A hunting we will go

[Anonymous]

Michael reigned in her horse, scanning the distance. They should probably leave their mounts soon. Animals and monsters tended to not go together well, horses often spooking and taking off with a rider held hostage. The magical contagion was strong in this area and there were reports of something large and violent. It had been picking off livestock for a while now, and had moved onto people now.

The local soldiers were having a problem with it, so now Michael was out here. Really, she wasn't needed for this, she could have sent others, but it was too stifling being stuck back in the headquarters all the time. Field work was far more fun.

So Michael had grabbed a few Knights to take with her, Beatrid, whom she hadn't seen in a while, and some kid she didn't really know. Low ranking and so far seemed to be useless. And irritating. Though cute.

Not cute enough to make up for the irritating.

Swinging her long leg over the saddle, Michael dismounted and tethered the horse to a tree, "We'll leave the horses here. Let's find the tracks and get this settled."

[Tally]

"We have to walk?" Tyne said.  He managed to get his horse to trot over to Michael, and nearly got it to stop in the right place. The beasts never did what he wanted them to, and he looked—and felt—like a floundering duck in the saddle, bobbing and swaying in a most unhorseman-like way.  Made sense, as he was no kind of horseman. Didn't have any need for riding, growing up in the city like he had.

It was still better than walking, even with the saddle sores chafing his ass.  "How much farther is it?  How much are we gonna have to walk?"

He stayed mounted for the moment.  Getting on and off this thing was such a hassle.  He didn't want to go through it unless he really had to, and maybe Michael would change her mind.  Even better, maybe she'd assign him to wait here and guard the horses while they all went on their merry quest for death. It would give him time to stretch his aching muscles, maybe wash up in a stream somewhere.  His dark red hair had become a mess of tangles in no time, and he'd pulled the lot of it into a tail at the base of his neck to get it out of the way.

"Beatriiiid." He couldn't get the horse to turn in her direction so he had to twist around and look over his shoulder a her.  "Do we have to walk?  Can't we ride further?"

[Rhindeer]

With a roll of her eyes, Beatrid dismounted and tied her horse's reins to a thick tree branch. The Tyne kid was alright when he wasn't being annoying as fuck, and unfortunately the alright-to-annoying ratio was tipped toward annoying. In a sort of...aggravating little brother way. She'd had to listen to him complain all bloody day so far, had to play babysitter and make sure he didn't wind up backwards in the saddle and, God, if she wanted a child she would have had one by now and if this was what it was like, all the more reason not to! She took care of enough man-children to last her a lifetime.

Grumbling obscenities under her breath, she looked over to Tyne again and heaved a sigh, and probably would have smacked her forehead if she wasn't sure it'd add to the growing headache.

"How do you do that?" she asked, staring. "No, seriously. How the fuck do you do that? Goddamn."

She marched her way over to him, grabbed his horse's reins, and walked them both over to where she and Michael had tethered their own horses. A few loops, and she'd tied his horse off, too. "I'm not holding your hand through this. You can get yourself down. And no. What the fuck'd you wanna ride for? You can't ride. Now quit your bitchin'."

Turning to Michael and giving the other woman a long-suffering look, she rolled her shoulders and stretched out her legs. "Alright then. We all ready?"

[Anonymous]

((Jumping in, with permission!))

Now, this was bound to be interesting: a group of Mordecai riding in search of a beast that was giving the regular soldiers trouble. It certainly wasn't your average day of duty. Even the head of the Mordecai was here, which really had a way of putting on the pressure. Then again, Valeria wouldn't have lasted as long as she has as a Mordecai if she let pressure get to her.

She was less familiar with either of the other two. The one called Beatrid seemed to be running on a perpetually short fuse, while the boy seemed to do a whole lot of whining. The darker-skinned woman had been tempted to snap at him a time or two, but it didn't seem like it would do a lot of good. Instead she opted to simply stay silent.

Valeria guided her horse to where the others had tethered theres. The heavy clanking of metal plates sounded as she dismounted the animal, tying it off with the others. "Good to go," she said as she joined the others. Her eyes gazed into the forest as she awaited the order to move out. "So just how big's this critter we're goin' after, anyway?"

[Anonymous]

Michael turned to give Tyne a look, unimpressed, "Soldier, if you don't stop that irritating, womanish whining, I will sew your lips shut. Holy balls, but do you ever shut up?" How did Beatrid put up with the kid? All he did was whine and complain. She was rather tempted to send him back into training. It obviously hadn't taken the first time.

To Valeria's question, Michael gave a small shrug, "Honestly, I'm not sure. Reports vary, though most likely something large. And new rule. When Tyne whines, everyone is encouraged and allowed to smack him."

Brushing a lose strand of hair of of her eyes, she scanned the ground, looking for signs of the monsters passing, "There." She pointed to a spot a few feet away, moving closer. There were signs of something large having passed through, though she wasn't a good enough tracker to tell much more than that.

[Tally]

"I didn't ask you to hold my anything," he said.  "I can get down on my own."  He made it to the ground in not the most graceful way, but he made it by god, and without help from any of them.

And then he had to endure more of Michael making him feel like horseshit.  He scratched his horse's head and hid his own face away until she was done belittling him.  He didn't want her to see the expression on his face.  What felt like a scowl to him would just look like pouting to her, so he gave his attention to the horses, who all had wandered over to nose and nudge at him.

He smiled and reached into his belt pouch for the sugar cubes he'd brought just for them. They got one every time they called a halt and they'd come to expect it. He liked the horses fine—they were like big dogs!—it was just having to ride them that he wasn't in love with.

"Someone should stay here with the horses," he said, trying to give them all equal attention. "I vote me."

Then I won't have to listen to the three of you complaining about how much I complain. Beatrid was usually all right and he could charm his way into her good humor, but with Michael there she had to be all stony too.

[Rhindeer]

"I vote no, and since I've got seniority on ya, you're outvoted," Beatrid told Tyne. "The horses will be fine. Won't take us long, and besides--" She gave him a hearty slap on the back. "This'll be good for you. Put some hair on your chest."

Glancing briefly toward where Michael had pointed, Beatrid headed back to her own horse to collect her gear from the saddlebags. She buckled on her sword and double-checked that her pistol was primed and loaded. "I'm ready when you all are," she said, and holstered the gun with a flourish. "Let's get this thing over with, yeah?"

Regardless of what shit she gave Tyne, she wasn't the biggest fan of hunting these cursed beasts. Things rarely went smoothly and generally got quite messy and nasty, in her experience.

[Anonymous]

Grabbing her own gear, Michael gave a pleased, wolfish grin, "That's why I like you Beatrid." Her own sword was heavy and two handed, strapped to her slender hip. She liked the weight of it. And a pair of matched pistols she always wore, though she rarely used them.

Following the tracks, Michael headed off toward the cluster of caves in the distance. It was probably hiding around there and they would need to flush the monster out.

[Tally]

Tyne muttered under his breath and gathered his own meager supplies together.  Why had they insisted on bringing him on this hunt?  There were a host of other mordecai available, ones who probably thought traipsing around in the wilderness with bugs and poison oak to be a rite of masculinity.  Why weren't those people here?

Like Michael, he wore his sword strapped to his hip.  Unlike Michael, it was because when he wore it upon his back he ran the risk of cutting his own head off in trying to draw it.

With sword and dagger at hand, he trudged after them, dragging his feet and trying to keep to the shade.  "It's too hot for this.  We should come back when it's cooler."

[Anonymous]

"Tyne. We are here now, we are going to hunt it now. Before it kills more people and livestock. So suck it up and act like a Mordecai. Or I will be forced to assume you aren't able to do your job." Michael turned to give the man a long look, "And I will...resign you."

And he would not like where he ended up. People with their power might be rare, but she had zero use for one that couldn't do his fucking job. She was going to have the head of whoever had trained him. How he had managed to be this useless was beyond her.

[Rhindeer]

Ouch. Even Beatrid winced at that. She didn't say anything, though she did flash Tyne a warning look, hoping for his sake that he didn't try to contest that. This was between Michael and him.

[Tally]

"I'm walking aren't I?"  In the shade and slowly, but he was going where they lead.  Wasn't his fault that bringing him along had been a foolish decision when there were other, far more competent mordecai available.  There had been a time, in the beginning of his training when he was still grateful to be out of the mines, when he'd actually tried.  He'd made an effort with the sword work and knives and all manner of other things they'd tried to train him in.  He'd accepted that he didn't have the talent for it.  Oh, he knew it all in his head, but put a sword in his hand and all that knowledge evaporated before it could do any practical good.  Michael, it seemed, still held out some doomed hope that he would pick it up.

[Anonymous]

And if he didn't get better, he would go right back in the mine. Fieldwork might not be something he was good at, but so far, she hadn't seen him have a talent at anything. Which meant that he was useless and she wasn't going to waste time and money on him.

"Then I suggest you try and focus less on whining and more on walking so you can keep up." She was trying to control her temper, but Tyne was rubbing it raw. She wished she had Percival and Elonore with her. They would have made tracking much, much easier.

[Rhindeer]

"SO!" Beatrid said abruptly, deciding now was as good a time as any to butt in. There was letting Michael assert her authority and there was letting Tyne continue along a suicidal path, and right now he seemed well on that path so she cut in before he could whine anymore.

"What exactly do we know about this beast, again? There been any solid sightings so we know what manner of creature we're dealing with?" She sighed. "I heard its last victim was a child. A girl not even six, yet."

That was more for Tyne's benefit than anything. His apathy bothered her, but he didn't seem to fully understand why they did what they did or what the consequences would be if they didn't.

[Anonymous]

"Almost nothing. Few people have gotten a look at it. It mostly comes at night, dragging off animals and, sadly, the occasional child." Michael didn't really like kids, she actually rather disliked them. But the idea that some magic spawned monster was tearing them apart, filled her with a cold rage.

"It seems to have something that can dissolve flesh. The animal corpses that have been found have been...liquidy."

[Tally]

"And you didn't bring along someone else why again?  Don't misunderstand me.  I'm getting valuable experience, learning by doing, so forth and what have you.  But if this thing is so terrible why exactly are you risking it killing more people by bringing along someone green as I am?"

Bloody women just wanted to make him miserable.  Why else would they have brought him, instead of one of those hulking young grunts eager to please and handy with a dozen different kinds of weapon?  Or someone with experience in fiend hunting?  Or experience in any kind of hunting?  Even if they found the thing he didn't know what good they thought he'd do.  He could yell a bit?  And wave his sword about in a distracting manner?  And run away.  That he could do very well.

[Anonymous]

"Because you have to get that experience at some point. Beatrid and I should be able to take the thing down with some assistance from you. Did I seem to make a mistake in assuming all my Mordecai were actually trained?"

She was getting pissed again. He acted like it was an inconvenience to be a Knight. If he didn't want to shape up, she would ship him out.

[Rhindeer]

Beatrid sighed and rolled her eyes. "Tyne, wouldja just shut the fuck up already? You're a Mordecai, kid. It's about time ya started acting like one and earning your keep. Besides, the best way to learn is through doing."

In any case, she was confident that she and Michael would have been fine with just the two of them. Even if Tyne couldn't do much, the experience would be good for him. Even watching would be beneficial. But he was too old and had been a Mordecai too long to just...breeze through life on some title and ability alone. Neither meant much without skill and experience to back it up.

[Tally]

"She's talking to me!  Am I supposed to not answer my superior?  Huh?"  He missed the old officers that had been around before Michael.  They were content to ignore him or give him trivial tasks around the castle that were easy enough he didn't mind doing them and unimportant enough it wouldn't matter if he fumbled them.  This arrangement?  Where he was expected to put effort into things?  This was not ideal.

[Rhindeer]

Beatrid rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm just saying, don't give her a reason to toss ya in front of the beast and leave ya there, kid."