[Azura Rayume]

Archie thumped back down in his booth after snagging both communication devices from Toxic, idly toying with one of his revolvers as a way to pass the time. Now that the teams had been announced, he would be meeting up with the people he was assigned to. He had spied a couple of them when they came in, but amid all the others, he really had no idea if he would be able to find them. So his plan was to sit here, waiting for the rest of them to show up. If he sat here long enough, they would eventually find him.

He watched as, one by one, the rest of the hunters trickled out of the tavern to wherever they wanted to meet. Part of him was glad that he had chosen to remain inside; it certainly made it easier to pick out who was meant to come with him. Two men and a woman, plus one large bird, were all who remained after a few minutes. He assumed that these were the faces that belonged to the names he had heard with his own. Eyeing the last chamber of his gun and finding it cleaned to his specifications, he snapped it shut and motioned for the others to join him.

"I figured it would be best to plan in here," he said, voice rather jovial despite the circumstances of their meeting. "Not that this is a competition or anything, but I would rather the other teams not hear exactly what we're up to. Well, that, or this monster we're supposed to be after. Since we don't know what it's capable of, I would prefer not to take any chances. I'm Archie, by the way." He extended a hand in greeting to no one in particular, simply trying to be polite. "Weapons expert and technician. And you all would be..?"

[ShadowStitches]

Niner


Sierra

Niner watched  as some of the others made their way out, scanning the crowd around him for the people he was assigned to. He spotted Archie relatively early in his booth, but he decidet to wait and see if he could spot the other two. once the tavern was clearing out slightly, and he made sure the other two where still here too, he followed Archie's motion.

Sierra tilted her head from one side to another, almost losing balance when Niner finally got moving.
she was not too happy in closed rooms...none that she did not know exactly at last. and now they teamed u with some strangers they never worked before. no, Sierra was not too fond of the idea, but kept still for now, only throwing a look over her shoulder and eying Pip and Aisha while being 'carried' over towards the booth.

Niner set down his  rifle he was carrying over his back before sitting down. it  was old, but he had taken good care of it, and it was of almost emotional value to him.he left his mask on tho. it may could seem impolite to some, but he had his reasons, and he hoped that the others would accept it without too much questioning. he had a few other, smaller weapon with him, but they remained well hidden. "A wise decision." he stated with a nod. "I would prefer our plans to stay between us too." he was not believing in the monster having some sort of psychic powers. most of the 'monsters' he dealt with before where little more then big animals, only scarier. but his teammate was right. one could never be too carefull. this fella seemed to think ahead, which was something he valued in teamwork.
He shook his hand, a thing he never really understood but got used to, and said calmly " Niner. I'm a hunter and tracker." he motioned towards the Fowlbine who was shifting her weight unconfortably, looking into the round and chriping slightly unhappy. "This is Sierra. she is my...partner in crime so to speak". after introducing himself, he shifted his attention from Archie and his rather nice looking Revolver towards the other two.

[Mousen]

It wasn't long before everyone else filed out of the tavern with their groups and Pip began to wonder if the rest of his own team had already left when both he and Aisha were approached by a man, glancing around he came to the conclusion that this was the team. A strange assortment, certainly, but he could think of a lot worse.

In response to Archie, Aisha spoke up. "I agree, we have very little to go on. It would make sense for us to, err- Phineas I do believe you have a quaint idiom for this sort of thing?"

"Look before we leap?" He guessed, sounding just the slightest bit exasperated. Would it kill her to read some 21st century literature?

The woman nodded. "Yes, exactly. I'm Aisha, my own speciality lies in knife fighting. Depending on the size of this monster, I don't know how useful I'm going be." She was dressed much more practically than she would have normally chosen in a pair of jeans and a tweed coat. "But I will most certainly do my best to help in any way I'm able to."

As Niner began to talk, Pip gave a slight nod in his direction. "I'm Phineas StClaire, but please, call me Pip." There was something awkward about the way he spoke, which gave the impression that he wasn't so good around crowds. "I dabble in alchemy and... well, I did go to medical school for a year but... Anyway, it means that I can patch you guys up should the worst come to the worst." He held up the Gladstone bag he carried, indicating that he'd come prepared with at least a few medical supplies.

"So, do any of you have a plan?" Aisha asked, in her usual matter-of-fact manner, her strange eyes focusing upon her fellow team mates. She was aware of the fact that most people were rather unnerved by her, but as they were about to go hunting for a monster, Aisha doubted that it'd be much of an issue.

[Azura Rayume]

"Aisha, Pip, Niner, Sierra. Got it." At least, he hoped he had it. It would be terribly embarrassing if he were out in the woods and suddenly forgot who one of these people were. That was likely to end poorly for either him or the companion in question. Luckily, it seemed like they were all fairly capable in one way or another, though he would be afraid if Pip were to encounter some kind of trouble on his own.

Aisha brought up a very good point. "A plan?" Oh, dear. "Well... Uh... No, not exactly. In order to actually form a plan, we need to know a bit about what we're up against. In order to do that, we have to get out and look for it. So, I guess, that's the plan. For now at least." Man, he was bad at this, pretending to be able to fill a leadership role.

"Oh, and we have these communicators, which we're supposed to use to keep in touch with each other and the other groups. I was planning on keeping one myself, but there's another free if anyone would like it."

[ShadowStitches]

He listened to the others introducing themselves, and a small smile formed unseen by the others.
they actually where a pretty well balanced group it seemed, and if the played their cards right,
and functioned as a team, they would at the very least get out of this in one piece, and maybe even get
the monster.

"yes, I dont think we can form an elaborate plan just now either." he agreed, not minding that Archie seemed to be a bit out of concept by the question. "sadly, even the villagers don't seem to really be sure what is hiding in the woods. So, I only can suggest that we should stay relatively close together, straying far from each other might be a bad idea" he was afraid that he was stating the obvious, his voice sounding a little unsure. the thing was, he already expirienced a similar mission where the team though that it was a good idea to split up, and it ended in a disaster. Better speak out the obvious then to risk anything.

Sierra was eying the communicator on the table curiously, and seemed to have forgotten that she did not like this place. she carefully inched down Niners arm that was resting on the table, determined to use it as a sort of toy. it was shiny, after all. Before she could actually do that however, Niner picked it up to keep it out of her reach,
looking at it. "I...think it might be a good idea if someone who will not do much of the eventual fighting could carry this?" he looked directly at Pip, tilting his head questionly.  "they seem rather fragile, and as the girl from before said, they need them back in one piece"

(edit:aw darn, I just realized that Archie still has both of the devices...is this post okay? if not I can still change it...
also, will have to go to bed now, timezones )

[Mousen]

"I agree. I also suggest that we stick to the larger paths within the forest at first, to get our bearings and then once we find any trace of the creature we'll then follow it, wherever it leads. It should work unless the creature itself is particularly shy or reclusive, but that seems unlikely considering what the villagers say it's done." Aisha replied. She hoped that she wasn't coming across as too pushy, but she liked to plan and make sure everything was in order, she liked to know what she was doing and where things were headed, even during something as unpredictable as the hunt. "If no one has any objections, that is."

"No objections from me." Pip affirmed, from his place slightly behind Aisha. Despite his nickname, he was actually rather tall and made the petite Aisha look even shorter than usual. "Uhm, as for the other communicator, I guess I could take it? I'll need something to scream at when this monster decides I'd make a really fantastic breakfast." Niner seemed to be hinting that he should take it, anyway.

"Tch." The woman rolled her eyes, or she seemed to. It was difficult to tell.

"What?"

"Don't act so helpless, Phineas, you're not entirely useless."

"Nope." He agreed. "Just mostly."

Getting tired of this conversation she turned to face her other team mates, namely Archie, Niner and Sierra. She looked from one to the other as though sizing them up, though her level expression didn't really change. "Well, shall we head into the woods?"

((This'll be my last post of the day too. x3; Timezones and all that.))

[Azura Rayume]

Niner did make a good point about the communicators, mainly that they should be kept a bit safe, but the machinist disliked the idea of leaving one part of their group without independent communication. There was a benefit to that being Niner, however, if that mask held the kind of tech he was expecting.

"Alright, then," Archie said, fiddling with one of the communicators. "Pip can take one; I'll take the other. And-" He flicked the device on, the muffled chatter talk and static that was to be expected with several groups and untuned radios. "Really? That's all there is to it? Fascinating, but no wonder the actual mechanism is fragile. Well, anyway. Niner, if your mask has a communication relay and you don't mind if I tinker with it a bit, I could patch you into the same frequency that these run on. That way, you can stay in constant touch with what's going on without having to rely on any one of us." As he spoke, he fiddled with some things in his pocket, retrieving a few tools, wires, and a small radio transceiver from among the supplies he typically carried.

[ShadowStitches]

Sierra seemed a little huffy when Niner rescued the comunicator out of her reach, and now handed it to Pip.
her slight hiss could have roughly translated into -killjoy- or...something less child friendly.
Niner was distracted by the conversation between Aisha and Pip. he did not like the way Pip talked about himself, portraing himself as partially useless. At least, he seemed to have quite a lot of humor.

wanting to answer Aisha's question about getting going,  
he was distracted by Archie and the static chattering that came from the comunicator.
On the question, he answered. "That would be very helpfull. it has a communication relay, its...a little old tho"he seemed to get nervous a bit, unconfortable even. "you...cant reach it from the outside tho, obviously"
the way he said it only underlined the impression that he felt not exactly happy. they could not wait here forever however, and this was a far too important issue, and not the time to be vain.He untied the straps on the back of his head,before somewhat gingerly removing it, and handing it over to Archie. He looked young, about in his early or mid 20s, and had dark almond shaped eyes. he would have been quite handsome, if it werent for the cruel, deep  knife scars that covered a big portion of his face, at parts even disforming it. he seemed less uneasy then he sounded before.still, he did not plan on removing the mask in this mission...only few people actually knew his face. But hell, it was a small price to pay for the opportunity of a communicator.

(I figured it would be more realistic that way? sorry if it sounds somewhat 'melo dramatic', I wrote it just after coming from school and with only one brain half functioning XDD)

[Mousen]

Pip took the second communicator, and after examining it for a moment he placed it in his bag. It probably wasn't the best place for it, among the carefully packaged bottles and the more mundane medical supplies, but that was better than forgetting it or loosing it somewhere. There really wasn't much for him to say as Archie and Niner spoke back and fourth about perhaps rigging up a third communicator using Niner's mask and Pip couldn't help but be a little surprised about the man's scars, but then again, he'd felt that there must have been a reason for him wearing a mask.

"The same thing happened to a friend of mine." Aisha stated in an offhanded manner, referring to Niner's scars. "It wasn't so bad for him in the long run, but then again, he was of a species that place exceedingly little value on physical appearances." Sphinxes were like that, Aisha supposed it was because most of them weren't that good-looking to start with. There was nothing elegant about a large house-cat with a face like a monkey.

((Fail-y post, hehe.))

[Azura Rayume]

Archie chose to remain silent on the matter of Niner's scars, offering only a small, sympathetic smile. He had known people, both in his line of work and out, who tended to be sensitive about their injuries. Then again, there were some who wanted nothing more than to brag about what they had done to earn such permanent badges.

He took hold of the mask, silver-brown gaze scanning the inner working of it. On the whole, it was in fairly good shape despite its obvious age and the wear it had seen. The receiver in the mouth of the mask was in great condition, so there was no need to bother with that. The radio seemed to be in the earpiece, so that would be the best place to start.

As he gently pried up the plastic to reveal the mechanisms underneath, he glanced up from his work. "This'll only take a couple minutes," he said, trying his best to hurry and not inconvenience the rest of them. "Uh... If you three wish to discuss which direction you believe would be best, please, do." A new wire here, attach the transmitter there. Simple fix to make it compatible with the tech they had been given.

[ShadowStitches]

Niner listened to  Aisha curiously "I'm sorry to hear that your friend had this happening to him.
...the people i was surrounded with sadly reacted rather poorly, unlike your friends...species?" he added,not quite able to hide the curiousness from his voice. "I guess most of us humans are a little too vain.Tho the mask actually has more of a practical purpose."

He tried to keep an ascocional eye on what Archie was doing, but he seemed to be trustworthy enough
to make Niner more or less relaxed. He furrowed his forehead slightly "hm...directions. honestly, I have no real preferences here, other then that we should stay as far away as possible from the other teams to make the search more efficent. I had no chance to look around this area much, so I don't know if there are any good patths to start from " he admitted

Sierra on the other hand was much more suspicious towards the man that was fumbling arround on the mask of her friend. She glared at Archie, still sitting on Niners arm, and had her feathers puffed up slightly. she would not do anything however, other then looking cranky.

[Mousen]

"He was a sphinx, truthfully they're ugly creatures. You do get the odd one that's quite elegant, but on the whole they're more concerned about knowledge than looks. It wasn't a pleasant thing for him, even so. And I agree, most humans are too concerned about appearances." It appeared that Aisha was in a rare conversational mood, that or she'd simply decided that in this set of circumstances breaking the ice with a little bit of idyll chatter was the best way to ensure continued co-operation within the group. Pip always marvelled at how she'd do that, she was the most logical person he'd ever met, even if she did let her emotions get the better of her on occasion.

Pip appeared to be thinking about things. "Well, we could head around to where the fields are. You know-- the ones where the creature was first sighted. We could then head into the nearest patch of forest and head as far into it as we can. Then whoever is best at tracking could tell us where to go from there, I guess."

"Is the term 'if and when' grammatically correct? It sounds a little odd to me." English wasn't her native language, even though she was exceptionally fluent in it. Strangely, Pip didn't actually know what her native language was, every time he thought to ask, something else always came up. As far as he could tell, she'd been brought up speaking several different languages.

"Don't we have more important things to think about, Aisha?"

"Hm, I suppose so."

[Azura Rayume]

"One more screw and... done!" Archie was rather proud of the work he had done, both in installing and tuning the device and seamlessly replacing the parts he had removed. From the outside, the mask was identical to when it had been handed to him, but the innards were just a little different. "It should be on the same frequency as the rest of the communicators, and the volume switch on the back works now. You'll be able to adjust it to your liking or, well, turn it off," he said, handing the mask back to Niner.

He switched his attention to the group as a whole. "If there are no arguments, I believe we should follow Pip's idea of out to the fields. If that is, in fact, where the creature is entering town, there is bound to be some sort of trail. If we find it, we'll follow it. Besides, there are probably trails made by the villagers into the woods that we can follow." He rose to his feet, tucked his revolver into his holster under his trench coat, and glanced toward the door, wondering how the rest of the groups were getting along. They were probably far ahead by now.

"Oh, and if anyone needs a weapon or ammo for one you have, come to me. I probably have something you can use."

[ShadowStitches]

He was quite fascinated by Aisha's comment. he heard about sphinxes before, but never met someone who actually knew one.    

Niner took the mask back, and placed it back on. "thank you very much" he said, while listening to the static and muttering. it obviously was the right channel, tho a little too loud. he adjusted it to be a relatively low buzz, not annoying him while listening to conversation or his surroundings, but audible enough if something important was going on.

He nodded his head in agreement. "I think so too. If the creature was indeed destroying some of the fields and coming from there, we should find some sort of track or clue relatively fast there." He also thought that the other teams might also had that idea, too, but he decidet to keep that to himself. it did not really matter anyway. Shouldering his rifle, he looked over at Archie. "I will keep that in mind" he said, before walking towards the door, holding it for the others and looking around outside while doing so, actually trying to see if he could spy any sign if the other groups where still around. Sierra streched her wings happily and rocked slightly on his shoulder, glad that she was finally getting outside, tho the air was damp and rather cool.

[Mousen]

"It's a good idea." Aisha replied with a nod. Outside the tavern, the mist rose slowly making it difficult to see for any real distance, there was a distinct chill in the air. Well, not so much a chill as a coolness that just seemed to seep into your bones. Aisha definitely would not want to get lost out here. As Pip came out of the tavern, and started to walk beside her, she turned to him.

"I think you should take this." In her hand was a small dagger, not particularly special in anyway, though it seemed to be of good quality. Archie had reminded her of something she'd forgotten to do. If you  believe that it is wise to walk around unarmed in forests like these, then you're insane."

There was no arguing with her, of course. "Thanks." Pip replied, taking both the dagger and it's sheath. It would be no match against a real monster, but it might buy him enough time to put his knowledge of alchemy to good use.

"Guys? I think I saw some fields this way when I first arrived." Pip called, gesturing to a point that could just be seen from behind the mist.

((If Aisha's 'voice' seems a little inconsistent, it's just because this is the first time I've RP'd her and I'm still sorting her character out a bit, so this is just a little warning. x3; ))