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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2014 10:15:41 GMT -5
Percival McLeach cut off the engine to his large, rickety truck, and kicked open the door. As the cool night air flooded into the cab, he swung his feet outside, and began the short climb down the ladder to the ground.
He straightened his trench coat over his shoulders and adjusted his hat, gazing at the canyon walls all around him.
He never thought he would be returning to Croc Falls so soon. Even now, the sound of rushing water in the distance set him ill at ease.
Behind him, Joanna the goanna lizard poked her head out of the cab, and finally began her own climb down the ladder before plopping on the ground beside him.
There was something strangely ominous in the air... as well as a chill that little to do with the night's darkness.
Perhaps it had something to do with the reason they'd come back here to begin with...
- Earlier That Day -
"... How long d’you think it's been, Joanna?"
There was a rustle of activity from within one corner of the moderately-sized shack, a pair of beady yellow eyes poking up from a pile of old rags.
"Weeks? Months of being stuck in this miserable little shack?”
Joanna listened to McLeach's deep voice as it rumbled in the small shack. Slowly she made her way toward the opposite side of the room, where a tall chair covered in furs stood silhouetted against the crackling flames of a makeshift fire-pit.
"… and all because of a lousy, slimy little snake!”
Joanna's eyes widened as a metallic flash and a woosh of air pierced her senses. She barely managed to stagger back, collapsing into a clumsy heap as a large knife buried into the ground before her with a 'thunk'.
As the lizard watched, McLeach- in all his fat-gutted glory- stood from his chair and rounded on her. Even as she scrambled up from her quivering ball to retreat, he caught her by the neck and dragged her up to face him.
"You mooch off'a my food, you lay around like the lazy good-for-nothing lizard you are, and then to top it all off, you knock me off of a stinkin' waterfall! I dunno why I don't just gut you, skin you and use you for a handbag! Maybe then you could do somethin right!"
His hand tightened around her throat, the goanna lizard's face turning from bluish-green to purple. Her struggles and desperate choking growing more frantic as she tried to squirm and claw her way out of McLeach's grasp. He may well have made good on his sentiment involving her death...
... but at that moment, there was a knock at the door.
McLeach's eyes- already narrow from anger- glinted with suspicious curiosity as he looked to the single solitary entrance to the shack. His hand loosened on Joanna's throat enough that she could finally escape. She fell to the ground with a grunt, and hurriedly escaped into the pile of rags she'd started in.
For a moment, he was tempted to retrieve another of his knives, just in case... but at he thought better of it; Even if it was one of the rangers tracked him down at last, he would not do himself any favors by taking a stab at them.
With a deep breath, trying to put on his most cheerful face- the face of an innocent gentleman who had simply come to the Outback to get away from it all and meant no harm whatsoever to any peoples or animals- he walked to the door and slowly pulled it open.
There was no one there.
"Huh..." Perhaps it wasn't the rangers with a warrant for his arrest, but this was in its own way just as unsettling. He moved to lean back through the doorway... when he noticed something posted on the door of the shack. "... whassis?"
Furrowing his brow, McLeach took the note from the door and squinted down at it. The handwriting was a flowing script, almost hard to make out in its extravagance. Taking it back into the hut, he kicked the door closed behind him and sat back down in his chair.
After scanning it for a bit longer, his eyes suddenly brightened, a wide, menacing grin melting onto his face.
"Joanna, c'mon back out here... looks like you an' me are back in business."
Sensing that the threat to her life had passed, Joanna popped back up from the pile of rags and scurried to his feet.
McLeach chuckled, folding the letter and slipping it into his vest. Afterward, he knelt down and grabbed the hilt of the knife he'd thrown moments ago and wrenched it from the ground.
"Seems we got ourselves a customer."
- Present -
The poacher was beginning to think he had made a hasty decision in the midst of his brooding; Being here at all was an unsettling notion, but now it appeared that whomever had summoned him here had decided not to meet him.
Slowly, McLeach reached back into his coat and vest, retrieving the folded note and glancing over its contents once more.
To The Esteemed Percival C. McLeach:
I know this is not the way in which you normally do your business- for which you have an extraordinary gift, I must say- but having heard of your recent 'fall from grace' my conscience would never forgive me if I didn't at least try to reach out.
I have an opportunity available for a man of your talents. If you wish to hear more, meet me at Croc Falls tonight at midnight.
I promise to make it worth your while.
-A Concerned Friend
"Hmm..." McLeach grumbled, pocketing the note once more and glancing back to Joanna. He doubted this was some sort of elaborate trick on the part of the rangers- they would have just arrested him in his shack instead of leaving him a note and drawing him out here in the middle of the night.
"Well!?" He called out, his voice echoing through the vast canyon. "Y'wanted Percival C. McLeach? Y'got 'em... you comin' out, or what?"
He listened as his shout faded, the dull sound of the river below and the waterfall beyond providing a menacing ambiance.
Perhaps this drive had been a waste of time (and gasoline) after all...
[Tag Hades]
He straightened his trench coat over his shoulders and adjusted his hat, gazing at the canyon walls all around him.
He never thought he would be returning to Croc Falls so soon. Even now, the sound of rushing water in the distance set him ill at ease.
Behind him, Joanna the goanna lizard poked her head out of the cab, and finally began her own climb down the ladder before plopping on the ground beside him.
There was something strangely ominous in the air... as well as a chill that little to do with the night's darkness.
Perhaps it had something to do with the reason they'd come back here to begin with...
- Earlier That Day -
"... How long d’you think it's been, Joanna?"
There was a rustle of activity from within one corner of the moderately-sized shack, a pair of beady yellow eyes poking up from a pile of old rags.
"Weeks? Months of being stuck in this miserable little shack?”
Joanna listened to McLeach's deep voice as it rumbled in the small shack. Slowly she made her way toward the opposite side of the room, where a tall chair covered in furs stood silhouetted against the crackling flames of a makeshift fire-pit.
"… and all because of a lousy, slimy little snake!”
Joanna's eyes widened as a metallic flash and a woosh of air pierced her senses. She barely managed to stagger back, collapsing into a clumsy heap as a large knife buried into the ground before her with a 'thunk'.
As the lizard watched, McLeach- in all his fat-gutted glory- stood from his chair and rounded on her. Even as she scrambled up from her quivering ball to retreat, he caught her by the neck and dragged her up to face him.
"You mooch off'a my food, you lay around like the lazy good-for-nothing lizard you are, and then to top it all off, you knock me off of a stinkin' waterfall! I dunno why I don't just gut you, skin you and use you for a handbag! Maybe then you could do somethin right!"
His hand tightened around her throat, the goanna lizard's face turning from bluish-green to purple. Her struggles and desperate choking growing more frantic as she tried to squirm and claw her way out of McLeach's grasp. He may well have made good on his sentiment involving her death...
... but at that moment, there was a knock at the door.
McLeach's eyes- already narrow from anger- glinted with suspicious curiosity as he looked to the single solitary entrance to the shack. His hand loosened on Joanna's throat enough that she could finally escape. She fell to the ground with a grunt, and hurriedly escaped into the pile of rags she'd started in.
For a moment, he was tempted to retrieve another of his knives, just in case... but at he thought better of it; Even if it was one of the rangers tracked him down at last, he would not do himself any favors by taking a stab at them.
With a deep breath, trying to put on his most cheerful face- the face of an innocent gentleman who had simply come to the Outback to get away from it all and meant no harm whatsoever to any peoples or animals- he walked to the door and slowly pulled it open.
There was no one there.
"Huh..." Perhaps it wasn't the rangers with a warrant for his arrest, but this was in its own way just as unsettling. He moved to lean back through the doorway... when he noticed something posted on the door of the shack. "... whassis?"
Furrowing his brow, McLeach took the note from the door and squinted down at it. The handwriting was a flowing script, almost hard to make out in its extravagance. Taking it back into the hut, he kicked the door closed behind him and sat back down in his chair.
After scanning it for a bit longer, his eyes suddenly brightened, a wide, menacing grin melting onto his face.
"Joanna, c'mon back out here... looks like you an' me are back in business."
Sensing that the threat to her life had passed, Joanna popped back up from the pile of rags and scurried to his feet.
McLeach chuckled, folding the letter and slipping it into his vest. Afterward, he knelt down and grabbed the hilt of the knife he'd thrown moments ago and wrenched it from the ground.
"Seems we got ourselves a customer."
- Present -
The poacher was beginning to think he had made a hasty decision in the midst of his brooding; Being here at all was an unsettling notion, but now it appeared that whomever had summoned him here had decided not to meet him.
Slowly, McLeach reached back into his coat and vest, retrieving the folded note and glancing over its contents once more.
To The Esteemed Percival C. McLeach:
I know this is not the way in which you normally do your business- for which you have an extraordinary gift, I must say- but having heard of your recent 'fall from grace' my conscience would never forgive me if I didn't at least try to reach out.
I have an opportunity available for a man of your talents. If you wish to hear more, meet me at Croc Falls tonight at midnight.
I promise to make it worth your while.
-A Concerned Friend
"Hmm..." McLeach grumbled, pocketing the note once more and glancing back to Joanna. He doubted this was some sort of elaborate trick on the part of the rangers- they would have just arrested him in his shack instead of leaving him a note and drawing him out here in the middle of the night.
"Well!?" He called out, his voice echoing through the vast canyon. "Y'wanted Percival C. McLeach? Y'got 'em... you comin' out, or what?"
He listened as his shout faded, the dull sound of the river below and the waterfall beyond providing a menacing ambiance.
Perhaps this drive had been a waste of time (and gasoline) after all...
[Tag Hades]