Leoian blinks a bit when Bryn talks about laser eyes "Oh, I didn't know you had laser eyes... I guess that might work, I've never used them before."
He watches as Finwa creates a large area with shelters for all of them. He sighs softly and squeezes the small woman's hand "You should be careful Finwa, you wear yourself out... your houses are real nice, but you should save some of your strength, a simple small shelter for all of us would probably have been fine."
The halfling looks confused again peering up towards the man twice his size "Weirding? You always say such strange things Bryn." He gets one of the pillows for Finwa "You should rest, we'll get some food going, and I'll come check on you soon."
"Bryn wait, don't use that for the fire, use these." Leo gets some brush "This stuff will burn real hot, but with a lot less smoke, smoke will be a dead give away that we're here."
In response to Charlene asking for people to go foraging the short woodsman nods "I can find lots of food no problem... my arms are small though, maybe someone can come along to help me carry?"
"Thank you Leoian, you are so knowledgeable." he says using the wood for the fire. "I just meant the laser goggles of Mittens. Provided it wouldn't use any of her helmet-power." However, the tall dark man is grateful for the halflings knowledge to save them.
As Romycas dashed out the door the elven man and half-orc child followed but the mother just screamed for her child to come back and the dwarf stood back and snorted as the elf screeched before gurgling with a crunching sound took away the rest of the humanoid's noises.
The child yelped and two large creatures stood in Romycas's way. Another of the large monstrosities moved forward, jaws gently holding the child's arm. It glares at the tall artificial being while moving the child towards the cage. As it gets closer to it the child cries as the beast bites a bit, letting blood drip down the arm. If Romycas does not move towards the cell then it bites a bit more but if Romycas does move back it releases it's grip on the child but does not let her go.
Bryn serves up the various dishes and sides of the food stuffs in their wooden bowls. A veritable buffet, crafted with Charlene's manageral skills, to temper his own flair.
The fare is not abundant, but there's enough for Turbles' appetite. "I thought it best to ration it slightly." Bryn reasons.
Then before Mittens he places a dish of fish lightly seasoned and well cooked. "Isn't Leoians' catch brilliant?" he tries to push praise upon it's rightful owner, the person who managed to get the meal.
'Mittens will be alright?' he frets knowing that they need to get to the balloon.
Romycas was also incredibly tall, and was able to stand his ground when the creature grabbed the child. Seeing it bite the boy made Romycas' rage grow. He clenched his fists, then charged forwards towards the creature, pulling his arm back and sending a mighty haymaker to the beast's stomach in order to get it to release the child. He was going to have to contend with two or three of these things. He was ready for them.
As the group eats they can hear shuffling about in the brush then a little head pokes down from the canopy Finwa had created. It looks about then squeaks and the group can hear little feet scurrying about the top of the canopy. The head returns on the other side and now can be seen easier as it sniffs out the people.
It seems like a small monkey with small rabbit like ears and huge eyes. It yips then moves back to the top of the canopy once more.
------
The creature is thrown back from Romycas but it keeps it's grip on the child who is thrown limply about from the impact. She screams then cries, her blood dripping down the creature's jaw. Romycas can now see that the jaw locks like an English bull terrier.
Four more of the animals come up behind Romycas as the one upon the ground gets up and glares at him while walking towards the cave. The child is still crying and the intent is there that if he does not return the child would lose it's arm.
The child's mother is in the cave, screaming and crying for her child while a few of the Gomoktooth stand around laughing at the scene, allowing their pets to do the work.
"Yeah, Leoian is good at fish stuff. Catching the squirmy little beasts. I once caught a goldfish the size of my head!" The last is exclaimed quite suddenly by Mittens, enthusiastically. She sniffs at the dish placed before her, taking a bite. Her eyes turn up towards the strange monkey thing. "Hey, is that for eating?"
Bryn for a second imagines Mittens batting a head-sized fish, then the movement catches his eye and breaks through the cute thoughts.
"Hello, little one. Do you want some of the food?" the Norseman says in a saccharine voice, usually reserved for talking in a non-threatening manner. "Smelt it did you?"
Braking off a small section of meat, not Mittens - of course, and some vegetables he places it in a bowl. Laying this cautiously towards the creature, then Bryn steps back.
The creature wasnt releasing the girl, and others were starting to tear at Romycas' back, flaps of patchwork skin peeling off as the stitching came loose, revealing the metallic shell underneath. He decided force was necessary, he gripped the jaws of the creature biting the girl in each hand and with a mighty pull wrenched the jaw apart, splitting its skull. "GO!" He shouted to her.
The mother was in the cave! There was one heading there. He snarled, charging towards the one making for the cave, attempting to tackle it.
"Hmm. I bet that thing'd taste good in a stew with some taters," Belzac comments, hearing the talking cat's question.
Finwa lay on the ground, half asleep with her eyes opening and closing to see what was going on. She smiles as the others work together and watches Turble go to the end of the campsite and look back at Charlene, sniff the air then disappear into the undergrowth.
She sits up and looks about, noticing the little creature and food. One container is on the ground, vegetables uneaten but whatever meat that had been in the bowl eaten but she notices a bowl with some food which was more than likely hers.
The little humanoid goes over to between Leo and Bryn taking up the dish and starting to eat, "This is good! Thank you everyone." She gobbles up the food as if she were starving and holds it out for more.
The child runs towards her mother, the most important place in the world to her at any given time as it was her mother who had cared for her all her life. She jumps into the cave before the creature that is running towards the entrance.
The creature ahead of Romycas rolls out of the way just before getting to the cave.
The dwarf grabs the mother and child by the hands and runs with them in tow towards the woods, two creatures following as other creatures run off into the woods as well.
------
The little creature moves towards Bryn then grabs the bowl, shooting up the nearest pole again but most of the food drops out of the bowl as it does not know how to hold it. The bowl clatters to the ground and the little thing makes noises as if it is swearing. The group can hear another animal taking a branch from a nearby tree and scuttling up a big tree. If anyone looks they can see another of these little creatures bringing a branch with brown leaves into a hole in the tree as if it's building a nest. Sticks and twigs ends are sticking outside the hole.
Bryn smiles at the cute little creature, though it slowly slips away as the creature drops the food. He moves forward gathering the food from the floor and climbs up towards the hole. His clothes taut against firm muscles, reveal light flashes of skin and alluring curves concealing a powerful frame.
Then he moves over to another cute little lady, stroking her soft shoulders. "Well have to be up early, so we can get to the village and the balloon." stalking towards the sleeping room he flicks a dark waterfall of hair across his shoulders invitingly.
Charlene watches the pervy bard walk away and sighs. "I'm not sure I can sleep, but I sure as hell would like to be unconscious," she mutters, picking up the remnants of the meal and disposing of them far away from the campsite, so as not to attract scavengers to their strange bower.
Varga eats with a gusto, loudly smacking his lips and slurping up water to wash it down. He belches violently when he finally comes up for air.
"Whew! That was soooooo much better than noodles in a cup...just wanna say."
When Finwa makes her appearance, Varga looks at her with a grin. "You and me got the same ideas. Moar foods!"
When Mittens gets excited about the large goldfish, Varga visibly drools. "Hot damn, I bet that sucker was delicious." The psion's stomach grumbles loudly.
As the new fuzzy little animal begins scoping out the camp, Varga seems even more excitable than before. He runs up to a tree near to the one the animal clings. He jumps and simultaneously thrusts both hands down pushing. This launches him quite high, and Varga grabs the nearby tree and watches the small animals across from him with extreme interest.
"Hey little fellow," Varga says in an uncharacteristically soft tone. "What are ya doing there? Building a nest, eh? How swell is that?"
Leo smiles towards Finwa when she sits near him, and gobbles down her food. "Good isn't it?" He looks over at Bryn when the man walks off towards the sleeping area Finwa made for them "I guess he's right, we should get out early, and you must still be tired from all that work making spots for us to sleep."
The little halfling offers his hand to Finwa when she's finished her seconds. "If you're ready."
He looks to Charlene "Don't worry about things, you should sleep well Ms. Oftenseen, nice fresh air out here, trees all around, it's great." He smiles towards the manager, and waves to the others "Goodnight!"
"Yeah, it was a pretty good snack, I ate the whole thing and didn't even get sick or anything. How's that for moderation?!" says Mittens before her eyes turn to Leoian, "Don't tell people not to worry, that leads to karmic revenge for your hubris, whether or not you're technically right! Haven't you seen the vidfilms? Goodnight."
Leo blinks at Mittens "Vidfilms?" He shakes his head "No, I've never seen them. But it's ok, I don't think I have a hubris." He waves and goes off with Finwa when she's ready.
Finwa yawns as Bryn walks to their sleeping section then smiles at Charlene, "Maybe you need a lullaby?" She says jokingly then starts to hum a tune that could only be what she had mentioned as she gets up and takes Leo's hand. She giggles at the discussion between Meows and Leo while they walk.
One of the little creatures moves slowly up to Varga, testing it's ground but when Varga gives no threatening movements it sniffs his hair. There is chattering as it sniffs again then puts it's forepaws on his head.
Before Varga even blinks the little animal pulls some hair out of his scalp and squeals in glea as the other jumps over and grabs some as well. Within moments there are more of the little beasts rushing towards Varga and some are hopping, jumping and charging towards the others.
One creature gets to Bryn and rushes up a pole to try to get to his hair while another jumps onto Charlene's back for hers. Finwa squeals as one pounces onto her shoulder but it tries to go for Leo's hair. Three circle in on Belzac.
"Maybe I need a brick to the head," Charlene mutters most unromantically. She exits to make a perimeter of the camp and ensure it's relatively secure.
Bryn plucks the little creature from the tangles of his cascading locks. Gently he rubs the furry belly with his thumb whilst holding the torso softly. The claws still hold trailing strands of hair, whilst the musician looks enrapt at the fuzzy beast. "Who are you, little one?" he asks in a warm voice, as one might to a child.
Poking his head into the main room, Bryn asks the others. "Anyone know what these fluffy things are?"
"Surely it's not your first time, Bryn," Charlene deadpans as she re-enters the main bower area, satisfied that everything outside is secure. She holds her ponytail with one hand and shoos the beast away with the other.
"Well it wasn't the sort of furry attack I envisioned for tonight. he says cradling the scrittering creature. "A few too many claws." he says with a wink.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," says Mittens to Bryn, "Why are you closing your one eye? Do you have an infection? Maybe I can paw the germs out? And these things are clearly food. For eating. Leo would know whether they're better in a stew or roast on a spit! Personally, I like my unidentified creatures raw."
Varga lets out a yelp as his hair his yanked out.
"Yooooowch!"
Varga begins to wave one hand vigorously at the little beasties. "Hey, hey, hey!"
Varga scurries and slides down the tree and rushes back to the camp area.
"Maybe Mittens is right. Maybe the little hair snatchers are for eating!"
Surrounded by the strange creatures, Belzac assumes a defensive stance, once hand readied by the holster on his belt.
"Don't even think 'bout it," he says roughly, his fingers moving with a gunslinger's twitch, "Ye ain't yankin' on this beard. Not in a thousan' years. Now get outta here, b'fore I decide to put ya in some stew after all. I'm starved."
The dwarf was not quite sure if they understood a single word he just said, or if they were even edible, but he was willing to take chances on both accounts.
Bryn looks to the men and the irascible Mittens; "Certainly you are upset with these little mischief makers." he says with a wry smile, trying to tickle it under the chin despite the paws pulling at his hair.
"I can see you point, Mittens." he says kindly to the great entertainer, despite a hint of disagreement to his voice. "Though you wouldn't want to get an upset tummy."
"Anyone know what these are? Could they be like the friend the Mayor has.... more fuzzy however." he muses.
Leo looks towards the creature reaching for his hair, and leans away so that it can't reach. "Strange, they're not shy at all, generally animals in the forest avoid travelers as much as possible."
He shakes his head at the discussion "I've never seen them before, I couldn't say what they are, but they don't seem to be like Datarila she's not an animal or a pet, she thinks and acts like we do... what's that called Mittens? Err, Bryn you should be careful, though these things seem tame I doubt they are pets, you could lose that finger."
"As for eating, I'm not sure, they seems somewhat similar to rabbits, so maybe they would make a good stew. There seem to be plenty of them though, we could easily try a couple of different methods."
Charlene half-draws her sword. "I vote for eating them sliced and diced -- if they're not intelligent, that is," she says sternly, "Now shoo! Go away before we eat you!" She waves the other hand at the nearest creature in a 'get you gone' motion.
If they don't seem to understand her, she leaves the shelter and draws her sword fully, ready to chop one.
Finwa moves a bit but the creature still reaches for Leoian's hair and ignores her even though hers is longer, "What the ..." Not that she wants the thing to pull out her hair but this attitude confuses her. She lifts it from her shoulder then pulls back as it becomes angry and slashes at her eyes for taking it away from Leo's hair.
The little lady drops the animal and backs up as it rushes off with a squeal.
The mother of the half orc yells in orcish making the child stop and look back towards the construct trying to help. The woman points and yells, "Please! Get my child out of here!" She yells at him as she hits one of the monsters with a stick.
The dwarf takes another stick and hits back another animal as a couple of others come closer. The Gomoktooth are starting to stir making time become less of a commodity.
-----------
The bunny eared beasts around Belzac back off a bit and squeal in interest but seem unsure on what to do. They start trying to move around him looking for a way to get at him.
Bryn's critter starts squirming and screaming in fear.
Five of the little creatures rush after Varga as he gets out of the tree.
The beast after Charlene hops back and looks scared but seems to really want her hair.
Varga makes a gust of force toward the oncoming creatures making them tumble back a few feet.
"Na-ah!" Varga trying to keep an eye out for any more approaching hair'bbits. "I'll be keeping these lovely locks, thank you!"
Varga pushes again at some of them as they approach the other party members.
"Shush little one, I won't hurt you." Bryn's soothing voice gently resonates, whilst he grabs a lock of his hair and flicks it in front of the creature.
"What is it? You want to eat it, or nest in it?" he addresses the creature as one might a small child, trying to ascertain if it understands him. Wrapping a protective arm about the little scamp he looks on at the commotion in the room.
Gritting his teeth, Romycas hurls himself at the animal with the child. He let his fury take hold of him as he threw each punch into the beast's stomach, attempting to force it to release the child. Massive fists rained blow upon blow into the beasts' gut.
He knew he was not likely to survive this night, but if he could save these people then it would be worth it.
"Stupid thing. I'm not going to hurt you unless you hurt me first," Charlene says pointlessly to the cowering little creature. She pulls a tiny hank of hair from her ponytail and touches her blade to it, severing it instantly, then holds the strands out to the strange beast. "If you want it, take it." She sheathes her sword to keep from scaring the thing further.
The musician smiles gently at Charlene, the manager virtually reading his mind. However he had no blade on him, just the studded wristband upon on muscular fore-arm.
Cautiously he watches her fuzzy, awaiting the reaction - all the while not ignoring his own creature. "Interesting, I wonder if they are native to the forest? I've never seen anything like them before, although I'm seeing many new sights recently." momentarilly his azure eyes flicker to Finwa, a wicked smile pulls at the corners of his sensual lips.
"I'm still not completely clear on why we're not eating them yet," says Mittens, rather impatiently. "They're probably some kind of hair vampires. They're going to turn you. Don't say I didn't warn you, and don't think I won't cook you too if you do turn."
A couple of Gomoktooth natives walk about towards the scene of their "pets" dealing with Romycas and the others then start yelling at the animals which either pelt away or whimper with their tails between their legs. The one which had the child cries out in pain as it is attacked, blood coming from it's lips as it releases the little girl who grabs onto Romycas's arm crying.
"Get my baby away!" The woman yells again as more Gomoktooth tribes people come into view.
Three Gomoktooth move quickly towards the cage to close it up and another two run towards Romycas.
"Please take my girl to safety!" The woman yells as she is thrown back into the cell, her head hitting the floor with a crack. The dwarf runs to her side checking her out.
One of the Gomoktooth reaches down trying to grab the creation and child. There is more yelling as others come that way.
-----------------
Little creatures go tumbling away from Varga and Belzac but the couple near Charlene and Bryn are too far away. They roll head over heals with loud yelps of shock, fear and confusion then scatter like feathers tossed to the wind.
As Charlene hands the rabbit eared critter some hair it grabs the offering quickly, yips a clear chiming sound then takes off up a tree to hide in a hole with it's treasure.
Bryn's little "friend" reaches out with a shaky hand like paw and touches the hair while keeping an eye on the man who is tempting it with his hair. Finally it grabs the hair and nips a few inches of it off and clutches it to it's chest then yabbers some squeaks and squeals while wiggling about trying to get free.
Unable to save the others, Romycas scooped up the little girl in his arms and bounded away from the Gomoktooth who attempted to grab them. Since he was much larger than they, it required little effort, but he was getting exhausted from the fighting. He jabbed a fist into a nearby Gomoktooth's gut, then charged off into the night with the girl in his arms. "I'll come back and free your mother. But for now, we need to find a place to hide. Can you be brave for me?" he asked the little girl in his arms, giving her a reassuring smile as he ran.
The little girl cried but looked up with a trembling lip over her small fang, eyes wide and scared. She sniffled and nodded then stuck her face against his chest as she held onto him.
As Romycas continued to move away from the camp, further and further from the site, it started to darken out. They must have come miles away from the camp as they had left in the morning. The little girl had fallen asleep trying not to cry too hard. She didn't want to be heard and also wanted to prove she was brave but it was very difficult.
Finally they came upon a semi open patch of ground where a strange circle of huts sat and Romycas could hear people talking.
"They wanted nesting material but ... they didn't want any of my hair." Finwa seemed almost upset about that fact then noticed Bryn look at her and blushed slightly with a smile, "I guess they need dark material."
The humanoid rubs her cheek against Leo's shoulder then gasps, "Who's that?"
She points towards a big man, or what seems to be a man put together out of parts of people. There was stitching along folds of flesh and he looked rather scary standing there with a child held tightly to his chest, eyes wild and a snarl on his lips.
The girl's leg was bitten up, even chewed on and she had blood all over her.
"Hey don't swipe at Finwa. Shoo you little beast." Leo makes a shooing motion at the creature that attacked Finwa. He makes sure the small feline woman isn't injured then looks towards Mittens "Well we just ate Meowsie, we don't want to overindulge... but when we do eat them that one's first."
He raises an eyebrow a bit at Bryn's creepy smile, it's probably directed more towards Finwa than himself, which was possibly even worse Leo would make sure to keep an even closer eye on him.
At Finwa's gasp he turns to see who she's referring to and shakes his head "I don't know." the halfing moves away from Finwa, and towards the newcomers "Hello, I am Leoian... that poor girl looks like some animal got at her. Let me clean and bandage her we'll want to stop the bleeding quickly." He holds his small arms out as if expecting this patchwork man to pass the girl to him.
"If you're weary sit for a while, we have a little food left, and there are lots of Bunkies around we can catch and roast if you need more." He apparently came up with his own name for the rabbit eared creatures.
Exhausted from running, some of his stitching had come loose in the fighting, so flaps of skin hung off on several parts of Romycas, as well as being covered in the blood of the dogs he had fought. There were people nearby, and the giant man collapsed from fatigue. "The girl... keep her safe..." He wheezed. The people were a strange bunch, but probably no stranger than the hulking construct cradling the little girl in his arms protectively. "Slaver camp nearby... her mother is there." He managed to get out before falling unconscious, slumped down on his knees.
There's a slight dismay in the corners of his eyes when Leoian regards him with a touch of disdain. But the arrival of the new-comers drag that from him as he moves with concern towards the bloody pair. 'He didn't?? Chew...' immediately dismissing the thought. Momentary distraction means that the small man goes forward to help the youngster before him.
"Sir, are you alright? You appear rather..." Bryn tries to say as the construct slumps before him. The mans' words reverberate in his mind; "Slavers." He looks around to the others darkly.
"Can someone help him..." Bryn looks down at the man; "it... or whatever." 'I cannot control what I did for Charlene, it'd be to wild and unpredictable.'
He kneels before Romycas; "Sir, wake up?"
The construct's glowing blue eyes opened again, then stared at Bryn. "Yes?" He asked, still holding the girl in his arms.
"Are you alright?" there's a look of concern upon his face; "I'm afraid we don't have all the resources, to help. They are upon Mittens balloon." 'And hers.'
"You appear injured. Well done, the girl is safe and we'll try to see if we can find her mother." he adds persumptuously. Bryn looks around to the others, "Mittens can you lend your amazing skill to this ailing gentleman." he says with awe to the Helmet-cat.
He saw his loose flaps of skin, and carefully started to pull himself together again while the stranger spoke to him. "I'll be fine. The girl is priority." He murmured, tugging a bit on a loose thread to tighten it. He kept a glowing eye on the young girl under his protection as he worked on restitching himself.