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Post by Red Charge on Jan 13, 2012 13:29:56 GMT -5
"To the top, and do it quickly. Not that the treetops are any safer than the ground in Everfree, but if you're being chased by something it's always good to be able to climb away from it. Fog won't help you much against most monsters, as they can smell you a mile away or hear you. And you always need to prepare in case your wings get hurt. You have to be able to move as swiftly on the ground as in the air. Be agile and quick on your feet."
"Also know how to recognize plants and fungus, know where monsters like to nest, what water are safe to drink if you get lost. Be able to recognize and follow tracks and signs, know how to mark progress or how to lose a stalker. There's plenty to learn, and Everfree has its own rules. It can have sudden storms and snow in the summer, random sinkholes or quicksands. The most funny thing is, it seems to like getting ponies killed, as opposed to anything else, and we're all ponies."
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Post by kuruka on Jan 13, 2012 19:32:53 GMT -5
Kuruka glided from cloud-to-cloud, making sure to always pick the thermals blowing against her. Her wings were still sore from her training and follow-up practices after Percheron's visit weeks ago, but it was difficult to deny that they'd also gotten stronger.
Kuruka had also made it a point to keep her usual, grounded training routine just as vigorous as before. She still had trouble trusting the appendages on her back completely and wanted to be prepared for anything. Which brought her to the reason for her little trip to Ponyville.
This Ranger pony had better be worth the flight, Kuruka thought, eyeing the town below with an analytical gaze.
Kuruka paused to make sure she looked like a Militia Captain, adjusting the shield on her back, arranging the assortment of weapons on her pony. Knives, daggers, a sword, even a boomerang hung from her belt. All of these she could handle fairly well, even though she often felt stunted without her spear, like somepony had chopped her arm in half.
With a sigh, Kuruka lifted from her cloud and began her descent into Ponyville. It was a slow, controlled spiral until she spotted a cloaked stallion with an air that read nothing short of leading soldier.
If that wasn't Ranger, then Kuruka was a bunny rabbit. And the, um, pony next to him... By the fog now disappating and the fact that he was up in the air as well, made Kuruka nervous all over again. She hadn't thought of the possibility of there being another pegasus.
Kuruka bit her tongue to regain control of herself and directed her landing at the two stallions. She let out a small sigh of relief when she touched down and trotted smartly to her new mentor.
With a brisk salute, Kuruka brought herself to attention, making sure the commanding officer knew they were equals, despite her title still being relatively new. "Militia Captain Kuruka of Hoofington reporting. I assume you are Captain Ranger of Ponyville?"
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Post by StormShroud on Jan 13, 2012 20:24:57 GMT -5
Shaking his head, Storm Shroud began his trek up the tree. Keeping his wings fixed tightly at his sides, he scrabbled at the bark in his hasty ascent upwards, using the footholds he had spied on the way up. Despite being a Pegasus pony, he wasn't blowing out hot air when he bragged about his training. He was able to climb the tree fairly quickly, and with ease, stopping just about ten feet shy of the very top, to regain the footing he'd lost as the bark chipped off, and he slid down a short ways.
After he spied around the tree to find more footing, he bit down on the nearest branch, swinging around to better footholds on the other side of the tree, before scampering up as far as the tree could support his weight. And once there, he peered down at Ranger, flipping his tail up to signal he was done climbing, awaiting the next task. Shroud was going to remain mostly silent, now, figuring that anything he said to defend himself would just be replied with this pony looking down his nose at Shroud. If he couldn't make this masked pony see reason in words, he'd just have to prove himself, wouldn't he?
Of course he'd have to wait until Ranger was finished speaking with this new Pegasus -- He'd begun climbing the tree prior to her landing, and so he hadn't had a chance to spy her coming. Storm Shroud blinked, keeping a firm grip on the top of the tree as he watched the pair below.
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 13, 2012 22:05:42 GMT -5
Ranger saluted back at Kuruka, a bit confused, "Hey there, Kuruka is it? Yes I am Ranger," He answered gently, "How can I help you?" He wondered if this had anything to do with the spider abomination they fought near Hoofington. He certainly hoped not, one of them was more than enough for this pony. He had to take in Kuruka's unique appearance, a Zebra Pegasus? He saw a sort of Zebra Unicorn once, what was his name? Watermark? He seemed to have gotten along with Pinkie Pie. Not surprising after he helped her win the prank war against him.
This one looked as though she was prepared for war, and this worried Ranger somewhat, his hoof shuffled against the ground with agitation. He just wanted everything to be alright for once, Kuruka being here on a friendly visit only, maybe to acquaint him with her, or deliver some news, anything just not any more missions or monsters. Just not anything like that. "Come on down Storm Shroud!" He called over to the other Pegasus with him, not removing his gaze from Kuruka.
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Post by kuruka on Jan 13, 2012 22:40:42 GMT -5
Kuruka noted Ranger's nervousness and tried to hide her embarrassment. She didnt mean to come off as if she was bringing bad news or gathering for battle.
Before she warded off his concerns, however, she glanced at the other soldier. StormShroud, was it? One of her own rules of thumb was to never show weakness in front of lesser-ranked soldiers.
"I've merely come to familiarize myself with the surrounding areas and perhaps combine our forces for better protection against the Everfree. Hoofington is rather low on recruits as of now."
Yes, that would suffice. Kuruka could make her request later, while the other pegasus was performing another task or something. What had he been doing, climbing a tree? Well, Kuruka wouldn't judge. These were town ponies, after all. Collecting fruit from trees hadn't been part of their childhood or training, surely. Kuruka silently congratulated Ranger on knowing the importance of the basics. She would have offered this StormShroud a smile, but she felt it more important to keep face. Celestia knew soldiers had a tendency to question new leadership. Kuruka would take no chances.
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Post by StormShroud on Jan 13, 2012 23:34:28 GMT -5
Quirking a brow at the pair down on the ground, he wondered what had Ranger out of his rant-y mode and into such a strange, nervous positioning. Well -- It was a female Pegasus pony, and one armed to the teeth to boot. Maybe an army-buddy of some sort? Maybe even a superior?
With a soft sigh, Storm Shroud released the tree trunk, slowly tipping back as his wings spread, rather graceful in how he plummeted off of the tree trunk, turning into a double-spin before coming to glide down, landing with a gentle, practiced 'thump' beside Ranger, legs and back stiff in practiced, military pose.
"Recruit Storm Shroud, at your service, Captain Ranger, Sir." He side-glanced at the masked pony, without turning his head, before looking back to Kuruka with his wings snapping firmly at his sides. Despite how poorly Ranger seemed to want to look down on Shroud's skills, he could do the pony a favor and give Ranger a good impression on this new Pegasus pony.
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 14, 2012 9:27:55 GMT -5
Ranger looked from Storm Shroud to Kuruka, "Alright, at ease," He said to Storm Shroud, "Look can we not be this official?" He asked, "There's hardly any point in this unless we're on royal business anyway." He suggested, "This is Kuruka, Shroudy, she's the Militia Captain of Hoofington. This is Storm Shroud, he's my new recruit here. We're pretty empty hoofed too." The woodspony explained, sighing.
"I'd love to help how much I can, I was just going to show Shroudy here all the stuff he needed to know about the forest." Ranger adjusted his mask a bit, cracking his head and stretching out a bit. "So feel free to join."
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Post by kuruka on Jan 15, 2012 1:44:28 GMT -5
Kuruka raised an eyebrow at the rather relaxed manners of Ranger. Well, this did not entirely discredit him, since both he and StormShroud looked to know how to handle themselves.
"Very well." Kuruka relaxed her stance and removed her equipment, stretching while Ranger introduced her to StormShroud.
She nodded and extended a hoof. "A pleasure, of course. Although you'd better watch out. I can get quite competitive when I train with another pony, especially a competent one, such as yourself."
Kuruka winked and turned back to Ranger. "Right, then. What's first?"
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Post by StormShroud on Jan 15, 2012 2:00:39 GMT -5
Shroudy?
Storm Shroud quirked a brow at Ranger, ears folding back just slightly. What was this masked pony playing at, being commanding one moment, and friendly the next?
Clearing his throat, Storm Shroud offered Kuruka a smile, and a friendly shake of the hoof.
"It's nice to meet you, as well. I suppose I'll try to watch out for you, then." He replied, before turning to look at Ranger with a tilt of his head, "What are we going to be doing, then, 'Rangie'?" Shroud smirked, thinking his pet name to be a rather good retort to 'Shroudy'.
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 15, 2012 2:07:00 GMT -5
"Well I was thinking a test of endurance would be in order, if you want to join the militia here, so..." Ranger thought, "How about you carry me over to that there tree..." He proceeded to point at the trunk of a tree too far for comfort, "While I explain to Kuruka about what she might find in the forest around Hoofington. Would be good if you kept an ear open for that too." The masked pony said with a hidden smile, wrapping a hoof around the colt and slapping his cheek ever so softly.
At that, he jumped atop the pegasus, and began speaking to Kuruka, "Well there's a dragon in the forest, on our side, but I bet he likes to hunt all over. It's a green dragon, so it's pretty much a straight up fight or flight, no tricky breath stuff to worry about except the fire ones. Other than that there's all of the Salamander types, and the ferals, of course." He began, "I can get more into detail if you'd like. Looks like we have a bit of a walk yet." He said with an evil tone, patting his "steed" on the flank as he did.
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Post by kuruka on Jan 15, 2012 2:56:36 GMT -5
Amused, Kuruka listened to Shroud and Ranger's banter and took note of the known monsters in her area as she trotted alongside. A dragon would possibly pose a problem if she didnt get recruits soon and it started a fire or something. Salamanders would be difficult, but manageable with only one or two other ponies, the same for the ferals.
Kuruka glanced at Shroud to mark how he was faring before answering Ranger again. "More detail would be nice. I've dealt with monsters before, but the breeds here are a little different than where I come from. Also, getting to know the local plants would be useful. I recognize a few of them, but again, difference in location make it difficult to be certain."
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Post by StormShroud on Jan 15, 2012 4:25:31 GMT -5
Storm Shroud's eyes widened as he was abruptly burdened with Ranger's weight, his face burning a bright red as his wings snapped outward, ears flattening. A wholly humiliating situation, yet he didn't really have any other choice than to amble forward, half stumbling under the pony's weight.
Really, Shroud was at a loss for words. He was reading the situation in five different ways, and only one of them was comforting, yet it was the least likely choice in his mind. Eventually, as they made progress, Shroud was walking more firmly than he was in the beginning, bucking his rear legs to scoot Ranger a bit farther forward. With Ranger's weight more centered now, Storm Shroud was able to show his true endurance and balance, walking fairly normally, if not with the occasional scoff or wobble.
He kept his head down, of course, and didn't say a word as they walked on. He simply focused on his endurance, and.. tried to keep his mind off of other things.
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 15, 2012 15:27:18 GMT -5
"Well you of course have to watch out for Poison Joke, it's a plant that likes to mess you up, in a funny way. And then there's sometimes Blue Jokers around it, giant spiders that lurk in there. They don't like fire though. Then besides the ferals and the salamanders you get Timber Wolves, they certainly don't like fires. And uh, you might come across Silver Stags..." He said, "Though that happens once a blue moon. They're super quick and always run away when they spot you, they're said to come from the Grove. They're pure creatures and it's said they can heal wounds and illnesses, but I don't know. I only ever saw one, once, and it bolted away deeper into the woods." At that he turned down towards Storm Shroud and asked, "You doing okay there little buddy?"
Suddenly Ranger thought of something else, what if they didn't think he was good enough anymore? What if Kuruka was sent to supervise him? He did have two ponies die, one was directly under his command, and then there's what happened in Whitetail, where two more ponies died and they didn't even find their bodies. What if... they want to throw him off? Or even worse, what if they think he's doing it on purpose?
It was fortunate that Ranger was wearing a mask, as that thought sent a grimace through his expression, that's it wasn't it? They sent Kuruka to observe him, see if he's the one behind things, but he'd never do that! How could they not trust him? He was a failure, true, but he did his best didn't he? Those thoughts made him lose his voice for a moment, as he just stared blankly at the passing view.
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Post by kuruka on Jan 15, 2012 18:05:58 GMT -5
Kuruka nodded as she listened. So far, fire sounded like a good thing to have with her, or at least the tools to make it. She would also learn to look out for this Poison Joke.
She glanced at Shroud once more, noting his determined expression and endurance. Kuruka had to admit that she'd been so obsessed with fitting in with her zebra tribe that she had never really taken the time to learn about her other half other than how to use her wings. If this stallion was an accurate example, she had much to be proud of. She would have to write her siblings about her findings.
Excited at the prospect, Kuruka turned again to Ranger. "Perhaps this is a little off-topic, but I would be much obliged if you could show me the Ponyville post when you have a moment." She paused, embarrassed that he might think her unfocused. "Perhaps also some ideas for warding against the forest until I can find more recruits would come in useful. Obviously, guards wouldn't be possible and a wall for a farming community would not only be time-consuming, but illogical. What kind of measures do you take here? Perhaps that will give me an idea of where to start?"
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Post by StormShroud on Jan 15, 2012 20:48:47 GMT -5
When finally they reached the tree which Ranger had pointed out, a weary-looking Storm Shroud paused, breathing a bit heavily, though not panting. He was able to hold his own, especially since Ranger hadn't been moving around too much -- In fact, he seemed rather still, and quiet for the last stretch of land.
Drawing to a stop, Shroud's wings flapped softly as he craned his neck back, looking to Ranger, "Alright, we're here. -- And as far as he's told me, there are traps set up all along the forest edge, to start. If something bigger than a pony tries to cross through, I'm sure we'll know about it." Shroud mentioned, tilting his head at Kuruka as he waited for Ranger to hop off his slowly aching back.
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