Ambush!

Wes and the rest of the group began to move forward toward the firebird, with the sole plane of distracting it long enough to allow Mason to slip in and out of where their allies were being kept without issue. He knew, of course, that John could perform that same task too, given that he could personally teleport, as well as teleport others at a distance, which was a lot better than what Mason could accomplish. But with John being a Tier Two, just in case they had needed to come to blows against the firebird, it would be better to have him with them.

They began to make their way over, and as they did, the creature made itself known once more. "You think that there's a Soldier around keeping them safe, dude?" Jay asked as he looked to his brother, causing Wes to pause a moment in his approach as he considered that for a moment.

The fact of the matter was, he had no idea beyond the fact that they'd been captured what their status was. It was entirely possible that they were being protected or that someone had managed to tame some firebirds. Given the fact that they'd found those talonprints outside of their sleeping area, that was entirely possible.

While it wasn't exactly a common thing, it could certainly happen. The firebirds were rather intelligent animals and with proper training, or even finding one as a youngling, it wouldn't be all that difficult to train one to follow directions. "I'd have to imagine so. That or they've got these firebirds trained well enough not to attack their prisoners."

"That seems dangerous, all the same," John spoke, frowning slightly as he moved along with the others, coming closer to where the firebird was and being just far enough away to give Mason the room needed to carry out his part of the task. The further they could get the firebird away, the easier this would be.

"That's what I've been saying," Sasha hissed, the girl's eyes narrowed at the firebird. "I know that they want us to be ready for anything, but are they seriously going to kidnap our people drag them all the way out here to the middle of nowhere and expect us to go after them or we don't get to eat? Because not eating is a great way for us to keep up our stamina."

The woman's words were filled with venom and Wes couldn't blame her, really. He had similar thoughts but he mostly kept them to himself. There were a number of interesting decisions that the military made, and he was curious who was running things and why they'd chosen to undertake the tasks they had in some form of preparation for the groups. He understood that the Beasts were dangerous, but all the same, it felt like throwing them in like this was a little unnecessary. Especially given the fact that they weren't even allowed to choose to join.

This was a mandatory requirement for everyone living in Haven. If you didn't want to live by their rules, you tried your damnedest to rough it out here in the wilds where there wasn't any government support, or you took your chances outside beyond the Wall. And as far as Wesley knew, no one who had ever gone beyond the wall had ever returned, and so that made it quite clear as to the safety of such an endeavor.

"If you want to change things, just prove yourself as a hero and get enough rank and clout to be able to make all of those changes," Ethan spoke, the man's voice surprisingly lacking in sarcasm, despite the content of the words. If anything, it felt like genuine advice that he was trying to give. "Otherwise you'll be down here with the rest of us, trailing after whatever those up above tell us to do."

Wesley frowned as he glanced at the group. "Can you all be quiet a moment? We're close to the firebird and if it catches us before we're ready, we'll be in a bad way." He frowned, exhaling slightly. "Okay. Me, Ted and Ethan are the only ones without any sort of teleportation or quicker movement, so we'll want to try to stick together, so that way if the firebird comes after us, we can at least work together to get it off of us for a bit. Jay and John will be the main two attackers if it's needed," he spoke, glancing to the pair.

"I'd rather have Mr. Woodhead," Jay muttered under his breath, leading to Wesley frowning. Jay lifted his hands in defense, looking to his brother. "I'm kidding. Mostly. I don't like it, but you're right, dude."

Sasha frowned. "What, then I'm backup or what?"

"You and Abigail are backup and support, yeah. You've got your Force Shield and Distance Skills, Abigail has a Force Shield as well as Armored Body," he explained. On the way over, they'd gone over all of the various abilities that they shared amongst the group, and that had been the cause of Wes beginning to develop this plan that they were working on right now. "You only really have Venomtouch as an offensive Skill to use, and that might take awhile for that to actually take effect on the firebird."

Abigail nodded, the girl having a similar hair color to Ted, although her hair was much longer, the pale tresses coming down to the middle of her back. "I'll do my best to support you," she offered, her voice quiet.

"Whatever," Sasha muttered, shaking her head. "I'll only do it because I want to get some food and a change of clothes and I don't care to waste time arguing with you," she hissed, shooting a glare at Wes as she and Abigail moved off to the side a bit. "It's sexist if you ask me."

Wesley ignored the commentary- they needed to focus on the task at hand. If Sasha had been given more Death-focused Framework, he was a little scared at what sort of things she'd bring to the table. She was already aggressive- giving her Skills that would be able to add to that felt even more dangerous.

However, at the moment, they had other things to focus on. "All right. Sasha, John. You two have the self teleportation Skills, so you two start by getting its attention and drawing it over towards us. As soon as its attention is turned, I'll give the signal to Mason and we'll see how well this plan works out." He glanced over toward Ted as he finished. "As soon as its close enough, slow it down."

Ted nodded slowly. While it seemed that on average he was a very bright individual, his speed of thinking was quite slow, and that made it easier for him to follow along with Wesley's lead who would often think very quickly and put everything together before Ted had a moment to really process the situation in full. It was rather impressive, to say the least. "I will... do this."

Ethan didn't have any Summons, and so the two of them wouldn't be able to be part of this first attempt. Realistically, Wesley could, but he was trying his best not to let on to what he could actually do, and was keeping it strictly to his supposed Restoration and High Impact skills. Of course, he didn't know that John had seen him using the Fireshaping last night, but that hadn't yet come up.

"All right, let's go," he called, and as soon as he did, both John and Sasha disappeared from next to them and appeared a short distance away, up near to the firebird. John went a good bit further, and Wesley could practically see the steam coming out of Sasha's ears at being outdone. As they got closer to the firebird, the creature immediately swiveled around to face them, opening up its wings wide again.

Even from the distance where Wesley and the others were located, the heat radiating off of the thing was intense, and Wes blanched slightly. He could only imagine how hot it was right near where they were. The firebird let out a screeching cry, and began to run forward on long, chicken-like legs. The beast stood nearly five meters in height, and as it surged forward, there were soft 'thuds' in the ground from the impact that they could feel even back where they were.

Wesley turned, giving Mason the signal and the other young man nodded, vanishing from sight. At that, Wes nodded and turned back toward where the firebird was now giving chase to Sasha and John both, the pair moving forward back toward the group. Once it arrived, they'd scatter, and that would leave it hopefully disoriented, even if it chose to chase after one of them, it would take a moment or two to get its bearings. And if it decided to come after the group of three, that's where Jay and John would step in.

However, the blood pumping in his veins from the excitement here froze in his veins as a shadow emerged from behind one of the broken buildings as John and Sasha flickered past with their Teleportation skill. A quadripedal Beast with a mouth that ran the entire length of its body lunged out from behind it as the firebird passed. Its maw opened and several rows of teeth were visible before it clamped down on the fiery avian's body, earning an ear-splitting screech.

Wesley's hands slowly tightened into fists as he saw the Beast, anger rushing up to his features. "Change of plans," he spoke aloud. "We're killing the Beast."