01 ✝ Checkmate

[kamikaze_kaito]

Who: Maron Kusakabe and OPEN
When: Spring 6
Where: The woods outside of town
What: Maron ran into some unhappy wood wolves
Rating: PG



What had started as a pleasant walk through the woods and another opportunity to find the way to return home had now become something more dangerous. Maron ran through the woods, pushing branches aside and getting whipped by the leaves as they lashed at the girl trying to escape.

“Why are they chasing me? I thought they were supposed to be friendly?”

Maron spoke to herself as she continued her run. She was fast but the pack of Wood Wolves behind her was faster and they were gaining ground. She considered that if she could transform into Jeanne she could use her ‘rebound ball’ to escape from the animals and hide in one of the nearby trees, but she hadn’t been able to transform into her alternate self since she arrived.
Alright! It was just down to her then! She might not have magical powers but she was still:
Strong and serious...
Matchless and marvelous...
Energetic and fearless!

Maron stopped running and turned back to the pack surprising all of them as she leapt into the air and through a series of gymnastic flips ended up behind them. As the wood wolves skidded to a stop and tried to recover their previous advantage Maron took off running again. At least now she was heading in the direction back toward the village. She just had to find some way to give these creatures the slip...

Comments

Will this be alright?

[uscofseasons]

Whatever had drawn her to that grotto was long since gone and so was Gensokyo. This would most certainly mark down the remaining days she actually decides to leave her flower field ever again. Still, when a lake not even the shrine priestess can understand appears, it will draw all the attention. Strange she was the first to come to it.

Having stripped down and wrung out her clothes, she was dressed again, parasol in hand, and making her way about the place she found herself in. She found herself unable to fly and flowers continued to sway in the breeze. Any magic she attempted to perform was for naught. So, whomever brought her here had the gall to strip away most of her abilities. That was alright. In her frustration, at least she found she could pick up and crush rocks with some effort. Must be a way to correct this.

Now, there was the sound of human life thriving some time ago to her left, but she stayed to the beach and then moved to the forest. If anything, a human settlement would be the last place to go on her list. Still, this exploration was what brought her closer to a small disturbance in the forest. Her ears picked it up first and then her nose. Seemed like it was coming her way.

Absolutely! :)

[kamikaze_kaito]

And it was coming her way very quickly. Only a moment after the other girl had sensed the disturbance the bushes directly in front of her parted and Maron came charging out, nearly crashing into her.

"AH! Watch out!"

Without much more said than that Maron dodged left to avoid the collision and quickly grabbed the girl's hand at the same time, so that the newcomer was dragged along for the escape. Once they were on their way though, Maron looked back over her shoulder to try and explain.

"There is a pack of animals after me! I think they would chase you too if we slowed down!"

[uscofseasons]

There was a blank stare as Maron appeared, red eyes glancing past her in a moment to make not of the wolves. It wasn't very pleasant to suddenly be seized by the wrist and spun around. Less, it was a human telling her to run.

Three problems with this: one, she doesn't run; two, there is a human telling her to run; and three, these were some mangy low-class animals.

"And you continue showing them fear?" She planted her feet and pulled her hand back. Ah, humans would never impress her. "Just stand aside."

[kamikaze_kaito]

Maron skidded to a stop when the other girl planted her feet. She kind of had to or risk being thrown off her footing by the lack of movement of the other girl.

"What are you doing?"

As the girl turned back though Maron did as well. This seemed very foolish to her. Maron didn't want to see the girl get injured. She didn't even want to see the animal get injured... Just getting away so that no one got hurt felt like the best option to her. That is, unless the reason why the animals were so upset could be discovered, then she would do everything in her power to help them with that.

"Be careful! They are very upset about something!"

[uscofseasons]

Another sniff, but what was that smell again? Not a fox or bird... it reminded her of that tengu. Ah, now she got it; wolf. Did they have those pet things? Dogs? It was such a basic understanding.

Closed parasol, she slammed it into her other palm, tapping it as she waited.

"Have you considered their territory? How about the number in their pack?" No magic, no abilities, but still a decent amount of strength. Yes, it would be enough to crush such opposition. "Canines can be so easily set off. If you run away, you'll only encourage them~"

[kamikaze_kaito]

"But those kind of animals are supposed to be calm. Just walking down the path shouldn't have been enough to make them angry."

There had to be more to it. Maybe they were upset at something another traveler had done, or they couldn't find any food, or there just had to be something...

"And just standing here lets them catch us. We should go before...--"

Too late. The pack had arrived and moving as a group they surrounded the two girls. They walked around the pair and snarled as they tried to cut off any means of escape.

[uscofseasons]

"Well, I did tell you to stand aside."

There was a sigh and slight roll of the eye. Could it be that she found a human with a bleeding heart or whatever that preposterous notion was? Her red eyes glinted and she stared down at the pack, lips curled in mild amusement. My, they weren't even as big as wolves.

"Come on then~♥ You chased this girl all the way towards me. If you're going to waste your time with this nonsense, there's no point in circling around."

She actually stepped towards the wolves.

[kamikaze_kaito]

The wood wolf she stepped closest to shied away as she approached. All of the wolves in fact seemed more on edge now. They cautiously looked back and forth between the two girls but made no move to get closer.

"It's like..."

Maron watched the animals as they darted around them, never really staying in one place for very long.

"They are afraid of us."

[uscofseasons]

"... Typical. You turned your back on them; of course they're going to pursue."

She still stared intensely at the wolves, her own fangs protruding slightly. If they still wanted to try fighting her, that was fine. She followed them around for a few more steps, but then stopped, expression neutral.

"Best to be on your way then, dogs..."

[divine_beast]

Link slipped through the trees, pace quickening at the familiar sounds of wolves moving through the forest -- it sounded like they were chasing something. Someone?

He'd picked up a stout wooden cudgel about the length of a sword; it would have to do for now. He ran quickly toward the noise. Once a little closer, he spotted Maron, just as she took off for her run back to the village.

But what if she didn't make it?

He burst through the tree cover and picked up a fist-sized stone in one fluid movement, then hurled it at one of the wolves, shouting. They didn't have much in the way of predatory canines back at the village (other than himself, half-time), but loud noises generally scared off the wild, and if it didn't, well. At least he had a chance at distracting them.

[kamikaze_kaito]

The rock missed the wood wolf but only due to the animal's quick reflexes. It was almost as if the creature had grown accustomed to dodging such things?
The attack did stop the pack however as they all stopped chasing Maron and in one massive about face turned to charge Link for throwing the stone.

"You better run!"

Maron called once she noticed just what had gone on behind her.

"Try not to hurt them! They really shouldn't be acting this way!"

[divine_beast]

"Please get to safety!" Link shouted in return.

Well. That had gone simultaneously better and worse than he had expected. Link slipped a thin whistle out from under his chain mail, raising it to his lips.

He was going to make a run for it, all right -- things would have been much easier if he still had both of his partners around -- but perhaps not in the way that the animals were anticipating. Link blew the whistle; a high, clear call rang out through the woods. From close by, an answering whinny sounded throughout the trees.

As the very first of the pack, swifter than the others, reached him, Link readied his shield with an expert moment and deflected its charge with a well-placed defensive move.

[kamikaze_kaito]

Eh? Get to safety? She did think about it but how could she really leave when he was now the one being attacked by the animals? She searched around and found a stick laying on the ground but before she could do anything foolish the horse appeared.
So he had a way to escape too? Maron breathed a sigh of relief and dropped the stick as she turned to run back to the town. As long as he could get away too then she would have no reason to stay. Maron just didn't want him getting hurt because of her, it was already bad enough that she would probabally owe him a favor for his help. A strong woman like her shouldn't have needed a rescue! Oh well, she would make it up to him once they could speak again.
It was a relief too not to have needed to hurt any of those animals. They were upset about something and acting badly because of it, but there had to be a reason normally friendly animals had decided to misbehave?
She soon as she reached the first building in town Maron collapsed on it's wall. Leaning there and breathing heavily to catch her breath she waited for the man and his horse to appear.

[divine_beast]

Epona broke out of the underbrush and galloped toward him; in a swift motion, Link leapt up onto her saddle, just barely avoiding the snapping of another wolf's jaws. Though he urged his mount forward, Epona needed no encouragement to escape from the pack, and quickly applied herself to putting distance between them. They headed further off into the woods, away from town.

Link reached the town outskirts after Maron, but not before he and Epona slipped the wolves' pursuit. Who knew what kind of damage they could have done if led back to the village?

"Are you all right?" he asked of Maron. "What happened?" Wolves were in the habit of taking weak and sickly animals, but attacking a human? That was rare.

[kamikaze_kaito]

"I'm fine. They really never got that close to me."

She took a final deep breath, feeling much recovered after the short rest.

"I was just walking down the path when they appeared and started chasing me. It is strange... I was told the wood wolves were actually very friendly animals and wouldn't normally attack anyone."

She thought back on the conversation she had with the local police officer before leaving town. He had been very certain that, while the pack had been sighted recently, they wouldn't cause any real trouble.

"I don't know what happened to them."

It didn't really make sense, but it did kind of bring a thought to mind.

"You shouldn't have thrown that rock at them, you might have hurt one."

And it had placed him in danger of being bit! Thinking back on everything it seemed to her they might only have been chasing her? None of them had tried to bite. In fact they really only became aggressive when he threw that-- ah!

"Maybe that is it! Some one might have been bothering them, throwing rocks and things at them. Do you remember how they turned on you when you threw that rock at them? Maybe they were only trying to defend themselves."

[divine_beast]

He shook his head, and patted Epona's mane; he'd have to give her a washing-down after the wild ride. "Wild animals are supposed to avoid people, not chase them. They don't attack like that unless something's wrong. Maybe they took sick." Like the foxes and raccoons did sometimes.

He'd never heard of 'friendly' true wolves, either. Unless, of course, that meant that people had been hand-feeding them, and they'd gotten used to the treatment -- and consequently, lost their fear of humans.

Besides, what would an entire pack have to fear from a single rock? It didn't make any sense.

[kamikaze_kaito]

Except that they weren't true wolves they were wood wolves, a kind of monster that lived on the land here. Granted they could become more aggressive in packs so maybe that was the real reason they lashed out. Either way at least the wolves were back in the woods were they belonged and everyone was safe now.

"Maybe."

Anyway with the danger behind them Maron turned to Link and declared.

"I will repay you for helping me with the wolves. I don't like to owe anyone any debts."

[notsocool]

Zed was off on a hunt of his own today. Even he couldn't fail to miss the baying of the wolves, however.

He looked up, sharply, his hand going to a sword that wasn't there anymore. A quick glance was enough for him to see movement in the trees up ahead, a little deeper into the forest. The sound of running paws, and the sound of running...feet?

Someone was running, and they were running this way. With a pack of wolves at their heels, they were almost definitely in trouble.

Zed swallowed, feeling...not afraid, of course he wasn't afraid of some dumb animals. Just...excited, yes. Excited to see how he'd surprise himself by dealing with the threat with no powers and no sword.

A fistful of pebbles helped. And so as Maron finally came racing by, Zed charged forward and threw the rocks haphazardly at the wolves with a cry. "Hiyah!"

[kamikaze_kaito]

The wood wolves dodged as best they could but with so many pebbles flying around a few did hit their marks... which made them turn their attention away from Maron and focus more on the one who had been tossing the stones. The pack stopped their chase and gathered close together, snarling as they regrouped.

"Don't just stand there! We can make it back to the village if we run!"

Maron had skidded to a stop some distance away after she realized what had happened. Now Zed seemed to be the one in trouble to her. She was reluctant to accept help from others anyway, but even more so if it looked like that might end up with the rescuer getting mauled. At least she was concerned that might happen.

[notsocool]

Well, that had worked marvelously!

...it had possibly worked too well, in fact. The wolves obviously hadn't liked getting rocks thrown at their heads, but not enough to actually stop. Instead, Zed found himself with too many pairs of angry eyes and way too many sets of teeth suddenly trained on him.

Even he can't help but falter in the face of that, for a second. "I-I see...a turn for the worst."

But, there was still someone in distress to consider - a fair maiden, even. So Zed delivered a sharp kick to the nearest wolf's nose, before taking a leap up to grab a reasonably low hanging tree branch. He didn't climb any higher, however, the better to tempt the wolves into staying and snapping at him. "And what will that do to save us or anyone? Because I am all ears!"

Besides old man Saibara, Zed hadn't seen anyone native to Bower Village that he'd expect to be able to take on a pack of wolves.

[kamikaze_kaito]

The animals leapt after him as he hung onto the branch, but luckily he was just out of reach. Some of the better jumpers were able to hop high enough to snap at his shoes perhaps threatening the souls as they tried to latch onto them so they could pull him back down to the ground.

Maron didn't consider herself a fair maiden, well, at least not a fair maiden in need of saving. She had been in a bit of a situation but she could have outrun them and escaped, or so she believed.. To her, it seemed like he was the one now in need of saving. But, how to distract the wolves so he could get down from there?

"Just try to hold on to the branch! I'll be right back!"

With that she ran back to the pathway this whole mess had started off on. There in a bush was the small pack she had been carrying when the wolves began their trouble. When she had run from them the sack had been tossed to hopefully distract the creatures but it had landed uselessly in the bush instead of near the pack.

With the bag now retrieved from where it had landed Maron ran back to the area where Zed was hanging and pulled out a couple of sandwiches she had packed for the outing. Maybe food would be enough of a distraction for both of them to get away?

"Ok, get ready! If this works we both need to leave before they finish!"

With that she tossed the sandwiches so that they landed behind the wolves, hoping that the smell of the meat in the sandwiches would be tempting enough to draw them away.

[notsocool]

A few of the better climbers forced Zed to climb higher up, clambering to the next branch higher up. He did wind up losing a shoe, and it was fortunate that he didn't lose his foot along with it. One wolf got in a lucky swipe at his leg with its claws before he was able to escape - in the heat of the moment, Zed barely registered the pain.

Down below, he saw Maron reappear. "Right! All ready!" he called down. And he got ready to spring to the next tree, and maybe down to the ground from there.

Fortunately, Zed smelled like metal and mercury. The bag smelled like meat. To the wolves, it wasn't much of a choice, especially when the bag turned into a tempting moving target with Maron's toss. They turned away as one, and Zed took his chance to get away. A hop, skip, and a jump brought him down to the ground, and then Zed started running full tilt - hopefully back towards the village.

[kamikaze_kaito]

Maron fell into step with him. Running as fast as she could to escape the wolves before they finished that sandwich and turned back to find them. Direction was not something she really paid much attention to either since for the moment just getting away from those wolves would be good enough.

Once they were a good distance away, where the howls and yips of the wolves could no longer be heard Maron stopped running in a small clearing, just long enough to catch her breath and try to decide where the town would be from here. But also...

"Are you alight?"

The wolves had stolen his shoe after all. She didn't know if they had done anymore than that or not.

[notsocool]

Zed stumbled on a few more steps just from sheer momentum. Then, realizing that Maron had stopped, he paused to listen for the wolves. Hearing nothing, he let out a long breath of relief.

Then he grinned. Well, that had certainly been exhilarating - the most exciting thing that had happened to him in days, deals with goddesses included. And he'd done quite well. Maron was safe, after all. Quite a daring rescue, all thing considered. The fact that she'd wound up rescuing him was a thought that was struggling for attention and probably wouldn't get it for a while yet.

"I am excellent! There is no better thrill for a warrior like myself than the thrill of the chase!" Zed folded his arms and nodded confidently.

Even if he was the one getting chased.

For trying to take on a pack of wolves armed with only a fistful of rocks, Zed had gotten away remarkably unscathed. He'd lost one shoe, but the ground was soft enough that he hadn't had much difficulty. One wolf had managed to get at his leg through his pants. The cut was shallow, though, and wasn't bleeding much. Despite this lucky escape, if she tried to get a look at the damage, Maron might still manage to notice that Zed was bleeding silver.

"And you? Are you unhurt?"

[kamikaze_kaito]

"Thrill?"

She repeated the word in a bit of disbelief. Really running from wolves, nearly getting injured by them, and then losing a shoe was a thrill? He was a strange guy... acting like this was a great triumph. But after a while she too smiled.

"I guess it was in a way."

It had been one of the more exciting things to happen to her recently. She hadn't needed to go out and seal any demons, steal any corrupted pieces of art, or escape from the police since she arrived... she didn't even have the power to transform into Jeanne to do those kinds of things. So, yeah, it was actually kind of nice to know she still could do something. It was a bit thrilling.

"No, I'm fine. They never really came close en--... Oh!"

That was when the injury to his leg was noticed and pointed at.

"You were hurt!"