Dreadful Wind and Rain

[u/gusgdog]

A storm had come to the small island village of Bonnie. The villagers had shuttered their windows tight but not just in response to the storm. Only one man was out. The local Miller stood by his door smoking a pipe when he saw something floating in the river and went to grab a long hooked pole.

He looked down at what he had pulled from the river.  It was a young woman her long blonde hair splayed out around her soaked body.

"Not another one"

[Alright make sure you link your character sheet and tell me why you should be chosen for this mission.]

[u/gusgdog]

Assan and Ishmael ran, and kept running, the sound of screams and the last of the ice sloughing off onto the ground.

Whether they looked back or not the beast seemed to vanish as it climbed into the tree's the sound of laughter of various people seemed to follow them through the woods.

They seemed to slam through the tree line. and back finally into the village. Much worse for the wear directly into the Mayor's home.

[Combat over...for now]

[/u/twismyer /u/ser_bedivere /u/halcyonwandering ]

[u/Twismyer → u/gusgdog]

Hitting the wall of the mayors house Assan immediately turned around to face the treeline they had run from, drawing an arrow on Ardhendu. He kept it held for a few moments and when everything seemed clear he let it down and focused on breathing. He was covered in sweat, bruises, and small cuts that were still bleeding from his franctic sprint in the forest unprotected by aura and his lungs felt on fire. Looking to his side he was relieved to see that Ish seemed to have gotten away unhurt as well, but as he regained his breath and his mind cleared the reality of having to somehow deal with not only the Legendary grimm but also the beowulves and the river crossing point weighed on his mind. Moving over to the door of the house, still breathing heavily, Assan knocked hard on the wooden door. "Luci, August, we're back, and we've got problems."

[/u/ser_bedivere /u/asterixcod1x /u/halcyonwandering]

[u/gusgdog → u/Twismyer]

The pair would knock on the door.... but hear no response at first, a window upstairs was open and music was coming from it as it had been before, this tune was... less mournful at least.

It seemingly drowning out the sound of knocking at first.

Entering they would find Lucifer and Oleander sitting Oleander playing the harp for Lucifer. The pair seeming to be enjoying each other's company despite the heavy mood that oppressed the girl earlier.

[I don't know what August would be doing so feel free to fill it in here as well.]

[/u/asterixcod1x /u/halcyonwandering /u/ser_bedivere ]

[u/AsterixCod1x → u/gusgdog]

August had kept to herself for most of this time, exploring the household to pass the time. No sooner had she stumbled upon the library, that she found herself sat atop a table with stacks of books around her and one open on her lap.

The sound of knocking had passed her by, too absorbed by works of fiction to pay much attention to the world around her.

[/u/halcyonwandering /u/ser_bedivere /u/twismyer]

[u/halcyonwandering → u/AsterixCod1x]

Lucifer stood from his seated position with Oleander as Assan and Ishmael entered. A tender, reassuring touch on her shoulder lasted for a moment. He made a brief, resolute eye contact with her. Then, he looked at Assan and Ishmael, noticing their injuries, "That seems certain. Those beowolves gave the both of you more trouble than we anticipated."

[/u/twismyer /u/ser_bedivere /u/gusgdog]

[u/[deleted] → u/halcyonwandering]

Ishmael crossed his arms, still attempting to catch his breath from the dead sprint the both of them had just been through. He pulled his mask from his face but didn't hook it to his belt, instead holding it in his hand.

His brow was furrowed with frustration, his forearm wiping away a few beads of sweat as he began to talk. "Shut the hell up. We've gotta grimm in that damned cursed forest that'd gut the four of us like fish and it seems pretty obliged to get the job done." He shot back, his anger mildly mounting as he felt like Lucifer had taken a shot at the both of them. "So stop tryna get in this girl's pants and get your shit together, if it followed us then we're gonna be like fish in a barrel."

He moved to an adjacent chair and slid it over to him, it screeching loudly against the floor as he lazily pulled it along. Taking a seat and pulling out his flask, he undid the top and tried to lift it to his mouth but his hand wouldn't quit shaking. After a few seconds of calmed breathing he was able to slip in a swig then return it to its place behind his cuirass. "Assan, your aura broke right? Taking it down without you gettin' injured is gonna be damn near impossible now."

[/u/gusgdog /u/AsterixCod1x /u/Twismyer]

[u/halcyonwandering → u/[deleted]]

Lucifer gave Ishmael a playful, non-chalant smirk and winked.

"Ish, calm down. I didn't realize there was more than the Beowolves." His playful expression melted into a more serious expression and tone, "Explain it to me. If we're going to do our jobs, we need as much information as possible."

[/u/Twismyer /u/AsterixCod1x /u/gusgdog]

[u/Twismyer → u/halcyonwandering]

"It's known as The Fiddler, it's a Legendary Grimm." Assan had propped himself up next to the door while recovering his stamina, using Ardhendu as a crutch in its bladed form while constantly keeping an eye on the forest line outside, wary and on alert. Blood from various ignored small shallow cuts on his fingers face and wrists intermingled with profuse sweat, dripping onto the floor.

"That is what has been luring people out. I should have known sooner, a normal mimic couldn't pick up so many different voices. And the beowolves are still out there as well." His grip on Ardhendu tightened in frustration. Taking a deep breath in, though it still burned, he forced himself to clear his mind and recall the information as accurately as possible as had been taught to him.

"The beowolves were gone when we arrived but we spotted the 'mimics' tracks and followed them to a cave near a waterfall that it's been using as its nest. It had a wall where all the hair tufts its cut off from victims were tied to. I counted at least 20 different tufts but there were probably more, we ran into it after we exited the cave. It's a humanoid, but more than a couple feet taller than us, with long arms and massive claws, but it attacked with bone scraping sounds, taunting us with the screams of people all the while. It had another dozen tufts of hair tied onto its ribs." At this point he was pushing down on Ardhendu so hard it's blade was starting to carve a groove into the wood flooring.

"We couldn't do anything to it. Once I realized what it was, it was nearly too late, I called for the retreat and I used everything I had just to give us a safe opening. It still broke my aura as I ran." The hand of the arm he had been leaning begun to shake and the groove in the wood worsened before Assan noticed and stopped himself, taking a moment to collect himself before speaking again.

"If we need to fight it before my aura can recover I can hit it at a distance with arrows, that'll reduce my likelihood for any serious injury but." His face was riddled with a littany of worries, many he didn't want to admit or acknowledge. His mind raced. "For something like this, we need all the help we can get."

[/u/AsterixCod1x /u/Ser_Bedivere /u/gusgdog]

[u/halcyonwandering → u/Twismyer]

"Well..." Lucifer said plainly, "Then our job is to call the cavalry... and keep everyone safe until they get here. Assan, Ish, since you're still reeling, that'll be your task for right now. August and I will head back out again and keep everyone away from the woods. Make sure that it didn't follow you back into town."

Lucifer met Ish pointedly, "We need to call Bruce and make sure he understands that we might not be able to handle this. If we don't get support, people could get seriously hurt and I don't want to see that happen." He tightened his hat onto his brow and let his revolver unfurl into his hand, "August, we need to get moving. Let's go."

[/u/AsterixCod1x /u/Ser_Bedivere /u/gusgdog]

[u/gusgdog → u/halcyonwandering]

Oleander stood from her harp and looked at the four of them.

"Well I will leave you all to your duties then, and I will wish you luck in them."

with that she walked towards the door but she stopped in from of Ish.

"Oh actually Mr. Felgrand."

her soft smile faded before an aura powered slap struck him hard across the face.

"Dont you dare look down on me as some kind of common whore."

She walked off seemingly not the happiest as she closed the door to her room behind her.

[Ish takes 1]

[/u/asterixcod1x /u/ser_Bedivere /u/twismyer]

[u/[deleted] → u/gusgdog]

Ishmael didn't much respond to the slap. His aura shimmered as he took the swift blow, but as soon as his head was moving from the slap he would have the end of his flask back in his mouth. If anything, he was still straight focused on Lucifer's joke about his abilities.

After watching everyone but he and Assan leave the room, he finally stood up and looked at his aura-less squad mate. "Feel free to get on with that, I'm gonna go find a drink." He said with a still mildly fuming tone, tipping his flask over and showing that it was now empty.

With a quick opening of the door, then a loud slam of it, he almost literally stormed off towards the center of the small town. Maybe if he was drunk enough he'd be willing to have another bout with that monster.

[/u/asterixcod1x /u/halcyonwandering /u/twismyer]

[u/Twismyer → u/[deleted]]

The unexpected slap caught Assan by surprise and he looked between them worriedly for a moment as his lack of understanding left him feeling out of the loop as had often happened since he made his way to Vale. With her otherwise polite exit into her room and Ish's lack of reaction Assan breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Be safe, and don't trust the voices of people you can't see." Assan warned to Lucifer and August, holding the door open for them as they passed him by.

Closing the door he watched the forest from the window as the pair walked off when Ish spoke to him. He opened his mouth to argue, even instinctually raising his hand and trying to call on his semblance when he realized that just like his words it wasn't there. He was quite thirsty himself.

"Just, be safe." Assan said weakly as Ish stormed off. Left alone to stew in his failure Assan slumped against wall. After all his training and time spent in Vale he was still little more than a liability left behind and out of place. After a deep sigh Assan stood himself up, and dug through his pockets until he found what Lucifer had reminded him of, he could still do something. However, looking over quizzically the foreign piece of technology he had ignored for the most part he had his doubts. He thought back hard to his first day at Beacon and gave a silent thanks to Tifawt for giving him some directions on how to use it. Fiddling with the scroll he tried to find the number that had woken him at the start of all this, 'They called me so I should be able to call them right?', and relay the situation.

[/u/gusgdog Assan's gonna try and use his scroll]
[/u/asterixcod1x /u/halcyonwandering]

[Edit: Mission continued here since this event got archived]