Desert Trail - Wagon

[Wolfe and Katya]

Wolfe instantly knew what Katya was getting at - she feared that the creature was too far gone and metabolic disturbances would occur if they were given food - better a merciful death than what would otherwise ensue.

"Hopefully there'll be no need for that - Teri and I are quite experienced in aiding malnourished people. It's kind of a locational hazard for us. Besides, I don't think they're that far gone, yet."

He remembered one instance when the person they found was beyond help and, despite their best efforts, had perished. He knew Teri would remember that as well and was glad that Peggy wasn't here to be reminded of it.

Fortunately, he had not only brought extra supplies, but the means to acquire more food on the trail.

edited 22nd May '16 2:53:50 PM by Wolf1066

[Outside]

"I'm ready," said Rin. A moment later, she added "are we really just going to drive around the desert until we see someone? It's a pretty big desert, isn't it? We could miss the guy completely and never know it..."

Not entirely dead.

[Town — Outside In James' Car] (Rin, John, James, Daniel)

Danny reached over to scratch the top of the cat's head. "Well, she is a cute kitty. Didn't think they liked going everywhere. But what should I know about cats?"

As he buckled in, he heard the grievances of his companions. Danny shrugged. "All right. How about we give it two hours to find him? How about it?"

He removed his gun and cocked it. "Should anything happen to any of us—it's on me, OK?"

---

[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Dining Room)] (Connie, Davey, Amy, Irina, Maya, Samuel)

"Sure thing, Connie." "You know, they called us the Air Calvary, because way back before diesel and planes, my unit used to ride horses into battle."

Irina said to everyone else, "Well, I think Davey and I can ride my bike. If anyone doesn't want to ride a horse, I have room."

Samuel leaned back in his chair. "No, no, I think you two can stay together," he said, smiling. He knew of Irina's selective motherly instinct. What's more, it seemed that Davey was comfortable around her. Besides his own problems of treating the critter like a human when he was strongly not—their personalities meshed well. "I can give everyone a good horse riding lesson. Two to a horse, even!"

Irina quickly glanced to Davey, then back to Samuel. "You're sure about that? If Amy doesn't like horses..."

"Nah, nah. Amy and Maya need each other for talking, right? They can stay together. We'll all be nearby, after all. It's just transportation."

The woman sighed. "Well, all right, if that's ok with everyone."

---

Current Time: 1:00 PM

Current Weather: The skies became fully overcast. In the west, there were more breaks of sun and heat. In the east was cool breezes and a spot drizzle.

Life is hard, that's why no one survives.

[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Dining Room)] (Connie, Davey, Amy, Irina, Maya, Samuel)

"Oh yeah?" Connie said, holding back a wry smile, "was there ever a transition period where the two crossed over? Y'know, flying horses, tactically dropping out of the sky?" she paused for a moment, staring thoughtfully as far off into the distance as she could in that not-especially-large room. "You know what?" she continued, nodding slowly, "Don't answer that. I'm just gonna believe what I like."

Davey's mind took a few moments to catch up. He'd become less focused on the conversation, resigning himself to the idea of riding alongside Samuel for a trip full of aimless small talk and meaningful glances so hidden and suffocated as to lose all of their meaning and become just glances. And maybe he was simply indulging in daydreams, unfit for reality, but the pieces were in place; soon it would be his move. He had to know. While his opportunity still lived, before Irina left, he had to know if those daydreams were hopeless. Was his longing best left in the past? And how many more swings would it take before he accepted his answer?

When his mind did catch up, he found himself at a bit of a loss. The tide had turned remarkably, and he had Samuel of all people to thank for it. He paused his breakfasting, glancing at Samuel with a bit of surprise. He shifted his gaze to Irina, then back to Samuel, his eyes narrowing with new interest.

"No qualms here." he said, resuming his eating with a big smile, as if jam-drenched pancakes had never tasted quite so good.

Connie eyed the the others and their plates before declaring, "Well, looks like that's about it for breakfast." She pushed off the floor, scooting back her chair and rising to stand. "The day's a-wastin'. I feel like I've been sitting here for hours, let's get moving."

Davey, who was still working through a mouthful of his carefully prepared breakfast, might've shot her an indignant glare, but he was too busy dancing on cloud nine to care.

this place needs me here

[Bed and Breakfast (Dining Hall)]

Amy's eyes widened and she immediately got out of her chair.

"Yay! We're exploring!" she said, grabbing Connie's arm and rushing out the door, "Let's go! Let's go!"

Maya slowly got out of chair, stretching her arms. Her translator had already took a head start without her, so she just calmly walked out the door, trying to hold back a smirk.

---

[Outside-Desert]

"That, we can agree on." James said, "Two hours, tops. We head back here after that. Now, let's roll,"

Without any other hesitation, James drove away from the town and back onto the desert. John glanced out the window, still feeling slightly nervous about the whole deal. He knew he had the means to protect himself, but nobody (except Danny possibly) knew who they were going up against.

"So, uh, Daniel," John said, clearing his throat, "You have dealt with this person before, right? Just, uh, how dangerous is he? I mean, if we're bringing guns and shit he has to be a pretty big deal, right?"

Pancake rolled onto her back, still purring.

Four young people awakened on a train, eastbound. The desert spreads vastly around the tracks. Immediately, the blame game began.

"I told you, 'Don't talk to strangers on the subway,' but here we are, all because of you!" said Mary, growing more frustrated by the minute.

"Hey, I'm just as angry as you are. I have a job, and if I don't show up on Monday, they might replace me." replied Julia, who was desperately attempting to avoid Mary's direct gaze by looking out the window.

Simon saw the situation escalating, and intervened. He said, "Come on now, guys, let's not fight. What matters is that we're in the situation we're in, and we have to deal with it. Right, Boris? Boris?"

Boris stood tall at the back of the car. He was in for the ride. There wasn't much else to it.

After some more deliberations, they collectively decided to get off at the nearest stop so they could get their bearings. When they got off, Mary's jaw nearly dropped in anger as they walked towards the center of town.

"That son of a bitch time-traveled us back to the goddamn eighteen-hundreds! Or wait...," Mary closed her eyes as she observed the astral plane. Not a second later, she opened her eyes and dropped her voice to a whisper: "Hooo-lee shit. We aren't on Earth anymore."

Simon was suprised by this. "You mean we're in space?"

Mary looked at him condescendingly. "We're on another plane, Simon. We ended up on some weird part of the astral space which can be physical while simutaneously while having no connection to the physical world."

"Oh, like the Bermuda Triangle," said Simon, rapidly considering the involvement of the lizard overlords and the US government.

While Simon and Mary were having a friendly argument over the nature of the Bermuda Triangle, Julia was internally excited. She always had wanted to see some of the old west stuff, and this looked like the real deal. She normally would have made a comment about how they were probably going to get some kind of disease is she wasn't thinking about how cool this all is.

They all reached the center of town, and after asking a few residents about cheap places to stay, they decided on the Tipsy Toad. They entered and were immediately hit by the smell of high-proof alchohol and low-grade woodstoves. Simon quickly negotiated some boarding after quickly inquiring about the possibility of cameras in the room, paying with some cash that he had on hand. After doing so, Mary quickly headed to the room and set about cleaning and organizing it. In the meanwhile, Julia grabbed a shot of whiskey(which is enough to get her fairly buzzed for an extended period) for the authentic experience, paying with a little bit of pocket money. Boris pulled up a chair next to her, nursing a glass of vodka and silently observing the room.

<Oo C: Wanted to get these guys in before I went to sleep. If I did anything wrong, tell me immediately. Feel free to interact, or not to.>

Valley of the Dead God (Brin, Blair, a deer, and some weird hyenas)

Kito’s deer came bounding out of the Small Valley and into the dead line between it and the Dead God’s zone. Normally the deer would not have run so far into this area, but he was spooked, with that massive wolf-creature coming from nowhere. He’d had no choice but to run.

Blair sensed the deer as he bounded out of cover. The hyenas were still in front of them. “Don’t move an inch,” he warned Brin. If she stayed in place, the not-hyenas would be more likely to believe that Blair had as well.

He cast an illusion that would keep up the appearance that he was still standing next to Brin. “But when the hyenas go for the bait,” he added to Brin, “run and take cover.”

He readied his bow and notched an arrow. As the deer bounded into view, Blair took aim, murmured a spell, and loosed the arrow. The shot, calculated to correct for the wind and the natural arc of the arrow, lodged in the deer’s lungs, and after a few seconds of running farther, he fell, bleeding out heavily. Blair whispered an apology to the deer and then stepped back into his illusion.

The deer’s wound was not the most humane Blair could have managed, but it was close. In their best-case scenario, the hyenas would jump at the smell of the blood and go for the dying deer. That was where the spell came in; Blair had added a touch of tranquilizer to the arrowhead. Magic might not have worked on the non-living hyenas, but when processed by the deer it would become very real indeed, and put down the hyenas and anything else that ate of the deer, most likely for good.

If that did not happen and the worst did instead, Blair would shield himself and try to shield Brin from any attacks, and at that point he would signal for Hoshi and Miyuki’s help. Or at least try to signal.

edited 24th May '16 8:14:27 PM by savlamar

[Valley of the Dead God]

The way the hyenas watched Blair as he moved, and tensed defensively as he readied his bow, suggested his illusion had not worked on them. Not that it mattered — they were, in the end, beasts, and given the choice between unpredictable, gamey humans and a delicious deer that had charged into their territory, it was no contest. They left Blair and Brin be, descending upon the deer, with a flock of shrikes teleporting in with a soft flash of magenta to join the feast. One of the hyenas went out of its way to snap the deer's neck, providing an unusually swift and merciful end. After this, the hyenas ate immediately and ravenously. The shrikes, nipping and fighting one another for the best bits, ripped off chunks of the deer to bring back to one of the spiny trees. Sometimes they even teleported inside the corpse and burst forth with bits of heart meat or liver. With these victuals, the unusually communal shrikes decorated their roosts in an attempt to impress potential mates while turning the tree in question into a grisly display of raw, bloody flesh.

Brin had seen way too much on the job to be easily nauseated, but she muttered, "hope I never have to see that again."

She wouldn't have to. The tranquilizers, made material in the deer's corpse, were quite effective. The hyenas would survive, barely, but the smaller (and deadlier) shrikes would not fare so well.

Desert Trail - Wagon (Zuri, Nemaforte, Iraal, Scents, Teri, Wolfe, Gwion, Katya)

Zuri spent the next few minutes taking a couple more sips of the cosmic potion Nemaforte had given her. She was wholly surprised by how potent it was despite being so dilute, as well as the fact that it didn't irritate her stomach like anything containing really powerful chemicals normally would. Which led her to surmise that whatever was in that potion contained some strong magical energies, and not just from the making of the potion either. Zuri herself remembered dabbling in potion-making when she was younger, but the effects of those came more from the intention she put into the brewing of it.

Then the wagon suddenly came to a halt, causing some of the potion to splash out onto her white skirt - immediately Zuri was thankful the potion wasn't that pigmented, though her skirt would smell like impossibly sweet herbs for a long while afterward. Meanwhile, Nemaforte's head bumped against her right shoulder as the two careened forward a bit before stopping. And they had stopped for good reason: there was a strange hooded figure walking right in the middle of the road. But he looked different somehow - his skin was bluish, his clothes torn, his head... bull-like and bearing horns?

Is that a minotaur? Zuri thought as she watched Wolfe and Katya approach him, the former offering food, the latter offering to... shoot him? Zuri promptly stood up and moved to the front of the wagon when she heard that. "Wait, don't shoot him!" she called out to the bounty hunter. "We're not even sure if he's a friend or foe yet." Though in all fairness, the guy did have a strange crazed yet weary look about him, as if he was looking right through the wagon and didn't see anybody. For a second, Zuri thought he had caught a strange case of mad cow disease.

Nemaforte, however, saw something much more peculiar about him. So much so that she jumped out of the wagon and wandered up close to him, though she did so with a hint of nervousness. "Never have I seen something like this," she muttered, gazing with a sort of reluctant interest at the markings on his arms and legs. "I..." And she stopped short, setting her bag on the ground and rummaging through it. A look of doubt appeared on her face for a second, and then she looked back up at the half-bovine stranger, studying his features a bit. As she did, though, her mouth hung slightly open and she stood stiffly still. "Miri drakima... a very bad... curse..." Until she toppled right over and lay on her side in the dirt, her still-open bag sitting right next to her.

Having watched everything Nemaforte did, Zuri leapt out of the wagon and rushed to her side, calling her name and trying to shake her awake. Finally she looked up at the hooded stranger. "Who are you? And what have you done to her?" she asked with a flustered urgency. But in the back of her mind, Nemaforte's mentioning of a curse stirred her interest a bit, and for a moment she wondered if the stranger had just placed a particularly powerful one upon Nemaforte - whether on purpose or by accident, she didn't yet know.

edited 25th May '16 5:55:32 PM by ladytanuki

Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.

[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Dining Room)] (Connie, Davey, Amy, Irina, Maya, Samuel)

Samuel clapped his hands together. "Sounds like we all have a good plan." He quickly got up and stretched. "Ah, compliments to the cook."

Irina stood as well. She pushed in her chair, but stopped a moment. "Hm. What about the dishes?"

Samuel slapped her back in humorous jest. "I think she could clean it up. I can throw in some tip money if need be," he said. A bit of giddiness was getting into him. He'd gotten fed, and now he has something to look forward to that didn't involve him and Todd. He felt more than ready for the trek.

Irina, on the other hand, pursed her lips. Over a dozen dirty dishes awaited Margaret—the least she could do was help out before she returned.

Samuel went for the door, following the two girls. The woman hung back, and took the remaining plates to throw the excess away. She found Davey still consuming his food. "Davey, you almost done? I'm afraid half our party wants to get going."

Life is hard, that's why no one survives.

She wasn't as keen on the pale young woman as the Mad Bastards but she'd at least cooperated without any...outbursts.

"He is either starved and thus should be relieved of suffering, or unstable and is thus a danger that needs removing." she explained more patiently than was customary.

The other girl studied the stranger and promptly fell over muttering something about curses. She rolled her eyes, "This will be long day." she sighed holding the gun a bit more casually but glancing over at the Bastards deferring to their more thorough experience.

edited 25th May '16 7:19:13 PM by Slysheen

Stoned hippie without the stoned. Or the hippie. My AO3 Page, grab a chair and relax.

[Northeastern Desert Trail - Wagon (Teri, Wolfe, Gwion, Nemaforte, Zuri, Iraal, Scents, Katya, "a horned person")]

Iraal kept a slightly leery eye on Zuri as she made her latest psychic excursion. She wanted - or, well, perhaps not really wanted, but thought it would help all of them if she did - to give the young human a chance to prove herself and get rid of her previous suspicions. But every time she did something paranormal, it seemed to have a different result. That kind of inconsistency was not a good sign.

Still, she could at least understand the desire to prove a hypothesis firsthand. Though that in turn led to a troubling possibility: if the Dead God really was supernatural in nature, would she even be able to study it?

She decided to not worry about both concerns for the moment, and instead turned back to the 'Mad Bastards' and their conversation. "I have heard of Clarke," she told Wolfe. "The concept was common among futurists of many different pre-spaceflight cultures. After all, as..." she frowned, a little mystified by the references they were making, "as you say, even different technological eras on one planet can give that impression. Though the difference between some historical technology and ours is far greater than anything in one planet's history." She pursed her lips. "Except for planets that have been inhabited multiple times."

Turning to Teri, she nodded as a human would (more or less). "The orl have had independent starflight for centuries. As you might have noticed from my relationship with Scents, the galactic community during that time has included over twenty species that I'm - we're - familiar with, including humans." She looked rueful. "Sometimes too familiar, in that particular case."

Meanwhile, Scents continued traveling alongside the wagon at an easy run. She'd thought about falling to all fours to go even faster; while vayen hands were built more for holding objects, their overall physiology still made either way of walking as possible as it had been for their furrier ancestors. But that would make it harder to talk to the others.

Not that they were saying much. Katya had never responded to her question, and none of the others seemed to be starting conversation. Apparently, humans - or at least these humans - weren't as extroverted as she'd been led to think.

She caught the smell of the incoming alien before seeing it. The smell didn't tell her anything immediately - the alien being an alien - but as she saw it her ears flattened against her skull. It wasn't something she'd run into personally, but Theocracy security, for obvious reasons, was big on survival training, including how to deal with cases of starvation. And this horned person looked like it was a bad case.

"Well, keav," she muttered.

Iraal had also only been familiar with extreme deprivation from media: though it was incredibly unlikely any expedition she was on would be in such a situation, it was always important to prepare thoroughly. However, she also knew when to rely on her employees instead. Obviously, Wolfe, Teri, and Katya had more experience with this sort of thing.

So naturally their opinions had to clash. She sighed.

Scents would have objected to Katya suggesting they shoot the poor bastard, but Wolfe and Teri beat her to it. "I don't think ze's that far gone yet, guys," she said. "But we better do something quick. I can try some of our medi supplies... but, dunno about system shock with a species I've never seen before." It was safe to assume none of the others recognized the species either, so no point asking them.

"I leave this in your hands," Iraal told the others. "But we are not shooting this poor thing and burying it in an unmarked grave in the desert!" Even if the being was beyond their help, in fact - the corpse would be of scientific interest to other departments at Lesser Sorkral. But her social software suggested not to say that out loud.

At that moment, though, Nemaforte (the one magic-user she'd thought could be predicted!) jumped out of the wagon and approached the being. That might be a good idea; maybe her potions could help. But then she muttered something about a curse and collapsed.

Both Iraal and Scents exclaimed, their voices overlapping before running together:

"Oh, by god -

"Prophet dammit -

"You are/must be kidding me!"

edited 26th May '16 2:18:54 AM by nrjxll

[Town ~ Train Station]

Three people occupied the inside of train cabin. On the front seat, lay a pale skinned, dark haired girl, unconscious. She wore a blue dress, with a blue camouflage jacket over top it. Her hands were shackled together, connected to a chain.

Sitting in a slouched position across from the girl, holding the chain, was a woman with a fierce scowl on her piercing-adorned face, blonde hair contrasting with her tanned skin. She wore an unbuttoned, short sleeved, dark red jacket bearing dark gray shoulder straps, each one adorned with a single silver diamond. The jacket was cut off just above her midriff. She also wore a pair of black shorts(formerly her dress pants), belted with a gold chain, and a pair of calf-high black boots. Underneath her jacket and shorts was chain mail, covering her from neck to boots. In addition, her “uniform” was adorned with short, free-hanging silver-colored chains, which which jangled slightly with every movement she made. Atop her head was a shako; a black, cylindrical hat, decorated with a golden star in the front, a dark red felt band around the top, a woven gold band which went above the hat's dark red visor, and a few strands of bright red poked out the top of the hat, remnants of a plucked out plume.

Sitting next to her was a large man, approximately eight feet tall. He had a graying walrus mustache covering a perpetual frown, and large sideburns. He wore an elaborate uniform, a shiny silver-colored cuirass over a dark red tunic, dark gray shoulder boards adorned with three silver stars, long black gloves, and black pants tucked into black boots. Across his breastplate was a black belt, matching the one were he normally kept his saber, which was currently resting by the window, in it's ornate, golden scabbard. Finally, completing his outfit was the silver Picklehaube, with similar gold decoration as his subordinate.

The woman looked out the window, sighing, "We're here... wherever here is, Caps."

"Lieutenant Ross, for the tenth time, that is not the proper way to address your commanding officer," Colonel Abraham von Strauss' mustache twitched with fury, "I have half a mind to see to it that you are punished for all your insubordination."

Lieutenant Madeline Ross rolled her eyes, "You won't touch me again, Caps, my uncle is your boss. Last time, he chewed you out for a good four hours." She wiggled around in her seat, straitening her posture.

The colonel growled with frustration, "I still disagree with you attitude, Lieutenant. Anyway, we shall take our leave now. Bring the prisoner." He stood, buckling his sword to his belt, before stepping over the chain on the floor.

"Sure thing, Caps." Coiling the chain around her arm, Ross flung the unconscious girl over her shoulder before following her commander out of the train cabin. They proceeded down the corridor to train's exit, were they stepped down to the platform. There, two soldiers, dressed in dark red and black uniforms with rifles strapped to their backs, were waiting for them with their luggage.

The group left the train station, and began heading down the main street. However, they were stopped by the sound of gunfire coming from behind them. The colonel turned to see a brown skinned man, wearing a dark blue duster, black jeans, beige cowboy hat and boots, aiming a rifle at him.

"Colonel von Strauss, set the girl down and step away, and nobody has to get hurt."

[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Dining Room)] (Davey, Irina)

Davey looked up from his plate, smiling in a very relaxed sort of way. He looked just about as serene as he'd ever looked; about as serene as a clothes-toting otter like creature sitting at the table and eating a fine breakfast with proper utensils could convincingly look.

"So I've noticed!" he said, taking a quick swig from his glass of milk. "But they'll have to get horses before the real venture can begin. So long as they know where to find us," he waved a hand around the general area, "or we know where to find them, we've got some time."

He wiped off the few loose remnants of breakfast left on his face, then yanked his napkin out of his shirt's collar and crumpled it up. "Besides, I've been thinking: between my, in retrospect, maybe a little—just a smidge—boneheaded move in spending most of the night over in that saloon across town, and everything that's happened during this cluttered morning of ours, we—yourself and myself—haven't had much of a chance to..." his brown eyes rounded the room like cars on a Ferris wheel, "...talk. Have we?"

He picked up his glass of milk, rotating it idly in his hand as if it were a wine glass, "And I was-"

Crrckk!

If Davey's hands had been bigger, he might've crushed the glass of milk right then and there. As it was, he merely tightened his grip and flinched slightly, ears up for sounds of more gunfire.

"Augh..." he groaned, sweeping back his ears with one hand, "that sounded a little too close for comfort." He got up from his chair and went to the window at the front-end of the room, still clutching his glass as though it'd fall to pieces without him. The window provided a decent view of the stretch of Railway Street in front of the bed and breakfast, as well as the train station on the opposite side. "I don't see anything... train's in the station. Maybe there are some unsavory new arrivals."

---

[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Connie, Amy, Maya, Samuel)

"Whoa, whoaa! Easy girl!" Connie said, as if she was already riding a horse, and not being dragged along by one very excited teenager. She planted her feet near the main entrance, slowing down enough to break free of Amy's off-to-see-the-wizard hold on her arm so she could wait for at least some of the others to catch up.

Once Samuel was in sight, she waved him over, saying, "Hey Colonel, you said there was a place to rent horses around here. Got any direction-"

Crrckk!

The distinct sharp split of a gunshot interrupted Connie mid-sentence. It came fiercely loud and close, sounding like it had been fired somewhere on Main Street.

"Aw shit." Connie turned towards the front door, then glanced back at the others. "I don't suppose that's a high-noon duel going on out there. What do you think? Worry? Don't Worry?"

---

[Northeastern Desert ~ Desert Trail] (Stranger)

Lost in the midst of all the commotion caused by his sudden appearance, the rough-weathered stranger appeared to be oddly undisturbed. Entirely undisturbed, it seemed; the stranger's eyes hadn't so much as flickered in the direction of those surrounding him, even when one appeared to faint and the other began barking questions at him.

With no obvious intent for either one, the stranger continued his sickly shamble towards the head of the wagon, leaving only red-tinged footprints and the faint scent of burnt timber in his wake. A few meters past where the collapsed woman lay was a round rock about the size of an eggplant. That, of all things, caught the stranger's attention. His eyes shifted, briefly finding their focus, and his stagger seemed to gain a sense of purpose, if not a sense of speed.

The stranger made his slow and unsteady way to the rock, then fell with a hard slump to his knees in front of it, bringing his hands down on top of it as he did so. He held both hands against it, as if it would squirm out of his grasp and slip away if he dared to loosen up. His long mouth twitched, nearly opening here and there but never quite going all the way. Not until his hold upon the rock shifted, gripping it from underneath and lifting it to his face. Then... then his mouth opened, revealing a set of peculiarly pointed teeth^* rough illustration, both lower and upper, very unlike those of the bovines that his head so resembled.

The teeth alone were nothing compared to what the stranger intended to do with his newly-exposed dentures. Rock raised to mouth, mouth open: it was the obvious path. The stranger stuck the rock into his mouth and attempted to bite it. As one might expect, the rock didn't take well to the teeth and vice versa, though this came much to the stranger's surprise if the stunned look in his weary eyes was any indication. He took the rock out and eyed it for a moment, then went at it again with a more tender nibble. When that attempt fared no better the first, the stranger raised the rock in both hands over his head and flung it to the side. It traveled weakly through the air, landing with a soft thud at the side of the trail.

"Infernal thing..." the stranger muttered angrily. His words were quiet, even for a mutter, and he rubbed gingerly at his throat moments after speaking them. And still, the stranger did not acknowledge anyone else with so much as a glance.

edited 26th May '16 3:18:58 PM by Ryuhza

this place needs me here

[Bed and Breakfast (Dining Hall)]

Amy was just about to say something, when she heard the sound of the gunshot. She let out a slight whine and ducked down, holding her hat and shaking.

Maya, however, pulled out two daggers from her pocket and scanned the area, trying to find the source. It was way too close for comfort, but so far, it seemed that no one inside the hotel had triggered the shot. The only people currently in the room was her, Amy, Connie, Davey, Samuel, and Irina. So far, none of them had guns on them as far as she could see.

Once it was clear that it was from outside, and not from indoors, Amy looked back nervously at the others, slowly getting back to her feet. She was still shaking, and still confused about what on earth just happened.

"M-Maybe we should stick together..." she stuttered, "W-What if that comes back and hurts us?"

The shooter dies. Simple. Maya signed, putting the daggers back in her pockets, I'm just gonna assume that it's either someone giving out a warning shot, someone is practicing with a gun, or a gun accidentally went off. Maya shrugged. That being said, we should get the hell out of here, and fast.

Amy nodded. "But what if the horses got scared off?"

Then you either ride Connie's back or she ride yours.

"You ass!"

Maya smirked.

Desert Trail to Mountains - Wagon

Iraal delegated the task of dealing with the new arrival to the others and Scents offered medical supplies but before Teri or Wolfe could do anything, Nemaforte was already on the move. She jumped out of the wagon and approached the figure with apparently no concern for her own safety. She muttered something that neither Wolfe nor Teri could catch, fossicked in her bag for a moment then said something about a "very bad curse" and fell over, much to the consternation of both Iraal and Scents who loudly exclaimed their disbelief at this turn of events.

Gwion caught the bit about the curse just before Nemaforte fell. "Fuck me days!" More supernatural shit! When will this end? Katya's response suggested she was thinking along similar lines and Gwion gave a humourless grin.

Zuri leaped from the wagon and ran to Nemaforte's aid, trying to rouse her. She shouted at the creature but it ignored her completely and tried to eat a rock.

Wolfe noticed the distinctly carnivorous teeth, which dispelled his initial concern that the creature would not be able to eat or properly metabolise pemmican or jerky, but the attempt at eating a rock and Nemaforte's comment about a curse gave him cause to worry that it wouldn't be able to identify something edible.

It seemed completely oblivious to what was going on about it - far more so than could be accounted for by mere hunger. Disorientation and obsession with food, yes; complete detachment from reality and attempting to eat rocks, not so much. Nemaforte's fate suggested that something seriously weird was going on and it was far beyond Wolfe's experience.

He looked from Zuri and Nemaforte to the creature and back again. Something had to be done. He broke off a smallish piece of pemmican - not so much that it would cause problems to a person who had not eaten in around a week - slipped down from the wagon and slowly approached the new arrival, taking a slightly circuitous route to avoid positioning himself directly in the "line of fire" between the wagon and the creature. He held out his left hand containing the morsel of pemmican. "Try this, it's far more digestible than rocks and easier on the teeth."

Teri readied her rifle in case she had to act quickly to protect her friend from attack. She knew Wolfe trusted her shooting ability if anything went wrong and he had left her a clear line of sight, just in case.

Gwion watched Wolfe and Teri, observing how they worked together without needing to discuss it; this was obviously SOP for them - which raised further questions about their experiences. Wolfe's empty right hand was held open away from the body and at shoulder height, to signify that he was unarmed, but that didn't fool Gwion for a second - he could personally think of a number of different attacks from that position. "Mad Bastards"? Possibly. Foolhardy? Certainly not!

edited 27th May '16 3:54:59 AM by Wolf1066

[Northeastern Desert ~ Desert Trail (Wagon)] (Stranger)

The stranger paid no more mind to Wolfe or his offering than he had to Nemaforte or her collapse. He didn't even glance in the man's direction. With whatever gambit he'd been playing with the rock a clear failure, he rolled back off of his knees and struggled as he tried to stand up again.

this place needs me here

Northern Desert

"...Oh." Hazel's face fell a bit. "Do you have it with you?" When Rip indicated that yes, he did have the book with him, Hazel felt relieved. She shifted her weight on the rock half she was sitting on when Rip indicated that he left the book back in the truck.

When he mentioned about the importance of location, Hazel frowned a little, thinking. "I...don't think it'll impact the ritual, cuz the biggest thing we're doing is just getting the ghost out of the rock, but unless the site to summon the spirit you're looking for is within driving distance, I don't think I can help you with that...maybe."

Hazel considered the possibility of creating a one-use device that Rip could use to 'super-charge' his ritual, or something that could aid him. It could be done, but it'd take several hours to make such a thing, and even if Hazel could manage it, it would be rather unstable. Rip would probably have to use it within a few days, and be very careful not to handle it too much. Hazel decided not to mention it now. If this ritual succeeded and they got the poltergeist-thing out of the stone, and Rip decided to ask for further aid, she'd bring the idea up. Otherwise, no need to propose additional hypotheticals into the situation.

When Hazel heard Rip calling out to her, she snapped her attention towards him, then towards the three riders he pointed too towards the distance. Hazel gripped her M4 carbine a bit more purposely, and stood up, lightly jogging back towards Rip.

Hazel frowned at the riders. She considered doing a lot of things. Were the riders potential threats? This was not Iraq, and they were probably not insurgents, but just because Rip was white and spoke English didn't mean that the riders couldn't potentially be dangerous. Hazel's first instinct was to conceal herself and wait it out, but the riders could already see Rip's truck. No, better to directly confront them and try to be friendly and casual. (Or at least, as casual as someone in full body armor, heavily armed and in military uniform could be.)

Hazel saw one of the three lose control of their horse, and it suddenly dawned on her that the zombie burro thing under her thrall could potentially be a bit of a problem. After all, there was a reason that Hazel never told her fellow Marines that she was technically a necromancer.

One of the riders hailed Hazel and Rip, and Hazel for a moment wasn't sure what to say before hailing back, "Uh, hello! D'you guys speak English? What brings you over here to these parts?"

Hazel glanced at her zombie burro in acknowledgement, who was unnaturally standing still, still frozen in place by her command. She laughed a little nervously, then trying to sound casual, said, "Uh...that thing over there won't hurt you. I've got it completely under control."

When the new group of people crashed into the party, Hazel was left somewhat speechless. Then she recovered, and commented about the comment of her undead burro, "Uh...sometimes I ask myself that too. But then I remember all the bull—um, stuff that came with it, and I'm pretty happy about the life choice I made."

"Uh, can you all tell me who you all are? I'm Lance Corporal Yoon, United States Marine Corps."

Any magic characters, or really anyone particularly in tune with their instincts and intuition would notice something "...off" about Hazel. Like a seed of magical corruption. Perhaps dead, but still definitely there. The same feeling should be prevalent in her magical aura, considering her recent necromancy use.

Also, here's a link to Hazel's loadout.

edited 28th May '16 4:30:33 AM by Tehpillowstar

"Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." - R. W. Raymond

[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Dining Room)] (Davey, Irina)

Irina flinched at the sound. It took a couple seconds to register the noise. Even then, she followed Davey to the window. She also didn't see anything too strange. "Possibly. I just hope it's people Sam and I don't know."

She glanced around and continued, "The two of us have gained a good amount of enemies for our work. But, we can handle them. No matter who they are."

Irina pulled her headscarf out of her pocket. She had the feeling they were heading out again soon, so she might as well ready herself for it. She took out her single braid as she spoke, "Perhaps we could check it out, or perhaps you'd like to finish your thought."

She shook her dark hair free. She begun putting the black headscarf in.

---

[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Connie, Amy, Maya, Samuel)

Samuel's head whipped around at the sound. His hand quickly went to the top of his gun's holster—but he didn't pull the gun out. The echo meant it was an outside, but nearby firing. He instinctively went up to a wall and listened for more. Once it was clear and the others reacted, he relaxed a bit.

He saw that Maya reacted accordingly, and it was clear she was very much the type to save Amy when the time came. It spoke some truth into the story of Maya saving both their behinds mid-flight.

First, to Connie, he said, "I wouldn't worry yet. They weren't shooting at us. Could be a fight getting ugly, which could get us involved.

Second, to the girls, "The horses will be fine. They're at a stable out there. They might get a bit scared and riled up, but..."

But then came a shock of anxiety. It began as a drop in the stomach. Samuel couldn't pick out why he was suddenly worried that it was someone he knew of.

It could be Todd trying to find Sam, as he found out the information he wanted wasn't there. He dearly hoped it was someone else. He swallowed.

The Colonel still kept his calm. He held up a reassuring hand to the two girls. "Hey, hey, we're not going anywhere. Just stay away from the windows. I'll go outside to check."

It was then when Samuel removed his weapon—the jet-white magic pistol. He went out the front, and followed his way out the back to where he heard the shot.

At first, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. But then again, he was still near to the building he left.

Life is hard, that's why no one survives.

[Town ~ Railroad and Main] (Col. Von Strauss, Lt. Ross, "Cowboy," and "Prisoner")

The man with the rifle stood about sixty feet away from the colonel and his entourage. Col. Von Strauss spoke loud and clear, "So, I see you know who I am, boy." His gaze snapped toward Madeline, who had adopted a hostile stance. "Lieutenant..." he furrowed his brow, slightly concerned.

The lieutenant's eyes seemed to burn with twisted hatred, mouth curling into a snarl. "IMMA GONNA KILL THAT BLUE BASTARD!" She unceremoniously dropped the girl, who was dragged away by the two soldiers. Ross pulled one of the silver chains from her out fit, causing it to unraveled. It hit the ground, much longer than it had been.

"Lieutenant. CALM. DOWN. There is no need to make such a scene." Von Strauss put a hand on his subordinate's shoulder. "Pardon her temper. She... gets riled up when she sees a blue outfit." He paused before continuing, "Son, I don't suppose you are in league with the Azure Knights, are you?"

The cowboy kept the rifle trained on the tall man, glancing over to the wall of the train station, where the two soldiers had taken the unconscious girl. He looked back at the colonel before speaking, "Yessir, the Azure Knights did hire me."

"I'm surprised a hired gun such as yourself wouldn't be working for the Empire. We pay much better than those... terrorists."

"I'm willin' to lower my price for a righteous cause. It wouldn't sit well with me to work with such... psychopathic individuals, wouldn't you agree, sir?" The man nodded his head towards the Imperial colonel.

"While I may disaprove of the individuals that are stationed under my command, and highly dissaprove of insubordination," Col. Von Strauss stared at Lt. Ross, shaking his head, "I am honor bound to serve the Balamar Empire."

"Enough o' this banter, 'ow 'bouts we settle this like gentleman? I, Jim McGee, second fastest gun o' the Djan Alliance, challenge you to a duel for the custody of that girl!" The cowboy smirked, putting his rifle away and spreading open his duster, revealing the twin pearl handles of his revolvers.

"Hmmm..." Abraham pondered it for a brief second. "I gladly accept your challenge."

McGee cracked his knuckles, "Okay, 'ow are we doin' this?"

"We will fight until one of us is unable to continue fighting. We will fight, right here, right now, with the weapons we currently have."

The cowboy raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry to come off as rude, but you 'ave a sword. I 'ave guns. We are standin' twenty yards apart. That don't seem like a fair fight to me."

The colonel laughed, before continuing "On the contrary, it is plenty fair to me. For you see, I am known as the Blitzjaeger." He noticed McGee tilting his head, "You should fear that title... On your guard..."

McGee stiffened up slightly, before adjusting his feet, "Startin' the fight right away, I see."

"Ready..." The colonel pulled the sword and scabbard from his belt, while the blue-clad gunman reached for his revolvers, both men staring each other down.

[Town ~ Railroad and Main] (Col. Von Strauss, Lt. Ross, Jim McGee, "Prisoner", Enkar Ziven)

The weighty figure of First Advocate Enkar Ziven, toting an oversized flechette shotgun carried in as non-threatening a manner as was possible for such a weapon, watched the exchange from afar. His keen ears had already picked up everything of importance. Enkar stood at just over six and a half feet, and while most of his people were heavily built, the First Advocate was truly corpulent. His dark brown eyes studied the world coolly from behind wire-rimmed bifocals. His gray-white hair was cut into a short, military mohawk. And his face and scalp, naturally a light Mediterranean olive-brown, seemed to be more tattooed than bare. A maze of sharp geometries, further darkened by the lines of his great age, that emphasized his vaguely Celtic features.

Enkar's sleeveless vest, large enough to close even around his bulk, was dark grey with black trim, made of silk imported at great expense, and unusually long, spilling down to his thighs. Close examination would bring the eye to notice subtle patterns, akin to the tattoos on his face, of a slightly darker grey. The vest had two pockets; one contained a pen, while the other contained a smartphone from Earth; Apple's latest, in fact. His ankle-length pocketed kilt, woven from the finest wools, shared a similar color scheme, but with white pinstripes that left it oddly akin to a Western-style suit. His wrist bore a stainless steel wristwatch; the main face face was divided into the eight segments of the Kykzavi clock, bore Kykzavi numerals, and was timed to the days of his home world. Inside it, a smaller Earthy-style clock (albeit with Kykzavi numbers) was embedded and matched to GMT+9. No familiarity with Kykzavi fashion was necessary to get the intended impression: this was a man of simple tastes and great power.

Once again, Enkar had found himself a source of amusement. He would not interfere with their duel, however, merely looming from afar, a twinkle in his dark eyes implying he saw, or at least fancied he saw, something beneath the surface of the battle before him.

edited 28th May '16 8:10:30 PM by KillerClowns

Northwestern Desert

[Hazel, Rip, Kaitlyn, Kris, James - joined by Yamiko, Vicky and Lupin]

James was puzzled by the woman's initial question. Had he not called out to them in English? Perhaps she had asked it automatically to give herself time to regain her composure after their sudden arrival.

Kaitlyn looked at the odd-looking undead creature. Under her control. So... what? She was some sort of necromancer? Kaitlyn was only aware of such things from fantasy fiction; she had never expected to meet someone who was actually able do such a thing. Especially not one who looked more like an American soldier than any sort of mystic or witch.

"We're just out exploring," said Kris in answer to the woman's second question. She was about to ask the same in return but was interrupted by the sudden arrival of Yamiko, Vicky and Lupin who inexplicably dropped in out of the air with their large bundle of provisions.

Lupin greeted them with a glib friendly comment and Yamiko commented on the undead donkey. The armed and armoured woman looked somewhat lost for words for a moment but rallied magnificently.

James listened as the woman introduced herself then gave a nod. "Pleased to meet you. I'm James Turner, formerly a Sergeant in Thomas Farrington's Regiment; this is Kris and Kaitlyn and these - let's see if I recall correctly - are Vicky, Yamiko and Lupin." He pointed out the others then turned to the students. "Is anything wrong? The last I saw, you were travelling with our companions towards the mountains. Has something befallen them?"

Desert Trail - Wagon

Wolfe stood completely stupified as the creature completely ignored him as it had the others and seemed more intent on regaining its footing than noticing the offer of food. It - he, presumably - was obviously a lot further gone than previously thought.

Wolfe looked back towards the wagon and gave the others a 'What the fuck?' look. It buggered the imagination, what with the bizarre behaviour and what Nemaforte had said before passing out.

In the end, Wolfe popped the morsel of pemmican into his own mouth so as not to waste it and directed his attention to Nemaforte and Zuri. He squatted down beside the fallen "witch" and looked at her with concern before turning to Zuri. "What's happened? Are you able to tell what's wrong?"

Meanwhile, Teri kept a close watch on the stranger, wondering what it would do next. It certainly wasn't behaving like any normal starving person and she was beginning to wonder if they would end up having to do as the Russian bird suggested in order to spare the poor creature an unpleasant and lingering demise.

[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Dining Room —> Main Hall)] (Connie, Davey, Amy, Irina, Maya, Samuel)

"Oh yeah?" Davey said, eyes dancing back and forth between each side of the window, "Rip and myself have tried to steer clear of work that might land us with a few nasty grudges, but it's not always so clear cut. Anyway, I know what you mean."

With nothing of interest out the kitchen window—or at least nothing of his particular current interest—Davey moved away and headed for the door, instinctively looking for a better view. Irina's suggestion stopped him at the handle, and made him look back. Thinking about it, he really did want to finish his thought, but only if he could travel back in time to before the gunshot sheared away the quiet, untroubled part of their morning.

He smiled sadly and shook his head, saying, "No... no, it wouldn't be right. There's a time and place for it, but now would be akin to finishing a joke at a funeral." He paused for a moment, finding himself a little distracted as she loosened her hair. In that moment, he wanted more than ever to finish his thought, going back to that moment of peace and privacy. The playful, childish part of his mind considered walking right back over to his chair and resuming like nothing had ever happened. He sighed, There will be more chances. Let this one go.

Reaffirmed in his decision, Davey nodded at the door and began to open it, saying, "I think we might find a better view from the front balcony upstairs," he stepped out into the main hall, then glanced back at Irina, "Have you got a gun?"

Connie, meanwhile, tried taking Samuel's reassurance to heart, but couldn't help poking a few holes in his words.

"Yeah yeah yeah- okay, but someone shooting, getting us involved, that sounds, to me, like, like bad, y'know?" she held up her hands in a somewhat agitated shrug, "You know, like something to get worried about." When Samuel made his intentions to investigate clear, Connie stared at him incredulously. "What, you're just gonna go out there? See- see that, you going out there— with that," she pointed at his odd pistol, "seems like something to get worried about. Sheezus," she muttered.

Connie glanced at Amy and Maya, flicking her eyebrows up at the latter and grumbling, "Nice knives by the way. What, do you guys do this a lot?"

---

[Northern Desert ~ Ritual Site (Near Truck)] (Rip, Hazel, James, Kaitlyn, Kris, Lupin, Vicky, Yamiko)

Rip squinted further, trying to sort out what was going on with the group on horseback. Something was setting off the horses, though it was hard to say what. He started to feel like a moron,having stopped what he was doing in anticipation of the trio's seemingly imminent arrival, only for them to double back to chase after a particularly agitated horse and it's rider. And there he was, leaning shoulder against the truck, arms folded and a stony look in his eyes, as though he were squaring up for some kind of showdown.

Rip heaved a long, heavy sigh and began tapping his foot impatiently by the time they caught up with their attempted runaway mount and began heading back in his and the will-worker's direction.

He too couldn't help but glance curiously in "Lance Corporal Yoon"'s direction when she asked the guy who had just greeted them in perfect English—very English sounding English, for lack of a better term—if he and his companions spoke English. Rip, for his part, had the mind to curtly invite them to "journey on through" and leave them be, but Yoon was already engaging them in conversation.

To add to the already overcrowded situation, another three strangers made a rather sudden appearance, as if dropped out of the sky.

"Oh wonderful," he muttered quietly to himself, "They're flanking us."

The newcomers were younglings, not much older than Yoon herself from the looks of it, and a seeming familiarity with her particular brand of will-warping. Running into such people—young and knowledgeable—always made Rip feel like an outsider to the very world he'd lived in for the better part of his life. Davey had been the same, even way back when they had first met and he was a young kid out of time. In fact, he'd used the word 'necromancy' before, when Rip had shared a passing interest in the idea. And Connie, though less outspoken about it, didn't have to ask nearly as many questions as Rip might've expected— as Rip himself had had to ask when he was her age. Where the hell do they learn this shit so young anyways? It certainly didn't help that these newcomers also seemed to know the people on horseback.

No, Rip did not appreciate the intrusion. All this meaningless chatter was merely distracting his new associate and her job helping him with what was supposed to be a private affair. So, with no interest in prolonging the impromptu meet and greet, Rip simply maintained his stony gaze and folded arms, saying precisely nothing.

this place needs me here

[Bed and Breakfast (Dining Hall)]

"Samuel!" Amy said, "Why are you going out there? Why are you getting involved? You could get hurt!"

He has a gun. Maya signed, He'll let us know if it's too serious.

Amy shrugged. "Still...it's really scary and he could get hurt."

At Connie's question, Maya shook her head.

If something's really dangerous, THEN the knives come out. she signed, Which is to say...not a whole lot.

Amy nodded. "Maya uses knives. I use the heaviest object I can find! One time, a robber tried to break into my house, so I hurled a chair and a table at him! He never came back...but grandma wasn't happy that I threw furniture."

Maya reached in her bag and pulled out a metal pipe and a baseball bat. First she handed the bat to Connie, then walked over and handed the pipe to Davey. Finally, she pulled out a third knife from the back of her pants and handed it to Irina.

Just in case things get too sour, use those. She signed, Unless, you guys aren't the violent type. Then you can just use those to scare off attackers. Works every time.

"Ok! We should get going!" Amy said, "But carefully. I don't know if the shooter is gonna come back again."

edited 30th May '16 7:41:14 PM by Masterofchaos

[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Connie, Davey, Amy, Irina, Maya, Samuel)

She shook her head, and smiled faintly. "No, Sam's more of a gun person. I'm a pacifist by heart. I do believe in self-defense, but I never cared for carrying a weapon."

Before anyone else could hear her statement, Maya gave her a ghastly-looking knife. "Oh, no, I can't take this, Maya. But thank you," she said, and handed it back. "I do have my own kind weapon. I'll be fine. So will Sam."

Meanwhile, Samuel lingered outside. He heard some shouts coming from the train station. There was some altercation occurring—and was probably about to get ugly. As he put a foot forward, he realized there was a decision to be made. Either go in and intervene, or report back. He based his usual choice on the situation. But for this certain situation, he had no clue.

So he chose a third option: scout ahead, then report back.

Samuel jogged over to the train station, and stayed low once he approached. He hid behind a nearby object and saw the people involved: two women: one on guard, another unconscious— and two men staring each other down. One was dressed and blue, and the other all dolled-up and aged. He eavesdropped on them and decided there was some faction-based vendetta currently focused around a girl—which he assumed was the unconscious one. It was a personal matter, and should not be messed with.

Samuel turned around to return to the bed and breakfast. As he began to head back off, a rock he'd passed previously slammed straight into his left leg—the prosthetic one. The prosthetic loosened itself and detached. Sam found himself immediately thrown to the dirt ground. He let out a surprised cry—and regretted it.

He was still within earshot.

Life is hard, that's why no one survives.