by Doc 42 » Sun Nov 20, 2011 5:13 pm
The bush stirred, and the little black shadow began moving once more, moving along in a hopping gait, it pushed a path through the grass. It pushed into a patch of levelled grass, where a hare had bedded down. As it stumbled into the sunlight, she spotted the glint of a blade.
She stiffened, looking over towards the cart some 100 meters away.
A blade didn't mean anything though. Any traveller this far into the wilds would want to be armed. Then she spotted it; there was a heavy bolt crossbow strung across the bada's back, bouncing along with every hopping step. She couldn't see it clearly from her height, but guessed it's purpose. She banked around, widening her circle. The wind ruffled through her feathers, helping to cool her down. It was a blisteringly hot day, the sun beating down from above, the only clouds seemingly banished far off to the West, rolling over the mountains. The brush below was bone dry.
Currently, the little figure she was watching was making it's way through the grass towards her charge, a professor called Upside. He was sitting a top his wagon, his Sand Runner pawing the ground lazily to it. Some of his students had been here about a weeks previously, studying the local flora and fauna. A particular plant had come to attention and he wanted to study it himself.
He had hired Midnight to protect him, and with her rates, that meant serious business was going down. She scanned across the plain again, still turning up blank. She was tracking a single suspected bandit as he trekked closer to the professor. She'd spotted him by chance on one of her swoops. His scent was masked, the sign of a professional. However, she couldn't see any others. No back up, nothing. Having checked the surrounding brush thoroughly, she was getting anxious.
She was certain he was a bandit, he would use the crossbow to kill the Sand Runner, then hide from the guards. Then his comrades would sneak in and be free to attack the wagon without fear of the Sand Runner's keen sense of smell giving them away. Except without finding the rest of the party waiting in ambush, there was no guarantee that the lone figure pushing through the brush wasn't just some lost hunter. Cursing, she continued to circle. She couldn't confront him until the rest were accounted for, otherwise she'd be vulnerable to crossbow fire.
She flicked around, gliding towards the wagon once more.

"
**** off TT"-Doc 42
Trophy art by CompyScavangerSlow Posters Club