Discontinued Private Eastern Brisshal [Wintersday] Polar Drift

[Ash Vargold]

Polar bears running wild in Eastern Brisshal. What the hell.

Ash squinted down at the AG posting, ignoring the snowflakes gathering on his hair and clothing. He ran warmer than usual, and so the cold didn't bother him much, especially combined with his heavier clothing. His ears were getting a little chilly, though. He'd have to consider investing in a hat.

He placed the note back into his inventory before looking out into the empty fairgrounds. There was supposed to be a festival of some sort here, and that included some kind of traveling Yladian circus. A circus that apparently had polar bears... and had promptly lost said polar bears.

"How does one lose polar bears...?"

He sighed, looking around. There were supposed to be others coming on this quest... which meant they considered these polar bears to be enough of an issue to need a party. Certainly not the sort of thing to let run around in what was supposed to be the newbie area, for sure...

@Toko @Harper

 

[Toko]

The Yladian circus had been something the young children in Honeyhome had been looking forward to since the news of its passing through the region had first reached the small village. Even the lepus had been excited to see it, curious to see the elven take on this form of entertainment, before a request from the Guild had reached Toko a few days before the crew was meant to perform. "Aa, that’s not good." A sigh escaped the hare as the contents of the request sunk in, it seemed some polar bears brought by said circus had somehow escaped and were now loose in Eastern Brisshal.

Winters in Honeyhome had been starkly different from the warmer ones (in comparison) that Toko was used to experiencing in Japan, though the villagers had been nice enough to provide the local hare with good winter clothing for the season. A hat had been the only thing Toko had refused, not wishing to hinder the range of hearing or the movement of her ears. "Yaa!" Already it looked like someone else had arrived at the prearranged meeting spot in the request, the hare calling out casually to the fellow beastman as a hand raised in a polite wave.

"You’re here for the polar bears too, ne?"

@Harper | @Ash Vargold

 

[Harper]

Ah, the joy of the Christmas Season! Or in this case, Wintersday season! It was Harper's first rodeo with the holiday inside Terrasphere, and she was already enjoying it as much as she could. Eating all of the candy, roasts, and cookies she could possibly find while engaging in merry cooperation and joy had become the go-to these past days, and she could thank her newly acquired hot metabolism to do the hard task of churning through all of it.

But Harper couldn't exactly give up who she was, and all this idle time and jolliness left her worried about becoming rusty. Being No.1 was an ever-taxing hustle, and every minute she wasn't grinding, someone else was. So when she stumbled upon the guild's request to help a wandering circus get back their polar bears, it couldn't have come at a better time. It would give her a way to keep herself sharp while also helping with the festivities and giving her a potential attraction to go through in the future, uniting the good with the pleasurable.

While she felt more than confident to tackle the task alone, she was informed that two others had also gotten involved before her. No matter, it would just make the job quicker and easier, letting her crash by the nearest bakery for her sugar rush as soon as she was finished. Though, as she walked through Honeyhome, she couldn't help but notice that a few people stared at her as went by, puzzled. Hot Metabolism did a lot to help her fight the cold, the tigress only having a scarf in addition to her regular armor and fur today, but her lack of heavy clothing also made her stick out like a sore thumb amongst the regular, non-warm blooded and non-beastkin residents.

Regardless, she would make her way to the area where supposedly she would find the bears. She couldn't deny that the child inside of her was somewhat excited to finally meet a polar bear in person, even if it was inside virtual reality. She also wondered who else was taking time from the festivities to help her out, but she would quickly arrive at an answer as she spotted a pair of long, white bunny ears and long white hair in the distance. With a smile, she would bring two fingers to her mouth to loudly whistle as she approached them.

"Yoooo, if it ain't Bugs! Long time no see girl!" She'd arrive by their side, giving @Toko a casual pat on the back. Well, as casual as someone with Crush Weapons could give, which meant it was still a bit heavy-handed. She'd then turn to @Ash Vargold , giving him the same dangerous pat if he allowed it. "And if it ain't the boy who cried awoo! How's it hanging Ash?"

As she finished, she would look forwards, already on the lookout for their targets. "I'm assuming the both of you are here for the guild request. Ready to kick some white-furred butt? 'Cause I am."

 

[Ash Vargold]

Ash raised a hand as the others showed up. He... sort of recognized @Toko, in a "didn't we fight on the same shitty battlefield" sort of way, but he did recognize @Harper from their recent... adventures, over in Vintergard.

"I'm never gonna live down thinking that was a good idea, huh? Yeesh." Ash smiled weakly as he nodded towards the two. "Good to see you're well, Harper. And yeah, I'm here for the... polar bear quest, too."

He frowned slightly as Harper brought up "kicking white-furred butt", and shook his head. "...I'm not sure if we're supposed to beat up the polar bears. If they're... uh, 'circus employees', then they probably want them relatively uninjured, right? I assume that's why this quest was marked with a higher rank than a normal bear hunt."

Ash shrugged. "I dunno. I'm not a real AG member - I just take non-exclusive jobs."

@Toko @Harper

 

[Toko]

The sudden whistling had made Toko turn, her face scrunching up for a moment as she tried to make out the figure approaching them before recognizing the tigress.

""Yoooo, if it ain't Bugs! Long time no see girl!""
"Ah, Harper da ne? ’sashiburi!"

The clap onto her back caused the hare to stumble just lightly before she recovered herself, unexpected as it had been, though the wide grin on Toko’s face showed the lepus didn’t seem bothered in the slightest about it. Her attention turned back to awoo man the canine with them, discovering his name seemed to be Ash from the tigress’ own words. Seemed Harper knew him well enough, unlike the brawler that at most remembered him from passing glances in common battlefields.

"Ash is right, the circus would like their fuzzy white bears back unharmed and in good condition—they do have a show to perform tonight after all, and the Honeyhome children have been looking forward to it."

The Guild had stressed out that part quite a bit in the missive Toko had received, and from what she’d seen the troupe really did seem to treat the bears as part of the family.

"Seems one of the younger members forgot to properly lock their enclosure after dinner time and, well, the bears got curious and went off exploring during the night while everyone slept."

@Harper | @Ash Vargold

 

[Harper]

She would tilt her head at both Toko and Ash's dismissal of her proposal, her ears tilting as well as she showed her clear confusion. She had read the missive thoroughly of course, and she was well aware that the task required the polar bears to be back in one piece. What she didn't understand was how her partners seemingly thought that this could be achieved without some amount of forcefulness.

"Eeeeeeeeeeh? Surely you two don't think we can get a bunch of polar bears back in a cage without some amount of violence? They might be buds with the troupe, but we are a bunch of strangers to them. And two of us are half-competing predators in the wild, and you are just straight-up half-yummy prey to them." She'd motion toward the bunny girl with her thumb. "No offense Toko."

With a sigh, she'd cross her arms, thinking about the situation. Of course, she didn't want to hurt some animals dear to children, but she also didn't want to get torn to pieces trying to friendly corral them back into where they were supposed to be. This was certainly a bit of a conundrum, and definitely not what she expected coming in.

Oh well, she still had a job to do. Putting her hands by her waist, she would lean forwards as her tail swung back and forth behind her. "Alright, no ass-kicking. But surely we can knock them down a bit to calm them down so we can get them back to the circus? I can do my best to heal any boo-boos that come from that." She'd extend her arm forward before a faint, warm green light shined from her hand. "Been dabbling in Nature Magic recently. Ain't no master, but it's workable."

She retracted her hand, which would now cup her chin as she went back into thought. "Speaking of, we do need to get them back to the circus somehow. I can carry a bear or two by myself, but the others would be a bit of a problem. Don't think your everyday cart or wheelbarrow can handle their weight. Any ideas?"

@Toko @Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Ash scratched the back of his head as he considered Harper's words. "To be honest, I kind of hoped there'd be a beastmaster on this job, but I guess no one thought to ask for that. Maybe they thought it'd be self-explanatory."

...he was sort of guilty of that, really. He didn't know anything about animals that weren't common pets. "Maybe we could tempt them with more food? If they're tamed bears, then they probably aren't great at hunting."

He sighed, ears pinned back as he tried to fend off the chill. Definitely needed a hat, next time. "If it's carrying we're worried about, then we could probably borrow something from the fairgrounds. They have hay cart rides here, too." He crossed his arms, thoughtful. "We could probably drag one of those between the three of us."

Ash looked out in the vague direction of where some of those vehicles were stowed. "Don't think we could borrow a horse, though. Don't think we'd want to protect one either. But it'd be easier than carrying or dragging a bunch of unconscious bears. Sound like a plan?"

@Harper @Toko

 

[Toko]

"Well yeah, some of them might be aggressive… but maybe not all of them?" Given the nature of their work it made sense that the animals would lean towards a more cooperative nature, especially since two of the three were seemingly bottle raised by the troupe. "I can probably carry one of the bears no problem, though two might be a logistical nightmare."

There was a pause as the lepus gave the matter some thought, pulling a cart through the wilderness and woods near Honeyhome that the beasts had gone would probably hinder their travel as they looked for the animals… and would also be a bit of a challenge wheeling them back too. "If at least one of them is chill, maybe we could lure it back with food? After all, most animals love food." Granted she didn’t have any bear experience, but the little neko that kept hanging by her house even after her obaachan had passed on was certainly very food oriented and motivated by it too.

"Been dabbling in Nature Magic recently.”
"Hontoni?! Nature is one of the masteries I started with~"

Between all three of them the hare figured things should be fine, if they had to get up close and personal with any of the bears then any damage caused could be repaired before the troupe realized it… hopefully.

"Ah, I still think we should try a peaceful approach though—unless any of them are super unruly."

@Harper | @Ash Vargold

 

[Harper]

"Hmm, it does sound doable! If I carry one, and Bugs carries one herself, then..."

She would walk up to Ash, putting her hands on his shoulders while looking up at the taller beastkin with a smile, tapping his shoulders a bit. "Every man has to try and push through his limits once in his life. I trust in your strength and force of will to do it, so go carry that bear!" She'd exclaim with genuine excitement, before turning back to Toko once she commented on her choice of mastery.

"Haha, well, one needs a way to care for themselves out there! Bandages and potions only get you so far, especially when you have your claws and teeth molting twice a month. As a matter of fact, just got those replace two days ago." She would unsheathe her claws, using one of them to tap one of her sharper teeth. "It sucked, but it would suck ten times more if I didn't have magic to soothe the process. It's just very handy for a lot of stuff. And it's just cool to you know, do magic!"

She would finish, before cupping her chin once again as Toko brought up the idea to lure them with food. It would certainly be easier than doing whatever they would need to do for the bears to allow themselves to be carried by them, and it would save them the effort of actually moving the bears around. "If we are luring them back with meat... Wait, I've got an idea!" She would clasp her hands together, looking at the two with a smirk. "For all the talk we are doing, we still need to find the bears themselves. So here's my idea: You two go track them down and give me a holler through party chat once you do so. Meanwhile, I'm going into the forest nearby and looking for a fresh hunt to bring back for us to use... Or you could just buy some meat from the local market." She'd finish, her face contorting into a frown.

"Easier for sure, but also boring and would not allow me to show off what I've learned for myself since I met up with Mizuki. It would also definitely make my day worse. But it's your pick at the end of the day."

@Ash Vargold @Toko

 

[Ash Vargold]

Ash blinked rapidly as Harper gave him a "pep talk" about carrying bears.

Every man has to try and push through his limits once in his life, huh? Hah.

He just smiled weakly in response as Harper returned to plotting with Toko. Ash had thought the cart would be a good idea, but this group was more hotblooded than he was, for sure. "Actually, fresh meat would probably be better. Blood and entrails will stink way more than a market cut would, and dying animals are noisy. It'd be like a dinner bear for those bears."

He paused, crossing his arms. "...and any other hungry predator, but I think we're all strong enough to handle Eastern Brisshal wildlife, even hyped up by winter starvation."

He nodded to himself, shaking off some more of the snow settling on his head. "So you go out hunting, we go out tracking. Sounds like a plan to me."

@Toko @Harper

 

[Toko]

"While getting meat from the village would be simpler," the lepus began, though it wasn’t hard for anyone to guess which option Harper really wanted to do—the tigress had been quite direct with her words. "It would also cut down on the stock they have prepared to survive the winter and, unlike us, a hunt to replenish that could be quite deadly for their hunters in this weather."

Meanwhile the hare had little doubt that Harper could easily get a decent sized kill on her own, nodding in agreement to Ash's own input on the matter. "Alright, seems like we’ve decided then. Harper will go out hunting, and we’ll try to track the bears." There was a pause as the fighter seemed to consider something, finally turning to the tigress once more.

"I’m guessing your sense of smell is good, right?" She tapped her own nose for emphasis before continuing, "Think you can find us with that once you have your kill?"

@Harper | @Ash Vargold

 

[Harper]

Harper would be visibly pleased that the others were willing to let her hunt for herself, the tigress already drowning in the future praise she would get once she arrived with a huge catch for them to use as bait, but Toko's assumption about her sense of smell caught her off-guard. She had never tried to use it like that before, nor did she know if it was even that better than a normal person's in the first place...

But hey, if Mizuki could do it, why couldn't she? And if she succeeded, it would be one more thing to add to the awesome list of awesome things Harper could do. Just had to sniff the two of them out, how hard could that even be? Nodding towards the bunny girl, she would cross her arms. "Heh, you betcha. Could track you two with a blindfold on. Though I guess it would be better if I only had to focus on one person to track, so..."

She would look at the two for a moment, before walking up to Ash and not wasting any time in forcefully pulling him by the head down to her height, shoving her face into his hair, and taking a big long sniffa...

It... had a smell, for sure. One of the smells of all time, in fact. After the tigress did her damn hardest to keep that smell recorded in her mind, she would start to walk towards the forest while waving at the group. "This ain't gonna take long, so you better find those bears fast before the rest of the forest finds whatever I bring back! Seeya in a jiffy!" With that confidently said, she would give them a wave as she walked off, ready to do her part of the task.

It would work out... Probably. Hopefully.

@Ash Vargold @Toko

 

[Ash Vargold]

"Hey, wait-"

Ash wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to respond to @Harper suddenly yanking him downwards to smell his hair. In the end, freezing up was the only thing he could do, at least until Harper finally released him.

"What happened to contacting each other via party chat...?"

He stepped back a little, nervously smoothing his hair over. It'd been a few days since he'd done any proper maintenance on it. It was... pretty embarrassing. But at least it was done with. He sighed, and returned Harper's farewell with one of his own. "Stay safe out there."

And once she left, he turned to @Toko with a nod, before opening up his interface. His eyes took on a dull glow as he activated Investigation mode and turned his attention towards the forest. From his viewpoint, he could see Harper's steps leading away, and other signs of activity around him. It was always a bit of an overload. "I've got Guard Arts, so if those bears left any sign, I should be able to see them. We should probably start near the caravan itself..."

Rolls

Expertise Check
2d100 (Advantage) (41, 55) + 40 = 95
Awareness | Ash Vargold | Bear Tracking

@Toko @Harper

 

[Toko]

It never crossed Toko’s mind that perhaps the tigress did not have a nose as developed as that of Ash or her own, having become so used to the trait within her in-game avatar that the lepus had forgotten it wasn’t always shared among all beastfolk. "Gotcha, we’ll be counting only ou then Harper-chan~" Though she had slowly become accustomed to the mostly Western culture found within TerraSphere’s players, her available hours to dive within the game often coinciding with those in the NA region, honorifics still slipped into her speech every once in a while—like right now for example.

"What happened to contacting each other via party chat...?"
"True, I guess we could do that, although I’m terrible at giving directions…"

Her own hands moved through her UI, the hare following suit behind Vargold before her eyes glowed a dull pink in response to triggering the investigation mode the game provided them with. "I got a pretty good nose and eyes, so if I know what I’m looking for maybe I can lock on them." Regardless of what tactic was used, starting near the caravan was probably the best thing to do, and the hare was happy to lead Ash towards it as she navigated the paths of Honeyhome with ease.

"Whoa… bears have pretty big claws, huh?" Her eyes stared at the claw marks left behind on a toy of sorts provided for the animals, a sturdy and rather thick log that had certainly seen better days. Her nose had faintly managed to discern the scent of one of the bears among their little enclosure, the biggest one if Toko had to guess, before her attention turned to the wolf with a tilted head. "Ready to go into the woods and search for them, Ash-san?"

---

Expertise Check
2d100 (Advantage) (85, 17) = 85
Contested Roll | Fugitive Bears | 1578

@Harper | @Ash Vargold

 

[Harper]

...This wasn't going as planned.

As soon as she got deeper into the forest, any semblance of Ash's smell disappeared from her nostrils. Not that she could track it back to them either way, but she at least expected her effort to last more than a few moments! Still, she couldn't be deterred! She had put an responsibility on her own shoulders, and she would be damned if she didn't get it done!

Besides, how hard could it be? Sure, tracking them down would be a bit of a problem, but that's Future Harper's problem to figure out! Right now, she had one main objective: Get that bait for the bears. This however did bring into question what animal exactly she was going to bring back. Brisshal had always had a good variety of fauna, and the time of the year made it so it was much easier to find the usual prey instead of a hunter trying to get a meal.

Maybe a small rabbit, light enough for anyone in the group to run around with? Or maybe a bigger boar, enticing enough to get the attention of all of the bears? Decisions, decisions. And since Harper couldn't bring herself to pick one, she decided to just go with the first one she saw. And lo and behold, not long after that she spotted what looked like antlers in the distance.

"Ohoh! A reindeer! That would work and is totally in Christmas spirit!" Harper would exclaim, before taking a moment to think about her words. "...Now that I think about it, that's kinda morbid... But I can't be debating with myself here, or else I'll lose my chance!" With those words of encouragement to herself, she quickly jumped to chase, expecting to have to run after a fleeing animal. As she got closer, however, the animal did not flee. Nor was it a reindeer.

In front of her was a humongous specimen of a moose, who exhaled sharply at the sight of the tiger girl. While surprised, the girl showed no fear or worry. Instead, she had the biggest grin on her face. Not being able to fight the polar bears had left her somewhat unfulfilled, and now this beast of an animal stood before her, and was seemingly not that happy about her presence.

Well, too bad. Harper was in need of some release of all that fighting need, and the moose was going to be her recipient whether it liked it or not. Unsheathing her claws, she would rush the moose, which would quickly realize her intent and meet her charge with one of his own, going antlers first. The hunt was on.

"HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"

---

After a good while, @Toko and @Ash Vargold would be able to spot someone arriving at their location, with the bunny perhaps being able to smell the strong scent of blood from farther away. A somewhat bruised and battered Harper would arrive with a bloodied nose while carrying the beast on her shoulders in a position similar to a fireman's carry.

"Yoooo, told ya I could do it! Was a bit harder to follow you back after a good kick in the nose, I'm afraid. Sorry for the wait." She would apologize, hiding the fact that it was the use and abuse of her Guard Arts-enhanced Investigation Mode that got her to find the pair. Leaning forwards, she would drop the beast into the ground in front of them, its neck having been visibly broken. Putting her hands on her waist, she would let out a hearty laugh as she leaned back, seemingly not caring much for the state of her own body.

"Didn't help that once I got closer to Honeyhome all I could really smell was freshly-baked ginger cookies, haha! But hey, enough 'bout awesome me. Did you two find our polar comrades?"

 

[Ash Vargold]

Ash nodded, watching as information began to populate his vision. The snow had covered any footprints the bears may have left, but this close to the forest he could see the scratched trunks and broken branches left by their entrance into the forest. He glanced to @Toko and beckoned, then began to lead the way.

---

Tracking, Ash could do. The trees were shields against the snow, allowing him to see the footprints the bears had left behind. His eyes flicked between various annotations noting the age of the prints, the speed of their quarry, where they paused and slept and fought. He hoped the occasional whiffs of old blood he caught weren't from the bears.

Before long, the path led to a brief clearing. A massive tree had fallen here, larger and older than any Ash had seen in real life. Its tangled roots reached through the air, blanketed in a thick layer of soil that together formed a cave within the tree's branches. The snow lay thick in the clearing, but there were areas where it had been disturbed near the entrance.

"I think we found them..."

He flinched as he heard @Harper's voice ringing through the air, one ear twisting towards her while the other listened for anything coming from the root cave. The smell of blood hit him next, and he covered his mouth and nose as Harper came into sight, in poor shape and dragging a moose. His wide-eyed gaze flickered briefly to Toko, searching her expression for any of the shock he was feeling, and then he cleared his throat.

"Uh... good job. Though I wasn't expecting such a major haul. You alright?"

He motioned towards the cave with an incline of his head.

"I think they're in there. I don't know how deep that cave is, but I'm sure it won't be long before they smell that and get hungry."

Hell, the smell of it was making him hungry, in a instinctual way that felt entirely foreign. He shoved the thought to the back of his mind.

@Toko @Harper

 

[Toko]

She followed the caenis’ lead, the hare’s own sensitive nose helping keep the pair in the right path whenever there was a lull or a larger than usual gap in the physical mauling of the forest that Vargold had been following with his eyes. A faint lingering scent of iron occasionally clung to her nostrils, the old blood of whatever creature had been unlucky enough to cross paths with the fugitive bears and ended up as a snack or chased away, and Toko had been about to sneeze when Ash motioned for the hare to be quiet—their quarry seemingly found.

Another wave of a strong iron scent flooded her nose then, the sneeze Toko had been holding onto finally released, before her head turned in the direction where the fresh scent of blood emanated from. Not too long after her ears twitched, able to catch the familiar grunts of a tigress as her steps closed the distance between the trio. "Uwaaah... you’ve really outdone yourself, Harper-san!" She’d only ever seen them in pictures and videos on the internet, and as such perhaps it wasn’t surprising that the fighter reacted with excitement upon seeing what the tigress was carrying.

”I don't know how deep that cave is, but I'm sure it won't be long before they smell that and get hungry.”
"Nevermind the bears, it’s making me hungry too."

Who knew, perhaps if everything went well they’d be able to use whatever was leftover from the moose for a nice hot pot—that thing was absolutely massive after all, and Toko was sure the villagers back in Honeyhome would also appreciate some fresh meat instead of the cured and quickly dwindling stash that they’d prepared to survive the winter with.

"Right, so what’s the plan here?" First thing’s first, they had to deal with the bears. "Do we just toss it over there and wait for the bears to come out, or…?"

@Harper | @Ash Vargold

 

[Harper]

"I'm fiiiine, maybe just a bit winded for walking all this way with the moose on my back." She'd say, sitting on the ground and using the moment to take a breather. She was strong sure, but her endurance was still something she was working on. Being a judoka who competed regularly, she was used to going all out for a round of 5 minutes but going on for an extended amount of time was still challenging.

As Ash pointed toward the cave and mentioned it wouldn't be long until the bears felt hungry, Harper couldn't help but have her own stomach loudly rumble. Looking at the two with a somewhat embarrassed smirk afterward, she would comment as she scratched the back of her own head. "Well, you two have it good. I had to feel hungry while having all this meat on my back, you know. Heck, I think even my clothes and fur only smell of moose guts right now."

She'd say, before dragging the moose by one of its legs towards the entrance of the cave. "Well, if we wait they would come out eventually... But why not speed up the process by enticing them a little bit?" She'd say, before taking one of her claws and dragging down the moose's belly, cutting a hole open on it to let some more blood come out onto the ground, intensifying the odor.

"After they come out... I do have an idea." She'd turn to Toko with a smirk, speaking in a teasing tone. "Think you can outrun a polar bear while carrying 800 pounds of moose with me, Bugs?" She'd say, before turning to Ash. "And while you do that, Ash here could cover our bacon and stop the bears from getting too close, alongside taking care of any undesirables fancying some moose meat. That work for the two of you? 'Cause it works for me."

The tigress would suggest, her vigor seemingly reinvigorated as she was basically shaking with excitement. Running from danger was not exactly her preferred course of action, but running from polar bears while carrying their dinner just sounded like the type of tale to tell at every campfire. She had to at least try.
@Ash Vargold @Toko

 

[Ash Vargold]

"A bit winded, huh." Ash's disbelief didn't show as he stared at the moose. God, but those things were enormous. "I wouldn't want to fight one of those even in game..."

At least it would work for their needs, especially once Harper sliced the moose open and released a fresh wave of smell sweep across the clearing. Ugh, now his stomach was growling too. He shook his head, and resolved to go get some dinner after they'd caught the bears. Just because he was beastfolk didn't mean he would start chowing down on raw moose. No matter how good it smelled...

"Ward off the bears. Can do." He turned towards the root cave, ears pricked forward. He could hear a faint shifting in that direction, followed by growling as the first of the bears slowly emerged. Covered in mud as it was, it almost looked like a brown bear, but the size and white splotches were telltale signs that these were what they were looking for.

"There they are. Better run fast!" Ash drew his sword, backing up slightly as the bears sniffed their way.

@Harper @Toko

 

[Toko]

A smirk quickly spread on her lips as Harper detailed the plan she’d come up with, her stomach audibly growling as the tigress sliced the belly of the moose open—if it wasn’t because they needed this moose to get the bears back she would’ve suggested a nice campfire to prepare some fresh food. She took a moment to stretch her muscles and roll her shoulders, preparing as Harper detailed the rather simple but probably effective plan she had thought out.

"Outrunning them should be easy, even with half a moose on my shoulders." Her words matched Harper’s teasing tones, the mischievous glint on the brawler’s crimson eyes clear confirmation that she was gamed for this plan. "Think you can keep up with me, Tora-chan?"

She cracked her neck, loosening the muscles, before taking a firm grip on the moose’s head and shoulder. "Ready?" Once certain the tigress had a firm hold of her own Toko would heave the corpse towards her shoulders and back, steading the new load and waiting for Harper’s confirmation. "We’re counting on ya, Ash-san!"

@Harper | @Ash Vargold