@GrinningWolf24
it's a day off, so guess who's getting in multiple rolls today! yep, it me. our next roll is 9: scandal brewing! i find it really interesting that we've gotten all three of the recruiting task numbers and a majority of the rest, including some repeats, yet i can't recall landing a crimes time roll. of course, it's not like we haven't had plenty of opportunities to lose cast members, so it's mostly evened out.
anyway, i just realized i forgot to roll for the sisters last time. we get: 62 and 88. so they passed that one, and if they roll less than 60 this time, it'll all fall apart. that's for the one i just did when they recruited Windstrike; the following roll is for this task.
we get: 14, 50. yep, it was only a matter of time. i'll give Scorpio heads and Ferri tails and go with a best two out of three for the coin flips. here goes! we get: two heads and a tails. Scorpio survives the fight and Ferrilata loses.
so, with that out of the way, on to the actual task roll. since the only RTB derg we have at the moment is Strike, i'll just do the same thing i did with the gaoler sisters. meet Larissa and Lyre!
Ferrilata had become the go-to recruiter, since she was, on the whole, better with people than her sister. The rest had noticed that things had been strained between the pair since the heist gone wrong; but then, things were strained among all of them, so that was nothing surprising.
Things came to a head when Ferrilata returned from what was meant to be another recruiting mission with two hatchling nocturnes clinging to her mane. Scorpio fixed her sister with a hard look. "Dare I ask?"
Ferri sat back so she could gather the two into her arms. "I found them wandering around lost. Nobody would even look at them. Remember Betelgeuse saying he found us at the auctions? I didn't want them to suffer that fate. Not as babies."
Scorpio rolled her eyes. But before she could say anything scathing, Ferri bristled. "What, are you gonna tell me we can't keep them? The way Alnair and the others were always giving Betelgeuse crap for us being there?"
"No. I wasn't." Scorpio's voice was flat. "But I wish you'd thought about it before you brought them home. We barely have the resources to feed ourselves, much less those two. And what if something bad happens to us? Like almost just happened? Are we going to do to them what Betelgeuse did to us?"
"No!" Ferri looked like she wanted to lunge or pace, but remembered the hatchlings in her arms at the last moment. Gently, she put them down. The frightened nocturnes huddled together, hiding their faces in each other's wings. "We are not going to do that to them. Wasn't that the whole point of the meeting the other day? Or did you even believe anything you were saying?"
Scorpio's tail lashed violently behind her. "I did. But I also believe that being prepared for bad outcomes is as important as for good ones. And I believe in using the brains the gods gave us before doing something like adopting random lost children! What if they just got separated from their family, and as we speak, someone is putting out a lost child notice for these two?"
While the sisters argued, the two nocturnes began inching away from the growling, snapping gaolers. Neither Scorpio nor Ferri noticed that slow creep; nor did they notice when the nocturnes reached the door and slipped through.
This place was nothing like home. Home was safe in the tangled labyrinth of thorns; this place stank of metal and stale air and rattled with thunder. The thunder was so loud! Lyre and Larissa stayed close to the wall as they stumbled down the corridor, peering through any open doorway to find a safe space.
Finally, they found one! A loose vent cover allowed them to slip through into the disused ventilation shaft. They couldn't climb up when the shaft took a right angle turn to go vertical, but at least they could pretend they were back in the nest at home, hiding from a thunderstorm. It was nice and dark in here and didn't smell so bad.
The shouting and, eventually, bellows, drew the attention of Thia, Recital, and Strike. They ran toward the source of the noise to find Ferrilata pinned to the floor on her back, rabbit-kicking Scorpio's belly in a desperate attempt to throw off the bigger gaoler. Scorpio ignored the great clumps of fur coming away with Ferri's claws and bore more weight down on her sister.
Windstrike waded into the fray at once, throwing xir prodigious weight into Scorpio to knock her off. Ferrilata scrambled to her feet and looked as though she would duck around Strike, except that Recital and Thia grabbed a wing and a tail to stop her.
"This is none of your business!" Scorpio roared, hackles up and teeth bared at Windstrike. "Get out of my way!"
"What happened to all that talk of staying together?" Recital shot back. Their grip tightened on Ferri's wing.
That made Ferrilata flinch. She subsided, head drooping, as much from shame as from her labored breath and trembling body. Scorpio only barked a scathing laugh. "What did happen, hm, Ferri? Who was it who struck the first blow?"
"You did," Ferrilata growled, though she did not look up. "You goaded me. Don't pretend you didn't."
"Goaded you?" Scorpio spat onto the floor. It was tinged with blood. "All I did was talk sense."
"Callous," Ferri snarled, head finally rising. "Cold and heartless sense, yes! And don't think I can't see what you're doing here. Don't let her manipulate you into thinking I'm the bad guy, you all."
Scorpio scoffed. "Manipulate? Please! You're the one who was jumping to the assumption I was going to throw out those kids you thoughtlessly brought back, without even waiting for me to say what I thought!" She glanced around. "And I wonder where they went while you were picking a fight with me."
The others looked around, too, most in confusion; all except Windstrike, who kept xir attention focused on the sisters. Recital asked, hesitantly, "What kids? Where?"
"They were wandering around lost!" Ferri cried, a hint of desperation in her voice. "I couldn't leave them!"
Seeing that the restraint wasn't as necessary, Thia let go of Ferrilata's tail. "I'll go find them. What do they look like?"
"Nocturnes," Scorpio supplied before Ferri could. "Green and orange. Very young."
"What were very young nocturne hatchlings doing alone?" Recital asked the room.
"Did you see if their parents were nearby?" Scorpio asked pointedly. Her view was still mostly blocked by Windstrike, whom she deliberately did not try to get around, but it was obvious she was speaking to her sister.
"No. I looked around, but there was no one who looked like they could be their parents. And everyone else there ignored them." Ferri straightened and looked at Recital. "Would you have left them alone?"
"No." There was reservation in the guardian's tone, if not in their words.
Scorpio said it. "But, there were other options besides carting them off. Did you even consider doing something like, I don't know, taking them to the nearest Interior Security station? They wouldn't have any of our descriptions since the outpost we hit was using automata instead of people to guard it, and they'd be in a better position to find the kids' parents."
"How do you know they wouldn't have our descriptions?" Ferrilata shot back. "Don't those automata keep records of what they see or something?"
"Not really, not outside the Tempest Spire. Though we can't count on that anymore," Thia said as she rejoined the group. The two nocturnes were hiding under her cupped wings. "I agree with Scorpio on this. This isn't the place for hatchlings."
Ferrilata wrenched herself out of Recital's grip. "Fine, I am the bad guy! All the blame falls on me." Her voice was bitter. "I won't burden any of you with my troublesome presence anymore." She turned and ran - rather, limped hurriedly - out of the room. Recital took off after her, calling her name.
When they returned, Recital reported losing Ferrilata's trail shortly after leaving the hideout.
it's a day off, so guess who's getting in multiple rolls today! yep, it me. our next roll is 9: scandal brewing! i find it really interesting that we've gotten all three of the recruiting task numbers and a majority of the rest, including some repeats, yet i can't recall landing a crimes time roll. of course, it's not like we haven't had plenty of opportunities to lose cast members, so it's mostly evened out.
anyway, i just realized i forgot to roll for the sisters last time. we get: 62 and 88. so they passed that one, and if they roll less than 60 this time, it'll all fall apart. that's for the one i just did when they recruited Windstrike; the following roll is for this task.
we get: 14, 50. yep, it was only a matter of time. i'll give Scorpio heads and Ferri tails and go with a best two out of three for the coin flips. here goes! we get: two heads and a tails. Scorpio survives the fight and Ferrilata loses.
so, with that out of the way, on to the actual task roll. since the only RTB derg we have at the moment is Strike, i'll just do the same thing i did with the gaoler sisters. meet Larissa and Lyre!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ferrilata had become the go-to recruiter, since she was, on the whole, better with people than her sister. The rest had noticed that things had been strained between the pair since the heist gone wrong; but then, things were strained among all of them, so that was nothing surprising.
Things came to a head when Ferrilata returned from what was meant to be another recruiting mission with two hatchling nocturnes clinging to her mane. Scorpio fixed her sister with a hard look. "Dare I ask?"
Ferri sat back so she could gather the two into her arms. "I found them wandering around lost. Nobody would even look at them. Remember Betelgeuse saying he found us at the auctions? I didn't want them to suffer that fate. Not as babies."
Scorpio rolled her eyes. But before she could say anything scathing, Ferri bristled. "What, are you gonna tell me we can't keep them? The way Alnair and the others were always giving Betelgeuse crap for us being there?"
"No. I wasn't." Scorpio's voice was flat. "But I wish you'd thought about it before you brought them home. We barely have the resources to feed ourselves, much less those two. And what if something bad happens to us? Like almost just happened? Are we going to do to them what Betelgeuse did to us?"
"No!" Ferri looked like she wanted to lunge or pace, but remembered the hatchlings in her arms at the last moment. Gently, she put them down. The frightened nocturnes huddled together, hiding their faces in each other's wings. "We are not going to do that to them. Wasn't that the whole point of the meeting the other day? Or did you even believe anything you were saying?"
Scorpio's tail lashed violently behind her. "I did. But I also believe that being prepared for bad outcomes is as important as for good ones. And I believe in using the brains the gods gave us before doing something like adopting random lost children! What if they just got separated from their family, and as we speak, someone is putting out a lost child notice for these two?"
While the sisters argued, the two nocturnes began inching away from the growling, snapping gaolers. Neither Scorpio nor Ferri noticed that slow creep; nor did they notice when the nocturnes reached the door and slipped through.
This place was nothing like home. Home was safe in the tangled labyrinth of thorns; this place stank of metal and stale air and rattled with thunder. The thunder was so loud! Lyre and Larissa stayed close to the wall as they stumbled down the corridor, peering through any open doorway to find a safe space.
Finally, they found one! A loose vent cover allowed them to slip through into the disused ventilation shaft. They couldn't climb up when the shaft took a right angle turn to go vertical, but at least they could pretend they were back in the nest at home, hiding from a thunderstorm. It was nice and dark in here and didn't smell so bad.
The shouting and, eventually, bellows, drew the attention of Thia, Recital, and Strike. They ran toward the source of the noise to find Ferrilata pinned to the floor on her back, rabbit-kicking Scorpio's belly in a desperate attempt to throw off the bigger gaoler. Scorpio ignored the great clumps of fur coming away with Ferri's claws and bore more weight down on her sister.
Windstrike waded into the fray at once, throwing xir prodigious weight into Scorpio to knock her off. Ferrilata scrambled to her feet and looked as though she would duck around Strike, except that Recital and Thia grabbed a wing and a tail to stop her.
"This is none of your business!" Scorpio roared, hackles up and teeth bared at Windstrike. "Get out of my way!"
"What happened to all that talk of staying together?" Recital shot back. Their grip tightened on Ferri's wing.
That made Ferrilata flinch. She subsided, head drooping, as much from shame as from her labored breath and trembling body. Scorpio only barked a scathing laugh. "What did happen, hm, Ferri? Who was it who struck the first blow?"
"You did," Ferrilata growled, though she did not look up. "You goaded me. Don't pretend you didn't."
"Goaded you?" Scorpio spat onto the floor. It was tinged with blood. "All I did was talk sense."
"Callous," Ferri snarled, head finally rising. "Cold and heartless sense, yes! And don't think I can't see what you're doing here. Don't let her manipulate you into thinking I'm the bad guy, you all."
Scorpio scoffed. "Manipulate? Please! You're the one who was jumping to the assumption I was going to throw out those kids you thoughtlessly brought back, without even waiting for me to say what I thought!" She glanced around. "And I wonder where they went while you were picking a fight with me."
The others looked around, too, most in confusion; all except Windstrike, who kept xir attention focused on the sisters. Recital asked, hesitantly, "What kids? Where?"
"They were wandering around lost!" Ferri cried, a hint of desperation in her voice. "I couldn't leave them!"
Seeing that the restraint wasn't as necessary, Thia let go of Ferrilata's tail. "I'll go find them. What do they look like?"
"Nocturnes," Scorpio supplied before Ferri could. "Green and orange. Very young."
"What were very young nocturne hatchlings doing alone?" Recital asked the room.
"Did you see if their parents were nearby?" Scorpio asked pointedly. Her view was still mostly blocked by Windstrike, whom she deliberately did not try to get around, but it was obvious she was speaking to her sister.
"No. I looked around, but there was no one who looked like they could be their parents. And everyone else there ignored them." Ferri straightened and looked at Recital. "Would you have left them alone?"
"No." There was reservation in the guardian's tone, if not in their words.
Scorpio said it. "But, there were other options besides carting them off. Did you even consider doing something like, I don't know, taking them to the nearest Interior Security station? They wouldn't have any of our descriptions since the outpost we hit was using automata instead of people to guard it, and they'd be in a better position to find the kids' parents."
"How do you know they wouldn't have our descriptions?" Ferrilata shot back. "Don't those automata keep records of what they see or something?"
"Not really, not outside the Tempest Spire. Though we can't count on that anymore," Thia said as she rejoined the group. The two nocturnes were hiding under her cupped wings. "I agree with Scorpio on this. This isn't the place for hatchlings."
Ferrilata wrenched herself out of Recital's grip. "Fine, I am the bad guy! All the blame falls on me." Her voice was bitter. "I won't burden any of you with my troublesome presence anymore." She turned and ran - rather, limped hurriedly - out of the room. Recital took off after her, calling her name.
When they returned, Recital reported losing Ferrilata's trail shortly after leaving the hideout.
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