Sea monster attack!

[kore_npc]

Who: The kidnappees, rescuers, and whoever wants to wait on the beach with towels. See here for an explanation.
When: Afternoon Day 102
Where: The beach
What: The device holding the sea monster at bay has been without power for two days, and now he's... lonely. Or angry. Angry and lonely. But now he's kidnapped some new friends!

The network has been spotty, cutting in and out for a couple days now, but luckily for everyone currently in the monster's grasp, Stane happens to be standing in the middle of a decent signal area.

"The sea monster is taking people! Hurry!"

Comments

[undomesticated]

For the damsel in distress, this was bullshit. A girl couldn't go for a jog on the beach without having a tentacle yank her out into the waves. She'd fought it, sprouting claws and fangs to try to slash and bite at the limb, but there were sharp ridges on it that normal octopi and squid didn't have, cutting into her. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but there was something on it, something it excreted that was getting into her bloodstream and burning.

Which was her only excuse for why she was now further out than she could stand, valiantly trying not to swallow more water as she felt it tugging tenaciously on her leg. No way was she going to get killed by some Popeye reject, a feline roar leaving her as she tried again to claw at the tentacle around her, mostly oblivious to what was happening on the beach. That might also be in part because of the fact that her wounds weren't healing and the poison was making her feel nauseous and muzzy.

[tryingitall]

Balthazar reaches her first--these are the benefits of having wings--but he's reluctant to grab her physically when she's struggling so hard already. She might mistake him for another tentacle, and while he'd recover fast from a slash or bite, it may be better she doesn't waste her energy.

The additional problem, of course, is that he doesn't have the first clue how to swim in a human vessel. If it were a less dire situation, it would be funny to watch, the way he splashes, sinks, and rises again on angelic power. It's a bit like watching a dog on a trampoline, perhaps, springing up and bouncing over the waves. The sea monster probably shouldn't be laughing for long, though, because angels are warriors, and Balthazar's known how to use a blade for longer than the human race has existed. There's a flash of silver, and the tentacle holding Riley is treated to a brutal stab and twist of the sword.

Riley! I'm here, just try to keep your head above the waterline! The command comes telepathically; he doubts she could hear him shout over the melee around them. Hopefully she'll hear this message, and between the angel and the other rescuers around them they can get her to safety fast. There's a lot of blood in the water.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

He'd yell out, try to tell Riley to keep her head above the water and to stop moving for long enough that he could get off a shot without endangering her, but yelling doesn't seem like it'll do any good. With Balthazar and the other rescuers in the water, he's well aware that if his aim is off by even a little, he could injure someone other than the sea monster. It's a risk he'll have to take, though; he's not wading into the melee himself, and it's better to have some of the rescuers back on the beach in case the situation turns even less in favor of the rescuers and more in favor of the sea monster.

So he lines up his shot, hands steady, eyes narrowed and focused, and makes sure to take his time before firing. As soon as Balthazar swings his sword -- impressive, he thinks vaguely, he'll have to find out just where that weapon came from later -- he fires, once, at one of the tentacles that's holding Riley. He makes sure to aim as far away from her as possible, as far away from the other desperate, struggling people as possible, and the shot is clean. Exhaling a sigh of relief, he lowers his gun for a moment to study the situation. If they were back home, he'd keep firing until the job was done, but he's down to only four bullets now, and they need to approach this intelligently.