exsiliumlogs | [PLOT] That's no ordinary rabbit

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[PLOT] That's no ordinary rabbit

Date & Time: All day Friday, December 14th and onward.
Location: Initiate Hold
Characters: All
Summary: The plague has taken hold and there are rampant, angry undead critters running around! Better get rid of them quick, before you attract the Scourge Horde.
Warnings: Undead attacks, localized around cute woodland critters.

[The death tolls of all the woodland animals had come around the same time. Some lasted longer than others, but for the most part, it appeared that most of the sickly animals had passed sometime in the middle of the night. The next morning, transports would awaken to find their furry friends looking...well, less than furry. Their eyes glow a sickly yellow, patches of fur fall off their body, and they continuously cry for help.

Help from whom? You?

Or the group of rampaging ghouls charging toward you?]

[ooc: Original plot post is here!. If you would like me to NPC ghoul attacks in your thread, please mark your subject line with three asterisks. (***) Otherwise, feel free to do it amongst yourselves! Please note that I won't be able to NPC threads until tomorrow afternoon.]

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Her smile was crooked and hardly there, and she allowed him to go without any more pleas for his safety. He could handle himself. She just had to convince herself that she didn't need to watch every step he took in the process.

She rushed up to the Hold as instructed, blades out and ready for the few she knew she had no choice but to engage and put an end to. Elissa had the element of surprise on her side, able to kill one before any of them even noticed. Two others rushed her and she had a more difficult time killing them, one getting close enough to nearly touch her armor before she took off its head. The others had followed Duncan away, giving her time to set up where she needed to put her trap. The flask was opened and its contents emptied in a half-circle away from the Hold, angled to catch even the few stragglers who would come around the side. It was an obvious trap if observed at the right angle, perfect for their shambling adversaries to fall into but not so difficult that an ally would trip into it.

Once she was ready, she put two fingers to her lips and whistled loudly for Duncan. "Here!" she called, grabbing out the smoke bomb. She gave him ten seconds to register her shout before she tossed it down, cloaking herself and the trap she'd left behind.

His muscles burned with fatigue, every swing of his daggers feeling more weighted than the last. It reminded him yet again of Ostagar, a protracted fight against an implacable foe of immeasurable number. No matter how many he cut down they kept coming. In his mind's eye he saw Cailan go down again, a moment of distraction that nearly got him bitten.

Elissa's whistle could not have been more opportune or welcome. He shoved his way through two trying to close on him from the front and ran again, faster now. He wanted some of them following, not all. He picked up speed before reaching the edge of the trap, sheathing his daggers and gathering himself to hurtle through the air across it in a tremendous leap.

He hit the ground in a roll, coming back up to his feet and all but slamming into the wall before him. His breathing was ragged and harsh. "Inside," he gasped, wasting no time in reaching for the door to yank it open.

She held her ground for as long as possible, afraid that if she made a beeline for the door, he'd be left behind in the smoke and she'd lose him. Elissa kept one blade out, the one not covered in flame, in preparation for any fight that managed to slip through the smoke and the trap itself. When Duncan finally was able to join her, she turned and went for the door, helping him tug it open. She gestured for him to go first and she grasped the door handle to pull it closed behind them, all too glad to get inside.

Elissa turned and took him by the arm, leading him away from the doors and the windows so they wouldn't be spotted by the undead outside and followed. She didn't take him far, just to one of the alcoves near the door and out of immediately line of sight, wary that they perhaps stumbled into a much more dangerous situation inside. Her footsteps were silent, practiced, and she all too gladly took the moment to catch her breath. "Are you all right?" she asked softly, gaze riddled with concern.

He followed her in, allowing the guidance. He was too winded to do much else. Once they were in the alcove he stretched both arms up to expand his lungs further and allow him to recover himself faster.

"I'm fine. Just need to catch my breath." Sweat plastered his hair, and he could feel it running down the backs of his knees, one of the few places his armor didn't have his clothing compressed tightly against him.

"This place may not be safe, either." He leaned to glance warily down the corridor before going back into concealment again. "At least we're good here for the moment."

"Take your time," she said, voice hushed in the hallway. There were no sounds for the moment but the Hold was large enough that if there was anything going on, it could easily have been muted down a corridor further away. She set her hand on his shoulder briefly and then straightened, looking out to ensure they had the time to take the reprieve he required. "We probably have a few minutes at least," she agreed.

He'd done enough. She needed to help. "Give me a few minutes. I'm going to scout ahead. If I'm not back in five, well..." She half-smiled. "Assume I'll be back." She wasn't going to take long, not under the circumstances.

Elissa slipped off down the hall, moving as quickly as she could afford without making any sounds. Once far enough away from Duncan's hiding spot that she wouldn't draw attention to him, she pressed against the wall. It wasn't too long before she heard the crunch of footsteps. A glance around the corner gave her a visual on the ghouls that had congregated in one of the side halls, lingering without purpose. They seemed directionless and muted, never looking her way. She went back to Duncan's side.

"There's about five down one of the halls nearby. They don't seem to be hunting like the others were. Maybe they're waiting for something."

He nodded, continuing to take deep, even breaths until some of the burn in his muscles eased back again. When she left, he kept an ear out and a silent count of the time. He took the opportunity to give himself a quick equipment check, making sure his armor was still secure, that no straps were broken, and that he still had his belt pouches intact.

He recognized the soft scuff of her boots when she was nearly on top of him again. He knew the dead would never approach with such stealth. "Damn. Here." He offered her her dagger back.

"I have a few throwing blades. Maybe we can pick them off before they become aware of us. I wish we knew more about how this happened, or why."

She took the blade and slipped it into the small sheath on her belt, adjusting her bracers while she had the moment to do so. They would need to be at their best for the close-quarters combat they were about to enter into. "I hate to wonder...but I never could tell where those animals were coming from. You don't think the Initiative was giving them to us, do you?" It was a foolish notion born out of paranoia, she knew. Who would try to kill their own recruits? "Or the United Earth, perhaps?" Neither were pleasant options.

Once she'd adjusted her armor, she finally nodded. "Picking off a few at least would give us the advantage. I just hope there aren't more so close by, or killing those five will draw more to us." It couldn't be helped, she realized, but it would be difficult.

"If they did, it wouldn't be the first time one of their number has done something to jeopardize the safety of the transports. Possibly a rogue researcher? I'd be more inclined to believe United Earth," he said, speaking too softly for his words to carry beyond the alcove.

"Before we engage, we need a plan of retreat. I don't wish to become boxed in. Let's check out the nearest office. I noticed the door when we first came in." If it was locked, all the better. It likely meant none of the creatures were inside, and they could retreat to it in stealth once they picked the lock if they needed a place to lie low.

"Killing off recruits is simple stupidity. Even when they've put us in what seemed like mortal danger, we were never in any trouble." Though that said nothing for the emotional impact for what was done to them. The VR program was a thing of the past, but it was a very clear reminder that they were helpless when it came to the Initiative if they 'made a mistake'.

Elissa nodded, slipping a hand back into her belt to make certain she still had some equipment to use against whatever they found. "Let's take a look. I know there are a few other rooms we can use, too, if things go bad." The training room probably would be overrun. A shame.

"Agreed." It was one reason he didn't think it likely that the Initiative was behind this particular attack. He decided they could spend more time working all of that out later, after it was over or they and others fighting had managed to cut undead numbers down to manageable sizes.

He plucked his lock picks from beneath a vambrace and started forward silently. As soon as he came to the door in question he took a knee and got to work. "At least all of their locks aren't electronic," he murmured.

He felt the telltale click that let him know he had succeeded and carefully twisted the knob. "We're in. Look sharp."

She followed him, turning once he went to one knee and drew one of her blades, ready to protect him if they had visitors. Elissa snorted beneath her breath. "I say that to myself every time I find one that's easy to break into."

A glance was sent over her shoulder and she nodded, at last moving so she could partially face the door in front of him. "Go ahead. I'm right behind you."

"I wonder if they teach classes on electronic lock picking," he said, being only half facetious. "Could come in useful on our missions, too." That would be how he justified it were he ever to propose such.

He nodded and carefully pushed open the door, keeping his hand on the knob in case it squeaked so that he could control it. The hinges were silent, the office almost pitch black. That was good. It meant it didn't have a window to the outside.

He crept in on a knee and immediately shifted to the side against the wall, giving Elissa room to follow. The doorway was a kill zone, always, never a place to linger. He needed time for his eyes to adjust before he would think of attempting to move further. The office was perfectly quiet. He chose to take that as a good sign, finally sliding forward with one hand out.

A few paces away he felt the smooth side of a desk. He felt up it to the surface, objects just a few inches from the edge. "Careful with this," he whispered. "Don't want to knock anything off." He continued to follow the contour around until he reached a chair. From that he stretched out a leg. "Cabinet or wall not far from behind here," he added.

"Search to your right. See if the wall is solid or if there's another door. I'm going to your left."

It would probably be something to look into. But that wasn't a thought that lingered too long at the forefront of her mind. She could return to it later.

Even in the dark and with the threat of the undead weighing heavily upon them, Elissa had the capacity to at least appreciate Duncan's skill and his slow and subtle movements. While she couldn't directly follow in his footsteps and mostly wasn't meant to, she still mimicked the motions. One hand was out to guide her, sliding along the surfaces he pointed out under his breath. She didn't respond, silent as the grave until he instructed her otherwise.

Carefully, her hand went out. Fingers brushed along the smooth contours of wood. She thought it was simply a wall. But then she felt the catch of a handle and settled her hand there. "A door," she whispered. It was unlocked, more than likely a closet. She brought her blade down only so she had the room to move to one side of the handle. With care, she opened it, looking inward for signs of movement and bracing for an inevitable strike. None came, the closet practically empty save for a few boxes of papers.

He slid to his right until he contacted the wall. Aside from storage and something he couldn't begin to identify in the darkness, he felt no doors there. He waited and listened for anything further from her. "Does it open outward or inward?" he asked after a reasonable amount of time.

He started moving toward the back wall to check it thoroughly. If there were no other ways in or out, it would make it a decent place to hide if they weren't seen retreating to it, not so great if they were seen. He didn't trust there to be anything in the ceiling strong enough to bear their weight and didn't want to spend time crashing through it to test that theory.

"Outward." She stuck a hand inside to see how far back it went, not surprised to find it a shallow closet. It had its uses, obviously, but not enough for a second hiding place for two if their enemies broke in the door.

She closed the door and moved along the wall, nearly colliding with a long table with more on top of it. Her hand brushed something plastic and dark, her eyes registering it as a machine once they became a little more used to the dark. She'd seen it used before. It was harmless and too heavy to be used as a weapon. A pity, that.

That was no good. They would have no way of holding a door that opened outward. He wasn't able to see that the depth of the closet would have made it a bad choice anyway. He didn't find any more doors.

He didn't speak to her again until he could move in close, his whisper so soft that it was a wonder it carried even to her. "This room is a possible retreat for when we have no witnessing pursuit. We should try to find another with more exits we could use either as a trap or a diversion."

Elissa gave him a silent nod, turning in his direction. It could only be used for hiding so long as they had a solid way of keeping their pursuers out. Otherwise, they could easily be overrun. "Agreed. Come on." They would need to make sure they knew exactly where this room was, though, and which one it would be. In the heat of battle, thinking clearly sometimes came second.

She made her way back to the door and opened it cautiously so she could look back out into the hallway. A few moments of listening told her it was clear for the moment and she emerged, slipping back to one side of the door so she could keep an eye out while Duncan followed.

Duncan followed her lead, as quiet coming out into the hallway as he had been going in. He frowned thoughtfully and eyed the door. "If we don't secure this in some way, we won't know that it stayed cleared. If we lock it again, that defeats the point."

He dug in a side pouch and came out with a small strap of extra leather, the sort of thing he used to repair small damage to his armor. "I can shove this partly under the door. They're not intelligent enough in their actions to think to pull it out, but it won't keep out any sentient people who may need a quick retreat, including us." He bent to do that, testing to be sure it would hold.

"Further down the hall?" He didn't see that they had much choice.

She watched him as he pulled together the rig to keep the undead out, examining the method he used to keep it secure. It was fairly ingenious and she wished, yet again, that they weren't in such dire circumstances; she wanted to ask where he'd learned it, if he could show her again so she could remember it. Leave it to Duncan to show another trade secret when she couldn't find a feasible way to learn it.

"It's too quiet," she murmured. "I'm really starting to wonder if we're the only ones alive in here." It couldn't really be possible. The Hold was too large of a building and there were plenty of people in the city who were stronger and more durable than the two of them. They couldn't be the only ones. But the hallways seemed so much more eerie when there were no sounds to accompany them.

With a single nod, Elissa moved down the hall, looking for another door that would be accessible, one without an electronic lock. They didn't need to stray too far to find another, this one unlocked. She gripped her blade tightly and gave a look back at Duncan.

"I wouldn't count on it. More likely that survivors are pinned down or being quiet like we are." That was what he hoped. Until he saw signs pointing otherwise he intended to hang onto that. "All the more incentive to keep moving. We may find them."

He waited for her to move ahead before following. Keeping some distance between the two of them made sense. It would allow the other reaction time should one of them be jumped unexpectedly. He drew close enough to back her should the room be overrun. Unsheathing and gripping one of his daggers, he nodded. He was ready.

"So long as we find them intact." She could only imagine the disaster of having one injured individual in a closed off room with other survivors. She had hope the circumstances were not so dire. Some would be found, certainly.

She pushed the door open carefully and looked inside, pushing it open only when she was under no impression that there were enemies just inside. The room was larger and seemed empty for the most part. The grip on her sword relaxed as she stepped inside and a flurry of movement to her right had her turning. Something small and furry smacked itself into her chest, small claws scrabbling at her breastplate. She grabbed whatever it was and turned, tossing it into the hallway. It was a cat, fur standing on end, eyes staring vacantly with that same dead look in them as the squirrel had. It hissed at them both.

"Yes, it's not as though either of us is carrying spare bandages or field dressing." He never did unless he was expecting trouble. Such things were too bulky and took up too much space when the things he found more useful better served.

He was just coming in behind her when she tossed it past him. He hissed through his teeth in surprise and whirled to face it. His expression was grim, his curse little more than a murmur under his breath. "Damn it. Of course it would be a cat."

For being dead, it hadn't lost much dexterity. "Did it get you?" he asked without looking her way, carefully reaching toward the inner lining of his belt for one of his throwing blades. The last thing he wanted was to spook it and provoke a quick attack.

"I usually have something but...no, not today." It didn't help that she'd been in Exsilium long enough to know her supplies were dwindling. Finding replacements took a lot of time and care, and she would often have to adapt whatever she found for her own use.

She glowered at the animal and shook her head. "No, I'm not cut." Nothing she could feel. Elissa ran her fingers quickly around her neck and found nothing smarting. "It just smacked into my armor." And none too gently; she was surprised the cat wasn't hurt by the collision.

The animal did something of a sideways scuttle, eyes now focused on Duncan. The hackles on its back were raised threateningly. "Nasty thing," she muttered.

He was relieved to hear it, grunting soft acknowledgement of what she said without taking his eyes off the beast. He worried if he was speaking and it attacked, he'd make more noise than he intended. He had never had too much use for cats. Undead ones just upped that ante to an alarming degree.

He eased his hand from his belt, the blade concealed against his palm. He didn't know if a glint would draw it's attention and didn't want to find out. He flicked his wrist suddenly. The blade embedded with a sick chukking sound. The animal went into violent contortions, and he closed on it quickly for a stomp to finish it off.

He made a disgusted sound as he bent to retrieve his weapon. "Let's hope there aren't more where that came from."

Elissa didn't have the stomach for it, wincing when he brought his boot down on the animal. "Don't mention any of this to Anders," she muttered. It was bad enough he'd gotten her to have a soft spot for more than just dogs. He'd be absolutely crushed if he heard what'd been done to a cat like Pounce.

She turned back to the room and gave it a much more thorough look around before stepping inside, pleased to see no more movement. This one was larger, with a long table pressed in the center, chairs stashed around it. It was more difficult to maneuver around to check the entire room, but it was one of the few essential pieces there. She made her way to the back wall to look for signs of a second exit first.

[PLOT] That's no ordinary rabbit

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