who thought moose guards was a good idea anyway?!

[rebella]

Who: Ella & you!
Broadcast: Audio, Fleet-wide?
Action: On Planet
When: Now

Hello? Is this working?

( Ella's keeping her voice low. Something whines near her communicator. She make a hushing sound in return before continuing to talk. )

I really hope it is... uh, if anyone's out there, do you have any... pointers... on how to escape a guard deer when you've been treed in an ice sculpture with a fox?

( Problems where children demand your assistance in rescuing their lost fox. Problems when you have to listen to direct orders. There' a loud THWACK and Ella tucks the fox in closer to her abdomen and pull her legs up while she hauls herself up another branch of the odd sculpture. There's one heck of a big moose huffing and circling this ice-carving tree-bird-angel she's climbed into. )

Comments

[betterthananetdrama]

A guard... deer?

[rebella]

I don't know what else to call it but it's really not happy with me being here.

( With an ooph, Ella clings on tight with the fox while the moose rubs one giant antler against the sculpture. )

audio

[heresyandlace]

...Are you made of leaves?

[what is even going on here.]

[betterthananetdrama]

Where are you? Maybe I could distract it!

[rebella]

( What kind of question is that? Her first thought isn't "deer eat leaves," it's, "I don't blend in that well with the tree-bird-angel sculpture! )

No? I'm made out of flesh and sadly wet wool right now, but I may be turning into ice sometime soon, so I'll have to update you if that changes later.

[rebella]

I...

( Am on a street with no name, it feels good to be out of the rain??? Stop that. )

I was following a fox to the north part of the city trying to retrieve him for his owner. He slipped between the bars of an estate - I didn't see a name, but there was an impressive looking bear on the crest.

[betterthananetdrama]

Alright. I'll see what I can do!

[And off Iko goes... not having a GPS is going to be weird, but she might get there anyway.]

[rebella]

( Iko probably has 100% better luck than Ella even getting out here, keeping her squirming not-fox friend half buried in her sweater while the moose throws its head, hitting the sculpture with its horns again. It looks up at them both, squinting, not seeing well, but definitely sensing Ella and her furry companion are still there. )

You, fuzzy, are way more trouble than you're worth.

( The grit-tooth statement earns another squirm and whine from the fox, and an ear twitching from the moose. At least there aren't any ogres around? Thoughts like that make it easier for her to say "it could be worse." )

[parricida]

That's a rather unique problem, I must say. Though can you not simply ignore the deer?

[betterthananetdrama]

[It takes a liiiittle bit longer than she'd like, but let's be real. A girl and a fox in an ice tree is pretty easy to spot.]

Hey!! [Iko waves, jumping up so Ella can see her. And possibly attracting the attention of that deer.]

[rebella]

( There's a pause on Ella's end. )

It's not really the kind of deer you can ignore. It's several heads taaller than I am... and it's sharpening it's antlers on the tree. I think. Or itching its antlers.

[rebella]

( Ella recognizes her, giving a small, frantic wave with the hand on the arm wrapped around an ice branch for stability. Her other arm is holding the arctic fox with the blue collar close.

The moose hears Iko, though what it smells is very odd. Something... but regardless, the idea of INTRUDER comes to mind, and the moose snorts, moving in its ponderous way closer and closer toward Iko, hesitating every so often to turn its massive head back toward the tree where it had that feeling OTHER INTRUDER was still hanging around. )

Careful! I don't think it can see all that well, but it can hear you, and probably smell you too!

[betterthananetdrama]

Got it! [Iko gives a cheery mock salute to Ella before shouting again.] Hey, you big... deer! Thing! It's much more interesting over here! I've got some nice, uh... [shoot what do deer eat.] ...plants? And things?

[carreau]

[ Oh nooo his crew is in trouble! One of them, anyway. But still, as the captain of the SS Bishop, he can't let that continue!

...and so a young man who is probably at least 50% snow at this time is coming over. That sure is a moose. But it's smaller than a wyvern.

..............but he kind of wants to ride it. But! Crew comes first. ]

Hey, hey, do you want me to get rid of it for you?

[parricida]

Then I suppose you'll simply have to wait there until it's done-- or until you can summon enough courage to try and outrun it.

[rebella]

I should be able to make the fence if it gets far enough away...

( since now she... has to now wait until the moose is done or until she can try to outrun it, and it's not a lack of courage she's feeling. it's not probably intended as an order, but the phrasing is enough that she can feel the urge take over, but with the two different conditions to balance, she doesn't fling herself down and run for the fence like she might have needed to do otherwise.

great. )

... Maybe in another five minutes.

[parricida]

Might I ask how you ended up there in the first place, or shall I regret it?

[rebella]

( Henry! ... Wait, what does "get rid of it" mean. Dark mage with lots of curses and magic and -- Ella holds up a hand in a stop motion. )

Only if you can do it without injuring the deer!

( given it's on an estate it might BELONG to someone and she does not want to be in trouble with whichever person on this planet that might own a giant deer because that sounds way too expensive to pay off (do their credits even add up to enough here?). )

[rebella]

You're free to ask if you want to listen. I won't promise it's an interesting tale, but I do have several minutes to pass while waiting.

[rebella]

( The moose still seems to waver at first, torn between the treed target on its territory, and the loud one shouting at it. There's no actual comprehension of what's being said, of course, this moose wasn't blessed in the complicated thought processing department, which meant the whole game was pretty much in their favor. In fact, enough in their favor that the moose, perturbed by the calls and starting to walk with firmer purpose toward Iko, seems to forget about Ella for the moment.

Which is when she tells the fox to hush (it wanting nothing to do with being held still, squirming and trying to nip at her arm) and starts climbing down the sculpture very, very slowly... and following the command of one of the people who'd responded.

Ella drops down into the snow and books it at a run toward the fence, running away from both Iko and the moose. It's following her track back to that portion where she slipped in after the furry miscreant she's running with tucked up snug against her chest with a white fluffy tail billowing out from beneath her shoulder, a white flag that would have been saying surrender if she wasn't, well, trying to win back her freedom.

The moose starts noticing Ella's run, coming to a shambling halt and turning its ponderous head back toward the sculpture, ears flicking forward and back, then swiveling to track her progress across the snow. )

[betterthananetdrama]

[Iko will consider that a success! She'll stay where she is long enough to be sure that Ella can get away and the moose won't case after her (though since the moose has totally stopped now, that shouldn't take long) before heading back where she came from too.]

[carreau]

[ He looks a bit put out at that, but for a captain, he's much better at taking orders, so he does not actually make any attempt to kill the moose. ]

What about other animals?

[rebella]

( Ella meets her out on the street proper, snow dusted and holding a fox that's either resigned by now or is bidding time for its next escape attempt. She smiles at Iko. )

Thank you! I don't know how long I'd have had to wait before that deer wandered off on its own. I don't think that sculpture needed a human shaped icicle addition.

( She makes herself go stiff like she'd been frozen, the fox turning its head to look up at Ella when she does so. It's all a jest as it is. She loosens back up a moment after. )

[rebella]

( Henry, what. )

Is that relevant right now?!

[carreau]

Of course~ If you don't mind any other animals dying, I can curse it to fall asleep~