A lot of Mountains

First topic message reminder :

It was around midday by the time Lennox's travelling companion, Yigo the Sandshrew, had led them to the pass that would take them into the mountains. It hadn't been a small feat getting here; the distance between the marsh and the mountains was not small; doubley so for those with stub legs. He had been wandering pretty much constantly up until this point though, enough that he had grown accustomed to the slight burn that would develop in his legs from time to time. With Yigo there with him to help navigate, he had even been able to curl up and roll a good part of the way; something he hadn't been able to do on his own without getting himself horribly lost. Finally he had gotten to see the mountains climbing over the horizon. He had been looking for them for so long that the vision had started to seem surreal.

Each day that had brought them closer to the mountains had also brought Lennox more frustrations. He didn't like how the mountains loomed over him as they drew closer and closer, casting their shadow over the both of them. He felt taunted once again by something bigger than him; something that saw him as less. They didn't feel inanimate to him; they felt alive in their colossal stature as if they had been put there to taunt him. It made him feel restless, annoyed. Every moment he had to sit there and face the looming giants as they stood in his way caused displeasure and anxiety to bristle down his form. He wanted to shut those mountains up. He wanted to get rock under his feet so that they couldn't look down on him anymore. He fully intended to get to the height of the range, to prove he was bigger than some piles of rock that had size on their side.

Yes, by the time they approached the pass, Lennox was more than ready to climb.

"Is this the place?" he asked the sandshrew. It was mostly a nicety, but he also wanted to be sure. He was eager to cross that threshold and find out what the mountain held for them. "'m glad there's still some daylight out. You weren't kidding when you said it was far." He took in the darkly-tinted rocks in their surroundings, and how indifferent and cold they looked against the mildly cloudy sky. It was about as foreboding as he had expected it to be, which got the excitement pumping throughout his body. He ignored any feeling but the rush of confidence coursing through him.

Lennox the Venipede - 3 Energy

The knights had acted swiftly and decisively when it came to tackling this matter. Yigo remembered the knights when he visited the kingdom. he had gone there to acquire that crystal the scrafty now held in her hand. He remembered how every single one of them recognized that he wasn't from the kingdom and how they always stopped him and asked what he was doing and checked for whatever he had at the time. Luckily for Yigo at the time, he doesn't usually carry much on himself so any suspicions the knights had about him were short-lived.

There wasn't such a luxury now. Even if what he had personally scavenged was hidden in a bush and could be retrieved later, Yigo couldn't feel like he had been caught thieving. When Lennox showed up, the sandshrew expected him to use the orb so they could escape yet, acting very much in character, he showed up brazen the situation out and immediately confronting the knights. It also looked like a fight was about to break out but the hariyama managed to get some sense back into anyone while freeing him in the process. Needless to say, Yigo swiftly rushed to Lennox's side and faced the knights with the tail between his legs. They were a scary bunch but there was still stuff to do. He couldn't leave without the stone and he didn't want to make an enemy of every knight he came across by ignoring the solution that was being offered.

"Don't even THINK about running!" the primeape warned, an eye focusing at the mouse with more effort than it was needed.

"Are you ever going to let the guy at peace?" The hariyama confronted his partner in an annoyed tone which got the two of them in an argument, one facing the other in a challenging way. Forehead against forehead. The scrafty took the spotlight while the two shared a bit of a power struggle to decide who was right or not. She smiled and sighed at the same time. Even if she'd rather stare at the two going at each other like that, there was work to be done.

"Look, even if you were not in this situation, doing something for us ain't that bad. You just have to check some other sectors for thief activity and give back everything that belongs to us. You even get to keep anything that isn't related to the kingdom so... hey, there' s a reward in it for all" She tossed the crystal to Yigo, which he picked up in a hurry, standing on his hind legs and holding it in between his claws. Saying that he was confused would be underselling it. He had no idea what she was doing but he was not going to question it. His expression turned from fear to determination as he looked at Lennox. He was waiting for him to answer for the two of them. "Fine, we will help. We don't want to cause trouble and we'd like to get to the kingdom when this is done"

"Of course, I meant it when I said that you were coming with me, one way or the other. At least it's nice that you had that in mind anyway. It makes it easier for me" She turned to the two of her fellow knights and tried to put some order back into the squad.

In the meantime, Yigo stared at Lennox, resolute about finishing this task efficiently. There might even be a reward for them as well as safe passage to Blacktooth. Would this be a way to avoid the glares of the city guards? The lurking of some shady figures? If Lennox could avoid it, that'd be great. "Lennox, this might not be what we had planned but... we don't have much choice" He turned to him and offered him his paw as a sign of companionship "We will do our best and continue with the journey as expected when we are done."

The knights eventually calmed themselves and began to talk among themselves. Yigo overheard what they were saying but from what he gathered, it was nothing relevant to them. They talked about how they would manage having to continue their mission while they kept an eye on the two. The hariyama suggested that they split into two groups to cover more ground with the approval of the other two. The primeape, now less angry at the situation itself, reminded the others that they still had Rollcall orbs in case the two groups needed to reunite. Useful if the true thieves end up being found. Lastly, the scrafty added that she was going to be the one to go with the suspects while the other two explored on their own. With all of that planned out, the Hariyama and the Primeape turned around and started walking off to continue their patrol.

"Hey, did I tell you that I'm a master of the Iron Tail?" the monkey commented while they left the area, their conversation getting harder to listen to as they left the thief camp.

The remaining knight neared Lennox and Yigo, quite satisfied with the situation "Those two are going to look for thieves on their own. To make sure that you are not slacking, I'll be going with you. Let's not waste much time, team"