Of the man who fell from grace with the sea

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Who: flicker_flash, halftheduet, ufo_fanboy, lists_to_port
What: Jack puts together a rescue party to finally get Hector back.
When: Friday, October 7th
Where: The Ocean and points north along the shore.
Summary: Jack's kitten was mysteriously kidnapped while he was away on the draft; now he has plans to fetch Hector home.
Rating: Hopefully no more than PG?

Comments

/godmodes you all!

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Once the compass led the brave crew to their destination, Captain Jack Sparrow snapped it smartly closed and began to take in sail. He trusted Mulder to hold the boat steady while he worked with the sheets, quickly and quietly.

The element of surprise, he reasoned, might still be on their side, even though the cephalopods probably had spies everywhere. Therefore his orders and questions were spoken in a harsh whisper that he hoped would not carry over the water.

"Munster--keep her steady! Maturin--stop peering over the rail, you'll alert them! Katie, darling---are you ready?"

[ufo_fanboy]

Mulder was also well into that serious mode, the closer they got. He nodded, drew out his gun and assessed the situation. "Looks like they're preparing to fight, no matter what we do."

They couldn't afford to underestimate their enemy here. Octopi were no harder to profile than people, or he'd find out soon enough if that was true.

Tentacles waved threateningly from within the cave as Mulder stepped forward. He'd barely moved along ahead when suddenly a burst of thick, black ink came squirting forth. Mulder threw an arm protectively over his eyes, just in time. Then held the gun out. He didn't bother with the badge- what meaning would it have to them? But some habits were still there...

"I'm a Federal Agent! The law! And I don't give a damn about jurisdiction. You still have a choice. You can give up the kitten... or we're taking him by force!" ...Yeah. He knew what their answer would be.

/dies at Mulder's tag

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There was a furious waving of tentacles at Mulder's command, and something that was clearly the cephalopodian version of flipping someone the bird. A two-tentacle salute.

Sparrow drew out his pistol. Tentacles would be separated from globulous bodies this day, if he had anything to say about it. Buffy always talked about how she preferred to bring the battle to the enemy. Jack, personally, had always preferred to negotiate, but as the Battle of the Maelstrom had demonstrated, he wasn't above doing violence to the enemy if he had the upper hand and they had something precious to him.

"Don't want Hector hurt," he mumbled to his crew. "Katie--can you locate him in there? Recover him? Me an' the boys'll give you the cover you need."

The floor of the cave was slimy and treacherous, and Jack realized that they had to keep an eye on the tides; it was no good getting trapped inside if the entrance ended up under water.

[flicker_flash]

Jack might have to repeat himself again before he successfully snagged Katies' attention, distracted as she was by all the waving tentacles-- and she couldn't quite help a faint giggle at Mulder. But she glanced up at her captain and then down at the slippery floor, wrinkled her nose-- and then nodded once.

"As long as there's cover," she said gravely-- though really, she said it largely because in situations like this, it's only proper. Personally the idea of being attacked by a horde of octopi just sounded downright entertaining... but with a kitten lost in the cave somewhere, there were priorities.

Thus, Katie waited for an opportune moment (or a count of five, whichever came sooner) and leapt to action, sprinting across the slimy cavern sure-footed and not sliding once.

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And if Katie continued into the slimy foul cave, she would find the small, shivering kitten huddled on a rock. He would be surrounded by fish bones and whatever leavings of food that the octopi had supplied him with to keep him alive. Sick, terrified, and chilled to the bone, the traumatized kitten would seek out the warmth of her arms willingly.

Meanwhile, there were enemies to defeat.

"Maturin! Monday! No quarter, lads!"

And Jack charged across the slippery rocks, trying to keep his footing and ducking the sharpened clam shells that were being flung at him from all directions.

[ufo_fanboy]

"Right! I'm on it!" Mulder kept in mind Katie's position, as he got fully into fighting mode.

The octopi were putting a strong offensive, throwing things from all directions and occasionally squirting ink in hopes of blinding them. Mulder found it a challenge to dodge these attacks, and nearly tripped a couple of times.

He opened fire when he got a good shot on one, taking down the octopus with a couple of shots. So they were as vulnerable physically as one might expect. Good to know. Except they still had strength in numbers.

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And they had strength in writhing. Jack found a tentacle wrapped around each leg as his enemies pulled his feet out from under him. The sword went flying from his hand and clattered to the ground a few feet away.

"NO!" he shouted, scrabbling for purchase against the wet rocks. "Bugger! LEGGO!"

[flicker_flash]

Meanwhile, Katie found the poor kitten in question, crouching down to gather him up - and turning a flat look at the nearest of the octopi. The enemy at hand was too focused on the three men at the entrance, however-- and she had more important priorities. (Even if that last yell from Jack does make her think she should check in on them rather soon.)

She would rather not run pell mell back through the cavern and traumatise little Hector any further, and so after soothing him with soft words and mewls, Katie tucked him into the top of her pinafore and stroked behind the ears long enough for the kitten's eyes to close.

And then within the blink of an eye herself, Katie teleported herself out of the cave, appearing quietly behind Jack's rescue party with a polite cough. Flicker flash.