Vincent listened with apt attention as Mags carefully and calmly asked all the right questions. He couldn't tell for sure, but this seemed like just another day for her, like this sorta hero stuff wasn't all to out of place for her. Surely a hero wouldn't try to steal his kidney... Right when he thought he was ready to go running off into the horizon to perform an amazing act of derring do, Mags went the other way and asked a silly question. "Of course I can ride," he replied with a grin. "I'm a cowboy, I ride my horse to work everyday." This was an absolute lie. Vincent has in fact, only ever ridden a horse two or three times, during a trip to Cozumel Mexico with his family. Bear in mind these were, resort horses, and not actually real horses with real temperaments. "Hell, I'm practically the lone ranger." Dear VR jesus, please lend me some cool VR skills so I don't make an ass out of myself
There was another roll of thunder, low and ominous. Magdalyn felt the sound in her chest, as if the noise had been her own growl. Only a few seconds later, the first fork of lightning lit the sky. The jagged slashes of white-hot electricity imprinted themselves against the dark sky, and even as Mags blinked, they graced her vision. The rain would fall soon, she knew. And the boy would be alone in the stormy night. Despite it all, Mags could not keep the amusement from showing on her face. Vincent’s response was laughable, and as far from the truth as possible. Fortunately, she was still walking toward the stable, her back to her new friend. She could, for the moment, hide the smirk that she battled to control. “Great!” she exclaimed, slowing to a halt before Altivo’s stall. The white stallion’s head rose over the half-door, extending toward the newly arrived pair. His salmon, paper-thin nostrils flared as he eyed them. Then, his ears swiveled, melted back, and laced themselves to his skull. His pink lips pulled back from his white teeth, still peppered with the hay he had been munching on. Moody little- she thought to herself, but she schooled her expression into one of cheerful enthusiasm. “If you wouldn’t mind tacking him up for me?” Casually, she waved a hand toward the saddles, bridles, and pads that stood nearby. There was a haphazard organization to it, with tack draped over all protruding surfaces. But to someone who spent little time in a barn, it was most likely overwhelming. Perhaps it was cruel of her. Besides, they had to hurry if they hoped to rescue the boy. But she could take at least a little pleasure out of the whole thing. For just a minute, maybe. Or two.
"Ah yes." Vincent looked at everything nodding along. The barn was like stepping into another world. Nothing made any sort of sense, what was that? Was that a saddle? What was that thing? Was that a horse? Why did that thing look like it belonged in one of those kinky German dungeons? "If I go ahead and back out of this now can I save a teeny bit of face?" He finally managed to chuckle. "I have never actually tacked a horse before, or really anything actually. Not even thumbtacks on a bulletin board, I'm a straight up tape sorta guy" he nods. "It's all sticky and doesn't leave holes in the wall." He got the feeling she was enjoying watching him squirm, but that was something he'd learned early on in life. If you're going to squirm, you might as well take charge and own the squirm. If anything it made you feel less embarrassed. They no longer get a show of you feeling wimpy and weak, they're not the one making an ass out of you. You are the one making the ass out of yourself, and that takes the fun away.
Her laughter came without thought or reservation, the melodious sound seeming to fill the stable's every corner. Unable to help herself, Magdalyn laughed for a good five seconds before pausing to wipe at her eyes. "Sorry," she told him, finally realizing how terrible she must look to him. "I don't mean to be rude, its just-" she snifled another giggle, "-you jumped from tacking a horse to using tape so easily, so completely. And it even made sense to me!" Now she grinned at him, a peace offering of sorts. She truly hoped he did not think less of her. "I figured you had little to no experience around horses," Mags confessed, striding over to the assortment of tack. Absently, as if she were hardly giving the motions any thought, she plucked a bridle off of a peg on the wall. Then, she stooped to scoop up a clunky western saddle by its horn, propping the bottom of it, pad and all, flush against her body. Her boots clipped smartly on the well-worn earth as she returned to Vincent. With one hand, he offered him the bridle. "If you wouldn't mind holding this for a moment.," she asked, and he did so without a word. She continued, "Not many people who consider themselves horseman would use 'cowboy' and 'lone ranger' together, let alone in the same breath." Letting herself into Altivo's stall, and giving the ornery stallion a stern look, she added, "it was as big a giveaway as if you showed up in sparkly pink chaps and a ten-gallon hat."
"Oh please." Vincent waved a free hand dismissively. "I save the chaps and hat for the bar on Thursday, if you're dressed up you get dollar shots of fireball." He suppressed the urge to chuckle more and shrugged. "I take no offense to it, I raised the pot, you called my bluff. Happens all the time, I'm really shit at poker so Im used to it" He glanced over the saddle and moody looking horse who he was sure would be thrilled to have an inexperienced rider, and suddenly he was concerned. "So we're riding tandem? I've never done that before...how does it work out? What are the usual customs and whatnot?" Oh god, this is gonna get awkward real fast. First she bought me a drink, now we're going for a ride, and not the sort of ride you normally take after meeting a woman at a bar...
Magdalyn waggled her eyebrows at Vincent, then turned back to Altivo. "I've never been the bar type," she admitted, settling the pad and saddle on Altivo. The stallion gave a sharp snort of disapproval. As she reached under him for the girth, and began to do it up, he swung his head around and nipped. Expertly, Mags sidestepped the attack, and bopped the horse sternly on the nose. "Rude," she scolded him, then addressed Vince. "But chaps and fireball sounds like a good time." Absently, Mags ran her palm over Altivo's smooth shoulder. His skin rippled, as if she were an annoying fly he hoped to rid himself of, but he did not bite at her again. "Riding double isn't too bad," came her reassurance. "At least, so long as Altivo doesn't throw one or both of us." She flashed him a smile, but the flash in her eyes showed she was not entirely joking. It took a few tries for her to ease the bit into the moody stallion's mouth, but once the bridle was secured, she led him from the stall. "It'll be fine. To make it less awkward, I'll swing up first, and you can ride behind me. Sound okay?" Mags did not need the mounting block, but she led Altivo to it anyway - no need to make Vincent feel more like a fool for not being able to mount up. With the added height from the block, she settled into the saddle as easily as sitting in a chair. Then, with the hand that did not hold the reins, she patted the space just behind the saddle. "You won't be able to get to close to me," she told him, "but you can still hold on."
Vince clambered up the horse with relative ease, he wasn't that much of a novice, but riding tandem was not anything he'd ever done before, and without the saddle he felt slightly more nervous. God bless, this is not comfortable for the boys... Vince mused to himself as he adjusted ever so slightly to try and get in a less...tight situation. Instinctively his hands sought something to hold onto, only to find his options lacking. Either he grabbed some awkward part of the saddle, or the woman in front of him, and that opened a whole different can of worms that he wasn't sure he was okay with. "Alrighty, lets go find this kid and bring him home!" he exclaimed doing his best not to fall backwards. "Some top tier Heroism right here"
For top tier heroism, Magdalyn felt that a high-pitched "hyah," a rearing horse, and a thundering gallop were necessary. Were she wearing a hat, she would probably take it off and wave it in the air for good measure. However, she lacked the hat, and this was neither the time, nor the place, for such displays of Hollywood style Wild West. Besides, she knew that Vincent balanced precariously behind her, and sending him sliding off Altivo's sleek rump would never do. The moody stallion would probably land a hoof in the boy's side as he fell, just because he could. So instead, she shifted her weight forward, easing the horse into a smooth walk. Time was of the essence, but a jog would surely bounce Vincent right off the back. And Altivo's lope was quite jarring as well. Needless to say, he was no pleasure horse. "Here," Mags started, glancing over her shoulder. The first handful of raindrops splattered across her cheeks as she gave him an encouraging smile. "Wrap your arms around me. I won't take it the wrong way, I promise. You'd have to buy me dinner for that."
Vince didn't even waste time with a witty comeback as his arms instinctively reached around her waist pulling himself closer. Taking that as a sign Mags urged Altivo faster, and they began to go faster and faster. Vince braced the horse with his knees, trying to keep himself steady, and to not bounce up and down too terribly much. "So do you take every stranger you meet in a bar on heroic horse rides? Or am I special?" Vince finally managed to quip as their pace slowed. They'd since cleared the town, and rain was beginning to fall faster and faster, he could feel his shirt beginning to soak through, and stick to his skin. If it wasn't for his precarious position, he'd have peeled it away from his skin. A clap of thunder seemed to reply to his joke, and lightning danced across the sky, lighting up horizon. Fucking beautiful Vince mused to himself. I bet this is gonna go hella sour.
It only took a few minutes of galloping through the downpour for Magdalyn to officially reach “drowned rat” status. Her eyes were mere slits, like slips of golden moon, against the pounding raindrops. Her mop of blue hair was plastered to her skin, hardly budging as the whipping wind rushed past it. Crimson warmed her cheeks against the cold, and a broad smile rode her lips, despite the unfortunate weather. She could not help it - she found Vincent impossibly entertaining. “I only take the special ones,” she assured him, lifting her voice to carry over the storm. Her peel of laughter, however, was muted by a thunderclap that seemed to shake the entire world. The weather was getting worse, and yet, it did not bother her all that much. Despite the storm, and the lost NPC (who she surely worried for), there was a budding excitement in her heart. Perhaps Vince had been right about the thrilling heroics - she felt like the lead in an action film. Altivo’s long legs ate up the distance, each stride bringing them closer to the woods. It was a small forest, with perhaps only half a mile between the treeline and the mountain range it buffered. But it stretched for quite some time in either direction, providing a sizeable area to search. Drawing her stallion to a walk, and then a halt, Mags swung her leg expertly over Altivo’s neck. Then, sliding down his rain-slicked shoulder, she landed on the ground with a thud. Turning, she extended a hand to Vincent to help him down. To his credit, he dismounted from behind the saddle with more grace than some of her other doubles partners. “The kid we’re looking for is a teenager, right?” Grasping Altivo’s reins, she led the horse, and her companion, into the trees. There was relief there, from the wind, and the worst of the rein, and she was grateful for it. But enough of each still permeated the thick canopy to make staying in the forest a less than favorable option. “If he’s that old, he’s got to be smart enough to find shelter. These trees aren’t doing much for me.” She fell silent, dragging her bottom lip between her teeth in thought. A hand swiped the rain from her eyes absentmindedly, before she suddenly turned to him. “Do you think those mountains might have some caves?”
Vince scanned the surrounding, blinking quickly as he swapped to detective mode. The forest was dense enough to help with a large portion of the rain, but not nearly thick enough to stop a storm like this. Rain managed through at a steady enough pace to make him uncomfortable, and he quietly thanked that he couldn't get a cold from this sort of work. He slicked his silver hair back and out of his face and rubbed his chin. "Well, I'm miserable out here, so he would be too. If I was stuck out here my first thought would be getting the hell out of dodge. Somewhere safe, and warm, out of the wind." He looks up to the mountains and squints. "I'd probably have the same thought, finding cover in some caves, but it would probably be a dangerous game. Getting high up leaves you open to the elements, so if you don't find a cave you're probably fucked." "Conversely, he could try to make some sort of shelter out of downed branches and the like. A lean-to or something, it'd be a lot safer but harder and probably not nearly as warm or dry as a cave." He shrugs. "I think we should make our way to the mountain, keeping an eye out for any makeshift shelter and the like, be careful though."
Magdalyn’s nod sent fat drops of rain cascading from her wet bangs into her eyes. She blinked rapidly to clear them, before looking to Vince. “I hadn’t thought of the lean-tos,” she admitted. “That’s a really good point. If he wasn’t smart enough to think of the caves, or in to rough of shape to travel there, he might have tried to build a shelter here.” A sharp crack of thunder boomed overhead, as sudden and violent as gunshot. Both Mags and her mount shuddered, though his was from fear, and hers, unease. The thought of a boy in this storm, protected only by twigs, made her sick to her stomach. And to think, she and Vincent had wasted precious time talking in the barn, when they should have been hurrying along their search. As the wind’s power grew, so did the player’s sense of urgency. “We’ll go with your plan,” she confirmed. “It makes sense.” She was already leading Altivo through the trees, winding her way around the massive trunks in what she hoped was the most direct route. It was tough to tell, considering she was in unfamiliar territory, and the storm had plunged them both into near darkness. It was moment’s like this that she wished she had invested in some sort of summoning magic - a ball of light, or heat, would definitely come in handy at a time like this. “I hate to ask,” she began suddenly, “because I know it is kind of personal. But I was curious what masteries you selected. Maybe you picked something that could help us out right about now.”
Vince struggle to keep up with Magdalyn as the rain continued to belt down on them. It had long transcended from mere rain to a deluge of water, each second felt like getting slapped in the face with a bucket. He'd been a boy scout, once upon a time, and he knew that this was the sort of shit that ended camp outs, the kinds of thing you packed up your tents and took your ball home for. This was something they wrote dramatic stories about, kids getting lost and the brave rescuers brave the elements for. Vince didn't feel very brave, only...wet. Wet couldn't cover the state of being he was, he was drenched. No, not just drenched, he felt his body had decided to up the ante and go from being seventyish percent water to two hundred and three percent water. He'd almost forgotten the meaning of the word dry, how it felt not so long ago. Finally Mag's question registered on him. "I'm sorry to say that I wasn't thinking about raw utility when I picked my stuff. I took slashing, parrying, and illusion. Unfortunately I don't think my parrying is nearly high enough to parry all this rain. Nor could I make an illusion good enough to be an umbrella. I could try if you reaaaaaally wanted me to though. He looked up and comically attempted to swat the rain away like some sort of ninja-karate master would, when his eyes caught a glimpse of something. Off in the distance against the darkness of the horizon, where the mountain probably should be looming but the rain made seeing just about anything impossible, was a dot. Well, not like your usual dot. It was the soft gentle glow of a dot, and it was waaaaay too close to be a star. In fact, Vince was almost certain it was a cave in which someone had made a fire in. Either it was their lost child, or someone who had a better idea. Either way, it looked like somewhere you might find a missing boy in. "Hey! Do you see that?"
Parrying the rain? Using illusion to create an umbrella? Had Magdalyn not glanced over at Vincent, she might have thought he was mocking her. Truthfully, she would not have blamed him - they were both cold, wet, and worried. It would not be entirely unreasonable to take some of his frustration out on her. But as Mags turned to look at him, and she watched him comically slash at the raindrops, she could not keep from smiling. Okay, not mocking her. Simply... goofy. And goofy was something that she could get behind. Mags was starting to like this Vince guy quite a bit. His question caught her off-guard, and her first response was a delayed, pathetic, "Huh?" But as her gaze followed his, she did see something. The warm glow of a fire? She certainly hoped so. Not only would that indicate that the boy was safe and warm, but also that he was intelligent enough to build a fire. That would make the rest of this escort mission that much easier. "Looks like a fire," she answered, finally. She lengthened her stride, moving faster, with only minimum resistance from the drenched stallion. "I'm going to assume it's the kid," she told Vince, "but maybe we should prepare for worst-case scenario? In case it is actually the hiding place of some man-eating... somethings?"
"Man eating somethings." Vince quipped as they worked their way up the mountain. "You know, I used to run those as encounters in DnD, they had hella HP, and a high AC. We should maybe call in for backup." He shot her a grin, sword in hand just in case. He felt a twinge of guilt, this level of sass was normally reserved solely for Rayleigh, but he couldn't help it. Mags was a wonderful lady, and this rain was so miserable he felt the incessant need to brighten the mood. If the sun would not shine, his humor would. That being said, the concept of man eating somethings, or man eating nothings for that matter made him nervous. This game played for real, a death wouldn't kill you, but it'd hurt like a motherfucker and leave twice the mental scars. He'd already had rats nibble on his ankles, and that wasn't very fun, so he really didn't want to make the shaky transition from appetizer to full course meal. Thunder boomed overhead, drowning out a world class one liner from Vincent, probably a quote from Owen Wilson about lizards. The flash of lightning disoriented him for a moment, and then they were standing before the cave. Vincent crouched down, blade in hand ready to go. He wiped some rain from his eyes and squinted. He could feel the heat of the fire from the entrance, which was odd because he couldn't see the fire around the corner. That would be waaaaaay too big for one kid alone. Carefully, he shuffled forward, praying he wasn't making too much noise to be heard over the roar of the fire, and peered around the corner. A gaggle of weird...furry creatures seemed to be huddled around the fire, a young boy tied up in the back as they chowed down on what he could only assume was the poor kids pony. They had the face and muzzle of a hyena, and the body of tony the tiger. It took Vince a minute, to process what exactly he was looking at, but until then all he could thing of was one phrase. WHATRE THOOOOOSE
