The roar of hooves beating against the ground id deafening as the stampede of antelope surges full-force around them. Dust swirls and whips into the air, choking, blinding. The crouching knightsteeds take the initial brunt of the onslaught, but one small mercy is that most of the antelope choose to go around or jump over them. For the moment, hooves only clip them, which is no worse than taking a glancing blow from a mace.
Souhait remains braced: in the middle of a stampede, there's little else he can do. He hasn't the kind of skill with glamour that would allow him to take a shape wholly unlike his own, but he does push his glamour to its maximum to make himself look larger and more frightening: a fearsome nightmare clad in full plate barding, snorting flames and with metal spikes bristling from the armor.
Hannah tries her best to watch the strange, pink creature in the middle of the stampede, but the dust and the sheer number of antelope make it pretty hard for her to see it. She does feel as if she should know this rabbit somehow...and she gets a dark, sinking feeling at the very thought.
Minstrel Sam clings to Souhait, riding in front of Tristan as if he were a wayward child - come to that, this isn't far from the truth. He quails before the onslaught of hooved terror. "Five minutes ago would have been an excellent time to run," says his very tiny voice. "Now? I think now's a good time to give these creatures a reason to avoid us. Can you think of any?"
Tristan is hunkered down behind his horse, and stringing his bow. "You know that thing?" he asks Hannah.
For her part, Peaches uses a much subtler glamour, giving off an aura of rocky solidity. She even takes on a stony appearance, and makes sure Hannah is always in her shadow.
Hannah shoves herself even closer to her Knightsteed and yells into her ear, over the din, "The next time I doubt your intentions of protecting me, just pull my hair or something, all right?"
The horse-shaped boulder wuffles something in reply.
Hannah calls back to Tristan now, "I think I do...but that's a long story, and a ridiculous one, to boot! The short of it is, I believe it used to be a troll!"
"Wait, one troll-turned-rabbit stampeded all these antelopes?" Minstrel Sam calls back disbelievingly.
Alas, the din doesn't help Soulhait maintain his glamour. His form flickers, shifting between a nightmare and its ordinary form. Peaches, though, does an amazing impersonation of a rock. And for the moment ... it's fortunate that Soulhait is near Peaches! The dodging around and leaping over is more due to trying to avoid the huge boulder in their path than some monstrous horse.
"Whatever it is now, its temperment hasn't improved!" Tristan shouts back over the din of the stampede. He nocks an arrow to his shortbow, and rises enough to see over Souhait's back. He tries to sight on the troll-rabbit, and will take a shot if he gets one.
And ... the rabbit appears to be gone. Tristan does get a good view of a charging antelope, though!
"It's probably not an ordinary rabbit now, is it?" Hannah replies, shielding her eyes from the dirt and dust. "If it was once a troll turned magically into a rabbit, it's got to be a KILLER rabbit!"
But.. it was so cute! And pink! Peaches expresses stonily.
The minstrel clings to Souhait's neck like a burr. "First things first, lass, what do you want to do about this storm of grass-burners?"
"We have to wait for them to go by first!" Hannah shouts back. "D'you really want to try standing up in the middle of this stampede?"
Tristan has no better ideas than to wait out the stampede, at this point. He keeps watching for the troll-rabbit, turning 360 to see if it's gotten ahead of them now.
This is one huge herd. It seems like near a thousand beasts are charging by! The one that was heading straight for Tristan leaps and goes gliding over the group. To make matters worse, each time the rabbit laughs, it seems to come from a different location! First right, then left, then above ... then behind. With all the dust and movement, though, it's impossible to find.
The old man protests, "Souhait's standing up for the both of us!" He sighs and then swings his lute to the fore and breaks, incongruously, into a song, focusing his efforts on Souhait's glamour, the one he sensed the Knightsteed was trying to create.
o My armor is forged of silver fire, my shoulders bear sharpened spikes, I am the nightmare of your own desire, I am the song that the Devil sings, o
o Hellfire dancing in my eyes, my coat is black as coal, anteloeps are so quick to up and rise, and then fly away as a whole o
The flickering image of a nightmare suddenly surges in full force. The beastly image stands tall, heads above the stampede. There's cries of terror from the antelope and they suddenly split, surging off in every direction. One of the panicked creatures, though, decided the nice, big, boulder was a great object to rebound off of ... so Peaches gets a rather painful stab of hooves into her side. She just knows that is going to bruise ... and be visible! Thankfully as quickly as the stampede was upon them .. it begins to disperse, the roar scattering to the four winds.
The fey knight rises cautiously, his bow still at ready. He's still trying to see what happened to the rabbit-troll. Souhait whickers to Minstrel Sam, turning to nose the man's shoulder. Thanks.
Peaches shakes off her glamour, and checks over Hannah before trying to deal with her own bruises. Priorities, after all.
The minstrel grins. It seems to have worked -- er. He tries to hide the look of surprise and sweeps a bow to the departing antelopes. "Thank you, you've been a wonderful audience!"
The tall grass has all been trampled down, as have several of the antelopes. Their corpses lay nearby, legs bent at odd angles and chests caved in in spots. Still no sign of the rabbit.
As soon as it's safe to do so, Hannah stands up and walks over to the Princess' other side, so she can inspect the place where she got trampled on. To everyone else, she asks, "Are all of you all right?" Then in a lower voice to the Knightsteed, she asks, "I have something that will help with the pain of that bruise...?"
Tristan half-smiles. "I would give you a round of applause, good sir, but I fear my hands are full. Dear lady, have you any way of locating that beast?"
Peaches wuffles Hannah's hair, giving a little nod of ascent to the offer of medication. She pointedly does not glare at Souhait for causing the antelope to panic more.
The old man wipes his hand over his brow as he swings his lute back. "Fine here, lass, I could go for a stiff drink, though!"
Peaches fur on her side has a few bloody spots where the hooves slightly tore into her skin, but the wound does not seem to be too serious.
Hannah actually grins at that. "So could I, Sam." Then she takes a small jar out of one of the pouches at her belt and starts carefully daubing some kind of ointment on the mare's flank. "I can try scouting about for the rabbit, but after that herd trampled all over this place, I doubt I'll find much. But I'll do my best."
The minstrel surveys what's left of the camp. "Hope no one wants seconds," he quips. "You say it used to be a troll, Hannah? How did that happen?"
Tristan shakes his head. "It's hard to imagine trying to rest with that monster still about -- even if most of our possessions had not just been trampled to splinters. But I can think of no way to find the creature either."
It's still only a rabbit, Peaches notes to Souhait. How bad could it be?
The girl grimaces as she continues treating the Princess. "A large band of trolls surrounded Pelles' old tower and trapped myself and the Countess Redmane inside. To get rid of them, we dropped some of the mage's old potions upon them, which we found in a trunk, I believe. They turned into pink bunnies and yellow chicks." She muses for a moment and adds, "Then we squashed them with a elephant. It was also pink. It had wings."
Souhait eyes Peaches. Rabbits do not cause stampedes.
"Oh... Oh!" The old minstrel rubs his grizzled chin thoughtfully. "Do you know if it actually likes being a rabbit?"
"A pink ... winged ... elephant?" Tristan says. The words all mean something individually, yet together ...?
Antelopes aren't very bright, Peaches replies, perhaps just to distract herself from the sting of the ointment. Trolls are stupid too. Did being turned into a magical bunny make it smarter?
The dead antelopes tend to agree they weren't too bright. They allowed themselves to get trampled, after all.
"I've no idea," Hannah replies to Sam, putting the lid back on the jar and replacing it in her pouch. "I thought all the bunnies and chicks had been eaten by the trolls who were later flattened by the elephant! Anyway, I'm going to have a look around for signs of that rabbit. If there's anything that can be salvaged from our camp, now would be a good time to see to it."
Out of curiosity, Tristan checks the dead antelope to see if the troll-rabbit or the stampede was the cause of their deaths. Then he returns to the campsite to pick through the wreckage for anything salvageable. "If you like antelope, we shan't lack for food, anyway."
"See, there are three ways you can go about looking for somethin' that's gone to ground, me fine lass," Minstrel Sam explains. "You can try and track it, you can check the likely hiding spots, or you can lure it out with something it likes. Question is, does it like carrots more or meat?"
Peaches salvages her dignity, and is soon looking her normal shiny self once more, aside from the few bruises.
The ground is a mess. The nearby corpse Tristan checks is a bloody mess of crushed bone, so it's a bit hard to tell. As Hannah gets further from the camp, something feels ... odd. Like she's drawn forward. Ahead is another antelope corpse.
Hannah motions for Sam to follow her as she walks toward the spot she feels compelled to examine. "If anything pops out at us, two pairs of lungs screaming for help is louder than one," she quips. She does tighten her grip on her rapier, however.
As Hannah approaches the spot .. the corpse, its chest rises and falls slowly. Dear Gods, it might be still alive. One of its broken legs twitches and there's a terrible wheezing sound that follows.
Minstrel Sam looks up from where he was mourning the chili and picking up the utensil and shaking them free of clinging detritus. "Oh aye? Good call, lass! I'm told I scream pretty loudly." He stacks the dishes untidily and goes to follow Hannah.
Seeing Sam go to Hannah, Peaches abandons the search for her grooming bag (it usually turns up) and follows the pair. She isn't sure of the minstrel's intentions towards her mistress yet, but in her experience the older males are generally the randiest.
"Poor thing," the girl murmurs. "What a horrible - and weird - way to die." She picks her way carefully towards the antelope, searching the land for anything pink, as well.
Minstrel Sam eyes it warily. He takes a breath, in case it's time to scream like a girl.
Nostrils flaring, Peaches gives out a whinny of warning. Then she sticks her tongue out of the side of her mouth and rolls her eyes back in an impression of something dead.
Hannah looks back at the Princess now, trying to decipher what she's trying to tell them. She drops back a little until she's walking next to the mare and whispers, "Is it just playing dead or something? Or is something else moving the antelope around?"
The knightsteed stamps her foot twice.
The warning has come a little too late, alas. As Hannah draws close to the body, it shudders and then its chest expands upward. Far, far, too much. But before Hannah can react, it explodes in a spray of entrails and blood, splattering over Hannah and Sam. Leaping out of the gaping hole in its chest is the pink bunny. Well, right now it's rather red due to being covered in blood and all its fur slicked back .... it looks more like some sort of demonic hare really. There's a guttural roar and it kicks Hannah with its hind legs. To Hannah it feels like she was just hit with a plank! Her feet leave the ground and she lands a few feet back on her butt. "Hannah," it rumbles when it hits the ground. Its red eyes flick to Sam and Peaches, adding as it spits out a bit of stringy meat from its buck teeth, "Mine!"
The old minstrel screams like a little girl.
Tristan and Souhait both come running, from different directions.
No, mine! Peaches whickers, but doesn't move just yet. She looks a bit queasy at the sight of all that gore.
Hannah is certainly surprised to find herself flying backwards through the air, but she has enough presence of mind to grab the hilt of her rapier as she slams into the ground, butt-first. Groaning, she tries to scramble to her feet and draw her sword all at once! "Found him!" she yells to the others, somewhat unnecessesarily after the minstrel's screaming.
It's surprising how long Minstrel Sam can scream, actually. He flails his arms in the air, jumping back, trips over a rock and lands on his back with an accompanying musical jangle from his lute, still screaming.
The lapine monster spits on Peaches hoof, then bounds right towards Hannah, its jaws gnashing. At the sight of those teeth, well, it explains where the chisel marks came from...
Peaches nearly faints from the spitting, and even loses control of her glamour for a moment.
Hannah regains her footing, rapier now drawn. She makes a slashing motion at the rabbit's head, to try and make it back up a bit. Hopefully that will allow the others more time to get there.
Tristan comes alongside Hannah and brings his sword to bear upon the rabbit-monster, in an attempt to skewer it as it charges them.
The old man finally gasps for breath, wheezing. He stumbles back onto his knees, putting a hand up to the neck of his lute. The thing is rather solidly built; it might make a reasonable bludgeoning instrument... If one that would be accompanied with an unnerving chord for each whack.
Tristan and Haannah actually give the rabbit pause as it has to hop straight upward to avoid the slash and stab attempts from the pair. "Grind bones," it rumbles through bloody lips, landing a few feet away. Its eyes and ears flick between the knightsteeds and the spread out people.
Tristan shifts forward, pressing the attack, while Souhait circles behind it. The Knightsteed is trying to get in position to stomp.
"Not if I can help it," Hannah retorts, circling to the other side of the rabbit so she and Tristan will have its front and back covered. She ends up where Souhait is positioned.
Peaches actually trembles a bit, seriously unnerved for some reason, and retreats backwards a few paces.
The rabbit finds itself rapidly losing ground to the onslaught of the knight. Unfortunately for Soulhait the bugger is quick on its feet and ands up darting and hopping around his hooves instead of under them. It jumps by Hannah and makes a snap at her with its teeth! It misses by ... a hair.
The minstrel, ever true to his calling, stands and begins playing exciting fight music. o/ The knight and the troll were fighting for the crown / The knight beat the troll all around the town... o/
"The knight would like to beat the troll right into the ground," Tristan mutters, taking another stab.
Hannah jumps back a pace, as well, then makes a stab of her own at the largest thing she can see on it - its ears!
The monster deftly jumps, neatly dodging Tristan's strike. However, it jumps right into Hannah's. Hannah feels a slight resistance when her blade connects with its left ear. The creature shrieks ... and about half of the rabbit's ear falls away, leaving a bleeding stump. It its the ground a few feet away. Turning its head towards them it roars, eying them with absolute malice. And then ... it turns tail and runs. And boy can a rabbit run. It launches across the field, towards the forest.
o Hannah stabbed at his head, and knocked him down, o chronicles Sam, making use of a rare kind of glamour - projecting hopelessness into the troll-bunny's mind. o And Tristan was right behind to run him out of town. o
If anything, the sight of the severed ear makes Peaches wobble even more.
Hannah blinks in surprise for a second, then comments, "Well...that went, er, better than I expected? I didn't think I would cut its whole ear off! Not the last we've seen of it, though, I'm sure."
True to the song, Tristan is not interested in letting it escape. He swings up onto Souhait as they charge after it. Tristan leans to one side with his sword drawn, trying to swipe at it like a polo player with a ball.
The problem with hunting a rabbit on horseback with a sword is ... Tristan is now far taller than it is. To be able to reach it, Tristan would have to hang sideways in his saddle. So, none of the swipes hane much chance of actually landing. The creature zigs and zags, changing direction at the drop of a hat. The creature is still making its way towards the forest ..., towards the deep brush and low-hanging tree branches.
Tristan gives up on the sword and tries to have Souhait trample it instead. He'll break off before reaching the forest, however.
Hannah's eyes go wide as she sees what Tristan is about to ride into! She runs a few steps forward, shouting, "Sir Tristan! Look out for the trees!"
The minstrel sings, trying to catch the troll's ears, o/ Grass caught at its feet, Tristan chased it to ground / Beg for mercy or next time you're found / Chop goes the sword, the head spins around, / Never again to threaten a town o/
As quick as Soulhait is, he just can't keep up with the directional changes the lapine tries to use to shake its pursuer due to his weight. As the rabbit gets closer to the trees, Tristan notices something, though ... the stump of an ear is growing slowly upward. Great, the creature retains a trolls regenerative ability. With a gutteral laugh, it disappears into the deep underbrush.
Tristan reins in, sitting grimly on his stallion. "And this is the troll-infested wood, Lady Hannah?"
Meanwhile, Peaches has staggered further away from the severed ear and seems to be doing a little better, but keeps trying to wipe her spat-upon hoof against the trampled grass.
In another minute, the girl has run up to the edge of the wood to join the Knightsteed and its rider. "Yes, as far as the tracks tell me," she pants, trying to catch her breath. "The tracks were rather old, though."
The old man shakes his head. "He got out of earshot," he says to Hannah, following along wheezily. "Fast little son of a buck."
The elf knight dimounts. "It disappeared there," he says, pointing to the underbrush. "If we wanted to track it down, you'd probably have better luck now than we will at any later time. Truthfully, I cannot see that we have any good options at the present. Do you have any ideas, my lady?"
Hannah returns her rapier to its scabbard as she replies, "I think you're right. We should gather what we can salvage and go forward into the forest. As we don't have enough to make a camp with now, we shall have to find some cave or natural formation to shelter us. We shall track that demon rabbit for as long as we're able, then try to rest if we can't locate it."
Minstrel Sam sighs. "That's more Tom's game than mine - a camp's better than bareback sleeping in a cave, in my view, and an inn's ten times better than a camp - but aye, I can't fault yer logic, lass."
Tristan nods in quick agreement, and moves to obey.
Peaches looks miserable, but finally gets the last of the goo off of her hoof. Once that's done, her glamour comes back.
Hannah hangs back to walk beside Sam, clapping him on the back as they go back to their trodden campsite to collect what they can. "At least we were able to eat dinner first," she says, grinning.
"Aye, I'd really have cried if the chocolate had gone to waste before we could even have a bite," the old man agrees with a grin.
Tristan gathers and packs what's salvagable from the camp. He re-saddles Souhait, if the saddle survived, and puts the remaining gear on the Knightsteed, Then he follows Hannah back tot he woods.
The group managed to salvage what they could. Most of Tristan's gear for Soulhait survived with only slight damage. Also, Peaches' grooming back seems to have survived too, mollifying the mare a bit. The tents and much of the pottery was ruined, though. So, with a lighter load and under a dark sky, the group enter the woods. Its dark and the tree branches above creak ominously. All around them they hear the chitter of nocturnal creatures and with each step they take, old branches snap and leaves crunch. While Hannah could move silently, Tristan and the horses far far less at noise reduction. They won't be sneaking up on anyone.
Hannah pats the Princess fondly as the mare and Souhait crash through the underbrush. "Apparently, we're going to be using the 'very loud, frontal assault approach' today," she comments, to no one in particular. As she walks, she scouts around for any sign of where the troll-rabbit might have gone.
Tristan walks at the side of his Knightsteed, one hand on the pommel of his sword. He's unstrung his bow; it's too dark to shoot in here anyway, even if he could get a clear line of sight to a target. He chuckles tiredly at Hannah's quip. "It worked so well for our enemy. Why not for us?"
I'm not the noisy one, Peaches claims to Souhait.
Hannah grins. "True enough," she replies.
The old minstrel trudges along wearily behind them. Every line of his body is saying, I need me a good drink in a quality inn, not more miles in deep, dark woods!
The other fey's smile lightens Tristan's mood. "Have you any luck spotting its trail, m'lady? I was hoping all that blood it was drenched in would leave marks ... even if its own wounds close, there was plenty of antelope gore upon it."
Hannah bends down for a moment to examine some brown and fallen leaves upon the forest's floor, searching for just such signs of blood, but she rises again and sighs. "Not yet, Sir Tristan. It's a wily beast, for sure, but I'll keep looking."
Crunch, crack, snap As they progress further, the darkness around them gets more and more oppressive until they can only see a couple feet ahead. And if they weren't tired of surprises yet ... well, now they may be because the group gets a new one. As each of them take one more step, their surroundings change. The darkness disappears and the forest is awash in bright moonlight ... somehow. When they look up there is still a canopy of leaves that should be blocking it out. Up in the trees birds chirp and sing, even though it's nighttime! And not only that, they seem to be doing some sort of chorus. A few of the songbirds even flutter down and flap around Peaches head. They're ... braiding her mane.
The mare perks up noticeably at the changes and attention. My kingdom!
Hannah looks more startled now than she ever did when the troll-rabbit jumped out at her from the antelope's innards! "What...did we just walk into?" she breathes. Then her head swivels around and she stares at the mare. "What kingdom is this?" she asks, incredulous.
More birds chip and sing as they flap down from the trees. Instead of depositing the usual 'bird surprise', each of the fey find little crowns of flowers dropped onto the tops of their heads.
Souhait stops, as does Tristan a moment later. Tristan looks around, trying to see through what seems like it should be a glamour, though he can't.
Princess Peach-Blossom Marigold Honeydew just basks in the enchantment of it all, as if this is exactly how the world should be.
Minstrel Sam looks up as he notices birdsong. The old fae frowns judicially. "Hmmm. I think we've got us a welcoming committee, Hannah."
The elf knight carefully takes the crown of flowers off and drops them to the ground, and does the same with Souhait. "Who's there? Hello?"
"He's a cute one," comes a voice that sounds like wind rippling through leaves. Tristan then feels something petting the top of his head lightly. It feels like rather boney hand.
Hannah takes off her own crown of flowers and stares at it wonderingly, then adds it to the Princess'. She's the one who adores flowers, after all. Even though they're in a strange sort of wonderland, she still keeps an eye out for any signs of that rabbit.
Tristan flinches at the touch, and tries to reach up to make contact with whatever it was. Bones? A branch? He eyes the trees.
Bark-covered fingers curl around Tristan's and he could swear he hears a rather feminine giggle. All around them the trees sway slowly back and forth. "Welcome to the Forest of Bread," they say in sing-song unison. "Nothing will harm you here."
Peaches whickers happily at the promise, and all but prances in place.
Hannah comes to a stop again and looks at the swaying trees. "Thank you," she says politely, "but, um, why is this place called the Forest of Bread?"
'Forest of Bread?' Tristan mouths silently to Hannah. "Good eve to you, good people," Tristan says aloud. "Earlier, we were attacked by a strange creature, a kind of rabbit that had once been a troll. It enterted these woods. Do you know what became of it?"
The minstrel takes his crown of flowers off to examine the workmanship. Mm. "I'm guessing pixies, or maybe dryads," he says thoughtfully before putting it back on. "Thank ye kindly, mysterious voices."
"All the names in the Land of Terror are a bit ... whimsical," the voices claim. At mention of trolls, the trees shudder and shake around them. "There are no trolls here" they insist ... loudly. "Not since the great enchantment."
"Land of Terror, huh? There were a few things Thomas forgot to mention about this mission, it seems," Hannah grumbles. More loudly, she asks next, "What happened during the great enchantment?"
Minstrel Sam eyes Hannah thoughtfully.
Little creatures on fluttery wings come down and dart around the Minstrel. They giggle and point, then whisper to each other. "No, he's not a walking saddlebag," one of the pixies finally decides out loud.
"If you wish to know of the great enchantment, you should speak with our caretaker. He lives at the heart of our wood," the trees sing.
"I've been called a walking winebag sometimes," the old fae says sweeping a bow and doffing his hat-adorned-with-crown-of-flowers to the pixies. "Or was that a windbag? Critics can be so tiresome."
Hannah glances at the others. "Any objections to seeking out this caretaker?" she asks.
A pixie perches on the tips of each of the Minstrels ears. There they sit ... and glow.
"If it'll get us somewhere to sleep safely, I'm all for it," says the minstrel. He now appears to be wearing glowing deely-boppers.
The birds finally leave Peaches in peace, but not before her mane is intricately braided and lines with perfectly white lilies. She even has a bow on her tail.
Tristan shakes his head, mystified. "None, m'lady. I don't yet know what to make of this. Have you heard tales of dryads, Minstrel? What sort of folk be they?"
Peaches' is already spinning visions of fairy-tale castles and silk-pillowed stables in her head.
"Ahh, pixies, now, they're playful, nature-loving types," Minstrel Sam says to Hannah, leaning over conspiratorily. "But be careful around them, they do love to play tricks. And ah..." He winks in Tristan's direction. "Some of them can be a bit keen on a challenge, if they see someone what strikes their fancy. There was the time that Tom was a 'guest' of theirs for several weeks..."
The old fae explains, "Seems that she wanted to see how 'unconquerable' the ol' King of the Wilderness really was, so she got him to promise to be a good guest, then she came up with all sorts of excuses for why it wouldn't be a good time for him to leave just then. He finally managed to escape by managing a glamor to look like he was eating when he was really dumpin' the food out, and 'eating' them out of food 'til they had to let him go or face a pretty lean time."
Peaches whickers somewhat disapprovingly at the story. Or perhaps at the hero of the story, it's difficult to tell.
For some reason, the daughter of November's face clouds over. "Then the Lady had better hope none take a liking to Sir Tristan," she says obtusely, and walks away from the minstrel. To the others, she says, "I believe this way leads to the forest's heart," before moving on.
Tristan listens to the minstrel's story, then laughs at the end of it. "Now that's a novel solution to an unusual problem."
The fey knight adds after a moment, "Perhaps I should endeavor to be disagreeable." He considers that, and shakes his head. "No, if they took a fancy to Lord Thomas than endeavoring to be disagreeable is clearly the wrong way to avoid their affections."
Tristan stops musing and lengthens his stride to catch up with Hannah.
Happily, Peaches prances alongside her mistress, opposite Tristan.
"To be fair, milord," Minstrel Sam says. "Tom can be quite charming when he wants to be, and some women take a fancy to the 'rough-hewn' types. All I'm sayin' is, keep yer eyes open, pixies do enjoy playing their jokes."