Both of them turned to the doorway upon hearing their compatriot's return. Icewing glanced at the new recruit, a teenage bear with all-white fur, much like the Ice Hunters' leader. Apparently, he was only fourteen; too young to be in a group like this, in Icewing's opinion. But there was no way he wouldn't have joined, considering who they'd rescued him from earlier that year. "Welcome back," Icestrike, as he now called himself, greeted them. Icewing and Icescale nodded at the bear before turning to their leader. Iceclaw smiled at their return. He wore his usual black pants with armored kneecaps, an open brown coat, and nothing else on his upper body besides a small chi harness hanging from a chain around his neck. Though his arms and legs were covered up, the black spots on the fur of all leopards were visible on his head and torso. It was good that the 'snow leopard' kept many of his spots visible to make his species clear, Icewing reasoned; he was the rightful Leopard King, after all. "How did the negotiations with King Valum go, my friends?" Iceclaw asked. "It was a bust," Icescale replied before Icewing could. "He refused to back out of the alliance, and pretty much declared us his enemies. I mean, what could we have expected from someone who's buddy-buddy with the False King?" "While it is true that Valum has befriended Leodus," Icewing spoke up, "it seems like the Vultures and Leopards generally haven't been on the same page ever since the Rupture Incident and the Sabertooth Tiger–Lion War." "Correct," Icescale agreed. "The Vultures will never fight the Leopards as long as Valum is on the throne, clearly. Maybe if we can change that..." Icewing turned sharply to the white crocodile, the tip of her beak inches from his right eye. "You remember my conditions for joining the Ice Hunters, yes? I will not hesitate to end your life if you slay a single vulture; that includes King Valum." "Yep, but thanks for the reminder" Icescale said gruffly, returning her stare without flinching. "Besides," Icewing continued, turning to Iceclaw, "as Valum said himself, the Vultures obviously wouldn't join our cause against the Leopards, or even relinquish the alliance, were we to take out their king. That would only make us their enemies, which is unacceptable." Iceclaw looked over Icewing's shoulder. "Alright, put the Vultures on hold for now. Icegnash, how goes the progress on our Rupture vehicles?" The other Ice Hunters turned around as Icegnash entered the room. The white gorilla with glowing blue eyes was wearing his usual mechanic outfit, and wiping chi moisture from his hands with a cloth. "Progress is going smoothly," he reported. "Our tanks and buggies will be able to rival those of the Lions when they're complete. Keep in mind, though, that each vehicle is limited to one or two Rupture crystals each. If you want more, we're going to have to unearth the Elemental Rupture itself; if we can find it, that is."
-last edited on Mar 19, 2023 18:01:23 GMT by The J
Post by The J on Mar 19, 2023 18:00:16 GMT
The Ice Hunter leader acknowledged this with a nod. Icewing cleared her throat. "Please...unless you have a different mission for me at the moment, let me return to the Vultures just one more time," she insisted. "King Valum and I got off on the wrong foot, but just give me a chance to get through to him. I believe he's been manipulated by the False King these past ten years, but that I might be able to free him from the Leopards' grasp." "Granted," Iceclaw permitted. "Actually, I do have a mission in mind, but Icescale and Icestrike can do it." The snow leopard turned to them. "I want you to continue observing the outpost the Leopards have been building here in the Iron Mountains. Let me know if anything notable is discussed there, or if Leodus, or especially the doctor, show up. Icescale, you're in charge. Icestrike, follow his orders until you're both back here, understand?" The white crocodile and bear both nodded obediently, and the latter picked up his weapon as he walked out of the room; a silver baton tipped with a functional drill forged from Rupture crystals. Icewing set off herself after a grateful bow to her leader, flying above the two of them out of the tall doorway.
Iceclaw watched as the three Ice Hunters left on their respective missions. His gaze lingered on Icestrike as the boy exchanged banter with his elders. The most recent victim of the Leopards, he thought grimly, remembering why it was necessary now more than ever to dispense his justice on the weak. He turned to his remaining subordinate. "Now, between you and me... How goes Project S?" "The shipbuilding device?" Icegnash replied. "It's quite an ambitious idea. I've been researching obscure alchemy and the like, but I don't know how it'll be possible to make this thing without some manner of pseudoscience, or the 'magic' that the Mammoths had discovered." "The Mammoths are stuck up north," Iceclaw growled, "thanks to those wretched Phoenix playing god as usual. They might be completely frozen just like the Sabertooths, for all we know." "I'm well aware," the gorilla assured him, "but don't you remember the rumors? Over six years ago, before the end of the war, Ki--the False King, Leodus, discovered the teachings of Malgus. It's said that he's become a self-taught wizard." "So you're saying I should take Malgus' book from Leodus, see if any of us--or any among our benefactors--have the capacity for magic, and use magic to create the shipbuilding device?" "That seems like our best bet," Icegnash confirmed. "Based on how many within the Mammoth-Sabertooth alliance had the capacity for magic, I'd wager that at least one of us--and that includes our benefactors--has it." "I see..." Iceclaw nodded. "Fine then. Continue your work on the Rupture vehicles." Icegnash bowed and left, returning to the factory outside the True King's throne room.
***
Valum internally mulled over what Icewing had said as he walked across the Golden Castle's landing pad.
'Icewing', as she called herself, so badly wanted revenge for the Rupture Incident, that she was willing to destabilize the Leopard Tribe. That white crocodile who'd arrived obviously hadn't been involved in that disaster, but Valum guessed that he had his own reason for a vendetta against the Leopards. The Ice Hunters were clearly acting out of emotion, but what made them a legitimate threat compared to the average terrorist group was their possession of Rupture weapons. Valum didn't know how many Ice Hunters there were, or how many Rupture crystals they had; Icewing had mentioned her leader saving her from the cave-in, so perhaps the Hunters had slain the rogue miners and took their supply of crystals. Valum related all of this to Leodus after he and his guards entered the throne room. "I see," the Leopard King replied in his people's recognizable accent. "You're right that these 'Ice Hunters' pose a threat. They have elemental powers comparable to fire chi. However, we have earned said fire chi, and thus can likely combat their ice." Valum nodded. "As I said, Icewing tried to convince me to end the alliance; the Leopards are their only known target, and they're actively trying to avoid fighting my tribe. Though the Vultures don't use fire chi, we have that fact going for us. Maybe we could use that against them; strike first with both our armies." "True," Leodus agreed, "and I'm guessing you still don't want to use fire chi?" Valum shifted uncomfortably, looking at his friend's customized Phoenix armor and robes. "Still don't." he confirmed. "I know it might sound silly, especially since the Vultures had already earned fire chi in the past, but after the Great Illumination..." Valum remembered how his grandfather, King Valkar, had passed the Fire Trials, earning the usage of fire chi for the vulture species, but had relegated the power source to the semi-autonomous Vulture Fleet he created in the same year. That western division of the tribe had oft been nicknamed the 'Fire Fleet' by the Vultures due to its usage of fire chi, but that had ended five years prior when the current Grand Duke, Vezok von Donitz, had completely phased out fire chi in response to the Great Illumination, now fearing and distrusting the power of the Phoenix. Valum had only been four years old when Valkar passed away, so he never had the chance to ask his grandfather why he'd created the sub-faction in the first place. Valum had met both Vezok and his son, Vezon, but since Vezok's late father had been the first Grand Duke (appointed by Valkar himself), the Naval Vultures were also hazy on the details. Valum was still perplexed on why a semi-autonomous division of the tribe existed, but both of the living von Donitz' seemed to be extremely loyal to the Vulture Monarchy, so he didn't need to worry about the Vulture Fleet ever going rogue. "No, I understand," Leodus assured him, pulling Valum out of his thoughts and back into the present.
"I might've also distrusted the power of fire chi after the Illumination," the Leopard King continued, "had I not already used it for many years beforehand." Valum was reminded of his friend's age by this statement; Leodus was thirty-five years old, meaning he was mentally approaching middle-aged. Physically, however, he didn't look a day over twenty-nine. This was because, over six years ago, the Leopard King had discovered the book of the mammoth wizard, Malgus, and had trained himself in magic. The self-taught wizard had been more than willing to train Valum right after the war ended, but alas, it had seemed that the Vulture King (and any others Leodus had tested among both the Vultures and Leopards) didn't have the genetic capacity needed to wield magic. A part of Valum was glad about that, however. The apparent 'immortality' effect of becoming a wizard was a double-edged sword, and arguably more of a curse than a blessing. Valum wasn't sure of the extent of Leodus' immortality, and he'd wondered what that entailed if his friend would truly stay alive, and physically twenty-nine, forever. He was sure Leodus had thought about that too, but never pestered him regarding it. "Right," Valum said aloud, nodding. "Anyway, I better return to Talon City, to plan my tribe's part in the search for the Ice Hunters' headquarters." Leodus nodded and, surprisingly, stood up from his throne. "Unfortunately, I can't do the same just yet. The Commander stationed at our new eastern outpost has requested the presence of Director Leia and I. He reported the sighting of a couple figures lurking in the shadows of the Iron Mountains." "Could be the Hunters," Valum replied immediately, "but maybe I'm jumping to conclusions." "No, that's exactly what I've been thinking ever since you told me about this group," Leodus agreed. "The Outpost Commander didn't get a good look at whoever was slithering in the dark, but I consider this a lead; the only one we have besides your encounter, no less." The Leopard King began striding out of the throne room, and Valum walked alongside him. "Oh, and about that crocodile Hunter you mentioned...I believe I've an explanation for his unusual scale color: he was likely born in the Arctic, thus being evolved before birth to live in that environment." "Just like..." Valum started slowly, trying to recall whether this was a touchy subject. "My half-brother," Leodus confirmed without pause, "which is why I believe I'm getting a grasp on the kinds of people who make up the Ice Hunters..."
Valum expected that the sun would be setting to the west by the time he and his escort returned to Talon City; that was indeed the case. What he hadn't expected was for a blue-winged vulture to be hovering in the shadows of the city's watchtowers, right under the guards' beaks. "Sire!" the vulture on his right exclaimed, having seen her a second after Valum did. "After her!" Valum ordered, drawing his sword and dashing toward the trespasser as his flanking guards followed. Icewing had already flown swiftly to the south, oddly keeping close to the city's walls. The three pursuers matched her flying speed and almost caught up to her, but she managed to put some more distance between them each time. Valum's guards pulled their sidearms from their hip holsters. "Don't shoot!" he ordered as Icewing started swerving around through the air in response to this. "We should take her alive now. The way she's moving will make it too hard to just hit her wings; we can't risk a blast hitting her head." The guards complied and continued to fly after Icewing, who eventually stopped her flight and hovered in the air after getting around to the back of Talon City, facing the foot of the Outland Mountains. Valum ordered his guards to halt as he did the same, and they hovered in place...in a standoff with the rogue vulture. The guards drew their blasters again. The only sounds were the flapping of the four sets of wings, until Icewing spoke. "You wouldn't have your guards shoot an unarmed vulture, would you, King Valum?" she posited, holding her arms out so her empty hands were clear to see. Valum had been so fixated on the chase that he hadn't noticed beforehand; Icewing was indeed completely unarmed. No blaster was stuffed in her pockets (and there didn't yet exist a blaster small enough to be concealed, as far as Valum knew), her sheath swung limply at her side, the Rupture Blade nowhere in sight. The crossing silver bandoliers she wore on her upper body, which Valum remembered as having contained small throwing knives in their first encounter, were now empty of any such blades. "...Stand down," the Vulture King ordered, and his guards obediently lowered their sidearms once again. "You see, I'm here to talk," Icewing elaborated, "...and only with King Valum. Preferably before the sun sets completely." "You two return to Talon City," Valum ordered after a pause. "But Sire--!" "Only because I'm armed," Valum explained, keeping his sword drawn, "and she isn't; because I have chi on me, and she doesn't. If she makes any sudden movements, I'll take her down." The guards conceded at this, bowing and flying up over the wall with anxious looks down. "Your soldiers are very loyal," Icewing observed, then said absently, "I was never part of the Vulture Army proper, but my husband once was." "What are you here to talk about, Icewing?" "Well, I'm also here to show you something," she said, gesturing to her right.
Valum kept his eyes on the terrorist. Icewing sighed and put her hands behind her back. "See?" she said. "If I were to try to attack you while you're looking away, I wouldn't have time to take my hands out from behind and put them around your neck before you...intercepted me with that sword." "...Fine," Valum conceded, and slowly turned in the direction she'd gestured. Looking over the wall of Talon City, he saw that they were high above the back of the Hatchling's Home. By this time, the younger children would've been put to bed, but some of the tween orphans were playing in the yard. "The one with the light blue skin on her head," Icewing pointed out, "that's my daughter." Valum took a good five seconds to process this, before turning to Icewing. "Your what?!" "Her name is Vergere," Icewing said calmly, "and she ought to be about eleven now; she hatched the year before...the incident." She looked at Vergere with a sad smile. "My family was poor; my husband and I both having been mercenaries in a period of peace. Heh, if only we'd been born in the previous generation, right? "Would've made a lot from the Crocodile—Leopard War. Then I was only twelve when the Mammoths had their revolution, though it seems their 'magic' advantage put mercenaries out of work anyway." "So the closest you could get was signing on as bodyguards for my father and I," Valum stated, "during our personal mining operation..." "We needed the money that would come from assisting in that important venture," Icewing nodded, "especially after having an additional beak to feed. On top of that, King Varn's talk of the Rupture crystals being an alternative to magic for us 'mortal' warriors was enticing. It goes without saying, though, that I regret volunteering for the operation; not just because of what happened there, but because we left our daughter without parents." Valum glanced down at the 'orphan', then back at her mother. "Why didn’t you return to the tribe--to your daughter, after escaping the cave-in?" Icewing stared at him, suddenly and coldly. "I suppose what psychologists say about different individuals having different responses to the same trauma is true. Unlike you, clearly, I will never be happy or content with my lot in life, until I've gotten revenge on the Leopards. The problem is that I don't want to fight my own species, but the Vultures are still allied with my enemies." Valum barely heard her last sentence as his head spun. "You put greater importance on...that, over raising your child?? You care more about your revenge than your daughter?!" He hadn't intended that all to come out as a loud outburst, but it had. "Don't accuse people of 'prioritizing' this, or 'caring more about' that, when you don't yet know the full picture," Icewing replied. "There are two more reasons as to why I made the choice that I did." She held up one C-shaped hand. "One: I've always...perceived something about Vergere down there."
"What about her?" Valum looked down at Vergere again, with less exaggerated slowness this time. He now knew that he didn't need to be completely on-guard; if Icewing had been planning to attack him at any point, she most definitely would've done so while he was bewildered several moments ago; but she hadn't even seemed to consider taking advantage of his brief mental disorientation. She truly is here just to talk, Valum thought. But what did she hope to gain from this conversation? My pity? "There's always been something indescribably different about her," Icewing explained vaguely, "right from the start." "You think she's got the 'magic genes'?" Valum proposed. "What? No--Well, maybe she does, for all we know," replied Icewing, "but that's not it. She has a...dark, foreboding aura about her. I've watched it grow along with her, only becoming more noticeable to me as she gets older." "And you've perceived this with some kind of mystical sixth sense...?" Valum couldn't help chuckling. "Laugh it up," she growled, "but I'm telling the truth. I really have noticed this... Call it mother's intuition. You wouldn't get it. As such, I've been keeping watch on both Vergere and the Vulture Tribe from afar these past ten years. Just because she hasn't seen me, doesn't mean I haven't watched her grow up." "Sure," Valum nodded, "but earlier, you said you had two reasons for not returning to the tribe." "Ah, yes," Icewing held up her left hand. "Two: Iceclaw, our leader, saved me from the cave-in. I owe him my life, in addition to our goals aligning anyway, and so I swore my loyalty to him. That's the case with some of the other Ice Hunters, you'll find." "What species is Iceclaw, by any chance?" Valum questioned, though he expected what her answer would be. "And how many of you are there?" "As if I'd answer either of those--" "Right, that's what I thought." The Vulture King interrupted. "And you know what else I think? I think that you're full of scat; that you're making up this thing about Vergere to rationalize your abandonment of your tribe and daughter, out of an obligation to stay with Iceclaw’s organization. "And if you thought that relating these rationalizations to me would convince me to help you destroy a tribe, let alone the Leopards, you're sorely mistaken." The corner of Icewing's beak twitched, and a simmering anger behind her normally cold eyes became painfully apparent. "...I figured as much. Shouldn't have bothered trying to make a king understand." And with that, Icewing took off at an even faster speed than when she'd been fleeing from Valum--or rather, leading him to this part of the wall--earlier. She swerved around to his right... ...but Valum had seen this coming. He lurched around, dashing after Icewing in time to grab one of those bizarre blue wings. The two enemies grappled with each other in the air for a moment, and it wasn't long before they both tumbled into the sand below.
Valum got to his feet as quickly as he could, and his first sight after looking up from the sand was Icewing reaching behind her back. The Vulture King bristled. There's nothing small enough for her to have hidden in her back pocket, even a chi grenade-- Then he saw what she had in her hand, and it all made sense; it was a tiny ball, smaller than a chi orb, of materials cobbled together and tightly wrapped with leaves. Icewing threw the smoke bomb straight into the nearest rock even as Valum lunged at her, and an opaque brown cloud completely filled his field of view. He coughed and flew up out of the cloud as fast as he could, scanning the area for Icewing. Valum breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her, heading northwest around the front of Talon City. Though she was flying at top speed, he hadn't lost sight of the Ice Hunter, and would be able to follow her from a distance...as long as he was careful not to be seen himself. It was only then that Valum realized an important detail: when he'd grabbed her wing, his hand hadn't frozen. Despite coming into physical contact with the Elemental Rupture and having the mysterious change in color as a result, this vulture's wings hadn't gained the powers of the Rupture crystals. Contrary to the namesake of what Valum assumed was her codename, Icewing's powers came entirely from the Rupture Blade. That was good to know.
Icewing looked over her shoulder one more time, even as she entered the Ice Hunters' headquarters. Scanning the nearby cliff sides intently and confirming that she hadn't been followed, she briskly ducked under the factory door as it opened. Inside, Icegnash was manning the controls for the door, and lowered it after Icewing had entered. The white gorilla nodded to the arrival, but remained at the door controls. Icewing walked through the small hall into Iceclaw's office, trying to look less disappointed than she felt when she said, "I wasn't able to gain King Valum's allegiance, sir." "Thank you for not beating around the bush," the snow leopard replied, "so I'm sure you know what our only course of action regarding the Vultures is now, yes?" Icewing answered after a pause, "...Capturing Valum, and forcing the Vultures to end their alliance with the Leopards by threatening his execution." "Exactly," Iceclaw nodded. "That won't get them on our side, since that ship has clearly sailed, but it'll get them off the Leopards' side. They'll have no choice but to leave the action, if they don't want their king to be slain." "Icestrike and Icescale have returned," Icegnash called from outside the office. "Bring them in," Iceclaw called back, and the distinctive sound of the hangar door being raised came into Icewing's field of hearing, before she spoke again. "The problem is that we'll need to hold Valum indefinitely," the vulture reminded her leader, "otherwise, should he escape or be broken out, he'll most definitely restore the alliance and take action against us." "I know," Iceclaw replied with a slight edge of frustration, "but it's the only thing we can do if we don't want the Vultures as our enemies; if we assassinate Valum, the Vultures will fight us even if they're not allied with the Leopards; if we capture him but he's freed, he'll fight us right alongside Leodus." "Augh, blast it!" Icewing cursed, letting her frustration get the better of her. "If only the Vultures weren't allied with the Leopards--! No...if only Valum wasn't friends with the False King. If not for that, he might've turned on the Leopards after the Rupture Incident, as he should have." "'Friends' indeed..." Iceclaw said incredulously. "Valum isn't under Leodus' boot, if that's what you're thinking," the vulture stated as Icestrike and Icescale walked into the office. "While I wouldn't be surprised if the False King tried to be more controlling, I've now interacted with Valum enough to know that he's a very free-willed individual. He's not the type to bow to anyone, or to let anyone but his late parents tell him what to do. "Heck, if he wasn't the Vulture King, he'd probably have left the tribe by now." "Sounds like he would've been perfect Ice Hunter material," Icescale spoke up. "Ironic..." "What's all this about the Vulture King?" Icestrike asked, turning to Icewing. "Were you not able to convince him?"
Icewing held back a grimace. The last thing she needed right then was to be criticized for her poor diplomacy by a teenager-- But the white bear said instead, "Why don't we just assassinate him and frame someone else for it?" Icewing exchanged a glance with Icescale. She found herself once again privately questioning Iceclaw's decision to recruit this impressionable boy into their organization. He's too young for these things. How underhanded, he's already become... But Icescale simply shrugged with a shake of his head, as Iceclaw replied to the proposition. "Hmm...yes," the white leopard considered. "We'd been discussing the possibility of assassinating Valum earlier, but I hadn't considered making the Vultures think someone else was to blame for it..." "Wait, wait!" Icewing exclaimed. This was moving both too fast, and in a direction she didn't like. "We weren't discussing the possibility of assassination; we were discussing why it wouldn't work! And need I remind you all of my condition for joining the Ice Hunters? I won't let you slay a vulture!" "Look, 'Wing," Icescale said gruffly, "We can't expect to succeed in our goal without ever getting our hands dirty; we all knew what we were getting into when we chose this path. I understand how you feel; if we were talking about taking out a crocodile, I'd be desperate to find another way and save that as a last resort. But if it comes down to a choice between having to slay one, one single vulture, or having the entire Vulture Tribe bear down on us... "...then I'm sorry, but Valum has to go. It's him, or us; being sandwiched between two allied armies and destroyed before ever achieving our goal." Icewing comprehended the crocodile's words, while also remembering how angry she'd been with Valum after their last interaction, but she still couldn't accept this. The silent agreement to avoid fighting not only Vultures, but any non-Leopards if possible, was an essential value of the Ice Hunters...wasn't it? Not to mention, despite any ideological divide she had with him...Valum was the only other survivor of the Rupture Incident. Icewing looked desperately at Iceclaw and spoke fast. "S-sir, you're the one who came up with the capture plan earlier, as an alternative to--" "A plan that you called to my attention the impracticality of," Iceclaw countered, raising an eyebrow. After a pause, he chuckled. "It's funny, isn't it?" "What is?" Icescale questioned. "Well, funny and unfortunate," Iceclaw mused, "that, had it not been for a very specific set of circumstances, we'd have nothing to do with Valum. He'd just be off living his own story; a leader of a tribe with no relation to the Leopards, and thus no quarrel with us. It's truly fascinating how the threads of fate are weaved. Nevertheless, events have made...dealing with him, one way or the other, essential to achieving our dream. "Valum has become the key to all of this...whether he wants it, or not."
Valum peered intently at the Ice Hunters' headquarters, from his perch inside a small mountain cave. The building looked like one big garage or factory with its rectangular shape and wall-sized front hangar door, and its all-gray coloring helped it to camouflage with the surrounding Iron Mountains; from this distance, it did sometimes blend in with the area. He glanced sidelong at Vamprah, just as the young soldier was creeping back out from the shadows of the cave. Valum had signaled for him to flatten his back against the wall of the cave, as he did the same, when Icewing had looked over her shoulder a minute prior. Valum had made Icewing think she’d lost him with the smoke bomb, but he’d flown after her at a far distance. Vamprah, who’d been patrolling outside Talon City at the time, had joined him in the pursuit. Vamprah had reasoned that going alone would’ve put the King’s life in danger; but there was no time to gather other soldiers or notify them about this, without losing sight of Icewing in the process. Thus, Valum had agreed to bring Vamprah along, and they made certain to never lose sight of Icewing during the flight north, while hiding in the clouds themselves. However, the two of them now faced a dilemma; since following Icewing was currently the only way to find the Ice Hunters’ HQ, Valum didn't know the exact geographical coordinates of the building he was now looking at. He also didn't know how many members the Ice Hunters had, aside from Icewing, that crocodile, Icescale, their leader of unknown species, Iceclaw, and, as he now recalled, another that Icescale had mentioned being a 'diplomat', but Valum couldn't remember the name. If either Valum or Vamprah flew to the Leopards' territory (or their new outpost in this region), to tell Leodus about this, that would run the risk of the other vulture here being seen, overwhelmed and captured by the Hunters; and besides that, there'd be no point in the Leopards launching an attack on a secluded base they didn't know the exact location of. Valum cursed under his breath. Perhaps I was being too impulsive by following Icewing... But then, we did find the Ice Hunters' base this way, just not its exact location. If only there was some sort of long-distance communication method I could use to notify Leodus or my army back home, so both Vamprah and I could stay here while they come, rather than one of us being isolated here and possibly captured. As vultures, the two of us have plenty of patience, but there's currently no way to launch a large-scale attack on the Hunters' HQ. Wait a minute... Long-distance communication... Wasn't there an invention a few years back, during the war, that allowed for such a thing...? Valum pulled himself out of his thoughts as he saw two beings walking toward the HQ. One of them was a white crocodile with a glowing blue Vengious strung across his back--most definitely Icescale--but the other, Valum didn't recognize.
He appeared to be a bear with white fur (probably born in the Arctic, like Leodus had said about Icescale), carried some sort of baton, and looked quite young, probably around Vamprah's age. Valum squinted, and could make out a pointed blue tip on the kid's baton. Another Rupture weapon. Figures. Valum watched intently as the hangar door rose again. Both blades of Icescale's Rupture Vengious stopped gleaming in the sunlight as they disappeared under the shadow of the ceiling. Valum couldn't see whoever was manning the door mechanism from his angle, but it occurred to him that Vamprah might. "Vamprah," he whispered, "did you catch a glimpse of the one manning the door this time?" "Yes Sir," Vamprah whispered back, "he had white fur--which I guess shouldn't be too surprising--and I couldn't make out many more details from up here, but...his snout didn't look long at all." "So...a gorilla," Valum realized aloud, nodding. "It's got to be. We now know there are at least five Ice Hunters: Icewing, Icescale, the bear, the gorilla, and their leader Iceclaw; unless Iceclaw was that gorilla manning the door, but I doubt it. The 'diplomat' Icescale mentioned in passing could be either the gorilla, the bear, or a separate sixth member. Let's remain in reconnaissance for now. Perhaps we'll be able to draw out and confront this Iceclaw..."
***
"...whether he wants it, or not." Iceclaw finished. A silence hung over the room, before Icestrike cleared his throat. "Er, I'm sorry," he said. "This is clearly more complex than I thought. And now I remember that Icescale and I have something to report." "Scat, that's right!" Icescale slapped his forehead. "Has my memory started getting worse already?? Anyway, the reason we returned so soon is because we believe we saw the leopard you've always told us to keep an eye out for." "What?" Iceclaw sat up in his chair. "Are you sure? What did the leopard look like?" "An older woman wearing a suit of Phoenix armor, a lab coat, and a monocle," Icescale answered coolly. "That ring a bell?" "That's her, all right!" Iceclaw roared, Icewing and the others all involuntarily jumping after their leader's total change in demeanor. He stood from his makeshift throne. "I'll be leaving for a personal mission! Time to pay the good doctor a little visit!" "You're not going alone," Icescale said exasperatedly, framing it as a statement rather than a question. Icewing glanced at the crocodile, then back at Iceclaw. Icescale had known the Ice Hunters' leader the longest, and was nine years his elder, thus serving as an advisor of sorts. In his current mood, however, the snow leopard wasn't likely to take kindly to Icescale's attitude. Contrary to what Icewing expected, Iceclaw simply shrugged. "I was already going to leave here after you all returned anyway, to report new developments to Icedawn," he revealed, "but that's definitely going to be put on hold now."
"This now takes priority over all else. I suppose I'll take at least one of you with me." Icegnash walked into the room as the snow leopard was saying this. "I'll remain here to patrol," Icewing volunteered. Despite her desire to fight the Leopards, she needed time to sort out her thoughts, which she couldn't do while in the middle of battle. "Right then," Iceclaw nodded, "Icegnash, you stay and continue working on the projects as usual. Icestrike and Icescale, you're with me." Icewing noticed the white crocodile glancing at Icegnash for a moment, but he nodded obediently along with the others. Icewing walked across the room to pick up the Rupture Blade and her other weapons she'd left behind, as Iceclaw and the two going with him stocked up on grenades and chi. Our chi supply is dwindling now that we're back in action, Icewing thought, as she took one chi orb out of the crate. She wondered skeptically if the Ice Hunters' parent organization would follow through on their promised monthly delivery.
Valum's eyes narrowed as he saw Icescale and the white bear leaving the Ice Hunters' headquarters, this time accompanied by a white feline whose fur was dotted with black spots. His appearance matched the description of Leodus' half-brother, and he looked to be in his later thirties, so the age checked out as well. Leodus' theory that the Hunters are all Arctic-born was right. Valum thought, before realizing that Icewing was an exception. If the Hunters were led by the Mad Prince (assuming the white leopard was Iceclaw), that would certainly explain why they were all so fixated on overthrowing Leodus and the Leopard Tribe's leaders in general. In the shadows, Valum could make out Vamprah. The young soldier was asking a question with his eyes, and Valum reluctantly shook his head in answer. While it was tempting to ambush the three Hunters, they were armed to the teeth with both grenades, and weapons that had the power of ice. Additionally, Valum and Vamprah were outnumbered; and it would turn from three against two to at least five against two after Icewing and the gorilla saw them. As a matter of fact, Valum realized that he'd rather take his chances fighting those two, to capture them and their base, while the other three Hunters were gone. Then again, that was under the assumption that Icewing and the gorilla were the only ones inside the base. Valum frowned as Icescale and the two with him turned around the corner on a mountain path and disappeared from view. He then turned to Vamprah and beckoned him out of the shadows, explaining everything he'd just been thinking. "True, there could be a dozen more in there," Vamprah mused. "And there are no windows, so we can't check--" Vamprah broke off as Valum, having seen a faint blue light out of the corner of his eye, lunged forward and pulled him aside; the two of them narrowly dodged the ice blast, and looked up to see a furious Icewing diving toward their former hiding place.
"I guess I should've been more thorough, in checking if I was followed!" Icewing snarled as she brought down the Rupture Blade between Valum and Vamprah, forcing the other two vultures to jump aside in either direction. "We were watching the entrance!" Vamprah blurted out. "How did you--?" "So, you didn't find the back entrance," Icewing observed. "Good." "Vamprah, stay on that side of Icewing!" Valum ordered. "She can't see both of us at once!" Valum launched himself forward, and, as his sword clanged against Icewing's, found himself internally relieved; the Rupture Blade didn't freeze his steel sword at its touch, confirming that Rupture weapons could only freeze things by 'summoning' a blast of icy energy with specific movements. Valum remembered what Icewing had said about the Rupture powers during their first meeting: Perhaps there will someday be a more potent version of this power; Valum was glad that he didn't have to deal with much stronger ice powers, and hoped he wouldn't have to, if they ever did exist.
Icegnash gazed at Icewing as she dove toward a cave within a mountainside. He could faintly make out the beings she'd apparently spotted, and the beginning of a battle. The vulture would be kept occupied for at least a few minutes, Icegnash decided, as he went around the corner and through the back entrance of the HQ, firmly locking the door behind him. Walking the length of the factory and glancing at the rows of Rupture vehicles on either side, Icegnash calmly pulled a black device and a chi orb out of his hidden pouch. The pouch was a relatively small bag, entirely white including the straps, making it nicely blend into the gorilla's fur. On top of that, the silver armor plates he wore that contained his chi harness stretched down on his back, covering the straps and making the pouch even more hard to see; indeed, the gorilla's fellow Ice Hunters had never spotted the pouch. Though the black device he'd pulled out of the bag was quite bulky, the pouch was thick enough to have concealed its shape. Icegnash slotted the chi orb into a concave opening, as he held the heavy device by a handle in his other hand. The white gorilla found himself feeling tense for just a second as he waited for the device to react to the chi, and held back a sigh of relief as the antenna slowly sprouted from it; he was irritated at himself for tensing up, and decided he'd do some self-training later. Now standing in the middle of the factory, he casually looked around once more, before putting the device up to his right ear. Muffled sound emitted from it after a second. "Blue is the..." began a calm voice on the other end. "...Sky." Icegnash finished the code he and the operator had decided on, confirming his identity; the word 'sky' rhymed somewhat with his last name. "Agent A, report." "As you've probably guessed from the fact that I've called," Icegnash began, "the other Ice Hunters are all away right now."
-last edited on May 20, 2023 22:13:25 GMT by The J
Post by The J on May 20, 2023 22:12:37 GMT
Valum was pushed back as Icewing furiously swiped the Rupture Blade in a half circle in front of her, simultaneously launching a crescent of ice energy at the opponent on her right. The approaching Vamprah, unable to dodge in time, blocked the blast with his spear. As ice began to spread both up and down the length of the spear from the point of impact, Vamprah slammed it onto the cave floor, shattering the short-lived ice. And as Icewing was looking at Vamprah during this four-second sequence, Valum saw his chance. He lunged forward, slashing his sword across the air toward his opponent's exposed neck. Icewing saw the attack coming just soon enough to keep her head on her shoulders; the Rupture Blade and Valum's sword formed an 'X' shape below Icewing's beak, inches from her neck. As Icewing was focused on blocking Valum's would-be fatal slash, Vamprah swung his spear down, knocking the Ice Hunter off her feet from behind. Valum was confused for a split second on why Vamprah hadn't aimed for a stab at Icewing's back or below her arm, but he just as soon realized that the silver armor she wore wouldn't have been pierced that easily. Icewing fell, but before hitting the floor, launched herself out of the cave and into the air with a wing beat. "So unlike me, you don't have any problem killing a fellow vulture?" she snarled at Valum whilst launching another horizontal ice blast. "Oh, I do," Valum assured her as he and Vamprah both flew above the blast, "but such thoughts need to be put aside during battle." "For once...we agree!" Icewing decided as she parried successive strikes from Valum and Vamprah, the three vultures weaving through the misty air around the Iron Mountains.
"...Well, Icewing is still nearby, but she's engaged in battle with at least two beings in a mountain cave," Icegnash clarified to the operator, "one quite high up; I couldn't make out the species of her opponents from down here. It's safe to say that she'll be kept occupied up there, but I've also locked the doors for good measure." "So, Agent A, you believe it's a good time for us to strike?" the operator asked. "I do," Icegnash answered confidently. "I've completed the crystal-empowered vehicles; thus, as planned, all of the Rupture crystals in Chima are now conveniently in one place and accounted for, aside from those that had been forged into the Hunters' melee weapons. "This is, without a doubt, the perfect chance to bomb the Ice Hunters' factory...and finally wipe the Rupture crystals off the face of Chima." "But what about the crystals forged into the Hunters' personal weapons, that you just mentioned?" Icegnash detected mild amusement in the operator's voice, but didn't let it bother him. "We can deal with those now as well," he explained. "If Icewing is still having her little fight when you get here--which is why you need to come quick--we can catch her by surprise and destroy her Rupture Blade during the bombardment."
