>Leo surveyed the land, going over the possibilities in her head. They could march right over and draw the attention of the entire cavern; they could cause a distraction and risk getting attacked in the confusion; they could sneak over and take out anybody on the way... none of them seemed particularly attractive, given the situation.
>She turned to look at the boys, Logan in particular, as his knowledge of the mines was surprising.
Well, I mean, like what? In the end all we need to do is find the people we're looking for, but the problem is only you and I know what they look like, and I can only remember flashes...
>Trying to remember the attack in full detail was painful anyway, so avoiding that was a plus.
So that tower's the best bet. Trouble is-
>A quick look around showed the stakes of the little game they were playing. The soldiers standing watch over the prisoners were members of the Royal Guard's most elite selection, the Amber Arc Corps, clad with stripes of their telltale red and yellow across sections of the uniform. A commander clad in a trailing cape seemed to be wandering back and forth, clearly in charge of overseeing operations.
-these soldiers could prove real nasty if we take a mis-step. But what are they even doing down here...?
<Raill, meanwhile, was less concerned about the problems and more about the solution. If getting to the watchtower was the best way to find the people they were looking for, and Leo would be best able to recognise their names and faces, then there was one idea that could work, but it was incredibly risky and relied on a lot of things going right.
<Then again, what plan wouldn't end up being that way?
I can get you up there. Or, well.. we can.
What do you mean?
Horus, can you do it? -squeak!- ... no can do, huh? Damn. -squeeaak.- Well, no, because it wouldn't be violent, would it? <Turning to look at Leo, the young miner looked up at her with a curious expression. Do cat-people always land on their feet?
Leopon-dji (Mobile) 7 May 2016 7:33:39 PM No.41336727
>>41336623 >Soldiers... why were there soldiers amongst civilians and slaves? Exactly what had they found elsewhere in the mines? And would it rear its ugly head when they were here...?
>The squeaking drew her out of her thoughts. Curious, she looked down to see the boy talking to a little mole fairy thing. The beastkin distantly wondered how it would taste.
>Leo stared down the boy at his question.
I am not sure about cat people, but leopon beastkin, as you call them, always land on their feet.
>>41336727 Oh! That's great! See? It's not gonna hurt her. -squeak squeak!- Just a little one, that's all we need. Otherwise people might end up getting hurt. -... squeeeaaak.- Yeah! This is gonna be great!
<Grinning, Raill looked up at Leo again rather excitedly, as though looking forward to something. Whatever it was, it seemed he'd come up with a plan. Horus is gonna throw you up there!
>Opening his coat pocket, the small brown mole that had long since made its home there wandered out, staring up at the beastkin with a slightly frustrated expression of its own. Then it almost seemed to sigh before raising a small leg, flexing its little claws as though getting used to the feeling of moving them again.
>Once it had, it even began doing strange poses one might expect of a magazine model or a stuntman, flexing its stubby little arms and standing proudly, to which its owner seemed to let out his own sigh.
Just get on with it, already, stop messing around. Hmph!
>After making a squeaky sound of disapproval, the mole returned to simply staring at the girl, raising a single paw...
[If Leo is to make any action to avoid this next event, it would be best you take it now!]
>>41337686 >As she watched the mole with little more than skepticism, a twinkle would light in its eye, one that betrayed something deeper hidden within. The beastkin would find herself gripped by an invisible force, a hand large enough to hold her by her midsection with little effort. As she was lifted into the air, the image of the mole would flicker, distort, as though what she was seeing wasn't what was 'true', as though the grip that held her was more real than reality itself.
>In trying to comprehend it, the veil would flicker and fade - facing Leo would be a tall man-like being of purple hue and navy hair, standing in front of the tiny boy who was watching as though he had seen this all along. I have faith that you will land safely, feline-like person.
>The lumbering voice of the being resounded to her, while to Logan and Elias remained only the squeaks of a mole echoing through the hall, and as the seemingly invisible hand reached back, Leo would find herself being held by the force of something mightier than she knew.
OOOORRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
>And just like that, the force faded, replaced by the feeling of momentum as she was catapulted into the air, soaring into the air and finding herself looking down upon the tower, as well as everything else!
>>41338227 >Maybe she was wrong about the mole. The longer she watched it stand there, the more goosebumps spread across her skin, and the more the fur of her tail stood on end. It wasn't until the moleish mirage disappeared that she knew why she had such an uneasy feeling. Gobsmacked, she stared at the purple man, eyes wide and unblinking. His words didn't even register until she was hurtling through the stale cavern air like a beastkin cannonball, and in that moment, she realized that they were complete idiots for trusting a little boy and his pet to help them break into a prison mine.
>The anger at the toss and her companions gave way to a sickening feeling as the ground rose up to meet her. Eyes closed, relying on instinct entirely, the cat twisted in midair, limbs and tail spread as she twirled to regain some kind of bearings.
>>41338364 >True to her feline heritage, the beastkin lands on all fours atop the tower without a sound. She brushes a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and crawls to the edge of the rooftop so she can look down and find the best access point.
>Elias had been watching the proceedings very quietly. It had seemed rather strange that the tiny mole-thing could lift Leo, but there was something strange about that thing. He couldn't look at it for too long before his eyes started searing. Not even the usual residual pain from using it's power, it felt like something was trying to burst from it.
>But he couldn't deny what he saw, and that was that this mole wiggled at Leo and suddenly she'd been hurled into the air like a sack of potatoes. He stared open-mouthed at the spectacle, watching Leo manage to stick the landing on the tower before he looks over at Raill with a curious, but guarded expression
That's...no ordinary creature, is it?
>It was stating the obvious, but Elias was good at that. He was also not the type to assume, so he'd wait for confirmation before making judgements.
>>41338229 >>41338364 >>41339491 Huh? I dunno, he's pretty ordinary. Well I mean, sure, he has his moments, but he's as ordinary as the rest of them.
-Squeak!-
Are too! Well, actually you're way more stern than the others most of the time.
-Squee-ee-ee-eeak!-
Yeah, yeah, 'for my own good', sure.
>The conversation was incredibly strange for Elias to watch, though not just because it was a kid talking to a mole - his vision would almost seem to glitch out, and where he would see Raill looking down and talking to the mole something else would slip him, with the young miner looking up at something instead.
>Logan, meanwhile, saw something similar, but instead of flicking back and forth between different views he could see something about the mole, a shadowy figure either behind it or sprouting from it as it slowly faded into the background. Y'know, it... it kinda feels like I'm looking at Janet's cat. You know, that white one that's always messing with stuff.
>Leo's safe landing had placed her in an awkward spot. The tower was shaped very simply, a large 4-cornered jutting out of the ground with a somewhat flat diamond-shaped roof, with a couple of the tiles having slid off as her feet connected with it. One of them had only just hit the ground, causing a shattering sound at the base of the tower that made a guard peer over, looking both down and up from his post just below.
Huh... what was that just now? Eeeh, probably nothin'. This place is creakin' more every day, not surprisin' if a tile or two falls off. If they fall off the other side, though, they might hit a couple of the miners. Who cares? If they're dumb enough to try digging beneath us that's their problem, all I've gotta do is watch.
>There was very little indication of where the logbook would be from her position, but the lookout post seemed to have at least two guards manning it. The slightly crumbling nature of the tower would make it possible to scale down, but posed the risk of such climbing supports giving way to too much weight. Alternatively, there would be routes up and down within the tower itself, but she'd have to get by the guards first and who knew what else might be inside.
>The more he looked, the more his head hurt. The more his eye felt like it was going to pop out of his skull. Elias shook his head and turned away from the pair. Not out of rudeness, but he just needed to make the pain stop...
Yeah, I know the one, I don't like looking at her either.
>Part of him wanted to ask Raill to clarify what exactly he'd meant by 'the rest of them' but a larger part of him wanted to not have a headache, so he decided to keep quiet on that front for now.
Leopon-dji (Mobile) 14 May 2016 9:04:25 PM No.41342200
>>41340276 >Leo held her breath to keep from making a single sound at the conversation below. There were guards, of course. The universe wouldn't let it be that simple. She had to get them out of the way--no, no killing, they were doing their job. She could drop further below and risk being seen by however many guards she passed on the way down. Regardless of what she chose, the longer she spent up there, the riskier the whole operation got.
>Stretching out one leg, she kicked a few more tiles off the rooftop, and quickly peered over the opposite side. If there was an opening where the guards were looking over the edge or otherwise occupied, she would scramble off the roof, onto the platform, and into the guard tower itself and in cover as fast as possible.