The guy gets knocked out by your punch, too "distracted" to defend himself.
Grandma looks worried and quickly move over to Raseri.
"You look like you are ready to collapse let me help you."
"That is my last one for the day. We may be wiser to hide and return later when we have had time to heal and rest. Can one of you hide our tracks?"
"You don't live in the woods for years without learning some self-sufficiency," Tobias growls, drawing his longsword. "After them!" He points at the fleeing bandit, indicating for Kaveri to give chase, and the wolf obeys.
Raseri whistles like she'd seen one of her uncles do countless times, and to her relief Storhrid springs into action and bounds along beside her. The pair's quick strides sending them along after the other bandits.
"Well, this has the makings of one of the more humorous sagas," the young ulfen says with a clear, clean laugh that rings into the cold, crisp air. It's asif something about their discovery had released the tensions that had slowly been building. Storhrid is different as well. Stalking, it seems was not what the wolfess enjoyed, it was the chase, the thrill of running down prey, that drove her. The two, wolf and warrior were of a kind, cunning and quiet when needed, but direct when that was no longer called for.
"Don't worry, Mable," Raseri calls over her shoulder, "I promise not to undo your work so quickly this time!"
The wolf chases after the bandit while weaving through the trees to get to him.
The Bandit sees the wolf chasing him and turns to sock the wolf in the face.
After that the wolf takes the bandit to the ground.
The third bandit can't be seen by anyone but he can still be heard running away through the trees, in the direction that Kroos was leading you.
Raseri continues to run after the third bandit. Her blood howling in her ears as she feels the thrill of the chase rush through her.
Grandma hobbles behind and quickly as she can.
Raseri and her... "hound?" spot the bandit moving very quickly through the woods. He seems to be moving kinda fast for a human... though he could just be very practiced at it. He deftly weaves through trees and never moves in a straight line, always zigzagging through them. As he's running, he starts to scramble for something in his pocket, though it seems he can't stop fumbling whatever it is he's trying to get.
Raseri may not know the area as well, but a childhood spent among the trees at the edge of Grungir forest served her well as she used her quick strides to her advantage. Once she's close enough, she launches herself forward, hoping to tackle the man to the ground.
Storhrid, a wolf used to snow covered woods, kept up with Raseri easily, her blue eyes glimmering with the thrill of the chase. She to launches herself at the fleeing man, going for his legs.
The slowest of the group in his thick hide armour, Tobias hurries along behind Mable. As he reaches the tripped bandit, flailing in the snow, he pauses a moment to smack him across the head with the hilt of his sword.
Raseri is able to tackle him to the ground just as he pulls something out of his pocket. You don't know if he still has it or not.
Tobias is able to knock out the previously tripped bandit.
Mable and the rest of the party see Tobias, Raseri, ant the bandits disappear through the woods.
Raseri moves to pin the man so she can tie him up.
Storhrid, meanwhile, pulls herself out of the bank of snow she had plowed into after missing the fleeing bandit. She snorts a sneeze, blowing the snow from her nose, and shakes off the rest of the flakes that had covered her white fur. The wolf turns around and sees that Raseri is trying to pin the man. The wolf looks on curiously, wondering why her new friend didn't just rip her prey's throat out.
You succeed in pinning him to the ground, but you notice he has something in his mouth. A piercing sound deafens you suddenly as the bandit breaths sharply into it: FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Storhrid and Raseri both cringe at the racket, the wolf covering her ears with her paws.
Raseri, on the other hand, wraps her arm around the man's throat and puts the other behind his head. Then, she begins to choke him, hoping to silence him before he can bring the whole forest on them.
"Damned idiot," she says, "I was trying not to kill you!"
Pinned and strangled, he can't do much except succumb to your hold and pass out. Silence holds the forest yet again... and then a shout in the distance sounds and then silence again.
Raseri wastes no time binding the man's hands and feet and gagging him. After a pat on Storhrid's head, Raseri throws the unconscious man over her shoulder and trots back to the others, hoping that the bandits wouldn't be coming in at her back.
Once she's with the others, she drops the bandit on her shoulder next to the other one and looks about.
"Well, that didn't go too badly," she says with a grin.
"This just keeps getting better and better," Tobias mutters, shaking his head. "So, shall we try to get those ones, or bed down for awhile?"
"I think we have some time before we gotta make that choice," Raseri says before rousing the men after double checking their bounds.
"Hello, I can't say the beauty nap did any you any good," Raseri says with a grim chuckle as she sits on her heels before them, "Desna's fortune's with you this day, 'cause I'm in a pretty good mood at the moment, and how long that lasts is entirely up to you. Answer my questions truthfully, and don't go crying for help, then I might even be willing to let you keep your stones. Sound fair?"
Grandma quietly whispers to Tobias "I am not sure we are safe here. I heard some other voices not far from here."
All three bandits look surprised to be alive. The bandit who blew the whistle looks up at Raseri and smiles creepily at her.
Another shout is heard and then silence again.
Mabs looks uncomfortably about her, "I don't think we should stay here for long."
"Well, I guess I can knock 'em out again," Raseri says, sighing as she sees the grin, "don't be gettin' ideas. I'd not sleep with you for a dragon's horde."
Soon. all three of them are out cold again.
"So, which of you lads wants to help me carry this lot. We still have questions and I still want answers."
Tobias lifts one of the unconscious men with a grunt, arranging him across his shoulders. "Not so great at getting answers myself. I'll leave that to you more civilized types." He grins across at Mable. "Should be a good spot to hunker down back a ways."
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Raseri bursts out laughing.
"You are the first person since I got here that has called me civilized since I got here! Even back home they never accused me of too many manners," she says as she hefts one man to her shoulders and hoists the other by his belt.
"Got one more. Who wants the honors?"
"Oh dear, I guess I could drag him along but I am afraid I would leave quite a trail behind me!"
"My my, some gentlemen you are," Raseri tsks in mock disappointment at Caladrel before shouldering the other man. Staggering a little under the load.
"It's fine Mable. I've got him if no one can carry him. As Toby here said, though, we need to get going."
As someone picks up the last bandit, you hear another shout close by and then something that isn't a shout. You can't quite pinpoint where it came from, but it almost sounds like snapping ice, chattering teeth, and a loud Whisper, projecting itself through the forest.
"Can't carry more'n one. 'S not the weight; just too damned awkward to hold," Tobias grumbles. "As for this 'Toby' business, you're getting awful familiar awful-" The odd sound cuts him off, and he frowns, looking for the source. "Deadeye's bones, what was that?" Beside him, Kaveri growls, the fur on his back beginning to rise.
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"If you can't carry them, then you shouldn't have picked them up, or knocked them out." Lies comments, though she was not carrying any of the bandits, indeed her strength would have made it difficult for her to do so.
Then, as the loud sound is projected through the forest, Lies turns to face the direction from which she thinks it came from. "Well, that doesn't sound good."
Raseri's grin vanishes as her retort dies in her throat. It sounded as if someone had fallen through some ice into a creek.
"Trouble," Raseri says as Storhrid mirrors Kaveri's posture, "I think someone feel through the ice. We should see if it's a bandit or not."
"This place is getting stranger by the minute!"
Grandma looks around as she follow the others.
The sound happens again and though you still don't know where it came from, it sounds closer. The forest feels colder somehow, your cloths start to get covered in a thin layer of frost and a shiver passes uncontrollably through your bodies.
Another shout is heard again, this time it is understandable, "They're headed this way lads! Don't get to close them... I still don't trust what the boss has done to em..."
"Bloody hells," Raseri curses before looking to Mabs.
"Can you see if there's a clear path? I'd rather not get bogged down fighting this lot."
Mabs cocks her head back and forth. She then launches from her perch and circles overhead. She comes back down looking very distressed. She takes a moment and says, "We can head that way... but I don't know how far we will get... They have children of the boneyard with them... and they aren't right even for them..."
"Can someone hide our trail. I do think it would work much better if they didn't have a clear path in the snow to follow."
Tobias racks his brain, trying to remember the layout of these parts. Perhaps there was a defensible location nearby, or a decent ambush site - the woods were tangled enough in places, anyway.
"Covering tracks takes time. Maybe if we cross the river, we can lose them?" Frustrated by his memory failing him, Tobias begins to take on the appearance of a cornered wolf, body held low, eyes darting this way and that. "That, or we fight our way through them."
"From the sounds of it, that's probably going to be our only choice," Raseri grumbles. Looking up to Mabs she says, "Thanks for looking, Mabs. Do you know how many there are?"
Mabs flits over to Raseri's unencumbered shoulder and ruffles her feathers, "I don't know how many bandits are out there, though I did see about five of them, I heard a few more going around out there. The children of the boneyard... I don't know... I saw one of them and heard the others, but I didn't like the thought of being sensed by them..."
Raseri can feel Mab's talons shudder uncontrollably despite her calm voice and demeanor.
Mabs perks up for a second, "I did see the cabin while up there... though, they are between us and it..."
Elizabeth didn't like the idea of getting wet in the middle of winter, but at least in human form she wouldn't smell like wet fox afterwards. "Is crossing the river really our best option? Even if it
s frozen over, we don't want to fall in."
"I don't think we have time to cross the river safely. Can we find a defensible spot?"
Tobias remembers a spot a little ways away that can hide everyone, a little cave (more like a hole in the ground) covered in brush and nearly invisibly hidden, but it's across the river and in the direction of some of the bandits heading towards you. You think that if you can make it across the river in a timely manner (even with the bandit hostages in tow) that you can make it in time before the bandits get close enough to spot you... but you would have to leave right now.
"Back over the river! Now!" Tobias hisses, torn between barking the order and keeping his voice down so as not to betray the position of the ragtag group. As he hurries in the right direction, he explains, "I remember there being a cave nearby, dug-in and well-hidden. Assuming I can find it in the snowfall, we can hide in there, wait for them to go by... or spring an ambush." He takes quick stock of the people, animals (including Mabs), and unconscious bandits assembled, adding, "Should fit us all, too. Not much of a chance with that river in the way, but it's the best we've got."
Grandma hobbles after Tobias as quickly as she can.
Raseri trudges along, like some implacable juggernaut.
By some miracle, even with the bandit's extra weight, all of you make it across the river...
You hear the horrible sound again back across the river, sounding kinda close but not in view yet.
"Alright, this way!" Tobias ushers the group in the direction of his remembered place of safety, pointing them on while casting furtive glances back over his shoulder. He hopes he'll outpace whatever's following them, but in case he can't, it's good to know what you're up against.
As you look back, you catch A glimpse of something vaguely humanoid, if skeletal, across the river. Its bones are covered in a thick covering of ice and frost and yet it burns with an intense frosty, blue flame. It doesn't seem to notice you as you retreat, but it makes that horribly disturbing sound that you heard before and starts to make its way across the river.
"Okay, everyone in!"
Raseri tosses the bandits in and then pushes everyone inside before going in herself at the very last. She gets as far back as she can before looking out and waiting.
What is it with the dead around here? Can you Taldanes even die right, she hisses to no one in particular.
You get everyone in the hole as safely and as quietly as you can. The hollow is in fact big enough for everyone... though you are unable to stand and have to crouch or sit to have head room. Sounds from the outside seem to dampen and distort as soon as it reaches the cave mouth and light is mostly blocked by the foliage and snow at the cave entrance. Otherwise, the cave is quite comfortable and is indeed a lot warmer than the air outside.
Both wolves sniff the area and settle down next to each other after making sure the area is safe (or at least you suppose). Mabs doesn't look too happy as she hops around the cave floor with no perch higher up in sight. Cocking her head she says, "...Now what are we going to do?... If those bandits wake up, I don't think they'll keep too quiet once they think their friends are nearby..."