[TOI] Event 6 ~ Saving a Princess (Part 1/2)

           “Alright, soldiers, or whatever you’re all calling yourselves, follow me! We have a rescue to perform! Keep up now, we’re on a tight schedule!” Alabaster waved his cane in the air to gather attention as he hopped off of the ship.

            A number of the passengers of the Overturner climb off after the faux, as another group follows Kalvan and Ripley. The proctor calls out over his shoulder to Alabastar’s group. “Remember now, keep an oiye on Salt N’ Pepper there!”

            Stomping among the rest of the faux’s crew, Jericho tilts his head. “Wait, who’s that?”

            Alabastar grumbles in return. “Ginger Snaps over there means me, but if any of you call me that, we’re going to be having some words.”

            The big draygoon just shrugged. “Dunno who Ginger Snaps is either, but yeah, alright.”

            Trevor, following close to the side of Jericho, frowns up at him. “How old did you say you were?” Jot looked over the draygoon’s shoulder at that. “As they say, age is just a number, wulkin. Trust me, he could be an ancient and still be this dense.”

            Jericho grinned. “Dense like STEEL!” The moth-pixie shot a look at Trevor as if to say See?

            Back at the front of the group, Alabastar glanced over his shoulder as he walked. “You know, this is a city currently invaded by a large number of bloodthirsty bandits. Maybe we could at least try not to tell them we’re all here?”

            “What, be all sneaky? Not my thing, guy!” Jericho hopped from one foot to the other, causing some of the group members nearest him to step a bit aways, shooting looks at him. “Loud and proud and… and, uh… drawing a crowd! Yeah, that rhymes!”

            “Well, please be sure to draw them away from us, then.” The faux looked back at the path ahead, leading them through alleys and around corners, and the group, with the exception of the red draygoon, did their best to go quietly.

            After a notable amount of time spent walking through the town, the group found themselves by one of Coastilli’s docks. This one in particular was built for servicing cargo ships, and had a row of warehouses, along with mountains of crates that had probably held quite a lot of items at one point, though most had been looted, and the rest just smashed or burned. A bit further into the city, there were a number of buildings, many of which were also damaged or destroyed outright. Alabastar picked out one that wasn’t quite as ruined as the rest, and led the group to the top, leaning over the edge to point out the warehouses.

            “Here we are, then! This should be about right. Last I’d heard of, they were planning to keep the royal miss in that warehouse at the end! On the left there. Actually…” The faux chuckled. “Well, they’re trying, and that’s what counts, right?”

            As most of the group spread out slightly, looking over at the warehouse Alabastar had pointed out, another faux came up to stand by him. “Who’s trying what?”

            Alabastar looked over at Joseph, and grinned, pointing a bit more specifically. “Right there, see? A little bit of movement, and then-“, Joseph chuckled at well. “Oh dara, the guy’s tail is in plain sight! He calls that hiding?”

            The white faux shrugged. “This is what happens when you don’t go for professionals. Now, if you’re such an expert in hiding, why don’t you go take a closer look?”

            “What, you don’t know what’s going to be in there?”

            “Well, I knew the location, I think that’s quite a bit already, don’t you? Just go, we have things to do!”

            Joseph shrugged. “Yeah, alright, but this counts as my part of the teamwork!” With that, the grey faux swung over the edge of the building, climbing down to the ground. Before long, he was out of sight, even from his allies, and on his way to scout out the area. After he was well out of sight, another group member, this one a green draygoon, spoke up. “So… I don’t think we should be just sitting here. Let’s try and come up with a plan or some-“

            “OH! Oh oh oh oh oh! Me, me, I got this!” Myri hopped up on top of Jericho’s head, magically amplifying his voice just a bit to make sure he was heard. Gaz looked up at him.

            “You can’t seriously have a plan worked up just-“

            “Hush Gaz hush! Lemme talk, I got somethin’ awesome!”

            The green draygoon sighed and shrugged, crossing his arms and leaning against the roof’s wall. “Alright, let’s hear it then.”

            Myri hopped around on Jericho’s head, making sure everyone was paying attention. “Alright alright listen up guys! We’re gonna work together! Like a team!”

            A chuckle rang up from the group. Pilfer Paws spoke up. “No, we’re just going to run around, all doing our own thing, no talking or anything.”

            A cloven leaned against the wall as well, checking over a rifle. “Was expecting better plan. More ideas?”

            Myri hopped up and down, raising his magical voice a bit more. “Let me taaaaalk dammit!” The rest of the group looked back up at him, and he cleared his throat. “Alright! Look, we’re not just gonna be like one team. We’re gonna be like a super team! A, uh… a number of teams! A team of teams! The teamiest of teamworking teams we’ve-“

            Jot interrupted. “Yes, Myri, we get it. Lots of teamwork, lots of dreams working all over the place, will you get on with it? I’d like to be done before I hit my next decade, thank you.”

            Myri shot the moth-pixie a look. “Fine, fiiine, getting on with it! Look, we’re going to have like… multiple smaller teams, that all make up a bigger more awesome team! So, uh… for example, Joseph’s off doin’ his thing, he’s Scout team! No, no, wait… RANGER TEAM! Yeah, that sounds cooler! And, uh… Gaz and Trevor and Jerry – “ He pats Jericho’s head. “ you’re gonna be fight team! No… hit team! Dangit, wait… BATTLE TEAM!”

            Jericho grinned, and scooped up Gaz and Trevor in both arms. “Alright, battle team! Hear that? We’re gonna be battling stuff! Kicking butt, taking names, then giving those names back because ours are cooler and then-“

            The gray wulkin wriggled out of his grip. “Alright, alright, battle team, fine! That’s what I wanted anyways.” Gaz squeezed out of Jericho’s grip as well. “Yeah, sure…”

            Myri smiled proudly. “Yep, see! It’s the best plan!” He set his lower arms on his hips, seeming quite happy with himself. The group was quiet for a second, before Alabastar cleared his throat.

            “Well, that’s nice. Does that mean the rest of us get to kick back and relax as Battle Team handles things?”

            Myri raised his eyebrows. “Ooooh… right, we need stuff to do too… uh…”

            Just then, Joseph popped back over the wall and onto the roof. “Hey, I’m back! Got a good look, those guys can’t see to save their lives!”

            Alabastar nodded. “Ah, welcome back! What did Ranger Team discover?”

            Joseph looked puzzled for a moment, then shrugged. “Well, it’s a pretty simple setup over there. You can see the windows on the ceilings, right? A lot of them are broken, including the one on our target! Inside, there’s just a bunch of bandits, some are hiding- or, heh, trying to hide among the boxes. Most are just scattered inside the building, but a few are keeping guard over the princess! Yeah, Isabella’s in there too. She’s tied up, but otherwise taking it pretty well, it looks like.”

            Alabastar shrugged. “Well, she’s probably had time to get over the shock by now.”

            “Yeah, that’d make sense. Anyways, there’s no windows on the walls themselves, but there’s doors at both ends of the warehouse! One’s a bit open, but it’s got a few bandits guarding it outside and a bunch watching it inside. The other one is closer to the princess, but it’s also barred and there’s boxes and stuff piled against it on the inside.”

            Jot’s antennae perked up a bit, and he looked at the faux. “Hm, what sort of doors?”

            Joseph looked blankly at him. “Uh… wooden doors? Double doors, pretty ordinary, they open, and swing on hinges… What, do you want me to go see if they’re designer doors or something?”

            “No need, I have what I require. In addition, I believe I have a supplement for that… plan Myri had. Everyone, gather around, please.”

            The group members gathered a bit closer, and Jot fluttered down to rest on Jericho’s outstretched claw. Pilfer Paws spoke up again. “Okay, so… why are we all close like this?”

            “I don’t want to have to repeat myself.” The moth-pixie cleared his throat. “Now, listen carefully…”

            Over the next few minutes, Jot laid out his plans, building off of Myri’s previous suggestions. Despite his wishes, there was some repetition, most of it for the sake of clarifying one point or another. After a few suggestions and a bit of modification to his plan, the group agreed, more or less.

            Myri fluttered over to the wall. “Alright! Review now!” He pointed to the group members as he called them out. “Trevor, Gaz, Jerry, Battle Team! Joseph, Sentry Team! Pilfer Paws, Denial Team! Jot, Saboteam!”

            “What? No, we are not going to start shortening-“

            “Saboteam sounds a lot cooler and a lot easier to say! Alabastar, Stas, Terror Team! Me, Not-Knot team!”

            Jot interrupted again. “Not-Knot? What does that even mean, why won’t you just-“

            “Huuuuush! Jericho, you’re also Wagon Team!”

            By now, the moth-pixie was actually growing mad. “WAGON TEAM? What does that even mean-“

            “Cause the Wagon don’t stop for no one! Alright everyone, break! Roll out, move into position, storm the beaches, find your happy places, kick butt, take names, let’s go!”

            With Myri’s more-or-less encouraging words, the various teams split up, moving off of the building. Before long, only Alabastar and Stas were left on the rooftop. After a few seconds, the faux spoke up.

            “Well, how about that weather?”

            “Is okay.” The cloven crouched by the wall, loading his rifle and watching the warehouse, as Alabastar gave a slight sigh before responding.

            “Oh, wonderful, you’re almost as bad as Hamilton… well, time to see if this plan works. We’ll make sure to do our jobs, right?

            “Yes.”

            “… maybe next time, I’ll sign up for Wagon Team.”