(Untitled)

[crazyspacegirl]

Zoe had liked the carnival a lot, while it had been around. She'd got to ride in circles on wooden animals for hours, and had come home with a good number of interesting stuffed animals. Her favorite, the one that had made her laugh from the moment she'd seen it until her Daddy won it for her, was the giant banana. It looked like it was

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[itwas_perfect]

There was a trickle of blood smeared across her temple.

It had only happened moments before, but she couldn't remember what had happened, only that she'd been in a struggle with a homicidal doll, and then felt warmth creeping down the side of her face.

Now, dirty and a bit disoriented, Nina stumbled on the commotion, rushing over to help. She grabbed a unicorn first, shoving it away with all her might and then kicking it in its fuzzy muzzle.

[crazyspacegirl]

Growling like a fierce beast, Simon Chicago pounced on that unicorn before it could get near Zoe again. It tried to stab him with its horn, but he grabbed it in his teeth and wrenched its head right off.

Meanwhile, River was trying to get the banana off Zoe, but it had tangled what passed for its fingers in the baby's hair and would not let go. The harder she tried to free her, the more Zoe screamed and more angry River got. She was going to take that thing out if it was the last thing she ever did.

[itwas_perfect]

Taking a tumbling step backward, Nina bent to grab a broken tree limb that had fallen to the sand. It was heavier than she'd thought, but she managed to heave it up, swinging it to collide with a dull thud against the banana's snarling face.

Panting, she lifted the limb and swung again.

[crazyspacegirl]

The banana was sufficiently distracted to allow Zoe to squirm free, though she was still shrieking, "Bad nana! No!"

River flung the rotten fruit away from her baby, and didn't notice the bear flinging itself at the back of her knees until it was on her.

[mademighty]

It took him a while to catch on to exactly what was going on, took a tiny fuzzy bear almost takin' a bite out of him before he really realised, but, when he did, he took off at a run, gun in hand. Not a doubt in his mind that River could handle whatever what was happening, but that doesn't stop him from running.

Been a long time since he let himself treasure anything but his ship and the sky.

"River?" he shouts, heading towards where he thinks they'll be. "Zoe?"

[crazyspacegirl]

"No nana! Bad nana!" Zoe shrieked as River struggled to pull the grasping banana away from her.

"Let go!" River finally got a good enough grip on one of its banana peel arms to jerk it away from Zoe, and it turned its snarl in her direction.

Zoe continued to scream.

[mademighty]

Blind, he runs. When he skids to a halt, for a moment, he doesn't know which way to turn. And then he remembers River in that bar, remembers River handing Jayne his ass not once but twice, and he goes to Zoe, swinging her up into his arms.

"S'okay, little bit," he says. "I got you."

[crazyspacegirl]

Zoe wrapped her arms around his neck, sobbing. "Bad nana! Bites!"

Until now, she'd been pretty happy to be the one doing the biting of bananas. She hadn't known they might want to switch.

River was having a strong feeling of unreality, wrestling as she was with a large banana that was actually close to succeeding in its attempt to hurt her. A BANANA. Honestly. She heard Simon Chicago's most menacing growl nearby, and was glad to share the fight with him. The sound of ripping as he sunk his teeth into the thing was a welcome one.

[hereand_now]

Wolf knows something bad is happening, he knows it even before he hears Zoe's screams, but that's the moment he pushes into action. He sprints from down the beach, kicking up sand in his wake, moving faster than someone his size can normally move.

"NEVER hurt the herd!" he shouts when he sees Zoe and the things moving all over her, trying to hurt her. He knows they are, because they tried to hurt him, but he won't let it happen. Not now, not ever, and he arrives at the blanket, big hands grabbing a turtle and ripping it into two pieces. Stuffing floats down, but Wolf doesn't stop, reaching out for another toy, then another.

[crazyspacegirl]

River was in a panic. She heard Zoe screaming, and tore through whatever she had to in order to get to her. Up until just a moment ago, Zoe had been playing with these fluffy toys that now seemed to be trying to kill all of them, and River was not going to stand for it no matter how many unicorns managed to gore her in the leg. (She would be glad, later, when she noticed the injury, that they were small.)

Simon Chicago had been well trained not to chew on Zoe's toys, but his hesitation at attacking the things that were attacking his family didn't last long, especially when he saw Wolf's example.

[hereand_now]

He's glad for Simon Chicago's help and he's glad to hear the low growl, so much like his own. Right now, Wolf can't make those noises, not the way he used to, but hearing them coming from beside him gives him strength, reminds him who he is and he tears the horn off a unicorn.

They move so fast, and there's a bear suddenly at his arm, needle sharp teeth sinking into Wolf's hand and he howls in pain before flinging it to the ground. "Bad bear!" he shouts, holding it down with one foot as he tears the head off with his uninjured hand.

[crazyspacegirl]

River was finally able to get a hold of the banana that was terrorizing Zoe. The whole idea of this thing attacking her defenseless little girl filled her with rage, and it was almost easy to pull it off her and tear it open along a seam in its side. It still tried to bite, her this time instead of Zoe, but it didn't have a chance; Simon Chicago bit into it, with a vicious growl River didn't think she'd ever heard come from her sweet dog before, and ripped a gaping hole that left it still.

Simon didn't stop even then. When he was done with it, there wasn't much left but some fluff in the sand. No fake banana was going to get away with even trying to hurt his girls.

River picked up the sobbing Zoe and stood, shaking, while Wolf finished off the bear. She was sure there were more of the toys around, but they seemed to have scattered for the moment.

[polly_okeefe]

I had heard a lot of shouts and screams that morning, and had seen a lot of horrible things, but this was the first time I'd heard a child's cry. And that made me sick and angry at the same time. Do what you want with us, Island, but if you ever harm a child...!

I rushed along the path, Zell's shotgun under one arm, and my knife in my other hand. That's when I saw River and her daughter, surrounded. I rushed forward, shouting, and brought my knife down hard through the nearest animal, skewering a stuffed turtle to the ground.

[crazyspacegirl]

Simon Chicago's wolf heritage was never more evident than now, when he growled and snapped and fought his way to the side of the smallest member of his pack. He put himself between her and the banana and glared at the thing, trying to figure out where its throat might be so he could kill it.

River was glad that her good dog was managing to protect Zoe, at least for the moment, because she was having a hard time getting herself free from a pack of bears that might only have come up to her knees but were still managing to make more than a nuisance of themselves. She was managing to rip into them with her hands, but it was a slow process and they were biting her as she tried.

[polly_okeefe]

I was thankful that Zell'd had the forethought to hand me my knife, rather than just letting me go out with a shotgun. He'd also said 'don't shoot any good guys', and I could see what he meant. In this melee of stuffed monsters, there was no way I was going to get a clear shot, and I risked doing far more damage than the toys if I tried.

I pulled the turtle I'd skewered to the ground, ripping him clear in half and turned, just in time to see a unicorn leap, its horn aimed right at my face. I batted it aside. Then, as the stuffed animals started to swarm, I grabbed each one I could and heaved them as far as I could. It didn't kill them, but it bought us time.

[crazyspacegirl]

River grabbed a toy unicorn that was coming toward her and managed to rip off its horn. Now she had a weapon, and these bears didn't stand a chance. She made her way to Zoe and Simon Chicago just as Simon was managing to wrestle the vicious banana to the ground, snarling and tearing out mouthfuls of fluff. She scooped Zoe up and away from the worst of the danger, stabbing another bear with the horn in her hand as she stood.

[lt_blade]

It was just luck that Sonya chose this time to take a much needed walk-with Max and her sword just in case. Just as it was luck that direwolf was even more alert than she was when she woke up that morning, or those damned toys would've gotten to her before he did. For once, she was glad the direwolf was as watchful as he was over her.

This, along with her own too large belly, meant that when they both heard a little girl screaming, it was Max who bounded past her and proceeded to tear off a small, blue bear that closed in on her,growling through his teeth.

No one hurt pups while he was around.

Sonya followed soon after, short sword in hand-neither she or Hanzo were taking any chances.

[crazyspacegirl]

Simon Chicago did not stop his defense of Zoe from the banana that was trying to bite her, but he did watch the new arrival to make sure it was help and not another threat. He barked around a mouthful of fluff, shaking the thing violently.

River pulled Zoe out from under the banana, holding her out of the way as she fought of a deceptively cute bear that was trying to bite her leg.

[lt_blade]

Max recognized the smell of the other half wolf by the smells on the human and her pup-that didn't mean he didn't join in in tearing apart some of the other stuffed toys that were still on the rampage.

That left Sonya closing in and stabbing the rabbid teddy bear with her sword, effectively skewering it. Call it her own impending motherhood, or just her hatred of things that targeted kids in the first place, but she was a hop and skip close to tearing up the stuffed toys herself.

Instead, she simply took some satisfaction in slashing the toys that got near them. Thank god she'd been able to work out her arms throught her pregnancy.

[crazyspacegirl]

River found herself just clinging to Zoe as much as Zoe was clinging to her, watching the destruction of the attacking toys. Simon Chicago sneezed from the stuffing in his nose, and it brought River out f her mild trance.

"We should get inside," she said. "It isn't safe out here."