Barry Goodman (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
very_goodman) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thenearshore2017-03-21 07:10 pm
very_goodman) wrote in thenearshore2017-03-21 07:10 pm
Crazy like a foxhound
Who: Hiyoko Tosaka and Barry Goodman
When: June 27th
Where: The English countryside
What: Prayer #31
Warnings: Rampant stupidity
[Officially, fox hunting has been banned in England since 2004. Unofficially, there are plenty of people who still go out and do it anyway. And it's exactly one such person who has been begging the help of the gods to deal with the disappearance of his prize-winning English foxhounds. He was probably expecting an emissary of heaven to have a noble bearing like his own. Instead he got these two.]
Good day.
[There's a short pause as the man sizes Barry and Hiyoko up, along with a very slight wrinkling of his nose. He's dressed in traditional fox hunting attire, standing next to a horse and carrying a riding crop. Pacing back and forth impatiently, he slaps it against his hand as he explains his predicament.]
I am Reginald Smythe-Higgins III, master of the Upton Snodsbury Hunt, and I've called you here today to solve the disappearance of my pack of hounds. Something - or someone - has been spiriting them away under cover of darkness and leaving them dead at the edge of the woods. Almost caught the little blighter the other night, but I'm afraid it's just too slippery.
[Turning to Barry and Hiyoko, he points the crop directly at them, expression deadly serious.]
It will be your job to investigate. I simply won't put up with this any longer.
[Stepping closer, he leans over to whisper as he slips Hiyoko a ten pound note.]
And I'll expect your utmost discretion in this matter, of course.
When: June 27th
Where: The English countryside
What: Prayer #31
Warnings: Rampant stupidity
[Officially, fox hunting has been banned in England since 2004. Unofficially, there are plenty of people who still go out and do it anyway. And it's exactly one such person who has been begging the help of the gods to deal with the disappearance of his prize-winning English foxhounds. He was probably expecting an emissary of heaven to have a noble bearing like his own. Instead he got these two.]
Good day.
[There's a short pause as the man sizes Barry and Hiyoko up, along with a very slight wrinkling of his nose. He's dressed in traditional fox hunting attire, standing next to a horse and carrying a riding crop. Pacing back and forth impatiently, he slaps it against his hand as he explains his predicament.]
I am Reginald Smythe-Higgins III, master of the Upton Snodsbury Hunt, and I've called you here today to solve the disappearance of my pack of hounds. Something - or someone - has been spiriting them away under cover of darkness and leaving them dead at the edge of the woods. Almost caught the little blighter the other night, but I'm afraid it's just too slippery.
[Turning to Barry and Hiyoko, he points the crop directly at them, expression deadly serious.]
It will be your job to investigate. I simply won't put up with this any longer.
[Stepping closer, he leans over to whisper as he slips Hiyoko a ten pound note.]
And I'll expect your utmost discretion in this matter, of course.
no subject
[Says the girl wearing a deerstalker cap and houndstooth cape. She also insisted Barry wear a suit with a waistcoat. For some reason.
New Watson likes jam.She accepts the ten pound note anyway. She has Plans for that money.]Worry not. We'll have your hounds back in no time at all~!
[She turns to Barry with a triumphant grin and adjusts the bubble pipe she got from somewhere.]
Come, Barry! The game is afoot.
[And she's off.]
no subject
Right behind ya!
[And off he goes, huffing as he runs to keep up with her.]
So what's the plan?
no subject
[She means his Lordships's kennels]
And question the locals.
[The other dogs.]
One of them has to have seen something.
no subject
[Barry's confused at first, but picks up on it quickly enough when they approach the kennels and hears the other dogs baying and going nuts. To Hiyoko's ears, they're all just shouting 'HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY' a lot.]
Well, that's all you. I'll keep watch and see if anything weird happens while you're in there.
no subject
[In she goes. He can the start of a hard boiled interrogation that sounds more like it came from Dick Tracy than Sherlock Holmes.]
Okay boys, you're all gonna tell me what you were up to last Thursday night! And make it snappy.
[Much barking follows.]
Hmm...yes... I see.... Really?
Interesting....
[And then she finally emerges.]
no subject
All quiet out here, chief.
[He salutes Hiyoko when she emerges.]
no subject
[She sets off without checking to see whether he's following. But keeps explaining as the go.]
So it turns out the hounds noticed a strange smell on the nights of the disappearances. And that same smell is in the area where the bodies have been found. They said it was fox like, but different.
no subject
[Barry has no idea what she heard in there, but she's the huntress here. He's just the hired help.]
Huh. So what's like a fox, but not a fox?
[He hums thoughtfully, tapping the side of his forehead.]
The mystery deepens.
no subject
No clue. The hounds call it 'the wolf fox.' They say it smells too threatening to be a normal fox. That's why we're heading out to see if any of the wild animals can give us some clues.
no subject
[Barry grins, putting one hand on his opposite shoulder and rotating his arm like he's getting ready for some heavy lifting.]
All right, let's see what's what out in the forest!
no subject
[The edge of the forest is quiet. Many of the animals are steering clear of the unusually large predator in the area.
Hiyoko begins scanning the trees and sky.
Where her birdies at?Ah, a crow. Perfect.]
Hey you! C'mere a sec.
no subject
[Barry keeps an eye out toward the deeper forest, just in case.
Meanwhile, the crow flies down to land near Hiyoko.]
Ssh, keep it down, sister! You tryin' to get me eaten?
no subject
Nah, we're here to take care of a little problem. But I need some intel.
Ha! Ain't nothin' little about that thing.
Oh yeah? So spill it. What's got everybirdies' feathers in a twist?
Hmph! Go see for yourself. It's in it's den right now.
[The bird indicates a direction with one wing.]
Over that hill there. But don't say I didn't warn ya!
no subject
[Barry stretches, rolling his neck back and forth and getting ready for a fight.]
no subject
[Hiyoko leads the way up and over the ridge. Not too far they'll find a rocky outcropping that partially conceals a cave.
The area is completely silent.
Except for the snoring.
A large, no, a very large white fox like creature is sleeping in the cave. Certain discolorations on it's fur mark it as an ayakashi. Likely the angry spirit of a fox who didn't manage to escape a hunt.]
no subject
[Barry's usually pretty confident, but even he's not sure about this one.]
no subject
[She frowns, making a careful decision.]
Let's go. I need a bigger spear.