9884/Strudelland

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Strudelland
Date of Scene: 02 November 2019
Location: Near Munich Germany
Synopsis: Kurt and Rahne learn, the hard way, that sometimes you can't escape, on your escape.
Cast of Characters: Nightcrawler, Wolfsbane




Nightcrawler has posed:
Uber, cabs, none needed once out of the airports... they're needed for some travel - but once closer to a particular spot - Kurt makes their transit much more instant. Appearing with Rahne after three short hops in a fair spot of hardwood and evergreens where wide branches reach across one another and the only lower growth is bushes, ferns, and other short plants among the loam. It's quiet, despite the closeness to the major city... and there are many places where a young elf with a penchant for climbing can make himself at home.

"This is the best spot, when I was younger, ja? I was free here, before it was back to the cage."

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane played it safe, keeping her more obvious features hidden behind looking more human than normal. She also dressed in casualwear, leaving any sort of uniform behind. She'd never been to Germany, but the idea of spending a few days in parts of Europe with Kurt had taken shape quickly and they set off to focus on some time meant just for the two of them, visiting places that are parts of their past.

The weather is similar to that of the New York area, nothing out of the ordinary needed to compensate for any differences. Comfortable, a little chill in the air to come, but not bad. Away from more densely-populated areas of Munich, the pair find themselves with nobody else around. She gives a look at the trees around, letting a little more of the wolf back out to sniff at one thing or another. "So ye played around here?" she asks.

Nightcrawler has posed:
"Ja... This is where I could the easiest, they didn't like people getting a free look at the attractions." Kurt smiles and looks to one of the trees, resting a hand on the bark - happy to be free of the image inducer in the more populated zones. Lower in the bark there are scratches, scores to mark the passage of time, over a dozen.

"This was one of my favorites, and we came to this spot near Munich often, ja?" He turns back to Rahne and winks, "Plenty of cover, and people avoided the woods - fear of beasts and all that."

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane's eyes roam around, as if searching for an area that could have held the amount of people that would have been part of this group, not to mention whatever equipment they had. She comes over to inspect the marks on the tree, looking back toward Kurt with a questioning expression. "I'm..ahh, I know ye like tae entertain, but this must have been hard on ye." Being forced into a cage..it's something she's trying not to directly ask about or bring up further. An uncomfortable topic.

Nightcrawler has posed:
"I didn't know better, not for years. I thought it was normal. I was allowed to think it was normal." Kurt motions out, a little south and west, further from the city. "About a quarter kilometer, the big top would be there, and we would stretch out all over. About three hundred meters would be where they kept the freaks. They'd let us play in the woods, most didn't want to."

He reaches to take her hand, to lead her into the forest itself and show her where he got to understand freedom after a fashion. "Ignorance is truly bliss in many respects, Rahne... It was until I began to know better - but by that point they were selling me to the oil mogul in Texas."

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane's voice grows quiet. "There are some things I didna know better for a long time as well. People can be verra cruel sometimes," she explains, eyes following where he indicates before the frown sets in at the 'freaks' part. Of course she's heard of circus freaks. The bearded lady. The siamese twins. The elephant man.

The Nightcrawler.

She follows. At least the forest is what it is. Most are pleasant to be in, though some can be more spooky than others. "It was still verra wrong. Naebody should be kept in a cage. Naebody should be sold."

Nightcrawler has posed:
"No, no one should. I forgive them their folly though. Wicked or not, it is not my place to judge them for their actions, only to acknowledge and hope that they find their redemption, ja?" Kurt leads in, further, where the branches begin to cut off the sunlight and turn everything to a green shadow. The smells of wood and leaves new and old filling the area.

There's a sharper, bitter, tang too though. Hops and barley, fermentation. Tobacco smoke, wood smoke.

Wolfsbane has posed:
"Did they mistreat ye? Aside from..." Wolfsbane gives a little gesture with a hand, like she's trying to hint at what was already mentioned rather than saying it. "But still, wrong is wrong, an' if they show nae remorse.."

At that point she slows down and quiets, sniffing the air as some of the light fades. Voice more hushed, she asks, "Can ye smell tha'? Is there someone ahead?"

Nightcrawler has posed:
"I don't have your sense of smell, darling." Kurt's head lifts to see if he can get a sense of anything from where she indicates, brow knitting. "And even if they show no remorse they will stand in His judgement, not mine. I still forgive them." instinctively dropping to all fours, head cocked to one side to listen while he sniffs - to no apparent affect.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane's nose wrinkles as she crouches near a tree. "It smells like..a brewery. An' there's some smoke. People smoking, an' making a fire," she explains. Even still, it can be easy to forget not everyone has the same senses she does, especially after she's dialed them up a bit to help. Here, it's a little safer to let the wolf out. Talk of remorse and forgiveness is left behind.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Giving a nod and motioning for Wolfsbane to take the lead, Kurt moves towards the brush, "Do we want to check it out then?" ready to scrabble up a tree, or keep to the ground - however Rahne opts to handle the situation at hand.

The scents continue, open bottles, sausage spices over fire, muffled voices in general chatter by the one of it.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane shakes her head. "Maybe it's just people oot camping. There's nae reason tae bother them unless it sounds like someone's in trouble," she whispers, adding after a few moments, "I can smell food as well. I dinna think it's anything tae worry about." Of course, she can't understand the words she might hear, unless people are speaking English. "But we could have a look just in case," she adds, advancing silently.

Nightcrawler has posed:
He follows, of course, when she opts to investigate. As they get closer the speech is all in German, as expected - a grill rack set over a fire with meat cooking and men dressed in forest camo with rifles nearby chatting over beer bottles. A typical evening for hunters camping in the woodlands. There is even sign of something having been brought down, a 'kill tarp' thrown over a humped, indistinct, form just outside the circle of the fire.

They remain unaware of the creeping wulfen or night being as the pair work their way through the brush.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane shrinks a little lower as the sight of a gun or two is made out, and she falls back closer to Kurt to report quietly, "Hunters..an' whitever they're cooking smells good." But she shows no sign of crashing this party, already beginning to take further steps away from their location. "Best we leave them be."

Nightcrawler has posed:
The smell from the tarp has no game scent to it, or it could be the food being cooked. Kurt nods when she informs him. "Das ist real schnitzel. Veal rather than pork, ja?" the fuzzy blue elf whispers back, moving where Wolfsbane directs.

"I'm not surprised to see hunters out here. Quiet woods bring game and all." offering her his hand again when she nears.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane does not know exactly what's beneath the tarp, but nothing here seems out of the ordinary. "Whit are they talking about, Kurt?" That could clue them both in. She lingers closer to him than anything else nearby, keeping low with a nod.

Nightcrawler has posed:
A pause, blue ears perked, eyes closed to focus. "Talking about how they 'can't believe they had to... 'chase 'em from Unterpfaffenhofen... to finally put this one down' and how they almost lost 'him' when he got into the woods here..." Turning to look at her, again and then towards where the hunters camp.

Wolfsbane has posed:
"Where is..whitever ye just said? Whit is it?" Wolfsbane wonders, brows knitting together. Got into the woods? From somewhere other than the woods? Her mind might be playing some tricks on her, but she appears hesitant to just leave all of a sudden, moving a little around toward one side to give her a better view while maintaining cover.

Nightcrawler has posed:
"Suburb outlier from the main city... north of where we are... We're in Kreuzlinger Forst - south west edges..." Kurt frowning a little deeper, crouched down in the shadows, watching for her reaction. The talking and laughing continues, the snap of a beer being opened, the scent of veal beef cooking mingling with the woodsmoke.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane turns back to Kurt. She looks unsure of things here. On the surface, it seems like a normal post-hunt meal with people just having a good time. But, something has her fidgety. "Kurt..does anything seem odd about this? A' all? Anything they're saying?" It might be nothing. But, it might be something.

Nightcrawler has posed:
"They're talking like they hunted an animal. Keep calling it 'him' like they were buck hunting, ja? Early in the season, but does aren't allowed to be hunted until late in the month." Swallowing, Kurt looks to Rahne, and then the campsite once more, face falling. "What do you think?"

Wolfsbane has posed:
Sometimes, you have to go with your gut instinct. Something does not smell right to Wolfsbane about this, and whatever's beneath the tarp doesn't have the shape she'd expect a buck to have. "Create a distraction for me, but dinna let them see ye," she says, slipping away from him to move around further toward the opposite end of where he is.

Nightcrawler has posed:
"Ja." whispered and then Kurt is gone. He can be smelled, but he's quiet as a cat and twice as quick. Disappearing somewhere from view until several cracking sounds occur on the opposite side of the clearing from the tarp.

One head comes up, then two, then the quartet of hunters are up, grabbing their guns and looking to one another. Suddenly silent. Long years of practice clearly. Men who know what they're doing when it comes to tracking. Killing.

Wolfsbane has posed:
The first sound that draws the attention of the hunters allows Wolfsbane to sneak her way closer, continuing to use whatever cover she can just in case any of them happen to look back. Knowing what Kurt's capable of, it would be easy for him to make them think there are multiple sources of noise around the campsite. But, what will he do to further draw them away? Or, will they linger? How much of a chance will she have to act?

Nightcrawler has posed:
Crackling sounds continue to sound from the forest - A large branch snap, a tree shaking as if being pressed by something larger in the forest. The hunters grow more excitable, checking chambers, slapping magazines into place in their weapons. They drop and move low, slow, cautious - their voices dropping to bare whispers as they slip into the underbrush.

Wolfsbane has posed:
As soon as the hunters vacate the cookfire area, Wolfsbane makes her move. She does so, however, with an underlying sense of dread and worry at what she might find. Remaining crouched low, almost on all fours, she holds a breath as she lifts one edge of the tarp...

Nightcrawler has posed:
There's a foot, in a forest dirtied shoe. There's abrasions on the ankle, tearing part of the sock peaking out of the canvas running shoe. The rest is in shadow, unless the tarp is drawn back.

In the woods, going further away the men continue to follow the sounds and signs Kurt is making, voices fading into the underbrush.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane's breath catches in the back of her throat. "Saints preserve me.." Suddenly, too much of her fears make sense. It didn't smell right, didn't look right. This is why. She doesn't even need to look further to understand, and she retreats back to the edge of the place. As soon as Kurt meets back up with her...

Nightcrawler has posed:
No teleporting, that would create sound and smell, Kurt appears at Rahne's side, having left the hunters in the forest to let them go on a merry chase. The expression on hers has Kurt's face drawn in concern. "What's wrong? What is it?" Maybe he knows by her look, maybe he doesn't want it to be really what it is?

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane's expression gives it all away, and she's felt to grab at one of Kurt's arms and drag him back into the underbrush with her. "A..a body. They killed a person, Kurt." The fear begins to shift around, changing her expression toward something..different. Something angry. "They chased someone oot here an' they killed him." The growl that follows? Loud enough for hunters to pick up.

Nightcrawler has posed:
To Kurt it's too faint, too far to be heard... But Rahne she can hear four sets of moving bodies suddenly stopping. The sudden change, and then the shift of direction. The Bavarian blinks again, brows turning up. "Did you see it? Did..." looking over his shoulder. "I..." swallowing hard, not sure what to do.

Wolfsbane has posed:
"I saw enough," the wolfen mutant answers, and he could see her face has contorted further toward that of something more predatory. There is something calling to her, to exact justice on a group of murderers. The way the edge of the flap has come to rest, Kurt too could see the ankle and the shoe. It was enough for her. A buck wouldn't be wearing something like that. "They're making their way back," she adds. He'll feel her starting to brush past him, as if she plans to meet them halfway.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Kurt's eyes catch what Rahne has seen, but his reaction is different. Sadness pours from him. Heartbreak at such a thing. He almost misses her move past him, "Rahne... they need to be brought to justice!" scrabbling to follow.

She hears rounds being chambered, hushed tones, and now excitement in the air. Another hunt. They think they're hunting whatever they think she is.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Who hunts the hunter? Who is the true hunter here? Who rules nature? Is it man, or is it wolf? What happens when you throw someone into the mix who is both? Someone who can think with the mind of a human, but attack with the ferocity of an animal? "They will be," Wolfsbane snarls, adding, "But Ah'll no' kill them. Ah give ye muh word." The accent is heavier again.

As she moves right, she points left. Split up. Divert attention again. Something nudges her along, making her feel more certain than ever that she's doing the right thing. They came out here to laugh, to party, to drink and feast while, mere feet away, some poor soul lay dead under a tarp. He won't be forgotten.

Nightcrawler has posed:
BAMF! Kurt disappears in smoke and displaced air. It causes a pause that Rahne can hear, confusion, but their scent wall grows wider as they spread out. Four men, killers, trackers, slipping through the brush, looking for their next prey.

Hushed voices speak over the distance, a pause, and then they're on the move again. Kurt is gone, but not far, somewhere above - the scent of him thick as he teleports, and then again, bouncing multiple times - throwing smoke and sound in multiple places.

And then a shot rings out.

Wolfsbane has posed:
The wolfen mutant forces herself to wait. She knows Kurt is capable of putting these people in a state of confusion if allowed the chance, so she paces and thinks on how she's going to do this. Wolfsbane will need to be fast, decisive, aggressive. She might yet get shot.

And that's when she hears the crack of one of their weapons firing. She does her best to hold her tongue past the initial fear that Kurt might have been hit. Many shots miss their intended targets, and Kurt can be hard to keep up with on someone's best day. But, now that something more has happened, it's her time to act.

As soon as she's spotted one of the hunters, turning away from her location, she picks that time to strike. There's only the slightest whisper of a growl as she pounces atop him, and she does not hesitate to let him feel her claws at the side of his face and neck as she grips. "Tell me why ye did it!" she demands, forgetting they might not even be able to understand each other. At the same time, she reaches to break his grip on the gun, keeping herself hard to get a lock on.

Nightcrawler has posed:
The man's eyes are wide and his expression precedes the articulate nature of his response to being pounced on by Rahne, held and growled at. Pupils dilated to the point of his iris being nearly gone the scent of urine hits the air before he screams.

Other voices rise, surprised and then there is crashing in the woodlands - and then a second scream rising up and up, into the branches when Kurt tries to thin the numbers attempting to bear down on her.

More shots ring out, panicked, one whistling near where she sits on the other, his rifle batted away easily in his terror.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane's nose wrinkles at what the man does to himself when faced with a real threat. "No' so tough noo, are ye?" she taunts, but the scream draws the attention of others. "Stay." A fist is thrown at his jaw, aiming to knock him out. It might break a few teeth with her strength what it is.

Soon, she can hear the direction of other shouts as Kurt does his part, giving her a little more protection. Still, she can hear a bullet as it flies past, causing her to flinch out of the way if another follows. She still hasn't seen who or what was actually killed. A boy? A man? A mutant? Springing off the first hunter, she zigs and zags in the direction of the closest one to her.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Teeth broken and head pushed into the soft earth as well, the hunter's body goes slack beneath Rahne. The two hunters left on the ground working their way towards each other judging by the sounds they make, their voices.

One breaks cover of the forest first, eyes widening at the sight before him. A man, with a rifle, and hatred in his scent as he raises it up and fires on instinct, even as Kurt drops onto the other breaking through the foliage in an attempt to back up his partner.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane did say she wouldn't kill, but it might take some effort to get out of this unscathed. They have to do something to make things right with whoever's beneath that tarp. She moves almost more as an animal than a human, and as one of the hunters lines her up and exhibits that hate toward her, she snarls. "Ye'll all pay for whit ye did!" It can't be the first time they've done it, either, can it?

She picks the right time to roll to one side, and at that moment after the shot rings out, Kurt is upon the man. He struggles to get a knife out, so he might use it on him, swearing at him in their native tongue.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Hissing, Kurt is forced back from the man, tail lashing - trying to bat the knife away. His jaw is swollen - struck earlier when he pulled the one hunter up into the trees. Unscathed is a myth with these sorts - a few surprises, but their committed to their hate. Kurt crouches, watching, eyes narrowed, ready to teleport the next time he's lunged for.

Semi automatic in hand, shouldered, more shots are fired at, he's shouting something - one word at least sounds familiar to American or UK English amongst what he spits out. Monstrum. The rest is lost in gunfire, trying to anticipate where she'll go. Lead the shot.

Wolfsbane has posed:
There are few out there faster than a speeding bullet. One of them is apparently dead. Quick as Wolfsbane is, being in the path of multiple bullets is difficult at best to avoid, impossible at worst. There comes a short, sudden yelp rather than a shout as she spins away suddenly, favoring her left arm somewhere. A stinging pain floods her thoughts before more adrenaline begins to kick in, a fresh growl suggesting while she may not be in prime condition right now, she's hardly finished. But, Kurt will have to deal with the man. The 'monsters' still have surprise on their sides.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Lunged at, hearing the shot and Wolfbane's yelp. Kurt blinks and BAMF! he is gone, for a moment, before BAMF! he is right behind Rahne, calling to her "Start running!" before they disappear again - Kurt hoping she's quick enough to listen as she feels herself sucked through space and dimensions... the world returning and she's a several yards behind the man who was shooting at her - and she's moving forward at Kurt's sprinting speed.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane takes a slightly unbalanced step or two forward, gritting her teeth against the sting in her arm. Can't tell yet if it was just a glancing blow or something more than that, but she shakes her head briefly to clear it and nods once, going into that run. He must have something in mind...and she realizes what it is as she finds the shooter in a new position relative to hers.

She gives him enough of a 'warning' of "Ye're mine noo!" before she's upon him, the growl as she digs claws into his back as much from the anger in her attack as it is the pain in that arm.

Nightcrawler has posed:
When she leaps to pounce, Kurt springboards off of her towards the man who had pulled the knife, hissing as he descends, hands and feet gripping the man, tail bashing him about the head with the strength of an appendage that can lift and swing his bodyweight. There is a metal ring and another his before the sound of fists striking.

The man beneath Rahne's claws calls out in panicked horror, not even having the time to turn before she's on him, driven to the ground, his cries cut off as dirt and forest loam is crammed into his open mouth.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Rage fills the wolfen one's countenance, forcing the man's gun away from him before she turns him over, keeping leverage over him with the claws of one hand at his throat, the other forcing him to have to look up at her. "Ask him, Kurt! Ask this one why they did it!" Wolfsbane calls out to him, voice giving away pain of another kind.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Kicking the face of the one beneath him, Kurt steps over, eyes narrowed with a shallow cut in his flank - and the knife falling loosely from the unconscious man left behind.

He doesn't bother to bend down, his foot grips the man's head, toe and dew-claw on the temples while the point of his tail helps dig the dirt out. He speaks, quickly, hissing in his native tongue. The hunter spits and snarls, muddy teeth barred at first - but the werewolf, the demon... all alone. Kurt translates almost as fast as the man speaks, voice breaking as he does.

"He was a freak, like the rest of you. You're not people. You just destroy things. We destroyed him first..." the fuzzy blue elf looks like he'll be sick.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane snarls at the translation, and she then looks around for..something. Something she can use, though her shoulders slump. It's a look of defeat, of dejection, hearing the words from the hunter, only through Kurt's voice. Rope is retreived and used to bind the wrists and ankles of the one who shot her. "Others might kill ye on th' spot for whit ye've done," she says, looking pointedly to Kurt in case a translation is needed. "But we're better than tha'."

Rather than approaching, she turns back toward the tarp. Holding a breath, she draws it back further to reveal the state of the victim. She's holding her breath, the hand holding the tarp unsteady.

Nightcrawler has posed:
The body is clearly backshot, dirty, battered. Maybe no older than seventeen - a boy whose face can be seen in profile. The eye that can be seen is drooped, mouth open. He has six arms, and his face seems a little more bestial than 'normal' but otherwise he could have passed for normal with a big enough coat.

Kurt is gathering up the hunters, dragging them together, the fuzz on his cheeks coated in dark streaks.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Looking down, in spite of Wolfsbane's anger and sadness, a quiet prayer is said for the boy, who only appears to be guilty of looking different. She appears tense, shaking slightly as she rests the tarp back down over him before turning to Kurt. "Wid th' police here even do anything about this? He must have parents somewhere. Friends." Her shoulders slump. The blood staining her left arm near the shoulder is clear.

Nightcrawler has posed:
"It depends? Bias of the police... judges... Just like in the states." Kurt stares down at the unconscious men a moment before taking out their phones - and those with signal he dials emergency services and just lays the phones down. "We can call the mansion... maybe Charles could do something? But I don't know Rahne..." he approaches her, brows knit and he attempts to put a hand on the shoulder of the arm not winged by a shot.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane can only nod, murmuring, "However ye think is best. We dinna even know his name." The anger has fled, replaced by some of those things she's felt when it all seemed so helpless as far as the world was concerned. "They need tae pay for whit they've done, but there's nae more we can do here. We should go." She leans closer, enough for him to know. That wound will be dealt with soon enough, but the first real day of their vacation has only reminded them of how awful the world can still be.