Hedge Patrol I

[Gerrit]

Gerrit almost refused Ram's help. It wasn't pride, it was the feeling of being responsible for Cassandra, of not wanting to fail and break. But his muscles were screaming by now and he realized that there weren't any special awards handed out for his struggles. He passed over the sleeping Fairest and sighed heavily. "Thank you." Then, before he could stop himself: "But I can take her again later on. You've fought the insects after all." He didn't want to give Ram the impression that the Render had to do all of the work on this expedition. He wasn't exactly short of breath either - it was the mental exhaustion and the aftershock of adrenaline that made him so tired. He took some deep breaths while closing his eyes and trying his best to think nothing for a few moments: no fear, no confusion, no worries.

Heeding the Summer's advice, he opened his eyes and went to get some water and food. Taking only a little, he offered some to Ram. "Thanks, should have thought of that myself." He ate in silence, mulling over their options. "I think we should try to get back home, try to find something in here when we're sure Cassandra is okay." And once he was able to rest - but he didn't want to make this about him.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-14 15:31:15	Gerrit rolls 4 to find the way home (Int 3 + Surv 1) (10 Again)	10, 10, 5, 3, 5, 7	2 successes

He looked around, trying to make sense of the twisting Thorns. Was this where they came from? He thought so. "I think going this way we're not too far off from the exit." He looked Ram straight in the eyes, not exactly pleading but signaling what he thought of pressing on with an unconscious Lost and nothing to rely on when it came to navigation than Gerrit's memory.

[Cassandra Reeding]

Focus, focus, focus. We gotta figure out... She tries to think about it but gets frustrated. Somehow in all of this, she is exhausted. She could just sleep forever, which is an odd feeling given that she is already asleep. Soon, she gets up and begins walking, already beginning to get used to not being able to see. She doesn't even know if she is walking in the same direction, but she just keeps going.

There is a shift again and brightness blinds her emerald eyes. She shrinks back, covering her face for a long moment as she finds herself in a dimly lit hall. There is a door at the end of the hall, but there are several other doors along the way on the left and right of her. For the moment, the voices and the memories seemed to have stopped. Thank God. And I don't even believe in one. Another sigh escapes her lips and she keeps walking to get to the door at the end of the hall. That is when she notices that this hall never seems to end and she never seems to get any closer to the door at the end of the hall.

She stops walking and looks around. There is complete silence, so much that even the air seems stale. You've got to keep moving. Maybe one of these doors is the way out. She could only hope. Recognizing that she isn't going to get to the end of this hallway, she looks to the other doors she passes. She opens one and sees that it looks just like the same hallway over again. She opens up another door on her right this time and there is a small shift. It is an odd shift because she is watching a memory in third person. An old memory. The anniversary of her homecoming.

"You… you got me an instrument?" Her emerald eyes are wide and she looks back to these girls who have been so kind to her, "I… I don't know what to say."

The real Cassandra watches as dream Cassandra lifts the case, clearly in the mold of a cello, and brings it with her to the table, sitting down at her chair. Tears begin to well up in her eyes and she looks back up at Triss and the others, "How?"

"We all pulled in together. We figured you might like your own instead of borrowing from the college," Triss says, a smile on her face.

Cassandra has a terrified yet longing look on her face. After a long moment, she reaches out for it and picks it up. She appreciates the feel of it. She plucks the strings a little and laughs, "Oh, you are so out of tune." As soon as she laughs, the tension in the room seems to relax. Cassandra takes out her phone and begins playing with the tuning pegs both on top and at the bridge. She looks up at them after a moment, a small smile on her face, "The strings are new, so they may get a little out of tune, but I'll do my best."

She smiles as she looks to the strings of her instrument and takes a moment to think. Wordlessly, she begins playing Memory from the musical Cats. As she plays, there is a perfect sweetness and sorrow to her sound. It is the kind of sorrow that makes you want to hold your dear ones close and treasure your days. The song affects Danica, Erin, and Triss profoundly, tears slowly welling up in their eyes. But as Cassandra plays, she feels nothing. By the end, she feels like a piece of her is missing, either taken from her by her Keeper or the Hedge when she last escaped. Who knows? But the emotional magic is no longer there for her.

As the real Cassandra watches, tears well up in her own eyes. That feeling of emptiness. She'd feel that for years to come. She's so distracted by the memory that she nearly forgets her task. Right. Her bastion. I need to get out of here. Just try, one more time, wake up! But every single door she begins opening leads to nowhere, not even to a memory. "I can make it stop." The voice echoes in her mind again. She wonders what would happen if she took the offer...

Fails to wake up

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-14 16:12:41	Cassandra Reeding rolls 1 to Wake up! (Resolve 2 + Composure 2) - 3 (10 Again)	7	failure

Will do int occult next post.

[Ram]

“Heading back might mean starting the long walk over,” Ram voiced some hesitation in that regard. Hours more trudging through the brush. At least as far as he knew. However, while he knew the basics of Hedge he wasn’t practiced in its application, at least not to the level Gerrit seemed to be “But if you think that’s our best chance, that’s what we’ll do,” he agreed meeting the Ogre's eyes with assurance.

Ram took the offered food and water and had some before hefting backpack and slumbering Changeling into position to better carry. Then he followed Gerrit.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-14 20:00:05	Ram rolls 1 to Assist Int-Survival untrained (10 Again)	7	failure

[Saber Sloth]

They take a much needed break to feed and water themselves, Cassandra still lost to her forced slumber, is swapped between the Ogre's arms.

You cannot trust the Thorns like you would trust the sun to rise, but there are tricks to suss out the capricious nature of the Hedge, and every single one of Gerrit's are being put to the test now. He might not have claimed Sacramento home for long, and as if he held Ariadne's thread, he knew the pull towards home.

And in that way they travel.

Ram Strength + Stamina To continually carry Cassandra

[Gerrit]

Looking around the confusing landscape of bristles and branches, Gerrit considered Ram's point for a moment. "I hear you, but we're already down one" two, there once was an Ethan "uh- we have to consider getting her out of here, trying to get her treated. I'd rather take the long the long way home than the unknown one. I think I remember the way." He did sound pretty sure about that. Was it that confidence that actually resonated with the Hedge? Or was the trod just well traveled?

The Ogre didn't know, didn't care. He cared about getting all of them out in one piece, about waking Cassandra up and (frankly) about crashing in his bed and forgetting about the encounter with the Hedgeborn insects. "I promise to accompany you as soon as possible if you want to go again." On some level, he knew that apologizing for wanting to get out of the Hedge was absurd, but he couldn't help it. The expedition went downhill real fast, at least in Gerrit's opinion. Sometimes it's wiser to know when to call it quits.

[Cassandra Reeding]

No, she can't take the offer. She's got to focus.

Walking down the never ending hallway, she just decides to continue into random doors. Every single one seems to just lead to no where. As she does, she thinks, Come on. You worked under the damn Onyx Thane. You have knowledge, so use it. Find it. She steps into another hall and another flash occurs in front of her.

“How are things going with Phillip?” Right. That first conversation after her assignment with Black-Eyed Susan.

Cassandra gazes up at Black-Eyed Susan with a similar quizzical expression before she realizes exactly where she is going with this. She considers another moment, before sighing, “Phillip is Phillip. Profoundly passionate, but incredibly secretive.” She cocks her head to the side a little, crossing her arms over her waist, “Why?” She may know where it is going, but she wants to hear her say it.

“Well it was your assignment to keep an eye on him, find out more about what makes him tick and what his current machinations might be. What have you learned?”

“He is nearly impossible to read, so much so that it is almost frustrating,” A true statement, “He hasn’t told me what he is up to, but he is fond of me. It is only a matter of time, but it is a delicate situation. It takes time and it has barely been a week since you’ve given me this task. If one tries to rush information like that, it becomes suspicious. He needs to trust me to open up to me like that.” Cassandra's specialty - never quite lying, but never giving the truth that one is looking for.

“I noticed you and Phillip have become very close quite quickly,” she says, fixing her black eyes on Cassandra to watch her closely. “While this is advantageous for our purposes, I worry that you could be swept up by his charm. I know, as grating as he is, he does have ways of being charismatic when he wishes it. On the other hand, if you are going to his bed out of a sense of duty to the court, that is admirable but I want to make it clear it is not required. That is one length to which I would not ask a woman to go.”

“Phillip has always been interested in my companionship, whether platonic or otherwise. It wasn’t difficult to simply give in to his advances and show romantic interest. I think he needs it - companionship,” Again, she pauses, considering her words, “Your task for me was not just to gather information from him, but to soften him, was it not? I appreciate that you would not ask me to go to his bed, but it would make this task far easier.” She never did believe in seduction, finding it distasteful, so it helps that her assignment was to spy on her boyfriend while actually spying on the Thane. She sighs a little bit, “Again, these things take time.”

“Of course it will take time to soften up Phillip, perhaps you can even tame him somewhat, who knows; encourage him to be more of a team player, or at least to show some decorum. But I doubt he would let himself be manipulated easily, you will have to continue to be very subtle and methodical in your dealings with him." But technically, if she were to think about it, she accidentally did exactly what Black-Eyed Susan wanted, didn't she?

Almost like waking from a dream, she takes a step back. That was not helpful. I need something related to what she's taught me, not how I deceived her for over a year. C'mon, think. Why can't I wake up? Was it the sting? Is it something else?

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-15 14:25:52	Cassandra Reeding rolls 4 to Why can't Cass Wake up? Int 3 + Occult 1 (10 Again)	3, 5, 6, 9	1 success

[Ram]

Ram nodded, it was reasonable. Still, he mentally prepared to hike another day’s walk of at least half a dozen hours with the extra weight of Reeding in his arms. Though the weariness of what they had walked already would probably be more of a problem. The Polychromatic felt waifish and light in his arms right now. As if she were made of light. He held her as tenderly as he could without dropping her, afraid he might break her frail form. Ram sighed, at least the weight of the food and water would be gone by the end of the day.

“So,” he said a bit hesitantly “We should plan ahead for at what point we stop and make camp.” He didn’t like the idea, but he liked ‘hike till we drop’ even less. “We’ll have to stop at a point where we’re still fresh enough for one of us to stay up and keep watch.”

5 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-15 20:32:00	Ram rolls 8 to Str+Stam (10 Again)	7, 9, 10, 6, 5, 4, 8, 8, 9	5 successes

[Saber Sloth]

Within Cassandra's dream, there is a flash, a snapping clap of thunder, lightening sheering through her as her mind snares upon the cause. Within the flash, everything gleams an unforgiving white. Drawn back into the nightmare of those unforgiving pixies gnawing upon her flesh, another flash, inverted and black has the shapes changing into the more uniform insectoid shapes that had crawled and gnawed upon her.

She sees it in that floating dream logic, watching her own memories, seeing the pinchers and stingers, injecting something into her bloodstream. It gleams like poison in a movie, but coloured like sleep.

The Ogres, awake and watchful. Making decisions, Cassandra in Ram's arms, and continue walking.

Can I get another INT + Survival, and firm decision if you want to make camp

[Gerrit]

Without Cassandra in his arms, Gerrit could concentrate better on sorting his thoughts just enough to continue making heads and tails out of the labyrinthine foliage around them. "I think we can go on for a bit." It was hard to say here when exactly it got dark, but his gut told him they'd be able to make it home in time. The idea of spending the night in here, not knowing what would happen to Cassandra and if there were even less friendly creatures around made him almost physically sick.

"I think we're not too far off though. I think I can go on for a while." That wasn't really a lie. Sure, he was spent but he also knew that he could power through being spent for quite a long time. "Just trust me to either get us out quickly enough or tell you soon enough if we should look for a safe place." Of course, looking for a safe place could also take time they could rather use to get away from the danger entirely.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-17 15:39:30	Gerrit rolls 4 to find a way home (Int 3 + Surv 1) (10 Again)	8, 8, 6, 1	2 successes

Voting against making camp.

[Cassandra Reeding]

Cassandra screams as thunder crackles in her mind, her thoughts blinded by the light of lightening. She shields herself, tears rolling down her cheeks. Sinking to the floor, she cries, "Don't touch me!" she is swatting away at the air, panic consuming her body. Her body feels as if it is out of air, her chest and throat feeling tight with anxiety. She shakes, holding her body as she cries. But then things begin to change... They aren't the Faceless Man's pixies. She takes a deep breath, the memory of being bitten by the Hedge insects becoming more fresh in her mind.

They... they injected something into me. A sleep poison? Try again. Try to wake up. If not, see how to counteract it. If it can be counteracted in the dreaming world. Otherwise the boys will need-... Are they okay? Where is my body? A new kind of panic consumes her. What if she is lost in the Hedge, her body just laying somewhere in the thorns, ready to be plucked back by her Keeper? What if the others have been captured? "Shit. I need to wake up!" Nothing happens.

The panic she feels just doesn't help. "Fuck." She feels stuck and helpless.

"How could you ever doubt my love for you?" That smooth, incredibly beautiful voice echoes again in her mind. He'd always do that. Hurt her and promise to make it stop, then hurt her again. Days and nights filled with music, blood, and tears until she felt nothing anymore. Until she was nothing more than a hollow shell and a broken toy. No amount of love or affection could sway her, no amount of pain could make her be what he wanted. Sometimes she wonders if she really escaped on her own or if she was just let go as a failed experiment. "I can help if you'd only let me,"

"No." She has resolve, but everything else is lacking. There's got to be another way to beat this thing here. I just need to find it. She takes off running again in the endless hallways, but only finds emptiness at every door.

Still doesn't wake

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-17 17:03:18	Cassandra Reeding rolls 1 to Wake Up! Resolve + composure - 3 (10 Again)	3	failure