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Not much time to prepare -- the call went out to basically grab what you can and meet at the Philadelphia Airport Marriott. There's utter chaos at the hotel at the moment -- literally, hobs swarming the halls, Freehold members trying to calm down the general public. Think about the number of doors in a hotel -- even for someone with low Wyrd, that's a lot of closet doors, bathroom doors, room doors, shower doors...
It's a mess, in short. But the little that anyone knows about what caused this comes with the person who did got snatched. By whom, Marjorie wasn't exactly sure -- the instructions passed along by Alexis come with "She said she saw a circle of trees, and thorns choking them. I'll stay here until the door closes behind you."
The room everyone stands in -- including the Autumn who'll be staying behind to guard the door and make sure no hapless room service worker walks through into the Hedge -- has been trashed. Someone's going to have to come in to cover up the damage. Slashes on the walls, lamps broken, furniture turned over. Whoever got dragged off, they fought back, at least.
The nice thing about Sigrun's preferred armor is that it's devilishly simple to get in and out of. Supple leather britches with reinforced plates and a brigandine chest piece worn over a similarly supple long sleeved jerkin, also with plates. She carries her gear bag into the room, sets it down, and quickly begins to swap her firefighter academy clothes out for her armor and hedge girdings. She's not idle while armoring up, though. She walks the room and looks about its contents as she tugs this and that bit of armor into place. The backpack is plucked up once she's got her brigandine situated and slung onto her shoulder. "If you're capable of tracking via contract, feel free to raid the contents of the backpack. Grab something from it for the catch." She's tugging her shield out of its protective covering when she first fires it off, herself, her mantle flaring with a dry summer's heat, carrying with it the distant call of ravens on the wind.
Arthur scuffs around the room a little, inspecting bits of the damage and seems to be guesstimating the layout of the other nearby spaces that could've been affected.
"...and if all the rooms are laid out the same..." He mutters to himself.
Remembering the others he looks around and turns to Sigrun. "Hey um... S-Sigrun? Would it help if I asked the stuff what happened in here? I can d-do that if it'll speed things up?"
Luckily for Annie, the call reached her at the apartment she shares with Eugene, so she could grab her duster and medical kit before heading over. "Pretty obvious what happened, I think. Someone fucked up and opened a whole bunch of Hedge gates."
Glitch drops his own duffel bag and starts disrobing himself, getting down to shirt and boxers before replacing his street clothes with armor. He suits up into a dramatic set of dark brigandine, covered in hand-painted quilted squares, plates and lammels of metal and resin, and a big Direct Action logo on the chest. It's not exactly subtle gear. Reholstering his sword on his back, he surveys the room quietly, his helmet tucked under one arm.
"Um... Yeah but w-we don't know who th-they are or wh-who took 'em. D-do we? Cuz I can s-see all of that is wh-what I mean..." He says with a little blush, a tad sheepish. This was a much more sensitive situation than he was used to.
"I c-could also track the person by their name with a contract. B-but I don't know it."
"That's not a talent I have, but one I should develop," June says with a soft sigh. "I do have some knack for helping us all make it safely through the Hedge, though." She looks around. "Although one of us won't be covered by my ability to keep us from being tracked, sadly. I can only make that work for five people, including myself, so someone who's already pretty stealthy should probably be the odd one out. That's definitely not me." Says the woman in bright red plate armor, which she changed into immediately after arriving. She has no apparent weaponry, just a pack with her survival kit, and claws. Her gauntlets don't cover her fingers.
Sturm hovers just outside the doorway, looking down the hall towards the direction of the stairwell. She shakes her head. Fuck it, that's a job for the other Sun Banisher.
The Jotunn isn't wearing what most people would consider armor. Instead, she's wearing all black clothing -- like some kind of paramilitary operator -- a ballistics vest, mid-calf boots, and her Berserker's handwraps. She's bleeding from her lower lip, and the runes on her knuckles already thrum with magical light.
"I volunteer to be the odd one out -- and anyone who isn't stealthy, let me know. I can lend you my ability to sneak."
Sigrun sees a brief flash of a short young man with close-cropped black hair. His skin is solid black, his eyes glow a subtle yellow neon. Possibly a Darkling. He's holding the hand of another young man, not a Changeling, who has a similar face shape. Both of them look somewhat dazed, and are being led by a slender, androgynous figure, dark-skinned and illuminated by neon that seems to chase around the edges of their figure. In the center of the leader's chest, a sickly green-gold light pulses slowly, like a heartbeat. Alongside the trio of hands-joined individuals walks a woman who appears to be little more than a smear of shadow on the world, and a very tall, broad-shouldered woman who looks like she's carved out of concrete.
"I can go Light-Shy, but that is about it for stealth in the Hedge, so I will definitely take you up on that, Sturm." Annie says, glancing towards the Jotunn.
"They're in the hedge, yeah. And they're not alone. They've got a regular person with them. And two other changelings. Maybe. Or maybe hobs. This backpack, though, belongs to one of us." Sigrun looks back to Arthur and puffs out her cheeks, "I've got a bead on our guy, I figure we can ask him when we catch up. And if he's cagey, well. His stuff will still be on my back." With that, Sigrun gives a whistle and a 'round it up' motion with her finger. "I can guide us to who caused all of this. But if we get separated and you're unsure of the way? Get out. Turn back to the nearest trod or hedge gate and get out. Once we're after their heels, their heels are our destination. So if you're not sure of your hedge skills, nobody's going to blame you for waiting here."
"Keep in mind that Cloak of Night will break for all of us if anyone affected by it chooses to act, or alert our quarry. Please don't snap the Contract while I'm getting into position," Sturm flashes a sidelong look at Glitch, and then sticks out her tongue playfully before turning back to Annie. "I will be very cross if you get me shot and/or stabbed."
Sturm scowls at Sigrun's response while securing the last of her gear. That's the beauty of being a pugilist. You're just as deadly while traveling light. "Wait. There's a mortal with them?"
While the others discuss, Alexis waits, leaned against the wall. She's just here to make sure no one follows them into the Hedge -- this is their job.
"I promise to heal you if that happens," Annie reassures Sturm, setting herself up for a Sealing if the Ogre wishes.
Glitch's head lowers to stare at the ground when Sturm says that, and he busies himself with putting on his helmet. He doesn't seem to catch the playful raspberry, and he stays quiet.
"O-oh. Ok." The wizened nods and stands up properly. He showed up in his normal hedge running gear: reinforced light leather clothes and the new addition of some rather smelly gym shoes.
As Sigrun calls for them to prepare to head out he rummages in a pocket and gets a quarter out. Artie weaves it through his fingers rather deftly before flipping it into the air and catching it on his tongue. In short order, scraps of metal crawl towards him and coalesce into a metallic spear. Then he swallows the quarter, and his skin takes on the metallic sheen of the coin.
"Alright. I-I'm ready. Th-thanks Ms.June. and y-you too Sturm. I'm not sneaky at all really. S-so j-just to check are we doing this qu-quietly the whole way?" He asks nervously.
Sigrun buckles and ties her weapon belt onto her hips, adjusting it to rest in the groove it's worn into her armor. She pulls out her axe, drops it into its loop, then slides her longsword into its frog at her hip. Lastly, she hefts up her sword and plops her norse helmet atop her head. No, there's no horns on it. Because Wagner sucks. She queues up at the front of the hedge gate, waits for someone to gainsay her plan of 'catch them first'-- such a detailed plan! --and nods once when nobody does so. "Yeah, Sturm. A regular human person. A kid in his 20s, to look at him. Dark hair. Anyways. Let's do this. Follow me." And with that, she ducks into the hedge through the gate.
Sturm fixes Annie with a flat look as she tries to determine whether or not the Spring understands that being healed doesn't actually make being stabbed better in the long-term.
Going against her better judgement, she activates Cloak of Night, bidding her shadow to cover Annie as well, and then she steps through the Hedgegate after Sigrun, blending into the shadows...
"Alright, ready to go," June says, her expression grim from inside her crimson helmet, the visor of which is currently up. She doesn't hesitate to follow Sigrun into the breach (or the Hedge) when the time comes. "It's always best when your enemies don't hear you coming," she tells Artie as she goes.
"Oh! I almost forgot! D-does anyone want me to Bless their rmor or weapon or anything before we head out all the way? I c-can manage it for free if you pay me and I get a chance to bury the payment real quick?"(edited)
Glitch lifts his helmeted head, and then fishes a 9 volt battery out of his pocket. He glances over to Artie with a polite shake of his head. "I'm good. Thanks, Artie." Then he touches his tongue to both terminals of the battery as if it's a piece of candy. There's a brief audible snap and a tiny flash of light against his tongue, before crackling white electricity spreads across his exposed mouth and chin. Wrapped in the primal glory of electricity, he's ready.
It's a good thing June is fast, because she spends a lot of time being extremely dramatic with the way she's moving through the hedge. Pick up a log bigger around than she is, toss it out of the way with a shout! Slash with claws that cut down all of the hedge around her for ten feet, even though that's impossible! She showboats the whole way, and because of strange faerie logic, that works. All the while, she moves like greased lightning when she's not stopping to brute force her way through the next obstacle. Boulder in the path? More like a gravel road, now!
Sigrun wasn't kidding about getting right to it. She's off like a hound, straight into the thorns. She draws her sword after the first step, ploughing the way forward with shield and sword hacking and twirling as she goes. The path begins to part for her, rather than because of her blade, and her pace picks up considerably. Her course towards her quarry propels her forward, at which point it rather seems the Hedge simply wants her to reach her destination, so minimal is its impediment to her travel.
Sturm isn't fast, but she is strong, and there are few things that actually stay standing when they're in her way. The hedge is no exception. She swings her massive fists, crashing through the thorns, and wrenching things out of her way as she goes. Fuck your Hedge.
Annie's not especially fast, but she is fairly agile. And able to just sing the obstacles into moving out of her way, rather than doing anything physical to get through them.
As the group emerges into the thorns, Artie looks around for Sigrun since she has the trail and follows behind closely, his spear a flashing razor that pushes back the thorns that regrow following her own passage.
He loses sight of her once or twice through the foliage but he doesn't let it slow him down, using the regenerating thicket be his guide at those times.
He arrives on her heels, and pauses to catch his breath.(edited)
Glitch isn't as experienced in racing through the Hedge as he is at killing monsters and leaping over obstacles. Spinning his way through the thorns is difficult. He charges forward as fast as his feet will take him, and he tries his best to jump and dodge through the untamed thorns. It doesn't work. Armored as he is, he crashes into the brambles, awkwardly shoving his way through. He's trying to move himself through the Thorns instead of moving the Thorns away, and while they cannot pierce his armor, he falls behind.
Not much has changed since Sigrun saw the travelers through the Beast clause of Relentless Pursuit, but now everyone else can see them, too -- there's a flickering as they move through the Hedge, their footsteps moving unnaturally fast across the earth even though they walk at a sedate pace, as though June's not the only one with control over the flow of time.
Sigrun knows him when she sees her quarry: a short young man with close-cropped black hair. His skin is solid black, his eyes glow a subtle yellow neon. Possibly a Darkling. He's holding the hand of another young man, not a Changeling, who has a similar face shape. Both of them look somewhat dazed, and are being led by a slender, androgynous figure, dark-skinned and illuminated by neon that seems to chase around the edges of their figure. In the center of the leader's chest, a sickly green-gold light pulses slowly, like a heartbeat. Alongside the trio of hands-joined individuals walks a woman who appears to be little more than a smear of shadow on the world, and a very tall, broad-shouldered woman who looks like she's carved out of concrete.
The giant concrete woman, who -- Sigrun can see now more clearly -- has a similarly giant sword strapped to her back, turns her head sharply toward the Bright One. She's a glow-in-the-dark beacon, after all. "Ash, I think you're up," she snarls, low in her throat, hand rising to the hilt of her sword.
Sturm fans out from Sigrun's right side, swinging a wide arc through the shadows beside a wall of thorns as she encircles her quarry. As she plans her approach, violent intent is obvious from her posture.(edited)
June's armor makes less noise than it seems like it might, because someone made it well. As they near their quarry she transitions from all but demolishing the hedge in her way like some kind of diminutive juggernaut to skulking from one concealed position to the next, letting Sigrun do what Sigrun does best while she prepares herself for the violence that she suspects is likely to come momentarily.
When Glitch falls behind, he sees everyone pass ahead. He stares at how the hedge parts before them, closes his eyes, and draws the sword from his back. Teeth gritted, he begins to swing his sword in front of him with inhuman speed, charging forward where he wants to be, and letting the thorns themselves get out of the way or be destroyed. Eventually, the sweeping of his flashing sword carves out a huge spiral tunnel ahead of him, and he catches up, their quarry in sight, sword in hand.(edited)
Sigrun's path through the thorns abruptly ends when it intersects cleanly with the tail of her quarry's. She's still coming on at a run, though now her sword is coiling back with more than hedge trimming intended when that cocked swing unloads. The group they've come upon have no idea she's not alone, and so long as she's brighter, faster, louder, and more immediately threatening than they are? That will remain the case.
So she screams bloody murder as she bears down on Ash, screaming the now familiar invocation, "FREEEEEYJAAAAAAA!"
As the others arrive, Artie lifts a finger to his lips and points at their targets.
Then following Sturm's lead, he croaches down and slips over to one of the flanks of the other group, hidden by the thorns and magic to get a better vantage to listen and watch from, waiting for the action to kick off.
Annie is somewhat startled to see Sigrún just charge at the group ahead of them, but considering the fate they likely intended for Foolish Changeling and his brother she's not about to complain, instead just waiting and watching for the other fighters to join in.
Sigrun doesn't have long to sort out what's happening. Ogre reaching for the sword. A woman named Ash who she's intended to ... also put under her spell. With singing, apparently? Speaking? Singing. She's singing. And the kids are being Pied Pipered along. Got it.
She very definitively goes for Ash, then, veering nimbly past the Ogre to close on the back of the Nightsinger and plunge her blade clean up to the hilt in the woman's right lung. She eases her victim down to the ground and pulls her sword free without wrenching it, leaving a chance for the woman she'd just taken out of the fight before it started. She then turns on the remaining pair and levels her crimson stained blade at them both, "I am from Shackamaxon Freehold. Drop your weapons."
June is fast, so it's a little surprising when she comes bolting from her cover like a streak of red lightning and the stoney Changeling reacts as if June coming was expected, but that's not something June's going to worry about now. What she is going to do is lash out with impossibly sharp claws, and despite her target's sudden expansion to a towering height, the claws don't have any trouble finding purchase. If anything, it's easier to hit a larger target. And hit June does. Her claws leave bone-deep gashes in tree-trunk sized legs, and pieces tear away entirely under the raking claws.
Before the smear of shadow in the shape of a human, distantly lit by city lights, even gets a chance to reach properly, their flinch makes something shimmer sharply in the low Hedge light.
Just a little silver thread, wrapped around their wrist, trailing off into the thorns...
Far faster than she has any right to be, Sturm springs forth from the shadows. Though the shadow-y changeling might've sensed the ambush, she still manages to wrap both her powerful arms around the changeling, and maneuver them into a full nelson before lifting them off the ground. Sorry, dude.
From his spot in the underbrush, Artie brings his hands together and points at the big guy with a sword and invokes his fae powers.
The sword is immobilized in place for the next week. Wizened are bullshit sometimes. Oops.
As Sturm falls upon the shadowy figure and grapples them, Glitch catches the gleam of silver thread. With one target pinned down by Artie and the other stabbed clean through by Sigrun, he picks the string, seeking to deny their opponent escape. He launches himself out of hiding in a wild, reckless leap, grasping his sword with both hands and bringing it down as hard as he can on the thread. There's a loud snapping sound, and he stands there holding his blade... with the string beneath it, still intact, now vibrating wildly as if plucked. "STURM! THEY'RE REELING BACK IN!"
The massive woman swings one massive fist at the claw-wielding red panda, not connecting that hard, but the spikes of brass on her fist skate over that lovely red enamel armor. Sigrun will have some scratches and dents to buff out, but the armor protects June's soft innards, turning lethal wounds into big old bruises.
The cord begins to vibrate when Glitch swings at it, shimmering, and a tone that seems to vibrate through everyone's bones sounds as Ash splutters and bleeds on the ground, unconscious and fighting for life. The younger Darkling and the human brother seem to start to come out of their daze, but they're still pretty out of it.
But as that tone sounds -- and gets louder --
-- and louder --
-- the shadowy creature in Sturm's arms widens his eyes, and starts to scream. It's a bone-deep, body-wracking scream of absolute horror.
It's a scream every Changeling knows.
Sturm feels like she's holding on to sand as the Elemental is ripped out of her grip, shrieking: "OAK! OAK!" and flailing their hands toward the massive woman, who doesn't give a shit about June, or Sigrun, or any of them. She's held impotently in place by her sword, stretching her stony arms out as if to grab at her compatriot. Not that she'd get far with her legs torn up like they are. "FUCK! THORN!"
It isn't so much that a hole opens in the Thorns as that a rent seems to appear in reality, as Thorn is pulled, screaming in soul-deep terror, back to Arcadia.
Silence.
Annie is not at all a combatant, or willing to risk herself being dragged back to Arcadia as well. She can, however, make sure Ash at least lives long enough to give them information. Which is why she's dropping to her knees next to the Nightsinger, pulling her jar of magic ointment from her bag.
June only staggers a moment after the blow she received from Oak, and then she's back on the attack. This time, instead of a single savage rending with her claws, she darts under Oak's legs, jumps onto the back of a thigh, and jabs a hand like a spear into the spot right where an artery should be. It turns out she's right, and the amount of blood that comes out of the femoral artery of someone Oak's side is truly prodigious. It only takes a moment for the giant to go down.
Sigrun has work to do. She'll process what she just saw -- or perhaps what her brain decided to pretend it hadn't seen for now -- later. For now, she looks down at the victim of her own handiwork and across the body to Annie with a brief nod. She's not complaining about the healing. That was rather the point of stabbing the lung she did. She stabs her sword into the ground and pats Ash down, turning out her pockets and pocketing what she finds. Then she's looking over to the human and his changeling brother.
"Hey, friends. We'll get you out of here and back where you need to be very soon. I just need you both to keep calm, take some nice slow, deep breaths, and just relax. We'll get all of this handled and we'll get you home. Okay?"
Artie will emerge from the bushes and look wide eyed at the spot where reality had been rent open. Then slowly pan over the carnage.
".... W-would they like some w-water?"
It bears noting that when June knocks out Oak, she sort of... hangs... in the air, like some kind of grotesque puppet, because she's currently lashed to a sword that's like, twelve feet in the air. Annie can reach her foot to salve it.
Sturm offers a silent curse, spitting at the place where the thorns split to reel Thorn back in. She'd tried very hard to make sure Thorn stayed here, but even a giant's great strength and prodigious size mean little when matched up against plane-rending, reality-smashing power. "Fuck," is about the only audible word as she grumbles before shoving her fists deep into the pockets of her cargo pants.
She turns her efforts to scouting, stalking off to the perimeter in search of more trouble.
The kids -- because they're young adults, but still, kids -- just kind of stand there, clinging to each other, shivering. The Darkling nods, afraid, toward Sigrun. "Okay," he answers quietly, but for the moment, he's just... sort of slowly edging away from the bleeding bodies suspended in the air/on the ground, pulling his brother away. Sort of weakly, he asks said brother: "Do you believe me now?"
The pair start to dissolve (thankfully not literally) into hysterical laughter.
Sigrun goes right on chugging. There's work to be done yet, and the chorin' won't do itself. "Annie? Is Ash stabilized for travel? How's Oak doing?" She pulls her sword out of the dirt and wipes it clean on her boots before sheathing it back up again. "Everyone good? Sound off so I know you're alright." She puts on her best mom-face as she heads towards the brothers, screening them from the gore behind her. Or trying to. "Are you guys from Philly, here, then?" Defiant normality in the face of the impossible is what Sigrun offers. A tether of sanity, perhaps.
Glitch stares down someone blankly at where the string was just moments ago, the thread he struck, now ripped out of existence. He slowly looks up to where it led, where there is also now nothing. It takes him a moment to see Sturm has just turned and walked off a few paces. Sword still gripped tightly, he opens his mouth to speak, and then closes it again. The Sprite looks lost. When Sigrun asks for a soundoff, he beeps out "Yeah," not sounding much different from his usual restrained speech.
"Weary, but fine otherwise," Annie says, glancing towards Sigrún. "They will live long enough to get to Shackamaxon, at the very least." Beat. "Anyone having issues seeing clearly?"
Sturm stalks back over to the party a few moments later, even less chill than she was when she left. Fortunately she's a Snowskin, so the Jotunn does her best to keep a stern, neutral expression between the outside world and her grouchy interior. "I'll live," her voice is a low rumble as she responds to the sound-off. "Can we move the wounded one yet?" Then she turns to the two brothers. "Neither of you are hurt, are you?"
June can't help a soft chuckle when the two laugh, even though it's such a terrible situation. "I'm alright," she says. "A bit shaken by..." she glances at where the thread meant someone got yanked back. "I'll be better when we all get out of here. Speaking of which, we should probably check each other out for how well we're all holding up more thoroughly than just asking, since not thinking clearly makes it harder to get out of the hedge."
Artie remains wide eyed, his gold irises exceptionally apparent as he stumbles sideways a little.
"Uhm... I..... I... I d-dunno," he admits through his shellshocked expression.
He does however know there's work to be done. "I... I'm... I h-have duct tape if w-we need to tie up Oak there? D-did I ask about the water?" He says, confused. He probably didn't take that well.
"True enough," Annie admits with a sigh. "Anyone else know Read Lucidity?" Artie's obvious confusion has the mermaid approaching him first, reaching out to touch his skin.
"I don't know how to do that, June. So. If you know how to do it, do it. And let us know if we're safe to travel, or if I need to start declaring people my lifelong friends or the like." Sigrun looks to the Lost brother of the pair. "What's your name, kiddo? I'm Sigrun." She includes the other brother in the question, too. Though her curiosity with him is purely politeness, "And what's yours, hon?"
"Yeah. South Side," offers the Darkling, somewhat distracted, and the brother, weakly, adds, "We live by Cookie's." A tavern on South Alder, near 10th street. Good wings, nice corner pub. He's hanging on to his Changeling sibling like his life depends on it, but the kid offers Sigrun a sort of a weak half-smile. "I'm Jake. This is Alan." And at least, there, the mortal of the pair sounds relatively certain. This is his brother Alan.
"I do," June confirms for as she starts going around to touch the members of her motley, first Sigrun and then Sturm, to check on their mental state. They don't really have to do anything, and all it takes is a brief touch to make it easier to read, so she gets to it.
Sturm frowns, and shoves her hands into her pockets as all of her questions go unanswered -- though she does respond to June's touch with the brief flicker of a smile -- before stalking back off to the perimeter to scout for trouble again.
Glitch just quietly stays where he is, sword still out, on the furthest edge of the group without being into the thorns. He's staring off into the distance where the thread was pulled, somewhere past the horizon.
Here in the edge, the molten veins of Artie's body are readily apparent and he is hot to the touch, his currently metallic skin like a tea kettle approaching the boil.
"Uhm... H-hi," he mutters, shrinking back slightly from Annie's touch, a common reflex of his, she may have noticed but he doesn't recoil or anything.
"H-how do I know if I'm n-not ok, A-Annie?"
Annie ponders that for a moment. "Can you tell me who the current Monarch is?" The questions you ask to check for concussion might work as a backup, right?
"Cool. Alan. Hi. Hi, Jake. We're just going to pause here a minute to get our bearings, make sure everyone is okay, and then we're going to head out again. Back to Philadelphia. Okay? We can talk more in your room. She gives a brief glance aside at the others, frowning just a touch, but resumes her prior cheerful pluck when addressing the brothers. "You two aren't in any sort of trouble with us. We'll straighten all of this out." She does then glance back at their two unconscious guests of the Freehold, "Did you know Ash, Oak, or Thorne? Had you met them before, Alan?"
June smiles back at Sturm, then moves on to Glitch as the next person in her round of checking on people's sanity. "You doing okay?" she asks him as she reaches out to touch his arm, triggering the catch for her contract.
Artie scratches his head a moment and considers. "Uhm... Well it's st-still Summer so... King Devon?" He replies. That seemed right.
Glitch looks June right in the eyes as he tries quietly to pull away, as if he doesn't want to be so close. He takes a step back despite there being nothing but thorns in that direction. "Yeah," he says, looking right at her as he obviously lies. "I'm fine. Let's get out of here and stop standing around."
The look that Alan gives sort of aside to the bodies is sort of ... absent, really. "... not... not personally, really, I -- " A pause. "I knew people like them... uh. I remember people like the -- " A vague gesture of his hand toward his chest. "They mindfuck you. And you know it's happening, they give you your Place, but you can't stop it." Jake hugs tighter, and presses his lips into a line. "This is all literally insane," he informs Sigrun, "But sure. I'm not in trouble with the fairy princess and the giant ice woman and the tiny murder bear. Got it."
"...You seem well enough to me," Annie decides, smiling softly at Arthur. Then turning to walk over to Alan and Jake, offering each her hand in turn. "Jake and Alan, was it? I am Annie. Are either of you injured at all?"
"Oh Glitch," June says with a slight frown. "I'm with you on the getting out of here, but first, can you do me a favor? Take my hand, just for a second. I can do something that will make it easier for you to find your way out."
"O-ok!" Arthur replies, trying his best to return the offered smile, his eyes still a bit... Traumatized, but if a doctorish lady says he's fine, he'll believe her.
Meandering over to Sigrun and the boys, he offers a careful wave, staying about 5 extra feet back. He clearly doesn't want to startle them or anything.
"H-hi."
"I...don't, no, don't touch me again," Glitch says to June, sounding tense and confused. "Enough bad shit just happened. I'll be fine getting back, we're not in a race anymore." There's a glance over to the two humans. "I'll be fine," he says, sheathing his sword finally and putting his hands behind his back. He's breathing heavy, and his eyes show he's still on high alert, very wound up.
Sigrun is idling, waiting for June to do her work. Watching her work as much as she's keeping tabs on the brothers in an effort to keep them centered on not trying to run off into the thorns in a panic, or the like. "Hey, Artie," she offers aside when he greets her. "Arthur, this is Jake. And this is Alan. Alan, Jake, this is Arthur. He's a friend of mine." Catch met, even. She gives Artie a pat on the shoulder, too, for good measure.
Sturm returns from her patrol of the perimeter, still wearing that heavy scowl. "We should get the fuck out of here," She fixes Oak with an empathetic look. "... and Artie can you get her the fuck down? This is grotesque, and she doesn't deserve to hang here for however long this fuckin' Contract is supposed to last."
"No," June says gently, patiently. "You're really not fine. If you were, I wouldn't be asking you to do this. You know that this is what I do for our motley, in large part. Looking after our mental health."
"We are going to get you back to Philadelphia safely, okay?" Annie says to Alan and Jake. "This is part of what we do." There's a glance aside to Sigrún, then. "You did not get hit at any point, did you?"
Glitch stares back at June as she refuses to relent. There's a moment of hesitation, but with effort he reaches out to take her hand, staring into the woods where the thread went. His fingers squeeze her hand tight. "You're right," he says in a much softer voice.
"Sturm, we're checking everyone's melons before we start the return trip. Then we'll get to hoofing it. Not taking the risk, okay? As soon as June gives us the all-clear, we'll head out." Sigrun glances back at the dangling woman and frowns a bit, herself. "Why is she doing that, anyway?" Sigrun picks the best times to start asking questions. She asides to Annie, "Nope. I'm right as rain, apparently." She ticks her head back towards June, indicatively.
"Arthur, right." Jake seems focused on Alan, and he gives Sigrun sort of a vague half-smile. This is ... a little overwhelming, for one (1) human in the middle of one (1) psychotrophic fairyland. Alan just sort of leans on his brother and looks off into the near distance. Sometimes shit is too much. "Yeah, cool."
At Sigrun's touch, Artie only barely notices that he feels better, his smile starts to look a bit more genuine and less afflicted.
"N-nice to meet you guys. Wish it was b-better circumstances, but we're gonna g-get you outta here, ok?"
Then he hears Sturm calling out to him. And turns away. "Oh.. Yeah. S-sorry. L-let me try. It usually lasts all week so I hope so..." He admits sheepishly.
He points with his hands together at Oak and the sword. "Someone catch her p-please." And then he ticks his right hand forward like a clock moving forward, intending to end his clause.
A moment is all it takes for June to take on Glitch's mental damage, but in a way that manifests as physical injury instead. She winces as the pain courses through her, then she smiles at Glitch and says, "there you are, right as rain. Well, right as usual. We need to talk later about your spec." She flashes him a grin. "Anyone else still need a check?" she asks, looking around.
"I could use one, June," Annie calls over. "I have a thermos of tea in my bag as well, if you need to be healed."
Sigrun waves to flag down June and points to Arthur and Alan, respectively. Check them, too, please. "Alright, everyone. June's almost done. Then we're heading for the door to your hotel room, Alan. Everyone get your gear ready to move. I can carry Ash, Sturm, if you can get Oak?"
Glitch can't help but sigh with relief as June helps, and he lets go of her hand so she can tend to others and everyone can get going. He stays away from the two rescued people, as well as the rest of the group, conspicuously taking up the rear and glancing over his shoulder frequently.
June nods and moves on to Arthur, who she reaches out toward. Her hand moves toward his shoulder, but she does it in a way that makes it clear that he's free to back off if he needs. "How're you doing, Artie?" she asks him with a smile.
"I have bottled water and granola if anyone needs a snack or an-anything. And duct tape and rope for the b-bad guys for now. I d-don't think I can carry one back though. N-noodle arms." He admits.
"I th-think I can keep an eye on the b-brothers to make sure they get back s-safe. M-maybe we can sp-spin a path back for safety all around?"
Since she began endurance training, this sort of thing has become pretty rote for Sturm. She widens her stance, braces for the impact, and... catches Oak. There's a moment of maneuvering as she shifts the changeling over her shoulder like a bag of dog food, and then reaches for the fallen weapon.
"Yep. Got'em."
Artie pauses as June reaches out , a mild flinch but he relaxes a moment later to let her touch his too hot skin.
"I f-feel a little better. I think thzthe scream r-rattled my... Insides." He blushes, the molten orange glow coming to his cheeks.
"A-are you ok, Ms. June? You got that big one good."
"Yeah," June says as she lays a hand on Artie's shoulder, answering his question. But she doesn't actually seem to be fine, since she just kind of stops and zones out, hand resting on his shoulder, and then stops and looks around before double-taking at Arthur and taking a couple of steps back.
Annie glances at June briefly, before reaching out to touch the panda. Moving slowly enough she can dodge if she wants, because startling people is Bad.
"Ms. June?" Artie asks nervously. He's decently perceptive and quick on the uptake.
"Uh oh. I... I think Ms. June is zoning out guys."
Sigrun facepalms for a moment or two before letting out a heavy sigh. This is going south fast. "Junebug. You know you're my friend, right?" She sidles away from the kids to briefly touch June's elbow in a 'Hey, I'm here' sort of manner. "June? You okay?"
June doesn't seem to even really pay attention to Sigrun until the touch on her elbow, when she jumps and half-heartedly tries to jerk her arm away. "Why are we still here? We need to get out of here before he comes back," she says.
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