Who: Lorna Summers and Wrex What: chasing down farm animals When: earlier in the day Where: Urdnot Ranch Rating: PG, because a pig gets doored Status: complete
It started when the barn door got left open, and the ranch’s animals were wandering all over the occupied areas. Cows rubbing up against the door to the office, the horses galloping around the science building, and chickens, chickens everywhere.
Then there was the pig.
Lorna noticed the horses first, since she was in the middle of a science class. Of course her students noticed the disruption before her. She peered out the window when she noticed that she’d lost half the class, and facepalmed. Well, they needed a break, anyway. “Alright, why don’t we take a break now? Anyone in the equine classes please follow me, the rest of you can either stay here and study for the test tomorrow or carefully go toward the-” She paused as the pig ran by, squealing loudly. “You know what, everybody follow me, we probably need some backup.” The last thing she wanted was some poor kid to get trampled by Porky.
Wrex was outside, looking around in dismay and barking orders to ranch hands and staff. “Careful with the..goddamn it don’t hurt the cow. I’ll put you on cowpie duty.”
He turned and spotted Lorna. “We’ve got problems.”
Lorna couldn’t help but laugh. “I think you’re right. If we get the big animals and the kids get the chickens we should get it all cleaned up pretty quick.” She just wanted the kids distracted while she used her powers. The horses would be easy for her, and Wrex could handle the cows. “The pig’s going nuts, we’ll need to watch out for him.”
“I’m not too worried about her. Not yet anyway.” One of the cows pushed her way into the offices, and Wrex cursed. “Jen! Cow!”
“I got it!” Came the voice from inside.
Lorna laughed. This was all actually pretty fun. She turned to her class, smiling confidently. “Ten points of extra credit to whoever catches the most chickens. Watch out for their claws, remember these things used to be dinosaurs.” The kids weren’t enthusiastic about the job, but they did trudge off to do it. Lorna shrugged. Close enough. “I can get the horses, they should all be wearing bridles. Too bad the cows only have ear tags.” She reached out with her powers, the normal world fading a little. The buildings looked like motherboards to her, nothing but circuits of running energy and metal support structures. The horses’ bridles were the fast moving bits of metal. She had to slow the fastest ones down before she could jerk them around too much.
All told, it took her about five minutes of concentrating to settle the horses and get them grouped up.
Wrex grunted. He ran into the office to help Jen push the cow out, then herd them back to the corral. The hard part turned out to be the bull - until Wrex butted it in the head and sent it fleeing to join the herd.
He rubbed his head as he approached Lorna. "Seen the pig?"
Lorna laughed when he headbutted the bull. She wasn’t at all surprised when the bull yielded to Wrex’s harder head. She shook her head, her vision returning to normal. “No, not anymore. He headed that way.” She pointed toward the driveway. “I think he’s making a break for it.”
Wrex let out a sigh, then patted Lorna on the back. "Get the horses corraled and I'll try to get the pig headed back this way. See if we can direct him in the direction we want to go."
Lorna nodded. “I should have the horses penned up before you catch up to the pig. Yell if you need me.” Then she dashed off for the corral, using her powers to lead the horses. She could do all it with her powers, but that would be a little more obvious.
Wrex nodded, watching her go, then turned towards where the pig was. “Come on, Bacon. Here, bacon bacon.” He approached the animal cautiously. “That’s a good pork chop....”
The pig didn’t want to be apprehended. It snorted and dashed off toward the road, skirting Wrex easily. For a long, short animal it could really haul ass.
“Fuck.” Wrex charged after it. “Come here you little ass!” He crashed through some bushes, and lept a fence trying to get in front of the pig before it hit the road towards town. He tried to tackle it.
The pig darted away from him, but at least it reversed course. Lorna heard the yelling, and dashed over to see what was going on, using her powers to get there faster. She giggled a little when she saw Wrex laying in the driveway and the pig bolting toward the house. She took a deep breath and opened the door to Shepard’s truck just as it passed, knocking him for a loop.
“Got any rope? Pretty sure you’re supposed to tie them up.”
“Yeah, there’s some rope in the truck.” Wrex reached in and pulled some out, coiling it quickly and throwing it over the pig!
Lorna helped him tie it up, and looked at the enormous pig. “Crap, how are we going to carry him?”
Wrex grunted, and rolled the pig towards Shepard’s truck. “She won’t mind. Think you can help me get him into the back?”
Lorna nodded, and used her powers to pick him up. “If the kids were in bed this would have gone a lot faster.” She patted the pig’s side. “I hope I didn’t give him brain damage.”
“He’ll be okay. Come on, pork chop.” He patted the pig too, then crawled into the driver’s seat. “Thanks for your help.” He messaged an all clear to Summers, figuring the man wasn’t needed.
“Anytime. I’ll get the kids back into class once they’ve run down all the chickens.” She smiled brightly at him and bounced back toward the sound of squawking.