Re: Changling of Heart. (Open)

by Leo Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:51 pm

Leo sighed and shook his head. That had not gone as well as he thought. When he'd been very young, the fear of being hurt had been one of the main reasons he was still here. But he guessed that kind of fear wasn't a motivator for everyone. He looked to Flec and for once, actually showed a bit more emotion then usual as he gave a reassuring 'you'll get it' look , "Head inside and settle down, I'll get the bolts" he said before he walked away to fetch them. He couldn't deny that he wasn't worried. He had a contract to do tomorrow and if she was coming with him she would have to be able to hold herself together otherwise she'd have to remain here. Because there was no way he'd risk her life by taking her with him if that was how she responded to fear.

by Reflected Failure Sun Dec 30, 2012 12:24 am

She sighed and hung her head slightly before turning to head back inside. How was she going to be able to help if she couldn't even shoot a crossbow. As she stepped in she sat down and stared at the dusty weapons. She was frustrated, but of course she wasn't going to get it on the first try, she would just try again tomorrow if she could, not like it would be impossible. Maybe she'd be so good at it tomorrow he'd be impressed. She smiled at that thought.

by Leo Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:13 pm

Tomorrow had came as quickly as the night had gone. Leo had slept like a silent statue, making little to no sound, dreaming of nothing. He woke and opened his eyes before he took in a deep breath, stretching his wings before he got up to his paws. He looked to Flec, asleep and decided to let her sleep a little longer as he got himself ready.

He moved over to the wooden box, putting on his paw cuffs one by one before heading outside. He had a contract to do today and he liked to get some practice in before heading out. He moved into the courtyard and took another breath of morning air before he got into stance, going through his cater and his various move sets as he struck at the air.

by Reflected Failure Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:29 pm

She had become a light sleeper in the prison, every little noise that she didn't know of caused her eyes to open before she drifted slowly back to sleep. Like always sleep was night mare filled yet she remained still. Though the noise that woke her this time was mixed with the light of the early morning sun.

She took a look around in a brief moment of confusion before remembering the events from the day before. No longer in chains yet it would be a long time yet before she was out of that prison. The noises that woke her were the sound from outside, stepping out she squinted as the bright light hit her, something else she wasn't use to. So much change so fast. She was lost in her own thoughts before stepping around to see Leo, giving the air what fore. It must've insulted him, or his mother. Maybe he just hated air, but didn't the kitty need air to breathe?

"Are..." Her voice was filled with the groggy-ness her not being awake yet. "... You alright? What are you doing?"

by Leo Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:36 pm

Leo didn't stop as she spoke and made her presence known. He'd heard her approach anyway since hooves made a lousy sneak tool. He continued to move in controlled discipline, striking before receding, moving fluidly as he dragged each paw through the dust of the concrete beneath him. "I'm fine, this is a form of discipline, it teaches the mind to act without thought when in combat. The body is an extension of you, and therefore an extension of the mind, learn to discipline your mind and you'll see how the body is so much more then a lump of flesh and bone" he said before finally stopping, "Sleep well?" he asked, his voice still a deep smooth rumble devoid of much emotion.

by Reflected Failure Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:43 pm

"Uh... better then before." She stated with honesty, as she watching him she was unsure how he could make his body do some of the things they were doing. If the body was an extension of the mind, then why wasn't the rest of her mind working for her. Maybe it's a Kitty thing.

She sat down and watching him, not really watching him more his motions how he moved, she could easily mimic them if she had her magic, it would all be so easy to auto teach, but without any kinda magical help she had to do it that hard way. Not that she would try right now, she was still learning to use a bow. "Are you preparing for something or is this like a morning stretch?"

by Leo Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:52 pm

Leo took a stone from the ground sweeping it into the air with his hind paw before spinning in the air and kicking it with so much force it shot into the tree with a loud thud, making the wood splint, "I have a contract to do today" he said as he spun again and thundered a paw into a large rock, cracking it as he absorbed the force from the recoil and directed it back into the rock. He turned looking to her as he paused, "It's going to be dangerous, are you sure you want to come?" he asked with a serious tone.

by Reflected Failure Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:04 pm

"Well, who or what are you killing." She asked tilting her head to look up at the... kitty... "I mean I'll go with you no matter what you tell me, I just want to know 'why'." The changeling gave a small shrug before putting the weapon upon her back, though the weight of it quickly reminded her she hadn't recovered.
"And what do you get out of this job?"

by Leo Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:57 pm

Leo gave her a long look before he replied, "I go, because I'm told to, because if I don't I'll starve" he replied taking a moment to pause before elaborating, "It's like I said, to them I'm nothing more then a monster and unfortunately my combat prowess doesn't make me look any better. Those who know of what I do, they ignore what I am and contract me to get things done, from desperate Ponies to determined Griffons, as long as they have a goal that will get them a stronger grip in this war, I have a job" he said before sighing, "I don't even want to imagine the alternative" he said as he looked over to the tree where the rock he'd kicked split the wood. "As for the targets, they're are a rouge organization that have been hitting refugee caravans and small unguarded groups on the trading route. My contractors want them gone, so that's what I'm... we're gonna do" he said finally.

by Reflected Failure Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:59 pm

"I doubt you taking out single individuals would help you get a hold of a war, but I've seen what taking out a few people can do." She shrugged and scratched the side of her face. "Perhaps this is the right thing to do, and I doubt surviving makes you a monster. Monsters don't save lives they only take them." She said before putting her crossbow upon her back and kicking off with a small hum.

by Leo Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:25 pm

Leo gave the smallest of smiles at that. Perhaps in saving her he had set himself apart from the title he'd long since accepted for himself, but that wouldn't change the way the rest of the world looked at him. He turned towards the building which held his home and walked towards it. He'd need to lock up before setting off, "In time you'll see what I mean" he commented. At first he'd also thought of this line of work as nothing more then small jobs on the side which only added benefits to the opposing forces, but sooner or latter a big target reared it's head, and it was then that the actions of individuals made differences. .

by Reflected Failure Mon Feb 25, 2013 9:08 pm

The small changeling gave a shrug and hovered out of the huge metal door that lead into his place. Se still couldn't believe that the.... kitty... was the only one that knew about the place; Excluding herself; it wasn't as if it was exceptional well hidden. She landed down upon the dirt outside, the building was under the shade from a large cloud but that would pass at any moment. She turned to look back inside only then did she notice the light difference, the darkness of the building seemed amplified by the bright lighting of outside giving it a much more omnious, abandoned feel.

by Leo Mon Feb 25, 2013 9:22 pm

Leo said nothing as he walked over to the same chest which once contained the family Crossbow that Flec now wielded. He reached in pulling out a small rack of bolts before throwing them onto his bed. He already had everything he needed which were his paws, but he was slightly worried about Flec's ability to survive this. She could shoot... -ish and she could cast magic to an extent, but physical strength combined with limited bolts he couldn't help but feel like this was a bad idea. Though she had pretty much made it clear there was no way he'd convince her to stay to then again there wasn't really an alternative. He pulled out a small carry satchel to hold the bolts and put the ones from the bed inside. "You'll need this" he said as he handed over the satchel. He kept it packed light to compensate her small size, so if she ran out of ammo, she'd simply need to take cover or hide.

He then motioned for her to follow him outside with a tip of his head, locking up behind them before making his way out to the entrance. He gave his wings a stretch before looking down beside him, "You gonna be ok or do you want a ride, the flight is a long one" he said, his face expressionless and devoid of any emotion.

by Reflected Failure Mon Feb 25, 2013 9:45 pm

"I've worked injuried before, just because I'm small doesn't mean I'm made of glass." She rolled her eyes and kicked into the air, if there was one thing she could do with speed was take off, but that was a species trait not something she worked on herself. "Actually I'm closer to twenty year old rusty tin, thank you very much." She said confidently with a nod before looking down at him and giving him a playful smile. Just because one thinks they're a monster, doesn't mean they actually are.

by Leo Mon Feb 25, 2013 10:17 pm

Leo couldn't help himself. He suppressed a chuckle and shook his head as he spread his wings wide. "Suit yourself" he said as he kicked off the floor, beating his wings once as he took into the air, flying past her as he began his ascension. "You coming Rusty?" he called over his shoulder as he continued, finding a decent altitude before leveling out into an easy glide.

The flight was indeed long and the clouds hide them well as Leo lead them from one to another. Eventually however it seemed they had left land and now flew over water. The continues blue stretching on beneath them. He banked left and passed back into land, having gone this far out to fly in at a better angle without having to adjust it so close to where they could be seen. Pretty soon they could see a large group of buildings up ahead. For the most part they too seemed abandoned but closer inspection showed movement there.

Leo arched his wings into a dive, making sure she was following him with a quick glance over his shoulder before leveling out close to the floor again. Staying as close to the ground as possible so that they wouldn't be seen. He came to a stop behind the remains of a crumbled mall, clearly another building to have been lost in the war, likely picked over a thousand times by now. He would wait for Flec to join him before explaining what they would need to do.

by Reflected Failure Mon Feb 25, 2013 10:28 pm

When he said long, flying over water, was not what she had in mind. It didn't help that the length of the journey felt nearly twice as long sense they were virtually cloud hopping. An action in which she couldn't see the point of, yet she followed obediently not quiet sure of where they were heading. Most of her attention was on the ocean which absolutely fascinated her being as she'd never seen it before, but the fascination came to an end when she looked ahead to see Leo making a careful dive for land again.

She landed with a quiet thump, nothing like a prolonged flight to fix her injuries, but despite the pain she didn't make a noise. When she folded her wing back behind her she quietly moved up next to him before peaking around the corner. "So... why all the zigzag flying, and what are we doing here?"

by Leo Mon Feb 25, 2013 10:37 pm

Leo folded his wings to his sides and rolled his shoulders as he prepared himself. "In case we're followed or seen, cloud hopping ensures we keep a low profile, and I'm not yet sure how many of these are Griffon, meaning that if they are, then they would have easily seen us from bellow without cloud cover" he replied as he peered around the corner. "The first patrol passes soon, when it does we're going to move in behind them and over the wall, from there we'll make our way into the central building, that's the big one in the center there, when we get inside we'll want to find the one running this place, before shutting him down permanently" he said before finally looking to her "Any questions?" he asked.

by Reflected Failure Mon Feb 25, 2013 10:48 pm

"What's the name of the person we're 'shutting down'." She asked using her hooves to make quotations. "Who gave you this job, why would we go over the wall, would that not draw attention. Why did you elaborate which building the giant center building is, and where in tartarus are we?" Finally out of question she looked up to him her rump planting firmly on the ground. He wanted her questions, he got them. Well a few at least but it probably wouldn't be a good idea to frustrate the giant.... kitty...

by Leo Mon Feb 25, 2013 10:57 pm

For probably one of the first and only times in his life, Leo was slightly stunned at the sudden flurry of questions, in a situation like this no less. He blinked before moving to answer her, "His name is unknown but said to be running this operation, we know he's in that building so we just need to find the one giving orders. As for who gave me this job, my contractors did, no names, just a contract, a mission goal and a pay check at the end of it" he said before moving to answer the rest, "I pointed out which one was the center one because it's important you know where you're going, especially if something should hold me up and you have to move on while I take care of it. We're going over the wall because it will drop us between the patrol teams and the inner guard patrols, if the timing is right we can bypass them without engaging in a fight. As for where we are, we're on the outskirts on the other side of Manehatten, on the coast" he finished before looking back around the corner, "There they go, follow me" he said before he crouched a little lower, dashing forward towards the wall. When he reached it he put his back against it, looking to Flec and motioning with his hoof to get to him. When she reached him he would beat his wings once and grab onto the top ledge of the wall, pulling himself up and over before landing on the other side without a single sound.

by Reflected Failure Tue Feb 26, 2013 12:54 am

She shrugged at his response, at least he was good at keeping everything together in his head. She hopped upon his front left paw just as he launched into the air, almost slipping from him. She had to fight back the urge to fly when they started descending involuntarily. The land was smooth though despite the fast action and when she opened her eyes to give a quick look around she found she was on the other side of the wall."Alright, stealthy, but now what?" was all she could think of. Though her train of thought quickly shifted from the mission at hand to how they would escape as she was once again, back inside a griffon camp. "Do you think this place has prisoners?" She whispered looking up to him.

by Leo Tue Feb 26, 2013 1:03 am

Leo looked around the moment he hit the floor. He felt Flec on his leg but he didn't mind and continued to observe their surroundings. They were pinched in an alley between two buildings, perfect for cover but terrible for line of sight. As he crept closer towards the end of the alley which broke into a wide street he whispered back to her, answering her honestly, "Likely, organizations like this are known for taking prisoners from the caravans for personal pleasure" he replied before peering out. The next patrol would be along soon. He paused for a long moment before looking back down to her, "You want to save them, don't you?" he asked. His sunset irises peering almost through her as he studied her for a response.

by Reflected Failure Tue Feb 26, 2013 1:13 am

She blinked, once.. twice... "Yes." She stated calmly, quietly and complimented it with a nod. For the first time since she had met him she felt determined to do something and looked it.. "You don't have to though if you think it's a bad idea." She shruged before looking around the other end of the allyway seeing that the next patrol would be on them shortly, she gave a careful 'run/hop/sneak' back to him. "Another patrol coming in, if we're going to move, we should do it now." She whispered before hoping upon his back.

by Leo Tue Feb 26, 2013 1:27 am

Leo thought about it for a moment. Getting out prisoners made allot of things complicated and he hadn't planned for an escape with such a large amount of civilians. He was brought back to the hear and now as she leaped onto his back. He nodded in reply to what she said and kicked his hind legs back, sprinting from the alley into the street and up the far side. He found the next alley just in time as the next patrol turned the corner down the street. He could hear them talking about their shifts and how boring they are as they passed. Leo didn't wait and long then that as he moved down the alley taking a left instead of the planned right. "We'll have to play it by ear from here on in" he said in a low deep tone as he continued down the left path. He knew the layout of the complex enough to know where they would be held, but the problem was getting in and getting them out again.

Leo continued to dash and sneak his way towards the far side of the complex, that was when he ran into a problem. One of the griffon guards was peeing in the alley way, and as he dashed around the corner he looked at him, silently stunned at the pair of them. He opened his beak to say something but Leo was already there. He grabbed the beak with a paw, shoving the other into his throat before pulling the gurgling griffon to his chest as he allowed the shattered wind pipe to suffocate him. He then moved the body deeper into the alley, laying it slumped against the wall before continuing his way further down. "Over there" he said motioning to the building, "That's where they'll be. Are you sure you want to do this, once we start, we wont be able to stop and it could mean fighting out way out of here" he said, giving her one last chance to reconsider. He would do it if she asked, he was already here. But he wanted her to be sure of what she wanted and what they could be in for.

by Reflected Failure Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:30 pm

The changeling nodded slowly, giving only a half hearted glance at the now dead griffon. He would be retunring to his post by now if not for their interruption which meant they only had a few seconds before his partner would go to find him, which would mean only a few minutes more before they knew an intruder would be in the fort. So how long until their escape plan would turn into a skirmish. "It's now or never, if we don't save them here, they'll be locked down tight or killed. You're the one that has to put up with most of the combat so it's your choice."

by Leo Wed Mar 20, 2013 8:31 am

Truthfully Leo didn't like this. It was getting complicated and if the alarm was raised to early he would have no chance to take down his contract. Without a word he broke from the alley, his paws as silent as air as he arrived at the complex. A quick glance told him that the complex itself had one entrance and that... was the front door. He kept to the side of the door, giving a look up and down the street, catching site of torches casting light on the corner which was clearly an approaching patrol. He took a deep breath before slipping inside, right into the vicinity of three guards, one of whom had to be the warden.

THUMP! SNAP! CRUNCH!

The three of them curled on the floor shaking from their injuries, dropped quickly by the strength and ferocity of his paws. He hadn't killed them, but they wouldn't be moving as they were just barely conscious. He grabbed the key ring and held them up for Flec, "Go and let them free, I will make sure these guys don't go anywhere and make sure the way is clear" he said in a deep rumble. .

by Reflected Failure Sun Mar 24, 2013 8:27 pm

She stared at the key for a second before taking them in her magic, which then traded it to her mouth as she hopped off his back. Her gaze turned up to him, lingering for only a second before she gave a kick of her leg to lift off and move to the dungeon.

It wasn't very far, a few hallways which seemed poorly lit, and a stairwell that led down a floor. It all seemed too easy as she landed on the floor to move with the buzzing of her semi-transparent wings. The halls had been empty until she sighted the light from a patrol. Her options, sit and get caught, get Leo to take them out, hide in the room to right.

She made a gulp them dove for the room to the right. Upon entering she found herself in the sleeping quarters for the griffon infantry. She fought back the urge to squeak a took a step back. Only then remembering she had a cross bow. Maybe she could... shoot them at point blank?

by Leo Fri Apr 19, 2013 12:01 am

Leo remained at the top. looking out for patrols or anything else that might stop them. He had watched her go, and took the time to remove the bodies and pull them off to a spot they would be found latter rather then now while they were here. He felt the urge to head in after her as worry caught him, but he didn't. He had faith in her to keep out of trouble and get the slaves out.

Meanwhile the Gryphons that slept quietly tossed and turned, remaining asleep for now, Ref could probably kill one or two of them, but there was no telling if the others wouldn't jump up and be on here in a moment if she tried such a thing.

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