Onward: Orange

[voidtreckermods]

It takes the best part of the first couple of days to get the city fully evacuated. The merchants and younger farmers get going first, leaving the more stubborn and older citizens to be helped up the cliff and to the hills beyond. The longer they leave it the more dangerous the city gets, they will meet more goblins. The goblins try and stop the evacuation, some are clearly trying to sabotage the city itself, attempting to light fires and wreck houses.

Once they have climbed the cliff path they will hopefully not meet many goblins on their travels but it is still a risk. There are caves and copses to spend the night and small game to hunt if anyone can get far enough away from the herds. Most of the problems come from those they escort, it’s hard to get herds over boggy marsh land and the going is slow.

(OOC: This is designed to be a catchall event post for Orange team for threads after the initial fight until the final challenge/approach to Um'i'les on day 11)

Comments

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin throws Fëanor a look of gratitude before he sprints up the stairs.

There will be time for those lengthy discussions later, sitting in the dining car and talking over coffee or tea. Curufin would welcome that.

It was his father who taught him how to lead, and that ability stood him in good stead when he and his brothers migrated to East Beleriand and spent almost five centuries blocking Morgoth's Orcs from entering the Pass of Aglon or Maglor's Gap, and guarding the plans of Lothlann and Ard-galen.

Carrying their burdens, the two of them make their way out of the disintegrating building. Those moments when the floorboards try to collapse under one or the other of them are heart-pounding moments, but each moves so swiftly to help the other that nobody goes through the boards and falls into ruin. As they finally run down the east staircase and get away from the structure, it begins to fall into itself, and at last there are only flames roaring upwards from a huge heap of rubble.

Curufin deposits the man he was carrying, and the woman runs up and starts doing CPR on him. The man suddenly revives, coughing and wheezing, and his wife and their friends take care of him.

Meanwhile, Curufin coughs and wheezes too, and when he feels his father's hand on his shoulder, he turns and smiles. As neither of them can speak well, he speaks mind-to-mind, wordlessly, to express his love and gratitude, and also his relief that they didn't manage to kill themselves with this gambit! And then, of course he has to add, It was crazy, but then, we're crazy, right? His smile is bright in his sooty face.

It's true they're both a little singed. Nothing like running through fire to get your adrenaline going.

Now what? Shall we get these people up the cliff path?

[tinkerheart]

Yes, we are.

That's not even a joke. A statement of fact rather. Totally crazy. That was literally insane what they did there. Fëanor would rather not think how much risk they were taking. Either of them could have perished in the flames. There are no words in the tongues of elves nor men that could express how relieved his that they didn't.

He pulls his son into a hug. Everything else must wait. The world might be on fire, goblin armies upon them or whatnot, but he needs a moment to cherish the simple fact that they did escape and are both still alive. Only after he can go back to what one teenager in a dramatic cape so aptly described at the very beginning of their mission as "that whole rescuing thing".

I see no other way. There's nothing left here but ruin.

Then there's that tiny obstacle of communicating those instructions to the people while unable to speak. Surely, they will figure something out.

[so_dark_a_road]

Oh well, it wasn't the first insane thing we've ever done. We're sort of prone to it. I'm just glad this thing turned out so well.

Curufin is apt to joke about things that aren't funny. Being a firefighter had been equally crazy, and doing the rescue work of a firefighter but without the tanker truck and the hoses -- that was just plain mad. But Curufin wasn't sorry they had tried it.

He feels himself pulled into a hug and wraps his arms around his father and holds him tightly. It is indeed a good moment, this moment of being glad not to have been burned alive.

All right, then, we'll use handsigns and handwaving. Smile.

He goes to the nearest of the rescuees and points towards the man who is still lying on the ground recovering, indicating that somebody needs to carry him up the path, and that if nobody is able to, Curufin will carry him. Somehow, the people understand him. A strong man steps out of the small crowd and picks up the coughing man and starts walking, followed by that man's wife and also, the friend who had lost consciousness in his apartment. He seems to have recovered faster, and now he follows, unable to speak but offering comfort to the husband and wife.

Curufin looks around and makes sure nobody else needs carrying, and then he gestures to the group to start up the path. Then he walks beside his father. Ugh, we're going to need some burn salve.

wrap here too? rescued bunch of people, didn't burn alive, the good end :)

[tinkerheart]

At least they were crazy for the right reasons this time. Still, Fëanor would gladly never do this kind of crazy again. It doesn't mean he would shy from doing it, it's just, what's the best word it, well, call it a personal preference.

Yes, and quite a lot of it, I'm afraid.

He tries to laugh but what comes out sounds more like a series of hisses...and it hurts. Not surprising but not pleasant either.

I hope that others had a safer passage.

Not exactly.

And we should check on the rest of your team once we reach the summit.

He has sent Reigen with the first group of shepherds so hopefully, the man should be fine. He hasn't seen the kids, Conan, Eva, Kaito, for a while but he's almost sure they didn't linger either. And the spider... of course, the spider was there too.

Yes, good place to end, and a good ending! XD

[so_dark_a_road]

Nothing like being crazy for the right reasons! They'll most likely have other opportunities for such blessed insanity, too. This train is liable to take them anywhere and get them into any situation imaginable. Curufin isn't partial to risking being incinerated, but he'd do it again.

We'll check the first aid kits when we get back and see what supplies are in them.

He listens to his father's laugh and smiles, though he doesn't try to laugh in response. He pats his father on the shoulder and grins proudly at him.

We did kind of jump into the most dangerous possible situation, and I don't see any of my teammates around here, so I guess they chose to help out in less dangerous situations. Yes, we'll see what happened to the rest of the Orangies after we get up to the top of the cliffs.

The rest of them were not as crazy as the two Fëanorians; not even the spider. They'd all be up there somewhere, and they'd all be safe.