Monster Golf //Archer, Fitz, Shan, Syrinx//

[Deleted]

Full title: Monster Golf - Par for the Course

/// Peterstone Wentlooge, South Wales, 2013 - Pennantstone Lakes Golf Course ///

The morning was cool and shrouded in fog. The carefully maintained hills, sculpted peaks, dips and lakes of the golf course waited under the damp and heavy blanket for the sun to break through the occlusion and lift the clouds to their lofty heights above the grounds. Curtis took to shivering from the damp, cursing the thinness of his jumper and cursing the heavy rain that had caused flooding all along the parkway. It was still a few hours shy first T-off time; he could be well in before then and retire to the 19th hole at the Clubhouse and a hot cup of tea before everyone came in soaked in mud.

Curtis swung his girth over the boat, his waders squishing into the wet grasses at the edge. His calloused hands were tight and unwilling participants as he parted the surrounding reeds and untied the punt boat from its stake and then pulled the oar from the bottom. Pushing away, he let the boat float itself idly until he took a direction and began his usual routine of skimming the balls from the bottom of the pond. Often enough times he'd found something else lost, even valuable. The diamond engagement ring had been the best find, but even though he was sure the story behind -that- getting into the water was sure to be a sad tale, he'd brought it to the lost and found all the same. He filled buckets with dingy, waterlogged golf balls and lake scum, some half chewed from the copious fish in the pond.

The sun was brushing the horizon golden when the skimmer got stuck again but good. Kneeling in the hull, he pulled, gloved hands slippery. Falling back as he felt a tug forward, he braced himself against the side of the little rowboat and pulled upwards. His reflection greeted him, fishing hat jammed over his head, bushy brows and a grimace of irritation. A widening circle appeared where the skimmer was pulled and he reached down to dislodge it, sure it was only lily pads or lakeweed, as it often was. His eyes widened as he saw a shimmering dark shape curling, the placid lake foaming. A sudden upswelling of water rushed upwards as if to escape, rocking the boat with force and overturning it. Curtis was spilled over the side and plunged into the cold water. Opening his mouth instinctively to cry out, he was pulled to the murky depths below, his last visions bubbles of his own breath and the shadow of his hat floating free and away.

/// Newport, South Wales ///

Fitz took another drag on his ciggie as he reviewed the autopsy report again from the relative comfort of his car. Shaking his head, he stuck his mobile away and hands in pockets headed for the hospital, hurrying to finish his smoke before he hit the invisible line that demarked the no smoking zone. The Royal Gwent was a slab of postmodern ugliness but Fitz wasn't too concerned about what it looked like. All hospitals started to feel the same even if they looked different on the outside. The report was too weird to pass up on a slow day, even if it was a little out of the way. The bloke had been trampled, 'as if by cattle' and nearly drowned. Especially in light that it wasn't the first report of something weird happening at the golf course not far off. He figured he'd have to get his eyes on it himself and then go from there. Hardly something he relished but reports were exaggerated as often as they were minimized. Who knew how many Weevil bites were called dog bites on paper?

The poor sod was dead though and that was a stone cold fact. He headed to the mortuary with his half-cooked up story. The attendant on duty looked up as he approached, a thin woman with a washed out loo of being inside for long hours. Fitz put on his best sad eyes. "Here for Curtis. Curtis David. My uncle. Miss, er..."

"Mrs Landing." She pointed at her NHS tag on her lapel. "Yes. Well," she sounded ambivalent, as if she wasn't sure she wanted to show him. "This way. And...it's a bit of a sight, we'll take your identification but dental records might need to back it up. It's not a nice way to have gone." She walked as she talked, her demeanor suggesting that Fitz should prepare himself.

"What happened?" Fitz asked, hoping that she might tell him something that he hadn't read. Following her into a room where the tagged bodies were waiting. It was colder in here. She didn't answer him, merely began arranging the showing of Curtis, former groundskeeper at the golf club. Fitz had taken a good look at the information about him back at the Hub but what he saw when the bag was opened was a mess of humanity. He winced, feeling his stomach clamp down on itself.

"David, Curtis?" she asked, looking at Fitz with a questioning expression.

Fitz took the time to look what was left of the guy over. There was a heavy staccato of bruises over body. It was grisly, that was the only way to describe it. Fitz nodded at the technician and turned away from the body in apparent consternation. "What happened to him?"

The technician gave him a sympathetic look. "The police are investigating it. I'm sorry but I really can't tell you anything more right now, if you can just sign these..."

Instead of following through, Fitz shook his head and left as quickly as his legs could take him.

"Hey! Wait...!"

He heard the attendant call out to him but he ignored her, picking up the pace. Police on the scene were never a good thing, if you actually wanted to find out what happened. He'd leave the actual signatory to his actual kin. The man deserved that much. Whatever had killed him had to have been pretty big and he couldn't imagine something being in a golf pond doing that to anyone. Slinging himself behind the wheel of his car, he turned JEFFREY onto the local police scanners and drove along the coast toward Pennantstone.

[Shan]

The day was just like any other day, or so far as Shan had seen since he'd been on Earth for the past four days. The world was like nothing he'd ever seen on his journey, so full of exuberance and so varied. It was like every other person was a nation unto themselves, a myriad of cultures and voices and goals driving them forth to what he knew would be amazing accomplishments. The humans of Earth were a force to be reckoned with; not for their technology which, while still more advanced than Shan's own people, was as far behind other cultures he'd visited as the Phyzhiengsa (a name he'd learned that other worlds had come to know his own people by) were to the humans. It wasn't even by their strive for peace and unity which was a woefully small frontier. The humans' best and most impressive feature was their ability to surprise. Just when you think you'd figured out everything there was to figure out, someone else came forth and pushed the boundary to further limits. Ever reaching, ever hopeful. A truly impressive people.

Shan had been forced to exchange his robes for another attire in an effort to blend in. His pilgrimage was meant for him to observe, but he’d found that his bright monk’s robes drew too much attention. He now wore a pair of tan pants and a brown shirt, though he’d kept his soft leather boots. The thicker material that Earthling’s were fond of making their shoes from did not suit him. He felt like his ability to sense the earth was diminished or muddied.

The monk sat on the hill, just like he had any other day, with his legs crossed beneath him and his hands calmly resting on his knees. Shan breathed deeply, slowly, and exhaled through his nose. The grass was freshly cut and the smell was calming. Warm, humid air brushed against his skin and tousled his hair, tingling his scalp. It was a beautiful place to meditate, overlooking a small pond that the Earthlings apparently called a “water trap.”

Shan felt the vibrations of the leaves as the wind pushed them, humming a sweet melody. Somewhere down the hill a mole was busily digging a tunnel deeper into the ground. Birds flew overhead, soaring on the warm updrafts and chirping giddily to each other. Of all the places he’d been, Earth was definitely one of his favorites. So full of life, so beautiful. He took it all in, breathing in the life of the planet and letting it fill each intake, just like every other day.

[Deleted]

Archer sat in his TARDIS today, no idea where he had landed as of yet, his TARDIS had appeared in the form of a small little hut which continually seemed to get pinged with golf balls. Archer had been busy forging new arrows. He seemed to be busy lately and it wasn't as if he could always retrieve arrows so he was busy making new ones. Some were ever so basic, others with a bit of sonic technology in them, others with electrical current built right in. All Archer had to to was push a button on a remote and the object would get electrified. Plus Archer was working on some blueprints for other arrows he could fashion.

 Old Phoebus would have bit his head off that he had gotten so low in arrows. He would have called him lazy in neglecting his quiver. Course, Archer as a kid would have said a Stazer would be more effective.

In fact Archer could hear his old mentor's voice in his mind...

"Artemusagroterapollohellos a stazer is a weapon that any child can use. It doesn't take much thought or action to use. Just pull a trigger and pop instant power, instant action. No, my son, a bow requires restraint, it requires thought, it requires training. It requires strength of arm. It is much less a weapon of passion then those pathetic weapons they use in the capital. An arrow and a bow requires a certain amount of dedication, patience and thought. Power is earned and action is earned. Any enemy that looks on you will think much more highly of you because your force was earned by your strength and your dedication to learning. You maybe a person of passion but your weapon is not. Now make that bow an extension of your body, soon the arrow and the bow will become you. You will be bow and you will be arrow. Your passion and desire will be controlled and honed through your weapon itself."

Archer sighed and finally put a finished arrow in his quiver. He saw someone hanging around his TARDIS scratching their head. They probably didn't recognize the building and wondering how a strange building wasn't suppose to be here.

He carefully opened his door and stepped outside....

[Syrinx]

Swimming along underwater, Syrinx wasn't quite sure where she was, nor how she came to be here -- and she was especially curious about all of those tiny white balls that lay at the murky bottom of this shallow body of water. She'd never seen such things before...

Carefully, the little mermaid picked one up between her thumb and index finger, and she slowly drew it closer for inspection. It was small... kind of hard... and the surface was dimpled all over. It seemed largely unremarkable, and yet Syrinx found it utterly fascinating. However, try as she might, she could not discern its purpose; so with a bit of a sigh, she let it drop from her slender fingers, and it soon rejoined the countless others at the bottom of the lake.

Perhaps, she thought, if she just swam up to the surface, she might be able to use the sky to help get her bearings -- she was, after all, still unable to sort out where she was, which was very strange, considering the princess knew ever inch of her father's undersea domain on the watery planet of Atlantis.

Syrinx was not aware, though, that she was no longer on Atlantis.

When she broke the surface, Syrinx hadn't expected to see signs of life on the nearby shore, for on her planet, there isn't much shoreline, and there is also a distinct lack of land dwellers in and around her father's territories. In fact, it was his rule of thumb to hunt down and kill every land dweller who came into his kingdom. It was for his people's protection, he had said. That all who lived on the land were evil. That the mer-folk had to kill them first, or else be killed...

Naturally, due to her upbringing, Syrinx was not disposed to think kindly of either of the two men she glimpsed on shore. They very likely noticed her too, for it would be difficult to miss the lovely red-haired maiden, hovering there, alone in the water.

She glared at them, then, and bared her fangs. With a distinctive 'hiss' Syrinx promptly dove back beneath the cover of the murky, dark water, flicking her golden-orange tail behind her as she vanished from their sight.

[Deleted]

It wasn't a long drive along the coast but it was pleasant enough. As Fitz turned the corner and clapped his eyes Pennantstone's estate gates, he knew the place was the sort that was made for people with money. People who were either filthy rich or famous, but trying to take a prestigious yet indiscreet vacation that would, they hoped be covered by the Mirror. He could imagine roving teams of paparazzi trying to get a snap of that one filthy rich bloke that was a patron of this or that art museum. It wasn't much a surprise then that they hadn't been expecting him in his beat up sedan. Posing as part of the investigation team allowed him access to the scene of the crime - and if anyone got uppity, he had his Torchwood ident.

Still, it struck him odd; he'd expected the place to be closed when he got there but there wasn't even so much as a police car at the check-in gate. He tried to ply the man in the booth for information, but all he got was a schedule of events, a map of the grounds, a decidedly nervous look along with read-right-from-the-cuecard assurance that everything was safe and they were back to business as usual. Which was clearly, to Fitz, complete and utter tripe. Still, the bloke's lips were sealed and Fitz figured he must be afraid of losing his job.

The grounds were pretty big, so he figured he'd either be in for a walk or need one of those golf carts and he couldn't turn down a ride in a golf cart when the opportunity became available. Besides, he wanted to see what the staff were thinking (and why the police had let them keep the place open with a possibility for danger) so headed towards the lodge house to have a chat with the staff and pick up a cart. As Fitz walked by the driving range, the staccato sound of balls hitting something drew his attention to a young man that was standing in front of what he supposed was a caddy shack, scratching his head with an air of confusion.

The caddy had been sent to pick up a bucket of balls but there was this weird building in the way and he wondered if it was a new pick up spot. The door opened and the caddy took a surprised step back as he saw the Archer, then another and another, hands going up with an apologetic mutter of, "Hey sorry man," as he tried to escape. Now -Fitz- was the one confused and he angled his course to go see what freaked out the golfer.

[Shan]

"Shan! Get down from that tower this instant!" Shixzhun Vento called to him exasperatedly, shaking his head from the courtyard where he stood disapprovingly, arms crossed behind his back. He watched Shan with steady eyes, not bothering to make a second command. When Shixzhun Vento commanded, one did not simply ignore his word.

Shan cringed slightly, wincing, when he heard Vento calling to him. He was currently hanging upside down from a parapet, pushing himself off the wall repeatedly with deep breaths and controlled bursts of resonated air. When Vento's voice echoed up to him, Shan missed his beat and slammed face first into the wall. The shock knocked him off balance and his feet came loose from the wall, causing him to fall uncontrollably. He attempted to right himself but his head pounded and he could not summon enough focus in his shock to resonate the air to save himself.

Without missing a beat, Shixzhun Vento unfolded his arms and lifted them above his head, palms downward. He stepped forward, knee high, and brought his foot down while at the same time swooping his arms in wide circles. The air rushed upward like a geyser and billowed around Shan, slowing his descent. Enough to keep him from hurting himself, but not enough to prevent him from still hitting the hard-packed ground roughly on his shoulders. Shan lay against the wall, still upside down.

"Shixzhun..." Shan weezed as he tried to catch his breath. "I was just... Um... Trying something new."

"What you were doing, my impetuous young Renxu, is forsaking your meditations. If we are to master our bodies, we-

"We must also master our hearts and our minds, I know Shixzhun," Shan rolled his eyes as he righted himself and dusted off his robes. "Geerta doubted I could do two hundred deep breaths while upside down and-"

"Geerta," Vento said in a tone that Shan had long since come to learn meant it was time for him to be quiet and listen, "is not your teacher, Shan. And they are not about to undergo the Xingyuan. You are. You have advanced impressively in your training, young one, but your friends will be long yet until they are there. You must realize that the world has called to you for something more than playing games at the monastery your whole life."

"I know, Vento, but..." Shan looked away from his master's eyes and absently brushed his hair back. "Its just... If I fail it..."

"Enough." Vento shed his outer robes and squared off against Shan, his powerful arms seeming to resonate with pure power. Since Shan had been a child, Vento had been his mentor. Shan was well aware of his master's abilities. He swallowed hard, taking a step back.

"Shixzhun, what-" 

"No more talk." The air swirled around Vento in a powerful storm, kicking dust away from him. Without a further second to give Shan a chance to doubt himself again, Vento attacked.

Shan's eyes snapped open, his skin tingling as the air changed and something foreign entered the space. Everything in the universe existed in balance and Shan held that belief to be true, more and more each day since he had left Yshier and witnessed it first hand across the galaxies. And here, on a day that should have been just like every other day, something new was happening. Something different. It was so slight, so minuscule, that had he not been focusing with his meditation he would not have noticed the change in the wind. So small, like a whisper from the bottom of a mountain that died too soon to be an echo. But it was there.

The monk rose to his feet and stretched his arms over his head, his muscles loosening. "You were always right, in the end, Shixzhun."

[Deleted]

The caddy had been sent to pick up a bucket of balls but there was this weird building in the way and he wondered if it was a new pick up spot. The door opened and the caddy took a surprised step back as he saw the Archer, then another and another, hands going up with an apologetic mutter of, "Hey sorry man," as he tried to escape. Now -Fitz- was the one confused and he angled his course to go see what freaked out the golfer.

Archer tried not to show annoyance, truth be told he never settled or dealt well around people. The only people he'd do well around would be his family who of course were lost to him not only by Rassilon but by the war itself and Phoebus, and the irony of that was Archer knew that Phoebus was as much a title as his own name he had taken at the academy. He never knew Phoebus' real name. He probably never would. Such a thought caused a slight pang of sadness in Archer's hearts and the annoyance that Archer normally had drifted away.

He looked at the caddy, a child, in Archer's eyes. Archer said calmly, "I am the new caretaker and groundskeeper around here."

The caddy frowned, "Caretaker, never heard anything about a new groundskeeper before and what's with the arro...."

But before the man could finish the question, a woman bright of hair surfaced from the water and Archer glanced at the woman oddly, was that a tail he saw? He frowned that couldn't possibly be a mermaid. His bow suddenly raised in alarm. His training at the academy had taught him that Mermaids like the fairies were dangerous. They could kill others particularly in a fairy ring. The mermaid hissed and Archer fired an arrow at the creature. But arrows were meant for land creatures not necessarily mermaids, although he had fished once with his bow and arrow. It wasn't necessarily ideal. The mermaid hissed and dove back into the water.

He glared at the man, "Stay away from that pond! She's dangerous and not to be trusted! There could be more of them in that pond. And I don't know why!"

[Deleted]

// Sounds good to me! Fitz up next then.

When the Archer pulled a bow out and shot it into the water, the caddie took no time at all to run away towards the Lodge house. He didn't even look back once as he booked it as fast as his legs could take him, disrupting several games in play as he went.

Staring as he was at the Archer, Fitz didn't even get a glimpse of the red haired woman in the water. "Whoa, slow down there Robin Hood, what the hell are you doing!?" he said, in frank surprise, walking closer towards him with his arms in a gesture for him to lower the bow and arrow.

A few of the people at the driving range stopped to stare at them, clubs held out midswing and mouths agape.

He glared at the man, "Stay away from that pond! She's dangerous and not to be trusted! There could be more of them in that pond. And I don't know why!"

"She who, what's not to be trusted? What are you talking about, did you see something in the pond?" He was edging closer now. In a lower voice he said, "What did you see in the pond?"

A ball hit the water with a 'bloop' sound and a splash.

[Shan]

Shan strolled across the bright green grass, this particular area of grass brighter than the surrounding field. A tall pole with a short flag on the top stood out of a small hole in the center of the bright patch of grass. As much as Shan had been able to gather, humans had made a game of attempting to strike small white balls from one end of the field to toward the flag. It seemed odd, to him, but that was part of what made humans beautiful. They had all sorts of odd things that they did every day. There were no players on this particular stretch at the moment, but they rotated out randomly.

Behind the bright green grass was large pond, the water a deep blue in the early day sunlight. The surface of the water sparkled as small gusts of wind disturbed the still pond and created ripples. Birds dove toward the surface in steep drops, skimmed the water for a drink, and quickly ascended to land lithely on trees around the edge of the pond. Shan walked beneath their hanging branches around the edge of the water, whistling to them as he did. One of the birds looked to him as he whistled, cocked its head to the side and flapped down to Shan's outstretched hand and alighted in his palm. It chirped cheerfully and playfully nipped at his finger a few times.

"Yes, it is quite a beautiful morning, my friend." Shan talked in his native tongue, as he always did to animals. They did not seem to enjoy English as much. It had not taken him long to pick up a working vocabulary, as he'd learned a bit of it from the space-farers on Yshier during his travels, but he'd gotten much better since leaving home. But animals always enjoyed the naturally melodic cadence of the language of Yshier. If there was a name for his language, he did not know it. He had not even known his planet had a name before leaving it, though it seemed that most just called it Yshier, the Phyzhiengsa word for "home." He supposed it was simply as it was what his people called the planet anyway.

The bird chirped again, looking him in the eye as if it understood him. It fluttered his wings a bit and nipped at his palm.

"Do you feel it too?" The bird chirped once and fluttered its wings, again acknowledging Shan's words. The bird jumped from his palm and flew back to its friends on the branch and Shan rounded the far edge of the pond. Something splashed in the water behind him but when he turned to look, there was nothing there but residual ripples. The water was not clear enough to see deep into it. Sharp shafts of wood drove into the water from beyond the trees, followed by someone yelling.

"Stay away from that pond! She's dangerous and not to be trusted! There could be more of them in that pond. And I don't know why!"

"She who, what's not to be trusted? What are you talking about, did you see something in the pond?" He was edging closer now. In a lower voice he said, "What did you see in the pond?"

Shan turned towards the man shouting, noting a second man in brightly colored clothing carrying a bag over his shoulder and a third man slowly walking toward the water. Shan pressed back into the trees to stay out of sight. Humans were a peculiar lot, you never could tell just what they would do. The monk crouched down behind a thick tree trunk and waited to observe what the man would do.

[Deleted]

The caddie took no time at all to run away towards the Lodge house. He didn't even look back once as he booked it as fast as his legs could take him, disrupting several games in play as he went.

Archer snorted, it figured the caddie had no idea about things, most humans didn't. He was a child in Archer's mind. So very young. Most humans were to a Time Lord.

Staring as he was at the Archer, Fitz didn't even get a glimpse of the red haired woman in the water. "Whoa, slow down there Robin Hood, what the hell are you doing!?" he said, in frank surprise, walking closer towards him with his arms in a gesture for him to lower the bow and arrow.

A few of the people at the driving range stopped to stare at them, clubs held out midswing and mouths agape.

He glared at the man, "Stay away from that pond! She's dangerous and not to be trusted! There could be more of them in that pond. And I don't know why!"

"She who, what's not to be trusted? What are you talking about, did you see something in the pond?" He was edging closer now. In a lower voice he said, "What did you see in the pond?"

Archer turned towards Fitz, "Are you in charge here? Judging about how you're acting I am going to say yes. So this place. It needs to close down. Can't have humans end up being lunch or dinner for a mermaid. I've seen them kill people in groups in less than five minutes.  So....."


He looked at Fitz,"Still standing here. What on Earth are you still standing here for? Get all these people off the course and do it now or I will!"

He aimed an arrow at a golf cart and fired the arrow right at the cart and sent an arrow straight dabbed into the electric engine. It sputtered and died. 

[Syrinx]

She glared at them, then, and bared her fangs. With a distinctive 'hiss' Syrinx promptly dove back beneath the cover of the murky, dark water, flicking her golden-orange tail behind her as she vanished from their sight.

Before she could get completely out of the way, though, an unexpected arrow came flying towards her. It nicked the tip of her fin, causing but a minor flesh wound.

It still hurt, though. Quite a bit. Especially since she hadn't expected to be attacked, when looking for someone who might be able to help her sort out where she was, and how she'd gotten here.

Syrinx had curled up tightly, bringing her tail-fin near her eyes, so that she could briefly inspect the little tear in the delicate tissue. Gingerly she ran a finger over it and cringed at the sting of it. But, it wasn't even bleeding -- at least, not noticeably. If she'd been in her two-legged form, it would have been akin to a ripped off hangnail from one of her toes. Tiny and tender, and nowhere near life threatening.

It seemed, she thought, feeling a bit jaded, that this place was a bust -- at least, insofar as obtaining any helpful assistance went... But, before Syrinx could swim out of range of the golf course -- seemingly as if to add insult to injury -- another one of those little white balls plunked down forcibly into the water and pinged off of the mermaid's back.

The golf ball did not hurt her, though -- not like the piercing tip of the arrow had -- for the ball had slowed dramatically in its trajectory upon breaking the surface of the water. What it did do, though, was push the princess past her breaking point. She didn't care where it had come from, nor who had sent it flying her way.

She was mad. And scared. And a little hurt. And very lost.

Syrinx' golden-red hair split through the surface of the water once more. This time, she was clutching the offending ball in her right hand and let loose with as much force as she could muster, pitching the golf ball softball-style towards the nearest land dwellers she could find, and she yelled at them in a very un-princess-like manner, shrieking, "Hey! Keep your balls to yourself, thankyouverymuch!"

And then, she reached down and grabbed a couple more balls -- and let them fly with the same gusto as the first one.

[Deleted]

Archer turned towards Fitz, "Are you in charge here? Judging about how you're acting I am going to say yes. So this place. It needs to close down. Can't have humans end up being lunch or dinner for a mermaid. I've seen them kill people in groups in less than five minutes. So....."


He looked at Fitz,"Still standing here. What on Earth are you still standing here for? Get all these people off the course and do it now or I will!"

"Hang on! If -I'm- in charge, why are you--wait, did you just say mermaid?"

Syrinx' golden-red hair split through the surface of the water once more. This time, she was clutching the offending ball in her right hand and let loose with as much force as she could muster, pitching the golf ball softball-style towards the nearest land dwellers she could find, and she yelled at them in a very un-princess-like manner, shrieking, "Hey! Keep your balls to yourself, thankyouverymuch!"

And then, she reached down and grabbed a couple more balls -- and let them fly with the same gusto as the first one.

Fitz spun around, watching a shimmering golden fan tail whisk a sluice of water behind it, not unilke his pet goldfish Fred the XVI doing a high jump. As he stared, a distinctly feminine figure popped up above the surface and started throwing golf balls back out of the pond, chasing numerous golfers off from their slack-jawed staring. The panicking golfers abandoned their carts and balls and clubs, boliting away from the angry mermaid.

It was a mermaid! He'd seen a lot of things but never a mermaid, not a proper one--his thoughts quit as he got hit straight on with a well-lobbed golf ball and swore. Clamping a hand to his head, he turned to Robin Hood before he could shoot her and put his arm out towards the bow. "I don't think she's in'rested in eating us, mate. And there go all the people, safe and away." Well, mostly safe, they were scared witless and several of them hit with golf balls. This was going to he bell to smooth out later.

[Shan]

Shan watched in amazement as a red-haired woman popped from the water to hiss furiously at those on the shore. One of the men, garbed in green and wielding a bow with what appeared excellent proficiency, fired a shot into one of the humans' machines and, with a few sparks and a whining sputter, it ceased to make noise. They did not appear to be acting in cooperation, he noticed. Happenstance, then, that they should all encounter each other. Either way, neither of them seemed to be particularly friendly toward the woman in the water who was now vehemently lobbing the small balls back at the humans.

The monk moved along the tree line silently, his light feet shifting through the fallen leaves as silently as a breeze. Attempting to get a better look at the scene proved difficult, however, as the trees did not angle toward the course but away. Shan drew in a deep breath, feeling the wind around him as it flowed through his hair and against his skin, and resonated. He shifted the wind beneath the soles of his feet and created an updraft. Shan jumped softly from one tree limb to another, twisting through the boughs to reach higher. The trees were not as tall as the forests on Yshier, but they did offer a better vantage than the ground. He was curious what the conflict was with the humans and the woman in the water.

"Hang on! If -I'm- in charge, why are you--wait, did you just say mermaid?"

Shan did not recognize that word, mermaid. He could only assume it was something to do with the woman in the water, perhaps even her name? Or was it all a part of the humans' game? He doubted the latter as the woman continued hurling the small white balls at people and they in turn ran away screaming.

"I don't think she's in'rested in eating us, mate. And there go all the people, safe and away."

Shan could feel the air shift from his perch and with it brought something he did could not decipher. He noticed the birds fleeing, the shallow breaths of the moles beneath the ground getting further and further away. Nature was always the first indication, he knew. Balance was life. It always understood when it was threatened. Something... sour, was on the wind. Shan leaned against the tree and watched the scene below unfold.

[Deleted]

"Hang on! If -I'm- in charge, why are you--wait, did you just say mermaid?"
Syrinx' golden-red hair split through the surface of the water once more. This time, she was clutching the offending ball in her right hand and let loose with as much force as she could muster, pitching the golf ball softball-style towards the nearest land dwellers she could find, and she yelled at them in a very un-princess-like manner, shrieking, "Hey! Keep your balls to yourself, thankyouverymuch!"

And then, she reached down and grabbed a couple more balls -- and let them fly with the same gusto as the first one.

It was a mermaid! He'd seen a lot of things but never a mermaid, not a proper one--his thoughts quit as he got hit straight on with a well-lobbed golf ball and swore. Clamping a hand to his head, he turned to Robin Hood before he could shoot her and put his arm out towards the bow. "I don't think she's in'rested in eating us, mate. And there go all the people, safe and away." Well, mostly safe, they were scared witless and several of them hit with golf balls. This was going to he hell to smooth out later.

Archer snorted a bit, "Yea, that's because you're no where near her. If you get too close to her, she's likely to drag you down and gnaw your face right off, neat as you please. Don't let that pretty face or the exotic look fool you, she's a killer, like most of her kind."

Archer glared at the mermaid with his own fierce and hard look and then turned back to Fritz, "For a human who's suppose to be in charge, you seem like an incompetent idiot. Letting mermaids get stuck in...." He frowned a bit, "What is this place anyway? It seems like a worthless frivolity if you ask me." He picked up one of the balls that the mermaid had tossed back. He inspected it carefully and then flung it away. "Yes, another worthless human pastime." 

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"For a human who's suppose to be in charge, you seem like an incompetent idiot. Letting mermaids get stuck in...." He frowned a bit, "What is this place anyway? It seems like a worthless frivolity if you ask me." He picked up one of the balls that the mermaid had tossed back. He inspected it carefully and then flung it away. "Yes, another worthless human pastime."

"Says the man in tights who doesn't know where the hell he is but is well-willing to shoot his bow and arrow as well as his mouth off," Fitz retorted. "You ever think the reason the mermaids don't like you is you don't know how to talk to them? You shoot arrows at them? Watch this, I'll go impress the lady with my overwhelmingly charming personality and if she goes for my face then you can shoot her, how's that sound? You got nothing to lose."

Fitz had been in Torchwood long enough to realise that merpeople, for all he knew, really did eat people's faces off. So while he was interested in meeting one, he also kept himself ready for an attack. Did they like songs? Girls liked songs and she was a girl of a sort. Or was that some other mythological being? He thought about what he knew about mermaids and had to admit they weren't associated with cute yellow fish and singing crabs but he was a bit of a sucker for a femme fatale. But maybe she wanted to get out, like he said, somehow had got stuck in the pond there.

"Hey..." He kept his hands where she could see them as he approached the pond. "Sorry about that bloke! He's got bad manners but good aim..."