entrancelogs | Closed | Constant vigilance!

Entry tags:

Closed | Constant vigilance!

Who: The Grey Wardens of Wonderland - Alistair, Anders, Nathaniel & Robyn
Where: The grounds
When: A sunny day in July
Rating: PG - minor swearing at worst
Summary: The Grey Wardens are a proud order of defenders and their members must always be on their guard for sneak attacks
The Story:

It wasn't his idea.

That much Alistair would be making perfectly clear when the dust settled. Because it wasn't. He'd just agreed to go along with it when the suggestion was made. So any blame to be had should fall solely on the culprit. Who is better at running away than Alistair himself anyway so it's better if he takes all the credit.

So. Definitely not his idea.

Which might not get him far, when he's still pressed back against a tree listening to Robyn and Nathaniel's voices approach, a water balloon in each hand and his pockets bulging and sloshing in a rather suspicious manner. Anders is somewhere on the other side of the path similarly waiting till their fellow Wardens get close enough. The ambush was also definitely, mostly, not-at-all his idea and not something he should be punished for.

When the pair of them are just drawing abreast of him, Alistair leaps out from around the tree where he'd been (poorly) hiding with a gleeful shout of "Have at thee!" Hostilities thus declared he flings his two balloons at the faces of the two Wardens. On his right he can hear Anders emerge as well to helpfully supply the others with their own weapons and maybe get a few shots of his own in while they're still off-guard. No one said this was going to be a fair fight.

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"And Thomas, I knew he was lying, he always had the most ridiculous tell..."

Nathaniel is doing something that could very well be mistaken for smiling as he walks beside the other warden, unarmed save for a short knife and with both hands clasped behind his back. He's relating a story from his childhood, one that they had worked around to through shared experience of growing up as nobility, and he is woefully unprepared to defend himself when Alistair leaps out in front of them.

It doesn't occur to him that Alistair might actually attack them. It certainly doesn't occur to him that his weapon of choice would be balloons full of water. The well-aimed missile breaks as it hits him, soaking the front of his shirt, and Nathaniel swears loudly.

And he is, of course, quick to try and sweep Anders' feet from under him before he can get too many shots in.

It wasn't Anders' idea, either. Not entirely.

After seeing someone playing with a water balloon, he'd been curious about the squishy colored sacks. Flexible like a water skin, but fragile enough to break on contact? Hm, promising... When the idea to start a little harmless mischief had begun germinating in his head, all he'd done was merely show Alistair the balloons and put the thought in his head that maybe, just maybe, they could put them to use.

The rest had just sort of happened in the way all good mischief does.

Before he'd known it he'd been meticulously filling up water balloons of every possibly color and hiding them in caches around the garden where they could be reached in a hurry. As the Commander had once said, the key to a successful operation is preparation. Then it'd simply come down to the finishing touch: selecting victims.

Robyn and Nathaniel--sometimes partial to taking walks outside while in each other's company, Anders had noticed--are the lucky winners.

It's a trial not to laugh when Alistair surges up on the other side of the path like a great bear rearing on its hind legs. The look on their faces is priceless. There's no time to sit back and properly enjoy their surprise, though, not when his fearless partner is facing two opponents at once. Anders jumps around the cover of a tree and launches a balloon at Nathaniel at almost the same time as Alistair.

"On guard, Wardens!"

Using the bushes lining the path for cover to avoid Nathaniel getting too near, he ducks away behind a tree, emerging in a new firing position, putting him in sight of Robyn. If he'd held any guilt over launching a surprise water assault on the brave Warden warrior who'd saved all of Ferelden, it melts away with his laughter.

"You're a legend and I respect you and I'm sorry. Don't think less of me," he's says at the same moment he sends a balloon flying at her. "There's a basket on the path! We've left you armaments!"

It's a fair-ish fight.

Nathaniel is the one first hit in the ambush and Robyn is quick enough to avoid most of the splash's radius, if only out of instinct. She's only wide-eyed and confused for a moment before she sees (and hears) Alistair, notices Anders' presence, too, and then there's a mixture of outrage and amusement before she reacts.

"Vicious highwaymen!" she laughs, having a hard time maintaining the 'outrage' when it's all so ridiculous. It isn't long after, though, that the mage tosses one of the watery weapons her way and it explodes against her shoulder, sending her staggering back one or two steps with a cry of surprise.

"I trusted you!" Robyn calls to Anders as she ducks, running for the basket that's been so helpfully provided for them. "My own fellow Wardens, betraying me like this! How will I ever forgive you?"

Luckily, both of the victims are archers and have practiced aim. Additionally, Alistair in particular is a big target. Robyn isn't focused on him, though, and is more interested in getting revenge for her sopping shoulder. She scoops up a handful of the balloons, carefully dodging as much of the assault as she can, and lobbing one toward Anders. Unfortunately, the weapons are slick with water and she's unused to the strange weight, so it wobbles in mid-air before arcing and exploding on the walkway between the two teams.

The Warden can't help but laugh again, even as she (more accurately) tosses the next balloon at the mage's middle.

Tsk. Look at them both being caught off-guard so easily. They should know better. It wouldn't be near as much fun if they did though.

Cackling gleefully as one of his missiles hits its mark with Nathaniel he retreats several paces lest the man turn his attention on him. Taking advantage of both their targets being focused on Anders for the moment, Alistair fishes another - miraculously unburst - balloon out of his pocket and winds up.

The second missile goes flying towards Nathaniel again with considerable force, while Anders keeps Robyn's attention. He's a little offended by the apology directed at her - there had been no apologies when Anders dumped him in a freezing fountain and while he might not be a hero he is a potential king. That should really count for something. But he can let it slide, since it doesn't stop the mage from targeting her.

And because he's hoping Anders can handle keeping them both busy for a few minutes while Alistair reloads. He begins backing away into the trees, fishing in his pocket as he goes for the last balloon to cover his retreat... And bumps into a tree just as he's pulling it out, a sharp branch bursting it and sending its contents flooding down the leg of his pants, leaving him with a water-logged boot and no ammunition. "Oh, blast it!" Not the best way to carry the things about he realises, staring down at his drenched trousers in dismay.

It's betrayal, that's what it is! Nathaniel spots the second incoming missile from Alistair's direction and darts aside, the balloon glancing across his leg and bursting against the ground behind him. His expression sets into one of determination. He might have ten years on everyone here, but that isn't going to stop him for a second.

A stealth move towards the ammunition provided has him armed, and he wastes no time in aiming at the momentarily distracted Alistair. Next, it's Anders. If the mage thought he'd be allowed any leeway at all he was grossly mistaken, and Nathaniel intends to make him pay for being the likely ringleader of this whole thing.

"You still have one loyal warden at your back, commander!" he calls to Robyn, flashing a quick smirk her way. "We'll see off these vagabonds together."

Grabbing up another two balloons he targets the mage, throwing one of the strangely weighted things at him with at mostly accurate aim.

"We're helping keep you vigilant!" he corrects. It's a training exercise! A training exercise.

Anders' forward momentum carries him right into the balloon the lady of the party lobs at him. It sprays water in all directions, including some into his face which makes him stumble on a bush as he leaps onto the path at Robyn's flank.

Catching himself, he has just enough time between Alistair's cursing and Nathaniel's onslaught to see what the fuss is about and ends up laughing at partner in crime's predicament. "Look at that, Alistair wet himself in all the excitement!"

Skipping back to try and dodge Nathaniel's missile, he grabs up one of the few remaining balloons from his dwindling reserves and throws it back at Nathaniel over Robyn's head to pay him back for the one that hits the ground at his feet and splashes up onto his lower half. Damn, that's cold.

"Oh, of course you are!" Robyn calls back to Anders, delighted to see her balloon hit its mark. Alistair doesn't seem to have been so lucky, though, and she laughs good-naturedly, lobbing an additional, helpful balloon toward the floundering Warden.

"I already think so much less of you!" she speaks again to Anders, going to lob another at the mage just as Nathaniel's burst at his feet. Robyn pauses, debating if she should go through so soon after another of their attacks, when someone's watery weapon bursts from the side and drenches her where she'd previously kept dry.

She's still laughing, breathless, as she sweeps dripping hair from her face. Robyn isn't sure she's had this much fun since her arrival to Wonderland.

"They must be Orlesian Wardens, Nathaniel," Robyn says loudly to her ally, again moving quickly, grabbing one of the few remaining balloons. "No Fereldan would stoop to such petty tactics!"

Alistair's still distracted by the wet mess he's managed to make of his trousers (not funny, thank you Anders) when Nathaniel's shot hits him full on, prompting a squawk of indignation. It's followed almost immediately by Robyn's, leaving him spluttering and wiping water out of his eyes with a pout. His front now soaked to match his trousers he figures he should stop standing around being a target and get back in this fight.

"You're a terrible ally," he calls sulkily at Anders as he charges off into the trees to find one of the hidden caches and rearm.

Having (sort of) learned his lesson he reappears moments later, several balloons cradled safely in one arm. Crashing through the bushes behind the pair he thuds onto the path and scowls in mock fury. "Orlesian? How dare you! Take that!" With a shout he hurls another balloon at Robyn as payback for the grievous insult to their honour.

"Alistair, do try to control yourself," he taunts as he darts out of the way of another thrown balloon, only to have it smack on the ground behind him and splash water up the backs of his legs. He grimaces, but bursts out laughing as not one but two of the water-filled things explode in Alistair's face. It's only a matter of time before the same happens to him.

"Good shot, Robyn!"

With Alistair retreating, Nathaniel turns his full attention to Anders and lobs two balloons in quick succession at the mage. "We can outmatch these two, commander. They have no sense of stealth."

Orlesians. Orlesians. Those are fighting words if he's ever heard them. I hope I do your people proud, he thinks amusedly, picturing the Orlesian Commander he has waiting for him back in Amaranthine.

Commander Caron would have enjoyed this, which means Anders has to play extra hard for him in spirit.

"But you have to give me credit for my throwing arm," he counters at Robyn. Does she need another example of it? She'll get one in the form of a periwinkle blue balloon rocketing her way.

Soon enough it's two against one with Anders left to hold his ground out in the open. Not... the best odds, he has to admit. Skedaddling to the other side of the path, Anders follows Alistair's lead and dives for cover in the foliage to replenish his stores of rubbery, watery ammo, but not before Nathaniel gets him. Twice. One and a half times if you count the second balloon hitting a branch to the left of him and sprinkling his collar in cool droplets.

He pops up with a fresh balloon in his hand and hurls it at Nathaniel in retaliation. "Who got the drop on whom again? I bet you don't know Thomas' tells at all!"

She's able to avoid Alistair's balloon as he announces it, but Anders is a little quicker. Robyn splutters as she's hit, soaking her front and causing her to double over briefly with the chill of the water.

"I give no credit!" she cries out, half-laughing, despite his good aim in the moment. Their 'enemies' vanished behind the bushes and she takes a few steps back, dripping and reassessing, eyes narrowing in the search for targets. Luckily, Anders reappears to throw a balloon at Nathaniel and Robyn takes the opportunity to lob one of the watery weapons his way.

"This is easy," she comments pointedly to her teammate, and despite the hits she's clearly taken. The ammunition is all but gone, but she uses one of her last balloons to hit Alistair around his middle.

He has the worst comrades in arms. All of them ganging up on him in one way or another. It's a shame they're not near enough the fountain for Alistair to really get some payback. Especially when Robyn neatly avoids his attack. Maybe he should think about not shouting next time. That might help if he doesn't want to get hit in the face again. Or the gut, as Robyn retaliates and soaks what parts of his shirt were still dry.

Right then.

"Easy is it?" He flings another balloon at her and charges after it with a battle cry, barrelling towards their opponents to tackle the nearest one. If throwing things isn't working out then he'll just sit on them and hit them when they can't escape. That'll show them. So long as Anders doesn't hit him as well while he's in the midst of the enemy.

Nathaniel can't quite believe he's having fun with this. Every one of these people are ten or more years his junior, and something tells him he should be the one trying to be dignified, but if the Warden-Commander, the almost-king of Ferelden and-- actually, he's not surprised about Anders-- can act this ridiculously, why should he think even for a moment that he has any excuse to sit out?

"Indeed it is," he comments in response to Robyn, grinning slightly as her aim proves true.

It seems, then, that they move from water balloons to casual sparring. Nathaniel steps to catch Alistair's forward motion with one arm, hopefully before he can get to Robyn, but while rogues are light and quick they are not built for physical attacks of that kind and he doesn't stay on his feet for long.

He's winded when he lands on his back, coughing once before he calls to Robyn.

"Avenge me, Commander!"

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Closed | Constant vigilance!

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blaaah sorry, I'll have internet soon