Pink Poogle Toy Forum

*Pokes Silja's post* Silja and I got mixed up, then resolved the problem.

"Not at all," Niamh replied to Harris, "two pair of eyes keep a better watch and make a better company" she added with a smile.

It had already been a while since Matfur left the group. Niamh's eyes peered around in the darkness as suddenly her ears caught a weak sound coming from deep within the forest. She was not sure if the rest had heard anything, as all of them seemed to be asleep except for Harris sitting at her side, she was not even sure if she had heard anything herself. Getting up quickly she let her robe slide off her body with a light movement.

"If you do not doubt me, then do not doubt me on this either, stay here with the others, they need someone to protect them and you are by far the most suitable for that task," she said in a low tone to Harris.

After that she ran off quickly. Feeling how her muscles woke up one by one she felt the adrenaline pump out in her veins. Making a swift jump she whirled through the air landing on a large tree branch making a quick jump to the next one and then falling back onto the ground to continue running.

"Matfur?" Niamh shouted as the voice of panic and struggling got closer.

Grabbing her sword and pulling it up she prepared for whatever was waiting for her below the nearby slope. Suddenly she could both hear and sense someone running after her a bit to her left.

((Edit2: After a brief discussion I will be adding Trinity's part into my post with her permission and which she wrote ))

Aminta was lying down on her bed of grass, when a scream pierced the air. She jumped up, eyes wide, and peered outside of the cave into the rain. Tendrils of mist curled around, making it hard to see what had emitted the screech. Her eyes scanned the horizon, and she finally saw two figures, with another running towards them. Aminta wandered out into the rain, looking more closely at the figures. One person looked rather like Matfur, and the other was holding a rope around the first figure's neck. The running figure was unclear. She quickly scurried in the cave, alarm clearly showing in her eyes. She grabbed her cloak, and bolted outside towards the way she'd seen the figures, hoping the running figure was a friend, and that the second figure would disappear at their approach.

Matfur struggled against the rope, lashing out at the attacker with her back claws. Suddenly, the attacker let her go, and seemed to run off. She pulled the rope from her neck - it was a Punjab Lasso (for those who have not seen PotO, it is a lasso that looks and works just like a noose). She stood, rubbing her neck. Her ears twitched, and she looked around, sniffing the air. "Niamh?" She murmured to the darkness.

Harris stood stock still at the entrance to the cave and simply waited. He had a feeling that some one was distracting John's personal guards. It was something he read about in all that spare time he had as a personal guest of the King. He listened for nightbirds, crickets and toads. They were silent in a certain direction. Then he heard snarling and barking. "Wolves, hunting pack of four to six," he smirked as he listened. They were closing in, and he had just enough time to load his bow with three arrows for a spread shot. The group came, three on one side and three on the other.

The young bard pulled back and fired his first shot into two of the wolves on the left side. He then sidestepped and fired another three arrows, wounding two more on the right side. The last two wolves didn't even hesitate, and Harris could tell they were not controlled by their wild instincts. He drew back his bow and jumped towards one of them, letting the arrow loose and then stepping on the defeated wolf. He then turned around and started swinging his bow around to defend himself from the one unscathed wolf and two of his angry friends who were furious with their wounds. Harris fought as hard as he could, keeping them from the entrance of the cave, their obvious goal. He found an oppurtunity to fire another short range shot, picking off the one unhurt wolf. The other two ran for their lives, leaving Harris standing in the rain. He drew his bow back crossbow style, ignoring his bite-wounded wrist, and fired two last arrows. The wolves' final cries peirced the night.

Harris cleaned and dressed the wound right where he stood, and hid it under one of his sleeves. He then continued his watch, bearing in mind to secretly clean it out again every time he had the chance.

Stopping right on the edge of the slope Niamh could now see Matfur, al though not quite clearly. The rain was starting to fall heavily in the darkness and more fog was gathering up. With a light jump she let herself fall down the slope and land near Matfur, who she could now see was holding a rope. Letting down her guard a bit Niamh eased her arm and let the sword she had been holding up point down to the ground.

"What happened Matfur, are you alright?" she asked while first touching the rope Matfur was holding lightly and then looking closer at Matfur's neck.

Before getting an answer Niamh turned around her head quickly to look at whatever had followed her to Matfur.

"Aminta, didn't master Witty see you leave the cave?" she asked being a bit surprised.

Harris took some time to look back in the cave. He saw that Aminta was gone. Rather than wake the Prince, he moved back to his post. He was worried, but this was where he had to stand. He could only pray that Aminta was alright.

"A punjab," Matfur said to Naimh. "Either it was a lucky guess, or...E'tono." She dropped the rope, and held her spear at the ready. "We are certainly not alone in these woods."

John woke with a start. He sat up quickly. The cave was empty, except for a few of his friend scattered about. He jumped up.

"What's going on?" he demanded. He took strides to the entrance of the cave, seeing many tracks. "What happened?"

Harris kept his eyes focused, not daring to leave his post. "Aminta, Niamh and Matfur ran into the woods," the young bard replied. He heard something crashing through the woods a distance away and nonchalantly notched an arrow to his bowstring. "I guess they found something in the woods. I wish they would get back, the predators in the area are under some spell." He didn't bother pointing out the wolves he had fought earlier, but he did wonder if the guardians were falling for some sort of distraction after all. This thing crashing through the woods a good ways off sounded like a brown bear.

John turned from Harris, and turned back, holding his sword now. "I'm going after them," he said, determined. "Aminta's out there. I've got to find her."

He left the cave, and examined the tracks.

Niamh nodded.

"I cannot sense anything supernatural, but whatever it was it sure scared the forest creatures, can you hear it?" she asked Matfur being quiet for a while to let her hear the nervous chirping of the birds that should have been asleep and noises in nearby bushes.

Suddenly she realized that now only two were left at the cave, if even that. Placing her sword back into it's place and drying off water from her face with her sleeve she prepared to leave.

"Matfur, make sure Aminta gets back to the others in the cave safely, I need to hurry back, this might have only been a way to distract us protectors," she said setting off quickly after.

Niamh felt yet again her feet hit the ground in a fast pace as she ran back towards the cave. Passing almost soundlessly through the woods she stopped abruptly. To her right hand side she could see the prince and even closer to her stood a huge brown bear. The bear did not seem aggressive, but Niamh could feel how upset it was, ready to protect itself with brutal force in its state of mind.

"Don't move!" she shouted to Prince John.

Carefully advancing step by step she moved closer to the bear.

"There, steady... good girl, it's alright," she spoke softly.

The bear was clearly still stressed and made nervous growls standing on its back legs. As Niamh came closed the bears eyes seemed to give a calmer expression as it set down its front paws. Niamh laid now her hand on its back, advancing slowly to its head until the bear felt completely comfortable being around her.

"Everything is alright, daylight will come soon, and we will leave the forest without doing any more harm," she said stroking the bear's head carefully.

Stepping out of the bush she confronted Prince John, being more disappointed than happy or relieved.

"Sixteen you say, still childish enough to leave the cave and put yourself and your friends in even more danger. Never think that an untrained person like you is any match to a strong enemy, especially now. The cave is that way, follow me, Matfur and Aminta will return soon," she said coldly.

No matter how much Niamh cared for the prince she was never pleased when his teenage rebellion came forth too much. Keeping a close eye on the prince she walked back to the cave, met by Harris.

"You’re hurt," she said in a low voice picking up her white robe from the ground.

John's heart was beating fast, and he was breathing hard. [You know, the kind of breathing you do when you want to be over dramatic and feel like it. ] He was staring daggers at Niamh until she left, and even then he was still staring at the cave angrily.

There was a moment's indecision, until John turned and left the cave entrance, forcing his way into the woods opposite.

Turning around Niamh saw John turning into the opposite direction and forcing through the thick vegetation.

"Oh why do I even try?" she cried out into the night, "let's all just get killed to get it over and done with," she added dramatically.

With a sigh she grabbed the groups equipment that had remained in the cave putting some in Harris' arms.

"You'd better follow me, I'll go after the fool, we're safer an in a group rather than alone," she said not waiting long to get a reply.

With quick steps she hurried after the prince reaching him fairly quick. Without a word she continued to follow him silently. Clearly he wasn't going to listen, at least she could be there to do her job and protect him.

John spent a few minutes hacking at the vegetation, making so much noise that he failed to hear Niamh behind him. Finally, he broke free of the vegetation and found himself in a clearing.

Noting that there wasn't a traditional tree stump for him to sit on, he climbed a tree and sat in the branch. He hung his legs over the branch, and swung them, looking around him.

Suddenly, a man appeared below him. John looked down, having heard a rustling.

"Hello!" the man said.

"Hi," John answered, raising an eyebrow.

"Why don't you come down here?" creepy stalky guy [as we can now call him ] said.

"I'm fine sitting up here, thank you," John replied.

"No, I'd like you to come down now."

"No, thanks," John said, getting a bit panicky now.

Creepy stalky guy reached his hand out, and burnt the bit of the branch closest to the tree trunk. "Hey!" John shouted. "Don't do that! I'll f-"

The branch burnt all the way through, and it came crashing to the ground. "-all..." John muttered.

Creepy stalky guy conjured ropes out of the air, and with a little spring to his step, advanced on the Prince. "Too easy!"

Harris drew his bow back entirely, ready for a quick release. He mentally noted that a crossbow would be easy to use without an injured wrist as he held the bow firmly, aiming at creepy stalker guy's face. Niamh and Matfur turned to face the Prince's captor, their weapons drawn. "You are outnumbered. I suggest you release my friend and go home for reinforcements," Harris warned.