Oscar slowly let out a steady amount of air out of his lungs through his mouth. A sign that the sight he saw in the distance did not please him. Goblins. A LOT of goblins. Though what irked the ranger the most was the lack of respect they gave to the animal...no...it was an outright disrespect for the animal’s corpse. Though he didn’t reveal his irritation through his facial expression, other than a tightly knit brow. He eyeballed the distance between them and the little psychopathic midgets were ‘enjoying’ their meal.
He turns slightly towards the blade dancer in front of him and speaks in a hushed tone of voice. ”The goblins are about forty...maybe fifty meters away from us. They don’t seem that well armed or armored, the only real advantage they have against us is number.” He glances towards the group of the mud skinned creatures. ”I’ll move closer to the goblins. Shoot at the two crossbow wielding ones first and then take potshots at them while luring the rest here...” He pauses to draw out his bow. Notching and preparing a bodkin arrow for the sneak attack. ”Muu, I’m sorry to suggest this, but I need you to hide underneath the snow. Goblins are stupid creatures and once they see that the one that killed their friends is alone, they are gonna be overconfident and be out for blood. So I’m counting on you to be ready to ambush them when I say ‘Go’, alright?”
"..." Muu was silent for a moment as she ducked even deeper upon their discovery. Goblin's really weren't that much of a danger but they could be nasty nonetheless. And although they had the possibility to just turn back, it was Oscar that took the decision upon himself alone.
"Alright. Let's dispatch them quickly." She simply responded, and although she doubted the Goblins would back up even if it were two of them, laying an ambush would surely put them in an advantage. Slowly drawing her sword, to avoid it getting somehow stuck later in the scabbard, she scanned the ground around her for a suitable spot. Was she now supposed to be glad it had been snowing so much? Her winter cloak already provided plenty of disguise, but with all the snow around them it should be just about perfect.
"Help me out real quick... and make sure to do something about the tracks. Most Goblins may be stupid, but every now and then there's an odd one out. Let's hope this is not the case today." She told him before starting to dig herself somewhat into some loose snow that she could curl into. It was cold, but she had plenty of clothes, a few minutes surely wouldn't be that terrible, would it? And her blade was already ready, too.
”Sure.” The ranger then slowly backtracked to where Muu and Oscar’s tracks diverged from their single file marching order. He then re-traced the blade dancer’s own footsteps towards where she was currently concealing herself in the snow and getting ready for the ambush. Now it would appear that it was Oscar who made this different set of tracks, adding more to the illusion that he was alone. The ranger then returned to his own path and slowly crept closer and closer to the group of goblins with bow and arrow ready in his hands.
Once close enough to the goblins that he could practically hear their voices and the sound of flesh rending and bone breaking, he stopped. If he had to guess, he was about thirty five, maybe thirty meters away from them now. This was it, this was far enough for him to still be able to hit a target accurately, but far enough for the goblins that he could let loose another one or two arrows before he needed to fall back to the ambush point. Perfect to antagonize the goblins into chasing him. Letting out a steady breath, it was time to set the plan in motion.
In one movement, he sent a bodkin arrow careening towards the first crossbow wielding goblin’s head. Not waiting for them to realize that they were under attack, he pulls out another one of the armor piercing arrows and lets it loose on the other crossbow goblin’s head. Oscar, even when hunting, would oft target vital regions of the body. May it be: heads, necks, or even the upper torso; Oscar would make sure that he doesn’t screw around and get the job done the fastest and most efficient way of doing it. If he still had time and the goblins were still in the distance, perhaps he could pull off one more potshot at the spear wielding one’s throat before falling back? The length of the spear might be disadvantageous for Muu when their trap is sprung. If he could kill, or even maim it here, it would make her job far easier.
“Grawh?!” Oscar’s first arrow sailed true, a perfect hit that embedded itself in the eye of the first goblin. He scarcely managed a deathrattle before collapsing to the ground, steel have irreparably decimated his brain. The second shot, however, could not replicate the same feat; the head was always smaller than the torso, and though they were taken by surprise, years living in the wild, hunted by the invaders that so callously slew their brothers and their fathers, their elders and their children, ensured that their reflexes were on par. The arrow clipped the goblin’s head, leaving a long gash and sinking into the elk behind him as the dark-brown creature dropped down, yowling in pain.
Pain alone, however, wasn’t going to pause any counterattack. Adrenaline pumped through the crossbow goblin’s veins before he even hit the snow, and once he did, both feet lifted up to pull back the string of the crossbow, a free hand slotting in the bolt. But when he finally looked up, there was no ranger in sight.
“Gugor buim!” Around him, his hunting party dropped into defensive positions as well, the dagger-wielding goblin quickly tumbling by to snatch the crossbow from the still-warm hands of his brother. Scattering, they positioned themselves in the best cover they could find, three hiding behind the large, meaty carcass of the elk, while others scattered behind snowy bushes and bare trees. They weren’t smart, not in the way that they could make technological breakthroughs through their own intelligence, but they weren’t stupid either. None of them wanted to die, after all, and dying was the first thing they’d do if they ran at a hidden adventurer with a powerful bow.
A simple graze only annoyed the second goblin crossbower. Tch...I was too over confident. Should have shot at the heart or lungs. Oscar silently berated himself for his sloppy work as the ranger paused his movements. To the goblins, he was just another snow covered inanimate object like any other one that surrounded him...and it showed when the goblin he failed to kill scanned the area and failed to see the bow wielding ranger amongst the trees, bushes, and rocks. They scattered soon after. Oscar quietly watched as they scampered off to hide behind what cover they could get. Some dove behind the Elk carcass. Some hid behind trees. Others chose to squat behind bushes. They were anticipating another attack.
Yet Oscar stayed his hand from action. Seeing them hide, he memorized where were the most dangerous ones were positioned. But seeing as the one he failed to kill was adept in using his bolt firing weapon, it’s death took priority in the ranger’s mind. So Oscar waited. Waited to see who would be curious enough to take a look. Waited for those bold enough to move away from cover. Waited for his opportunity to kill another and antagonize them into giving chase.
Though learning from his mistake earlier, rather than aiming for the head, he would aim at their chests and try to perforate a lung or two. While it is true that they were quick in both movement and reflexes; it wouldn’t be that hard for Oscar to hit his mark. Other than being a Silver Moon Soldier, he was also a well trained hunter. Shooting a small white rabbit while it dashed through the snow would have given him a difficult time, but shooting at a goblin ten times as big, thrice as wide, and twice as slow? An easier time than compared to hunting a startled adrenaline fueled rabbit.
He knew that as soon as he takes his third shot, the goblins will know his position and would likely perform a counter attack, causing him to run away and them giving chase. That's what he was hoping for at least. If they didn’t, he wasn’t sure he could explain it to Muu, who was likely very cold underneath the snow HE asked her to cover herself with for the ambush, that the goblins were not coming after all.
Seconds passed into minutes as the impasse continued, the goblins pressed up against whatever cover they could find, each of them peeking out in rotation, cautious of the hidden enemy within the snow. No one wanted to pop up yet, no one wanted to see if they could dodge an arrow. Their decision, as a group, was one of cowardice, but it was effective as well. It was cold for everyone, but especially so for someone who was stuck hiding in place.
“Megru?” “Errt!”
Behind cover as they were, the goblins could afford some degree of free movement, after all, their own knobby little limbs warmed by movement. From the elk carcass, the dagger-wielding goblin began to saw away at the swiftly cooling meat, occasionally wiping the fats off onto the fur, before tossing chunks of flesh towards his compatriots. It gave away their location, of course, but it was fine. They only had to watch out for one direction, after all, and cold as it was?
Nothing better to chase away the bitter cold than to eat some fat, greasy, bloody meat.
Seconds passed to minutes, as the goblins waited and ate in turn, the snow turned pinkish in the wake of the flesh being traded.
It seemed that the goblins were playing it safe. None of them moving away from their respective hiding spots, but instead took rotations to look at the general direction where Oscar sat in waiting. He could have stayed there as long as he needed to, the cold never bothered him anyway while the sun was still up and about...but he couldn’t say the same for the blade dancer hidden in the snow. If they were not willing to make the first move, then he would move first. He watched the pattern over and over as the eight remaining goblins took a second to glance out of cover. Once. Twice. Thrice. They were following a sequenced rotation. He took note how quickly his window of opportunity appeared and disappeared. He waited and anticipated each head bobbing in and out of cover, until he was sure the next one to peek at him was the wounded one.
With an arrow nocked and ready in his bow, it was only a matter of waiting. Just as the last goblin before the wounded one ducked its head back into cover, he drew back the arrow and let it loose just as the wounded one looked up from cover. Hit or miss, he would start falling back to the ambush point, dive in and out of cover to prevent a bolt from striking him from the back.
“GRAWH!”
Another scream of pain sounded as Oscar dove away, performing evasive maneuvers the moment he released his arrow. A bolt thudded where he had been laying just moments before, and now, with their quarry in plain sight and on the run, the goblins hooted and cheered, the unharmed crossbow goblin swiftly reloading. With such a weapon, perhaps it was truly a better fit for goblins than humans, the monsters capable of leveraging the entirety of their body to reloading it. In mere moments, the second bolt was primed and fired, this time whistling over Oscar’s head.
Like sprinters in a race, two short sword wielding goblins, young ones still hungry for recognition amongst their peers, shot off after the ranger as well, one running straight for Oscar while the other arced off to the side. The river blocked off one method of escape, and the goblin sought to cut off the other side as well, his four limbs working in unison as he held his weapon in his mouth.
"Tch." The ranger was displeased by the fact that only two had given chase. A little offended even. He considered himself a rather potent threat. Seeing that only two had gone after him bruised his confidence. But, when life gives you lemons right? He could hear the snow crunching beneath the limbs of the goblin who dashed straight after him. The other one seemed to diverge from the path and tried to get ahead. Intending to cut him off further on.
But at the last three meters or so to the ambush point, Oscar abruptly turned and leapt backwards. And in that small span of time that he was in the air, he nocked a broadhead arrow and shot at the goblin charging straight at him. Causing a brief moment of surprise where he sent the arrow straight to its body while it was still set on going on a straight line. He would hope Muu was ready as the flanking goblin would be arriving soon and would likely take advantage of the prone ranger. He would only need to make one call, but if Muu hadn't heard him call out, he would really be in deep shit.
Muu had been waiting. For how long? She wasn’t sure. But the brunette wasn’t stupid enough to occur some sort of frostbite just for the sake of the ambush. Neither did she doubt Oscar… yet.
She had warm clothes, even wool socks, and her weapon already drawn. So, she had been waiting and waiting, remembering the advice of her Master to keep toes and fingers moving. And, as time was passing at the speed of one second per second, the girl could suddenly hear it. The fast shuffling of snow from not just one source. So, this was it then.
‘Go’ was the code-word, and would likely be called the moment something was in quick range to kill. With the element of surprise on her side, an unseen Dance of Death had just been another one of many teachings. Just one word, ready for her to go...
— ”Go!”
Go. There it was. The signal to spring into action. In an instant, Muu arose from beneath the white to witness… two goblins, exactly. Just a meter or two away. Stick to the plan.
Her target was easy to discern. A Goblin to the side of Oscar taking advantage of his position. Time was of essence. These were just weak monsters, with their only strength in numbers, so there was no need or time for too complex maneuvers. Nonetheless, even a singular motion had some form of beauty.
