have to put her feelings aside. It was tough, thinking that, but she had a mission to accomplish and she was not going to jeopardize it just because of her feelings.
"This way I suppose...I hope the others aren't too far behind. If we see something we need them to know about, you can go back and tell them, all right?" They were far enough away from the Moon Court territory still to talk..though she'd have to figure a way to communicate with him once silence was key.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:32 am
She wasn't the only one thinking about his antlers. He had thought about that the whole time he had been heading to his horse's stall. He was now grabbing at a piece of gold paint that had been to stubborn to come off after the ball. "All right." He agreed. He tossed the little ship of gold color off of his hand and continued after her. All the while he was silently thinking up ways he could remain hidden, but most of all his antlers hidden.
"Do you have a plan yet? Such as...which side we will attempt to approach first? And we'll have to make sure to avoid being seen if a Moon Court Fey just so happens to be looking out the windows overlooking the part of the field we're in..." The man asked curiously, since he hadn't thought about that until just now.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:38 am
((I'm not certain about the layouts of the Moon Court and the Sun Court and between, etc. So bear with me-- if I've said something wrong, please correct me and I'll come up with an alternative. I'm also not used to Rogue-like characters, so this should be an interesting challenge for me.))
She tilted her head thoughtfully,
"You'll be very difficult to hide, Alcie, with your big antlers...but I think we'll have to go through the forest area-- use the trees to our advantage."
Yes, that would be the only way. And they would just have to hope they could sneak across any open areas they might encounter. She was fairly certain they would be all right once they were in the castle itself. It was really too bad there wasn't a better way to let the others know what was going on than to send Alcie back...now that she thought of it, it wasn't really so bad to have a bit of backup in case things went wrong.
"Otherwise, we'll just have to hope we get lucky. I might be able to crawl through the taller grass without being seen, but you certainly wouldn't."
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:52 am
"Yes, I know." He remarked, glancing up at his antlers as best as he could and shaking his head to himself. "However, I do have a few tricks up my sleeve." He suddenly got a rather sneaky look on his face. He gave a nod at her plan, "Yes, the trees will be good." He looked behind him a moment, and then forward again at Muris. His 'sneaky' look slowly faded as he sped up slightly to catch up with Muris and looked down at the grass as he ran, "I'll just follow you..." He told her, figuring that would be the best plan for him. He figured she knew a great deal more about scouting/spying than he did.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:59 am
The mouse nodded, and led him through the trees without incident. Slowly, quietly, they made their way towards Castellum Umbra. With a rustle of fabric, Muris waved her arm at Alces to stop when the castle itself was in sight. There was a little bit of a sprint in store for them, but first she wanted to look around to be certain there was noone in the vicinity.
It was too close to talk now, so she simply held up a hand, hoping he would realize that she meant for him to stay there. Glancing at the castle again, she melted into the trees.
Quickly, the woman looked around. Noone in sight...she couldn't tell if anyone was looking out of the windows, but if they ran across quickly they should be all right, with the shadows being cast by the trees and whatnot. They could find a way in by skulking about in the bushes, which would provide at least some small amount of cover.
She sighed. This was about as good as it was going to get. Trotting, she made her way back over to Alces, close so that she could whisper in his ear,
"We'll have to sprint for the bushes by the castle," she was more breathing it than saying it, her voice was so hushed,
"You've got powerful legs, I'm sure you can get there quickly."
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:09 am
He had understood what Muris meant and stayed right where he was, crouching down a bit so his antlers wouldn't be up so high. While he waited for her to come back he thought about various things before making a decision one one.
A nod of his head was a response to what she had said. He could have whispered if he felt like it...but he didn't want to risk anything, especially not with Muris here. He suddenly grinned and looked at the open area they would have to cross, mouthing a few words. Then suddenly...POOF! He was gone. There was a quiet knock on one of the trees, making it obvious he had hit one of his antlers on it. A 'ow' could just faintly be made out by someone standing rather close to him; such as Muris. This was followed by an invisible hand going to give Muris a pat on the shoulder and an extremely hushed, "After you."
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:14 am
Muris blinked in surprise as Alcie disappeared-- she hadn't know he could do that, or she would have worried quite a bit less. Still, he was the same old Alcie. She had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing when she heard him knock into a tree. Poor dear.
Still, she kept quiet. She was too aware of the dangers before them to lighten up even a little in that respect. In fact, every inch of her body seemed to scream "danger-- run away!", but she kept it under control. No matter how mousey she was, she knew her duties.
Taking a deep breath, the woman geared up for the run and sprinted quickly into the bushes, hiding there while she recaptured her breath. It wasn't a long run, but nerves added to her breathlessness and she knew it would be better to take a few moments to calm herself than to be even more jittery once they got inside the castle.
Where was Alcie? The difficulty with him being invisible was that she couldn't tell if he had already made it across yet or not.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:19 am
Alces had started out by walking casually out from under the shelter of the trees and standing there a bit, watching Muris run, until he realized he only had around fifteen minutes before the spell would wear off. He started walking a bit faster, trying to make the grass look like it was moving in the wind rather than being walked through...That's when he realized there were also spells that could allow one to see invisible people.
After that dawned on him he began running as fast he could to the bush Muris was at. Upon his arrival he went to gently place his hand on Muris, hoping that wouldn't scare her, but he didn't want to speak either. Deciding to also move a few of the leaves as well as the tapping of her shoulder, he hoped that would help her to figure out it was him and not some Moon Court Fey.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:25 am
Muris jumped a bit when Alcie tapped her shoulder, but quickly realized it was him-- a Moon Court would not have bothered staying invisible, and rather would have simply grabbed her and taken her away as they had that poor little girl.
The woman winced at this painful reminder that every moment wasted was a moment closer to Winny's death. Time to get moving again. Clambering quietly to her feet, Muris looked around. Everything appeared to still be clear, at least...
Ever so silently, she moved forward, pressing her hand against the wall. A secret passage would be ideal for sneaking up on them, though she had a feeling that there were many unexplored or unpopulated areas of Castellum Umbra just as there were at her own castle. Still, it wouldn't do to fall into one of those -not- so secret territories.
It wasn't long before she found a door, though it didn't really seem to be a secret passageway of any sort. The mouse deftly picked the lock on it-- obviously it was unused, which was a good sign, and ever so slowly slid it open, hoping it would be quiet and that there would be no one there.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:31 am
Aranea moved along the wall, her steps oh so light, and trying to keep her breath shallow. It seemed for the moment they had not seen her shadowing them. She had followed them as soon as she spied them; fortuitous it had been that she had left the stone bowl by the lake. The bowl was once again forgotten; discarded in a bush when she spied the intruders. She had circled them widely, entering through another door, hurrying down to her lab and grabbed the darts she had made for Lupinus to use. The toxin on them paralysed the foe, and she was careful not to let the points touch her skin. Leaving the basement at speed she ran back to where she thought they would enter the Castellum and was rewarded by the faint sounds of the intruders. She become one with the shadows, concealing herself with skill
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:32 am
Wanting to apologize, but obsessed with not speaking, Alces went to pat her shoulder again and silently scolded himself. Alces began walking after Muris, keeping an eye on what was going on behind them, determined not to let anything sneak up on them. He had been so intent on looking back he nearly ran into the mouse when she had stopped to pick the lock. Luckily for him, he managed to stop in time and blinked a few times, becoming interested in what she was doing. That is, until he remembered what he had been doing before and returned his attention to their surroundings.
As the door slid open Alces moved to where he could see inside to check if anyone was inside. When he thought it was safe he went to give Muris yet another pat on the back, telling her that it seemed safe enough to walk inside.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:50 am
Muris nodded then, slipping forward into the shadowy hallway. It was dimly lit, which was good-- they had obviously picked a spot that was not used terribly often. Probably a decent indicator that they would keep Winny somewhere in the vicinity-- afterall, why keep her somewhere she would be easily found?
True, she was jumping to conclusions and being overly hopeful, but it could take hours to properly search the castle, and they really didn't have that sort of time. She could see torchlight down one end of the hallway, and headed in that direction. Perhaps the light would make her a bit less concealed, but at least she would be able to get an idea of where they were in the castle, and possibly where they might keep the little girl as well as what was going on.
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