A Stranding in the Forest

27 August 2014

18:44 GyroTech nuzzles Zuthal and hops on his back

18:50 Zuthal comtemplates pushing GyroTech off again, but instead takes off and flies over the forest, until he is roughly above the centre

18:54 GyroTech clings on tight, occasionally stealing a look at the ground and shivering. "Ugh, we're so high up..." He whines.

18:55 Zuthal actually isn't that high up, almost touching the tallest trees as he flies over the forest. He finds a nice, tall, sturdy-looking tree and lands on it, grinning a bit. "Well, we're here."

18:57 GyroTech clings even tighter to Zuthal's back, looking everywhere but down. "Where is here?"

18:58 Zuthal picks up the stallion off his back and sets him down on a branch. "In the middle of nowhere."

19:02 GyroTech clings to the branch, gulping as he glances down at the ground. "T-this is the middle of the forest... Why would you bring me here?"

19:03 Zuthal chuckles a bit evilly. "I could find my way back, even without flying. Can you?"

19:07 GyroTech shakes his head and scoots forward to grab onto Zuthal. "No... I don't think I could... Plus there's so many nasty creatures in here...

19:09 Zuthal pulls away just as the stallion wants to grab onto him. "You know, with how you've been towards me, and with you having shown practically no sign of bettering yourself... I am temtep to just leave you here. But I will give you one last chance."

19:14 GyroTech loses his balance when Zuthal pulls away, ending up hanging upside down in the branch. "Zuthal, help me please," he begs, staring up at him.

19:16 Zuthal puts a hoof to his chin in thought. "Hummm... give me one good reason why I should do that?"

19:18 GyroTech wraps his hooves even tighter around the branch and says, "Because I'm a good pony who makes lots of other ponies' days brighter?

19:19 Zuthal snorts. "Please, don't make me laugh. I know what kind of pony you are, I know your kind. I have, unfortunately, had contact with ponies like you before."

19:52 GyroTech curls his lip into a fearful frown ad he stares upwards. "I make plenty of mare's happy. I make this one bat pony I know especially happy much of the time."

19:53 Zuthal raises a brow at him. "You mean Inky? I'll have to ask her about that, but for some reason, I do not find that very believable. And if it is the kind of 'making mares happy' I think you mean, that means nothing."

19:56 GyroTech grunts indignantly at the stallion, puffing his chest out slightly. "I make them feel good about themselves. It's more than just sex, and inky and I have something special."

19:59 Zuthal snorts and jumps off of the branch, making it swing up and down. "I still don't believe you. What tells me you aren't just saying that to get out of this situation?"

20:07 GyroTech yelps as the branch vibrates, clinging on tight. "I was the first pony in this town to befriend her. I even took her to a musical about a month ago...Oh!" The unicorn spreads his fur on his neck and pulls his mane away with his magic, revealing a series of small scars. "Look, we're close enough that she feeds on me regularly. She did tell you how close of an activity that is right?"

20:08 Zuthal grumbles slightly, begrudgingly accepting that. "Okay, you have that point. And yes, she did tell me that. Though I honestly cannot see what she could find in a pony like you. Now come down from there and follow me."

20:12 GyroTech looks down at the ground below him and shakes his head, scared about the 15 ft drop from the branch. "I can't just fall... That's such a drop. It'll hurt."

20:14 Zuthal snorts, giving the tree a light kick, though not enough to actually knock him off. "You could just climb down? And the ground is pretty soft, you'll survive."

20:17 GyroTech gulps and looks at the ground. He tries to shimmy towards the trunk and slips off, flailing as he falls through the air, hitting the ground with a heavy thud and a yelp of pain.

20:20 Zuthal helps the stallion get back to his hooves as soon as he lands, and then turns around to start walking towards the town. "Come on, we have no time to lose! I want to be out before nightfall."

20:22 GyroTech groans in pain as he's helped to his feet, taking shallow breaths as the wind had been knocked out of him. "right..." He agrees breathlessly.

20:23 Zuthal does not wait for the stallion to catch his breath, walking on at a brisk pace, if Gyro didn't hurry up, he would soon lose sight of him between the trees.

20:25 GyroTech follows as quickly as he can but can't quite keep pace at the moment. "Hey... Slow... Down" He pants out.

20:26 Zuthal slows down to a walking pace, for him at least, for the smaller stallion it would still be quite a brisk pace, but one he should be able to keep up with. "Fiiiine"

20:30 GyroTech uses the the now slower speed to finally catch his breath. "Thanks. I think I'm good now..."

20:32 Zuthal nods and continues on through the woods, his tail swishing along the ground behind him. This continues on for some time, until he stops, his ears twitching, hearing the sounds of one of the forest's beasts.

20:37 GyroTech hadn't really been listening for creatures as he walked and didn't notice as Zuthal stopped, walking into him. "Hey. Why you stop?" The unicorn asks, not lowering his voice from its usual loudness.

20:39 Zuthal holds up a hoof, signalling for him to be quiet. "Shh! I hear something... sounds like a manticore," he says, his vocie low and quiet to the point of being barely audible to the unicorn.

20:45 GyroTech shuts up, a look of worry crossing his face. "A manticore? He squeaks out in a voice that was a little louder than a whisper." Gyro shivers slightly.

20:47 Zuthal nods "Yes, a manticore. But by the sounds, it luckily probably is only a young one. We might have been able to evade it, but it's coming towards us, thanks to your shouting. Do you know any magic you could use for combat?"

20:52 GyroTech shakes his head wincing as he's blamed for attracting it. "Not really... I suppose I could heat something up really hot I suppose..." He says, picking up a stone in a green aura to heat it. The possibility of starting a forest fire doesnt even cross his mind.

20:54 Zuthal shakes his head. "Not enough time, and you could start a fire if you start throwing hot rocks around, though there has been quite a lot of rain recently, so it should be safe. And we just need to scare it away." He spots a long, straight branch and tosses it at GyroTech. "Take this, light one end on fire and try and use it to scare it off. Here it comes!" he says moments before the a young manticore bursts through the underbrush in fron t of them, the tatzlpony going into a threatening stance in front of him and letting out a quite terrifying roar, his mouth spread wide open.

21:01 GyroTech had been pouring energy into the rock as soon as he picked it up, reaching a temperature hot enough that it lights the branch on fire after a little bit of contact. He then levitates both towards the manticore, the hot stone branding it's flesh pretty quickly.

21:02 Zuthal stops his roar as Gyro touches the flame and the red-hot rock to the manticore's hide, the smell of seared flesh quickly filling the air as the beast lets out a pained scream, quickly turning tail and running away.

21:17 GyroTech covers his nose at the terrible smell, gagging and feeling like he was going to vomit. As the manticore runs away, he drops the objects without thinking to cool them nor put them out.

21:17 < GyroTech> "Glad that's over with..." He sighs.

21:18 Zuthal grimaces as the stone and the makeshift torch fall down onto a patch of damp moss, scorching it and causing some steam to rise up, but not actually enough to set it on fire. "You need to be more careful. If the ground had been dry, you could have easily started a forest fire."

21:24 GyroTech 's ears perk up at the sizzling sounds, giving a slightly nervous laugh. "Ya... Wouldn't want that, at least not while we're still in the forest..."

21:26 Zuthal snorts and continues on, not looking at the stallion. "Yeah, you might say that. Just be thankful it was a young one. A fully-grown one, we'd have had more trouble with. So, for Luna's sake, stay quiet."

21:32 GyroTech sighs and nods back towards Zuthal. "You don't have to tell me twice." He says, shivering. "I'll be quiet from now on."

21:34 Zuthal gives a terse nod and continues on, careful not to step on any branches. "Good." They continue silently like this until they come to a small river flowing through the forest, this place being a bit downstream from his house.

21:38 GyroTech on the other hoof, is completely oblivious to where he steps, crunching along as he moves, with quite a heavy step. Upon seeing the river he walks up to it. "Mmm I could use some water." He comments before buying his head in the cold water.

21:40 Zuthal grimaces at the loud sounds of the unicorn's hoofsteps, and decides not to tell him that the river is a) quite deep, has b) quite steep banks, c) quite a strong current and that d) the ground Gyro is standing on is quite muddy and slippery, so that he should be careful not to fall in.

21:45 GyroTech slips forward with a yelp falling so that the front help of his body is being pulled by the stream while he just barely keeps his footing with his hind legs. "A little help please!" He calls out, flailing.

21:47 Zuthal wraps his tail firmly around a tree and, after giving it a few tugs to make sure it would hold, he extends his coils, wrapping them around GyroTech and starts to pull him back to the shore.

21:56 GyroTech feels a little better as he's dragged back fully onto the shore his shouting quiets down, scrambling backwards once his forehooves reach the shoreline.

21:58 Zuthal shakes his head at GyroTech. "You have to be more careful. Always be alert and aware of your surroundings. Now we just have to cross this river."

23:21 GyroTech shakes himself off, splashing droplets of water over Zuthal. "Thanks for that. As far as crossing, can't you just fly us over?

23:23 Zuthal grumbles slightly, but lifts up into the air, grabbing the stallion by his midsection in his forelegs and carrying him over the river, setting him down maybe a bit too harsh on the other side. He wastes no time in trotting on, again forcing the unicorn to walk quite quickly to keep up.

23:33 GyroTech stays as still as possible as Zuthal picks him up, staring down at the cold water as they fly over. "Just don't drop me please..." He comments. At the other side, he grunts as he's dropped pretty hard, "still not used to landing with a pony in tow?" he asks, trotting after him.

23:35 Zuthal grumbles. "Of course you'd have no idea how hard landing with a pony dangling underneath you is. And besides, that's not the usual way you'd transport a pony through the air, the normal way would be on my back."

23:39 GyroTech shrugs and continues to walk. "Well, I could have tried teleporting us. There's like a 40% chance we'd end up on the other side of the stream, and probably a 10% chance we'd end up in the river. And I'd have gladly climbed onto your back if you'd asked.

23:41 Zuthal snorts "And how much of a chance of us ending up several meters above the river, or possible inside a tree? No thanks, I'm sticking to my wings," he says as they actually reach a small, barely visible path. "You just need to follow this path, and you'll be out."

23:48 GyroTech lets out a small giggle. "I cant end up /inside/ of objects, but...umm I do sometimes end up a couple meters in the air. thats always painful." He gives a nod towards the tatzl pony and a thankful smile. "Well, I guess this is later then. Glad to have gotten out safely."

23:50 Zuthal nods to him as well. "Yes, goodbye, for now. My home just a little ways up the river. And you're actually not as bad as I had originally thought," he says as he turns to leave.