Back to Work (Bones)

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on August 8th, 2012, 3:17 am

When the wolf fell, Tock pulled her dagger out and stabbed it in the neck again, just to make sure it was staying down. But then she felt a lurch on Grippy, and turned to look at the cage. The wolf was banging up against the door, trying to push its way out. Since the door was only held shut by the guiding rope, there was a chance it could force the door open and escape.

"Damnit..." she muttered, dropping her dagger and putting both hands on Grippy to yank harder on the rope. She glanced back at Bones as he dropped the last wolf, and when she saw his leg was clear she shouted again, "Chop!" The axe gave another swing, and with the wolf already injured and dropping from the pain of its broken snout, it wasn't able to dodge the blow. The axe dug into the wolf's spine, killing it.

Tock then moved back to the cage, keeping a firm grip on the rope. She ran in a loop around the cage, pulling the rope right against the wooden bars. She then tied it off, while the angry wolf snapped at her behind the bars. They were too narrow for it to reach, but it pressed its snout right up against the gap, snarling and growling as it tried to reach her.

She paused long enough to retract and holster Grippy, and called out to Bones, "Ya okay, mate?" She then pulled another coil of rope from her backpack, tying it to one of the corners of the cage and circling around it to wrap the rope in tight coils. Once the second rope was in place, the doors were secured enough that she was confident her specimen wouldn't be getting out. She then plopped down on her behind, leaning back on her hands, and struggling to catch her breath.

She looked over at Bones and said, "Oy... I owes ya one..."

by **Ssafirsotibones** on August 17th, 2012, 9:43 pm

Tock seemed to really enjoy stabbing things, after he had immobilized or taken care of them. He had been a bit annoyed at the last wolf, the one he had so carefully caught and not injured, only for her to stab it. Now she had done the same to this one, though admittedly he had damaged this one. But still, it was rude to steal someones kills. Hadn't anyone ever taught her that?

Getting up from the dead or dying wolf, Bones moved to go and scoop up his dropped weapons, which he had left behind so as to not have the chance of accidentally injuring one of the beasts, that Tock had said she wanted unharmed... Or apparently, only unharmed by him.

Perhaps to lend insult to its already grievous injuries, Tock ordered her odd choppy thing to hack at the beast again. It was not going anywhere, so really there was no point in doing so, but she did so, hacking at its back.

It only took Bones a few ticks to pick up his weapons, and to wipe them off on a bit of dry blood free fur from one of the wolves, on his way back to Tock, and whatever she was doing. Holding the two weapons in his hands, he looked around, making sure there were no more surprises or beasts about to pop out...

The beast inside snapped and snarled, trying to get at her, but as she lazily looped the rope around to tie the cage well shut, and tied it off, it got no were near her. He slipped his second gladius, in his left hand, the old one, back into its sheath.

Bones flexed a bit, to release some of the pent up energy in his arms, and popped his neck, moving it side to side touching the sides of his head alternately on each shoulder, a few times.

"Been ssrough worssse. I'm fine... How about you?"

He took another turn, to make sure he could see no more eyes, smell no more beasts, but felt nothing... Simply heard the twitter of a bird a bit off... Always a good sign, when the noise returned to normal... It was when it grew quiet, that you knew you were in danger. So the noise helped assuage his nerves, knowing that the threat was over.

Bones simply shrugged, as she mentioned her owing him. At this rate, she was going to owe him quite a bit, if she kept count. He never bothered. He knew who he had helped, rare as they were, and did not feel like any debt really was owed, or that it had to be repaid by something in return. He would have said that from the start, if that was the deal.

"For ssat? A warmup? You don't owe me anyssing. If I was going to sssay you owed me, it would at leassst be for sssomessing ssat wasss a bit of trouble."

Going over to look at the dead wolves, and seeing one to still be alive, he decapitated it with one blow with his right, clean through its neck. He went over to another wolf, and cleaned his blade, before wiping off any remaining residue on his pants, and stowing that blade to.

"Ssso how do you want to do ssisss? How many can we bring back? We need to move before to long, before sse sssmell of blood and deass attractsss osser ssingsss..."

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on August 17th, 2012, 10:31 pm

For a long moment, Tock was just standing there, staring. Distant. The blood on her hands reminded her of the human lives she'd taken last week. Their faces flashed before her eyes, and she felt sick to her stomach.

Then Bones's words distracted her, and she forced out a weak chuckle. "Yous did all the work, mate," she said, her voice just above a whisper. "Didn't even need me an' my puny dagger..." The puny dagger that had still been enough to take three lives. Her weak hands still strong enough to suffocate the life out of another...

She knew she hadn't done much here, though. She wasn't a fighter. She was a builder. All she could do was add a few weak stabs to the ones Bones left vulnerable enough for her to approach.

Still unaware that Bones wanted to actually EAT some of them, Tock looked the corpses over. "Be best if'n I 'ad two o' the dead ones," she said. "I figure, I's probably gonna do a bad job cuttin' up the first one. Learn what I can from 'at, 'en do up a better job onna second..." she glanced at the live wolf, then added, "'en I's less likely ta kill 'is one on accident..."

She pointed to the top of the cage and said, "Can strap 'em up 'ere. She's all down'ill back ta the city. Ain't been 'eavy 'nough fer ta been no trouble..." She started examining the dead wolves for the two with the smallest number of injuries. The more intact the bodies were, the more accurate data she could get from them.

Once the wolves' corpses were strapped atop the cage (depending on what Bones wanted to do about the last two), she gathered up her babies and started the long haul back to the city.

OOC :

by **Ssafirsotibones** on August 18th, 2012, 2:28 am

Bones had long since been desensitized to death. He had been raised a snake, eating live animals from a young age, gone hunting not long after that, and grew up in the wilds and jungle, killing to stay alive. Death was a normal part of life for him. So likely he was not the best person to sympathize with Tock, and her current issues. He simply felt death as a part of his life, and felt no issue with it, as long as it had a purpose.

He did notice the odd quiet of the girl, who was usually so chatty and loud, at least to him... She seemed oddly pensive, and quiet... He eyed her, wondering what she was thinking of.

"You okay?"

But he did think it was a bit odd, in her wanting to cut them up. Why would you waste perfectly good meat, by cutting them to bits and wasting them? Meat was for eating!

"Ssatsss fine. Ssough I'd like to keep one. Maybe sse leftoversss if nossing elssse. Wolf isss good eating." He said, a small inhuman grin on his face.

Bones would take Tock's direction, hefting up whichever ones she chose, and splaying them over the top of the cage to be strapped down. Working as fast as he could, as they needed to get going as soon as possible. The sooner the better really.

Then it was off back to the city, pulling and pushing along the cage, to Zeltiva, along with Tock.

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on August 18th, 2012, 4:32 am

"S'nothin'," she told him. "Nothin' at all..." She couldn't tell him. He wouldn't understand. Sure, he had been willing to come along with her to help hunt down Corwin. But Corwin had been a wicked, vile man who deserved it. A dishonorable thug who needed a good beat down.

Would Bones understand that Tock had murdered an entire innocent family? She doubted it. She doubted he would accept that she had brutally killed four people who hadn't done a single thing to deserve it. That she had ignored their screams for help, their cries for mercy. She'd been fighting off the memories all night, trying her best to keep her mind on the task at hand. But when there was nothing left to do but drag the cage back home, she was stuck with her thoughts and her memories of her vile deed.

* * *

Zeltiva didn't have a city gate. They didn't have the kind of organized armed forces that some other cities had. They just had the Wave Guard, who were few in number. Thus there was little trouble getting back into the city, coming down through the hills and rolling the cage into the back streets. They were most of the way home before someone finally noticed and stopped them.

It was late. They'd been out all night. Tock had no idea what time it was, but she was sure it was after midnight. She didn't have the patience for anything else right now. But a Wave Guard approached her, eying the cage. She'd taken the time, on the way into the city, to stop and nail the doors shut more firmly during one of their rest breaks. There was little chance of the wolf managing to get out now. It had settled during the journey, having expended all of its energy until it was too exhausted to continue snapping and clawing at the cage. Now it just lay there, glaring at her, an occasional growl rumbling from its chest.

The Guard stepped forward, holding out a lantern. "What's going on here?" he asked, shining the light in their faces. Tock covered her eyes for a moment with her hand, and he noticed the blood on it. That made his hand stray to his rapier.

"Ain't doin' nothin'," Tock replied, blinking to clear her vision. When she lowered her hand, he peered at her face.

"Oh," he said. "It's you." Tock glanced up at him, then let out a sigh. It was THAT guard again.

"May I ask what you're doing, Miss Zipporah?" he asked, peering into the cage. The wolf started growling, its golden eyes shining like death in the lamp light.

Tock blinked. Why the HELL did so many people seem to know her name lately? This 'Trident Champion' bull shyke seemed to be causing her more trouble than it was worth, ruining her privacy and her anonymity. She hadn't yet seen a SINGLE perk to the dumb petching title.

"Jus' bringin' in a specimen fer... a zoological study," she told him. Then as an afterthought she added, "Fer the Uni. I's a student 'ere..."

"Ahh..." he said, stepping forward looking down at the clearly untamed wolf. He examined the cage, frowning. "You sure this is safe, Ma'am? Can't have a wild animal getting free in the city..."

"Course she's safe," Tock said, rapping her fist against the cage. The wolf growled louder, but didn't move. "Nothin' ta worry fer mate. Nice an' solid, an' soon as I get 'er where she's goin', gonna be nice'n locked up indoors. Full laboratory precautions. Not one bit o' danger..." Of course, none of this was quite true. But, she DID plan on making a more secure holding pen at home.

The guard scratched his head, then shook a couple of the bars on the cage. While the construction was lacking any carving or polish to make it look pretty, Tock was still a rather skilled carpenter, and it was quite solid. Tock stepped forward and told the man, "Ya got my word, ain't no danger, mate. I's take full responsibility. Dun worry," she clapped him on the shoulder. "'Is's a mighty important study!" That was a half-lie. It was a very important study... to her. But if the guard happened to think it was for the University, well, no harm there.

The guard studied her for a moment, then gave a nod. "Well," he said, "if I can't trust the word of a Trident Champion, who can I trust?" Tock blinked, not having expected her meaningless stupid old title would have any influence on this. Then she grinned wide, realizing her minor fame was finally doing her some sort of good!

"Course ya can trust me!" she said, forcing a friendly smile. "I's a good, 'ard workin' citizen, I is..." she thrust a thumb at her chest, nodding. "'Elpin' fer ta rebuild the docks. Takin' care o' the wee tykes up at the infirmary. Why'd I does all 'at, if'n I were gonna let 'is puppy loose in the city? 'At'd be mighty irresponsible o' me..." Irresponsible like murdering an innocent Svefra family. But no one knew about that, nor would she let them find out.

"Can I git 'is puppy 'ome?" she asked him, giving him a smile and rubbing her hand down his arm. "Sooner I git 'im off the streets an' all secured-like, the better, aye?"

He finally nodded, and sent her on her way. She heaved a sigh of relief, and dragged the wolf the rest of the way home. She then bid Bones a good night, giving him a quick hug and thanking him once again for his help.

* * *

Tock napped for a few hours, then woke before dawn to finish making a secure holding pen for the wolf. She left the cage covered with blankets for now, to make sure no passerby would see what was inside the cage until she had it covered properly. She slipped a few fish through the cage bars to give the wolf something to eat. She also slipped a narrow dish through the bars that she could pour some water into. The wolf needed to stay healthy for a week or so, until she was ready to kill it and dissect it. For now, though, she wanted it alive for study, and she'd start with dissection of the two corpses.

Through the wee hours of the morning, Tock worked on assembling a small shed around the cage. She got her babies to help, setting Choppy up cutting through some of her dwindling wood supplies to cut some pieces down to workable lengths. Then she carried Cutty outside, taking measurements on the pieces Choppy trimmed, so that Cutty could cut them into more precise beams and boards. She kissed Cutty's blade before they began, and told him, "Real soon baby... Mommy's learnin'... she's gonna fix ya up real soon..." She almost had his problem figured out. Soon he'd be walking, moving on his own, and able to obey commands without problem. She'd fix his programming, and upgrade him, make him smarter. Instead of the flawed, broken child he was now.

With some difficulty, she got him cutting, then set her other babies to work. Thankfully, the others were able to do their tasks without much trouble. First she dug out a rectangle with her heel, dragging it across the dirt next to her house. When the area was marked, about seven feet by ten feet, she pointed to it and told Diggy, "Diggy baby, see the rectangle?" Unlike Cutty, who didn't acknowledge her presence in the least, Diggy was able to nod, waving his spade up and down. "Dig the rectangle, six inches..." He immediately rolled over and set to work, and she directed him to set the dirt off to the side in her yard.

While he dug out a shallow foundation, Tock gathered up the wood that Cutty was cutting for her. When he finished, and she managed with difficulty to make him 'stop' (though not until he'd dug his blade several inches into the dirt), she carried him back to the side, where he sat motionless for the rest of the morning. Then she began laying out the cut boards, getting her other babies to help.

She laid out an initial framework for each of the small walls she needed, nailing beams together and then lying the boards out across the top. The wall sections would be assembled flat on the ground, then raised into place once they were ready. When this was done, she set Naily and Handy down on top, and started marking spots where the nails would go. She told Handy, "'Old the nails up fer yer brother, right where Mommy marks 'em." she continued across the boards with a piece of charcoal, making a small mark where each nail went. Then she left a handful of nails, and let her babies do their job. Handy picked up each nail and set it in place, then Naily rolled up and nailed it in place.

While they were doing this, it allowed Tock to work on the frame for the shed. Once Diggy had dug out the needed area, she laid down a rectangular frame of wooden beams to serve as the foundation. Then she began raising beams, forming a simple frame of vertical supports with horizontal cross beams over the top.

With her babies nailing the pieces for the wall together, progress on the job was quite fast. As she got each side of the frame raised, her babies had the wall section ready for her. Then she got them set up on a new section of wall, lifting the first one off the ground and dragging it over to the frame before nailing it in place. A roof section was assembled in the same way, and a wooden floor added inside by laying boards over the foundation beams and letting Handy and Naily secure them in place. She'd need to replenish some of her wood supply with another trip outside the city to cut down some trees, but it was a worthwhile addition to her house.

After several hours of work, the addition to her house was complete. Just a small shed, just a bit wider than the cage so she could roll it inside. She pushed it to the back, the seven foot wide shed just fitting the six foot wide cage. At ten feet long, there was just enough room in front of the cage for Tock to step into the little shed in order to feed the wolf. It didn't look happy about the captivity. No doubt it wanted to be free, allowed to run in the wilds. But its emotional state wasn't important to her. It was nothing more than a specimen, secured here for study. She had a mechanical wolf to build, and the live specimen was the first step to making her Golem a reality.

by **Cascade** on September 4th, 2012, 4:19 pm

Adventurer's Loot

Tock's Loot :

Bones's Loot :

Fun thread to read. Keep it up. Bones and Tock have good chemistry. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to PM me!