lucetilogs | Draft Log #3: During v. 2.0

[Derek will nod when he sees her, and then hunker down where he is; no point in them both moving at the moment, especially since it looks like she's just as indirect in her movement as him. They'd just end up dancing around each other in this tangle of underbrush.

Instead, Derek will stand his ground where he is, keeping alert for anything else moving in the area, and ready to shoot down anything that tries to come after her.]

[Ginia finds a safe spot between a fallen log and some bushes to hunker down in front of, giving them about eight feet of distance between them. She nods over at him, giving a lazy salute. Unfortunately, conversation will be difficult, but silence is best out in the forest.]

/Know any sign language?/ [She signs over at him. Easiest way to find out and best get that question out of the way.]

[He sees the start of motion and turns his attention to her hands. It takes him a moment, but then he does sign back. He's a little clumsy, and slow while he thinks it through, but the response is more or less clear.]

/Some. Military. Simple things./

[She gives a small nod. Something is better than nothing and the wings do help with translating things in their odd way. She looks him over for a moment, trying to match the face to the ones she's seen on the small journal pictures.]

/It'll do. Derek?/

[At least she goes for his given name and not who he looks like. 'Course, the disguising dirt and mud probably doesn't help.

Yep, that's him, and the recognition will earn her a nod.

...it doesn't take much of a stretch of the imagination at that point to at least guess who he's talking to. After all, this is the first time another Lucetian has gone straight for the hand signals, even in the middle of a battle zone.]

/Ginia. Pleased./

[The mud and dirt doesn't help identify him, so it comes down to recognizing who he isn't.

She nods back at the recognition and cracks a small smile before her attention goes back to their current situation. They can catch up on pleasantries later.]

/See anyone out here yet?/

/Not in about a half hour. Took care of it./

[A knife in the small of the back and a quick snap of the neck. He'd made sure to hide the body under plenty of stuff.

A broken shadow sweeps by overhead, it's outline indistinct because of the inconsistent lighting. Derek crouches down, looking up.]

[Ginia gives a small nod, glancing up at the shadow and hunkering down more. It flickers off in a southeast direction, another shadow flickering by shortly after.]

/Patrol?/

/Think so, yeah./

[And they're early. Either they were stepping up the schedule, or something big was going down somewhere. Either way, it was time to stay low.

Derek quietly put his gun back in it's under arm holster, exchanging it for the military knife in his boot. In this thicket, his shots were as likely to hit plant as target, and if it came down to it, last thing they'd need is to alert more Third Party goons to the area.

So, if the enemy landed, it was going to be guerrilla tactics and close up fighting all the way.]

[Ginia follows his lead, making sure the safety is on before returning her gun to its hip holster. She takes out her combat knife, holding it in a fighting grip in her left hand.

Her attention returns upward, waiting for any more shadows crossing in either direction. After a few minutes, the shadows pass by in roughly the same way. Definitely a patrol.]

[Derek sees them too and frowns. They're going to have to make a decision soon, here. Either try and sneak out of the area...or stand their ground and try to get that patrol to come down to their level.

He's not liking either choice, although he knows which direction he's leaning. They don't really know how many are up there.

He'll glance to Ginia, raising an eyebrow at her. Your thoughts, ma'am?]

[Choices, choices. They're at a disadvantage right now without knowing what else might be out there. While taking down a patrol would be beneficial to everyone, it puts them at a great disadvantage without having any exact details and a poor fighting position.

She glances back at him and gives a small shake of her head.]

/Report back to camp with our observations?/

[Derek nods, his attention turning back to the canopy for the moment. That was about what he was thinking, yeah. If nothing else, the patrols were getting a little too close to the landing area.

Derek starts extracting himself from his hiding spot, still silent in his movements. Still keeping his attention on where the patrols above seemed to be going over.]

[Ginia watches his back as he moves, keeping a good eye on the canopy and surrounding area. Only after he's situated himself and is ready to move out does she begin getting up, keeping quiet as possible.]

[It doesn't take him long before he's ready to make the long, silent trek back to base. He will wait for her though. At this point, being within reach of each other might be the better idea.]

[Ginia is up and ready as well, following after him at a good distance to watch his back and prevent both of them from being caught up in any traps that might exist.]

[Derek moves like a man used to creeping through tight spaces and littered hallways. He keeps low, every movement deliberate, slow, and sure, and he pauses several times. When the light above starts to get shadowed again, he sinks down as far as he can and goes completely still, even his breathing seeming to stop.

This is a man used to stalking prey...and avoiding unseen traps.]

[Seeing someone else clearly used to stalking and tracking is a nice bit of reassurance. Always good knowing there's one less person on the battlefield to worry about.

Her setting of choice is far more urban and concrete, but she manages, gauging her movements and any sounds made - a rustling of leaves, a crack of a twig - are as natural as possible.]

[He manages to get them pretty far before their luck runs out. The only warning that something is amiss is Derek stopping dead and suddenly going as flat as he can to the ground. A moment later, one of the third party lands ahead of them, placing himself between the pair and the base.]

[Only a matter of time. Ginia catches quickly and also drops down, her hand reaching for her knife as she glances over at Derek, silently asking for his opinion on the situation, then back at the sky to see if any other soldiers come their way.]

[Derek holds his hand out and then lowers it, palm downward. The intent is to tell her to stay put. He'll glance at her and then slowly, silently, start working his way around the soldier, with the intent to get behind him if he can.]

[Ginia doesn't argue it even as she draws her knife. She holds her ground, keeping a careful eye on their surrounding and watching his back for him. No need for two hunters to go after one target.]

[He'd be glad to know she has the same mindset as him. Not to mention that if he does manage to get himself into more trouble than he can handle, she might still be able to get her ass out of the area before they find her, too.

That aside, though, right now, the concentration is all on getting behind the soldier.

Careful...slow...careful...

Derek almost manages it. Almost. But then there's a crack of a branch somewhere behind him that causes the Third Party man to whirl around quickly.

So much for that, then.

Derek wastes no time, rushing the soldier with a snarl, sword drawn as he goes. If the man has a partner, Derek has no room for seeing him. He needs to take this one down, now.

The clash of metal on metal sounds as the soldier draws his own weapon to block.]

[The crack definitely wasn't from Ginia and she glances behind her, seeing the other Third Party soldier that might have seen patrolling earlier. Right. So much for surprise. Plan B then, take their asses down.

Letting Derek to take care of the first one, Ginia shifts her position to come at the soldier at the side as he rushes at Derek. Metal flashes through the air, glancing off steel as she pulls the soldier's attention and falls back into a combative stance. The Third Party member has the advantage as far as reach goes, but in the forest, with more things for a sword to get snared into, a knife may be just what she needs.

Wanna dance? Let's dance.]

[Derek is peripherally aware that there's another fight going on nearby, but there isn't much to be done about it now; he's just going to have to trust that Ginia will come out on top.

He lets the soldier's blade slide down his own, using the tension as a pivot point to swing around, hunting knife in the other hand. He drives the smaller blade into the man's side, lips curling back as the soldier's sword finishes its slide and runs along hos wrist. The blade catches on flesh, taking a decent nick from his wrist.

They pull apart, both bleeding, although the soldier's stagger proving he got the worst of the exchange. Still, mantling his wings, he pushes forward again, trying his best to behead the hunter.]

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