Be Vewy Vewy Kwuiet

[tyrants_son]

WHO: Lord Felwinter, an Aquakat and you?
WHERE: Southwestern quadrant
WHAT: Landlocked water creatures are very irate. And hungry.
WHEN: Mid-month
WARNINGS: Wild monster attacks, wild Felwinter attacks, all the stuff that comes with, depending on how you wanna tackle this



He'd seen the beast skulk into the city late in the evening, larger than most of the creatures that tend to wander into Temba. It hadn't been difficult to peg a predator, especially when its build resembled some Earth mammals. Old or possibly wounded for the way it moved, and potentially well out of its natural habitat. But that's the most that Felwinter had been able to observe of it. Once he'd left the security tower to investigate, the creature had seemed to all but vanish.

As an Exo the warlord needs no sleep, and in this instance he takes advantage of it as he combs the ruins for the creature, hoping to find it before it finds anyone else. Perhaps you come across him as he drifts between ruins and rooftops, and it's clear he's seeking out something.

Or perhaps you're lucky enough to find yourself being stalked near the slushy edges of the lake. Are those pawprints in the snow? Or maybe you feel watched somehow as you for some reason or another decided that crossing the deepest part while it was iced over was a great idea.

Comments

[crystalmaster]

Radley sees Felwinter and definitely deduces he's looking for something. He goes over to see if he can help. "Hi. What's up?"

[tyrants_son]

"Nothing," the warlord says as he looks out towards the frozen lake. It's the nothing that puzzles him. He knows he couldn't have imagined what he'd seen.

[crystalmaster]

"... Aren't you looking for something?" Radley follows his gaze to the lake.

[tyrants_son]

Felwinter says nothing more, not immediately. He eventually starts to walk, his helmeted gaze sweeping the snow-covered terrain before he finally homes in on something in the snow, steps quickening towards a more rubble-strewn area. There he stoops to study what had caught his sharp eyes, red splotches dotting the powdery white.

[crystalmaster]

Radley flinches at this sight. "Uh oh...." Was someone hurt? Or was this just prey and predator animals fighting it out? He hasn't forgotten his experience of finding Marc so badly wounded in the snow and still wonders what caused that.

[tyrants_son]

"...hmm."

His head turns slowly as he studies the snow before he points out what he'd been seeking; a large pawprint easily as big as the length of an adult human's hand. Felwinter rises again to his feet, following the deep tracks in the snow.

[crystalmaster]

Radley stares in alarm. He wonders if he really wants to go along, but he's worried to leave one guy to take it on all alone too. He keeps following, hoping he won't regret it.

[tyrants_son]

The tracks are winding but eventually lead towards the edge of the flood plains. Fresh flurries are stirred up by a gust of wind, the chill wind tugging at the ends of his greatcoat as the warlord stops and slowly looks around and out at the ice.

"Where..." he doesn't seem to be asking anyone in particular, but he tilts his head slightly as though listening.

[crystalmaster]

Radley looks around too, moving closer to Felwinter as his heart gathers speed. What if what they're stalking drops down on them?

[tyrants_son]

No worries there considering that there aren't very many things for a creature to be climbing up on out by the frozen lake. Which is really what makes it baffling that the thing just seems to have vanished. Felspring isn't picking up anything on her radar either, and it hadn't looked like the creature had been capable of flight.

"...the trail has gone cold," Felwinter observes, the pun unintentional as he continues to eye where the tracks have ended. He stoops down to study them. It was difficult to tell how fresh the blood had been back there, but it couldn't have been too long ago. So far as he can see, there's nothing out on the ice.

[crystalmaster]

"... So did you ever see what you were tracking?" Radley wonders.

[tyrants_son]

"It resembled a lion or other standard large cats of Earth," the Exo replies. "I saw it from a distance when it wandered into the city. By the time I came to where I had seen it appear, it had already moved elsewhere."

[crystalmaster]

"... Greaaat. That's just what we need. I wonder if that's what hurt the guy I found."

That is not an encouraging thought.

[ziedrich_bearer]

When you've got enough experience in the wilds, there are some signs that you learn not to take for granted, and for Gladio today that was taking a walk and seeing something that didn't quite fit. A pawprint, and one that made him frown. For a moment he crouched, fingers lightly near the print in the snow, making out the marks that indicated claws. It left him frowning.

"The hell do we have around here that could do this?" he asked to himself, his voice soft as he picked out his communicator. Surely there was something on the fauna page to help him figure out what was happening.

[tyrants_son]

Something meaty, that's for sure. The tracks are deep, conveying some weight to the creature. The size of the prints are about as wide as an outspread adult human's hand.

The trail meanders a bit, a creature wandering lost, perhaps. Although at some point the tracks seem to suddenly widen between steps, as though the creature had suddenly picked up its pace in great bounds towards the flood plains.

[ziedrich_bearer]

Well, that doesn't look good. Longer strides means running. Toward what? There's no sign that there's something the creature would be running from so that could be dangerous for someone.

Gladio curses, summoning his sword to hand, before moving forward carefully.

"Hopefully no one's going to get jumped by this."

[tyrants_son]

Things are much too still, but then it being winter does not help for the quiet. Gladio's rush seems unnecessary as he soon comes upon the lakeside and nothing to show for. The tracks end abruptly at the slushy shore. But a closer look would reveal that the ice nearby is cracked, fragmented like it's freshly begun to freeze over.

[ziedrich_bearer]

Huh.

"Nothing I can do to save the thing if it fell in. Not if it's starting to freeze again. Damn. Poor thing."

He supposed he should head back then.

[tyrants_son]

There's a sharp snap of unsettled ice, but even that offers no clear warning for the large blue paw that crashes through the thin ice from below the surface. Thin shards of ice erupt from the lake as the rest of the creature's body follows after it, surging up from the frigid waters, a gargling roar spilling from the unsettlingly toothy maw.

[ziedrich_bearer]

"Oh," he said as the creature appeared. That wasn't what he had expected. At least he had his sword in hand.

"Well fuck," he said, backing slowly toward the shore. This is a bad place to be in a fight.

[tyrants_son]

The creature is a sizable one, as long as Gladio is tall. Its blue hide looks both leathery and scaley, riddled with old scars. One of the tentacles on the back of its head seems to have been severed, and as the beast faces him he can see that something- or someone... had gouged out an eye.

The aquakat wastes no time in advancing as it sees fresh prey. Wandering through the cold and outside of water for so long has made it more than irritable and extremely hungry. With a growl, it lunges, saber-teeth bared.

[ziedrich_bearer]

Well fuck.

"Nope," Gladio says, putting the sword between him and the creature. "What the actual fuck are you?"

[tyrants_son]

The thing growls, twisting to evade the blade, its thick tail lashing as it continues to pivot, looking for a clearer shot at the man. Its claws dig into the snow and this time as it jumps, it swipes a paw.

[ziedrich_bearer]

Gladio lets the sword fall, flashing away, as he summoned a shield to catch and redirect the swipe.

"Bad kitty," he said, less than impressed. "I'm not dinner."

[tyrants_son]

It stumbles to the side but still manage to keep its footing as it turns, undaunted. If anything, the feline just seems more angry as it throws itself bodily at Gladio. If it can't hit him then it will just have to try tackling.