Nora Cadwallader (safekeep) wrote in disorderic, @ 2018-04-12 17:39:00 |
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Entry tags: | clement max, dante avery, nora cadwallader, rhys cadwallader |
WHO: Rhys & Nora Cadwallader, Clement Max, Dante Avery
WHAT: Clement and Dante have a message for the former Aurors.
WHEN: April 12, afternoon
WHERE: Dafydd Cadwallader's house
WARNINGS: Violence, etc!
"What did you get yourself into?" Nora muttered to Carrot as she ran the brush through a particularly difficult bit of fur. Spells could get a little too intense with grooming, and Carrot could be quite sensitive when there was something stuck on her that shouldn't be. The puffskein whinged, and Dafydd's couch was gaining more bits of fur by the minute. "Shhh, it's okay. We'll get this fixed. Just a little bit more." “There’ll be treats after,” Rhys announced in a sing-song voice as he returned from the kitchen. “For everyone! I've just put a batch in the oven.” He carefully lowered himself onto the couch beside them and gave Carrot a gentle, reassuring boop on the nose. “You're so good at that,” Rhys said, amused. “I should get you to do my hair after you're done with hers.” "All those curls? That quite a task, hon," Nora teased. “I think you could handle it,” he bantered back, reaching up to ruffle his own slightly unruly (by Rhys’ standards, anyway) curls. “I should probably get it cut. What do you think?” "I think—" Her pocket buzzed, and Carrot yelped. Fishing the phone out of her pocket, Nora groaned. "Ugh, it's work. Hang on." She tried to keep brushing as she answered the phone and nestled it against her shoulder. "Hello? No, I'm not in again until tomorrow. I—" She made a face as she listened. Saving up to leave for Brazil left her picking up extra shifts when she could, but she still pouted about it. She craned her neck over to Rhys to check with him as she spoke. "Just a couple of hours? Is he—" She nodded. "Hold on." She had to let Carrot go to cover the mouthpiece to talk with Rhys. "Warren's going home sick and they need somebody in for a bit." Rhys nodded as she spoke, mouthing a silent, “Don't worry, I've got this,” as he gathered the puffskein into his own lap and took the brush. Nora made another face, but agreed. Back to the phone, she sighed. "Yeah, I can be there in a bit. Tell Warren to feel better." Hanging up, she leaned over to kiss Rhys on the cheek. "Sorry, love. I'll be home in a couple of hours. Hext me if you want me to pick up supper or something." With that, she went to run and get changed. “My hero,” Rhys cooed after her as she left the room. With that, he turned to Carrot and her grooming, content to finish what Nora had started. “Who's going to be the prettiest puffskein when mum gets home? You are,” he said soothingly. It would only be a couple of hours. “She’s back at work,” Clement confirmed, checking the tracker he’d placed on her a couple of days earlier. “Now is our chance. I’ll meet you there.” With that he pulled on his mask and apparated to the Cadwallader’s new location, knocking politely on the door to draw Rhys close then blasting the door down before he had a chance to open it. Rhys had been expecting a delivery for his brother while he was off working at the shop, or an annoying solicitor, maybe. What he had not been expecting was a Death Eater blasting down his door. He was knocked to the ground and skidded across the floor, though in a flash, his Auror instincts kicked in and he sent a blasting curse back at whatever—or whomever—was attacking him without really realising what had just happened. In his eagerness to get it over and done with, Dante had started to step through the doorway when the second blasting curse flew in their direction. He’d, perhaps, underestimated the former Auror’s reflexes, or misjudged just how far back Rhys would get tossed. The shield he cast wasn’t perfect. It was barely even good, but it did the trick, deflecting towards the doorway above them as he staggered backwards. “Go,” he told Clem. “I’ll cover you.” Clement wanted to bind Rhys and just get him out of there but he knew the former Auror wouldn’t be that easy to catch off guard for the spell to hit. They had to wear him down a bit first. He sent a quick succession of spells towards Rhys, just needing at least one to hit — Bone shattering, conjunctivitis, freezing curse, and then back to the start with another bone shattering curse. Rhys—who’d lost a crutch somewhere when the blast had knocked him down—dragged himself along the floor to behind the nearest wall, shielding himself as best he could. One of the bone-shattering curses caught him in the ankle before he could get out of the way completely, and he cried out in pain as he slumped against the wall. “What do you assholes want?” the former Auror shouted at them, before quickly peering around the corner to fire off a series of vicious slashing curses of his own. “You,” came the reply, simple and direct, and Dante really didn’t mind that Rhys knew what they were there for since it was obvious already. He ducked out of the way from a slashing curse, using his position to try to deflect some of it off Clement too. The plan was to not kill him right out, here. That would be too easy. It gave him pause, though, as he looked for another way to get around. “We’ve got to split,” he told Clem in a low voice. “Split his targets.” He nodded his head towards the other side of the room. Then, to Rhys, Dante stepped out into view. “Just going to sit there?” “Yeah, I think I might have a snooze,” Rhys retorted, scowling. He wasn’t about to admit that he couldn’t get up, nor was he about to admit that the Death Eater’s declaration that they were there for him was currently freaking him out just a little bit. “You should come back later after I’ve had more coffee. Why don’t you—” He sent a crash of lightning at Dante’s head in mid-sentence, hoping to catch him off-guard. While Rhys targeted Dante, Clement gave himself a second to apply a basic healing spell where the slashing spell had hit his leg, before the blood spread to a level he couldn’t handle (which didn’t take much), and then followed it up with a stunning spell aimed at Rhys. “We could come back when your wife is back home, if that’s what you want.” Rhys deflected the stunner, but at the mention of Nora, his affectedly calm demeanor changed instantly. “Fuck you!” he shouted, conjuring a flock of sharp knives and sending them in Clement’s general direction. The lightning bit was clever, Dante had to admit. The knives, too, but he was recovered enough to stop them before they hit his partner. They hovered for a moment before turning back on their spell-caster. “No, thanks.” He followed up with a pair of ropes, aimed for their victim’s legs, hoping that he’d be too busy with the knives to catch on. Rhys did focus on the knives. His shield charm stopped them in mid-air and they clattered to the ground, harmless. The ropes, however, hit their mark. “That’s redundant!” he shouted, firing off a series of blasting curses at them both in a last ditch attempt to buy himself enough time to break free. “You’re redundant!” Clement shot back, shielding himself just in time and throwing another rope charm at Rhys’ hands. “But we’ll get rid of you soon enough.” Rhys was caught halfway through firing a severing spell at Clement’s face, sending it askew. The ropes entangled themselves around his wrists and knocked him over onto his side. “You won’t get away with this,” he snapped, hoping it wasn’t just an empty threat. With Rhys in a bind and more vulnerable than before, Dante cast an expelliarmus - just in case their prey decided to get any more big ideas, because he honestly wasn’t sure how much more blasting they could take and survive - and caught Rhys’ wand mid-air. “We’ll see about that.” A silencing charm came next. He’d lift it once they got where they were going, but he didn’t want to hear Rhys’ voice shouting the entire time. Then he grabbed the ropes tied around the other man’s wrists and tried to haul him upright. He looked to Clement with a nod and said, “let’s get out of here.” As soon as Nora popped back into the yard after work, she knew something was wrong. The puffskeins scampered right up to her and pawed at the hem of her robes and matching, whining hums escaping both of them. She knelt down to pet them. "What are you doing outside? Where's your dad?" She scanned around the lawn for Rhys or Dafydd, but couldn't find either signs of either Cadwallader as something acrid formed in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't until she looked back at the puffs and their distressed little faces that she noticed the bit of paper wrapped around Carrot's collar. She gently kneaded it out of the puffskein's fur and held her breath without realizing it as she read the note left for her. It took two or three times reading to comprehend the words on it and then she was on her feet, half-running to the door of the house as the puffskeins yelped and scrambled behind her and she barely stopped at the sight of the blown open door before she got her wand as ready as she could and called out for her husband over and over as she ran into the house and knew it was too late. No one had bothered to clean up from the fight and the smell of cookies burning in the oven filled the house and Nora's heart pounded against her chest. They were already gone. There was no one here. She read the note again. It bore Rhys's hooter handle and one ominous command: Make sure the "Aurors" are watching. |