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OOM: Texas Shenanigans
Nov. 30th, 2012 08:13 amIt’s kind of disappointing. Rachel won’t be sharing that with Kate or Tobias, but it is. After the war, after her journeys through the Labyrinth, strolling through a little town in the Old West toward a handful of men carrying late 1800s six-shooters was not the best high.
That first shot, stinging and sharp in her shoulder, helped some.
Thick as the bear’s defenses are, Rachel’s not too keen on getting shot any more than she absolutely has to. After that first rear up and roar, she was pretty sure half the group fled (”Holy hell, what is that?!” “Biggest damn bear I ever saw!”). If they hadn’t, by the time she charged, still roaring, and got close enough to see the detail, only two had stayed to meet her. (”Stand your ground, boy! And don’t you shoot at it again, you’ll just make it mad!” Well, he was right on that point.) They weren’t real enemies and she hadn’t been asked in to kill anybody, but she gave the larger of the two a cuff to the head that ensured he’d be staying down for the time being. Plus a few hours. Or days. That got rid of the remaining man quick enough. (”Christ Almighty!”)
Then someone cocked a rifle on the roof of a building too far for her to see (but not to hear, ”See if we can’t take some’a the fight outta you, beast!” Haha yeah, keep trying) and Rachel figured that was a pretty good distraction for everybody. Running away like a wounded animal - pun not especially intended - got her two more shots in her back legs, hurt, but not bad enough to keep her from getting to a little side alley. Men were closing in to corner her, take her out, but she was already curling her massive bulk into a corner, behind a small hill of empty crates, closing her eyes to start the demorph.
By the time the first man poked his head in to check, she was small enough not to be seen behind those boxes.
By the time three of them slowly ventured in for a better look, she was really small.
It’s Texas in the height of summer. Who’s going to notice one more fly?
-
Kate had told her the plan. She didn’t really need to know it, honestly, but Rachel didn’t mind being read in. Rob a bank, ride out in a gallop a good mile; trade for fresh horses and ride again; meet up at a second checkpoint, get another set of horses, trade up whatever money they’d stolen, and split up.
Rachel considers her checkpoints.
Bear in the town. Fly in the alley. Wolf around the back of the general store.
Maybe not her best choice in a desert town, picking an animal with such a shaggy, heavy coat. But while Kate and the rest have the choice of riding away on other animals, Rachel has a few miles of distance to cover without the help of anyone but herself. Nothing runs with stamina like a wolf.
Fur itches through her skin, then washes over it in a wave of coarse, thick grey and brown. Rachel drops to all fours as her joints switch position and thinks she should be tired, this many morphs in such a short time. She’ll probably sleep for a whole day when she gets back to Milliways, but for now her heart’s pounding, she’s grinning up until her jaw shifts and warps, and she may just hug Kate at that second checkpoint for making a dead girl feel alive.
-
This is Rachel’s second trip into Texas and she has come to the same conclusion: it is hot.
She makes the second checkpoint long before the others do, all a part of the plan. A good five miles from where she started doesn’t seem like much, but it’s not like a car is going to come zooming along beside her, flashing red and blue. And given that she has an indulgent amount of time to herself, this demorph is followed by sprawling under the pathetic shade of a very put-upon mesquite tree.
It’s a good landmark, standing tall and lonely in the desert, and not too far from where Kate and her men are supposed to end up. Rachel was pleased with herself to find it and once she’s cooled down a bit, crawls to her feet, using the trunk for balance to stand upright, and - swearing a little under her breath - climbs high enough to retrieve the flour sack she’d stuck in the branches.
Fun as it would be to scar the natives again, Kate had highly suggested wearing a skirt when she met the ‘posse.’
That first shot, stinging and sharp in her shoulder, helped some.
Thick as the bear’s defenses are, Rachel’s not too keen on getting shot any more than she absolutely has to. After that first rear up and roar, she was pretty sure half the group fled (”Holy hell, what is that?!” “Biggest damn bear I ever saw!”). If they hadn’t, by the time she charged, still roaring, and got close enough to see the detail, only two had stayed to meet her. (”Stand your ground, boy! And don’t you shoot at it again, you’ll just make it mad!” Well, he was right on that point.) They weren’t real enemies and she hadn’t been asked in to kill anybody, but she gave the larger of the two a cuff to the head that ensured he’d be staying down for the time being. Plus a few hours. Or days. That got rid of the remaining man quick enough. (”Christ Almighty!”)
Then someone cocked a rifle on the roof of a building too far for her to see (but not to hear, ”See if we can’t take some’a the fight outta you, beast!” Haha yeah, keep trying) and Rachel figured that was a pretty good distraction for everybody. Running away like a wounded animal - pun not especially intended - got her two more shots in her back legs, hurt, but not bad enough to keep her from getting to a little side alley. Men were closing in to corner her, take her out, but she was already curling her massive bulk into a corner, behind a small hill of empty crates, closing her eyes to start the demorph.
By the time the first man poked his head in to check, she was small enough not to be seen behind those boxes.
By the time three of them slowly ventured in for a better look, she was really small.
It’s Texas in the height of summer. Who’s going to notice one more fly?
-
Kate had told her the plan. She didn’t really need to know it, honestly, but Rachel didn’t mind being read in. Rob a bank, ride out in a gallop a good mile; trade for fresh horses and ride again; meet up at a second checkpoint, get another set of horses, trade up whatever money they’d stolen, and split up.
Rachel considers her checkpoints.
Bear in the town. Fly in the alley. Wolf around the back of the general store.
Maybe not her best choice in a desert town, picking an animal with such a shaggy, heavy coat. But while Kate and the rest have the choice of riding away on other animals, Rachel has a few miles of distance to cover without the help of anyone but herself. Nothing runs with stamina like a wolf.
Fur itches through her skin, then washes over it in a wave of coarse, thick grey and brown. Rachel drops to all fours as her joints switch position and thinks she should be tired, this many morphs in such a short time. She’ll probably sleep for a whole day when she gets back to Milliways, but for now her heart’s pounding, she’s grinning up until her jaw shifts and warps, and she may just hug Kate at that second checkpoint for making a dead girl feel alive.
-
This is Rachel’s second trip into Texas and she has come to the same conclusion: it is hot.
She makes the second checkpoint long before the others do, all a part of the plan. A good five miles from where she started doesn’t seem like much, but it’s not like a car is going to come zooming along beside her, flashing red and blue. And given that she has an indulgent amount of time to herself, this demorph is followed by sprawling under the pathetic shade of a very put-upon mesquite tree.
It’s a good landmark, standing tall and lonely in the desert, and not too far from where Kate and her men are supposed to end up. Rachel was pleased with herself to find it and once she’s cooled down a bit, crawls to her feet, using the trunk for balance to stand upright, and - swearing a little under her breath - climbs high enough to retrieve the flour sack she’d stuck in the branches.
Fun as it would be to scar the natives again, Kate had highly suggested wearing a skirt when she met the ‘posse.’
