Sailing Away RPG

[Child of the 7th Age]

Bingo watched in horror as the ruffian snatched up Sassy and stuffed her inside the bag, heaving it over his shoulder. All Bingo could see in his mind's eye was the sad picture of his parents brought low by the nasties who had attacked them on the road. Whatever happened, he wasn't going to let them do that to Sassy. A tiny seed of rage was planted and suddenly exploded inside the usually quiet hobbit.

He lunged down and picked up a pointed branch that was as heavy as a cudgel, brandishing it menacingly in front of him and running pell-mell towards the ruffian who was trying to kidnap Sassy. At the same time he let out a stupendous roar, "Reggie, anybody, come quick. The rascal's got Sassy. We need to get her back."

Bingo came crashing into the ruffian and whacked both his legs with the stick. The rascal had not been expecting any serious resistence and stumbled, sending the bag flying to the other end of the grove where it landed on top of a treestump with a thump. Bingo could see that Sassy was still squirming and sqawling inside. Bingo turned around and lunged for the sack intending to untie it and let Sassy out.

Suddenly from behind, another of the no-goods came sprinting forward and collided with him, propelling him to his knees. The fellow raised up his knife above Bingo's head and, with a wide sweep of his arm, began to bring the blade down with great force. Unable to break free, Bingo closed his eyes and, in sheer terror, waited for the blow to fall.

[Encaitare]

Reggie had not known what to do in the face of the ruffians -- what could they possibly want with a few young hobbits? They looked so tall and strong, and in their presence he was frozen. But with Bingo's cry for help returned his wits, and he scrambled in the direction of the call whilst trying to remain out of sight. He looked worriedly around, hoping he would see Falco or anyone else who might be able to help, but no one was to be found.

As he ran, he saw a figure appear over the top of a large rock -- one of the Big Folk. Bingo had just hit him, and the Man stumbled in surprise. Reggie mentally cheered for his big brother. An instant later, though, another Man was right on top of Bingo. Reggie quickly stooped to find a stone to throw, grabbing the first on he laid eyes on. It was not an ideal stone, but it would have to do, for the Man had pulled out his knife.

Popping up from behind the rock, he threw the stone as hard as he could at the Man who was threatening his brother. The irregularity of the rick meant that it would not knock anyone out, but the shape worked in their favor: a sharp point on it cut the Man's temple. He froze in mid-strike and cried out, slapping a hand to the small wound. Reggie ducked back down again, and though he was relieved that Bingo had escaped certain death for the present, now the Big Folk were heading towards him, following the direction of the stone's throw...

[Firefoot]

Sondo shook his head with a sigh at the motionless figure on the ground. Big Folk, he decided, are awfully easy targets. Much easier than squirrels, or birds, or even Sassy. The last brought a reminiscent smile to his face. So far, the Big Folk were proving everything that he had assumed true: they were slow, unobservant (Marroc had snuck in right under his nose!), and apparently stupid (he had turned right toward the rock throw without a thought of defense!). He had no time to dwell on it, though; already he was hearing some shouts from the other side. They needed to get out of there quickly.

He went to join Marroc and Rory who were methodically sorting through the supplies in one of the saddlebags. They were finding some food, thankfully, as well as other amenities. At least the Big Folk were smart enough to bring along proper supplies.

Rory was chuckling. "That was a mighty hit, Sondo pal."

Sondo cocked his head. "It was an easy shot." He glanced down at the supplies. "Have we got anything to carry this stuff in?" Sondo asked the two.

Marroc shook his head no. "These saddlebags would be very unwieldly to carry around, and the men don't carry packs." Sondo frowned thoughtfully. He was good at improvising, and an idea came to him shortly. Marroc and Rory waited expectantly.

"They have some blankets, right?" he asked. "We can tie the stuff up in those. That should be easy enough to carry away from here." He helped them unfold a couple of blankets small enough for hobbits to carry, and then they started heaping supplies onto them. Sondo dragged another of the saddlebags over.

"Take what you can out of this," he said, "and then tie 'em up. We need to be finishing up here, before our friends can get into any trouble over there. I'm going to go try to free their horses."

He left Rory and Marroc to their work and slowly approached the seemingly monstrous beasts. Their hooves looked quite capable of crushing him. The nearest one, a tall bay, snorted uneasily and lifted its front feet up a few inches. Sondo hesitated. He wasn't afraid. Of course not. He took out his short knife and took a step closer. Then he realized that their reins, which had been tied to the branch of a tree, were out of his reach.

"Hey, I'm going to need some help," he called to Marroc and Rory. The tension seemed to have spread to all of the horses. They did not look comfortable around Sondo at all; the feeling was mutual. Sondo could ride a pony well enough, but that was about as far as his connection to animals went. He hoped one of them wasn't about to kick him or anything. He swallowed his discomfort and continued, "Could one of you give me a leg up? They're tied out of reach."

[Crystal Heart]

Sam was hiding, something that he knew was completely cowardly when his friends were near death at this moment. He watched from his position behind a tree as one of the men started for Reggie. Sam swallowed his fear, took a deep breath, and lunged from his hiding place screaming at the top of his lungs. He ran towards the man, not really knowing what he would do, but only thinking to save Reggie and the others from their fates.

He ran towards the man and smashed into his leg, biting down hard. The man let out a howl and grabbed the back of his shirt, trying to pull him off. Sam pushed his teeth together harder. The man smashed his head, successfuly sending Sam's mind into a tail spin. Dizzy, but determined Sam started swinging with all his might. He could feel his fists connecting with the man's legs. He was again grabbed by the back of his shirt and lifted up. Sam's eyes soon looked into the man's eyes.

"Why you little..." the man gruffed out. Sam spit quickly and punched in nose. The man didn't let go. Sam hit him harder, in the temples in a vain attempt to escape. His mind suddenly remembered the rock that he had found while he had been walking. It was not a large rock, but a rock all the same. He pulled it out and smashed it against the man's temple with all his might. The man's hand slacked and Sam fell to the ground with a hard thud.

Even though Sam could no longer breath, he jumped up and watched as the man toppled upon the ground. Sam gasped a jagged breath and jumped on top of the man, readying to continue his battle, but found that the man was unconscious. Sam jumped off and looked around.

Finally, Sam spied the bag that they had put Sassy in. It lay upon the ground where the man had dropped it. He ran over and opened it hastily, praying silently that the young girl was still alive. He pulled her out and studied her face.

"Sassy? Are you alive? Please please please be alive!"

[Kitanna]

"Could you give me a leg up?" Sondo called to Rory and Marroc.

"I'll help him, Rory, you keep packing supplies." Marroc got to his feet and hurried over to Sondo.

The horses were tense and snorted nervously as Sondo and Marroc came closer. Seperately the hobbits were far too short to dare to untie the animals, but if Sondo climbed onto Marroc's shoulders he might be able to reach. "Come on, Sondo. If you sit on my shoulders you'll be able to reach the ropes."

Marroc bent over slightly so Sondo could climb onto his back. "Move forward slowly, Marroc." Sondo said, once he was on Marroc's shoulders.

Marroc took a few small steps at first. When he was confident in his ability to carry Sondo he moved a little faster. Sondo reached out and began to untie the first horse's reigns. Marroc was surprisingly steady with the other hobbit's weight on his shoulders.

The first four horses were relatively easy to untie. But when it came time to untie the last horse they heard the growls. Marroc recognized it as a wolf's and he forgot that Sondo was still counting on him. Marroc lost his footing and hit the ground with thud. Sondo landed hard next to him.

[Primrose Bolger]

Sassy was dazed from the blow to her head when the sack had gone flying from the man’s hands and landed hard against the tree stump. She heard someone calling her name, but it seemed from some far off place. And then the light flooded into her eyes as the dark sack was opened. She blinked, her eyes adjusting to the light, somewhat. There was a blurry Hobbit’s face looming over her and when she turned her head, the Big Folk were still near.

Head ringing, her vision still quite blurry, Sassy pushed away at whoever was kneeling over her. She whimpered, then forced the sound to stillness, not wanting to attract the attention of the Men. Sassy rolled over and got slowly to her knees then to her feet. At a wobbly run, she took off for the shelter of what trees were near.

Safe, behind a fate tree trunk, she sunk to her knees, her head reeling from the blow and the run. Quietly as she could, she leaned over and threw up.

[Firefoot]

The sounds of fighting, not too far distant, reached the ears of a wolf pack. They had tracked the short two-leggeds this far in hopes of being led to an area of more plentiful game. Two-leggeds did not make good meat, unless and the wolves did not eat them unless no other choices were available. The wolves were reaching that point now; usually by this late in spring the effects of winter had been entirely erased, but not this year. Game had been scarce, and the gaunt wolves were hungry.

But fighting: who was fighting their short two-leggeds? It was a matter of concern for the wolves, and bore checking out. The alpha male, a rangy wolf with tan fur, rose from his relaxed position with a growl and a few yips. Come. We find what happens. The rest of the small pack, numbering six in total, loped after their leader. As they approached, they crept up a low rise on their bellies to observe the scene below them.

The wolves were quick to grasp the situation; once they did, hackles were not slow in raising and low growls escaped their throats. These short two-leggeds were their quarry, part of their territory, and their fates would ultimately be decided by them. The alpha male’s growl changed pitch: these two-leggeds go too far. They must pay.

With a snarl, he sprung from his crouched position toward the fight, about a hundred yards distant. The other five leapt after him. Instantly the focus of the fight switched from short two-leggeds against big two-leggeds to two-leggeds against wolves. One of the short ones flung a stone at him, which connected solidly with his muzzle. While it was not enough to inflict real damage, it still hurt, and infuriated the leader wolf. He forgot for a moment that he did not intend to hurt the short two-leggeds and attacked the one who had thrown the stone. His miscalculated his victim’s reaction, however, so instead of taking a solid chunk out of the two-legged’s face he only gashed its arm, albeit deeply. Ah, but it was good to taste blood again!

Now, however, the two-leggeds had recovered from their initial shock being attacked, and they had taken out their bright steel weapons. He felt one cut across his side and snarled in pain, turning on his attacker. You will pay, two-legged. You will pay.

~*~*~*~

Sondo

With Marroc’s help, Sondo had managed to cut free all the horses save the last when the first snarls were heard. The horses had not gone far once free, but now, hearing the wolves, they fled in a blind panic. The last horse, finding itself held captive, reared against the restraining reins with a frightened whinny. Marroc forgot for a bare moment that only he was holding Sondo up, backed away instinctively from the dangerous hooves, and lost his balance, causing Sondo to fall hard. He put his hands out in front to break the fall and the moment he hit the ground he regretted it. Pain seared up his left forearm from his wrist. He had no doubt that it was sprained, at the least.

He had no choice but to ignore it for now, though. He sprang to his feet. “Forget about the last horse,” he said, keeping away from the panicked animal. “We’ve been too long; we need to take what we have and go. It sounds like they’re in trouble.” Sondo wondered if it was the wolves he had heard some nights. A shivver ran up his spine. That could get bloody.

Rory hefted the smaller of the two loads up on his back while Sondo, careful of his wrist, helped Marroc with the more unwieldly one. They went as fast as they could carrying the stolen supplies and dropped them off around the side of the hill where Marroc had hidden earlier as they comprehended the horrific sight before them. Quick as a blink, Sondo stooped, picked up a stone, and hurled it at the nearest wolf's head.

"Come on!" he urged the other two. "We need to get them away from here, and leave the wolves and Big Folk to each other."