Volkanenborg

[AdamZero]

"I could un-kill the nerves..." I thought aloud, but that stuff means I end up with the injuries..., I thought within. "Fuck it, I know basic first-aid spells... well...wait... okay." I nodded, remembering that one phrase didn't sound the way I thought it had at first. Fouled up once, shame on me. Fouled up twice, I need to learn. Fouled up thrice, I'm a dumbass.

I loomed over the man. There's a nice word 'Loom' on the one hand, its a tool for weaving large pieces of um... weave-able stuff, on the other hand, its a verb for standing in an oppressive and terrifying manner. Gotta love the common tongue.

A few utterances later and the man was stable. Not awake, not fixed, but stable.

"Man needs a doctor and a prayer right quick..." I thought on this, before looking to Jamie. "And we should make sure Lucas is nowhere near the operating table, magick or not."

I then looked to the lady. She said she was a deputy, and had a heavy, valid-looking, badge to prove it. Still, there was way to much death on her, despite the fading light of un-dying... well that's the wrong way to say it. more like anti-death. Un-death is zombie-ness... anyway, even though there was a magickal beacon in her gut saying, 'I gave birth and everything went okay' her eyes, hands, even her feet, were too dark, in the Grey, not to be someone who makes a living with the killing.

"Have I suddenly become a magnet for hot assassins..." I muttered, barely audible, before saying in a normal tone, to the lady. "Know a good place to eat?"

[Graybeard]

Layla was blessed (or, sometimes, cursed) with excellent hearing. "Thanks for the compliment, sort of," she smiled at the strange young man. "But you should know there's already a guy in my life." Zachary. "And don't worry; to borrow a quote from the Tejaxas Rangers, I never killed a man who didn't need killing." In the eyes of my superiors, anyway, and please don't ask about women.

"As for your question," she continued, "about the only place in walking distance is at Mittelberg, the little town at the bottom of the pass. It has an old-fashioned country inn, nothing special, but OK, and run by a nice couple. I'm pretty sure they have steaks, although I can't vouch for their quality, never having eaten there." It's in Eisenfaust territory. "My own town, out that way --" she motioned to the southeast -- "has more, including one pretty good steakhouse, but it's about 25 miles from here, and I don't think this stage is going that far any time soon." It wasn't obvious that it was going anywhere, in fact; she'd have to do something about that when she got back to Kugelheim. Only one of the two horses remained alive, and trapped in the bridle, it was whinnying in fear, its eyes rolling and flecks of foam appearing at its mouth; if something wasn't done soon, it could very literally die of fright. Not much she could do about it, though; Arty had always taken care of the horse back at home ... don't go there.

She was just about to ask for help with her sprained ankle, at least for a shoulder to lean on as she hobbled back down to her bicycle (it was all level-to-downhill into Kugelheim, and she figured she could still ride, if not walk), when she noticed that another man was joining them, with a blue-skinned woman in tow.

[Sareth]

"That's alright," I said, as I walked over to the horse in a slow and easy manner. "I'm sure he can get me the steak he ows me for that little bit of gunplay at our next stop. Volkanenborg has some marvelous steak houses."

Reaching the panicked animal, I reached out slowly, stepping back carefully and only just fast enough to avoid injury every time it started. While i wasn't exactly awesome with animals, I was alright, and the thing really did need to be calmed. Soon I was close enough to be able to slowly take one of the leads in my hand, the other reaching out to the snorting beast, letting it sniff as I crooned softly...

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Remember, when reading this, that Layla has never heard Jamie's or Marcus' names in this episode; use of the names in the text is for the reader's convenience. Layla would really be thinking "that character that fired five shots and killed Clem" and "the weird mage." She has, however, heard Lucas' name, which at this point means absolutely nothing to her. /OOC...]

Layla listened as Jamie calmed the frenzied horse. That was a nice, thoughtful thing to do, she thought; Jamie seemed like a decent person, never mind the five bullets now residing in the body of the late Clem. Well, were there really any alternatives to shooting him? There was little doubt that the three stooges would cheerfully have killed everyone on and near the stage if they'd had the chance. If Jamie and Marcus had ever come to trial over the incident (not that this was going to happen in Farrel, of course...), she'd be willing to testify that what they'd done was self-defense.

For now, however, she had a different problem to deal with. With the adrenaline surge dissipating, her ankle was starting to hurt something awful. She didn't think it was broken, but it still wasn't bearing her weight well. If she could make it back down to her bike, she thought she could make it home from there, but the quarter mile or so to where she'd stashed it was looking very long, and very painful.

"Uh, folks, I've got a little problem here," Layla said to anyone who was listening. "I've gotta go report this back down at the courthouse and get some more ... deputies ... up to clean it up. Problem is, I've sprained my ankle and I'm not getting around very well. Could one of you help me limp down to where I left my bicycle? I can make it home from there. I think what happened here is pretty cut and dried, and the sheriff isn't likely to need to talk to any of you about it." That's putting it mildly, since the "sheriff" was the one who wanted me to kill these three. "If you're gonna hole up in the inn in Mittelberg for the night, my bike is right on the way. A shoulder to lean on will be enough."

[Sareth]

"I can do one better, I think." The horse, while not exactly dopey and placid at this point, had calmed enough for me to rub down its neck and let it get a good sniff of me. I leaned down and carefully cut it free of the twisted leather traces and straps that had served to guide it and attach it to the now rather ruined stage. Leading it forward, I nodded to Marcus. "Marcus, I don't suppose you could slowly and gently lift the deputy onto the horse, and then the coachman? She can help keep him on till we get to the bike she mentioned. We'll get him into town for some real aid using this fellow." I patted the horse on the neck, going back to my soft crooning.

[AdamZero]

I blinked as the woman replied to his comment. "Then he's a lucky man, in love at least, Mrs. Sorensen." I rolled my shoulders at Jamie's comment. "There's no expiration date on that... unless its our expiration dates..." I added in an undertone. "I don't dine with dead people... they spend the whole meal talking." I sighed. Looking back at the

I nodded as I looked at the dead horse for a long moment. It wouldn't be hard to puppet it... just a little grey... it WAS freshly dead.... NO NONONONONONONONONO! Not gonna do that again... to creepy. Plus, if I puppet'ed Horse 1, Horse 2'd go ape-shit.

I reached low and reached around to carry the man with his arm over my shoulders... but I was surprised at how light he was. "Man needs to eat more. He's so damn light I'd swear he was dead." I found Jamie'd already helped the deputy up onto the now calm and free horse. I carried him and with an ease that unnerved me, got him up to the horse. Yeah... that guy wasn't right...

"My name's Marcus, by the way." I held out a hand with a smile. This, unfortunately, meant Boris had a chance to wave up in a way that Layla could see. I realized that, and said quickly, quietly. "We've all got our secrets. I won't poke if you don't." Not a threat, just a fact.

[Graybeard]

Layla's eyes got wide for a moment at the sight of Boris, but her self-control reasserted itself soon enough; aplomb was a useful skill in a Wraith, and besides, she'd lived in Kiyoka long enough to see weirder things than a man carrying a moving skeleton. (Probably.) She accepted a hand up to haul herself painfully atop the horse.

Five uncomfortable minutes later, she was at the bike, musing how topsy-turvy the world had become. This coach driver was certainly under the protection of the Eisenfaust; the entire stage line was, as an operation. He might even have been an Eisenfaust member himself. Yet here she was, helping deliver him to an Eisenfaust-controlled village where she herself couldn't safely set foot. Meanwhile, she'd killed a man claimed to be part of her own Gewehr outfit, and would have killed two others if the two travelers hadn't beaten her to it. The world turned upside down, she thought, echoing the still-legendary song at the end of a war long ago and far away ...

"Thanks very much for all the help," Layla told Marcus and Jamie. "I can't do much to thank you here and now, but if your travels should ever take you to Kugelheim, drop in at Mamma Lola's and tell the barkeep that Layla says your drinks are on her. Least I can do." And she started the bike coasting down the hill.

An even more uncomfortable hour and a half later, she pulled in at Faye's house, to be treated to the extraordinarily enjoyable, if incongruous, sight of Faye playing patty-cake with a giggling Zachary -- and grinning ear to ear herself, as Layla hadn't seen her since she herself was a small girl. Despite the pain in her ankle, Layla tried to suppress a grin of her own as her eyes met her mother's and Faye did her best to get back to a gruff, businesslike demeanor. Both of them failed.

[Sareth]

[OOC]Hee. Love the little historical reference there, Graybeard.[/OOC]

I slid into the doors of the inn, the coachmaster slung over my shoulder. Lucas was off stabling the horse, something he seemed to be more familiar with doing than I, and Marcus already had a sack of bones thrown over his shoulder. The coachman wasn't particularly heavy, though he was probably heavier than I. But it was still an awkward moment. It certainly couldn't have been dignified for him, having my shoulder digging into his gut.

I lay the man down on a table and called out to the innkeeper. "Oi! Innkeeper! I got a liiiiiiiiiiittle problem here!"

[Graybeard]

Faye and Layla enjoyed the mother-daughter moment more than either would ever have admitted, but all too soon, it was back to business, as Layla put her son down for a nap. Faye fetched an ice bag for her daughter's ankle -- nothing broken, she thought, just stay off it for a bit -- and then listened to Layla's crisp, almost clinical narrative of what had gone on at the pass.

"One thing I don't get about this," Faye said when Layla was finished. "Why didn't you just kill those three the first time you saw them? Those were your orders, you know." She wasn't sure she wanted to hear Layla's answer, but everyone is entitled to a fair hearing.

"Uh, Mom, those weren't my orders, or at least not the orders you gave me," Layla protested. "You told me that Peter had given me orders to stop them from taking down the stage. I remember it very clearly. That's why I tried to warn them off, and then got into a good ambush position if they didn't scare, which was what I thought was going to happen. Why didn't I hit them from the ambush? Maybe I should have, but I still had the hope of just putting a good fright into 'em, or at least only having to kill one or two. Didn't work out that way, obviously." She paused and silently asked herself, is motherhood making me soft? But I'm positive Mom said to stop them, not just to kill them outright; if she'd said kill them, they'd have been dead before the stage ever got to the pass, I'm sure of it. Really.

Faye, for her part, was also having some uncertainties, and they scared her even more than Layla's did. Peter's orders were very clear: kill those three. Did I screw up and tell her the wrong thing? If so, I may have put my own daughter in jeopardy through my carelessness; Peter isn't going to want to hear about the way this went. She thought for a minute and then said, "Not to worry, all's well that ends well." I hope. "Day off or no, I think we need to tell Peter that they did wind up dead. Can you hobble over to the office with me?"

Yes, she could, and a few minutes later, the women found themselves talking to the Gewehr capo. Peter listened impassively, then echoed what Faye had said. "Well, it might have been better to just hit them right away, but all's well that ends well. Thanks, Layla; you've just helped prevent a gang war that none of us wanted -- except Clem, anyway, and we're better off without him." And you also helped prevent other, more important things from going wrong that you'll never know about. "It's great to see that with all that you've been through, you haven't lost your touch. Now go get that ankle healthy again and take care of your son. When you're better, there's a gourmet cheese shop in town that needs a new owner-manager while you get back into the swing of things." He smiled as warmly as he could manage and sent the women on their way.

-----------------

And made another phone call as soon as he was sure that Layla and Faye were out of earshot. "She didn't pass."

The man at the other end listened, asking an occasional question, then said, "Well, that's unfortunate, but not a disaster. We have other candidates. Does she need to be removed?"

Peter was startled, and flattered, that they'd ask him that last question; he was afraid he was going to have to talk them out of it. This way was better. "No, I don't think so. We've done everything we can to make sure that she doesn't know about the Convergence, let alone her possible role in it. Getting rid of her at this point would raise a lot more questions than it would answer; Layla's pretty well liked around here. Not to mention that her mother would go completely ape." And I'd be the first person that she'd kill, if she knew I was involved.

The other man considered, said, "Very well, I agree. We'll focus on the others. But one thing. Make absolutely damn sure that this girl stays untouched by anything that relates to the Convergence, because if she ever gets a hint that she might have had a role in it, you will have to take her out. Got that?"

"Yes, sir," Peter said softly, as the other man broke the connection; he really did like Layla, Convergence be damned -- so to speak.

[Graybeard]

Many people took time now to think about what had happened at the pass, each from their own unique perspective.

------------

The plump woman looked at the damaged man occupying her table. "Took a knock on th' haid, did he? Wal, not much we kin do 'bout that. He'll live or he'll die." She listened as Jamie and Marcus described what had happened on the pass (omitting a few inconvenient truths), and when they were done, said, "Hm. Sounds like that coach ain't gonna be runnin' for a few days. Lemme see if ah kin git ole Clarence, over at th' farm, to haul yew-all up to Volkennyberg in his wagon. An' ah should let some folks know they ain't gonna be a stage."

She, too, omitted some truths, although she thought them. Hmmm ... That pass is close to Gewehr territory. Sounds like the three bandits might have been Gewehr pushing their limits a little -- but who was this girl deputy? Not one of ours, obviously, but if she was Gewehr, why'd she kill three of their own men? I should pass this back to the big brains. The village only had one crystal-ball communicator; on the way over to see Clarence, she'd better use it.

------------

Layla and Faye were having related thoughts as they limped home from the meeting with Peter.

"That went about as well as we could hope for," Faye said. "I'm terribly, terribly sorry I misled you. Peter definitely wanted those three dead. Not killing them when you first got there could have had serious consequences, and it would have been my fault. I've been around the block enough times that I should know better than to get sloppy in my language like that."

"Don't worry about it, Mom," Layla said. "All's well that ends well, like I've heard I don't know how many times today. But I don't get why he wanted them killed. One of the things you taught me from as far back as I can remember is that you don't throw away a tool just because it isn't perfect. I remember, when I was a little girl, you saying, 'don't break a saw just 'cause you cut your finger with it.' Isn't that what Peter is doing here?"

"Honey, there are some things we're better off not knowing," Faye answered as they neared the house. "Sounds like Zacky woke up while we were gone. Go take care of him and put all this out of your mind. It was just business." But she's right, and I'm going to do some quiet poking around, she thought. Better me get in trouble than her, and besides, I'm the one who screwed up here...

-------------

Grope was far to the west of the pass by now, but he too was hearing about what had happened there, via chipmunk-net. Chippy finished with his account that had been passed on through the tree tops, albeit with certain ... transmission errors. Grope was willing to write some of them off; he was pretty sure the horses hadn't been breathing fire, for example. And as for the rest...

"I do not know what that was all about," he told Chippy. "The Small Ones do many things that I don't understand. If that had been my own people, I would have thought it was a battle among rival tribes. But with the Small Ones, who knows? Not my -- our -- problem, anyway; I have enough to think about with matters of the trolls, without worrying about fights among the Small Ones."

Chippy agreed. "Yeah, same here, even if they're the Large Ones to me." He'd taken up a regular station on Grope's shoulder, and the two walked along in silence for a while, until Grope stopped and sniffed the air.

"I remember this place. This is where my mate and I saw the Green Elf."