soulping | (no subject)

[The wolves are immediately shocked by the sudden appearance, enough that they don't attack immediately.

Then they snarl, realize something else is trying to make off with their dinner and attack slightly-after-immediately, clawing and snapping at the shield Armin and the cub are still behind with renewed fervor.]

[ Okay, good. Okay he's got the cub, the shield's holding around the both of them for now, it's time for Aoko to play her part. She dives out of cover, cups her a hand around her mouth, and yells ]

HEY! [ Never say that a DCMK can't be as loud as fuck when they want to be. Also, that they cannot throw a rock. Sorry wolf your butt is probably going to sting from that. ] OVER HERE!

[One of the wolves looks towards the noise just in time to get beaned in the nose.

It growls. It does not look happy with that. It also has a lot of teeth, which Aoko is now getting a decent view of.

The wolf runs at Aoko. The rest also decide they'd rather attack the unshielded target and follow after her.]

[Yes good follow the distraction!!

With the cub in his arms, Armin teleports himself over to the shrubs at the den entrance, away from the shield but also out of sight.]

Ehehe … heh …

[ Aoko grins nervously, because oh god, oh god. ]

[ (oh god they're going to eat me) ]

[ And then she whips around to fire the grappling hook for the tallest, thickest tree in the area. By the time she slams her thumb into the trigger to start reeling herself in and up, she's already running. ]

[The cub weakly whines and fidgets in Armin's grip. It's trying to get away, but it's not really strong enough to break out of his grip. It seems to be trying to move towards the den.

The wolves, meanwhile, once Aoko runs away and up into the trees, have as much of a collective what-the-fuck-are-you-serious-I-just-wanna-eat-can-we-stop-this-looney-toons-batman-shit look as a bunch of wolves can have.

A couple snap at her and a couple try to run up the trees. Most are just circling around. A couple glance back in Armin and the cub's direction, but don't go back.]

I'm... going to assume that's your home.

[He peers into the den just to make sure it's safe. And hopes that there's not an angry mother bear waiting for him.]

[ Why is every ravenous carnivore that I get chased by a mood ring. Why. First the raptors who judged Kaito for being too much of a dumb weenie to confess, now this! ]

Hey! HEY! Eyes up here!

[ Aoko awkwardly drags herself more securely onto her perch, and takes a moment to BEAN SOME WOLVES IN THE HEAD with cookies when they look towards Armin. ]

Pay attention to Aoko!

[The wolves resent being beaned with the cookies. One tries eating one. It spits it back out. Terrible. Terrible cookies.

A few stay and keep growling and snapping at Aoko. The rest are going back towards the cub and Armin.

The den is certainly safer than staying where he is, as the den doesn't immediately seem to contain any angry carnivores that are now making their way back towards him.]

[As much as he hates leaving Aoko alone to deal with the wolves, he doesn't want to leave the cub alone either until he knows it's safe. That would kind of defeat the point of this whole trip. So he'll just head further inside for now.]

[ Thank goodness she's too high for those wolves to set teeth in her! ]

[ … ]

[ Nevermind. ]

[ She needs to buy more time. She can't buy time effectively while stuck in a tree. Ergo, it's time to do a thing. With a fistpump to FORTIFY!1 her nerves, she pulls herself to her feet on the branch, re-arms the grappling gun, and … and … ]

I said ...

[ IT'S TIME TO SPIDER-TARZAN. ]

[ Which is to say that after a hurried, half-panicked moment to visualize the angles, Aoko fires the grappling hook again. This time her aim is to swing around and KICK a wolf (or two) as she zips by, re-capturing their attention and drawing them further away from Armin at the same time. ]

... PAY ATTENTIOOOOONNNNNNN!

[Aoko kicks one of the wolves right in the face. It captures their attention again. One snaps at her with pretty impressive speed as she swings by, almost catching her, but only ripping at her uniform a bit as she swings away. They give chase.

Armin enters the den -- the path ahead of him forks to the left and right. Immediately ahead is a dead end.]

[Oh crap decisions.

He looks down to the bear cub in his arms. Does it look particularly interested in either direction?]

[It doesn't. It just looks around, though it seems a little calmer being in here despite its small whine.]

[THANKS FOR NOTHING, BEAR!

Let's go left then.]

[You sure you want to head deeper into the den by yourself? Aoko's grappling hook could come in handy in here...]

[Far be it from Armin to argue with helpful tips from the narration! He sets the cub down gently and heads back outside.

It's a good thing the wolves all went after Aoko or there would be a nasty surprise waiting for him. As it is, he takes a few steps in the direction she went, wondering if it would be wiser to see if she needs help or just wait here.]

Edited 2016-04-01 17:33 (UTC)

[ As if on cue ]

[ WHUP. HERE’S AOKO, TELEPORTING IN. Her skirt is slightly torn, her hair is filled with leaves and twigs, and she’s thoroughly out of breath. ]

A-Ah, hey ...

Are you okay? Are the wolves still after you?

Well, they’re … [ huff, puff, don’t mind Aoko while she braces her hands against her knees, panting for breath. ] They’re all paralysed right now, a while back that way. I don’t know how long it’s going to hold — paralysis magic isn’t Aoko’s strong suit. But if they rely on smell to hunt then they’re gonna have a problem.

That's good to hear.

[He gives her a quick smile before gesturing to the entrance.]

I think we should see what's in there. It goes deeper than it looks.

A deep, mysterious cave in the forest, huh ...

[ Runs a hand through her hair, shedding leaves and twigs. ]

All right! I've got your back.

Re: THE FOREST

endsintheocean - 2016-04-03 16:33 (UTC) - Expand

Re: THE FOREST

justichthys - 2016-04-03 16:41 (UTC) - Expand

Re: THE FOREST

endsintheocean - 2016-04-03 16:43 (UTC) - Expand

Re: THE FOREST

justichthys - 2016-04-03 17:53 (UTC) - Expand

Re: THE FOREST

endsintheocean - 2016-04-03 17:58 (UTC) - Expand

[Now that they're both together, they can head back in where their little polar bear is still waiting and whining sadly.]

[ She can’t believe that worked. ]

[ Aoko continues to flee, pausing only to free her grappling hook and take off again. She dips close enough to the ground that she remains an attractive target — and she can only hope, hope that one of them won’t be lucky enough to sink its teeth into her. ]

Th-that’s right! Keep following me!

[ She dares to split her concentration slightly, shifting her pendant power from shield to paralysis. The moment she feels the change catch, she casts on one of the wolves. She’ll do the same for all of them, if she can. ]

[Success! She manages to paralyze the wolves.

At least for the time being...

She has more than enough time to catch up to Armin now, at least.]