Ingress [C]

[Adelina Russovo]

"Help! Somebody, please, I need help!" Her voice was hoarse and scratched at her throat from the force of her screams. Panting, Adelina fell against the rough bark of an oak, one hand gripping a thick branch, the other cradling her round, protruding belly. Her face was smudged with dirt, a long smear of drying blood oozing from her hairline. "Anybody! I'm -- I'm having my baby ... and -- and I'm hurt," her voice grew softer, but it wavered with a trembling desperation. She heard a shuffle of noise above, teal eyes darting to the shadowy branches in the thick canopy, where she could just make out the shape of a well-hidden platform. "Hello? Is someone there? P-Please help, I'm ... Ah!" She cut herself off, forcing out a sharp, strangled cry of pain. Her cheeks were flushed from the sheer force of the scream, hair plastered to her cheeks and neck, slick with sweat. This is taking too long. She grit her teeth, preparing for another scream. But just then she heard a voice from above,"Hold on! and a soft rush of air followed the voice. A flicker of movement above and she saw him, large, leathery wings snapping out as he glided down, alighting on the forest floor far below his perch in the high branches. "Oh, thank god," Adelina breathed, stumbling towards him. He was at her side in an instant, his kind green eyes wide, dark eyebrows knit in concern. "I'm here to help," He said, voice thick with an accent she hadn't heard before. He was shirtless, and she couldn't spot any weapons. "Thank you," she panted, eyes following his every movement. She tried to stand up straight, but stumbled forward with a gasp of pain. The winged man reached out to steady her, but her hands snaked out and grabbed him first. Her fingers clamped down hard and she used her momentum to pull him forward, simultaneously darting to the side and dodging his wing, twisting his arm behind him, her other hand shooting up to grip the back of his neck. Her boot connected with back of his knee and she pitched him forward, slamming him to the ground. She was on his back a breath later, knees spread across his spine to pin his wings to the ground, her fingers still digging into his neck. She'd notice some odd scarring on his back in between the thick joints where his wings sprouted from his back, thin lines that she thought cut the word 'THIEF' into his back. Oddly poetic, she thought. Freeing one hand to flick out her knife from its hidden sheath in her sleeve, she held it to his jugular. "Don't move," she commanded, quickly searching him for any knives. The man shouted something in that strange language she couldn't identify, and she wished for a moment she didn't have to kill him. She had a thing for picking up languages. "Quiet," she hissed, digging the tip of her knife into his skin until she saw a prick of blood. A moment later she heard a loud howl from above, grinning as the other resident of the house in the skies came bursting from the trees to protect his mate.

[Adison Sotero]

Adison watched patiently from the shadows, his feline eyes trained on Adelina. His ears flicked at the sound of her screams even though he knew that it was a ruse. Claws dug into the earth and his muscles tensed as the winged-man came to her rescue, just as planned. Any moment now; yes, there it was. The takedown was quick and efficient, and the man called out something Adison couldn’t understand. His eyes darted up to the tree expectantly as he waited for the other to appear. A howl ripped through the air. That was his cue. He leapt from the underbrush as the wolf flew at Adelina, tiger paws outstretched. The wolf, making a beeline for his mate’s attacker, didn’t see the second attack coming. Adison pinned him to ground with all his weight, forcing the shifter back into his human form. The man cried out in pain and Adison’s jaws went around his throat to keep him from struggling. He was about to clamp down and finish the job when he heard a noise from above. Adison froze and briefly looked at Adelina and then back up at the tree. How could there have been a third?! They hadn’t planned for this. “Papa? Dad?” A weak voice came from above, a child’s head peeking over the edge of the platform as he called out for their victims. Great. The man in his grasp suddenly yelled for the child to go back inside, and the boy darted back inside the treehouse; Admirable, to spare the child the sight of his parents’ death. Adi tightened his grip on the man’s throat as a warning and looked to Lina for her order; they could still have this place if it was what she wanted. He would not let her down.

[Adelina Russovo]

Adelina kept her focus on the winged man struggling underneath her, wary of any efforts to fight back. She could feel his muscles tensing, could feel his strain through the trembling of his body. She knew she was strong and had the odds in her favor, but she wouldn’t take any more chances than necessary when it came to her unborn child. Her eyes flicked to the winged, mutated wolf flying at her for only a moment, trusting completely that Adi would take care of him. She saw a flash of movement from her peripherals and she smiled in the faintest. Right on time. The takedown was just as quick and efficient as they’d planned, even more so. These men were completely unprepared. That only made it easier. Adison pinned the man within seconds, jaws locked around this throat the second he’d shifted into his human form. Lina’s eyes trained on the flash of dark auburn hair, something tickling at familiarity in the back of her mind. She flicked the thought aside as fancy, not allowing herself any distractions. Adelina felt slight movement underneath her, and pressed the knife closer still to the anthro’s neck as he tried to call for help again, his voice shaky with tears. He’d already played his part. Her knife was angled for the kill, her wrist just one flick away from slicing through the man’s neck. She drew in a breath, steadying her hand from the soft tremor, the slight hesitation she always felt when extinguishing a human life. Her blade stilled then as she heard it, a child’s voice. Her eyes flicked to the trees, her stomach churning, nausea washing over her. They had watched for two days and there had been neither sign nor scent of a child. The wolf shifter yelled at the kid to stay inside, and again she felt that she knew him somehow. She met Adison’s pale eyes, lips drawn into a frown. She shook her head once, and flicking her blade closed she tried to decide what to do. She and Adi needed the tree house for when their baby came. But she would not harm a child just to make a safe home for her own. The winged man beneath her was pleading with them and she could smell his tears, hear them in his shuddering breath. He quieted when she dug her nails into his neck. She stared hard at the wolf shifter pinned beneath the tiger, and the familiarity suddenly clicked. Fulsi. Flashes of her father’s kind face introducing his Scout friend; of the night she’d gone solo to raid the Fulsi and she’d tackled the Scout … “Casey?” She said asked, hardly able to believe that she’d found the Fulsi living in the trees. The wolf shifter gasped a yes. "Ho-lee shit," She sighed, rubbing her fake bloody temple. "Shit. Shit. No freakin' way this is happening." Everything had just gotten way more complicated. Freakin' Fulsi, always ruining everything. Adi looked confused, but she signaled for him to wait. “We don’t wanna hurt your kid. We’re gonna let you go. But if you try to fight back, we will have to hurt you. Understand?” She heard another shuddering confirmation, this time from both of them. “Good.” She kept her knife in her palm, though with the blade secured. She hefted herself from the winged man’s back as quickly as she could in her pregnancy, careful to keep him pinned with a foot until she was well clear. She nodded for Adi to let Casey go as well. “So … nice place you got here.” ooc| how awkward

[Casey DeLaney]

Casey gasped in a deep breath as the tiger stepped off of him. He cried out again as the breath was cut off by a sharp jolt of pain through his chest; that damned fat animal probably bruised his ribs. He slowly got to his feet, his arms and legs still trembling, his breath still shaking. Immediately he looked to Sascha, who was also dragging himself off the ground. Struck by sudden realization, Casey ran to him and Sascha pulled him into a desperate, clinging embrace. He could feel Sascha trembling too, hear him trying to control his tears. A wave of nausea rolled through him; his stomach felt leaden. Milliseconds had separated them both from being slain on their doorstep. The stupid doorstep Casey had insisted on building. But now was not the time for regrets or tears, for the attackers still stood there, watching them patiently. Casey scrambled to pull himself together, taking a deep breath and wiping the tears from his eyes. He pulled away from Sascha’s embrace, but kept one arm entwined with the others’, refusing to separate completely until these people were gone. Now that he got a better look at them, Casey felt his mind whirring. The girl who had recognized him… “Adelina,” he said, voice cracking. His eyes darted to the Tiger as it shifted into a wild-looking man with piercing, hostile eyes. Casey shuddered under his gaze and tried to focus on the less frightening of the two- though she was only less frightening because of familiarity. They were obviously both more than capable killers, considering how quickly he and Sascha had been incapacitated. “You’re pregnant,” Casey blurted out, nodding at her belly. No shit, he hissed at himself. “I mean… Just that it’s been a long time. Er why… why are you here? Y’know… trying to kill us and all that.” ooc| switching to a Casey/Lina perspective to have one on each ‘side’, oops. Plan ur threads, kids.

[Adelina Russovo]

Lina watched on in pitying bemusement as Casey and his winged man rushed into each other's arms. She gave a soft cluck of her tongue and a gentle coo of an "aw" slipped out as she glanced at Adi as if to say, "how cute!" She could tell Adi was growing impatient to be done with the ordeal and could feel his disappointment in not being the new owners of a secure tree house. She brushed her fingers along his arm. "We have to try to talk it out," she murmured. "Inconvenient as it is." Damn morals. She understood Casey's reaction, of course, and didn't entirely blame them. But she wouldn't have responded to an attack like this with tears, so she kept herself alert and prepared, knife still secured in her palm, the blade sheathed but ready. Part of her liked to think she was incapable of being ambushed and nearly killed so quickly, but that would be foolhardy of her. She supposed that was the pride talking. Eh, even so. She recalled Delilah saying something about "shock" and she did concede, internally, that the situation was kind of shocking from their perspective. So the few seconds they spent snuffling and hugging she allowed with some patience. When Casey turned to her again, her smile was quick and easy, perhaps too quick. She wanted to seem friendly after nearly slitting his man's throat and all. "You're pregnant!" She patted her belly, and the smile reached her eyes. "Eyes like a hawk, this one," She cracked a grin and nudged Adi with her elbow. "We've been wandering for a while. Need a place to settle down for when the little one's born." She jerked her thumb up and over her shoulder to the tree house. "Sighted you and the nice lil' love nest you got and ... Well, we didn't know it was you you. And, well ..." She paused, shrugging. "To be fair, we didn't know you had the kid." She shuffled her weight, feet aching from her belly. "We've been keeping watch for two days and didn't see hide nor hair of him. Do you ever let him out to breathe? Fresh air is good for a kid, yanno." She saw the winged man was still clinging to Casey's hand and kept eyeing Adison. "Oh, uh, yeah. This is Adison." She nodded to Adi. "He's the one that done this," She said with a raw grin, patting her belly. She glanced at the winged man, vaguely recalling him from an incident at the Oasis eons ago. "I ever met him?"  She said, pointing at his pleasing state of undress. "I wouldn't think I'd forget ..." She cleared her throat. "Wings like that." She said with a sly grin. ooc| LINA YOURE LIKE 12 MONTHS PREGNANT STOP HITTNG ON MEN U ALMOST KILLEd

[Casey DeLaney]

A chill ran down Casey’s spine and he struggled to keep his fear from reaching his face. Two days. They had been watching them for two days at least, if she was telling them the truth; Casey shuddered to think that it could have been even longer, and neither he nor Sascha had picked up trace of the intruders. Part of him was angry that this was happening while Fletcher was sick; the only few days he hadn’t scouted! Of course. But it was a bitter reminder that there were no sick days in the dome. The moment your guard was down, you could be dead. That was obvious enough now. “Ah... he’s sick,” Casey replied. “We’ve been taking care of him while he has a fever,“ He added, a hint of bitterness in his tone as he spotted the wild man smirking at them; it was like he was mocking them for their lack of diligence, and Casey bristled at the thought. But he kept his composure and again focused on Lina. He gently pressing his side against Sascha’s in some sort of subconscious response to her wandering eyes, and at the same time his irritability was soothed by Sascha’s warmth. "I don't recall, maybe... Ah, right, this is Sascha." “Anyways, you don’t look like you’re going to get much further before it’s time,” Casey scrambled to think of a place, any place, these two might stay. Anywhere but the treehouse really; he would have to convince them to go elsewhere before the intruders changed their mind and decided to take the place from them anyhow. “There’s a cave in our territory,” He said, making sure to call it that. Their territory; if he didn’t get used to the idea and start defending it as such, they would have no territory left to protect soon enough. “We stayed there while we built our treehouse… for months,” he added. Casey wasn’t sure if the fact that they labored to build this place from scratch would garner them some sort of sympathy or pity, or if the two would find it laughable. From the look on the man’s face, he thought the latter. “It’s well-hidden and defensible, if you don’t mind living in a cave.” Please, please don’t mind living in a cave.

[Adelina Russovo]

She glanced up at the tree house, looking to see if she could see the boy. But he had gone back inside as Casey had instructed. Hearing the kid was sick didn’t make her feel any better about the whole “nearly murdered a family and orphaned a child” situation, about which she was steadily feeling more and more guilty. “I know of some herbs to break fever, if he has one,” She said, brow furrowed in concern. Illnesses in the dome were no simple matter, especially for children. She knew from experience things could turn in a moment. Aunt Delilah had taught her a few things and she could remember the names of a few herbs here and there. She’d never had a mind for herbs, though, and wished she’d paid better attention. Sascha gave her a nervous smile when Casey introduced him. “Thank you,” he said, with a gentle shake of his head. “But he is better now. No fever.” Adelina nodded, shifting her weight to ease the pressure from the weight of her baby. She contemplated Casey’s offer of shelter, mulling over the situation. She knew he was right. She was due soon, and it had become increasingly difficult to keep moving for long periods of time, cutting into the effectiveness of their travel. “You guys built this place?” She mused. “I guess the Fulsi are more handy than I gave ‘em credit for.” She said, eyes crinkled in jest. “A cave is fine, I suppose. Bit damp, but we can make it work.” She paused, glancing at Adi in question. “And friendly neighbors are always a bonus if things get hairy. Safety in numbers and all.” She tried to keep a light smile, really wishing this day had gone differently. It had been going so well. “Any chance we can get a tour of the place?” ooc - wehh

[Casey DeLaney]

Phew. Casey smiled and nodded, relieved that the initial tension was dissipated. He tried not to linger on the idea that these obviously practiced killers were going to be their neighbors; maybe if they were lucky, they’d get those killers on their side. It would start with at least attempting to be civil. “Of course,” Casey said. He turned to Sascha to tell him to stay with Fletcher, but a worried thought nagged at the back of his mind. They weren’t allies yet, and Casey thought maybe it would be best if they all stayed together. “I think Fletcher could use some fresh air too,” He suggested, trying not to betray his true motivation too much. At least if Lina and the wild one… Adison, realized his intention, he hoped they would see it as a wise move on his part. “Fletcher! You can come out now!” He called, turning back to the treehouse. “Come down here!” It took a moment, but then a little face, framed with a mop of messy brown hair, peeked over the edge of the porch. Fletcher hesitated, but Casey motioned for him to fly down. “It’s alright. We’re just going for a walk,” he insisted, and soon enough, Fletcher shifted into a brown and white bird and flew down to them. He shifted back just before he landed on the ground, and then darted behind his dads. Fletcher peeked out from behind Casey for a moment to get a glimpse at the intruders, mostly staying quiet and only sniffling, wiping his nose on his sleeve as he watched. “Alright, let’s go bud,” Casey said, taking a moment to pick up Fletcher, who put his arms around Casey’s neck and buried his face in his shoulder, still too shy and upset to say hello to Adison and Lina; Fair enough, Casey thought. If he’d been a kid in Fletcher’s shoes, he wouldn’t have even come down from the tree. “It’s this way,” Casey nodded in the cave’s direction and started off, holding Fletcher close to his chest. He took a moment to cherish the feeling, the realization not lost on him that Fletcher had almost lost them; it was actually worse than knowing that he might have died. Fletcher needed them, and Casey would do whatever it took to be there for him until Fletcher didn’t need them anymore; longer if he was lucky. He glanced back over his shoulder at Sascha as they walked to make sure he was still close, and briefly checked to make sure that Adison and Lina were doing alright; that is, not murdering anyone. So far so good, but with his family at stake, Casey was taking no chances. “It’s not too far, just over the river.”

[Adelina Russovo]

Her test tightened when the little boy flew down to meet them, and for a moment she was lost wondering what Reagan would have looked like at that age, if she had lived. Lina's free hand trailed to her swollen belly, almost of its own volition, comforted by a sudden kick from her baby. She smiled at the boy when he peeked out from behind his father, giving him a little wave, taking the opportunity to slip her knife back into her boot. Introductions would come later, she assumed, as the two worried fathers were probably still reeling from she and Adi's ambush. She nodded to Casey and the five of the moved off, though she noticed that Sascha trailed behind them, presumably to make sure they couldn't attack them both from the rear. She twined one hand with Adison's, hoping it would make them look less threatening. Not getting the tree house was disappointing but she couldn't in good conscience chase them out of their home just to make it her own. Some of her father's teachings remained ingrained in her, and though she knew the way of the dome was survival first and she had no real issue with stealing or killing if the situation demanded, there had to be a point when it was too much. And harming a family with a small child was definitely too much. So she resigned herself to the cave before they reached it, mulling over the situation on the short, quiet walk, watching Casey carry his kid across two fallen logs that bridged the river that cut through the land, observing Sascha's furrowed brow as he ensured Casey and Fletcher crossed safely. The bat anthro even offered her an arm to help her cross, but Adi stepped in to help before she could accept. She thanked him softly before crossing, shooting Adi a look that told him to try and place nice. The air between the five of them was still uneasy, but the threat of violence was gone, and she felt a collective sigh of relief when they finally reached the cave entrance. It was well-hidden behind a thick veil of vines and ivy, the underbrush around the entrance thick in the right spaces to provide enough cover. The cliff face looming above was near vertical and didn't seem to have any loose rocks that might fall or cause a landslide. She looked on as Adi investigated the inside, only approaching when his head popped back out and he called her over. It was a tight fight and it made her a bit nervous having to slide down the small opening into the cave, but once inside it felt more spacious. It was cool but not too damp, though not much light reached past the thick vines. She saw where Casey and Sascha had been building a fire, smiling as she saw some drawings scratched onto the cave walls with soot. It wasn't ideal, but she knew that she and Adi could make it work here. She looked over to where Adison was standing by the cave entrance, watching her, waiting. She gave him a simple nod, saying all that needed to be said without a word. He helped her scramble out of the cave, surprised again when Sascha was there on the other side to grab her hand and help pull her up. "Thank you," She said, a little out of breath from the effort. She waited 'til Adison was out of the cave and looped her arm through his before turning to the trio. "It's perfect." she said with the ease and excitement of a young married couple buying their first house. "So I guess we're, uh, neighbors now." She said with a tinge of laughter. "About before ... We'll make it up to you all. I promise." She said, face sobering stepping forward and offering Casey her hand. Adi stepped up next to her, offering Sascha his hand. "We promise. As long as we're here, we won't let any harm come to any of you." They shook on it, Lina locking teal eyes with Casey's green, letting him know with unyielding certainty that her word was her truth, her law. They were allies now, begrudging and tense as it seemed, but she would hold true to her bond and protect them as she would her own family. ---- end thread ??? -----