[Southern Desert (Cave)]
Maya rolled her eyes when Connie, once again, started being paranoid. It seemed that all Omar had to do was breathe and Connie would find something suspicious about it. It was now starting to get on Maya's nerves.
Amy she signed, Can you shut that thing up so I don't have to hear it talk?
Amy didn't bother to translate what Maya said; instead, she shot her a glare. Then, she turned her attention back to Connie, surprised at what she said next.
"You want to check out the hole?" she said, "You want to go exploring? Yay! Connie wants to go adventuring with us! I knew you were secretly an adventurer! Maya, can you hand her a light?"
Maya got up, shoved a flashlight in Connie's hands, then walked back to her spot.
Amy blinked. "Excuse me for a minute." She walked over to Maya and sat down next to her, "Maya, I know you're still mad at her, but we-"
She called me a cynical bitch, dismissed my story, didn't apologize, and even when she got proven wrong and everything is fine, she still wants to make something sound bad for no goddamn reason. I'm more than just mad at her; I'm sick of her.
"Maya! Please, I don't want to end the day like this! We've been through enough; don't drag this out, please..."
...Fine. I'll come with you. But tell Connie to stay the fuck away from me. She stood up and dusted herself off. We'll go whenever you're ready.
Amy frowned again, then walked back to Connie and Joesph. "Um...Maya said she'll come but uh...I think the two of you still need a little space. Also, are you sure you want to check out this hole? I'm not nervous—far from it—but I'm shocked you want to go. You were kind of scared to go in the cave earlier; I didn't think you also wanted to check out the giant hole. You're full of surprises today!"
[Southern Desert ~ Hidden Cave (Subterranean Shelter)] (Connie, Joseph, Amy, Maya)
Connie kept her eyes trained on Maya as the other girl aggressively handed her a flashlight.
"Thanks," Connie said.
"Thank you," she further insisted as Maya stormed off. She glanced at Amy with a slight frown. She of course knew what was up, even without translation.
While Amy spoke to her friend, Connie approached the hole in the wall, flashlight at the ready. She clicked it on, shining it into the cave beyond. It was unsettling how little the light made a difference. The pitch dark of the cave seemed to swallow most of it up, leaving behind only what seemed like a pretty dim beam.
"Funky..." she murmured, before glancing back at Joseph, who seemed to be reading his magazine, but who was actually watching Amy and Maya's discourse through a sideways stare. Connie made a clicking sound with her tongue, as if she was calling a dog. It took several clicks, but she finally caught Joseph's attention. He lowered his magazine slightly, blinking in muddled curiosity. Connie beckoned him over with a curling finger, and Joseph looked around to see if he wasn't standing next to someone far more interesting.
"Yeah", you," she confirmed, sounding a little exasperated. With any and all doubts cleared up, Joe left his sturdy wall for one far less intact.
"See anything in there?" he asked, peering into the wall-hole himself.
Connie recoiled ever-so-slightly, unused to being so close to Joseph. He was a lot bigger than Davey, and despite her six-plus months spent around him and some even stranger beings, it was still a little freaky to see someone like that up close. "I, uh..." she stalled as she reoriented herself, "...I don't know. Looks like maybe some wooden beams. Some kind of supports, maybe? It looks like more than just a natural cave."
Joe pulled back a bit, shaking his big lizardy head. "Always with these secret underground tunnels..." he grumbled. "All that's missing is a library, and then-"
He paused, casting a glance down at the magazine in his hand. He turned his head and looked back at the shelf—stuffed with magazines—where he'd gotten it.
"Well, check that one off the list."
Presently, Amy returned with a somewhat vague update from Maya.
"All right," Connie shrugged, "I guess I get that, but," she turned her head slightly and raised her voice a bit, speaking past Amy more than at her, "I do think we should talk soon. Keeping everything cooped up isn't healthy. Nasty or not, at least with what we said, we understand how we see each other a little better."
She paused a moment, then sighed. "I wasn't... overly-excited about going in the cave because, in case you've forgotten, I was running for my life, and I didn't want to risk sharing space with some creepy cave creature—no offense to you Joseph—that I had just stepped on. But, I mean, now that's been cleared up, and the way I see it," she nodded towards the hole, "leaving this thing alone until Omar gets back is the riskier choice. So yeah, I want to check it out. It's crazy dark in there though, we might need the lamp."
Connie's eyes wandered hesitantly towards Maya, who was the closest to the lantern. It was still burning brightly next to the small generator closet, though less noticeable in the now-brightly-lit room.
this place needs me here
[Southern Desert (Cave)]
Maya didn't sign anything back to Connie. Instead, she picked up the lamp and peeked inside the hole.
"Do you see anything interesting?" Amy asked.
Nope. Just wood. Maya signed, taking a step inside, I really think there's nothing more to this, but if you guys really want to go in here...
"We're just exploring, Maya! That's what we adventurers do! We go towards the unknown and discover something new!" Her eyes perked up, "Hey, that rhymed! Hehe! Anyway, you're here with us, so we're not in any danger!"
Maya shrugged, then helped Amy step into the hole. She then took several steps backward in order to make space for Joesph and Connie.
"Come on, guys!" Amy said cheerfully, "Time to explore! What are you waiting for? Hey, I rhymed again!"
edited 16th Sep '16 3:34:44 PM by Masterofchaos
Crazy Kiwi
Desert - "Picnic Site"
[Vicky, Yamiko, Lupin, Mari, Rip, Hazel, Kaitlyn, Kris and James]Kaitlyn rolled her eyes as Vicky wittered about being a quick study and deflecting bullets - as if the real face of crime was as clean as it was in the movies. She was about to counter with a dark comment about changing tunes when confronted with your first mutilated victim of gang violence - the image of Dariel after the "Demons" had finished stomping him into the pavement sprang to her mind with awful clarity - when she was distracted by Mari suddenly dropping her voice when talking to Yamiko. Kaitlyn's focus automatically shifted. Telepathy? Yamiko can communicate telepathically? Can she 'read minds' as well? Telepathy was pure fantasy on the Earth she knew, but she was learning quickly that things operated differently around here and "fantasy" couldn't be discounted.
James looked up from his cooking as Lupin and Rip approached. He was about to offer them food but Vicky got in first. As he turned back to the sizzling johnny cakes a strange vision crossed his mind - shadowy figures, the wagon, Wolfe, Teri, Gwion and the aliens, the wagon driver in distress... He looked up at Kris and saw the same confused and alarmed look on her face that he knew was on his own. He looked about and noticed Kaitlyn staring directly at Yamiko, as if she, of all people, were the cause of the strange images. The back of his scalp prickled as it occurred to him that Kaitlyn might be right.
He exhaled slowly and deliberately, carefully took the pan off the fire and turned to look at Yamiko. "I think it's time some explanations were forthcoming."
Northeastern Forest ~ Trail to Mountains (Wagon)
[Iraal, Scents, Zuri, Nemaforte, Oswald, Teri, Wolfe and Gwion]Gwion didn't waste time wondering what was going on with Zuri - Scents, Teri and Wolfe were dealing with it and he figured that, whatever it was, they'd be able to handle it. He turned his attention to Nemaforte's attempt to restore Oswald's sight - a rare chance to get a close view of real magic being performed. The ritual was surprisingly brief - and, equally surprisingly, seemed to involve the strange witch self-medicating with magic mushrooms - but it also seemed to be effective as Oswald responded as if he could actually see Nemaforte.
No sooner had Nemaforte finished when Iraal announced that there was another problem - no doubt some private communication from Scents.
He watched as Nemaforte headed off in the direction of Zuri, Scents, Teri and Wolfe, leaving just him, the driver and the recuperating Oswald to watch over Iraal.
Wolfe nodded at Scents' comment about the students. "Today has shaped up to be one of those days that phrases like 'GAFU' and 'Charlie-Foxtrot' were coined to describe."
Teri snorted. She knew Wolfe's idiom well enough to understand "God-Awful Fuck Up" and "Cluster Fuck". "Y'ain't wrong, mate." She looked at the unresponsive form of Zuri. "Anyone else getting the irresistable urge to shave one'v her eyebrows off or draw on her face with an indelible marker? Serve her fucking right."
A moment later, Nemaforte appeared around the bend in the trail, inspected Zuri and announced that it was as if her soul were missing.
Teri and Wolfe watched in silent fascination as Nemaforte managed to get Zuri to her feet and moving - albeit not quite under her own steam - back towards the wagon.
They followed Nemaforte and Zuri back to the wagon. Gwion looked towards them as they arrived, a wordless query written on his face. Wolfe responded with rolled eyes and a slight head-shake that conveyed "don't fuckin' ask" as clearly as if he had spoken aloud.
For a short while Zuri managed to stand, leaning on the horse, but then her legs buckled beneath her and she collapsed to the ground. Teri started forward but stopped as Nemaforte said that Zuri was close to death. All of a sudden, her earlier comments about shaving eyebrows and drawing on faces seemed less funny.
Then Nemaforte suddenly grabbed her bag and dashed towards the trail up into the mountains, stating that she was ready to visit the Dead God. It seemed such bizarre behaviour in the wake of her announcement of Zuri's imminent death that Teri laughed sharply. "Whatcha gonna do? Run all the way there?"
Wolfe gave a sharp snort. "Best of fuckin' luck with that. From what I heard, the Dead God's a day or two's walk away, on the other side of the range - at this late hour of the day, you wouldn't even make it halfway to the summit by nightfall. Can't you do anything for Zuri? Or are we just going to leave her to die on the ground?"
He strode over to Zuri's supine form and squatted down by her head. Teri quickly headed for Zuri's feet and between them they lifted her up, carried her to the cart and carefully laid her on it.
Gwion looked at Zuri, shaking his head sadly. "So what happened?"
Teri gave a short and succinct summary of events up to their arrival back at the wagon - made somewhat longer by the liberal interjection of obscenities.
When she finished, Gwion gave a low awed whistle. "So... she's left her body behind and hasn't come back? I'd'a' thought that there'd be some sort of safe-guard against that." He fished out his cigarettes and lit one; Teri and Wolfe followed suit. The three smoked in silence for a while, staring at Zuri's immobile form.
edited 19th Sep '16 3:47:21 AM by Wolf1066
[Town ~ Outside the Bed & Breakfast] (Cynthia, Rin)
Cynthia nodded as she took the canvas bag from Rin, "Yes, thank you." She clutched her side tighter, before heading towards the entrance of the Bed & Breakfast. Using her shoulder to push the door open, she went in.
She headed towards one of the tables, leaning her sword against one of the chairs and placing the bag on the table top. Taking her hand away from her wound momentarily, she removed the gauntlet from her left arm, setting it down next to the bag. Next, the young knight set about removing her tunic, first by unbuckling the large belt and her scabbard and placing them atop the gauntlet. Then, she unbuttoned the series of buttons holding the tunic closed, letting the body of the out fit hang loose.
Cynthia pulled the first aid kit from the bag, and after setting out some bundles of gauze and a bottle of alcohol, she took out a pair of shears and began removing the section of her blood soaked shirt the covered the wound.
[Northern Desert - Ritual Site (Camp)] (Rip, Yamiko, Vicky, Lupin, Mari, Hazel, James, Kris, Kaitlyn)
Mari blinked away a look of concern as she took the offered slice of bread from Yamiko. She took a deep breath before answering, "Yes." Placing her glass down, she brushed her hand through her hair.
Taking note of the tense atmosphere that was beginning to form, Mari began nibbling at the slice of nut bread. Several thoughts ran through her head, starting with the prospect of continuing to drink more sake. Next she considered the notion of causing some form of distraction, but that would only bring potentially unnecessary and unwanted attention to herself. Recalling the conversation between Kaitlyn and Vicky caused a smirk to cross her face.
Mari shook her head, sending invisible bells jingling. Taking another nibble from the slice of bread, she focused on listening to what Yamiko would say next.
[Northern Desert ~ Picnic Site](Rip, Hazel, James, Kaitlyn, Kris, Lupin, Mari, Vicky, Yamiko)
Rip now a part of 'the group' again—a group that he hadn't wanted any part in to begin with—found it difficult to reintegrate. He wasn't much for going back on his decisions, somewhat in part because he didn't really know how to do it gracefully. Another issue was how quiet everyone had gotten. Well, not everyone, but those whose company he thought he might find more agreeable had gotten very quiet.
Walking over to James—who seemed to be the appointed chef of the lunch—he cleared his throat softly, "Sorry about the extended pow-wow. Had a few questions to run by Loopy over there. Do you suppose I could, ah..." he began nodding towards the frying johnny cakes, but James seemed distracted. Out of seemingly nowhere, the man addressed the other group, demanding some sort of explanations.
Rip glanced between the two groups a few times before wordlessly backing away, hand still in his pocket.
[Northeastern Forest ~ Trail to Mountains (Wagon)] (Oswald, Gwion, Iraal, Nemaforte, Teri, Wolfe, Scents, Zuri)
Since the apparent success of the sight restoring ritual, Oswald had relegated himself to resting as Nemaforte had prescribed. Unable to find either the words to express his gratitude or the energy to speak them, he simply pulled himself back up against the wagon's edge and gnawed away at the rest of his ration. A placid smile was drawn across his strange and weary face. He sometimes turned his head this way or that to watch one of those gathered. The newly embodied voices that had taken him aboard. They that had very probably saved his life.
It was a moment of elegant peace, but a temporal peace. As the scouting group returned, something was clearly off. Oswald had yet to hear voices to go with every new face, but barring—by odd chance—the two most alien looking of the company there was only one person whose appearance seemed to fit with the young woman's voice he'd heard before; the one he knew as Zuri. And yes, something was very clearly off with that person.
Oswald turned himself around as quickly as he could without hurting himself, but it wasn't until Nemaforte came out and said she was near dead that he openly responded.
"What?" his eyes widened and his mouth fell open, "Near to death? When did- ...how?"
His already near-palpable confusion was only further exacerbated by Nemaforte's sudden desire to get going with their planned trip to see this nebulous 'dead god'. Oswald, who was sitting, put a hand against the side of his head to steady himself. "What is she doing?" he moaned. "Where is she going? Why isn't she putting together another ritual? This isn't just- this isn't how you treat..."
His words trailed off in their ineffectual way while the limp body was shuffled onto the cart. Looking fearfully between Zuri's body, the group of regular looking humans, and the two aliens, he said, "Something must be done. Something has to be done." But there was a sinking feeling that there were only two people present who would have even the faintest idea of what to do. One seemed to have forgotten all about the matter, and the other was the matter.
[Southern Desert ~ Subterranean Shelter (Hole in the Wall)] (Connie, Joseph, Amy, Maya)
"Might want to smooth out some of those syllables," Connie remarked as she ducked her head, following Amy into the hole.
Joseph had already gone back to his magazine, though it was only one part interest in the content and two parts stalling for time. He hadn't said anything, but he wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of going into the one, singular place that Omar had specifically warned them against going into.
With Omar... sure Joseph was aware that the guy wasn't being particularly forthright about what he knew. He was overly-prepared to lay aside whatever business he had in town to help someone that he claimed was just a random stranger. On top of that, he was stunningly prepared to help out with the very unusual and complicated problem that was plaguing this supposed random stranger. Between his knowledge on the subject, his resources, and his positioning, calling this encounter with Omar a 'coincidence' was a stretch and a half.
Even taking all that into account, Joe didn't really distrust the guy. Everything the man did seemed to have Joseph's own best interests at heart, and while he had mixed feelings about abandoning John and James, he'd be hard pressed to believe that Omar was leading him astray. And if Omar really had any intention to harm him like Connie had (perhaps not so seriously) suggested, there was nothing stopping the man from doing so from the moment Joseph left the security of his hotel room.
So, when Omar warned him not to go somewhere, Joe was inclined to believe that he meant it as good advice rather than as part of some elaborate ploy to gain and then abuse his trust.
He didn't have much time to stall, though; Maya seemed intent on allowing him to pass through first, and he'd already thoughtlessly made eye contact.
"Uh... right, this thing," he said, turning to the hole in the wall and trying to look as disinterested as possible. "Yeah, hey listen," he ducked his head slightly to get a better view of the two already beyond the hole's dark threshold, "maybe it would be best if I stayed- "
"Joseph, I get it," Connie called back. "Cold feet. But listen, this is important for you too. I mean, if we do find anything fishy in here, you're the one it matters to the most. Besides, we're not supposed to leave you alone in case you 'displace' again."
Joe tilted his head, "So you believe him about that but not about anything else?"
"It never hurts to take precautions when you can. Now get in here, it's uh... it's pretty cool."
Connie shone her light around in the dark—it was a lot easier to see now that she herself wasn't surrounded by bright light. The beam of her flashlight illuminated wooden supports lining the walls of the cave, meeting at the ceiling. The floor seemed to tilt in a downward incline the further they went in before leveling out several meters away, where the light reflected against dull metal railing—partly buried beneath years of dirt and disuse.
"Looks like that place was built right next to some old mine," she said as Joseph climbed in through the hole, looking for an alarming moment like the monster she had mistaken him for earlier. The moment evaporated as the lizard grumbled, "Aw, not my good pants," when they got caught on the way through, tearing yet another small hole near the side seam.
Once all the way in, he stood up straight—if he looked up he'd probably be able to touch the ceiling with the tip of his nose—dusted himself off, and looked around. "All right, so it's a mine. I don't see anything that's all that abnormal."
"Yeah, no, not yet," Connie nodded. "But he wouldn't leave anything incriminating just lying around, visible through the hole. As Amy says, it's time to explore."
Joseph glanced back at the hole, suspecting that he'd very much regret leaving it behind, and also waiting to see if Maya was going to come through. "Well, as long as we don't run into the secret chamber of some doomsday cult, I guess I'm game."
"All right, but don't count it out. There's no telling what we'll find down here. Hey," she shone her light across a discarded pickaxe that looked worth it's weight in dust, "maybe we'll strike gold."
There appeared to be another cave wall just past the railing, making the area they stood in a sort of side pocket. To find the rest of the mine, they'd have to follow the tracks either to the left or the right. Hoping to find some kind of a sign, Connie actually found two. One was a small pile of rocks forming a clearly-manmade cairn. The other was a rough arrow scratched into the cave wall. Unfortunately, they seemed to indicate two different directions.
Connie chewed at the inside of her cheek slightly, then turned around. "All right, first things first 'gang':" she thumbed back at the fork and shook her head, "we're not splitting up. But we've got to pick one path or another. We've got rocks, we've got arrows. What do you think?"
this place needs me here
[Southeren Desert (Cave)]
Maya twisted her lips. Damn it, we have to stick with you even longer?
"Maya!" Amy said, "Stop that!"
...Fine. I'll reel it in. Jesus. She looked at Connie, Honestly, this is all pointless. This dude has clearly shown you that there's nothing to be afraid of, and you still think he's a bad guy somehow. At best, we're just gonna find a bunch of nothing. At worse, spiders.
Amy shivered.
...Let's see where the rock path goes. That looks the semi safest. She turned to Amy, Remember, Connie stays 50 feet back away from me.
With that, she walked ahead, leaving a visibly annoyed Amy behind her. Amy turned to the others and gave an apologetic look to Joesph.
"She's....a bit....blunt." she said, "I'll...I-I'll reel her in. But enough about that! Let's follow the rocky trail!" She pointed ahead, "Onwards adventurers!"
She power walked ahead, catching up with Maya. Following the trail, like Maya said, there wasn't much to look at—unless you counted spider webs, snails, and dead flies an interesting site. Soon, the path led to a dead end; a way deeper into the cave was blocked with boulders. Even though Maya was strong, there was no way she would be able to budge something like that.
Amy frowned. "Aw. Looks like that trail ends here." She then turned to the others, "So...I guess the arrow path is next! Lead on, Connie!"
[Southern Desert ~ Old Mine] (Connie, Joseph, Amy, Maya)
Connie sighed. "Whenever you're ready to really talk, I'm right here. And as for Omar, he's acted polite, but suspicious as hell. I don't like suspicious, and I'd rather be safe than sorry."
Joseph merely shrugged and idly waved his tail around. He didn’t have any real context to the conflict between Connie and Maya, nor had he spent enough time around either to favor one over the other. Until he learned more, he felt very much unobliged to take any sort of stance on the matter.
“Don’t worry about spiders, Amy. If you see any, I can squash them for you. Skch.” she made a squishing sound while bringing her fist down on an imaginary spider. "Just like that. Or maybe," she glanced at Joseph, "I don't suppose you like eating-"
"No." he replied flatly. Not that he'd ever tried.
"Right," she turned back to Amy, "So I'll just squash them. And if they come in extra large, well, there are a few pickaxes around here. Anyway…"
Connie followed after Amy and Maya, trailing maybe 10 feet behind them. Joseph held up the rear, although, being without a light of his own, he kept close at Connie’s heels.
Connie frowned when they reached a dead end, and quite quickly at that. Wordlessly,she marched ahead to see the blockage for herself, prepared to tell Maya to get a restraining order if the other girl made a stink.
She shone her flashlight around again, checking the immediate area for any nooks or crannies, or any way to possibly proceed. Unfortunately, after a minute or so of careful examination, seemed as though the only path had, indeed, caved-in. And she had enough sense not to mess with the remains of a cave-in.
Oddly, there was another cairn sitting near the foot of the boulder blockade. It looked completely undisturbed,as though it had been placed after the cave in. And for a moment, Connie thought she saw a strange red light emanating through the thin cracks scattered here and there between the boulders.
There's something here, she thought. Something hidden… but something. However, she knew how the others felt about her intuitions (thoughtful deductions in her mind); without solid, tangible proof, they would surely lose patience.
"All right…" she conceded, "arrow path it is. Back the way we came…"
With a quick sigh, she headed back to what was now the new front of their little procession. "We're taking point," she said as she passed by Joseph, who—lacking a magazine—was fiddling his clawed thumbs in his restlessness. "If this turns up nothing, I guess we'll head back into the shelter and wait it out. Sound all right to you?"
Joe smiled weakly. "Sure," he said, though it wasn't the absolute truth. With one path being a dead end, he felt certain they were close to stumbling upon or into whatever it was that Omar had warned them against. Now the man's earlier lack of specificity felt especially annoying, if not outright aggravating. He was nervous. He was worried. He was often these things, and he knew that. So he didn't say anything but sure. Whether he did it to look braver—or at least less panicky—in front of the present company, or just because he himself had grown so sick of feeling unprepared for everything that life threw his way, Joseph wasn't sure. But it was in silence, with a head full of simmering concerns that he ventured—reluctantly as it was—behind Connie and into the unknown.
It didn't take long at all to reach the branching point again, and it was almost immediately evident that the path marked by arrows would not be so quickly blocked off. As they moved along the dusty railing more pockets of space—much like where they had started—appeared, dug out on both the left and the right. Some had more abandoned tools or crusty old tipped-over mine carts. Some were more barren, looking almost like natural formations. Most didn't seem to lead anywhere beyond a few meters, except for one. It was a pocket a little ways down the line, opening on the right side. Near the back of the pocket was a somewhat narrower tunnel connecting to a different part of the mine.
Connie would have simply made note of it and kept moving along their current path, but in her note-making, she caught sight of another arrow pointing towards the tunnel.
"All right," she glanced back at the others with a grin, "now we're getting somewhere."
this place needs me here
[Southern Desert (Cave)]
To her excitement, it seemed that that the path of arrows didn't lead to a dead end; in fact, it seemed to lead deeper into the cave. She couldn't help but squee.
"This is so cool! We're going deeper in!" she said, almost jumping up and down, "I can't wait to tell grandma and uncle!"
Amy realized she hasn't said much to Joesph, so she decided to try to get to know him a little more.
"Soooo...." she said, "You have any stories to share? About your teleportation? Ooh! Did you have any fun adventures? Also, what were those men you were with like?"
Maya still felt like all of this was a waste of everyone's time, but again, signed nothing. All she wanted to do now was get in and get out, and most of all, see where the hell Davey and the others were.
She then realized that she couldn't keep avoiding Connie; she was stuck with her until Omar got back. So she decided to finally try to talk to her, as much as she really didn't want to, because if she had to endure any other insult, no matter what Amy said, she was going to literally tear her apart.
She walked besides Connie and finally looked at her.
...Hey. she signed at Connie, You really want to talk to a cynical bitch? Or do you have any other 'fuck you's' you haven't said yet? Go on. Spill. You're the one who wanted to talk.
[Mountain Trail: Wagon (Teri, Wolfe, Gwion, Nemaforte, Zuri, Iraal, Scents, Oswald)]
Scents followed Zuri's magically animated body and the rest of the still-ensouled party back to the wagon in silence, just as she had watched the ritual that animated the girl. It wasn't that she couldn't think of anything to say, of course - in fact, she could think of quite a lot right this minute - but none of it would be helpful, and she didn't need a social interaction program to know it would just annoy people, even the already-annoyed humans.
Well, most people. Knowing what would annoy Nemaforte was a job for a full team of xenopsychologists, not one single security guard way in over her eartips.
They rejoined the rest of the group, Oswald now apparently fixed. At which point Zuri collapsed.
Iraal sat up abruptly from the borderline slump she had been in since Nemaforte had left.
As Nemaforte... explained would be way too much, call it "talked", Scents let out a little high-pitched snarl of mixed anger and confusion. "Wha - wait, what??" she got out. "She's dying?" She glanced back at the others, where Teri seemed to be quickly regretting her previous comments. "And you're just - what the fuck is wrong with you?"
Her previous idle curiosity about the orenyan witch was now replaced with a strong desire to remove her armor so she could hit her without it doing too much damage.
Iraal stood up from the back of the wagon. "She's dying. Perhaps we should let her pass."
She spoke blandly, but internally she was having to fight unusually hard to keep from screaming in rage. This had been supposed to be... be fun. A chance to visit a relic from a civilization she would most likely never see again and study it. If not in detail, that might itself be relaxing. But then these - these Goddamned magic-users had attached themselves to her party, and from then on she had been confronted with one unexpected and dangerous development after another. She had thought Nemaforte was comparatively reliable. Now she had to reconsider that.
Scents's ears stood up about as high as they could in her helmet. "Doc - doctor. You don't mean that!" She was actually almost completely certain Iraal didn't - the archaeologist was asocial, not sociopathic. But everyone needed to vent, and someone as off as Iraal might vent stronger than most.
(From a totally pragmatic stance, she was glad she hadn't gotten to know Zuri better. Anger was enough of a problem without more than... objective sadness bristling up too).
Iraal took off her sunglasses and looked down at them. "I do," she said without elaboration. "But she made herself my responsibility. I take care of my responsibilities." She walked up to Nemaforte. "Forget the Dead God for the moment. Is there anything you can do to help now?"
Scents looked over at the other humans, who had all pulled out death rolls, then at the very distressed-sounding Oswald. He seemed to be a lot less hardened (or oblivious) than anyone else here, but she wasn't entirely sure what to do to help him. It had been a while since that part of her training. Glad her helmet was still on, she approached the humans and squatted down besides them.
"This trip," she said, waving a hand about in front of her. "I think Oswald's having a harder time dealing with it. For obvious reasons. Shouldn't maybe someone do something about that?"
Meanwhile, on the featureless exterior of Student's Lament the robot, a glowing blue screen appeared on the outside of the robot's middle cylinder. Lines of text in several languages that none of the otherworlders would recognize scrolled down it, but neither Iraal or Scents noticed.
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Northern Desert - Ritual Campsite (Yamiko, Lupin, Vicky, Mari, James, Kris, Kaitlyn, Hazel)
Yamiko was looking right at Mari, feeling a sudden warm happiness envelop her. So far on her journey to this strange Wild West town, she seemed to be the only person here besides Lupin and the other students who really understood her situation and didn't hold her guilty of some abominable sorcery. Yet at the same time, she felt more and more detached from her body, and soon was completely unable to see straight. So much so that she didn't notice at all that Rip had tried to rejoin the group before reconsidering. In fact, she was just about to collapse onto her back...
But then a thought entered her mind - a couple actually. First, some poor lad getting curb-stomped by some sort of bullies or gangsters or whatnot. Then, a dire thought - no, a demand of concern, coming from James. This snapped Yamiko out of it, and she sat bolt upright, staring directly at James, looking shocked for a couple of seconds...
And then a little snort escaped her nose, and she touched a few fingers to her lips and started snickering. This turned into a stifled giggle, and then an obnoxiously high-pitched laugh. And then she clutched the side of her head. "Whoo, I'm sorry. Must be the sake getting to my head." She sounded much clearer now when she spoke, and seemed much more alert than before, albeit a tiny bit shaky and jumpy. "Let's see, what... oh!" She suddenly remembered the thought she had earlier that she must have sent to James and Kris and Kaitlyn. "Well I don't remember much, but... we were confronted by these shadowy creatures, and..." She paused, and slumped a bit in her seat, shuddering somewhat.
Vicky was giving Yamiko an odd look... but then looked toward Kaitlyn and James. "Oh yeah... that was weird. They were these weird ghost things, just appeared out of nowhere and drove the wagon to a stop. Then they flew in right through us, and well..."
"They... they attacked the wagon driver a-and..." Yamiko was looking right at James, her voice shaking. "...and then they just left."
"They gave us other powers, remember?" Vicky added on. "Oh, which reminds me, I never got to try my new technomancy out-"
"And you're okay with that?" Yamiko was glaring at Vicky. "These were evil creatures that attacked us - you think getting a second power from them is good?"
"W-well you got one too!" Vicky retorted. "And you used it on... aah!"
Yamiko knew what Vicky was about to say, and was furious. Why did Vicky and her blatant truthfulness have to come along? She had to stop her, in the only way she knew how... and before she could finish her sentence, Vicky was experiencing an intense pain in her head, though it was brief. Yamiko didn't so much as move the whole time.
Lupin, meanwhile, had been quiet all this time, watching Yamiko with a sense of interest. He couldn't fathom why she bothered telling them about the incident and then promptly lied about it - unless she somehow leaked a thought of it to them, like the telepathic images she sent him when he rejoined the group? More importantly, her aura looked different. It had this oddly wavy and grayish-green appearance to it earlier, but now it was rigid and more purplish. But when Vicky felt the pain in her head, it turned black.
When it did, Lupin had that same glazed-over look he had when sensing what had troubled Hazel, tinged with fear and shock. A pain shot through his body, and while it was brief, it left his head swimming with a great sense of dread. Looking away from Yamiko, he spoke at last to the Mad Bastards.
"One of them possessed Yamiko as they left," he explained. "That's why she's been acting so... odd lately, besides the booze of course." It just now occurred to him that the possession had seemed to temporarily been relieved by Yamiko's drunken state. He immediately thought of the potion Nemaforte had given them, and for a second he thought about giving her more of it, but with how detached from reality she had become after drinking an already large amount of it, he was worried about what more of it would do at this point. And could the sake have somehow made it worse? "I think once our comrades over at the wagon realised this, they didn't want any more to do with her and kicked her out. I of course couldn't leave her alone, and Vicky flew us out here... but Zuri is still with them."
"Oh it's not that bad," Yamiko mentioned, playing with a strand of her hair. "Though I wouldn't call it possession. More like... co-habitation? Even if I do have another spirit inhabiting my body, I'm as harmless as a rock."
Valley of the Dead God (Mid-Air) - The ghosts of Zuri and her parents
For several moments, the three Watkinsons hovered there watching the Dead God continue to glow and build up energy. As Zuri did so, she had fleeting thoughts about the expedition here, about gathering supplies and heading out in a wagon and all that... and for what? All for some faint hope of uncovering a hint about the entity known as Nightfright back where she was from? Looking at the Dead God, Zuri could see that it seemed more mechanical than magical... maybe some sort of soul-devouring machine. But whatever it was, it was definitely not good.
"I dunno about you, Abbey," Zuri's father said as he turned to her mother, "but I don't think we should hang around here too long. Let's take Zuri and get out of here."
"But Mercury-" said her mom, "Zuri was stuck in that..."
"Not anymore..." Zuri realized all of a sudden, shocked at how free she now felt. And then panic struck her. "I have to warn the others!" She turned to face her parents while letting go of their hands, shaking her head in shame. "I'm sorry, that I can't..."
"Oh please, by all means," offered her father. "You can't go with us to Heaven if you still have business here on Earth after all."
Zuri sighed. "I'll be back..." and she turned around and took off.
Forest Trail - Wagon (Nemaforte, Iraal, Scents, Oswald, Teri, Wolfe, Gwion)
For several moments, Nemaforte stood there bouncing on her toes, waiting for Iraal and company to hurry up already and follow her up the trail. But after a while her bounciness started to slow... and stop. Behind her, she heard Oswald shouting, and heard the word "ritual", and it sounded urgent... Curious, she turned around, and immediately noticed the worry, not only in his aura, but that of practically everyone else there as well. Puzzled, she ran right back over to them - perhaps a bit too quickly, for she tripped over a tree root and did a somersault on the ground... though she picked herself right up afterward, collecting a stray bottle that had fallen out of her bag.
Once she reached the group, she saw Teri and Wolfe lift Zuri onto the cart. Her aura looked even thinner and more faded than before - clinging even more loosely to life. Until suddenly, it flared right back up, glowing bright red... but oddly jumbled.
"Ah, Zuri has returned," Nemaforte announced, again speaking more quickly than she usually did. "Seeming she was astral projecting. Oh?" But something was not quite right. Moving over to the cart, she tossed her bag up onto it, then lifted herself up there as well, peering curiously at Zuri. She was breathing more deeply now, but erratically, as if in a weak panic. She seemed to be trying to speak, but the sounds that came out of her mouth were unintelligible. And though her eyes had opened, they didn't bother looking at anything but the sky.
Or Nemaforte's face when she peered over her - Zuri didn't even seem to notice. It was as if she was as blind as Oswald had been, looking right through her. Notably, her pupils were very dilated.
"Yet still she is dying," she spoke, sounding more perplexed than anything else. Nevertheless, Nemaforte removed her sunglasses once more, and waved a hand right over Zuri's forehead.
"Tai tou hata-le. Sio tea shisho nen dori-me somanda."
She spoke those words unusually slowly, almost in earnest.
After a while, Zuri seemed to be mumbling something, but still no discernible words. Nemaforte was growing impatient... and then she remembered that she was holding the stray bottle in her gloved hand. She looked at what it was... and grinned widely. "This will make her talk." After removing one glove again, she retrieved a pair of forceps and uncapped the bottle, removing a thready white mold from it with the forceps in her gloved hand. "Kraintach. Agony herb."
She extended a finger, which bore a narrow yet sharp nail, and with it, she cut a deep gash in Zuri's forearm, enough to draw blood. After deftly picking some of that blood up with her finger (and tasting it afterward, out of habit), with her other hand she pressed the mold deep into the cut. A few seconds later, Zuri gave a sharp cry, trembling and twitching about with her eyes shut tight. But through her writhing, she managed to speak.
"The Dead God... it is... awakening... you must... leave... it will... destroy the..." She stumbled on a couple of words before continuing, and though she opened her eyes again, they seemed just as glazed over as before. "Leave me... here... and... go..." Her breath suddenly left her with the last word, and she grew still, gasping faintly for air for a while... before stopping altogether.
A while later, high above in the sky, three ghostly figures, each holding hands, ascended into the heavens.
Zuri is now officially dead.
edited 22nd Sep '16 2:24:34 AM 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.
[Southern Desert ~ Old Mine] (Connie, Joseph, Amy, Maya)
The tunnel went straight for a while, then branched off, with one arm continuing straight and the other veering to the right. Connie aimed her flashlight around the walls and corners, but couldn't find any obvious markings to paint the path forward. She took a step back and stared hard at their two options.
"Right," she decided after a moment of dubious consideration. However, before she could take more than a few steps down the path to the right, she was approached by the last person she'd expect—at least of their immediate group.
Despite Maya's hard-edged manner of greeting, Connie's expression softened upon facing her.
"That was too far," she said. "I shouldn't have called you that. It wasn't right. I wish I could say that I didn't mean it, but I d... I was..." she sighed, "I was angry. And, yeah, I meant it, but I can say that it was wrong, and I'm sorry that you had to take it. Obviously, we can't just pretend like it never happened. I mean, it was all too real to just wave off, and, before we go any further with this, let me be honest: I'm not crazy about your attitude. I think you've got a real mean streak, and this way of chipping at people like me where, with what happened outside and with everything that happened today... I got angry. I don't like being angry, but well, whatever, it happened. And I bit back too hard. Again, I'm sorry for calling you that, but I can't say that the other stuff wasn't true."
She paused for a moment, tapping her foot slightly as she thought. "And maybe you really do strongly believe that I'm just this super paranoid girl and that I believe my own shadow is conspiring against me," she shrugged. "If nothing else at least we were honest about our feelings, and now it's out in the open air. You know, I know where I stand with you and you know where you stand with me. And we can take that and try to make it better, or let it get worse. If we're going to despise each other, at least it's not a secret. But if it's all the same to you, I'd... uh, I'd rather not. Despise you, I mean."
She brushed a bit of hair out of her face and half frowned, "Am I making any sense at all here?"
A little further back, Amy had taken a sudden new interest in Joseph, at least regarding his temporal displacement problem. Despite how many times he'd been asked about it, he always felt caught a little off guard when it came up.
"Adventures... uh..." he frowned slightly, "well it's... it's not something I really like to dwell on too much, you know? You go through these things, you meet these people, you make choices, mistakes, and then you just kind of move on. There's no going back, and it's easy to just regret all of the dumb things I did or all of the smart things I should have done, so... yeah, I try not to think about them too much."
When she asked about John and James, Joseph hesitated, trying to think of a quick description that wasn't either 'nice' or 'gay'.
"They, uh... they were really nice. And kind of gay. But it wasn't weird," he quickly added, "no, no, I mean... like I said, they were nice. Friendly. Helpful? I mean, when... with me, with my moving from place to place in the blink of an eye, it's like, I never really have time to prepare for that to happen. I can't exactly book a hotel or call a cab in advance. No, I was—when they found me—I was way out in the desert. I washed up in a river, and I was lost, and they... they were just on vacation, I think. But they took me in, you know, drove me to town, let me stay in their hotel room..."
His eyes stared ahead into the darkness, reading it like a book. The energy seeped out of his voice. "For helping a stranger... especially one like me, it's... I mean, they went pretty far above and beyond. They didn't have to. The world would've blinked and moved on. They really didn't have to."
He paused, turning his big lizardy head away and wincing to stave off something worse. Hoping to talk his way out of his feelings, he continued in a strained, almost choked out way. "It's so stupid, you know... normally with this problem I never know when I'm going to leave, so I never say- I never get to say goodbye to anyone. It just... it wouldn't work unless I said it all the time, which kind of kills the point. But this..." he shut his eyes tightly for a moment, dragging a hand across his head and down the length of his snout. He took a deep breath and continued, "I've got this chance, for once. I know I'm leaving, I know when... and I still don't get to say goodbye. I mean, it's stupid isn't it? Stupid, senseless... ass-backward."
Joseph took a moment to pull himself together enough that he could look at Amy directly. "Sorry, this isn't what you wanted to hear, I know... it's just, I hate looking back and thinking... thinking about these people. How I leave, and they're just stuck wondering. Maybe forever, you know? I can't tell them that I'm all right or anything. There's no telling if I'll ever see them again."
He stopped and leaned against a nearby cave wall, covering his eyes with the palms of his hands. His mouth was pulled into a long frown. "I hate it. I hate this thing."
this place needs me here
[Southern Desert (Cave)]
Amy frowned listening to Joesph's story. From the way he sounded, leaving them seemed to struck a heavy cord with him. She wished she could find these two men, just so they can know that he was alright and he missed them, but she knew that would complicate matter. She still hated the idea of hiding this guy away in a dark, lonely cave, but she didn't know what Omar was planning.
All she could do was comfort him, and she already knew what to do.
She hugged him gently.
"Here's Amy's wonderful-excellent-solution to sadness." she said, "It'll be ok, Joey. You don't mind if I call you Joey, do you? Anyway, it's ok to cry! Let it allll out! You miss them, and that's ok."
Maya, on the other hand, blinked and Connie's response, her eyebrow quirked.
Huh. she signed, I honestly didn't expect any of that. Well...apology accepted. And I'm sorry that I called you sheltered. It was hypocritical of me to say how you shouldn't judge my life and there I was judging yours.
She looked up. I'll be honest; I'm an asshole. Like I said before, I grew up in a scary as hell neighborhood.Every day could be my last, so...being super nice was a luxury. Being nice and shit wasn't gonna get you out alive where I came from. She looked back at Connie, But you don't wanna here a sob story; you want to make sure we don't hate each other. I know I'm an asshole, and I'm trying to reel it in; especially for Amy's sake. I do think you're paranoid, but that didn't give me a right to tear you down like that. Besides, it's not like I can blame you. Tanks nearly killed us and shit; who wouldn't be paranoid after that?
She turned to Connie, So...let's try again. No more name calling, no more insults...let's try to get on the right foot. Let's not be each other's enemies. Think we can do that?
edited 22nd Sep '16 5:15:17 PM by Masterofchaos
[Southern Desert ~ Old Mine] (Connie, Joseph, Amy, Maya)
Joseph wished that a hug was enough to fix the mess that remained of his life. He wished he could click his heels and be sent home. But he was far too lucid to pin any sort of serious hope onto those wishes. Still, for Amy's sake, he tried to relax into her hug. However, when she invited him to cry, he pulled his hands away from his eyes shook his head, brow furrowing with a newfound resistance.
"No... no," he said, staring off into the darkness of the mine behind them, "Crying has never helped me do anything. If I'm ever gonna cry, It'll be when I get home."
He paused. "I'm just worried. What if your friend is right? I mean, Omar is... he might be the only guy who can get me out of this mess, but... I don't know, there is something weird about him. Like, I've never told him about where I live, but he talks like he already knows. He knows I live by the woods, and he knows my room is upstairs. It's really- I mean... it's kind of creepy."
Joseph looked back at Amy, "Obviously I don't want any of this to go bad, but... Jesus, I don't know. There's a world of 'what if's between here and home."
On the rosier side of things, Connie was smiling and nodding at Maya's own admissions. It was such a relief to speak openly again, even if their feud had only lasted somewhere in the neighborhood of an hour or two.
"Absolutely we can," she answered. "We're better than that. I'm with you if you're with me. And hey..." she waved her flashlight towards the path ahead, "don't tell me this isn't even just a little bit interesting. I mean, I wonder how old all of this is? And," a door came into view at the end of the hall—sturdy enough to still be standing, though not quite the solid iron thing that had lead down to the shelter, "now what do you suppose is behind this door?"
this place needs me here
[Southern Desert (Cave)]
Amy frowned when Joesph pulled away.
"Holding it in won't help, either!" she said, "But, do not worry! I won't pressure you! If you want to vent, do when you're ready."
She tilted her head when Joesph voiced her concerns. "You'r worried too? Well, don't be! You have me and Maya—especially Maya! She won't let anything hurt us! Trust me!"
Now that she thought about it, she never liked the idea of Omar hiding Joesph away from the world, especially from two people who care deeply for him. Denying him the chance to give them a proper goodbye seemed horrible. He wasn't sure if he would ever see them again.
Her eyes lit up, "Ooh! Here, I'll tell you what; we'll fly into town so you can see those guys you were talking about. That way you can explain everything to them and you can finally get that weight off your shoulder. But we gotta make sure Omar doesn't know. How does that sound?"
Maya looked at door, rubbing her chin.
Spooky, scary skeletons? Maya signed, On a serious note, I have no idea. For all we know, we could find a treasure chest and we all get rich. Still, now you got me curious. You brave enough to open that door, or do you need me to do it?
Attitude is prohibited
[Outside the Bed & Breakfast] (Cynthia, Rin)
Rin followed her inside. "You are remarkably resilient," she commented. "I doubt most people in your condition would still have the presence of mind to..." She trailed off, looking slightly concerned. 'Please let me know if you need any help."
Not entirely dead.
Crazy Kiwi
Northern Desert ~ Picnic Site
[Rip, Hazel, Lupin, Mari, Vicky, Yamiko, Kaitlyn, Kris and James]Kris shook off her shock at the sudden mental image of the events at the wagon and realised that Rip was speaking "...Do you suppose I could, ah..." She noticed he was looking at the johnny cakes, obviously hungry, but broke off when he noticed that James was otherwise occupied with Yamiko.
Rip backed away, obviously not wanting to intrude. Kris shot him a smile and picked up the pan that James had set aside. "There's plenty," she said to Rip, "come and help yourself."
James listened to Yamiko, Vicky and Lupin give their accounts of what had happened at the wagon, growing steadily angrier as it became apparent that the stories didn't match. According to Yamiko, they had been attacked by shadowy figures that "just left"; according to Vicky, the figures had given them powers - which was corroborated by Yamiko - and Yamiko had used her powers on... someone. According to Lupin, one of the shadowy figures had "possessed" Yamiko, which had resulted in the others on the wagon kicking her out and, ultimately, the three of them making their way to the desert. Yamiko's closing statement confirmed Lupin's story, making a lie of what she had initially tried to claim about the incident.
All the things that had puzzled James since the students' arrival now made sense and he finally had an answer to the nature of the "disagreement" that had resulted in the splitting of the wilderness party. It didn't take much to connect the unnamed "someone" to the image of the wagoneer - especially not after Vicky also seemed to suffer some sort of distress just for mentioning it. Given that Yamiko didn't touch Vicky - nor the wagon driver, it seemed - it was clear that she had the ability to cause pain at a distance. Small wonder the others on the wagon hadn't wanted her around, especially if - as Lupin said - she was behaving oddly due to the influence of whatever had "possessed", or "cohabited with", her.
Why had Lupin elected to follow her? And how had he managed to tell the full story when Vicky had been cut short just for starting to mention what she had done? James remembered that Yamiko and Lupin were lovers, which probably went a long way in answering both questions. So, Lupin's safe, but the rest of us are at risk if we say or do anything she doesn't like.
"So," said Kaitlyn, looking directly at Yamiko, "you can cause intense pain at a distance and you can probably read our minds; there's someone else inside that noggin of yours and the other group deemed you too dangerous to have around? Have I missed anything out?"
Northeastern Forest ~ Trail to Mountains (Wagon)
[Oswald, Iraal, Nemaforte, Scents, Zuri, Teri, Wolfe and Gwion]Teri could see that Oswald was clearly distressed by the turn of events and wished she could do something, but there was nothing she could think of. The only person who had any experience or skills in this area was Nemaforte, who seemed intent on racing off up the trail by herself.
Scents, for all she was a furry alien, expressed her displeasure and disbelief in very human terms and Iraal, who didn't seem particularly fazed that Zuri was near to death, actively told Nemaforte to do something about it.
Scents approached and pointed out that Oswald was distressed and probably needed attention. Teri turned to reply and was distracted by the strange lettering that had suddenly appeared on the robot's side. "Here," she pointed at the robot, "is it supposed to do that?"
All of a sudden, Nemaforte announced that Zuri had returned and Teri turned back, the robot and its strange lettering forgotten.
Gwion watched in disbelief as Nemaforte produced something called "agony herb", opened up Zuri's arm with a fingernail, licked the blood off her fingernail and introduced the aforementioned herb into the wound - but all of that paled beside the result, as Zuri regained consciousness and instantly announced that the "Dead God" was awakening and would destroy the.. the what? The mountain range? The world? Whatever it was, Zuri didn't say. She just said "leave me here and go" - which was reassuring in a way, suggesting that going somewhere else wasn't futile - and then slumped and quickly stopped breathing altogether.
"Dunno about y'all," said the driver, Matt, "but I think we should get out of here." He looked obviously rattled by the events of the day and the dire pronouncement by, and sudden demise of, Zuri.
Wolfe shook his head in disbelief, staring at Zuri for a moment, then looked at the driver as if suddenly remembering he was there. "What? Yeah, There seems no point in going on." He looked up the trail, well aware of why he had wanted to go there, and hoped like hell that the person they were seeking wasn't sequestered away somewhere up in those mountains.
Teri followed Wolfe's gaze, knowing exactly what his concerns were as she shared them. Hopefully the mountains were a dead end and that either James and Kris or Peggy and Karl were on the right track. She didn't want to give up the search, but the urgency in Zuri's voice was clear - it was as if she had made a Herculean effort to come back from the brink of death just to warn them.
Gwion looked at Iraal, waiting for her say on the matter. If she wanted to press on, he would have to strongly advise her against it - though no doubt Scents would also have reservations about allowing a protectee to venture into danger.
edited 24th Sep '16 8:43:44 PM by Wolf1066
[Town ~ Outside the Bed & Breakfast] (Cynthia, Rin)
Cynthia wadded up the section of her shirt that she had removed as she looked up at Rin, "Oh, this? I've dealt with worse." Tossing the ball of blood soaked cotton aside, she retrieved a towel from her pack, and placed it over her lap. Then she carefully attempted to clean the wound out with alcohol. The young knight flinched at the pain caused by the application of stinging alcohol.
After a brief moment of mild whimpering, she applied a pad of folded gauze to the wound site, followed by wrapping gauze around her stomach to hold it in place. Bandaging now complete, Cynthia returned the supplies back into the first aid kit. Afterwards, she rummaged through her pack, before pulling out a rag and a canteen full of water.
Wetting the rag, she went about scrubbing the blood from her officer's tunic. As she cleaned her coat, she noticed some black flecks on her rag, "What's this?" she ask as she peered at the rag, scratching her chin. She gave it an experimental touch, the flecks were cold to the touch. A faint, unpleasant tingling sensation began creeping up her fingers as she continued to touch it, causing her to recoil away in discomfort. She noticed more flecks on the towel, washed from her wound by the alcohol.
[Northern Desert - Ritual Site (Camp)] (Rip, Yamiko, Vicky, Lupin, Mari, Hazel, James, Kris, Kaitlyn)
Mari stood patiently as she listened to Yamiko give her explanation. She began to frown as she began to sense a familiar pooling of energy, similar yet different to her own, within Yamiko. She sensed the power surge towards Vicky, causing her immense discomfort.
After Lupin finished the exposition, Mari nibbled some more on her slice of bread before pouring another glass of sake. "Yamiko, that is a dark ability you received. You shouldn't use it recklessly." She downed the glass.
Suddenly, everything was washed over by a nice hue of green as the brightness of her surroundings began to increase. Mari held up a hand to shield her eyes as the desert sand began to glow, only to panic slightly at the faint shadowy wisps emanating from her hand. She waved her hand slowly around in front of her face, noting they were less noticeable the further away she held her hand.
Taking deep breathes to calm herself, Mari was coming to the realization that sooner or later, her youkai nature would probably be the next topic the others would be inquisitive about.
Lupin should be able to notice Mari's youki a bit better now.
edited 26th Sep '16 2:02:23 AM by WillDeRegio
[Northeaster Forest ~ Trail to Mountains (Wagon)] (Oswald, Gwion, Iraal, Nemaforte, Scents, Teri, Wolfe)
Oswald witnessed the following evens with eyes full of quiet panic. He was having difficulty controlling his breathing. It jumped out of him in erratic shudders and returned in sharp seizes. Nemaforte's return and subsequent taking of command seemed to calm him a bit, or at least caused him to devote more of his limited energy towards watching Nemaforte act rather than towards futile panic.
Even through the witch's most questionable procedures, Oswald let no more than slight twitches around his eyes get in the way of his observation, as though his own unbroken focus would somehow lend power to the success of whatever rite Nemaforte was attempting. When Zuri managed to speak, those same eyes lit up, clinging to what must have seemed like the edge of success. They remained lit up as she went silent, and even, for a short time, after her breathing halted.
Reality set in, perhaps, a little slowly. At some point, the body Oswald was staring at had become a corpse. Around the same time, his stare faded slowly, overtaken by a deadened glaze. It passed across the blur of those gathered around, not really seeing them, though this wasn't due to any magical curse. With his face already so weary to begin with, it was difficult to see if his eyes were any redder than before. They certainly hadn't gotten any better.
Without a word, he pulled the edges of his tarnished cloak closer and turned away. He laid down on his side, leaving death and confusion behind him.
[Southern Desert ~ Old Mine] (Connie, Joseph, Amy, Maya)
Joseph gave Amy a sideways glance, unsure if she just meant fly as in 'get there really quickly through grounded means', or fly as in... fly. Joseph didn't particularly like looking clueless, so he didn't ask.
Instead, he stuck his teeth out thoughtfully for a moment, then said, "I mean, that sounds good, but do you think we'll have time? I mean, we're kind of in the middle of a thing down here which..." he shrugged, "who knows how long it's gonna take. And at the same time, Omar has a motorcycle. He's probably reached town by now, and who knows how long he'll stay there. There's probably a good chance we'll run into him on the way there, and, you know, whatever his real intentions are, he won't be happy to see us fleeing the cave."
A few meters ahead, Connie held up her hand and, speaking in a well-mannered way, assured Maya, "I got this."
As she approached the door, she saw that it had not one, but two large iron bars holding it shut from the outside. Connie felt a shiver run across her arms as she stepped closer. "Locked up tight," she murmured. "I think this is it."
She stood in front of the door, hesitating for a moment as though she was unsure after all whether she had the guts to see what was on the other side. But before Maya could interject with another challenge, Connie bit onto the handle of her flashlight, freeing up her hands. She took hold of the lower iron bar, lifting it slowly out of its base, then lowering it in her arms before letting it drop to the ground with a soft thud and a light dusting. She turned her head for a moment to glance back at Maya, grinning an uneasy flashlight grin. Without further delay, she reached up and repeated the process with the upper bar, flinching slightly as it clattered to the ground against the first bar. She withdrew her flashlight, drying off any trace of saliva, then grabbed the door's handle with her free hand, and slowly pulled it open.
The room on the other side of the door was small, maybe once being an inner-mine tool-shop or office. It was devoid of furniture unless one counted the mattress and blanket in the corner. There were the remnants of a bit of food and water as well, and a little pot in the corner that one might accidentally mistake for cookware. All the makings to house a prisoner, which only left...
"Holy shit..." Connie spoke in a hushed voice, mouth falling slightly agape, "I... I think I might've been... I think I was right."
Indeed, the room that was fit to house a prisoner housed a prisoner. He looked to be a middle-aged man with dark hair and thick sideburns, wearing a wrinkled white shirt and a waistcoat, blue pants and some posh black shoes. Actually, the whole thing might've looked posh, if not for the scruffiness that that came part and parcel with any sort of unmethodized prison situation.
Before going any further, Connie turned her head and called back, "Guys, guys, get over here!"
this place needs me here
Crazy Kiwi
Southern Desert ~ Old Mine ~ small room
[Connie, Joseph, Amy, Maya, prisoner]Many thanks, Ryuhza, for the set-up and the introduction :)
At the sudden opening of the door and the bright light - far too bright to be anything but one of those newfangled "electric torches" - the prisoner looked up, fearing the worst. A voice - a woman's voice, this time - yelled for others to come.
"Please..." His voice sounded weak and piteous in his own ears. He tried again, trying to sound less woefully desperate. "Please, I've done nothing to you, I have nothing for you. Let me go now." His accent revealed that he had been given a good education at a private school in England.
He squinted into the light, trying to make out how many there were, but could see nothing but the harsh glare that hurt his eyes, too long accustomed to darkness.
edited 26th Sep '16 4:39:05 AM by Wolf1066
[Southern Desert (Cave)-(Holy Shit)]
Yeah, Joesph was right. Maybe they didn't have much time, and motorcycle was faster than a plane. "Hmm...I'll think of something! Don't worry! I'll-"
Before she could finish, she heard Connie call them. From the sound of her voice, something was incredibly wrong. When she came over, her jaw dropped, her heart stopped, and her eyes widened in horror.
"Oh my God..." she gasped.
Holy fuck... Maya signed, also staring at the man in complete and utter shock. Connie, you were fucking right!
Everything Connie warned suddenly dawned on Amy. Hiding Joesph far away, denying him from seeing the people who care about him, locking away a huge part of the cave...it all made sense. Omar was hiding a prisoner. Who knows how long this man has been here. He was rightfully scared, so she tried her best to reassure him that none of them were a threat.
"Look," she said, finding some strength to talk to this poor prisoner, "We promise, we aren't going to hurt you. We just want to know how you got here. How long have you been here?"
She looked at Joesph and Connie, hoping that they would help her calm the man down.
Crazy Kiwi
Southern Desert - Mine - Small Room
[Connie, Amy, Maya, Joseph, prisoner]Another woman's voice, a conciliatory tone, reassuring him and asking questions. The prisoner raised one hand to shield his eyes from the light, his other hand remained clamped firmly against his stomach. "There were men... ruffians. At least three of them so far as I could tell. They put a sack over my head so I couldn't see them, but I heard three distinct voices. They abducted me from my home and brought me here. I'm sorry, I don't know how long I've been here - they took my watch and left me in the dark. I've slept five or six times, maybe more - but that means nothing without the passage of days to keep time." He shook his head. "They took everything. My watch, my shoelaces, my suspenders... everything. Where am I? How far away is Hartmouth?" He pronounced it Hartmith. "Or New London?" His voice trailed off.
There was something else... oh, yes. "My name's Aubrey. Aubrey Branscombe. I'm afraid you find me at the worst I've been in two years. And whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?"
edited 26th Sep '16 6:02:03 PM by Wolf1066
Attitude is prohibited
[Outside the Bed & Breakfast] (Cynthia, Rin)
Rin was rather impressed by the woman's hardiness. She was certainly tougher than most ordinary people she'd met, at any rate. The strange flecks on the rag and the towel caught her attention, as did the woman's reaction to them, and she went over to investigate. She picked one up off the towel and held it up to the nearest light to get a better look at it. "Hmm," she said. "Some kind of metal? Lead, maybe? Uranium?" She looked over at her companion. "Any ideas? Also, I don't think I ever asked your name... Sorry about that. I'm Rin," she said, with a quick nod of her head.
Not entirely dead.
[Town ~ Bed & Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Cynthia, Rin)
A puzzled look crossed Cynthia's face, "Uranium? What's that?" It took a brief moment before he young knight returned Rin's nod, "Oh, right, my name's Cynthia." She placed the towel on the table before taking another look at the black flecks. "I'm not sure what kind of metal it is, but I don't think it's lead. It seems to disrupt my magic. Lead doesn't do that."
Looking down at her tunic, Cynthia was pleased that she had scrubbed away all the blood, however, she frowned as she traced a finger across the gash made by the knife. She shrugged as she buttoned her uniform back up. Next, she began threading her belt around her waist.
Now that she wasn't fighting or focused on treating her wounds, Cynthia was now able to get a better look at Rin. She didn't recognize the body conforming outfit as belonging to any military she knew, though she knew many people who didn't wear standard issue outfits like her own. There was, however, one feature of Rin's that stuck out to her, "You have blue hair..." Cynthia stated, brushing a hand through her own black hair. Mental gears turning, she pointed towards the black flakes, "You might want to be careful around that."
edited 27th Sep '16 12:23:59 AM by WillDeRegio
[Southern Desert ~ Hidden Cave (Subterranean Shelter)] (Connie, Joseph, Amy, Maya)
"Secretive..." Joseph shrugged, "yeah maybe. He knows a lot, that's for sure, but, well... it's like he doesn't tell me about much unless he can back it up somehow. Like this place," he jabbed a clawed thumb up at the ceiling. "I didn't even know this was down here until he got that key. He just told me not to worry about sleeping in the cave for too long and said he was going to take care of some business in a town south of here—stuff that was important to getting me back home."
He flipped his magazine back open and gazed down at it's pages, "I guess it kind of leaves me in the dark, but that's the story of my life. Anyway, it's worked out so far. Secret agent though, I don't know about that. Maybe back home, but I don't know why a secret agent would care about me here. It's not like I'm a VIP or know dangerous government secrets."
Connie was still standing near the entry stairway, listening carefully. Soon, the muffled sound of a motorcycle's engine kicking on—distinct from the rumble of the nearby generator—could be heard, followed by revving, and all of these sounds drifting away. Omar had finally left.
"I think he's full of it," she said, turning back to the others. She held up her hands immediately, as though to quell the coming tide of doubt, "yeah yeah, call me paranoid or whatever. Maybe you're right, but none of this makes sense to me. Not honest sense at least. I mean, first of all, I have to admit he kinda gives me the creeps. Like sure he's being all warm and friendly, but he's so clearly hiding things and we're all just acting like that's okay. Look at our situation: we found this guy's hidey-hole by mistake, he's clearly not expecting us, so he saddles us with something that will keep us here—no offense Joseph—down here in an even more hidden place, until he gets back when he'll be better prepared to deal with us intruders."
She glanced between the three others, eyes lingering briefly on Maya, "...do you guys ever watch horror movies? Ones where the main characters are stuck in some creepy isolated place; maybe lured there by someone who seems all nice and friendly? I mean did you not see that big door we came through? Omar has the only key to that, by the way, and... shit, it's not shut is it?"
Connie paused for a moment to step towards the stairway. It wasn't shut.
"Anyway," she continued, pointing at Joseph, "you were with two guys right? Is that what you meant by 'dads', by the way?"
"It's a bit of a story," Joe said, glancing away as a sheepish grin teased across his face.
"And Omar is blocking them from finding out about you, right? That you're here. He said it would," she made finger quotes, " 'complicate' things. That it would make things risky or whatever vague word he used. But— I mean, don't you get it? He just made up a story to explain any sort of disappearance you could have. To keep people from looking for you. To keep people from finding you, maybe here. And maybe that's exactly what he's trying to avoid."
"Well, yeah, that's more-or-less what he said." Joe tilted his head slightly.
"Yeah but the reasons he gave don't make sense," Connie returned. "Why would he be worried about causing some sort of time-consuming conflict with these guys you know when you're right here, alive and healthy, ready to clear things up at the drop of a hat?"
Joseph hesitated, looking thoughtfully at the floor. "Well, I mean, it's still kind of risky. John might freak out, or..."
"You know what would be riskier?" Connie stared at him seriously, "If your friends kept looking for you, and they found you here, and you weren't healthy, and maybe you weren't alive either. "
Joseph squinted his large eyes, grimacing a bit. He sometimes let his own mind get carried away, but this... "I think that's a bit much," he said, tucking his magazine under one arm. "Like... first off, why would this guy I met randomly in a hotel last night want me dead?"
Connie shrugged, "Who can know? Sick people do sick things for sick reasons. Maybe he's a like a witch doctor looking for a jumbo-sized eye of newt"
Joseph looked unimpressed.
"And then this hole." Connie gestured back at the ominous hole in the wall. "This makes the least sense of all. He tells us not to go in, says it's dangerous, but can't tell us why? What the hell sense does that make? The only reason I can think of that he'd both want to keep it a secret and warn us away is if whatever is inside somehow made him look bad. Like a sacrificial altar, or maybe a pile of bones. I mean, jeez," she pointed at the bits of wood on the ground, "he had it all blocked up. I bet he's got some amontillado shit going on in there. I say we take a look."
She glanced at the girl sitting on the floor, "Maya, have you still got that flashlight?"
this place needs me here