It's been less than twelve hours since Wash woke up in this ridiculous murder arena, and he's already completely tired of it. They'd been a hair's breadth away from busting out of this godforsaken place before Arcade had interrupted them (though really, that's to be expected when the person running the place cheats as often as he breathes); he'd had a hard landing from that; and he'd long since been separated from Grif, which isn't too bad - Grif has a habit of taking care of himself - but that doesn't stop Wash from worrying. He can't not worry, what with everyone being caught in a goddamn death arena.
But worrying isn't going to help them or him, so he moves on, walking through giant trees and toadstools as quietly as he can manage, looking for uninhabited shelter and listening for threats.
What he hears instead is muffled whimpering and crying echoing through the trees. It sounds human, and female, and young.
There is no way in hell that's not a trap. There's just no way.
He takes a deep breath, wrestles for a moment with his conscience, and goes anyway.
The source of the sound isn't too far away - it only takes him a few minutes to get there - but it definitely confirms his worst fear. There's a Harrubian child - a teenager at best - bound at ankle and wrist and dangling from one of the giant toadstools at what would be chest height for him. She's fallen silent aside from the occasional whimper, a terrified expression on her face and eyes fixed to a point to his left. He slowly heads around the side of the tree he's hiding behind, following her gaze, to see a wolf the size of a horse standing by another tree, licking its chops, eyes locked with the young girl.
Well, shit. It's obviously a trap - if he exposes himself, he either gets eaten by a wolf or attacked by whoever set it, or possibly both. If he does nothing, a child dies. There's not really a choice to be made.
The wolf starts trotting towards the girl, teeth bared, and Wash surges forward. The wolf hears him, pricks its ears, turns towards him-
And he plunges his knife into its eye.
The wolf rears back with a scream, and Wash manages to yank his knife out and land on his feet, When the wolf lands, he lashes out again, slashing across the wolf's nose and opening a deep cut. "Get out! Go!"
There are some meals that are worth the trouble; to the wolf, a mouthful of girl isn't one of them. The wolf yelps and turns, heading back into the woods away from the assailant with the knife. Absolutely not worth it.
Between the noise the wolf made and his own yelling, Wash knows they don't have much time before whoever set the trap is attracted by the noise. There's no way they're not nearby - you don't set a trap with live, sentient bait and then leave it. You stick around and wait to see what you catch. Wash doesn't intend to be here long enough for that to happen. He sprints for the girl and cuts her down, catching her as she falls and slicing through the ropes around her ankles and wrists. "You need to get out of here-"
There's a sharp report and an even sharper pain in his arm. He yells in pain and dodges to the side, dragging the girl with him, as another plasma blast tears through toadstool stem right where his head had been a moment before. "Run!" He pushes the girl towards the foliage and turns to face his attacker.
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But worrying isn't going to help them or him, so he moves on, walking through giant trees and toadstools as quietly as he can manage, looking for uninhabited shelter and listening for threats.
What he hears instead is muffled whimpering and crying echoing through the trees. It sounds human, and female, and young.
There is no way in hell that's not a trap. There's just no way.
He takes a deep breath, wrestles for a moment with his conscience, and goes anyway.
The source of the sound isn't too far away - it only takes him a few minutes to get there - but it definitely confirms his worst fear. There's a Harrubian child - a teenager at best - bound at ankle and wrist and dangling from one of the giant toadstools at what would be chest height for him. She's fallen silent aside from the occasional whimper, a terrified expression on her face and eyes fixed to a point to his left. He slowly heads around the side of the tree he's hiding behind, following her gaze, to see a wolf the size of a horse standing by another tree, licking its chops, eyes locked with the young girl.
Well, shit. It's obviously a trap - if he exposes himself, he either gets eaten by a wolf or attacked by whoever set it, or possibly both. If he does nothing, a child dies. There's not really a choice to be made.
The wolf starts trotting towards the girl, teeth bared, and Wash surges forward. The wolf hears him, pricks its ears, turns towards him-
And he plunges his knife into its eye.
The wolf rears back with a scream, and Wash manages to yank his knife out and land on his feet, When the wolf lands, he lashes out again, slashing across the wolf's nose and opening a deep cut. "Get out! Go!"
There are some meals that are worth the trouble; to the wolf, a mouthful of girl isn't one of them. The wolf yelps and turns, heading back into the woods away from the assailant with the knife. Absolutely not worth it.
Between the noise the wolf made and his own yelling, Wash knows they don't have much time before whoever set the trap is attracted by the noise. There's no way they're not nearby - you don't set a trap with live, sentient bait and then leave it. You stick around and wait to see what you catch. Wash doesn't intend to be here long enough for that to happen. He sprints for the girl and cuts her down, catching her as she falls and slicing through the ropes around her ankles and wrists. "You need to get out of here-"
There's a sharp report and an even sharper pain in his arm. He yells in pain and dodges to the side, dragging the girl with him, as another plasma blast tears through toadstool stem right where his head had been a moment before. "Run!" He pushes the girl towards the foliage and turns to face his attacker.