Like a good puppy, Masuku didn't give any distinct reactions to the wolf's chastisement, and remained where he was until the other navi had left the clearing. Once he'd picked himself and patched himself up, however, he began to plan his next move.
It was as he was about to leave the clearing that the sniffling he had been hearing off to the side stopped and a voice called out instead.
"Wait... Wait!" The sound of motion crossed the space from behind one tree, towards Masuku, and Narcoleptina faded into sight, running towards him about halfway across. Her bag was back on her shoulder and sealed up, but there were tars streaking her face and a panicked look in her eyes. She didn't slow as she ran up to him, until she literally ran into the other navi, warping her arms about him and hugging herself to his back.
"I'm sorry you got hurt because of me! Some of the things he said, I got really scared. I didn't mean to leave you to get hurt like that! I'm so sorry. Are you ok? I didn't think he was going to stop, and I didn't know what to do!" She was actually hugging onto him quite alarmingly tightly, but if the adrenalin was keeping the sleep-deprived yawns from her voice, it wasn't doing anything to stop her other problem; a moment after that, the girl's arms slackened and Masuku felt her dead-weight slump more fully against his back.
Fortunately for both of them, her paralysis only lasted a moment this time, and she quickly regained her footing, though she didn't actually let go, choosing instead to mumble and embarrassed apology into his back. After another few seconds she stood back again, reminded of another thought.
"Let me help, here..." Darting around to stand at his front again, the girl put out one hand to press it to his chest. A pale blue light started from her palm and sunk in, swiftly restoring Masuku's health. Her brow furrowed after a moment, and she paused, waiting a few moments for her ability to recover, before doing it again. This time it successfully topped off his Hp the rest of the way and she managed a small grin, wiping at her eyes briefly with her sleeve.
"Umm... My operator would probably be mad at me for this, too, but, I think she's too out of it to notice right now, so, uhh, here." This time when she held out her hand, it was a small data packet instead, and she pressed it into Masuku's palm without taking no for an answer. Upon receiving it, the other navi would discover that it was a replacement subchip for the one he'd just used. Opposite him, the young girl blushed slightly, and grinned again, then turned the handing over action sneakily into simply holding his hand once more.
"Feeling better? I'm so glad you're alright. I wasn't expecting anything like that horrid man to be here. We must be almost there though. I hope we can make it the rest of the way before he finds us again. Let's hurry." True to her word the girl set off forward, hopefully bringing Masuku with her.
((Masuku has been restored to full Hp, and reimbursed the used subchip as well))
A walk in the woods
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Masuku smiled and then sighed "Th-thank you for the subchip....and thank you for being safe, Narcoleptina." He had now discovered that he truly cared for Narcoleptina and he was willing to protect her at all costs, even if it included his own life. He then responded to Narcoleptina's apology by saying "Don't worry. Friends help each other out, and for me, it doesn't matter if my life is in danger."
After Narcoleptina had fussed about him, restored his remaining HP, given him a subchip to make up for the one he had lost and began to walk off, Masuku followed after her, keeping his Pyre Pistol out just in case they got attacked by a virus. "He then turned towards Narcoleptina and muttered "Say, what do you think he would have done if you had actually ran away and he had found you?" This was because he was intrigued by the wolf navi: why he stole from other; what he used the money, and objects, he had stolen for and what Narcoleptina had thought of him. He was also very sure they would encounter him again.
(I apologize that I took forever to reply to that)
After Narcoleptina had fussed about him, restored his remaining HP, given him a subchip to make up for the one he had lost and began to walk off, Masuku followed after her, keeping his Pyre Pistol out just in case they got attacked by a virus. "He then turned towards Narcoleptina and muttered "Say, what do you think he would have done if you had actually ran away and he had found you?" This was because he was intrigued by the wolf navi: why he stole from other; what he used the money, and objects, he had stolen for and what Narcoleptina had thought of him. He was also very sure they would encounter him again.
(I apologize that I took forever to reply to that)
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The path continued to wind in silence, but to a certain extent the oppressive feel was lessened by the relief of being beyond their dangerous encounter. The light was still dim and the air still, but beside him, the girl grinned.
"Thankyou, hehe. You're very serious, you know that? We only just met, but you're putting yourself in harm's way..." She looked about again as they walked, but her companions musing drew her eyes downward, a little worried.
"I... I don't even want to think about it.... I mean, if he just wanted to hurt us, or take my things, that would be one thing, but, the way he spoke... It made me scared. We've both got emergency systems, of course; if he'd hurt either of us badly enough, we'd still be safe, in the end... but the things he said." Narcoleptina swallowed and bit her lip, unconsciously squeezing Masuku's hand tighter in her grip. "I... I think, if he'd caught me alone, he might have... I don't think he meant to jack me out right away. And I don't think my operator would haven even noticed until it was too late. She's barely conscious..." After a few more seconds of fretting to herself, the girl tried to perk up, putting on a somewhat weak and tremulous smile for her companion.
"But, we're both together, and we're safe, so, let's hurry on! It can't be far now, I hope..."
True enough, the path brought them through one or two more broad clearings, before the woods themselves began to thin out completely. They emerged from the far side of the woods on a slim green verge, bordering onto a fast-flowing river. It was broad and deep, and the current was exceptionally quick; falling in would probably be a critically bad idea.
A short way up-stream from them, only a few metres, really, a small group of stocky female navis were busily washing what looked like linen sheets in the fast-moving currents. Some were singing softly, and the visible strength of their arms said they'd probably been doing the laborious work for years. One of them glanced up as the pair emerged, but quickly went back to her washing.
Further down stream, by a much longer way, a broad bridge spanned the stream, and a properly defined path progressed from it on the other side. Waiting on the rail of the bridge, however, was someone neither navi particularly wanted to see. The wolf wasn't looking their way a the moment, but Narcoleptina hadn't seen him yet. She bounced slightly and giggled.
"Oh! I know where we are, we're almost there now! Just across the bridge and..." Her voice faltered into a short gasp. The wolf's ears had pricked up and his eyes turned towards them. The girl beside Masuku gasped and the wolf snarled, springing up as though he meant to come right for the pair immediately. Upstream a voice called out.
"Hurry, lass! This way, both of you!" It came from the washer-woman nearest them, who had seen the reaction from Narcoleptina, and the wolf beginning to give chase. With one arm she pulled up the sheet she was washing, then hurled outward across the river, keeping hold of one end as she did. The washer opposite her, on the other side, caught the cloth, and then both stretched the sheet taught, giving it a shake that sent a ripple of solidity through it. "Quickly, get across!"
Narcoleptina's eyes darted back towards the bridge, then towards the women upstream. She moved towards the women, but didn't seem to want to let go of Masuku's hand either, taking a step, then tugging at it urgently. The wolf was racing towards them.
((No worries at all; it's your mission after all, you control the pace))
"Thankyou, hehe. You're very serious, you know that? We only just met, but you're putting yourself in harm's way..." She looked about again as they walked, but her companions musing drew her eyes downward, a little worried.
"I... I don't even want to think about it.... I mean, if he just wanted to hurt us, or take my things, that would be one thing, but, the way he spoke... It made me scared. We've both got emergency systems, of course; if he'd hurt either of us badly enough, we'd still be safe, in the end... but the things he said." Narcoleptina swallowed and bit her lip, unconsciously squeezing Masuku's hand tighter in her grip. "I... I think, if he'd caught me alone, he might have... I don't think he meant to jack me out right away. And I don't think my operator would haven even noticed until it was too late. She's barely conscious..." After a few more seconds of fretting to herself, the girl tried to perk up, putting on a somewhat weak and tremulous smile for her companion.
"But, we're both together, and we're safe, so, let's hurry on! It can't be far now, I hope..."
True enough, the path brought them through one or two more broad clearings, before the woods themselves began to thin out completely. They emerged from the far side of the woods on a slim green verge, bordering onto a fast-flowing river. It was broad and deep, and the current was exceptionally quick; falling in would probably be a critically bad idea.
A short way up-stream from them, only a few metres, really, a small group of stocky female navis were busily washing what looked like linen sheets in the fast-moving currents. Some were singing softly, and the visible strength of their arms said they'd probably been doing the laborious work for years. One of them glanced up as the pair emerged, but quickly went back to her washing.
Further down stream, by a much longer way, a broad bridge spanned the stream, and a properly defined path progressed from it on the other side. Waiting on the rail of the bridge, however, was someone neither navi particularly wanted to see. The wolf wasn't looking their way a the moment, but Narcoleptina hadn't seen him yet. She bounced slightly and giggled.
"Oh! I know where we are, we're almost there now! Just across the bridge and..." Her voice faltered into a short gasp. The wolf's ears had pricked up and his eyes turned towards them. The girl beside Masuku gasped and the wolf snarled, springing up as though he meant to come right for the pair immediately. Upstream a voice called out.
"Hurry, lass! This way, both of you!" It came from the washer-woman nearest them, who had seen the reaction from Narcoleptina, and the wolf beginning to give chase. With one arm she pulled up the sheet she was washing, then hurled outward across the river, keeping hold of one end as she did. The washer opposite her, on the other side, caught the cloth, and then both stretched the sheet taught, giving it a shake that sent a ripple of solidity through it. "Quickly, get across!"
Narcoleptina's eyes darted back towards the bridge, then towards the women upstream. She moved towards the women, but didn't seem to want to let go of Masuku's hand either, taking a step, then tugging at it urgently. The wolf was racing towards them.
((No worries at all; it's your mission after all, you control the pace))
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"What the hell? He still hasn't given up... If he catches us we're going to be in way over our heads." muttered Masuku as the wolf began to dash towards them. He then readied himself for battle, his masks appearing on his head. Time seemed to slow down as the female navi called to them. When Narcoeptina began to pull at his hand, he nodded to her and ran with her to the riverbank where the female navis were. They both jumped on the sheet at the same time, both of them aiding the launch power when they jumped off of it. As they landed on the other side of the river, Masuku smirked and said "Well then, let's be glad you didn't actually get caught then...and still won't, eh?" before he ran away from the bank of the river, practically dragging Narcoleptina behind him.
As Masuku ran, Joshua prayed to whatever benevolent forces that may or may not exist that Masuku and Narcoleptina. As the two navi's ran as fast and far as they could, they eventually came across a small outpost on the horizon. Pushing himself as hard as he could, Masuku managed to get to the gates of the outpost. He decided to check behind him, an action he soon came to regret as the wolf NetNavi was still chasing them. Masuku then banged on the gates as hard as he could, shouting "Hey! Let us in! Or help us at the very least!" What he was met with was less welcoming than he had expected. He heard the sound of something clicking as he looked up, seeing two NetNavis, one styled like some sort of knight whilst the other looked like some kind of cat-like creature, wielding rifle-styled weapons pointed directly at Masuku. "So, we should let you in? How do we know you aren't that bandit guy, or whatever he was, that we've been hearing an awful lot about. How do we know you aren't using the girl as some kinda bait?" the cat Navi snarled, it's voice revealing it to be a female Navi. The knight Navi looked out into the distance before taping the shoulder of his colleague and stammered "B-Because the criminal was s-supposed to b-be a w-wolf Navi.... a-and the w-wold N-Navi is over th-their!" as he pointed to the wolf NetNavi who was quickly closing the distance between himself and his targets.
"Ok. Open those gates and close them when these two are through! Calibur, fire at will!" she shouted to the people that must have been in charge of the gates and then the NetNavi besides her respectively. "Y-Yes, Amay!" the knight stuttered, as he began to shoot in the direction of the wolf, who swiftly dodged the energy shots like they were nothing. As soon as the gates opened, Masuku pushed Narcolpetina inside and finally sighing with relief. "Thank God that that's over..."
As Masuku ran, Joshua prayed to whatever benevolent forces that may or may not exist that Masuku and Narcoleptina. As the two navi's ran as fast and far as they could, they eventually came across a small outpost on the horizon. Pushing himself as hard as he could, Masuku managed to get to the gates of the outpost. He decided to check behind him, an action he soon came to regret as the wolf NetNavi was still chasing them. Masuku then banged on the gates as hard as he could, shouting "Hey! Let us in! Or help us at the very least!" What he was met with was less welcoming than he had expected. He heard the sound of something clicking as he looked up, seeing two NetNavis, one styled like some sort of knight whilst the other looked like some kind of cat-like creature, wielding rifle-styled weapons pointed directly at Masuku. "So, we should let you in? How do we know you aren't that bandit guy, or whatever he was, that we've been hearing an awful lot about. How do we know you aren't using the girl as some kinda bait?" the cat Navi snarled, it's voice revealing it to be a female Navi. The knight Navi looked out into the distance before taping the shoulder of his colleague and stammered "B-Because the criminal was s-supposed to b-be a w-wolf Navi.... a-and the w-wold N-Navi is over th-their!" as he pointed to the wolf NetNavi who was quickly closing the distance between himself and his targets.
"Ok. Open those gates and close them when these two are through! Calibur, fire at will!" she shouted to the people that must have been in charge of the gates and then the NetNavi besides her respectively. "Y-Yes, Amay!" the knight stuttered, as he began to shoot in the direction of the wolf, who swiftly dodged the energy shots like they were nothing. As soon as the gates opened, Masuku pushed Narcolpetina inside and finally sighing with relief. "Thank God that that's over..."
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((I can see you've put work into this post, notably more than previously, and that's great to see; really it is. I want to be really positive about that, because it's important. I'm really glad to see the extra effort you put in here. I do have to mention a problem as well though; please read the note at the bottom when you've read the rest.))
As Masuku and his charge heeded the washer-woman's call and crossed the river, the wolf chased. He gained on the pair quickly, and was already racing out onto the taut crossing as the pair stepped off onto the other side. He had brushed right past the woman holding the sheet, but as he stepped out across it, she gave a shout, and pulled. The washer on the far side release her hold and the sheet went loose, whipping away into the current, and the wolf dropped with a surprised howl and a splash. So intent had he been on his prize that no thought of the precarious path had occurred to him, and as the fast moving, deep currents of the river pulled him down and under, a beam of light signalled his emergency jack-out triggering, and removing the would-be thief from the net.
On the far side of the River, Narcoleptina looked back over her shoulder at the sound of their pursuer being washed away, and worry became something more approaching a guilty relief; she didn't want to feel bad about the other navi being hurt, but she was still glad he was gone. As Masuku rushed them on away from the scene ,she managed to wave once to the washer-women and call a soft thank you to them for their help. One waved back, calling for them both to be careful on their way, before the pair had raced away and left them behind.
It was a good thing that they'd lost the wolf by the time they reached the small outpost amongst the fading woodland; that much of a chase over flat ground would surely have seen them both caught. The outpost itself appeared to be something of a short-term, impromptu hold-out, and Narcoleptina herself looked around with her brows furrowed, confused.
"This... None of this was here, last time I visited my friend..." She paused to yawn again, covering her mouth with one hand and blinking a few times as her jaw cracked. "Her house is only a few minutes from here... when did this happen?" The girl was half asking Masuku, and half simply pondering to the empty air, in th hopes that someone else might answer. Fortunately, someone did. Another of the navis manning the small garrison gestured to move the pair off to the side and clear the entryway, before indicating that they should sit at a small table set into a culvert by the door. Narcoleptina scooted into one of the seats, but there was room enough for Masuku to remain standing if he wanted to.
"NetPolice ordered us to set up a monitoring outpost here a week back. Increased reports of banditry and criminal activity from the woods." The officer's voice was gruff and to the point. She was fairly tall, though it was harder to tell when she sat, and had mostly human features. the one part of her that was quite alarmingly not so were her ears, which took being long to an extreme, bending back and trailing down the length of her body, winding around her braided hair, until the tapered tips of them tucked into the belt of her uniform. Green eyes flicked back and forth between Nacroleptina and Masuku briefly.
"You two came tearing from the woods like you had hounds after you. Did either of you lose any valuables or suffer any abuses that you want to report? I need to make a record, then we can get you on your way." The girl shook her head slowly, stifling another yawn and instinctively checking through her pack again to be sure everything was where it should be. Once she had confirmed, she looked across to her friend.
"I'm alright, but, Masuku, you..." She hesitated. Honesty, the girl didn't know whether her escort wanted to report the beating he'd taken while protecting her, or if he'd rather not say anything about it, considered he was fine now. A moment later, she slumped suddenly; if Masuku was seated alongside her, the girl would end up leaning on him heavily with her head on his shoulder, but elsewise she'd slide down to lying across the two seats. The officer started back, blinking and looked between the girl and Masuku.
"Is... Is she alright?" Unconsciously the other woman fiddled with a lock of long black hair as her eyes darted, unsure if she should do something more or just wait.
----
((I had to ret-con a little bit of what you wrote, as you've seen. This is because actively controlling a navi (or any character) that isn't yours is a very big no-no. It's called god-moding, and it's one of the cardinal crimes against RP, here and elsewhere. The wolf here is an Npc, but he's my Npc; only I know how he will react to things, or what he will do. As a general rule, assume that npcs that show up in missions belong to the mission mod, and respect them.
Filling in a space that the mission hasn't described yet is also frowned on by many people. I'm personally ok with it, because I -try- to be thorough in my explanations... I didn't get around to detailing what was over the other side of the river yet, so I'm going to accept you painting on the canvas ahead of me, and I'll run with it, but be aware that other mods will not let that slide, either.))
As Masuku and his charge heeded the washer-woman's call and crossed the river, the wolf chased. He gained on the pair quickly, and was already racing out onto the taut crossing as the pair stepped off onto the other side. He had brushed right past the woman holding the sheet, but as he stepped out across it, she gave a shout, and pulled. The washer on the far side release her hold and the sheet went loose, whipping away into the current, and the wolf dropped with a surprised howl and a splash. So intent had he been on his prize that no thought of the precarious path had occurred to him, and as the fast moving, deep currents of the river pulled him down and under, a beam of light signalled his emergency jack-out triggering, and removing the would-be thief from the net.
On the far side of the River, Narcoleptina looked back over her shoulder at the sound of their pursuer being washed away, and worry became something more approaching a guilty relief; she didn't want to feel bad about the other navi being hurt, but she was still glad he was gone. As Masuku rushed them on away from the scene ,she managed to wave once to the washer-women and call a soft thank you to them for their help. One waved back, calling for them both to be careful on their way, before the pair had raced away and left them behind.
It was a good thing that they'd lost the wolf by the time they reached the small outpost amongst the fading woodland; that much of a chase over flat ground would surely have seen them both caught. The outpost itself appeared to be something of a short-term, impromptu hold-out, and Narcoleptina herself looked around with her brows furrowed, confused.
"This... None of this was here, last time I visited my friend..." She paused to yawn again, covering her mouth with one hand and blinking a few times as her jaw cracked. "Her house is only a few minutes from here... when did this happen?" The girl was half asking Masuku, and half simply pondering to the empty air, in th hopes that someone else might answer. Fortunately, someone did. Another of the navis manning the small garrison gestured to move the pair off to the side and clear the entryway, before indicating that they should sit at a small table set into a culvert by the door. Narcoleptina scooted into one of the seats, but there was room enough for Masuku to remain standing if he wanted to.
"NetPolice ordered us to set up a monitoring outpost here a week back. Increased reports of banditry and criminal activity from the woods." The officer's voice was gruff and to the point. She was fairly tall, though it was harder to tell when she sat, and had mostly human features. the one part of her that was quite alarmingly not so were her ears, which took being long to an extreme, bending back and trailing down the length of her body, winding around her braided hair, until the tapered tips of them tucked into the belt of her uniform. Green eyes flicked back and forth between Nacroleptina and Masuku briefly.
"You two came tearing from the woods like you had hounds after you. Did either of you lose any valuables or suffer any abuses that you want to report? I need to make a record, then we can get you on your way." The girl shook her head slowly, stifling another yawn and instinctively checking through her pack again to be sure everything was where it should be. Once she had confirmed, she looked across to her friend.
"I'm alright, but, Masuku, you..." She hesitated. Honesty, the girl didn't know whether her escort wanted to report the beating he'd taken while protecting her, or if he'd rather not say anything about it, considered he was fine now. A moment later, she slumped suddenly; if Masuku was seated alongside her, the girl would end up leaning on him heavily with her head on his shoulder, but elsewise she'd slide down to lying across the two seats. The officer started back, blinking and looked between the girl and Masuku.
"Is... Is she alright?" Unconsciously the other woman fiddled with a lock of long black hair as her eyes darted, unsure if she should do something more or just wait.
----
((I had to ret-con a little bit of what you wrote, as you've seen. This is because actively controlling a navi (or any character) that isn't yours is a very big no-no. It's called god-moding, and it's one of the cardinal crimes against RP, here and elsewhere. The wolf here is an Npc, but he's my Npc; only I know how he will react to things, or what he will do. As a general rule, assume that npcs that show up in missions belong to the mission mod, and respect them.
Filling in a space that the mission hasn't described yet is also frowned on by many people. I'm personally ok with it, because I -try- to be thorough in my explanations... I didn't get around to detailing what was over the other side of the river yet, so I'm going to accept you painting on the canvas ahead of me, and I'll run with it, but be aware that other mods will not let that slide, either.))