RP:Olyphont Check Up

Summary: The rangers return the desert with the hope that they might find their olyphont alive and well. This not close to what they discover.

Desert Oasis

Much like the last time, Meri sends a note to Khitti, Aira and Orikahn through Aira requesting that they meet out in the desert again. While Meri assumes that it will why will be obvious to Khitti and the vixen, she still briefly explains in this letter that it’s time they check on their olyphont bull. This time Meri does not want to meet at the village but at the oasis itself, where they already know their bull is prone to showing up. It was one of the few sources of water in the desert. Most creatures would not stray too far from it unless they had to. As Khitti and Aira were already familiar with the location of the oasis, Meri does not bother enclosing a map in the envelope with the letter. They are both capable rangers...and if they found themselves in need of the aid of a map. Well dangit, Meri already drew it once. Should have kept it for reference! The meeting point was not the only difference in the expedition. Last time requested they meet at sundown. This time she is asking they meet at sunrise.

When the party arrives at the oasis, they should not have a dreadfully hard time spotting Meri. The blonde is not trying to stick out like a sore thumb but she is also not going to extreme measures to hide herself. She has positioned herself between two large boulders and has managed to fasten a piece of fabric between the tops of the two rocks, which serves as a makeshift canopy and thus will give them some relief from the sun. Not only will today’s party find Meri beneath this simple set up, but they would also find several full skins of water. One could never be too prepared while in the desert and they could be waiting awhile in order to catch sight of their bull. The options were wait by a source of water to see if the olyphont appears, or traveling around the sandy deserts to try and track him. Who wants to trek around beneath the hot sun? Most everything looks to be as it should be. Though a few observations might be noticed. While the animal life is still present about the oasis, especially since the hour was still early and the sun was not yet too hot, there does not seem to be any signs of the olyphont that there were last time, like the large piles of poop. Did that mean anything? Perhaps simply that he has not done his business near the oasis recently. Yet there was also no signs that the beast met his end anywhere near the oasis, there is not a single olyphont bone in the area. The only other detail of note is that some distance up the way, off in the direction of the village they visited last time, is a wagon. From a distance it appears to be laying on it’s side and is covered in dust, likely it being in it’s current toppled over state is the result of a dust storm that was unsuccessfully avoided. As the party arrives, they are all greeted with, “Hey.”

Khitti was on quite a different Tikifhlee this time, as her own was indisposed back home, thanks to a short pregnancy and the subsequent birthing process that followed. Instead of her usual charcoal grey shadowcat, she rode on Brand’s sleek black one with piercing red eyes. It was… a little temperamental (much like the cat’s owner), as Khitti was not its usual rider, but it behaved well enough--if she could deal with her grumpy fiance, she could deal with his equally grumpy eight foot tall kitty. Much like before, Khitti had worn an outfit of white, though this one was made of cloth and not leather, and the redhead took care to cover her head and face, lest she get another sunburn like last time. While it might not have been a fighty-stabby mission, she still brought her weapons regardless, both sword and bow packed away in the cat’s saddlebags. She’d eventually arrive and greeted Meri with a wave, and would offer one to both Aira and Kahn when they too arrived, “Hi. Any sign of that big angry creature? And, I mean the olyphont, not Brand.” She offered her sister an incredibly innocent smile after that remark.

Aira doesn't bother to hide her yawn as her and Orikahn approach the makeshift canopy that Meri had the foresight to construct as a means to shield them from the blistering sun. The vixen isn't the most pleasant of people in the best of times, but given the heat of the area and the sunrise meeting time, she looks especially grumpy, her blonde hair rumpled and dark circles staining the flesh underneath her copper eyes. Like Khitti, she also arrives on the back of a cat...only her steed was the great prime hunter. Somewhere along the trek she had decided she was too tired to continue and she needed a piggyback ride (really she just didn't like walking in the sand). "Hey!" she calls out in greeting to Meri and Khitti, hopping from Kahn's back as if he didn't just carry her across the desert. "Good idea," she says pointing to the canopy above their heads. The vixen had made sure to fill Kahn in on the details of their last encounter with the beast (although, she notably left out the part where she threw herself at the creature and climbed up his trunk in order to throw a sedative in his mouth). Aira's face was looking extra freckly after their last trip to the oasis but she had somehow managed to avoid any sunburn. As the templar inquires as to the olyphont's presence, the huntress peers around the oasis, taking note of the lack of droppings and bones in the area. "Do we know if he's been causing trouble since the last time?"

Orikahn has taken Aira's advice and ditched his cold weather gear for something much lighter--a sheer flowing cloak, his trusty loincloth, and a hood that glimmers with a sheen of enchanted frost. He's especially grateful for the hood today, though you wouldn't guess it by looking at his face. "Hnf." Aira's not the heaviest of riders, but he suspects her claims of exhaustion have been somewhat exaggerated. Her spry hop down confirms this. Grumbling unintelligibly and rubbing his shoulders, he glances around at the others. Khitti's cat earns a sigh of sympathy. As one might expect, the nasty old hunter is armed to the teeth, or well, to the fangs: bow, arrows, tomahawk, knife, and of course his natural implements of destruction. "Khitti, Meri." It's all the greeting they'll get. His triune gaze sweeps the vacant horizon. There is an awful lot of desert here and no much to go with it. There is, however, an oasis. Kahn needs no invitation, and he approaches the water to stoop, sniff and (assuming it smells and tastes fit for consumption) drink his fill one eager handfull at a time. It's a fine time to wait an listen. After all, he's not the one with a plan.

While it is probably not advisable for the conversation to get too rambunctious in volume, there was plenty of time for the gathered rangers to catch up. Waiting was the name of the game this morning, and hopefully their olyphont was feeling thirsty and would show them that he had in fact managed to survive. Meri crouches at the very edge of the shade provided by the very rudimentary canopy that she’s managed to erect for them, the line already marked clear in the sand as the sun continues to rise. Meri presses her lips together as she fixes her gaze on the ridge they women first saw their olyphont charge over the first time they were here. There is no sign of their beastie though. Meri vocalizes this for Khitti’s benefit, and with a smirk. “Ah heck, I wish I’d of seen our friend already. That would be it. Mission over. Let’s get out of the hot sun. But naw, we’ve got to keep waiting for the time being.” Meri huffs out a sigh before letting her feet fall out from beneath her. Crouched she was no more. Her butt was planted firmly on the sand. For now, the sand has not managed to absorb the heat of the sun...but in time, Meri might rethink her decision to plant her bum in the sand. Meri can’t help but smirk at the sight of Aira and Orikahn. While she may have suffered the same trauma in Kelay Tavern thus should probably not poke fun, she is unable to resist. “Buttfaces.” The blonde adopts a more serious expression as she explains. “I honestly have not bothered going out to the village this time to ask questions. I was hoping that we could just start here and that if we got here early enough, we might see him filling up on his water ration for the morning.” Maybe she should have gone to the village first? Meri shrugs, not really sure if one way would have given them answers any faster than another. “I guess we could head up that way soon if we get tired of waiting? It’s not like we want to be out here in the heat -all- day.” Meri does not make a habit of keeping her eyes on her comrades, she is too busy scanning the horizon for signs of olyphonts. Orikahn gives them space, finding his way to the oasis so that he can partake in the water. Meri grimaces. “I’m not going to warn you about the oversized lizards that are probably pooping in that water...but I will warn you that we did witness our olyphont friend throw an outlaw into that water. He looked pretty dead before he even hit the surface…Extra nutrition I guess?” And they wait. And wait. And probably wait some more.

Khitti was thankful that Meri spelled things out for her, with regards to the olyphont’s whereabouts, as she no longer had the luxury of a keen sense of smell or hearing. Was it possible for a human to get her senses even half as good as a werewolf, a feline, and a vixen? For once, it was a subject Khitti wasn’t sure of, and she did her best to quell the little bit of jealousy that flared up whenever the subject was made known to her, even tangentially. “Of course. Our hunts can never be easy, even if there’s really no hunting involved.” Not having been privy to Pey’s antics a few days ago, Khitti can only blink at Meri’s seemingly random name-calling. Brand’s cat had been tempted to follow after Orikahn, but it resisted. The water was tempting, calling to the Tikifhlee, but alas, the sun was too much. Instead, it took solace behind the three women in the shade, even going so far as the tap into its shadowmelding ability, to further keep from overheating. “If there’s fish in there somehow, they might’ve picked away at him already, so it might be fine.” She shrugged at this, then started her own attempt at keeping an eye out for the bull, “But, as for the olyphont, it’s your call. You know more about this place than we do. If it wasn’t so damned hot, I’d suggest looking around for it; if there’s anymore of these boulders around if could be hiding from the sun like we are.”

Aira wrinkles her nose at Meri when she greets her and Kahn with that teasing name but in a moment of playfulness, she sticks her tongue out at the psion before planting herself on the sand as well, her back resting against the boulder. "Thanks for leaving me hanging from the ceiling, by the way," she adds teasingly, giving her fellow blonde a cheeky wink so she knows it's all in jest. As Meri issues her warning about the contents of the water within the oasis to Kahn, the vixen peers around the boulder to look upon her mate. In the end she merely shrugs and turns back towards the other women. "I think it's worth waiting here for a bit," she offers with a shrug. "To see if he's going to hydrate before the sun really climbs into the sky. But this is your hunt, so we'll follow your lead." The huntress, like the others, shifts her gaze towards the horizon, keeping an eye out for their beasty friend.

Orikahn is unruffled by Meri's cautioning. Smells fine. Tastes fine. Whether by fish or buzzards or lizards, the dead bandit hadn't managed to rob the oasis of its usefulness. Once quenched, Kahn wipes his maw, stands, and returns to his allies to find them... waiting in the shade. He nods slowly. Every predator knows the waiting game, from the lowliest spider on upward. Speaking of upward. "I'll play lookout," Kahn offers, and he hops onto the trunk of a palm tree, gripping the husk of weathered bark tight in his claws. The tree rustles, the bark cracks, and there's a tense moment where it looks like the cat might slip right off and land on his backside. The moment passes. In no time, Kahn is up the tree and sitting atop its precariously bent trunk. He peers silently out from the green fronds. Cozy up here. Oblivious to whatever indecent view his loincloth might be affording to those resting beneath him, the great cat hunkers beneath his hood and cloak and waits, watching, for any sign of disturbance amid the distant dunes. No Olyphant? Let’s check the village. Been destroyed.

Meri nods in agreement. If it wasn’t so dang hot out, looking around might be worth the effort. Alas, this was the desert...and some hunts were more exciting than others. Everyone seemed content to wait for the time being. Meri offers an apologetic smile to Aira, sort of, “Shoot. Sorry. My bad. See, I was thinking that you know...I’m not your girlfriend, so it’s not my job to catch you when you fall.” Meri is teasing, if push came to shove she’d not really abandoned Aira. Or Khitti. She is also now pointing at Orikahn, who is up a tree and providing the ladies with a view they probably do not want to see. Thankfully the former tattoo artist has seen much in her days. “I thought that was his job.” Orikahn, who is up the tree, will see nothing but a lot of frakkin’ sand and sand dunes and definitely no olyphonts. Or prints. Or poops.

Time passes and Meri grows impatient with the stake out. It’s not like it was the most exciting of endeavors any of them have ever been on. Combine that with the fact that, while at first the sun seemed as though it would be climbing high up into the sky, with the threat that it would beat down on the rangers all day...that threat has given way to another one. A rare desert storm rolls across the sky, darkening out the sun but offering very little reprieve from the heat. If anything, it feels worse. The heat stays and the humidity increases as the rain falls onto the hot sand. It was like a sauna. As is often the way with desert storms, the rain is falling hard and fast and it would not take much time before the run off accumulates in the oasis and the water level begins to rise. While they are in no immediate threat of danger, Meri issues an annoyed groan-growl combination. “Ugh. It’s frakkin’ raining. We’re probably not going to see him at all now.” The olyphont, like many of the animals of the desert, are not going to hang around the water when there is the potential for flooding. Their instincts serve them better than that. “Let’s go back up to that village that we were at last time. Maybe they’ll have some answers to the questions that we have.” This is one of those moments where Meri is not really expecting an answer, and she is already on her feet paving the way back toward the village. It’s not like it was a long trek. They made it in good time the last time they were out in the desert.

On their way toward the village, they would be forced to pass by that tipped wagon. The closer they get to it, the more apparent it becomes that perhaps it was not a sandstorm that caused the wagon to meet it’s untimely demise. Closer inspection reveals that the wagon looks like it has been hit by something rather big in the rear side of the wagon, resulting in a loss of control which caused it to flip onto its side. How strange. What could have done that. An olyphont perhaps? There is also a putrid smell that becomes obvious the closer they getl. See, whoever was driving the wagon has been pinned beneath it, but he’s hard to spot. Only a hand is visible, and only barely All the goods have been raided from inside, there is nothing. Not even a broken crate. The rangers should not dwell on this for long, for now that they have gotten close enough to ascertain these details of the busted wagon...it will probably also become obvious to them that the village in the distance does not appear to be in the best of shape either. The closer they get to the village, the more details of the damage done take form. It was never a large village, just a small desert community that really only managed to thrive because of it’s proximity to the oasis. Still, it was gone. All of their homes have been smashed. Their livestock has been stolen. Their gardens (small and with desert resilient plants obviously) have been burned. What exactly happened? Without survivors, they may never actually now. It was questionable if there was anyone left alive. Death was heavy in the area, but it would soon be washed away by the monsoon. “Hoooooly crap,” Meri exclaims and then releases a long whistle of astonishment. It’s this whistle that catches the attention of two villagers who are in fact not dead! They are just trapped beneath the debris of a collapsed adobe home. They barely to stay awake, let alone holler from help after the desert has already left them parched from thirst, but for those paying attention they might pick up on a tapping noise in the area. Hey come find us and save us you bum rangers. It should not be hard for them to pinpoint the noise. There are easily under twenty builds in this little desert village.

“Oi. We’re not gonna have to call the fire brigade to get Orikahn out of that tree, are we?” Khitti said this just loud enough for the Ranger’s Guild leader to hear her, but not so loudly that she might chase off that olyphont of theirs. The rain would start and she’d pout a little. This Khat actually like storms, but Meri was right. “Rangers in a storm… sounds like a song I heard when I was a kid. The guy called himself The Lizard King--nevermind the fact that there weren’t any lizards in the mountains I grew up in…” She was mostly muttering to herself at this point, but it soon tapered off into silence as they made their way to the village. The wreckage is surveyed and in an instant a ball of fire conjured itself up into Khitti’s right palm--she’d left her weapons with the Tikifhlee after all--on the off chance that maybe someone not-so-nice was still around. You never know; sometimes bad guys are idiots. “Son of a bitch,” is all she said before she went off to scout around a bit for someone evil to smite, going so far as to wander around the outside perimeter, opposite of where they’d entered the village, leaving the others with much better hearing to hopefully rescue those poor souls.

Aira doesn't bother to protest Kahn clambering up the nearby palm tree, and only looks his way when Meri gestures towards him. She rakes her hand over her face when she spies the view he is giving them and shakes her head. "It is his job," the huntress agrees with a smirk. "Although sometimes I think he questions his decision in that," she adds with a quiet chuckle which grows into a genuine laugh at Khitti's comment about the sabercat in the tree. The vixen, being unfamiliar with the desert, is naive in thinking that the storm means a reprieve from the heat. Unfortunately, she is very wrong in this assumption and the resultant humidity is more oppressive than the dry heat they had been dealing with. The longer locks of Aira's hair begin to volumize and in a moment of frustration, she ties it in a messy knot atop her head. As Meri suggests they head towards the village, the huntress hops up on her feet, eager to get moving even if the air was thick and heavy which made breathing difficult. She tugs on the light cotton fabric of her shirt which sticks to her chest in an attempt to fan herself, but it's no use. Everything is just hot and damp and sticky--she would never complain about a Frostmaw blizzard again. As the group of rangers approach the overturned wagon, Aira can smell the putrid stench of death before they discover the body or rather, the hand. Her nose wrinkles and she soon covers it in an attempt to act as a barrier. The goods are long gone, though, and the vixen is eager to get away from the smell and into town where hopefully someone knows -something-. Although, this hope soon dwindles when she realizes that the wagon (and its driver) were not the only ones to suffer a destructive fate. "What the---" she mumbles to herself as she looks around at the (apparently) vacant village. Unsheathing a blade at her hip, Aira breaks away from the group to examine a few of the structures. She consciously doesn't hear the tapping at first, but her vulpine ears turn in the direction of the noise and her bushy tail gives a swish. She concentrates, and after a moment hears the noise once more. It's not loud, but it's enough to draw attention. Aira continues to stalk towards the fallen debris where the tapping becomes louder the closer she gets. "I think we have something--or someone--over here," she calls out to the others, sliding her blade back into it's sheath as her pace quickens to a jog.

Orikahn flinches as the first fat drops of rain smack his hood. He had expected the rain to be cold. It is not. "Hmm?" He looks skyward. The rain patters over his face. He wipes it off and sniffs his fingers. "What bad magic is this?" The cat scowls and, sensing that his fellow rangers are gathering themselves for departure, he too scurries down from the tree. "I'll deal with your fire brig aides," the cat flashes his fangs for show. He'd dealt with prisons and wardens before, and there's no *way* he'd be going willingly into a fire brig. That sounds terrible. Trusting there will be no further threats of detention, he accompanies them toward the village. The wagon (and its corpse) earn a few fascinated moments; Kahn even goes so far as to poke and twiddle at the dead hand's fingers. How long has this body been here? Is it fresh enough to eat? (Certainly not. Pity.) Curiosity unsatisfied, he moves along. As for the village? "What's this?" Kahn asks aloud the moment he realizes the place has been wrecked. Unprompted, he hurries from building to ruined building. "Someone," Aira's shouts soon have him hurrying over, "alive?" The cat's ears stand aright, and he leans in sniffing at the poor trapped survivors. "Barely alive," Kahn callously observes as he tries to get a good look at their faces. Somehow, hunts always seem to have their own way of turning out. They went hunting for an oliphant, and instead, they've got a couple desiccated villagers. Perhaps they'll be of some use? Carefully, the furry brute puts his muscles to work and begins removing rubble. "They might make good jerky."

Khitti would not find any evil to smite, for they have already long left this area. This attack was not recent, in the sense that it has not occurred while the rangers were in the area. Yet it has not been long enough for the two trapped survivors to die of dehydration. That is not to say that her search would be in vain. She is currently competing with the rain that is threatening to wipe out any remaining evidence that the wind has not already deteriorated...but if she looks closely enough she will see signs that whomever attacked the village left by exiting through the opposite side of the village, the side that she is still on. She’d be able to ascertain this by the way the debris has fallen, drag marks, foot prints. They might even come in this direction as well, for the rangers did not see these signs down at the oasis. And oh wouldn’t you know, keep looking south from where Khitti is at? Olyphont poop.

Meri does not stress too much about what Khitti might be up to, the red head was more than capable of taking care of herself. Meri is quick to move to Aira’s location, who seems to have manage to narrow down where the tapping noise was coming from. And then there was Orikahn and his response to this has Meri feeling perplexed. The more civilized side of the woman is appalled that he is talking about eating these people that they have just found. As far as they knew, these souls did nothing wrong. There was another side to Meri, one she was still working on coming to terms with, and it was saying that...jerky sounded pretty tasty right about now. Meri’s stomach growls despite herself, a detail she finds to be unnerving. All of this nonsense is ignored though. The psion might have more magical means of clearing the debris, but she did not have clear sight on how these people were trapped...She could accidentally pull out the wrong jenga piece with her mental mind powers. It was safer if she just labored away with Aira and Kahn the old fashioned way. It would not take too long before the survivors were free. The first survivor to be pulled out of the abode is a teenage girl, immediately following her is a young boy. They’re brother and sister, not mother and son. The teenager was far too young. And she was an orphan now. Poor kids heard that jerky comment too, so they are looking more terrified now than they were to start. Maybe they did not really want this help? Maybe they were better off dead? The boy looks like he wants to cry, except his throat is too dry. Water is given first to the younger child and then to the teenager, and now that their thirst has been quenched, they can finally speak. And do you know what that little boy has to say? “Please don’t make me jerky.”

Meri gives Orikahn a look and then the Vixen. “No one is going to be eating you,” Meri declares, despite her own growling stomach. “Khitti!” Meri demands of her sister, like only a sister can. Once the redhead as rejoined the party, Meri asks of the survivors. “Khitti here is going to get you out of the desert and back to safety. But before we have her take you away, can you tell us what happened?” It’s the teenage girl that speaks now, in short and broken sentences...because, you know..she was kind of in a bad state. Giving answers was not appealing at all right now. “The outlaws came. On an olyphont. And they did this…” The girl makes a half-motion toward the destroyed village, as if they needed clarification to what ‘this’ was. Given the heavy rains, this was probably not the best time to go try and track down said outlaws to put them in their place.

At one point, Khitti probably would’ve related somewhat to Orikahn and Meri right now, what with all the blood-drinking she had to do way back when. Sometimes, her brain even told her “Hey! You need to feed!”. It didn’t mean blood though. It meant real food. Look, being an predator, even for a few years, does wonders to a person brain. Meri’s already finding this out! It’s for the better that she doesn’t hear any of this from the cat and the wolf, because no one’s really sure right now how Khitti would react to it--not even her narrator. She did see the olyphont droppings as well as the tracks left by the outlaws and was just about to inspect further when… Meri called for her. Damn it. She was itching to fight now, but it seemed like it would definitely not be today. Soon though, you bastards. Soon. Rejoining the group, the redhead frowned at the two obviously terrified children, looking from each of them to her sister as she questioned them. When the girl had finished, Khitti nodded, agreeing with the girl’s statement, “She’s right. They left through the other side of the village and they definitely had the animal with them.” She sighed, looking around just to make sure they’d not missed anything--though if Meri, Aira, and Kahn had missed something, then those people definitely were doomed. “Right. If you think we’re done here, I’ll take them to Cenril. Get some food in them at the bakery and let them sleep upstairs in the apartment. Brand’s gone to Chartsend for a few days, so it’s all clear up there. I’ll figure out a safe place to take them tomorrow. I’d take them to the orphanage in Gualon, but last I heard, there was an illness going around there.” Khitti shook her head at length, then eyed the two kids with a faint smile, “Hey, you two. Let’s go get something to eat. Have you two ever had carrot cake before?” If the rangers were well and truly done, then she’d take the kids to the Tikifhlee, get them situated on the cat, and then head off.

Aira may be part fox now, but her means of shifting and being an animal are more complicated than a standard shifter. There was no bite that made her so, but rather a chaotic magic that flowed through her body. While she has become more feral since spending time with Orikahn (and even further so after becoming his mate) she has not ventured into eating human flesh. At the sabercat's comment about turning the survivors into jerky she makes a sharp "tsk'ing" noise at him and narrows her gaze for a brief moment before setting to work and beginning to hoist the debris off of the people below. The work is made even more awful with the heat and humidity and the vixen grunts with the exertion. When the survivors appear to be young, Aira gives Kahn another exasperated glare before turning her attention to the younger ones who are gulping at their water. "Don't go too fast, no matter how tempting," she warns. "You don't want to get sick." And lose the little hydration they were just replenishing. When Meri assures the young boy that no one will be eating him, the vixen nods in in agreement. "The grumpy old cat was just teasing," she says with a small smile, hoping they believe her. As the teenage girl confesses as to the demise of their village and the men (and beast) behind the antics, Aira's typical scowl returns. She retreats to Orikhan's side as Khitti collects the brother and sister, and murmurs out of the corner of her mouth, "you can make outlaw jerky instead."

Orikahn absolutely wasn't teasing about the jerky, but he can tell when he's on the losing side of an argument. He who bites and runs away lives to bite another day? Something like that, though he hadn't gotten to bite anyone today. So he freed a couple of human kits, and for what? Well, this rain wasn't doing anyone any favors anyway; it would have been long work making a decent fire out here. "So there *is* an olyphont?" Kahn double checks, just to be sure, and yes, sure enough, he spots their number one clue, namely a big number two. "So we uh, fall back and regroup?" Kahn's fur is laying flatter and flatter as the rain soaks through him and gives his whole body a bedraggled, droopy look. He'd never admit he's miserable, not on a hunt, not out loud, but he's definitely NOT looking his best.

Meri bobs her head in a nod to answer Kahn's question. She points to the earth that they presently stand upon while declaring, "We'll meet back here. I'll send word." In the mean time, Khitti would have her hands full with attempting to place those children. Especially if the orphanage in Gualon was having issues. "Annnd break." Except no one is doing any sporting Meri, good job. The point is made though. Her back is turned to her comrades after a salute is given. They'd hunt again another day and next on the agenda to hunt was one of Orikahn's favorites: peoples.