Simple Efficiency [WQ]

He didn't like this place. He didn't like this hostage. He didn't like everything to do with this stupid mission, other than the reward they had promised him if he snuffed out some information.

Ben scowled, looking at the man he'd knocked unconscious. The dead weight had been a pain to carry around, but it did make it easy enough to bind the poor sucker with some rope since there was no struggle against that. "Oi," he kicked at the guy. Curled up on the floor and bound with endless amounts of rope, the bulging muscles and scars all over his bald head seemed less intimidating. "Get up." He kicked again.

Ben didn't want to stay longer than needed; they weren't exactly hidden away in a super secure area. A hollow cave at the base of the mountain they were investigating? Too close for comfort. And if there was backup, he didn't trust the girl he was working with to have his back. If she were smart (which he wasn't 100% certain about), she wouldn't trust him either.

Speaking of… Where was his partner? @Stelluna, or whatever her name had been.

The plan had been pretty straightforward: he found their target, lulled them to sleep with some good ol' Bard magic, and then they'd beat the guy within an inch of his life to get the information they wanted. Technically, he'd tried to do this the nice way. He'd offered a wave of greeting. Only when the heavyset man had gone to attack him, not even answering his question, did he use his magic to weave the man into a deep slumber. He'd tried nice, and it hadn't worked. So he was fine with using mean.

The brute of a man would be waking up soon...

( Brute approach )

 

Stelluna walked into the little cave that Ben had chosen. Not the most private of places but it would have to do, time was of the essence. Inside there was Ben, standing over the hostage. She gave him a nod before taking a closer look at the hostage. There was something off about Ben, and a lot of people she had met recently come to think of it but brushed that thought aside, more important business was at hand. The hostage himself didn't look like he was going to give in that easily, she might have to get... creative. That was fine, she could get creative when she needed to. There was a chance that they could get what they needed nice and fast, no harm in trying that right?

"What is your cult planning? Last chance to get out of this intact."

No response as expected, well, no one could say she didn't try asking. Stelluna stood up and let out a small smile before giving the hostage a quick, brutal kick to the stomach. Before he even had a chance to respond, she followed up by impaling both of his hands to the ground with her rusted spear. She waited until he stopped squirming.

"You know, that spear's been through some places... The deepest jungles, tainted rivers and a neck or two... not the freshest of places to be in I can assure you. You're dead in 4, maybe 5 days. We're the only ones who know you're here, your friends will never find you if they even cared enough to look. Now, tell me what I want to know, or die horribly. I'll swing by every so often to make sure whatever's killing you isn't just hunger or thirst, it'll be from whatever rot is on that spear. Answer my questions and there's a chance that you'll make it. After all, you're not that far from home."

Stelluna twisted the blade a little before pulling it out. When it looked like the hostage was done screaming, she pulled down some of the ropes covering his mouth and leaned closer to look him dead in the eye.

"Ready to talk now?"

@Asch

Brute approach

 

Ben had at least enough wits about him to keep a casual eye on @Stelluna and the hostage; though he did keep his distance from the torture to avoid the sprays of blood. He liked his clothes, thank you very much! The ones he'd spotted at the shops were a tad… plain, really, for his tastes.

Picking out the dirt trapped underneath his fingernails, Ben sighed, "C'mon, I'm getting bored here. Just tell us wh–" Ben's head shot up, a pout forming as his words were cut off by a loud cackle. Which quickly grew into a maniacal laugh. Amused, but really confused, Ben laughed along too. Sounded like some crazy religious thing the guy was wheezing out between laughs, which fit the whole 'mega evil cult group' theme going on.

"Great!" Clapping his hands, Ben turned around, walking back to the mouth of the cave. "We have our info. Let's get goin–" A shard of ice flew by, slicing into the flesh of his cheeks. Ouch!

He was getting sick and tired of being interrupted, damn it! At least the stupid laughter had died down. Literally.

To replace their annoying, but not horrible problem, was instead a massive number of ice shards headed their way. "Oi – incoming!" he shouted, twisting to the side and bracing himself against the wall of rock. If he were lucky, those shards had a simple path. Forward and into anything in their way. If he wasn't? Well. He'd get his hands on the damn mage casting the spell and throttle them until they couldn't control their own fingers.

 

Hearing Ben's warning, she turned to the cave entrance only to see a hail of ice shards head straight for her. On instinct, she dove away from the body towards one of the cave's walls. The ice smashed into the ground, sending chunks of ice everywhere. While she avoided the worst of it, a few pieces did manage to hit her. A cold, seeping pain filled her while she used her spear to steady herself. Giving herself a quick once over, she found a lot of blood but the actual cuts weren't that deep. While she didn't have any special attachment to Ben, he was her partner for the mission and she didn't plan on leaving him behind. She spotted Ben, pressing himself closer to the walls to avoid the hail of ice. She ducked under another volley of ice before calling to Ben and following his example,

"Did you spot anyone out there? I'm no mage but there's something about this ice. Not natural, I can tell you that for sure but it feels like there's more..."

Stelluna's grip on hear spear wavered for a moment as a few of the ice shards struck the wall near her. More ice shards, more little cuts...

"We can't stay here, I hate the idea of running into the open but we might have to make a break for it."

 

He stared at @Stelluna, taking a moment to really channel the deadpan expression. Yes! They could run out into the open, exposing themselves from every angle! Brilliant! Or... they could just log off, letting whatever was channeling the icicles of doom run out of energy. Ben much preferred that idea. He could just log in periodically and check in to see if they were done hurling freezing shards of death his way, then leave and get paid by the brotherhood. "This is what we get for messing with that religious bullshit," he said with a long-suffering sigh, already swiping through the UI.

His finger hovered over the 'LOG OFF' button, eyes shifting to take in her form. "Correction," he said, dodging another ice shard and starting the logout timer, "you're going to have to make a break for it." He watched nonchalantly as the timer counted down, shifting around as necessary to avoid getting hit by any stray shards.

Oh, looked like it was time to go! With 2 seconds left, Ben grinned at Stelluna and waggled his fingers in a mock wave of farewell. "See you later, princ—!"

His Avatar disappeared before he could finish his sentence.

[ IRL ]​

... Dammit, cut off again!

Benjamin rubbed at his face, his thoughts shifting from the red-haired partner he'd just left behind to the man said partner had tortured. What was it that guy had said? "Id…na?" he mused aloud to himself.

Looks like he had some research to do. He pushed himself out of bed, dragged himself into his comfy gamer chair, and rolled across the room to his PC. "Alright~ Let's see what this Idna guy's all about!"

He'd come back on... eventually. Hopefully by then whoever was trying to make ice kebab out of them would be tired of trying.

 

Seeing Ben disappear was quite a shock but she didn't have much time to think on it before more ice shards were sent her way. She dove behind the former hostage's body as ice shards were sent everywhere. Not the most preferred choices for avoiding attacks but it would have to do. She didn't really see any other options, using the momentary lull in the action, Stelluna hoisted the body over her back. It would provide sufficient protection as she avoided direct hits. She sprinted out of the cave, ice shards smashing behind her. As expected, the shards would cut into the body but leave her mostly unharmed. She was getting tired fast, the man was not light at all. She needed to find some more solid cover or just thick enough shrubbery to hide. Spotting a forest, she forced herself to run faster. Trying to not pay any attention to the burning of her legs or the various little wounds she had built up from before. She broke into the tree line and was caught on a tree's root, sending the body and her across the forest floor. Ice shards continued to rain down but they weren't directed at her anymore. Instead, they seemed to be randomly shot as the shards dug into trees and the occasional unlucky animal. After a while, the hail of ice finally stopped. She was bloodied but alive while the cultist's corpse was absolutely mangled from the abuse it had taken. Stelluna stalked through the forest trying to make her way back to the Brotherhood and not attract the wrath of whatever was above. She got less information than she would have liked but it would have to do. As for her former partner, she found that she didn't care that he essentially abandoned her. They didn't know each other, the job was done and she was still alive, pretty good after what just happened.