Furrae Chronicles: Webs of Destiny (IC) [M] {2}

[Tapewolf]

"Perhaps I'm being paranoid," Jakob began, "but I can't help feeling a little twitchy about the fact that they have instructed us all to go to sleep.  I can't think of a better way to round up the entire party by stealth."

"Anyway, I guess we'd better decide what we're going to do.  We can probably find rooms in the inn if the plan is to stick together.  Otherwise, we can go our separate ways and regroup in the morning - here is as good a place as any."

[Gareeku]

Gareeku smiled as heard Gabi's, Xzeliea's and Anzimani's word, comforting him greatly.
"Thank you all," Gareeku said with greatitude, "this will very likely be dangerous, so it is understandable if any of you are not willing to embark on this journey."
Looking at Jakob upon hearing his words, Gareeku frowned. "You seem to be forgetting that cubi don't have to sleep. If you really feel that way, then don't sleep, it's up to you. You could be on guard duty, if you like." the wolf said flatly to his old friend, before ordering another ale.

[Tapewolf]

"I think the letter-writer is correct.. I should try to get some sleep." Jakob  decided.  "You know how sleeping on a problem can sometimes give you the answer to it?  Well, that still works for me, even though I no longer dream very much.  Perhaps it might give me some insight into what we've just seen," he said, gesturing at the map.  And there's always the slim chance of a dream anyway.. he added, mentally.

"Anyway, I don't know about you, but I'm going home.  I'll check back here around seven if that isn't going to be a problem." 

Bidding the others goodnight, he went back into a cubicle in the gents and had soon teleported himself back to SAIA, where he began to rifle through a collection of tapes until he found one labelled 'Deep Purple - 03/04/1970' - one of the work tapes he'd managed to steal from a skip in London.  Putting it on, he lay down on his bed and tried to relax.

If you've been bad... Oh Lord, I bet you have...
'Damn right,' thought Jakob.  'Although I've tried my best to make amends..'
And you've not been hit by flying lead
You'd better close your eyes and bow your head
And wait for the ricochet..

'This is the best bit,' thought Jakob to himself, lying blissfully on his bed with his eyes closed, as Ian Gillan began to howl manically.
Human music was all very well, but it tended to be rather lacking in treble which made it somewhat fatiguing for canids to listen to for extended periods.  The faint hiss caused by the tape recording helped make up for it to some degree, and Jakob was proud to have invented treble resynthesis many years before the humans at Aphex had accidentally built their first Aural Exciter by assembling a valve amplifier incorrectly.

Of course those tricks were merely crutches - it was always best to have the treble in the recording from the start, and the vocal range of this human was quite something to behold.

When Jakob awoke, he was mildly disappointed to find that he hadn't dreamt.  However, there were a number of memories sticking prominently in his mind - as he had hoped, his subconscious mind had been sifting through things while he was out.
There were two main things.. a feral cat stuck in a tree which he had rescued some years ago, and Paladin's bike in the car park of the Smoking Dragon.  In addition, he found himself whistling Child In Time again.  "Wait for the ricochet.."

Jakob was convinced that his subsconscious was trying to tell him something important, but he couldn't understand what it was.  It was to do with something he'd sensed with his mind while he was in the car park, something out of place.

Well, whatever it was, it must be long gone by now, he thought.  Mentally shrugging his shoulders, Jakob looked at his watch, and seeing that it was getting on for seven, teleported back to the Smoking Dragon.

[Gabi]

Gabi went to sleep as well. Unlike the cubi, she did need it, and it wouldn't be wise to start a journey unrested. She knew that consciously, but she had trouble convincing her body to switch off for the night. She had too much on her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about the letters. She tried to figure out what the sender had been thinking ... what meaning was hidden in them. But she knew too little to reach any reliable conclussions, and that worried her to no end. The fact that Paladin had been there but hadn't made his presence known added to her confusion, and the cocktail of smells from the tavern still lingered in her nose. A few were familiar, and a few seemed out of place, but there were so many that she couldn't make them out. She tried to stop thinking, but failed. Then she tried thinking about the dreams she'd had the previous night... now it seemed like a long time had passed since then. She eventually managed to doze off, but the changing letters still haunted her dreams, along with the enemies she had faced with the others two years earlier and, for some odd reason, explosions and fires. In the end, blissfully, things calmed down and she dreamed of her brother, but then she woke up missing him. It had been a long time since she'd last had news of him; she wished he were with her. Well, at least he hadn't been kidnapped, as far as she knew, but she could sympathize with Gareeku. She didn't want to think of what she would feel like if William's name had been in the letter she got.

[Nikki]

Xzeliea Yawns and stands up a little shakily "Well, i do belive i better go get some sleep..." she says before starting to walk off. "i'll see  ye later.." she says before tumbling to the floor, half-asleep

[Suwako]

Alexd just noddded and walked outside. He climbed into a big old tree and layed down withing it. I already slept today but who cares, Aslong as that 'darn dumb dude' isn't going to think that I'm going to sleep in that overexpensive Inn. A few minutes later Alex had fallen asleep. He didn't dream. At the first rays of sun he woke up but stayed up in the tree resting a little longer. 3AM in the morning, I don't think the others are up yet. He watched people walk about in the road bellow him. Nobody till now had noticed him. In the good old days I would have thrown rocks at them, But I'm grown up now. Things th at once amused me do not anymore.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Watching the group disperse to rooms and Jakob to the mens room, Pal thought about his next move. Reaching a decision Pal asked the innkeeper for a room. Walking back to Blaze, Pal thought of something else. "Blaze I just got a room here but I thought I might drop in on RJ while this lot are sleeping, would you mind keeping an eye out for me?"

Dropping one of the room keys into Blaze's hand Paladin heads to the room, once there he calls Rex again and they warp to SAIA. Pal spent the next eight hours catching up with Raine telling her of his latest adventures, and her responding with the latest SAIA gossip.

When his time was up he parted RJ with a hug and warped back to the Smoking Dragon and headed back to the common room to see if the innkeeper was serving breakfast.

[RJ]

Blaze blinked as the key dropped into his hand. "Yeah, sure. I don't mind. Say hi to RJ for me then if you want."

He watched as the other cubi warped away. Blaze juggled the key in his hand as he headed for his room. He glanced around, using his senses to pin-point many of the others Pal had pointed out to him before.

"Interesting situation," he mumbled to himself as he sat down in a chair in the room. He picked up a newspaper that had been placed in the room beforehand and gazed through it. "I'm going to have to keep an eye on this whole thing. It's too curious not to leave alone. Heh."

The orange squirrel put his feet up on the nearby table, settling the newspaper in his lap as he continued to read. He twirled the key around one of his fingers, the key turning a bright red as Blaze subconsciously heated it up. Soon the sun, glowing red like that key, would rise to signal the new morning.

[Supercheese]

Chris went gratefully to bed. The fatigue that comes from being pursued combined with the alcohol and the unexpected situation he now found himself in was enough to make him exhausted. Though the room and bed that was give to him weren't exactly top notch, the panther fell asleep almost immediately after lying down on the lumpy mattress. His dreams were never pleasant, and tonight was no exception...

His parents were dead. His sister was dead. Everybody he knew was dead. He was about to die. Or... maybe not die, but something worse.

He was on his knees, surrounded by darkness that weighed on him like he was underwater. He cried out in anguish as he felt sinister forces working around inside him, tearing through his bones, muscles and arteries. He tried to combat the forces with his own limited magical powers, but his resistance was brushed aside easily. The panther's eyes glossed over as the unseen forces reached their target inside his body. He realized what was happening; it was now too late to fight it.

He was unable to scream as his soul was forcibly removed from his body.

-----

Chris awoke, bolting upright in the bed. Although this one was worse than normal, he was used to nightmares and had trained himself to refrain from screaming in his sleep.

He glanced at his PDA on the small table beside his bed. *Now's a good a time as any to wake up...* He thought as he got out of bed. *One helluva dream...* He yawned and stretched in the traditional feline fashion, which was made difficult by the confines of the room.

*It probably means nothing. I have no idea what I'm getting myself into, but it certainly can't be that bad.* Chris splashed water on his face and gave his fur a perfunctory cleaning.

Walking over to his backpack, he carefully extracted the crystal he stole. *I wonder if I'll have to use you... or if I'll even figure out what you do.* He shrugged and replaced it in his pack, along with his other possessions. He headed back to the common room, hoping there would be something to do. Running, hiding, and waiting had grown old rapidly and he ached for action, as youth are prone to. Perhaps he would see some in the immediate future...

[Hilary]

   Anzimani picked up her empty glass and walked back to the bar. Handing a coin to the barman, she asked, "I'd like to take last night's room again, if it's not a problem?" The barman nodded and pocketed the coin with a smile.
  She climbed the stairs and walked down the hallway to her room. Opening the door, she tossed her bag onto the newly made bed. She closed the door, laid down the belt that held her weaponry, then undressed. After washing her face, she pulled on dark green pants and a long shirt of a lighter green. The shirt had a pattern embroidered on the hem in thin gold thread, and both were of a soft, comfortable material. Pushing her pack to the floor, she slipped into bed.
  At first she had trouble sleeping, but then she slowly slipped into unconciousness. She dreamt strange, disconnected dreams about whirling desert sands and old, long dead demons. As time passed, she dreamt more coherently, and smiled in her sleep as her young friend Vitara walked into her dreamworld. The fiesty silver-haired youngster always made her feel better when she was upset or stressed, as much as Tara's strange powers might irk others. Not a youngster anymore, her dreamy head thought. She'll have grown while I've been gone.
  She dreamed pleasantly about hunting for rabbits with her friend for a time, but eventually felt the pull back to conciousness and the real world.
  Opening her eyes blearily, she tried to sit up, but was thwarted by the sheets that had gotten tangled around her as she slept. She freed herself and, yawning, checked the old Bonheur pocket watch she carried in her bag. A small part of her wanted to sell the stupid thing and buy a new, more modern timekeeper, but why replace it if it still worked just fine?
  Seeing that it was almost seven o'clock, she jumped to her feet and dressed hurriedly. That was the time that the wolf, what had he said his name was? Jakob, that was it, had said he would return to the inn. She assumed the others would do the same. She pulled on her black pants from the day before and a long black shirt with gold embroidery on the hems, not unlike her nightshirt. She pulled her hair back with a thin black ribbon and slipped her feet into her boots. Slinging the pack onto her back, she left the room to pad down the stairs to the main room, muttering about getting an alarm clock.

[Arcalane]

Another evening, another night, another morning. And a day later, no less.

Arc had, over night, been power-napping up in his tree, finally falling to sleep around 11pm and waking up at around 5am. He was starting to wish he'd brought his old rifle with him. Aforementioned rifle was a custom-built piece of work, "acquired" for him by an... "associate" as a reward for a particularly difficult job. It could have been described as "master-crafted", and it could well have been. Whilst it may have been a single-shot, bolt-action rifle, it only needed one shot.

But enough about the rifle - Arc was awake, and that was what mattered. Pulling his senses together, he clambered down from the tree and did a little recon of the outside of the inn. Whilst he wasn't exactly inconspicuous, he didn't need to be, it was an unearthly time in the morning, and he was moving quietly enough as it was...

[Gareeku]

As everyone went their separate ways, either to bed, home or otherwise, Gareeku remained at the bar and continued to drink ale.
"Don't you think you've had enough, Gareeku?" the bartender asked, a conerned expression on his face as he cleaned up the bar, preparing to close for the night.
"Its helps me sleep...I need to sleep, Nathan..." Gareeku replied to the bartender, before taking another swig of his ale.
"Whatever you say, my friend. I'm closing the bar now and heading to bed. I trust you to finish your ale and go to bed yourself." Nathan said before disappearing to his bedroom, trusting the wolf as he had known him for many years.

The next morning, Gareeku woke to find that he had fallend asleep at the bar, his empty ale glass next to his as he lifted his head from the bartop. Looking at the clock on the wall behind the bar, Gareeku found it was 7am. Feeling slightly groggy, the wolf decided to head outside for a breath of fresh air. Walking out in to the car park, Gareeku saw Paladin's bike for himself, smirking slightly as he laid his eyes on it. Unknown to him, however, was that he was not alone...

[Nikki]

Xzeliea opens her eyes to bright daylight. "Goddamnit shut the stupid thing off!!" she yells, standing up, quite grumpy. she heads outside only to fall down in the dirt. A colorful conversation with the ground ensues.

[Suwako]

Just before 7 AM Alex jumped out of the tree, Some people walking on the road where startled but most where just annoyed by the hindrance. Alex walked into the Tavern and sat down on one of the chairs.

[Arcalane]

The back of the building in the carpark seemed as good a place as any, although Arc wasn't quite expecting Gareeku to come outside to get a breath of fresh air. Still, he might know something, so Arc unholstered the Steyr M1-A and moved up behind Gareeku.

He kept the pistol in one hand and at arm's length, himself standing sideways, the end of the barrel not more than a centimeter from the back of the wolf's skull.

"I suggest you tell me everything you know about a Mr. Johan Cross... right now."

[Gareeku]

Many thoughts were racing through Gareeku's mind as he stodd outside in the fresh morning air. Who was this myterious stranger that was helping them? Where was the kidnapper? Even though they had received a map, it did not appear to show them where to go to find those kidnapped. Gareeku was about to head back inside when a voice suddenly spoke behind him.

"I suggest you tell me everything you know about a Mr. Johan Cross... right now."

Looking out of the corner of his eye, Gareeku saw the shadow of a figure to the side and behind him. Gareeku was no fool...he knew that anybody who made a threat such as that would be pointing some form of weapon, and the gun shape in the shadow on the floor proved this to be correct.
"You could have asked nicely, you know..." Gareeku replied calmly, a smirk on his face as he slowly turned around to face the stranger, purposefully turning around slowly as he knew that any sudden movements would mean that he would be dead. "...very well. Johan Cross was a figure who lived about a hundred years ago. He ruled over a number of cities, and was known for his mysteriousness, as no one, except his closest henchmen, saw his real face," Gareeku continued, "that is all I know."

[Arcalane]

Arc keeps the pistol - and his guard - up, watching Gareeku.

He smirks.

"You have no idea, do you? Funny how I saw him in this very carpark last night. He's still alive and kicking."

He glances over at the bike, then back at Gareeku.

"Besides, I don't do `nice`."

[Gareeku]

Hearing the feline speak, Gareeku laughed slightly.
"You saw him, did you? You saw Johan Cross, who always used to conceal his identity whenever he went outside his fortress, so no one would know his true identity?" Gareeku said, the smirk still on his face as he spoke. "Whatever. I don't know anything about Johan Cross other than his history. If he was in that tavern last night, then i wouldn't know, as i've never seen his face before."

[Tapewolf]

Jakob sat in the bar again with another glass of water, wondering where Gareeku was.  It was fairly early in the morning, so most of the patrons in the bar were Creatures who had been there all night.  Jakob found this somehow oppressive and decided to step out for a few moments.
As he approached the entrance, he noticed a tree.  By the look of it the leaves had been disturbed recently.  Suddenly the mental images from the morning made sense.  His eyes widened.  Sniper!
Impulsively, Jakob teleported back into the bar, causing a few grunts of displeasure from the patrons at this breach of protocol.
He sat down, pulse racing and tried to pinpoint the sniper's mind - it would be concealed of course.  But there was no-one in the tree any more.
Widening his search, he suddenly touched Gareeku's mind.  His 'cubi shielding was down and Jakob realised that he had done this in a desperate bid to let him know what was happening.
As an impromptu disguise, Jakob gave himself dalmatian fur and poked his head out of the doorway.  Looking stealthily outside he could see Gareeku and the feline gunman threatening him, and he could hear the gunman's voice in Gareeku's mind.

"You have no idea, do you? Funny how I saw him in this very carpark last night. He's still alive and kicking."

Will it never end? thought Jakob unhappily, and concentrated on Gareeku's mind.  Gareeku wasn't a full 'cubi so he didn't have the ability to read Jakob's mind in return.  Jakob concentrated hard and sent a mental impression to him.
"I'm going to distract the gunman.  Get ready to run.  Use Li, or whatever.  Just get out of there when his head goes.  I won't be able to hold it for long."

One of Jakob's party tricks was an invisibility spell.  It worked by tunnelling light across an object, rendering it completely invisible.  The big problem was that anyone inside the invisibility field was completely blind since the light would skip past their eyes.

Go, my friend! thought Jakob, and projected a two foot sphere of invisibility around the feline's head, which from Jakob and Gareeku's viewpoint disappeared along with a large chunk of his chest.  From the feline's viewpoint, everything suddenly went completely black.

[Arcalane]

The lack of vision did very little to deter Arcalane, and rather served to make the situation worse. He sighed, shook his head, and aimed where he remembered Gareeku's upper-left arm to be, then pulled the trigger.

"First mistake."

Of course, whether or not he hit was another question entirely.

[Gareeku]

Seeing the stranger's head disappear, Gareeku took the distance to turn and run as fast as he could back to the inn. He would have warped, were it not for the fact that Li was still in the inn and the likelihood that the stranger would have fired the gun as soon as the warp-aci would appear. Gareeku was almost through the door, when a searing pain suddenly racing through his arm from his elbow. Getting through the door and slamming it shut, the wolf looked down to find his arm covered in blood, staining his gloves a darker shade of crimson in the process. Trying to move his arm, Gareeku was only met with the pain increasing greatly. It seemed the bone in his elbow had shattered from the impact of the bullet.
"Shit!" Gareeku cursed, clutching his arm as a grimace appeared on his face.

[Tapewolf]

"ASSASSIN!" Jakob shrieked at the barman and patrons the moment Gareeku got inside, and began to barricade the door with chairs and tables.  He'd already planned this last night in case of emergency.  Looks like my paranoia was justified, he thought.  Damn!  I hate it when I'm right.
It wasn't until he'd reverted to his usual wolf colouring and ensured that some of the patrons were standing guard, that he noticed Gareeku's injury and slumped clean away.

[Hilary]

Anzimani was halfway down the inn's stairs when she heard Jakob shout. Her eyes widened and she took the remaining stairs three at a time, nearly losing her balance near the bottom step. She had to unfurl her wings and flap them once to keep from landing face-first on the floor. Murmuring an apology to a patron she'd nearly hit, she dropped low and moved slowly toward the window nearest the door. She'd had plenty of experience with assassins-- she'd gone on vacation with a runaway royal family once, and it was not an experience she wanted to repeat.
Lifting her hands to the glass, she moved fingertips that sparkled with purple fire from top to bottom in a square, following the edges of the window. Anyone who tried to pass through the transparent web of electricity would be stunned within five seconds. Ducking around the barricade of furniture around the door, she moved to the other window and began to seal it in the same fashion.

[Suwako]

While all this happened Alex looked at the empty glass of beer in front of him. "Assassin, With a gun?" He muttered While looking at Gareeku. "He wasn't there to kill you?" He said with a slight smirk. He got up and grabbed a few bandages from a small bag. He Looked at Gareeku's arm  "Let me see the wound, I might be able to put some bandage around it. But It'll be smart to wash the wound first, Infections."

[Nikki]

Xzeliea stands up and walks back inside, smelling the blood. she leans against the doorway, growling. "Prehaps that is the one who sent the lettes..." she snarls, just loud enough for a passerby to hear. "this could be a trap, mate...an' i 'ave no idea how to avoid this sort 'o thing..." she sighs, slumping down.

an' i dunno if i even know how to defend even myself anymore... she says to herself.

[Arcalane]

. o O ( The term is `mercenary`, not `assassin`. Get it right. )

Once his vision returns, Arc blinks and shakes his head a bit. He reholsters the M1-A, and looks around a bit.

. o O ( Perfect. )

He had no doubt they'd be securing the downstairs, but what about the upstairs...?

He scrambled up a tree near the inn, and looked for an appropriate opening. A window would be all he needed to get inside. And there was one just across from him. He made sure all his equipment was secure, then judged the distance. The tree seemed sturdy enough, and the window fragile enough. A convienently placed branch allowed him to swing back and forth to gather momentum, then all he had to do was let go, shield his eyes with one arm and 'fly' through the window... with the sound of smashing glass and splintering wood from the frame.

A few nicks from the glass, but nothing major, he noted. Arc stood up and dusted himself off, then took the XM-8 from his back and brought it up to his shoulder, covering the stairs as he moved towards them, one step at a time.

[Paladin Sheppard]

As Jakob slumped to the ground, Pal shed his fox persona, the now huge armored cubi oozing menace.

Moving to Gareeku's side he checked on his wound, seeing that it painful but not fatal Pal stretched his mind out searching for the attacker. With all the confusion and stress levels of the early morning crowd he couldn't find anything, giving up he heard the breaking of glass up stairs.

Drawing his shortswords he leapt at the top flight, using his wing-tentacles to haul himself the rest of the way. As he landed, he felt a burst from the feline's assault rifle slam into his chestplate staggering him slightly. Snarling he aimed a tentacle at the rifle to wrench it up and to the side. Thrusting his swords towards ether side of the feline's windpipe, he growled out: "Surrender or I tear you apart!"

[RJ]

Blaze heard screams tear through the air outside his room. He placed his newspaper down and exited cautiously. He heard someone yell 'Assassin' from the front bar.

The squirrel frowned and sprinted towards the front- there was complete chaos around him.  He saw Pal check on the wolf he had pointed out last night and shed his illusion as the shattering of glass upstairs gained his attention. Blaze gave a shout to Pal, but too late as the wolf incubus raced upstairs ready for battle.

"Damn it," Blaze muttered, taking the stairs as well. He nearly tripped over as he bumped into Pal, holding his swords at an unknown feline's neck.

Blaze's brow furrowed as the wolf issued a warning. They furrowed even deeper at the guns the feline was carrying. He gulped silently before regaining his stance.

"You better listen to him," Blaze said to the feline. "Or else you might just have me to take on as well..." He held up his hands, holding twin fireballs in them. He glanced at Pal. "You okay? Who is this guy?" he whispered quietly to him.

[Gareeku]

Having cleaned the wound as much as he could, Gareeku let Alex wrap the bandages around his elbow. Hearing Alex speak, Gareeku smirked.
"I don't think he was, though he certainly left his mark," Gareeku replied, "what I wouldn't give for a healer."
Noticing Jakob faint, Gareeku rolled his eyes, before picking up the now unconscious wolf incubus with his free arm, setting his friend on a chair, with his head rested on a table. Paladin and Blaze were not the only ones who had heard the mercenary break in. Racing up the stairs, Gareeku's eyes widened as he saw the two of them try to take him on.
"Get back! His rifle will easily take you down in a place like this!" Gareeku shouted out, slightly frustrated that the two of them had not realised that fighting in a place such as a hallway only meant that there was less room to move about, and that it also meant that the mercenary could easily take the two of them down.

[Suwako]

"Young minds make them reckless, as age makes people stubborn. " Alex sights "In the good old days, without guns..."  Alex shakes his head. "Now I want I gun myself." He Walked over to the stairs and looked up but didn't See anything. "No way I'm going up there, If they haven't overpowered him already they'll probably to dead anyways. We should prepare ourselves." He looked at the barricaded door. "No use keeping our only escape route blocked. Let's get rid of that shall we?" he walked over to the barricade and moved some stuff at of the way. Not to much however and he soon returned to his position beneath the stairs. "Gareeku, If this guy's only after you I want you to know that when he comes down I won't stop or delay  him at the cost of my own life. Whats the use of two people dying to try and save one?"