3/19/2003

04:52 PM

Logfile from Chase.

 

                                   Tundra                                  

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Surrounded by mountains this area of the tundra can be the most chilling and treacherous in Hokkan. The winds blow strong down the foothills and send arid, freezing temperatures over the land. Nothing remotely close to vegetation grows and even the animals are scarce. What wild dogs do show themselves only come out when the winds have ceased. The majority of animal indications are shown by the ivory bone's of creatures in the snow that were chilled to death while trying to cross this region. The fighting has been bad here, as shown by disturbed earth and several war camps scattered through the hills.

Namame(#320) is here.

Exits: Tolan       (to Hokkan)

       Blue Tent   (to Blue Tent)

       Green Tent  (to Green Tent)

       Yellow Tent (to Yellow Tent)

 

Hear that, kids? That would be the sound of an army approaching the camp's position, intent on taking the area for themselves, and the occupants as hostages. They're a good distance away, far enough to be turned aside, though the Hokkanese will have to act quickly in order to do so.

 

Namame had been sitting on the rocks outside camp again, watching the horizon almost idly until the sounds of the approach are caught. Sitting is forgotten as he jumps up to stand on the large rock he'd claimed to search for other signs of approach. "Tch, idiots! ...we have company. I think those Kutouese dogs want to be taught another lesson."  At least Namame isn't bothered by it all?

 

Is this Hatsui's cue to find a good hiding place? Or just to stop helping the healers deal with the wounded? For that's what she's been doing, shuddering a bit at the conditions and supplies they have to work with. Mental tally of reasons she was never allowed out here before: Four. Or four thousand, depending on how you want to count it.

 

Tomite was up late into the evening, fletching arrows and getting an ear-full of all kinds of great phrases that he'll have to try out at another time -such wonderful things you can learn from the soldiers, an absolute font of information. Not much rice wine was involved, but it was enough to have the boy wake a little later today. He emerges from the tent, stretching, and then peering over to Namame at his words. He trots over towards the other, bounding up to join him on the rock. A wry grin makes its way over his features. "Kutouese."

 

Namame nods, pointing to the horizon, though the others might not spot the soldiers just yet.  "You wanted a fight, Tomite? You just got one, and that army is heading straight for us."  So, as much as he'd wanted to keep the boy from getting involved in this side of the fighting, that option has just been taken away. "Hatsui, I think this is one of those times we agreed on. If you can't stay inside one of the tents, then stay behind the rocks." Even as those words are spoken he jumps down from his former perch and heading off at a run toward the tents of the soldiers to give them the warning. Once that's done, he nods to Tomite, leading two horses toward where he had been standing.  "You can fight better on horseback than I can, but we need to get there quickly."  Once he's in the midst of the fighting, he can jump off and get up close with the enemy. 

 

Hatsui lets a brief flash of irritation cross her face, but nods and moves to hide swiftly behind the rocks where she can still see what's going on, and, if necessary, defend herself. "Take care of yourselves, /both/ of you," she warns quietly, inwardly grateful for Yasashiku's shielding once again. Maybe now she'll actually be able to get through this.

 

Tomite watches the horizon, picking out the shapes easily. An almost excited light glimmers in his eyes, grin tickling at the corners of his lips. He continues to watch the far-off line until Namame returns, leading the horses. "It's about time," he mutters, bouncing off of the rocks as well, only to reach over to swing up atop the horse with ease. Sure, scouting and picking off strays is fun, but the front line is /way/ different.

 

Namame smirks at Hatsui. "Tch, you act like we're going into something difficult, you stubborn woman." No, being outnumbered three to one isn't at all difficult, not by a long-shot. That the Kutouese army is now much better equipped and their soldiers much less battle weary shouldn't be thought of as a problem, either. "C'mon, Tomite, you lag behind and I'm gonna leave your ass."  It's laughed as he finds his way to the saddle to spur his horse into an all out run.  Of course, the fighting won't be far away, and Hatsui will get to see her share of it, but that just makes things better, ne?

 

Hatsui just isn't going to mention her little mental tally of things, nope. "If it gets closer, Tomite, draw on me. I'm fine," she says to the teen, giving him a stubborn look. "And you might need the power. Don't you /dare/... never mind. You'll do it anyway. Good luck." Yay for hiding now. ^.^

 

"What do you mean lag behind, old man?" Tomite can say that now, easily. He wheels the horse around, flashing a glance back at Hatsui and giving her an almost warm smile, "Sheesh. Don't worry so, Hatsui." He finally has something to spend all that energy on that people are constantly whining about. Heels kick at the horse's sides and the animal is immediately lengthening into a run after Namame and his mount.

 

Once the two reach the front of the approaching line, they'll notice that a good half of the Kutouese army is made up of males barely old enough to shave, much less fight. The rest are men fresh from deep inside the country, where the fighting is just a rumor spread to keep the monotony of days down to a minimum. Archers have been placed near the back, and they begin doing their job almost immediately.

 

Namame doesn't even slow his horse before jumping from its back and heading at the line of soldiers at a run. This time he's going to have no choice but to call on his power, but he does so so quickly that there's barely time to notice. Sheets of thick, jagged ice are flung at the soldiers as he draws his sword. No, he didn't forget how 'fun' this could be, not at all.  If Hatsui is watching, she's going to get to see her share of blood, but the few soldiers able to make it into this battle aren't going to be able to keep the enemy from reaching the camp altogether. Already, two soldiers are heading toward Hatsui's position, intent on bringing the attack closer. Unfortunately, they're barely old enough to be called soldiers.

 

Hatsui is watching with the grimness that one watches a train wreck or any natural disaster -- some sort of twisted fascination, one might suppose. The young soldiers are noted, and several possibilities run through her head; to stay and hope they don't notice her there, to run back to the camp and warn those there, or to confront them? Morals wrestle with efficiency, and, in this case, efficiency wins out. She's warned the camp in the best way she thought possible. Therefore... she's staying right where she is. Yep. She has sense. Really.

 

Tomite gives a pull to the reins of the mount, turning the animal to the side before draping the straps at the side to free his hands. He isn't so quick to leave the horse though, reaching back to slip the bow from around his back, fingers plucking up an arrow as well. No powers of any sort are employed quite yet as he nocks the arrow, sights and lets fly at one soldier, immediately reaching for another, and so on. He aims for those soldiers that at first get a little too close to Namame or any of the other Hokkan troops.

 

The soldiers are beginning to fall at a better rate now, though there are losses on both sides. Tomite's arrows take down their share of the enemy, though more quickly move in to fill their place. The push toward the camp continues, however, and these troops seem bent on taking that position as if their lives depended on it.

 

Namame spotted the two that slipped by to approach Hatsui's position, sending out a sheet of ice to take them down as well. It's an effort that will cost later, and the girl will get a very nice view of the carnage that is left behind, but at least the soldiers have stopped. He's since stopped worrying about Tomite's position, though he's still got enough presence of mind to avoid the other seishi as well as the soldiers on their side. There's going to be a lot of blood left over from this fight.

 

Hatsui will not be indignant, no. That would require the fact that she actually wanted to fight. Closing her eyes, she gulps and moves to a better hiding spot on the lee side of the rocks, away from the battle. A tentative touch sneaks past the shielding set upon her and reaches for the most focused mind out there in the battle that isn't Namame or Tomite, seeking the commander of the Kutouese force and focusing upon that alone for the moment.

 

What? More? Suppose it would be better to get more bang for each arrow. Tomite directs the path of the horse with a nudge of his legs, still keeping his hands free. He nocks another arrow, takes aim at a grouping of enemy troops that were apparently directed to stay together instead of spreading apart. As he lets the arrow fly, instead of one it changes into a good dozen but made of ice to rain down upon them. How is that for efficiency?

 

Hatsui won't have to try so very hard to get to the commander of this army, he's staying well back from the fighting. He's smug, however, and bent on winning this confrontation quickly. The arrows are doing their job nicely, a full quarter of the enemy falling under ice arrows raining down on them. The ice shields are doing quite a bit of damage as well, and the enemy seem caught between retreat and pushing forward as ordered.

 

Namame is trying to push for retreat or all out victory, taking down as many of the Kutouese soldiers as he can with each use of power as well as his sword. At least there's no danger of the cops coming in to break things up. Here they're allowed and expected to fight, and it's so much easier to figure out just who the enemy is. His sanity, however, has taken a nice little trip overseas, and he's relying on instinct to take down the appropriate soldiers.

 

Orders be damned; that commander had better hope that someone in Kutou either kills him when Hatsui's done with him, or that they've a good place to put him, for she's picking through the man's mind and, abruptly, seizing upon one thing, ripping it free from its seals with a mental crack and shoving what is his worst fear into his face just before snapping the ties of sanity for the man. It really can't be good for orders to have one's commander likely run screaming like a drooling lunatic.

 

Tomite offers up an almost triumphant yell, wheeling the horse around once more as the enemy soldiers look awfully confused. Adrenaline getting the better of him, as it often does, he gives the horse a firm kick to send it straight at the enemy lines instead of flirting along the edges of it as he had been doing, hooves rending the fallen bodies. Another arrow is loosed, multiplying in midair to many more.

 

With the commander gone bye-bye, the force sent toward the camp quickly loses morale, allowing themselves to be pushed back until it's a full run of retreat toward the border. There are a few who might be seeking promotion or glory, but those can be picked off by the seishi quite easily by Tomite's arrows.

 

Namame lets out a cry of rage, running toward the retreating troops as if angry for their departure. A few are taken down as they attempt to flee, both sword and ice mowing them down in the wake of Tomite's arrows. Did he mention that it's good to be back in a war? Of course, it's not good to be back in psycho-land, but that's beside the point. These Kutouese are going to die.

 

Hatsui rests her head back against the rock, opening her eyes again and rubbing her temples with gloved hands. It was a Kutouese commander, and bent on killing those she loves and harming her country, but that hurt to do all the same. Peeking out from behind the rock once she's eased the headache to a point, her eyes widen at the carnage and Namame in the middle of it. "Stop!!!" ... one could almost wish for the cops at this point.

 

Tomite doesn't stop the flight of the horse, actually urging it faster as he quickly finds himself in the midst of the retreating troops. But his gaze is already scathing over the area to locate the command area. Once finally sighted, he directs the animal in that direction, opening his path with more arrows. Namame's wrecking havoc is hardly noticed as nothing but a angry buzz to his senses, but dismissed as he strives to reach the commanders.

 

Tomite's arrows strike their targets, taking down the few commanders left and quickening the pace of the retreating soldiers all the more.  There are bodies everywhere now, in the armor of countries, and the ground has been covered in blood. It's going to make a nice view for the scavengers, at the very least.

 

Namame heard that, but he was /fighting/! Still, Hatsui's order to stop cause him to do just that, and he nearly falls over in the midst of the mess he's created in his immediate area.  He does have the presence of mind to sheath his sword, at the very least, though it's going to have to be cleaned later. For now, he'd rather not be holding onto it. It's bad to become the embodiment of friendly fire.

 

"Tomite, you IDIOT!" Hatsui yells at him, cheeks warming with bright colour as she watches the boy ride into the middle of fleeing soldiers. At least he's taking out the commanders, but... "Hikitsu's late. I'm gonna kill him. Yep." Question is, does she want to risk going down into the carnage and insanity to get him to stop? "Namame, get him to stop! And don't hurt him!"

 

Tomite reins the horse in hard as they overrun the command position, the animal's hooves  skittering across the dirt. He is already leaping from the back of the horse, landing lightly upon the ground. No, he isn't whipped like Namame, so a yelling Hatsui isn't going to make him stop any time soon. Nocked arrow is left in the lowered bow, ready to pick off any passers-by that get too close. He kicks over one of the fallen commanders, making sure he is dead before moving over to the next one.

 

Namame would have listened, but Tomite stopped, so he's just going to take down one of the soldiers retreating too late to get out of his range as well as sending one last shield of ice to cover the backs of the retreating soldiers. It's an odd move, and not one he'd have done the last time they were here, but he's not going to kill them _now_ as long as they're retreating.. he'd feel guilty about it. He has just enough sanity left to know that. For now? Guess who's gone psycho. Just guess. 

 

"Now I know what Darren feels like when /I/ go kiting off..." Hatsui mutters, then skids down towards the battlefield, ignoring when she steps on bodies for now in her haste to get to Namame. Ick, ick, ick, that was not a hand she just stepped on, and no, Hatsui, that body did not just move. Well, whether or not Namame wanted Hatsui to see him like this, she has -- and it's the battlefield that disturbs her more than the madness. She's keeping a wary eye out for anything directed at her, though the majority of her attention is focused upon Tomite and Namame. "Namame, it's over," she says to him, then glances at Tomite. "For now, it's /over/."

 

Tomite kicks over a couple more bodies, making sure they are indeed dead. But, inevitably, a couple of stray retreating troops offer a little angry resistance and the boy looses an arrow at them, ducking away from any swings with a smirk. Alas, seeing as his horse ran off, the kid is returning on foot across the field, eventually, stepping over bodies but not before claiming arrows now and again. His progress is slow as he approaches the others.

 

Namame glances over the bodies, then to Hatsui, and shakes his head. "Stubborn woman," is all he says as he's pulled back toward sanity, though he's still going to be a bit psycho after all of this.  At least it wasn't a major battle, and he won't need to be tied down afterward.  "It's over for now."  He's certain that wasn't a solitary advance, it was over too quickly to be. Then again, with ice arrows raining down from the sky and sheets of ice mowing people down, it was destined to be a shorter than normal battle.  "Any get through?"

 

"So I'm stubborn," Hatsui says, then glances around and pales further. "I don't think so... the only ones I know who did were taken down by you when they got near me, but... can we go clean up now?" She's not going to be hysterical, nope; she's a Genbu, she can deal with blood and guts. "Tomite..." She's about to wind up to yell at him, then she shakes her head. "Well done." What the...?

 

Tomite eventually arrives, not looking too bad for the wear. His step isn't quite so bouncy like before, but there is something of a draw to it that lends to the fact that he is certainly in improved spirits. Despite all of the carnage, he doesn't seem to actually mind it at all, or is just glossing over it. He reaches down, wiping a hand smeared with blood upon the sleeve of a fallen soldier before looking to Namame for a moment, and then over to Anana, "See, not a scratch. Nothing to worry about..." Wait. "When did you come out here?"

 

Namame nods, turning to head toward camp and shaking his head again. "Tch, stubborn, I told you not to come out here."  However, the suggestion of cleaning the blood off is not going to get a complaint. Nope. "We can talk about this when we're not surrounded by bodies."  There, that said, he's going to go find some way to clean the blood off, because he's nearly covered in the stuff, right down to the smudges on his face. ..at least, they might be smudges. He'll figure it out when he's had contact with water. "You shouldn't have come out here at all." 

 

"After the worst of it was over," Hatsui replies to Tomite, "or did you mean mentally? Either way, you told me to hide, but you didn't say for how long, and you didn't say not to get involved, Namame, but please, can we go?" She's already moving back towards the camp, pausing briefly by one of their soldiers to close his eyes, and then by another to pull bandages from a pocket and wrap up a gash. At this rate, she's never going to leave.

 

Tomite shoots Namame another glance, and then a look to Hatsui. "Go on, you two... I'll keep an eye on the clean up." Yes, clean up. Must get another horse and hunt for unwelcome stragglers. He gives Hatsui a gentle push to try to get her to move on before turning back about to speak to a couple of their own commanders.

 

"Stubborn woman, you can't stop to save them all. Save your bandages for when it matters."  It might seem harsh, but Namame's being practical. "Half of the wounded won't make it through the night, bandaged or not."  Tomite's offer to 'clean up' is given a nod and he continues the walk back to the camp, leaning against the rock that he'd been watching the horizon from once he reaches it, though it's a bit of a walk and he /did/ lose his horse. Oh well, they'll come back once the fright is gone and they're hungry. 

 

Is it strange that Hatsui's listening to Namame for once, and Tomite? Perhaps, but she's tired and not about to admit her part in that little battle, though Tomite likely would've sensed it. Rolling up the bandages, she nods to Namame, then glances at Tomite. "You're going to come talk to us after you tell Uruki everything, right?" she says, making it less of a request than a statement before she tucks the bandages away again, offering the healers now entering the battlefield a weary smile.

 

Tomite waves a hand vaguely to Hatsui, more of a shooing motion than anything. "Sure. Whatever. Just go." He mutters something to a guy more than likely twice his age, a request for another horse so that he can go about his hunting momentarily.

 

Namame has just noticed something. No Uruki. Not that he minds, because this was just a minor fight to keep the camp from being raided, but it /is/ strange. He'll figure it out when he's not smelling like blood and guts.  "I'm going to find hot water," he mutters, heading for his tent tiredly. "Damned Kutouese.."  At least they made the day interesting? "How many'd you get to, Hatsui?"  He has suspicions.

 

Hatsui twitches a little bit at the question as she heads towards the camp. "The commander behind the lines. I need to tell Uruki the stuff I got from him, but not until after I've cleaned up a little bit, and the same for /you/, Namame," she says, switching the topic quickly as she catches the attention of one of the healers. "Water, please. Hot, if you can spare it." The healer, a young man who seems to view the seishi as saviors of Hokkan in all aspects, nods with widened eyes. "Hai, Hatsui-sama."