Will They Save The Day? Neigh!

[troubadamsel]

Who: Maribelle + You! Mingle log!
What: As the wolves descend upon the town, Maribelle decides she's not letting them lay a finger - er, fang? - on the horses. Come help defend them, attack them, or find them!
Where: Stable of Flavo / Around Town
When: Throughout the event!
Warnings: Blood/etc possibility? Werewolves, after all.

Calm Before the Storm

Maybe you heard it via word of mouth, or perhaps you're wandering the streets and just spot a bunch of people in front of the stable. Either way, Maribelle is there, and soon is joined by Tonbikiri and others. Now that they have some idea what's going on, Maribelle had a fair guess that these beasts would be after fresh, defenseless meat. So she's set up a make-shift bed (blanket on the grass, really) , gathered her tomes and staff, and now sits in front of it, making small-talk to anyone around her.

"Naturally, we'll take shifts to get a proper night's sleep... though knowing my dear horse may be in danger will honestly prevent me from getting any sleep."

Attack At The Stable

They're here! Wolves of both regular and were variety! Maribelle is on her feet in seconds, hoping her Fire tome will be enough to scare them off. Are you here to help defend the horses? Or did you get bitten, and now desire the tasty flesh both in and outside of the stables? Either way, bring it on!

"You will not take another step closer!"

Where Is My War Horse?

Unfortunately, a lot can happen in the heat of battle - like one of the doors flying open. Some of the horses have galloped away in fear, and Maribelle is trying to find them before someone else - something else - does. She has a tome under one arm, staff in the other, running around as fast as her feet can take her.

"They can't have gotten far... Please, oh, I'll never forgive myself if something happens to them...!"

((OOC: feel free to reply to mari and/or make your own top-level for everyone to hit!))

Comments

war horse

[nipzips]

[ Maribelle might run right into this guy, the guy she met at the prom. He's considerably bulky so having a girl bump right into him is barely even felt, but Josuke does peel her off of him, steadying her in front of him with hands on her shoulders. ]

Maribelle? You look a little frazzled. Is something wrong? [ Worst case scenario would be that she's being chased by something. With the werewolves running amok recently, Josuke makes a quick scan of the area, looking for any signs of approaching danger. ]

[troubadamsel]

Josuke!

[She suddenly grabs his arm, her fingers tight as iron.]

Have you seen any horses around here?! They escaped from the stable! We must find them at once!

[We now includes you, apparently.]

[nipzips]

[ Thankfully he would have helped her out anyway. He also didn't know she had her own stable so that's something he's learned today? ]

Horses? I didn't see any ... But they shouldn't be hard to spot. [ And now he's pretty much being signed up for a search party. That's fine. ] Alright. Where do your horses usually like to go?

[troubadamsel]

They don't "like" to go anywhere, I only let them out for a few feet per day! And when they escape, they were scared! The wolves were after them! Who knows what they could be thinking?

[nipzips]

If that's the case, do you have anything that could've been on the horse when it escaped? Like, a torn piece of the saddle or rope or something?

[ He has a reason for asking this! ]

[troubadamsel]

I... I did try to grab some of her hair, it's still on my gloves...

[nipzips]

Could I have a look at those? [ He'll show her his hands, waiting for her to put the locks of hair in them. ]

Calm (maybe leading into attack later?)

[youwillbeunequaled]

Tonbokiri rubs at the side of his jaw thoughtfully, a small smile upon his lips. He'd been constantly amazed at Maribelle's resilience in the face of the many dangers of this town, but her initiative today was truly inspired.

Kneeling seiza-style on the ground to face her, he shakes his head slightly.

"It is a dangerous situation, but thanks to you the chance of anything untoward happening has been greatly reduced. Besides that, Hor-- your horse is a war horse, is she not? If anything, we will have our hands full keeping her and Mikuniguro from trying to fight as well."

For lack of a name to call her horse, he'd been privately calling her 'Horse-chan'... how unfortunate to slip up like that in front of her. She doesn't want to name her, and that is her prerogative. (But still, having a name to call her by would be nice.)

[troubadamsel]

Maribelle smiles for half a moment at the compliment, but it doesn't last long. As brave as she's trying to be, there is fear on the inside. Human warriors she can handle, they're predictable. Wild animals, perhaps even wild magical animals... they were not so predictable. How do you fight what you don't expect?

Though the "name" slip does get an eyebrow-raise.

"Perhaps so, but... it has now been months since either of us have been at war. She's only been in battle once since she's arrived, and you can't quite train a horse as one does a person... I worry that they may get a little bit... rusty." And she blames herself for that, although there was little she could do about their situation.

[youwillbeunequaled]

Ah- at least she smiled for a moment, and did not call him out over the 'name'. Women can be as unpredictable as mountain weather.

Rusty? He knows just what she means! "It is true!" He then leans in a little and whispers so that Mikuniguro will have no chance to overhear, "I fear Mikuniguro is also getting rusty. I ride him often and do exercises, but it is not the same as being sent into battle."

Straightening his posture he crosses his arms in thought. "After this emergency, I wonder if we can think of something to do with them."

[troubadamsel]

Honestly, it's just Maribelle that's unpredictable. It's part of her... charm?

But he is giving her something else to think about besides wolves eating horses, which she is grateful for. She also crosses her arms, eyes rolling up as she tries to think. "Hm... whatever we do, we should do it for all of them. We need to keep them all in top-shape, while staying within the perimeters of the town."

She then glances at him, curious. "... What if you and I dueled one another?"

[youwillbeunequaled]

"Duel? You?" His surprise quickly turns into an apologetic smile. "I am sorry. I thought that you were a healer, though. You can fight from horseback?"

[troubadamsel]

"With my magic, yes." Maribelle holds up one of her tomes - Fire, to be specific. "I have three different spells I can use to attack my enemies from a distance... so your challenge would be to see if you can strike me up close without being hurt."

[youwillbeunequaled]

His eyebrows raise in appriciation and he smiles broadly. "I see! What an interesting challenge!" He then raises a hand to his chin thoughtfully. He has seen magic at work before, and it strikes him as very difficult to defend against. But on the other hand, evading it may be possible, in which case it becomes no different than an arrow or bullet. Either way, he will have to observe Maribelle's offensive techniques closely.

"Very well, I accept." He holds out a gauntleted hand for a handshake. "Once this emergency is over, let us have a good bout!"

Mingle option!

[youwillbeunequaled]

As Dusk Approaches

Having such an emergency in which the stable is useful is reassuring, in a way. Although, of course, he'd prefer to not have such an emergency in the first place.

As evening comes closer, people who have heard of Maribelle's idea come to have their animals protected. (...Were there always so many horses here?)
Anything, or indeed anyone, in need of a safe place to stay for the evening is most welcome here.

Tonbokiri can be found walking around the building looking for any loose boards in need of a final hammering, checking the grass bedding in the stalls, and readily welcoming those who have come here for a purpose.

[scooptimistic]

[ Maya has no horses that need protection (though she's sure Zero's definitely taking advantage of this). Honestly, the reason she's arrived is just to check on the people here, so when she spots Tonbokiri, she lifts a hand in a friendly wave. ]

How's it going over here?

[youwillbeunequaled]

[His attention is caught by the friendly wave, and he raises a hand, that is still holding some nails, in return.]

I believe we are prepared.

[Standing from where he'd been kneeling to hammer in a loose board, he nods slightly at the woman.]

Have you been sent to get a report on our status? I can give more detail, should you require it.

[scooptimistic]

Ah, no, that's not it! Just call it my own curiosity.

[ as per usual. ]

[youwillbeunequaled]

Oh, is that so? [A kindred spirit to Midoriya's! But if he may say, it's incredibly reassuring to meet more adults.]

Then, if I can do anything to help sate your curiosity, you have but ask.
I am called Tonbokiri, one of the Three Great Spears of Japan.

[Depending on where she is from, such a statement might very well make for more questions right from the start, especially since his sheathed spear is leaning against the wall near him...]

[scooptimistic]

[ Yeah. Yeah?? She instantly has a ton of questions, and she's looking at that spear for a very long moment before snapping her gaze back to him.

Uh. ]

Before I get too nosy, my name is Maya Amano. And as far as I know, Tonbokiri wasn't a living, breathing person?

[ she's so confused?? ]

My horse-themed header is: unbridled fear

[asano_san]

Keigo makes it through exactly one werewolf-filled night before he's looking for protection. Lucky for him, he knows just the person for the job. (It's not like his roommates are useless, but they're not large, muscular sword spirits with equally large spears. It's not their fault they don't measure up.)

It only takes a little asking around to find Tonbokiri attending to stable upkeep. He's barely in his line of sight when he launches into his request.

"Can you protect me?" Keigo sees no reason for small talk when every minute brings them closer to werewolves.

perfect header :3

[youwillbeunequaled]

He doesn't even need to properly see who is asking him before he's already answering,

"Of course-- oh, Asano-dono! Are you all right? You do not look well..." (That might be saying something, considering how they first met.) "Were you attacked last night?"

[asano_san]

The very thought of being attacked sends a new wave of fear through him and probably doesn't help his overall look.

"No! Would I be this calm if I'd been attacked?! And I'm not all right. There were werewolves out there last night!"

[youwillbeunequaled]

This is some level of calm for him?

"I'm glad that you were not attacked, at least. Be at ease! I shall certainly protect you! This stable will be completely safe. Indeed, the wolves may not even make it this far into the town." Which would be the very best-case scenario, but he can't count on it.

[asano_san]

It's all relative. He's not currently trying to take flight.

He didn't really have any doubts, but Tonbokiri's agreement still makes him relax just a little.

"I knew I could count on you! You think they might not make it here?" That's even better. "I was sure they were everywhere, but there was no way I was going outside to see."