Realistic or Modern Welcome To Shearport

[Inari]

Red- Out in the Hedge


The identification made Red look back to the struggling thing he was holding by the scruff. Hood seemed able to identify him, at least. Red ignored Ian’s demands to be freed.


”He’s right,” Red agreed with Hood. Play time is over. We need to take you all home.” Only three…still more missing. One thing at a time, though. The wolf looked to the third shape, lurking in the bushes.


”Who are you? Come on out,” he barked.

 

[The Fuzz]

The Hunters





The remaining shape in the bushes freezes and stays stock still.


Melanie stares at Red and Hood. (She seems to be avoiding looking too hard at Sackcloth, who is presumably still clutching that hammer.)


"Uh....dunno his name. He's been here a while. Uh...."


Harte has stopped struggling, and is whining. Seems that when big men announce that playtime is over, and aren't in the mood for defiance and fucking around, the wolf-children get confused and sad.


After a moment, Melanie steps up to Hood.


"Mister, you really want to take us home?"


She still looks kind of lost, like she doesn't really believe you.


Roll Wits + Empathy, any of you three who are there.


Also, anyone still back at the Market, things are going on.


The rain has stopped, the stalls are being set up all around the hull of the ferry.

 

[Inari]

Red- Out in the Hedge

Spoiler

Faaaail. Boo.


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[The Fuzz]

Spoiler

Man, you have no idea what the little brat's problem is.

 

[Axelgear]

Spoiler

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[The Fuzz]

Sackcloth

Spoiler

The thing is....she doesn't really believe you, not because she thinks you're bad dudes, but because she doesn't really have much of a concept of 'home', She's starting to forget, and you can see it.


Fucking Hedge.

 

[Grey]

Hood





That gives the Sheriff pause for thought. He regards the little girl carefully.


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[The Fuzz]

Hood

Spoiler

Melanie is nervous because the Hedge is starting to work its horrible fucking magic on her. She's not sure if she wants to go home because she's already starting to forget home.

 

[PixelWitch]

Zach


"Ladies first?"


He offers, unsure to touch it. Trusting in her better judgement.


A knot of paranoia was tickling his stomach though. They're still not back. Is this a good or a bad thing?

 

[Alexandra]

Sage


She smiles a little, replying "Oh, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to make much use of a tea set. I don't get nearly enough visitors. But I agree about the seriousness; you should be able to get a lot of that for this once the right buyer turns up."


She glances sideways, in the direction the chase took off in, looking for any sign of the rest of the group. They were well and truly off the path now...

 

[The Fuzz]

Sage





They left a trail of broken branches and scuffed ground cover as they tore off into the trees. Two big men and one wiry man left a bit of a trail.


You actually heard whining and mumbling a moment ago from that direction.


Meanwhile, the two little goblins have proceeded to pour tea and have produced some slightly battered looking crumpets. Around you, what was a clearing in the Hedge with a severely knocked around ferry in it is becoming a market surrounding a pavilion. Ignore the flaking white paint and the lobsided hull, it's a pavilion.

 

[Grey]

Hood





"Yes," Hood says. "You're momma must be worried sick," he tells her, more gently. Not to inspire guilt, but just hoping that brings back some shred of memory. "All of 'em," he adds, for the benefit of the others.


He thinks for a moment.


"And I figure we might have cocoa back at the hostel..." He says, giving Sackcloth a conspiratorial look.

 

[Axelgear]

Sackcloth


Otherwise silent, the puppet watches the children closely, turning over his hammer in his hand. It's Hood who speaks up first and gets the brownie's attention particularly in the process. Looking back at all the children, he thinks of their grubby little fingers and muddy feet running all around his hotel, getting dirt on everything, tipping tablecloths, breaking vases... Urgh, such rascality.


Still, it's better that than the police coming sniffing around and asking the former hobo if he has any knowledge of missing children, so Sackcloth sucks it on up.


"Aye, right you are, Master Hood." Sackcloth agrees with a nod. "We have cocoa in every shape imaginable; we've got hot chocolate, with marshmallows made from actual marshmallow roots. We've got cocoa-sprinkled fancies; chocolate-flavoured ice-cream; the finest of chocolate creams, used to stuff eclairs coated in cocoa-flavoured icing. There's chocolate bars and chocolate pudding and chocolate cake, and croissants with chocolate rolled into the dough. We've got proper brownies made by a brownie, and fudged fudge that tastes more like nougat, and unfudged fudge that tastes like fudge. We've got chocolate chip cookies, double chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips, and raspberry and chocolate meringue; triple-chocolate swirl cake, chocolate tarts, chocolate pie..."


"And that, might I add, is just what we have for cocoa. We have all manners of jams and jellies and preserves, and sugar-filled butter cookies, syrup cakes..." He continues, and then gives a characteristic pebbled smile.


"All this and more, we have at the inn, and, unlike anything you'll find out here," he notes with a gesture about him, "I can guarantee that what's there will not transform you, bend, you, warp you, change you, or be used for the purposes of fattening you up."

 

[The Fuzz]

Sackcloth, Hood, Red





Melanie plainly does not give a shit about cocoa. However, the mention of her Momma has tears in her eyes. A moment later, she has stumbled over to the tree trunk and is half hiding behind it, half using it to hold herself up.


"You seen my Mama?"


In Red's arms, Harte is lying still, no longer struggling, nor making any sound. If anything, Red might think that he's waiting, listening, to see how things are going to be.

 

[Inari]

Red- Out in the Hedge


Red seemed to be having some difficulty, brow furrowed and frowning. It had been some time since he had to deal with children verbally. Hood and Sackcloth picked up the slack, thankfully, and the little hairball in his arms had stopped his fighting. Crouching down, the wolf set Harte back on his feet, though he kept a clawed hand on one shoulder. He wasn’t sure what to make of that one, still, but the motion put him about eye-level with Melanie.


”She’s waiting for you to come back,” Red answered her.

 

[The Fuzz]

Red, Hood, Sackcloth





Slowly, slowly, then quicker, Melanie comes out from behind the tree, and stumbles across to Red. She pauses just outside his reach, near Harte, and glances over to Hood before looking to Red again.


"Can you take me home, Mister?"

 

[Inari]

Red- Out in the Hedge


A wolf’s smile probably shouldn’t have ever been gentle, but Red’s was still human enough to manage. He held out his free hand; hairy and tipped in claws, but a gesture that didn’t belong to a beast. Golden-brown eyes took on an excited light as an idea struck him.


”Before tomorrow’s evening gloam, I will take you to your home. To bring you back within a day, no bramble or beast will bar my way.” As Red spoke in clumsy but sincere meter, a breeze swirled through their patch of forest. A few rain-soaked leaves broke away and fell, but the wind did more. Its chill sent a shiver through the drenched strays reminiscent of nights spent huddled together for warmth, crammed into a shoddy den for shelter against the elements and predators. It carried the distant growl of a larger beast, or to some ears the calls of hunters on horseback.


But the world was not all chill and fright. Red’s damp jacket and hair were tousled, but he did not shake. Even crouched, he seemed tall, and his smile was fatherly. The offered hand was an escape from a world filled with fear. His teeth and claws would rend any who threatened them.

Spoiler

My first attempt at a Pledge! I think what I’m making is a Vow here. Swearing it to Melanie and any others who will take the offer. The terms would be…


Alliance (-2)


Endeavor (-1)


Day (+1))


Adroitness (Survival) (+1)


Adroitness (Brawl) (+1)


Red will do his best to return all those willing to come to their homes before this time tomorrow. To this end, he’ll be blessed with the strength and skill needed to get through the obstacles of the Hedge. Does that work?

 

[PixelWitch]

Zach


"Well, I've nothing to trade for market but my Wits, and I ain't parting with them anytime soon,"


That was the most pathetic attempt at a joke, you cinder.


He licks his lips, looking round the rest of the party who were preoccupied with the shiny things on offer.


"I think we may be forgetting why we are here..."

 

[Alexandra]

Sage


"Not to worry, dear," she replies to Zach, "I suspect the sheriff has everything well in hand; it doesn't sound like a fight over there, does it?"

 

[risaphoeniix]

Lita the Magpie, Staring intently at a Shell





"Hmm..." Lita said thoughtfully, and then, with all seriousness "Does it bite?" Though one who knew Lita and her tendency to nick whatever shinies happened to be around might be surprised, she could be very discerning, one might even say, picky, when it came to practical acquisitions. "What do you want for it?"

 

[The Fuzz]

Red





Melanie stumbles forward and takes your hand. She's hesitant, like she's not exactly sure what's going to happen now, but she's here.


Lita





"No, young lady, it most certainly does not. It does, however, pinch if you attempt to reclaim an item without the appropriate receipt."


The goblin smiles and leans forward. "I could gladly accept a piece of jewelry which was first lost and then stolen, plus two dollars in the form of a two dollar bill, or five dollars in tarnished quarters."

 

[Inari]

Red- Out in the Hedge


Red’s smile spread when Melanie’s hand found its way into his. He looked between Harte and the un-named stray, before releasing the former. His offer was open to all of them. ”We know where all of you came from,” he assured, offering them the chance to take part in the deal. ”If there are any of the other missing children with you, we want to bring them to their parents, too.” If there were any others left…

 

[Grey]

Hood





The sheriff nods his agreement, hand on Harte's shoulder.


"Is there anyone else to come home?"

 

[The Fuzz]

The Hunters





With a rustle and a rising whine, the remaining lost wolf....child....thing flees, breaking away through the brush, never rising above knee height to you blokes.


Melanie holds very tight to Red's paw, and mumbles, "I dunno who he was cos he din't know. He never talked."


Harte stands on his hind legs, just about. He's kind of shaky, and he's gone totally quiet, but he lets the sheriff [park ranger, but really, sort of, sheriff] take him by the shoulder.


Play time is over.

Spoiler

You blokes can chase the runner if you want. That's a Dexterity + Athletics check, at a -3 because the little git is running through the deepest, gnarliest bushes it can find.

 

[Axelgear]

Sackcloth


Watching the whole display brings a small wave of relief to the brownie. At the moment, more from the gladness that his home is safe than of any true joy at children being able to go home, but that joy will come in time, probably around the same time as the guilt for hitting one of them with a rock.


The relief starts to fade as the remaining wolf-child decides to flee. Sackcloth watches it dart and groans unhappily. Was today just going to turn into an endless spree of darting aimlessly through thorns? The brownie had already shed blood - well, ink - for these kids, he was starting to get tired of it.


"Oh, for the love of-!" He curses, stopping just short of finishing it. Tilting back, letting the hammer's handle slip into his palm, Sackcloth hurls the tool like Thor hurling Mjolnir, flat cross-bar sent screaming towards the back of the runner's skull.


The following dull thud of metal striking flesh and bone causes Sackcloth to put his hands on his hips and give a nod in satisfaction. Then, he turns to look at Red Riding and Hood and gives them a look expressing a workman's appreciation of a job well done.

Spoiler

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Ba-donk!