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Realistic or Modern BEING HUMAN
- Thread starter Avari
- Start date
WillfulWren
Rawr XD
Silver Ferae, Street,
MagicPenguin
Shotgunpenguin
"I... You want me to leave?" Silver asked quietly, staring at the ground and looking almost hurt as she tried to figure out what she did.
People - especially her boss - told her she was stupid, and couldn't do anything right, but surely she hadn't already managed to upset this person. She hadn't done anything wrong, had she?! She bit her lip.
"Well, I have a problem with that." She said seriously and gravely, like one giving a funeral speech, then smiled brightly at him "I have no clue where I am! And it's safer if we're together, right? So, you take care of her, and I can catch the puppy without you interfering! Animals like me. Except mice. They get scared."
On Aether, she would have been able to find her way back home. simply by following her scent, but here? She would just have to hope she bumped into someone she knew. Though, speaking of abilities on Aether....
"I don't catch colds, anyway. Never have." That could all be about to change, however.
MagicPenguin
Shotgunpenguin
"I... You want me to leave?" Silver asked quietly, staring at the ground and looking almost hurt as she tried to figure out what she did.
People - especially her boss - told her she was stupid, and couldn't do anything right, but surely she hadn't already managed to upset this person. She hadn't done anything wrong, had she?! She bit her lip.
"Well, I have a problem with that." She said seriously and gravely, like one giving a funeral speech, then smiled brightly at him "I have no clue where I am! And it's safer if we're together, right? So, you take care of her, and I can catch the puppy without you interfering! Animals like me. Except mice. They get scared."
On Aether, she would have been able to find her way back home. simply by following her scent, but here? She would just have to hope she bumped into someone she knew. Though, speaking of abilities on Aether....
"I don't catch colds, anyway. Never have." That could all be about to change, however.
koala
™
Elena "Rose" Benoit
Outfit: Rainy
Date: Sunday 07/29/2018
Location: Library > Dinky coffee shop
Mentions: -
Interacting: Roland
MagicPenguin
Outfit: Rainy
Date: Sunday 07/29/2018
Location: Library > Dinky coffee shop
Mentions: -
Interacting: Roland
MagicPenguin
4:15 PM and counting
Elena jumped for the second time that day, a look of pure horror encompassing her face. She let out a "Dear God!" while her dainty handed quickly covered her heart, as if she were some elderly woman. It took a good ten seconds for her to realize her life wasn't in eminent danger, eyes scanning the face before her like some digital scanner. That was when she snorted at her own behavior and thought about what the man thought about the comedic display.
"Roland," sighed the blonde as she bent down with a heave. A few strands of hair fell as she did so, but the woman quickly pushed them behind her ears. "You scared me." Elena bit her inner cheek upon saying the words, realizing it was quite obvious he had given her a fright. There was no going back though and surely he understood what she meant. After laughing awkwardly at herself, Elena adjusted the handle and continued to follow the crowd out.
"Oh, I was just doing some writing." Elena responded as her thoughts seemingly drifted off. Thanks to her new friends, she'd found the inspiration to write again. Writing had always remained a hobby after discovering her love of music, but with the daily stress in her life and never ending nagging from her mother, it became a lost art for her. The otherworldly people, however, seemed to be the muses she so desperately needed and even the subjects of her novel. Should she have told someone she began writing a book about them? The question pondered in her mind for quite a while, but it always ended with "I will later."
Nodding at Roland's words, she'd only chipped in a few comments about the weather. It may have been one of the wettest cities in the world, but she'd never seen a storm so bad. Sure, there were places where water was a bit higher than normal but the sky looked like a scene from an apocalyptic movie. "Oh my god..." Elena muttered before realizing she was talking to herself. "Oh sorry," she laughed lightly while her eyes seemed to skitter all over the place behind her large-frame glasses. Did they bring the apocalypse with them????
Following Roland into the pelting rain, she slightly thanked herself for wearing the appropriate attire. On most days, she just wore whatever she felt like since a little rain could never hurt a Londoner. Call it intuition, but she had a feeling the weather would make a turn for the worst when she woke up. The only problem was that the water was a lot higher than she expected, and the woman hoped it wouldn't get so tall that her boots would begin to flood.
After a few minutes of walking a light chatter, Elena noticed a small coffee shop. The lights were dim but there were crowds of people either inside the building or hovering under the pavilion. It appeared to be one of the few places with actual electricity, and she nodded towards Roland as she began heading that way. "I hope you don't mind," Elena began as she opened the glass door, a small bell ringing to alert everyone of their presence. "I could really use some caffeine right about now, especially after that awful nap."
The barista gave Elena a small cup of steaming coffee, its color a light cream from the amount of milk she'd asked for. Black coffee was far too bitter for her and even her friends told her she had the strongest sweet tooth. That was the least of her worries, however. Elena was hardly the type to choose coffee over tea, so the fact that she got it then meant she was feeling a bit... disoriented and uncomfortable.
Elena jumped for the second time that day, a look of pure horror encompassing her face. She let out a "Dear God!" while her dainty handed quickly covered her heart, as if she were some elderly woman. It took a good ten seconds for her to realize her life wasn't in eminent danger, eyes scanning the face before her like some digital scanner. That was when she snorted at her own behavior and thought about what the man thought about the comedic display.
"Roland," sighed the blonde as she bent down with a heave. A few strands of hair fell as she did so, but the woman quickly pushed them behind her ears. "You scared me." Elena bit her inner cheek upon saying the words, realizing it was quite obvious he had given her a fright. There was no going back though and surely he understood what she meant. After laughing awkwardly at herself, Elena adjusted the handle and continued to follow the crowd out.
"Oh, I was just doing some writing." Elena responded as her thoughts seemingly drifted off. Thanks to her new friends, she'd found the inspiration to write again. Writing had always remained a hobby after discovering her love of music, but with the daily stress in her life and never ending nagging from her mother, it became a lost art for her. The otherworldly people, however, seemed to be the muses she so desperately needed and even the subjects of her novel. Should she have told someone she began writing a book about them? The question pondered in her mind for quite a while, but it always ended with "I will later."
Nodding at Roland's words, she'd only chipped in a few comments about the weather. It may have been one of the wettest cities in the world, but she'd never seen a storm so bad. Sure, there were places where water was a bit higher than normal but the sky looked like a scene from an apocalyptic movie. "Oh my god..." Elena muttered before realizing she was talking to herself. "Oh sorry," she laughed lightly while her eyes seemed to skitter all over the place behind her large-frame glasses. Did they bring the apocalypse with them????
Following Roland into the pelting rain, she slightly thanked herself for wearing the appropriate attire. On most days, she just wore whatever she felt like since a little rain could never hurt a Londoner. Call it intuition, but she had a feeling the weather would make a turn for the worst when she woke up. The only problem was that the water was a lot higher than she expected, and the woman hoped it wouldn't get so tall that her boots would begin to flood.
After a few minutes of walking a light chatter, Elena noticed a small coffee shop. The lights were dim but there were crowds of people either inside the building or hovering under the pavilion. It appeared to be one of the few places with actual electricity, and she nodded towards Roland as she began heading that way. "I hope you don't mind," Elena began as she opened the glass door, a small bell ringing to alert everyone of their presence. "I could really use some caffeine right about now, especially after that awful nap."
The barista gave Elena a small cup of steaming coffee, its color a light cream from the amount of milk she'd asked for. Black coffee was far too bitter for her and even her friends told her she had the strongest sweet tooth. That was the least of her worries, however. Elena was hardly the type to choose coffee over tea, so the fact that she got it then meant she was feeling a bit... disoriented and uncomfortable.
Elena jumped for the second time that day, a look of pure horror encompassing her face. She let out a "Dear God!" while her dainty handed quickly covered her heart, as if she were some elderly woman. It took a good ten seconds for her to realize her life wasn't in eminent danger, eyes scanning the face before her like some digital scanner. That was when she snorted at her own behavior and thought about what the man thought about the comedic display.
"Roland," sighed the blonde as she bent down with a heave. A few strands of hair fell as she did so, but the woman quickly pushed them behind her ears. "You scared me." Elena bit her inner cheek upon saying the words, realizing it was quite obvious he had given her a fright. There was no going back though and surely he understood what she meant. After laughing awkwardly at herself, Elena adjusted the handle and continued to follow the crowd out.
"Oh, I was just doing some writing." Elena responded as her thoughts seemingly drifted off. Thanks to her new friends, she'd found the inspiration to write again. Writing had always remained a hobby after discovering her love of music, but with the daily stress in her life and never ending nagging from her mother, it became a lost art for her. The otherworldly people, however, seemed to be the muses she so desperately needed and even the subjects of her novel. Should she have told someone she began writing a book about them? The question pondered in her mind for quite a while, but it always ended with "I will later."
Nodding at Roland's words, she'd only chipped in a few comments about the weather. It may have been one of the wettest cities in the world, but she'd never seen a storm so bad. Sure, there were places where water was a bit higher than normal but the sky looked like a scene from an apocalyptic movie. "Oh my god..." Elena muttered before realizing she was talking to herself. "Oh sorry," she laughed lightly while her eyes seemed to skitter all over the place behind her large-frame glasses. Did they bring the apocalypse with them????
Following Roland into the pelting rain, she slightly thanked herself for wearing the appropriate attire. On most days, she just wore whatever she felt like since a little rain could never hurt a Londoner. Call it intuition, but she had a feeling the weather would make a turn for the worst when she woke up. The only problem was that the water was a lot higher than she expected, and the woman hoped it wouldn't get so tall that her boots would begin to flood.
After a few minutes of walking a light chatter, Elena noticed a small coffee shop. The lights were dim but there were crowds of people either inside the building or hovering under the pavilion. It appeared to be one of the few places with actual electricity, and she nodded towards Roland as she began heading that way. "I hope you don't mind," Elena began as she opened the glass door, a small bell ringing to alert everyone of their presence. "I could really use some caffeine right about now, especially after that awful nap."
The barista gave Elena a small cup of steaming coffee, its color a light cream from the amount of milk she'd asked for. Black coffee was far too bitter for her and even her friends told her she had the strongest sweet tooth. That was the least of her worries, however. Elena was hardly the type to choose coffee over tea, so the fact that she got it then meant she was feeling a bit... disoriented and uncomfortable.
"Roland," sighed the blonde as she bent down with a heave. A few strands of hair fell as she did so, but the woman quickly pushed them behind her ears. "You scared me." Elena bit her inner cheek upon saying the words, realizing it was quite obvious he had given her a fright. There was no going back though and surely he understood what she meant. After laughing awkwardly at herself, Elena adjusted the handle and continued to follow the crowd out.
"Oh, I was just doing some writing." Elena responded as her thoughts seemingly drifted off. Thanks to her new friends, she'd found the inspiration to write again. Writing had always remained a hobby after discovering her love of music, but with the daily stress in her life and never ending nagging from her mother, it became a lost art for her. The otherworldly people, however, seemed to be the muses she so desperately needed and even the subjects of her novel. Should she have told someone she began writing a book about them? The question pondered in her mind for quite a while, but it always ended with "I will later."
Nodding at Roland's words, she'd only chipped in a few comments about the weather. It may have been one of the wettest cities in the world, but she'd never seen a storm so bad. Sure, there were places where water was a bit higher than normal but the sky looked like a scene from an apocalyptic movie. "Oh my god..." Elena muttered before realizing she was talking to herself. "Oh sorry," she laughed lightly while her eyes seemed to skitter all over the place behind her large-frame glasses. Did they bring the apocalypse with them????
Following Roland into the pelting rain, she slightly thanked herself for wearing the appropriate attire. On most days, she just wore whatever she felt like since a little rain could never hurt a Londoner. Call it intuition, but she had a feeling the weather would make a turn for the worst when she woke up. The only problem was that the water was a lot higher than she expected, and the woman hoped it wouldn't get so tall that her boots would begin to flood.
After a few minutes of walking a light chatter, Elena noticed a small coffee shop. The lights were dim but there were crowds of people either inside the building or hovering under the pavilion. It appeared to be one of the few places with actual electricity, and she nodded towards Roland as she began heading that way. "I hope you don't mind," Elena began as she opened the glass door, a small bell ringing to alert everyone of their presence. "I could really use some caffeine right about now, especially after that awful nap."
The barista gave Elena a small cup of steaming coffee, its color a light cream from the amount of milk she'd asked for. Black coffee was far too bitter for her and even her friends told her she had the strongest sweet tooth. That was the least of her worries, however. Elena was hardly the type to choose coffee over tea, so the fact that she got it then meant she was feeling a bit... disoriented and uncomfortable.
Shotgunpenguin
I have become haitus, destroyer of RP's
Juniper Arc
Street Corner
As Juniper was weighing the pros and cons of punting a yelping dog into the river she was interrupted as a brown haired man struggled his way towards her and the dog. His entire outfit was soaked, showing that he had been outside for some time. The puppy barked happily at the sight of the man before splashing his way down the street, the water making it so it had to jump out of the water if it wanted to go anywhere. "I'm fine." She growled out at the man before turning to find her bike. It was hard to spot, the handlebar just barely jutting out of the flooded street as she slowly made her way over and picked it up. Miraculously there was only minimal damage to the frame, a few scratches and scrapes but those could easily be fixed. The real problem would be keeping rust from forming, which would be hard considering the current weather.
Juniper winced as she used her hand to wipe off the blood right above her eye before turning to the man. "If you want to pay me back take care of your damn dog before it kills someone." He was right about her wound though, leaving it open in these conditions would just be begging for an infection among other things. She was too far from her apartment to even consider trying to ride back there, if she could even ride at all in this rain. Looking around she could just barely recognize where she was, which was a relatively short distance from the cafe that she had visited before. "There's a cafe a while down in the direction your dog is running, I'm sure that they'll have bandages and at least basic medical supplies." As she turned to the man she noticed the addition of a silver haired girl who flipped through emotions like pages on a book. Something about her felt strangely familiar in a way, like she knew who she was but just couldn't place it. "Doesn't matter, not worth losing sleep over"
Turning her bike she looked over her shoulder at the duo, "Whatever you two decide to do make a decision quick. This storm is only going to get worse and I don't feel like dying over some stupid dog." Using her bike for support Juniper started to walk away from the two in the dogs direction. It didn't matter to her if they caught it or not, but since it wasn't too far out of her way she could at least attempt to help.
WillfulWren
,
MagicPenguin
Street Corner
As Juniper was weighing the pros and cons of punting a yelping dog into the river she was interrupted as a brown haired man struggled his way towards her and the dog. His entire outfit was soaked, showing that he had been outside for some time. The puppy barked happily at the sight of the man before splashing his way down the street, the water making it so it had to jump out of the water if it wanted to go anywhere. "I'm fine." She growled out at the man before turning to find her bike. It was hard to spot, the handlebar just barely jutting out of the flooded street as she slowly made her way over and picked it up. Miraculously there was only minimal damage to the frame, a few scratches and scrapes but those could easily be fixed. The real problem would be keeping rust from forming, which would be hard considering the current weather.
Juniper winced as she used her hand to wipe off the blood right above her eye before turning to the man. "If you want to pay me back take care of your damn dog before it kills someone." He was right about her wound though, leaving it open in these conditions would just be begging for an infection among other things. She was too far from her apartment to even consider trying to ride back there, if she could even ride at all in this rain. Looking around she could just barely recognize where she was, which was a relatively short distance from the cafe that she had visited before. "There's a cafe a while down in the direction your dog is running, I'm sure that they'll have bandages and at least basic medical supplies." As she turned to the man she noticed the addition of a silver haired girl who flipped through emotions like pages on a book. Something about her felt strangely familiar in a way, like she knew who she was but just couldn't place it. "Doesn't matter, not worth losing sleep over"
Turning her bike she looked over her shoulder at the duo, "Whatever you two decide to do make a decision quick. This storm is only going to get worse and I don't feel like dying over some stupid dog." Using her bike for support Juniper started to walk away from the two in the dogs direction. It didn't matter to her if they caught it or not, but since it wasn't too far out of her way she could at least attempt to help.
WillfulWren
,
MagicPenguin
MagicPenguin
One Thousand Club
Arryn Bennett
Streets of London
"I... You want me to leave?"
Absurdly, for just a split second, Arryn felt a pang of guilt after seeing the dejected look on Silver's face, the uncertainty in the gaze she directed at the floor, and the small, child-like whine in her voice when he tried to get her to go away. It was just a knee-jerk reaction to a sad look on any girl's face that he couldn't help, even if that face happened to belong to one of Aether's most prolific serial killers. He suppressed it mercilessly and opened his mouth to insist she find shelter, but the shifter spoke before he could get the words out.
"Well, I have a problem with that," she said in a flat, solemn tone, her face serious and her eyes staring deadly daggers into his. Her stance was loose and limber and she looked ready to pounce at a second's notice. Uh-oh. Has she realized who I am after all? Arryn widened his own stance slightly and prepared himself for the fight he thought she looked ready to start with him. He clenched his teeth and his hand reached instinctively to his hip for the weapon that was not currently there.
Then her face abruptly broke into a big beaming grin. ""I have no clue where I am! And it's safer if we're together, right? So, you take care of her, and I can catch the puppy without you interfering! Animals like me. Except mice. They get scared." Arryn let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and relaxed his posture a little bit. Just a little bit.
"That's nice of you," he said lightly, "but it's really nasty out here and you aren't dressed for it. Like I said, I don't want you to catch a cold because of this and it really isn't that big of a deal anyway. I think it's more important that you--"
"I don't catch colds, anyway. Never have." She cut him off casually, as if he had not even been speaking. He was not sure whether to be annoyed or amused. Again reminding himself who she was, he settled on angry, though he stayed outwardly calm and composed.
"That's impossible," he countered in a condescending tone of voice, as patiently as an adult speaking to a child who just claimed the moon was made of cheese. Then he hesitated thoughtfully. Come to think of it, he'd never seen Marcus with a cold either in all the years he'd known him. Maybe shifters just didn't actually get colds like everyone else? "A-anyway," he went on as if the thought had not occurred to him, "even if it were possible, it's best not to take chances, right? I'm sure there's a shop or a building somewhere around here you can take shelter in if you just search hard enough. Why don't you go focus on looking for that and taking care of yourself and I'll make sure this one gets the medical help she--"
"I'm fine," the red-headed woman almost growled in a raised voice to be heard over both their bickering and the furious rainstorm. Why was everyone cutting him off while he tried to speak reasonably all of a sudden? Despite her assurance, Arryn thought he heard a bit of pained tension in her tone when she spoke. She shuffled over to where her fallen bicycle lay and picked it up. She looked it over carefully, presumably to assess the damage. "If you want to pay me back," she said as she tended her bike as best she could under the circumstances, "take care of your damn dog before it kills someone." Seemingly satisfied with the state of her vehicle, she next took a look around at the buildings and streets surrounding the trio and offered a suggestion. "There's a cafe a while down in the direction your dog is running. I'm sure that they'll have bandages and at least basic medical supplies." Then she walked with her bike in the same direction Hogan had run off in. She looked back at the two as she moved on only to say, "whatever you two decide to do, make a decision quick. This storm is only going to get worse and I don't feel like dying over some stupid dog." Then she was all focused on forcing her bike down the water-logged roads ahead of her.
Arryn suppressed a frustrated growl, looking helplessly from bright-eyed Silver to the retreating red-head and back again. From the distance, he could hear the sound of Hogan barking around the corner, seeming to echo the red-head's desire that they hurry up and move on. He let out a long sigh and resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't be getting rid of the Silver-haired murderer now. "Alright," he told Silver, "if you want to catch your death out here, I guess I can't stop you. Let's just find Hogan soon so I can get home and dry, yeah? This isn't how I pictured my day going when I woke up this morning."
Arryn and Silver ran to catch up to the red-head, who'd gotten ahead of them. When they were all together, they picked up speed to reach Hogan's barks beckoning them from the intersection ahead. Though she had to contend with pushing her bike through the water, the woman seemed to have no trouble keeping up with himself and Silver, even though they were running again. The former blacksmith made sure to try and stay between Silver and the civilian so the shifter couldn't suddenly slit her throat from behind like she had Natalie. When they caught up to where the barking had come from, Hogan had already moved on. Now they heard barking from halfway down the next street, right in front of an alley between a butcher's shop and a liquor store. Arryn thought he would run again before they got to him, but to his surprise, the puppy stayed put. When they caught up, he was chasing his tail in circles impatiently. Arryn jumped for his leash again, only to land face-down and empty-handed in the ankle-deep running water when the dog danced backward easily.
"Ugh...Hogan, whyyyy...?" Arryn was tired and soaked and his hands still hurt from earlier. It was only with some difficulty that he managed to get to his feet again. By the time he had, Hogan had run down the alley ahead of the trio, barking and looking back every few steps to make sure they were following. To Arryn, it felt less like a game than it had when they started and more like the pup was actually trying to lead them somewhere, but Arryn could not imagine what he wanted them to see.
He had his answer when the three passed through the dark alley to the street on the other side. There, a telephone pole had collapsed in the force of the wind and rain and pinned underneath it was the figure of a young man, his body half-submerged in the water with his head face-up so he could still breathe. Hogan was sitting beside him, licking his unconscious face. On the other side of the street, Arryn could see a few people running hurriedly to escape the rain. From their vantage, they likely could not see the man trapped under the pole. If Hogan had not led them here, he surely would not have lived much longer. At the rate the water was rising, it would have covered his head and left him unable to breathe before much longer.
Without thinking, Arryn left Silver with the red-head to rush over to the fallen figure. He froze when he got close enough to get a better look at the pinned man. His facial lycanthropy scar was no longer there and he looked 50 years younger than he had on Aether, but there was no mistaking him to anyone who knew him well.
The man trapped beneath the pole was Daniel Payne.
Arryn struggled not to panic. He rushed over to the end of the telephone pole and knelt beside Hogan, who no longer tried to run. He grabbed the pole from underneath with both hands and put everything he had into trying to lift it. His face went red, veins popping out of his forehead as he struggled vainly to lift the thing with all the strength his arms and legs had in them. It didn't even budge. Suddenly, his hands slipped and he fell backward straight onto his rear end with a splash. His hands were wet and the wooden pole was wet and both were only getting wetter as the rain beat down on them without mercy, so he could not get a good grip on the thing. Even if he had a grip, though, the thing was too heavy for his Earth body to lift by far. He reflected bitterly that even his Aether form would have struggled with a thing so large, but at least then he would've stood a chance. As he was, small and weak, he had absolutely no chance at all. Still, he couldn't give up. He had to help his friend. He re-positioned himself and resumed his attempts to lift the heavy telephone pole on his own. His skinned palms stung abominably as wood splinters from the pole dug into them, but he ignored the pain. He stopped briefly to catch his breath again. Desperate, he looked back over his shoulder to his two circumstantial dog-chasing companions. He was not eager to ask Silver Ferae for anything. As he saw it, she was more likely to disembowel the man with her bare hands while he was vulnerable than she was to help save him. But...was there any other choice but to try? At this rate, the werewolf would die if he did nothing at all. He slammed his eyes shut, gritted his teeth, and made the decision, the only decision that might keep his friend and mentor alive now.
"Silver! Red-head!" he yelled desperately and over his shoulder at the top of his lungs. "Please, help me, I'm begging you! My friend is trapped and he could drown like this! Help me get this thing up! You two get on that side and I'll stay on this side and we'll lift at the same time!" Without waiting to see if they'd comply, he resumed his attempts to lift the pole by himself. Beside him, Hogan whined pitifully while he continued to paw at Daniel's arm and lick his face. The water was over chest level on him now, completely covering his legs.
WillfulWren
Shotgunpenguin
LoneSniper87
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roland Fairchild
Streets of London -> Small coffee shop -> Streets of London
As the two fought their way down the streets against the wind and rain, they tried to chat a bit to take their minds off of the struggle, though it was a bit difficult. Their umbrellas kept their heads dry, but the wind battered and pushed them and made it nearly impossible to move against it without a fight.
"Oh, I was just doing some writing," said Elena in response to Roland's question about what brought her to the library.
"Oh, you're a writer? I didn't know that. I would love to see some of your work sometime, if you're not opposed," Roland said interestedly, trying to ignore the burning in his arms from holding his big black umbrella firm against the wind. Between that and the water covering his sneakers and flooding inside of them, he felt like he had to fight for every step he took. It kind of reminded him of the fight to get to Blackrock Castle, where the combined armies of Light had to fight battles to the death and pay the price in blood for even a single step forward along the peninsula.
"I write sometimes as well--mostly notes on places I've been, people I've met, and things that have happened; that sort of thing--but I'm really more of an artist myself. I should show you my notebook sometime. I have a drawing of Arryn and Daniel and Marcus as they looked on Aether that I was showing to people to try and find them all. You'd be amazed how different we all look here. I didn't think Ana was here or I would have drawn her too."
As the struggle to keep moving forward grew, the pair gradually grew quieter to focus on their walk. Roland took note of the dispersing crowds in the streets as they passed, all huddling under pavilions or running to get somewhere safe. In his limited experience, it was not easy to disperse the thick London crowds in the middle of the day, least of all with rain--this city got a lot of rain, they were usually used to it. That this storm was capable of doing just that spoke volumes to its severity all by itself, as if the hurricane winds, crashing thunder, and unrelenting raindrops did not already do that on their own.
Though he did his best to hide it, Roland was quickly becoming tired. His arms and legs still burned with effort and, while he wasn't gasping, his breath was becoming shorter the further they moved. He was quite grateful for the chance to rest when Elena directed them to a small coffee shop. He sheathed his umbrella on his back and sat with her at a small table in the corner of the joint whose occupants had luckily just left a second before they approached. Roland usually didn't indulge himself because of his finances, but the truth was that he loved coffee. It was a rare delicacy in Alcamoth because it had to be imported into the city from far off lands that had long since fallen under Lucrezia's control before Roland was even born. Given the state of the world, the war between Light and Shadow, such imports were quite rare. They tried to grow it locally, but for whatever reason the beans did not grow well in Alcamoth. When the city was sacked and the century-long war of shadows intensified even further, trade with other regions slowed and the imports stopped completely. As a result, before he got to Earth, he hadn't actually had any coffee in years. Not since he'd traveled with Shadowsbane to the lands where it was grown and liberated them from the Shadow Queen's forces.
After walking through the cold rain, Roland couldn't help himself but to buy a cup when Elena did, even with his and Marcus's tight money situation. With a bit of milk and sugar, he savored the rich, invigorating flavor and let its comforting heat warm his weary bones. Contented, he looked back over to Elena, who looked a bit lost in thought.
"This rain is atrocious," he said. "I wouldn't mind sticking around for an hour or so to regain my strength before we try making it home again." And, he didn't say, maybe indulge himself with a cup or two more while he was here.
So the two sat and chatted some more to kill a bit of time. They'd have to go back out into the deluge sooner or later, but there was no rush. They mostly talked about Elena's singing and how surprised Roland was at her skill the night before. He showed her a few of his drawings, pictures of palaces and mountains from Aether and one he did of Buckingham Palace one day when he was in the area. He showed her the ones he did of Arryn, Daniel, and Marcus, drawn as they were in their true forms. He also showed her the ones of Lucrezia, Silver, and Raijin as he remembered them from the Battle of Blackrock and told her that, if she saw anyone who looked like any of them, that they were extremely dangerous and she was to run and find him or one of the others immediately.
"To you," he said, "I realize me saying something like that must sound crazy. The stuff of fairy tales. I would not say it if it were not important, though. They are dangerous and as long as you are around myself or Arryn or Daniel or Ana, you are in deadly danger. This woman in particular," he said, flipping back to the page with the Shadow Queen, "is...well, to relate it to something you might understand a bit better, you can think of her as the Hitler of our world." He spoke of his world in a smaller voice than everything else, so no one in the crowded room would overhear. "Except, unlike Hitler, she is nearly immortal and she has enough magical power to level the city of London ten times over with not much more than a thought. I can't stress enough that, however silly you might think it sounds, you tell one of us if you see someone who looks like any of these people and don't go anywhere near them." The sharp look he fixed her with from his mismatched eyes left no room for any illusions that he was not being completely, deadly serious.
Roland could not tell if Elena understood what he was trying to tell her or if she took what he was saying as seriously as he meant her to. She had been born in a world where magic and evil overlords were the stuff of storybooks, so he could not really blame her if she didn't, but he had to at least try and warn her. If she was going to stick around with Ana, Arryn, and Daniel, she had to at least know the danger she was putting herself in. Sighing, he relented and changed the subject.
"Elena, you seem like a smart young woman. I'd like to ask you something. You see, I've been thinking about a problem I've been having recently, but I can't think of how to resolve it. Do you mind if I ask your opinion? Let's say there's someone you know who's done something awful. Something so awful, it's completely unforgivable." A mental image of Natalie, cheeks red from crying, passed through his mind's eye. "Like, a serial murderer for example. She's tortured and killed dozens without remorse, as if she were a cat chasing mice, and then she laughs about it when she's done. If you had the choice, what do you think should be done with a person like that? Some people think she could be 'rehabilitated,' whatever that really means. Personally, I'm more inclined to think she should be punished harshly, either jailed or executed for the seriousness of her crimes, so that her victims can have justice. What do you think? Is it possible to 'rehabilitate' this person I've described?"
Elena looked thoughtfully into her coffee cup before answering. Eventually, she said, "I think it depends really. Was this person born into being a serial murderer or were they dragged into the lifestyle? It would make sense to jump to the conclusion that someone who's done something bad deserves to be punished, but it's a different case if they had no control of how he or she got into that position. Like what if a man were shown anger, neglect, and darkness all his life? He'd have a hard time seeing there was a better side to his life so could we blame him for doing the exact things he was raised with?"
Yes, Roland thought, yes we could. It didn't matter to him what circumstances a person had grown up in; murder was murder and needed to be punished as such, no matter who committed it or for what reason.
But then, a small deviant voice whispered in the back of his head, what about killing Lucrezia? Is that murder?
No, he told it harshly, that's a necessary act of self-defense. If we don't kill her, she'll kill us. And many more besides.
"I see," he said to Elena noncommittally. "That's an interesting perspective. I'll be sure to think on what you've said and come up with an answer to my problem."
The two sat silently enjoying their coffee for another thirty minutes or so, each lost in thoughts of their own. By the time they decided it was time to leave, it was about 6:30 and the rain still showed no signs of letting up. The sun was setting now and, if anything, it had started raining even harder. The pair plodded on through the rain, eager to get to their respective homes and into something warm and dry. As he trudged down the street through the water, Roland distantly wondered if Marcus had found the breakfast he'd made for him in the fridge and hoped the boy had not been as foolish as Roland himself was earlier that day when he decided it was a good idea to try going out in this.
koala
Streets of London
"I... You want me to leave?"
Absurdly, for just a split second, Arryn felt a pang of guilt after seeing the dejected look on Silver's face, the uncertainty in the gaze she directed at the floor, and the small, child-like whine in her voice when he tried to get her to go away. It was just a knee-jerk reaction to a sad look on any girl's face that he couldn't help, even if that face happened to belong to one of Aether's most prolific serial killers. He suppressed it mercilessly and opened his mouth to insist she find shelter, but the shifter spoke before he could get the words out.
"Well, I have a problem with that," she said in a flat, solemn tone, her face serious and her eyes staring deadly daggers into his. Her stance was loose and limber and she looked ready to pounce at a second's notice. Uh-oh. Has she realized who I am after all? Arryn widened his own stance slightly and prepared himself for the fight he thought she looked ready to start with him. He clenched his teeth and his hand reached instinctively to his hip for the weapon that was not currently there.
Then her face abruptly broke into a big beaming grin. ""I have no clue where I am! And it's safer if we're together, right? So, you take care of her, and I can catch the puppy without you interfering! Animals like me. Except mice. They get scared." Arryn let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and relaxed his posture a little bit. Just a little bit.
"That's nice of you," he said lightly, "but it's really nasty out here and you aren't dressed for it. Like I said, I don't want you to catch a cold because of this and it really isn't that big of a deal anyway. I think it's more important that you--"
"I don't catch colds, anyway. Never have." She cut him off casually, as if he had not even been speaking. He was not sure whether to be annoyed or amused. Again reminding himself who she was, he settled on angry, though he stayed outwardly calm and composed.
"That's impossible," he countered in a condescending tone of voice, as patiently as an adult speaking to a child who just claimed the moon was made of cheese. Then he hesitated thoughtfully. Come to think of it, he'd never seen Marcus with a cold either in all the years he'd known him. Maybe shifters just didn't actually get colds like everyone else? "A-anyway," he went on as if the thought had not occurred to him, "even if it were possible, it's best not to take chances, right? I'm sure there's a shop or a building somewhere around here you can take shelter in if you just search hard enough. Why don't you go focus on looking for that and taking care of yourself and I'll make sure this one gets the medical help she--"
"I'm fine," the red-headed woman almost growled in a raised voice to be heard over both their bickering and the furious rainstorm. Why was everyone cutting him off while he tried to speak reasonably all of a sudden? Despite her assurance, Arryn thought he heard a bit of pained tension in her tone when she spoke. She shuffled over to where her fallen bicycle lay and picked it up. She looked it over carefully, presumably to assess the damage. "If you want to pay me back," she said as she tended her bike as best she could under the circumstances, "take care of your damn dog before it kills someone." Seemingly satisfied with the state of her vehicle, she next took a look around at the buildings and streets surrounding the trio and offered a suggestion. "There's a cafe a while down in the direction your dog is running. I'm sure that they'll have bandages and at least basic medical supplies." Then she walked with her bike in the same direction Hogan had run off in. She looked back at the two as she moved on only to say, "whatever you two decide to do, make a decision quick. This storm is only going to get worse and I don't feel like dying over some stupid dog." Then she was all focused on forcing her bike down the water-logged roads ahead of her.
Arryn suppressed a frustrated growl, looking helplessly from bright-eyed Silver to the retreating red-head and back again. From the distance, he could hear the sound of Hogan barking around the corner, seeming to echo the red-head's desire that they hurry up and move on. He let out a long sigh and resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't be getting rid of the Silver-haired murderer now. "Alright," he told Silver, "if you want to catch your death out here, I guess I can't stop you. Let's just find Hogan soon so I can get home and dry, yeah? This isn't how I pictured my day going when I woke up this morning."
Arryn and Silver ran to catch up to the red-head, who'd gotten ahead of them. When they were all together, they picked up speed to reach Hogan's barks beckoning them from the intersection ahead. Though she had to contend with pushing her bike through the water, the woman seemed to have no trouble keeping up with himself and Silver, even though they were running again. The former blacksmith made sure to try and stay between Silver and the civilian so the shifter couldn't suddenly slit her throat from behind like she had Natalie. When they caught up to where the barking had come from, Hogan had already moved on. Now they heard barking from halfway down the next street, right in front of an alley between a butcher's shop and a liquor store. Arryn thought he would run again before they got to him, but to his surprise, the puppy stayed put. When they caught up, he was chasing his tail in circles impatiently. Arryn jumped for his leash again, only to land face-down and empty-handed in the ankle-deep running water when the dog danced backward easily.
"Ugh...Hogan, whyyyy...?" Arryn was tired and soaked and his hands still hurt from earlier. It was only with some difficulty that he managed to get to his feet again. By the time he had, Hogan had run down the alley ahead of the trio, barking and looking back every few steps to make sure they were following. To Arryn, it felt less like a game than it had when they started and more like the pup was actually trying to lead them somewhere, but Arryn could not imagine what he wanted them to see.
He had his answer when the three passed through the dark alley to the street on the other side. There, a telephone pole had collapsed in the force of the wind and rain and pinned underneath it was the figure of a young man, his body half-submerged in the water with his head face-up so he could still breathe. Hogan was sitting beside him, licking his unconscious face. On the other side of the street, Arryn could see a few people running hurriedly to escape the rain. From their vantage, they likely could not see the man trapped under the pole. If Hogan had not led them here, he surely would not have lived much longer. At the rate the water was rising, it would have covered his head and left him unable to breathe before much longer.
Without thinking, Arryn left Silver with the red-head to rush over to the fallen figure. He froze when he got close enough to get a better look at the pinned man. His facial lycanthropy scar was no longer there and he looked 50 years younger than he had on Aether, but there was no mistaking him to anyone who knew him well.
The man trapped beneath the pole was Daniel Payne.
Arryn struggled not to panic. He rushed over to the end of the telephone pole and knelt beside Hogan, who no longer tried to run. He grabbed the pole from underneath with both hands and put everything he had into trying to lift it. His face went red, veins popping out of his forehead as he struggled vainly to lift the thing with all the strength his arms and legs had in them. It didn't even budge. Suddenly, his hands slipped and he fell backward straight onto his rear end with a splash. His hands were wet and the wooden pole was wet and both were only getting wetter as the rain beat down on them without mercy, so he could not get a good grip on the thing. Even if he had a grip, though, the thing was too heavy for his Earth body to lift by far. He reflected bitterly that even his Aether form would have struggled with a thing so large, but at least then he would've stood a chance. As he was, small and weak, he had absolutely no chance at all. Still, he couldn't give up. He had to help his friend. He re-positioned himself and resumed his attempts to lift the heavy telephone pole on his own. His skinned palms stung abominably as wood splinters from the pole dug into them, but he ignored the pain. He stopped briefly to catch his breath again. Desperate, he looked back over his shoulder to his two circumstantial dog-chasing companions. He was not eager to ask Silver Ferae for anything. As he saw it, she was more likely to disembowel the man with her bare hands while he was vulnerable than she was to help save him. But...was there any other choice but to try? At this rate, the werewolf would die if he did nothing at all. He slammed his eyes shut, gritted his teeth, and made the decision, the only decision that might keep his friend and mentor alive now.
"Silver! Red-head!" he yelled desperately and over his shoulder at the top of his lungs. "Please, help me, I'm begging you! My friend is trapped and he could drown like this! Help me get this thing up! You two get on that side and I'll stay on this side and we'll lift at the same time!" Without waiting to see if they'd comply, he resumed his attempts to lift the pole by himself. Beside him, Hogan whined pitifully while he continued to paw at Daniel's arm and lick his face. The water was over chest level on him now, completely covering his legs.
WillfulWren
Shotgunpenguin
LoneSniper87
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roland Fairchild
Streets of London -> Small coffee shop -> Streets of London
As the two fought their way down the streets against the wind and rain, they tried to chat a bit to take their minds off of the struggle, though it was a bit difficult. Their umbrellas kept their heads dry, but the wind battered and pushed them and made it nearly impossible to move against it without a fight.
"Oh, I was just doing some writing," said Elena in response to Roland's question about what brought her to the library.
"Oh, you're a writer? I didn't know that. I would love to see some of your work sometime, if you're not opposed," Roland said interestedly, trying to ignore the burning in his arms from holding his big black umbrella firm against the wind. Between that and the water covering his sneakers and flooding inside of them, he felt like he had to fight for every step he took. It kind of reminded him of the fight to get to Blackrock Castle, where the combined armies of Light had to fight battles to the death and pay the price in blood for even a single step forward along the peninsula.
"I write sometimes as well--mostly notes on places I've been, people I've met, and things that have happened; that sort of thing--but I'm really more of an artist myself. I should show you my notebook sometime. I have a drawing of Arryn and Daniel and Marcus as they looked on Aether that I was showing to people to try and find them all. You'd be amazed how different we all look here. I didn't think Ana was here or I would have drawn her too."
As the struggle to keep moving forward grew, the pair gradually grew quieter to focus on their walk. Roland took note of the dispersing crowds in the streets as they passed, all huddling under pavilions or running to get somewhere safe. In his limited experience, it was not easy to disperse the thick London crowds in the middle of the day, least of all with rain--this city got a lot of rain, they were usually used to it. That this storm was capable of doing just that spoke volumes to its severity all by itself, as if the hurricane winds, crashing thunder, and unrelenting raindrops did not already do that on their own.
Though he did his best to hide it, Roland was quickly becoming tired. His arms and legs still burned with effort and, while he wasn't gasping, his breath was becoming shorter the further they moved. He was quite grateful for the chance to rest when Elena directed them to a small coffee shop. He sheathed his umbrella on his back and sat with her at a small table in the corner of the joint whose occupants had luckily just left a second before they approached. Roland usually didn't indulge himself because of his finances, but the truth was that he loved coffee. It was a rare delicacy in Alcamoth because it had to be imported into the city from far off lands that had long since fallen under Lucrezia's control before Roland was even born. Given the state of the world, the war between Light and Shadow, such imports were quite rare. They tried to grow it locally, but for whatever reason the beans did not grow well in Alcamoth. When the city was sacked and the century-long war of shadows intensified even further, trade with other regions slowed and the imports stopped completely. As a result, before he got to Earth, he hadn't actually had any coffee in years. Not since he'd traveled with Shadowsbane to the lands where it was grown and liberated them from the Shadow Queen's forces.
After walking through the cold rain, Roland couldn't help himself but to buy a cup when Elena did, even with his and Marcus's tight money situation. With a bit of milk and sugar, he savored the rich, invigorating flavor and let its comforting heat warm his weary bones. Contented, he looked back over to Elena, who looked a bit lost in thought.
"This rain is atrocious," he said. "I wouldn't mind sticking around for an hour or so to regain my strength before we try making it home again." And, he didn't say, maybe indulge himself with a cup or two more while he was here.
So the two sat and chatted some more to kill a bit of time. They'd have to go back out into the deluge sooner or later, but there was no rush. They mostly talked about Elena's singing and how surprised Roland was at her skill the night before. He showed her a few of his drawings, pictures of palaces and mountains from Aether and one he did of Buckingham Palace one day when he was in the area. He showed her the ones he did of Arryn, Daniel, and Marcus, drawn as they were in their true forms. He also showed her the ones of Lucrezia, Silver, and Raijin as he remembered them from the Battle of Blackrock and told her that, if she saw anyone who looked like any of them, that they were extremely dangerous and she was to run and find him or one of the others immediately.
"To you," he said, "I realize me saying something like that must sound crazy. The stuff of fairy tales. I would not say it if it were not important, though. They are dangerous and as long as you are around myself or Arryn or Daniel or Ana, you are in deadly danger. This woman in particular," he said, flipping back to the page with the Shadow Queen, "is...well, to relate it to something you might understand a bit better, you can think of her as the Hitler of our world." He spoke of his world in a smaller voice than everything else, so no one in the crowded room would overhear. "Except, unlike Hitler, she is nearly immortal and she has enough magical power to level the city of London ten times over with not much more than a thought. I can't stress enough that, however silly you might think it sounds, you tell one of us if you see someone who looks like any of these people and don't go anywhere near them." The sharp look he fixed her with from his mismatched eyes left no room for any illusions that he was not being completely, deadly serious.
Roland could not tell if Elena understood what he was trying to tell her or if she took what he was saying as seriously as he meant her to. She had been born in a world where magic and evil overlords were the stuff of storybooks, so he could not really blame her if she didn't, but he had to at least try and warn her. If she was going to stick around with Ana, Arryn, and Daniel, she had to at least know the danger she was putting herself in. Sighing, he relented and changed the subject.
"Elena, you seem like a smart young woman. I'd like to ask you something. You see, I've been thinking about a problem I've been having recently, but I can't think of how to resolve it. Do you mind if I ask your opinion? Let's say there's someone you know who's done something awful. Something so awful, it's completely unforgivable." A mental image of Natalie, cheeks red from crying, passed through his mind's eye. "Like, a serial murderer for example. She's tortured and killed dozens without remorse, as if she were a cat chasing mice, and then she laughs about it when she's done. If you had the choice, what do you think should be done with a person like that? Some people think she could be 'rehabilitated,' whatever that really means. Personally, I'm more inclined to think she should be punished harshly, either jailed or executed for the seriousness of her crimes, so that her victims can have justice. What do you think? Is it possible to 'rehabilitate' this person I've described?"
Elena looked thoughtfully into her coffee cup before answering. Eventually, she said, "I think it depends really. Was this person born into being a serial murderer or were they dragged into the lifestyle? It would make sense to jump to the conclusion that someone who's done something bad deserves to be punished, but it's a different case if they had no control of how he or she got into that position. Like what if a man were shown anger, neglect, and darkness all his life? He'd have a hard time seeing there was a better side to his life so could we blame him for doing the exact things he was raised with?"
Yes, Roland thought, yes we could. It didn't matter to him what circumstances a person had grown up in; murder was murder and needed to be punished as such, no matter who committed it or for what reason.
But then, a small deviant voice whispered in the back of his head, what about killing Lucrezia? Is that murder?
No, he told it harshly, that's a necessary act of self-defense. If we don't kill her, she'll kill us. And many more besides.
"I see," he said to Elena noncommittally. "That's an interesting perspective. I'll be sure to think on what you've said and come up with an answer to my problem."
The two sat silently enjoying their coffee for another thirty minutes or so, each lost in thoughts of their own. By the time they decided it was time to leave, it was about 6:30 and the rain still showed no signs of letting up. The sun was setting now and, if anything, it had started raining even harder. The pair plodded on through the rain, eager to get to their respective homes and into something warm and dry. As he trudged down the street through the water, Roland distantly wondered if Marcus had found the breakfast he'd made for him in the fridge and hoped the boy had not been as foolish as Roland himself was earlier that day when he decided it was a good idea to try going out in this.
koala
Avari
Four Thousand Club
MILLERS
Hannah and Lisa
The storm that was assaulting the city seemed to intensify with every passing moment. The howl of the wind and the pounding rain now completely overpowering the sounds of distant sirens and traffic. Occasionally there would be a flash of lightning followed by a deafening crash that caused the buildings themselves to shake a little in protest. The pavements and roads now all pretty much submerged as the city's drainage system was completely incapable of dealing with such a huge amount of water.Hannah and Lisa
In the cafe of Millers, the two employees defense against the destructive power of the storm was not going well. Things had been proceeding well at first - Lisa had rearranged the sandbags at the back and front entrances to more effectively block the water that was trickling incessantly beneath the doors, and Hannah had run to and fro in a mild panic, sealing windows and mopping up the rainwater before it did more damage.
But then water had started to pour from the ceiling and the two women had finally surrendered to the inevitable.
Now the pair sat on one of the comfortable (If a tad damp) sofas that was usually reserved for customers, sipping coffee. Hannah was sitting cross legged, while Lisa was laying on her side like some sort of Roman diplomat in order to avoid getting their feet even wetter. They looked more like they were enjoying a quiet afternoon tea, rather that sitting in the middle of one of the most violent storms that had ever befallen London.
Lisa sipped her coffee, and eyed the young human for a moment.
"I must say, you're taking this remarkably well."
Hannah shrugged into her own mug, a picture of calm and composure. She took a deep breath of the hot steam rising from her cup and smiled.
"Well...this is what Insurance is for, isn't it?"
"Well quite."
"I appreciate your help anyway. I was up a creek without a paddle."
Lisa waved off her gratitude, preoccupied with her own thoughts. She could feel the painfully familiar feeling of fire spreading over her skin - like a thousand white hot daggers being pressed against her flesh. Perhaps even such trifling manual labor such as this was rapidly becoming too much to deal with. She wondered for a moment if coming here tonight had been a mistake - that perhaps she should have just waited for Raijin to return home and explained the situation...but as she saw Hannah humming to herself, seemingly in a good mood - Lisa smirked into her coffee. What kind of Queen abandoned her subjects in a time of need, after all?
Then she sighed. If the storm continued as it did, Millers - and probably half of London - would be underwater by morning. It was not a natural storm - that much was clear. A side effect of the barriers between worlds breaking down, or perhaps something more insidious? Perhaps it was time to abandon London all together. She needed a few hours to contemplate her next move; what exactly could she tell the others? She would need to analyze the many facets of the lies she could tell them but if she did die who could carry on her burden? As a immortal Shadow Queen, she had never put much thought into grooming a successor - there was hardly much point when she had no intention whatsoever of dying. She should have considered it. Her ego had gotten the better of her.
So here she was - with her body rotting from the inside out for reasons that remained frustratingly illusive and her options rapidly diminishing.
She went over several scenarios in her mind - telling the others that yes, she was dying. And yes, they would be trapped on Earth...forever? Tannur would be alright. He had never really seen Aether as his home. Silver and Juniper would...struggle with the reality of the situation but adjust in time. Raijin would react the worst no doubt, though being forced to confront reality would probably be good for him in the long run; he was oddly immature for one so old.
Maybe Morgana could handle it...
Could she even trust any of them with the truth? She hadn't trusted anyone in her life. For a brief moment she wondered if perhaps she should have simply... grabbed Roland and dragged him into the Portal with them. He had been chosen for reasons that frankly mystified her...but there must have been some...criteria. Some...spark of the divine. If she had just explained a little perhaps...
Still. Out of reach now.
Doubtful the boneheaded boy would have listened anyway. He could go drown in his delusions for all she cared. Hopefully fear of her would keep the Church at bay at least.
"This coffee is awful by the way." she said eventually, realizing the silence had gone on for too long.
"I know, isn't it? I think some of the river has got into the taps."
"It's truly repellent."
"It tastes of London. It could be a new brew."
"Granita Con Thames."
Hannah giggled at that. Then there was another rumbling roar of thunder to remind the pair of the situation outside. The girl sighed, and grabbed the TV remote from the table and flicked it at the black screen at the far side of the cafe - spurring it into life.
"The Government has announced a level red weather warning for the city of London and the surrounding area. The storm is currently classified as a level two hurricane, with the expectation to reach a category classification of level three in the early hours of the morning, with winds reaching speeds of 129mph. You are advised to not leave your homes under any circumstances until the storm has passed. Please locate shelter immediately."
Hannah's eyes widened. "Shit. I didn't know things were getting this bad."
as if to confirm her suspicions, there was another crack of thunder - and then the cafe and the entire high street plunged into black as the power went out.
"Of course."
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Shotgunpenguin
I have become haitus, destroyer of RP's
Juniper Arc
Streets of London
As Juniper forced her bike down the flooded street alongside the brown haired man and familiar looking silver haired woman she briefly wondered how her day had come to this. Bleeding from a head wound, getting soaked to the bone in hail-like rain and now chasing after the dog that nearly killed her. The two had increased their pace to keep up with the dog and while she had little trouble keeping up she was starting to feel the effects of both the rain and her cut. Her legs took just a little more force to move through the water, her shirt and pants felt like a second skin that was doing nothing to protect from the rain, and every hidden bump and pothole almost caused her bike to flip over itself. The dog continued to elude the group, it always running ahead before any of them could catch it. It was beginning to lead them away from the direction of the cafe which caused her to grimace. If it got too far away from it then she would just leave the two to chase after it. They should be fine if she did, the dog couldn't run forever and would need to stop, either to rest or drink.
After the man took a dive in an attempt to catch his dog he got to his feet, whether the rain or just the impact slowing him she didn't know, and they continued to chase after the dog. It's stop and go actions didn't make too much sense to Juniper. If it wanted to play it wouldn't lead them down side streets and alleyways and if was trying to run it wouldn't keep waiting for them to get close. As they came out the other side of the street she saw what he was trying to do. They came across a large wooden poll that had collapsed on top of some unlucky person. His lower half was completely submerged, with his chest slowly dissapearing above the rising street water. At the sight of the trapped man the brown haired man quickly rushed over to him, but froze for a second before quickly attempting to lift the poll himself. Predictably she failed, even in Aether there were only a handful of people that she could think of that could lift that poll single-handedly.
"Silver! Red-head!" The man called out to them, desperation clear in his voice as he once again attempted to lift the poll, "Please, help me, I'm begging you! My friend is trapped and he could drown like this! Help me get this thing up! You two get on that side and I'll stay on this side and we'll lift at the same time!" Something inside Juniper sprung to life as she quickly discarded her bike, it falling on it's side completely submerged in the water, and rushed over to the other side of the pole. Having a close friend in a life or death situation reminded her of all the battles she fought alongside her troops. The fear in their eyes as one of them slowly bleed out from a grievous wound, the solemn journey home to give their companions their final rest, and the sense of despair that they may never see their loved ones again. She would not let this man die, no matter what it took to save him. She would not wish the pain of loss even among her most hated enemies. "On three lift up, if we can just lift it a little we can wedge something below it to keep it up." As she grunted and strained with all the might her small frame could she felt the blood flow from her head intensify as she exerted herself. In the back of her mind a small part of her caught onto something though, something the man had said.
He had called the other girl Silver, and even though he could have been referring to her hair like he had with hers she couldn't shake the feeling that he hadn't called her Silver because of her hair. Now that she thought about it the other woman had pale skin, unnaturally pale even, and red eyes along with her long silver hair. Just like a certain psychotic shapeshifter that she knew back on Aether. The only thing missing from her were claws, sharp canine like teeth and pair of cat ears resting on top of her head. If this girl was the Silver that she knew than why would she choose to appear like a normal human instead of her normal form? There were only two explanations to why she would do this. One was that she had done so to fit in better, which knowing who she was was very unlikely, and the second was way worse.
Silver had turned into a human, permanently.
The thought rocked Juniper to her core as she quickly tried to deny that it was possible. If that were the case then her queen could even be effected, possibly even becoming mortal herself. Her mind raced to find some evidence to deny the thought as she hurriedly asked the man "You called that woman Silver, do you know her?"
MagicPenguin
,
WillfulWren
Streets of London
As Juniper forced her bike down the flooded street alongside the brown haired man and familiar looking silver haired woman she briefly wondered how her day had come to this. Bleeding from a head wound, getting soaked to the bone in hail-like rain and now chasing after the dog that nearly killed her. The two had increased their pace to keep up with the dog and while she had little trouble keeping up she was starting to feel the effects of both the rain and her cut. Her legs took just a little more force to move through the water, her shirt and pants felt like a second skin that was doing nothing to protect from the rain, and every hidden bump and pothole almost caused her bike to flip over itself. The dog continued to elude the group, it always running ahead before any of them could catch it. It was beginning to lead them away from the direction of the cafe which caused her to grimace. If it got too far away from it then she would just leave the two to chase after it. They should be fine if she did, the dog couldn't run forever and would need to stop, either to rest or drink.
After the man took a dive in an attempt to catch his dog he got to his feet, whether the rain or just the impact slowing him she didn't know, and they continued to chase after the dog. It's stop and go actions didn't make too much sense to Juniper. If it wanted to play it wouldn't lead them down side streets and alleyways and if was trying to run it wouldn't keep waiting for them to get close. As they came out the other side of the street she saw what he was trying to do. They came across a large wooden poll that had collapsed on top of some unlucky person. His lower half was completely submerged, with his chest slowly dissapearing above the rising street water. At the sight of the trapped man the brown haired man quickly rushed over to him, but froze for a second before quickly attempting to lift the poll himself. Predictably she failed, even in Aether there were only a handful of people that she could think of that could lift that poll single-handedly.
"Silver! Red-head!" The man called out to them, desperation clear in his voice as he once again attempted to lift the poll, "Please, help me, I'm begging you! My friend is trapped and he could drown like this! Help me get this thing up! You two get on that side and I'll stay on this side and we'll lift at the same time!" Something inside Juniper sprung to life as she quickly discarded her bike, it falling on it's side completely submerged in the water, and rushed over to the other side of the pole. Having a close friend in a life or death situation reminded her of all the battles she fought alongside her troops. The fear in their eyes as one of them slowly bleed out from a grievous wound, the solemn journey home to give their companions their final rest, and the sense of despair that they may never see their loved ones again. She would not let this man die, no matter what it took to save him. She would not wish the pain of loss even among her most hated enemies. "On three lift up, if we can just lift it a little we can wedge something below it to keep it up." As she grunted and strained with all the might her small frame could she felt the blood flow from her head intensify as she exerted herself. In the back of her mind a small part of her caught onto something though, something the man had said.
He had called the other girl Silver, and even though he could have been referring to her hair like he had with hers she couldn't shake the feeling that he hadn't called her Silver because of her hair. Now that she thought about it the other woman had pale skin, unnaturally pale even, and red eyes along with her long silver hair. Just like a certain psychotic shapeshifter that she knew back on Aether. The only thing missing from her were claws, sharp canine like teeth and pair of cat ears resting on top of her head. If this girl was the Silver that she knew than why would she choose to appear like a normal human instead of her normal form? There were only two explanations to why she would do this. One was that she had done so to fit in better, which knowing who she was was very unlikely, and the second was way worse.
Silver had turned into a human, permanently.
The thought rocked Juniper to her core as she quickly tried to deny that it was possible. If that were the case then her queen could even be effected, possibly even becoming mortal herself. Her mind raced to find some evidence to deny the thought as she hurriedly asked the man "You called that woman Silver, do you know her?"
MagicPenguin
,
WillfulWren
Last edited:
WillfulWren
Rawr XD
Silver Ferae, Street -
MagicPenguin
Shotgunpenguin
Something was wrong.
Horribly, terribly wrong. She had been able to ignore it for a while, caught up in the thrill of the chase but as the game started to look like it may be over, her stomach started twisting itself up in knots. Silver knelt next to the man underneath the pole, reaching out to grab the puppy and hold him close to her.
She was dimly aware of the fact that she was shaking from cold, and was starting to feel a little numb and confused, like everything was just slipping away....but she looked up at the stranger man when he shouted her name in desperation. She didn't understand why he cared so much, but she nodded, letting the puppy go and getting back to her feet. Silver ran a critical eye over the huge pole, and frowned.
Was he stupid?! Tannur being able to punch a raincloud she could believe, but this??
The human not was most definitely an idiot, but she didn't even register his use of her name. And so, she did as asked, hoping to at least make him shut up and realise his idea was stupid. It was difficult to get a grip on the slick wood without claws, but she managed. And the shape of the pole reminded her of logs in a forest, which made her think...
"Could we roll it off of him?"
MagicPenguin
Shotgunpenguin
Something was wrong.
Horribly, terribly wrong. She had been able to ignore it for a while, caught up in the thrill of the chase but as the game started to look like it may be over, her stomach started twisting itself up in knots. Silver knelt next to the man underneath the pole, reaching out to grab the puppy and hold him close to her.
She was dimly aware of the fact that she was shaking from cold, and was starting to feel a little numb and confused, like everything was just slipping away....but she looked up at the stranger man when he shouted her name in desperation. She didn't understand why he cared so much, but she nodded, letting the puppy go and getting back to her feet. Silver ran a critical eye over the huge pole, and frowned.
Was he stupid?! Tannur being able to punch a raincloud she could believe, but this??
The human not was most definitely an idiot, but she didn't even register his use of her name. And so, she did as asked, hoping to at least make him shut up and realise his idea was stupid. It was difficult to get a grip on the slick wood without claws, but she managed. And the shape of the pole reminded her of logs in a forest, which made her think...
"Could we roll it off of him?"
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IG42
Paranoid Android
Tannur - Some Waterlogged Street
Holding the phone against his ear Tannur struggled to hear Rai over the raging storm and worrying rattling sound the shelter was making as the wind continued to strengthen. "I last saw her at our place but I think she was heading towards uhh..." Sticking his head up he read off of a nearby road sign that seemed to be pointing the right way. "...Covent Garden by the looks of it, well that general direction." Fortunately the combination of Silver's hair colour, lack of sensible clothing and the empty streets had meant that what few people were watching the street had remembered her. "Get down here if you can but be careful th-DAMN!" A low flying piece of debris suddenly smashed into one of the panels or the bus shelter shattering it.
Swearing loudly Tannur jumped away from the flying chunks and ran for a nearby covered porch. "As I was saying this storm is getting pretty crazy. I'm going to try and speak to Morgana and see if she's nearby, oh yeah we ran into her too by the way. Hang on I'll see if I can find her number." Fumbling with his wet fingers he eventually managed to dig it up and read it out. "Did you get that? Rai?" Looking down at the strange device that had so quickly become indispensable he couldn't see anything wrong with it but he'd gotten the impression that most of the bewildering things the people on Earth used relied on something called electricity and getting such things wet was apparently a bad idea. Grunting in frustration he hung up the call while wondering what hanging had to do with ending a conversation, then again hanging someone was one way to make sure they wouldn't start talking to you again.
Leaving his phone in his most waterproof pocket in the hopes that it would dry out at least a little before he tried to use it again. Slogging through the wind and rain a while longer the effort of fighting through the increasingly deep water and the sheer force of the wind eventually forced him to stop and rest under cover again, even with his fairly sturdy coat on he was wet through and his soaked locks kept sticking to his face in irritating ways, for the first time in weeks he considered getting his hair cut back but had come to like the look even though his smaller stature and smoother features had caused a few people to confuse his gender in what he assumed to be a final act of vengeance from his elven side. Pulling out his phone again he tried to shake the water off of it and after a lot of fruitless tapping eventually he managed to make it start calling Morgana at least he hoped that was what it was doing. "Morgana? Can you hear me? Where are you right now? Silver's run off and I think she's somewhere around this Covent Garden place."
QizPizza
koala
Holding the phone against his ear Tannur struggled to hear Rai over the raging storm and worrying rattling sound the shelter was making as the wind continued to strengthen. "I last saw her at our place but I think she was heading towards uhh..." Sticking his head up he read off of a nearby road sign that seemed to be pointing the right way. "...Covent Garden by the looks of it, well that general direction." Fortunately the combination of Silver's hair colour, lack of sensible clothing and the empty streets had meant that what few people were watching the street had remembered her. "Get down here if you can but be careful th-DAMN!" A low flying piece of debris suddenly smashed into one of the panels or the bus shelter shattering it.
Swearing loudly Tannur jumped away from the flying chunks and ran for a nearby covered porch. "As I was saying this storm is getting pretty crazy. I'm going to try and speak to Morgana and see if she's nearby, oh yeah we ran into her too by the way. Hang on I'll see if I can find her number." Fumbling with his wet fingers he eventually managed to dig it up and read it out. "Did you get that? Rai?" Looking down at the strange device that had so quickly become indispensable he couldn't see anything wrong with it but he'd gotten the impression that most of the bewildering things the people on Earth used relied on something called electricity and getting such things wet was apparently a bad idea. Grunting in frustration he hung up the call while wondering what hanging had to do with ending a conversation, then again hanging someone was one way to make sure they wouldn't start talking to you again.
Leaving his phone in his most waterproof pocket in the hopes that it would dry out at least a little before he tried to use it again. Slogging through the wind and rain a while longer the effort of fighting through the increasingly deep water and the sheer force of the wind eventually forced him to stop and rest under cover again, even with his fairly sturdy coat on he was wet through and his soaked locks kept sticking to his face in irritating ways, for the first time in weeks he considered getting his hair cut back but had come to like the look even though his smaller stature and smoother features had caused a few people to confuse his gender in what he assumed to be a final act of vengeance from his elven side. Pulling out his phone again he tried to shake the water off of it and after a lot of fruitless tapping eventually he managed to make it start calling Morgana at least he hoped that was what it was doing. "Morgana? Can you hear me? Where are you right now? Silver's run off and I think she's somewhere around this Covent Garden place."
QizPizza
koala
LoneSniper87
Dirtyhands
Anastasia Kochenkov
Miller's Café
Ok, rain was one thing. This was a typhoon. Thought the runaway princess as she began to get progressively more and more soaked. "This is getting out of hand." She grumbled as she went away into a back alley, hoping she may be able to find solace under an overhang or perhaps get into the back of a building. She finds the service entrance of the café she stood outside of, looking it over. She could tell it was locked, but she figured it wouldn't be for long. She crouched down to the lock, pulling up a very crude version of lockpicks as she went to work on the lock, and after a few minutes she heard the satisfying click of the lock popping open. She sprang up, vigor renewed as she sprang up to open the door.
Only it didn't budge.
She looked at it, confused. Why wouldn't it open? She tried again, to the same result. She groaned in frustration, kicking the door in anger as she went away from it, opting to go back to the front door. She peered in to see two women relaxing. She would bang on the door a few times, hoping to get their attention.
Avari
Miller's Café
Ok, rain was one thing. This was a typhoon. Thought the runaway princess as she began to get progressively more and more soaked. "This is getting out of hand." She grumbled as she went away into a back alley, hoping she may be able to find solace under an overhang or perhaps get into the back of a building. She finds the service entrance of the café she stood outside of, looking it over. She could tell it was locked, but she figured it wouldn't be for long. She crouched down to the lock, pulling up a very crude version of lockpicks as she went to work on the lock, and after a few minutes she heard the satisfying click of the lock popping open. She sprang up, vigor renewed as she sprang up to open the door.
Only it didn't budge.
She looked at it, confused. Why wouldn't it open? She tried again, to the same result. She groaned in frustration, kicking the door in anger as she went away from it, opting to go back to the front door. She peered in to see two women relaxing. She would bang on the door a few times, hoping to get their attention.
Avari
Avari
Four Thousand Club
MILLERS
LISA AND HANNAH
LISA AND HANNAH
The sudden deafening crack caused Hannah to scream, and the cafe - as well as the street outside - fell into darkness as the power went out. The only notable light now came from the frequent blinding flashes of lightening that lit up the area. In her panic, Hannah practically jumped into the air, her knees banging painfully against the bottom of the table and knocking it upwards. Lisa quickly made a grab for her half empty cup of coffee before it could fly into her lap. She managed to catch it, but a small drop of black liquid escaped the rim of the cup and splashed onto her jeans and she gave a hiss of annoyance as she jumped to her feet.
"You fooli-" She managed to say, only to find herself imprisoned by Hannah's arms which were now latched around her midriff - the girl herself refusing to let go and babbling incoherently.
"Oh god oh god I'm sorry I jumped oh god I'm scared what do we do what do we do what do we do??"
"Could you just-"
"What do we do??"
Lisa dug her fingernails hard into Hannah's scalp, and the younger girl gave a yelp of pain and relinquished her grip. She rubbed her head - or rather, her silhouette did. It was too dark to make out her features, but Lisa imagined she was pouting.
"Hey - not nice!"
"You were becoming hysterical." Lisa drawled.
Hannah's silhouette folded its arms, looking annoyed. "Fine - next time you can hug me, alright?"
"...Oh joy."
Lisa glanced up at the roof with a apprehensive expression. The sound of dripping water had evolved into a constant and alarming constant pour. It was clear that the cafe would survive if the downpour continued at its current intensity. Not to mention their proximity to the Thames rose further concerns. She had been hoping it wouldn't be necessary but...
"We should leave."
Hannah - who was now scrabbling around in the cupboards using her phone as a torchlight looked up at her co-worker, her face stretched with worry. "But...the news said we should stay inside."
"I'm not saying we just walk around in the storm - just get away from the river. I imagine we could shelter in one of the nearby office buildings. They'll be more secure than here."
Hannah nodded, though she was biting her lip and turned back to digging through the cupboard with renewed vigor. "Okay...yeah. You're right. I just gotta grab some stuff in case..."
She paused for a moment as the situation seemed to hit home for her.
"Well y'know."
"I know."
There was a loud, frantic knock on the front door. Hannah screamed again and promptly banged her head on the cupboard door. Lisa moved forward, and stretched out her arm - her open palm facing the sandbagged entrance to the cafe. Then she clicked her tongue in annoyance - seemingly at herself - and lowered her arm. There was a silhouette huddled against the glass, banging against it. Water running down her hood.
Hannah's head appeared from behind the counter, flashlight in hand. "W-who is it?"
Lisa squinted at the shadowy form suspiciously, and then took a few determined steps forward - her shoes splashing in the puddle of water that had now spread across the floor of Millers. She didn't make any attempt to move the sandbags, but reached over and unlatched the small window to the right and opened it just a crack. Even that allowed the deafening noise of the storm to blast through the cafe, and Hannah ducked back behind the counter.
Lisa pressed herself up against the window - her body almost comically balanced over the pile of sandbags. She looked at the stranger with an arched eyebrow, her expression blank. And then sighed in annoyance as the rain promptly drenched the front of her clothes again, just after getting them dry.
"...official opening hours are between 8am and 7pm. Thank you for your patronage - we will see you tomorrow."
She went to close the window, only for Hannah to appear out of nowhere and squeeze her own face between the window-crack, forcibly keeping it open.
"Lisa don't be mean!" She said, her tone full of reproach. "Look at the poor girl - she's drenched!"
"So are we..." Lisa added glumly.
"Hush." She grinned at the stranger. "Are you alright?"
---
INTERACTION
LoneSniper87
MagicPenguin
One Thousand Club
Arryn Bennett
Streets of London
The two women set themselves up on the opposite end of the pole as Arryn had asked and he heaved a little sigh of relief. He re-positioned his body in its squatting position and placed his stinging hands back underneath the pole where he'd been holding it before. It wasn't hard to find exactly where he'd been a second ago; the two spots where his hands had rested were marked with blood.
"On three, lift up," said the red-head. "If we can just lift it a little, we can wedge something below it to keep it up."
"All right," Arryn said hopefully. "Thank you. Both of you." In truth, he was still a little skeptical they could get the pole off of Daniel. Even with the three of them, Arryn wasn't enthusiastic about their chances of lifting the heavy thing. But it was the only chance Daniel had, so they had to try.
On the red-head's count of three, the trio lifted with everything they had. Arryn strained until he thought his head would explode. Their combined efforts were rewarded when the pole only just barely lifted off of Daniel. Not nearly enough to wedge anything under it as she'd suggested, however, even if they had something to put under there in the first place. When the effort became too much and it became clear they couldn't lift it any higher, the three let it drop back down so they could rest.
"We...we have to keep trying," Arryn said, out of breath. "I can't let him die." Daniel had already lived through so much. It would be too cruel a joke for him to die on Earth, now, after surviving for nigh on five decades fighting bloody battles on Aether as a member of Alcamoth's standing army.
"Could we roll it off of him?"
Arryn was so lost in his own desperate thoughts, he almost didn't hear Silver speak. He looked over to her; she was shivering and her eyes had a far-away quality to them. Her voice had been so low when she asked the question, Arryn wondered if he hadn't just imagined her saying that.
"That's...not a bad idea," he said. "Let's give it a try--"
"No," came a hoarse voice from below the telephone pole, "do not roll it over my face or legs; my ribs hurt enough as is from its weight on top of my chest." Arryn looked down to see Daniel Payne's eyes wide open, his face a grimace of pain. "You do not need to roll it. Lift it again, just as you did before. I can get out from under it myself if you can keep it up for just a few seconds." Hogan barked and licked the face of the now-alert werewolf. He was just as relieved as Arryn, it seemed.
"Daniel! You're awake! Are you alright?"
"A few broken ribs, I think, but I've had worse. Can you do as I've asked?"
"I think so." He turned to the other two. "Let's do it again."
Again, the red-headed woman counted to three and the trio lifted with all their might, Arryn ignoring the pain in his hands as they did so. Again, they were rewarded for their efforts when the pole lifted only a fraction of an inch off of Daniel's body. This time, it was enough. As painfully slowly as one might expect of a man with broken ribs, Payne carefully slid himself out from beneath the pole. It seemed to take an eternity and Arryn wondered how long the three of them could keep up their efforts. He slammed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth with the effort, hard enough that he thought he might crack a tooth. His hands screamed with pain and his arms with fatigue. Just when he thought he could go on for no longer, Daniel spoke up from beside him.
"That's enough. I'm out. Thanks to you all. I owe you my life." He was still lying on his back on the ground, but he'd slid himself now a short distance away from the pole.
With relief, Arryn dropped the pole at the same time the others did. It landed with a moderate-sized splash that caught him right in the face; wet as he already was, it hardly even mattered as far as Arryn was concerned. He forced his tired body over to Daniel, where he helped the man to his feet. The werewolf winced as he rose.
"I'm so glad you're alright, Daniel," he said. His companion smiled at him before turning his gaze on the others and thanking them for their help. Arryn was sure he must've noticed Silver--hardly anything ever slipped past the old timer--but his gaze didn't even flicker when it passed over her. He just took his enemy's presence in stride without even blinking. Arryn considered himself a cool and calm person in stressful, pressured situations, but Daniel had always made even him seem like a hysterical child; he could not help but envy the man for such composure.
"You called that woman Silver. Do you know her?"
Arryn looked over at the red-headed woman who'd asked the question.
"I did?" he asked innocently. He hadn't even realized. He cursed himself for the amateurish blunder. "I don't recall. I guess maybe I just called her that because of her hair. It's such a strange color. You don't see that every day, do you?"
He looked over to the shifter, who seemed flush and a little out of it.
"I think she's starting to come down with that cold I was warning her about," he told her, changing the subject in what he hoped was a suitably subtle manner. "Now that we have Hogan back, we should find shelter." Saying this, he knelt back down and grabbed the dog's leash before he could run off again. For a wonder, he actually stayed put this time. It seemed he'd tired of his game and was ready to go home.
"Can you lead us to that cafe you were telling us about earlier? The Silver-haired girl looks like she's about to collapse and, honestly, Daniel and I won't be far behind her when she does."
"I second that," Daniel put in hoarsely as he put his arm over Arryn's shoulder to lean on him.
WillfulWren
Shotgunpenguin
Streets of London
The two women set themselves up on the opposite end of the pole as Arryn had asked and he heaved a little sigh of relief. He re-positioned his body in its squatting position and placed his stinging hands back underneath the pole where he'd been holding it before. It wasn't hard to find exactly where he'd been a second ago; the two spots where his hands had rested were marked with blood.
"On three, lift up," said the red-head. "If we can just lift it a little, we can wedge something below it to keep it up."
"All right," Arryn said hopefully. "Thank you. Both of you." In truth, he was still a little skeptical they could get the pole off of Daniel. Even with the three of them, Arryn wasn't enthusiastic about their chances of lifting the heavy thing. But it was the only chance Daniel had, so they had to try.
On the red-head's count of three, the trio lifted with everything they had. Arryn strained until he thought his head would explode. Their combined efforts were rewarded when the pole only just barely lifted off of Daniel. Not nearly enough to wedge anything under it as she'd suggested, however, even if they had something to put under there in the first place. When the effort became too much and it became clear they couldn't lift it any higher, the three let it drop back down so they could rest.
"We...we have to keep trying," Arryn said, out of breath. "I can't let him die." Daniel had already lived through so much. It would be too cruel a joke for him to die on Earth, now, after surviving for nigh on five decades fighting bloody battles on Aether as a member of Alcamoth's standing army.
"Could we roll it off of him?"
Arryn was so lost in his own desperate thoughts, he almost didn't hear Silver speak. He looked over to her; she was shivering and her eyes had a far-away quality to them. Her voice had been so low when she asked the question, Arryn wondered if he hadn't just imagined her saying that.
"That's...not a bad idea," he said. "Let's give it a try--"
"No," came a hoarse voice from below the telephone pole, "do not roll it over my face or legs; my ribs hurt enough as is from its weight on top of my chest." Arryn looked down to see Daniel Payne's eyes wide open, his face a grimace of pain. "You do not need to roll it. Lift it again, just as you did before. I can get out from under it myself if you can keep it up for just a few seconds." Hogan barked and licked the face of the now-alert werewolf. He was just as relieved as Arryn, it seemed.
"Daniel! You're awake! Are you alright?"
"A few broken ribs, I think, but I've had worse. Can you do as I've asked?"
"I think so." He turned to the other two. "Let's do it again."
Again, the red-headed woman counted to three and the trio lifted with all their might, Arryn ignoring the pain in his hands as they did so. Again, they were rewarded for their efforts when the pole lifted only a fraction of an inch off of Daniel's body. This time, it was enough. As painfully slowly as one might expect of a man with broken ribs, Payne carefully slid himself out from beneath the pole. It seemed to take an eternity and Arryn wondered how long the three of them could keep up their efforts. He slammed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth with the effort, hard enough that he thought he might crack a tooth. His hands screamed with pain and his arms with fatigue. Just when he thought he could go on for no longer, Daniel spoke up from beside him.
"That's enough. I'm out. Thanks to you all. I owe you my life." He was still lying on his back on the ground, but he'd slid himself now a short distance away from the pole.
With relief, Arryn dropped the pole at the same time the others did. It landed with a moderate-sized splash that caught him right in the face; wet as he already was, it hardly even mattered as far as Arryn was concerned. He forced his tired body over to Daniel, where he helped the man to his feet. The werewolf winced as he rose.
"I'm so glad you're alright, Daniel," he said. His companion smiled at him before turning his gaze on the others and thanking them for their help. Arryn was sure he must've noticed Silver--hardly anything ever slipped past the old timer--but his gaze didn't even flicker when it passed over her. He just took his enemy's presence in stride without even blinking. Arryn considered himself a cool and calm person in stressful, pressured situations, but Daniel had always made even him seem like a hysterical child; he could not help but envy the man for such composure.
"You called that woman Silver. Do you know her?"
Arryn looked over at the red-headed woman who'd asked the question.
"I did?" he asked innocently. He hadn't even realized. He cursed himself for the amateurish blunder. "I don't recall. I guess maybe I just called her that because of her hair. It's such a strange color. You don't see that every day, do you?"
He looked over to the shifter, who seemed flush and a little out of it.
"I think she's starting to come down with that cold I was warning her about," he told her, changing the subject in what he hoped was a suitably subtle manner. "Now that we have Hogan back, we should find shelter." Saying this, he knelt back down and grabbed the dog's leash before he could run off again. For a wonder, he actually stayed put this time. It seemed he'd tired of his game and was ready to go home.
"Can you lead us to that cafe you were telling us about earlier? The Silver-haired girl looks like she's about to collapse and, honestly, Daniel and I won't be far behind her when she does."
"I second that," Daniel put in hoarsely as he put his arm over Arryn's shoulder to lean on him.
WillfulWren
Shotgunpenguin
Last edited:
koala
™
Loading world for MORGANA. . .
The bright lights in the building were flickering about due to the thundering storm outside. Morgana was sitting patiently in the reception area as she waited for her name to be called. The photographer she'd spoken to earlier was a quick one, having contacted his associate before she even gave him a solid "yes" or "no" answer. It wasn't as if she'd complain, however. If her knowledge was correct, models made quite a bit of money. Their faces were practically plastered every and she'd even spent the night, after catching up with Tannur and Silver, using the Internet to conduct research. There really were models that made an insane amount of money. All she had to do was stand in front of a camera. That couldn't be too hard.
The woman's amber eyes began to scan the interior of the building. It was very white and... cold in appearance. The furniture was sharp to the touch while the glass tables seemed like they could cut a person just from looking at them. Nevertheless, it was a clean environment and one she greatly appreciated. Morgana normally liked bland appearances too, especially ones that gave off an aura of solitude.
"Uh... Margo Nikravesh?"
Morgana immediately stood up like a soldier on duty. Her head turned robotically towards the sound of her name, and responded with a cool "Yes?"
The man, presumably a servant or sorts, seemed mildly uncomfortable by her response and coughed out loud. He glanced down at his iPad and offered her a more recovered smile. "This way, please."
Following the somewhat short man, Morgana's eyes continued to scan her environment habitually. There were glass walls everywhere, and the ones that weren't glass were plastered with posters of whom she presumed to be models of the agency. They were pretty, admittedly.
It wasn't long until she was brought in front of a pair of double doors. They were black in color and opened up into a very large office. Off to the right-hand corner was a man typing away at his computer. He gave off a very powerful, sophisticated aura and one that seemed hard to defy. The Master, Morgana thought as she stepped closer and sat down after being waved to do so.
The two eventually introduced themselves. Morgana learned his name was Joseph Coolings, the company's director. They continued to converse as Joseph explained their companies ideals and what the photographer had to say about her. The next thing Morgana could process was that she was signing papers and stamping a lot of other things she couldn't really understand.
"How much will I be paid now?" Morgana asked as she tucked her things away into her back, appearing to spark an interesting glint in Joseph's eyes. All the man could really do was laugh at the woman's ignorance.
"Well, you'll be paid on commission and seeing as you're new... well... you won't be making much at first. Some models don't begin even begin making five figures until their fifth year of work."
Morgana squinted her eyes, as she felt a small hint of anger begin to grow inside of her. She felt extremely lied to or maybe it was her fault for being so ill-informed of the job. Whatever the case, she didn't say anything else and began making her way out. Joseph had called out to her about staying indoors for the time being, but she didn't really care. It wasn't like she'd never faced life-threatening weather before. Hell, she'd tackled a small army of dwarves in the path of a flooding valley without a blink.
A gentle vibration in her bag turned her attention away from the pouring rain. Tannur's name popped up, having exchanged numbers the evening before. She answered it with slight curiosity. Perhaps he'd forgotten they were to meet later that night. Or maybe he wanted to cancel due to the weather. "What a weakling," Morgana said to herself at the thought.
"Hello, Tannur?" Morgana answered as she stood just inside the company's doors, watching the wind and water flash by her. "Hello?" There was some slight static and the roaring rain didn't help. The woman decided to move deeper into the company in hopes of hearing him better. "Hello? Hello? Yes, I can hear you now. What?" Morgana's eyes widened at hearing Silver's name, an unfamiliar feeling of worry filling her core. "Covent Garden? Okay, I'm not too far from there. Keep looking for her. I'll be there soon."
Worry was something Morgana rarely felt and when she did, it was usually for the Queen, Raijin, and Silver. Those three were the only ones she felt a slither of emotion towards, but even then she didn't really feel anything. It was more like adopting social cues so she didn't appear too out of place. This time was different, however. There was something painful inside of her chest and her mind was swarming with thoughts that were unfamiliar. There was even a voice she was sure wasn't her own, neither Morgana or Margo, yet it still felt like her as she sped her way through the storm.
A decent fifteen minutes had gone by before she recognized where she was. There were a few shops that looked like the ones in Covent Garden, so she could only assume she was there. By then, however, she was soaked from head to toe and the outfit she was dressed in didn't help fight the wind or growing chill. Her denim skirt was making her thighs raw and her gray blouse was becoming more see through than anything. There was even a slush in her white sneakers that brought some discomfort.
Curse Garrett, Morgan sighed as she continue to search, making note to never allow her boss to choose an outfit for her ever again.
Continuing to jog through the downpour, Morgana eventually laid eyes on a rising water level. She carefully stepped forwards and realized it rested just above her ankles. That was only the area she was in though. There couldn't been other places where it was much, much worse.
With a reluctant sigh, Morgana began maneuvering her way through. Being unable to see clearly, however, the woman accidentally tripped and scraped her knee on the rough concrete. Wincing at the pain, and wishing she was back in Aether where she couldn't feel pain, the brunette tried her best to wave the pain off and continue forwards. It'd only take a few kilometers more, however, until she fell head first against something hard. And warm. A body?
As she looked closely, her eyes widened slightly with recognition. A small, rare smile blessed her lips as she mouthed, "Tannur!" As quickly as she was able, Morgan got to her feet and unconsciously dusted herself off. "How are you? Have you found Silver?" Realizing she should've examined his company, she frowned. "I suppose not."
The woman's amber eyes began to scan the interior of the building. It was very white and... cold in appearance. The furniture was sharp to the touch while the glass tables seemed like they could cut a person just from looking at them. Nevertheless, it was a clean environment and one she greatly appreciated. Morgana normally liked bland appearances too, especially ones that gave off an aura of solitude.
"Uh... Margo Nikravesh?"
Morgana immediately stood up like a soldier on duty. Her head turned robotically towards the sound of her name, and responded with a cool "Yes?"
The man, presumably a servant or sorts, seemed mildly uncomfortable by her response and coughed out loud. He glanced down at his iPad and offered her a more recovered smile. "This way, please."
Following the somewhat short man, Morgana's eyes continued to scan her environment habitually. There were glass walls everywhere, and the ones that weren't glass were plastered with posters of whom she presumed to be models of the agency. They were pretty, admittedly.
It wasn't long until she was brought in front of a pair of double doors. They were black in color and opened up into a very large office. Off to the right-hand corner was a man typing away at his computer. He gave off a very powerful, sophisticated aura and one that seemed hard to defy. The Master, Morgana thought as she stepped closer and sat down after being waved to do so.
The two eventually introduced themselves. Morgana learned his name was Joseph Coolings, the company's director. They continued to converse as Joseph explained their companies ideals and what the photographer had to say about her. The next thing Morgana could process was that she was signing papers and stamping a lot of other things she couldn't really understand.
"How much will I be paid now?" Morgana asked as she tucked her things away into her back, appearing to spark an interesting glint in Joseph's eyes. All the man could really do was laugh at the woman's ignorance.
"Well, you'll be paid on commission and seeing as you're new... well... you won't be making much at first. Some models don't begin even begin making five figures until their fifth year of work."
Morgana squinted her eyes, as she felt a small hint of anger begin to grow inside of her. She felt extremely lied to or maybe it was her fault for being so ill-informed of the job. Whatever the case, she didn't say anything else and began making her way out. Joseph had called out to her about staying indoors for the time being, but she didn't really care. It wasn't like she'd never faced life-threatening weather before. Hell, she'd tackled a small army of dwarves in the path of a flooding valley without a blink.
A gentle vibration in her bag turned her attention away from the pouring rain. Tannur's name popped up, having exchanged numbers the evening before. She answered it with slight curiosity. Perhaps he'd forgotten they were to meet later that night. Or maybe he wanted to cancel due to the weather. "What a weakling," Morgana said to herself at the thought.
"Hello, Tannur?" Morgana answered as she stood just inside the company's doors, watching the wind and water flash by her. "Hello?" There was some slight static and the roaring rain didn't help. The woman decided to move deeper into the company in hopes of hearing him better. "Hello? Hello? Yes, I can hear you now. What?" Morgana's eyes widened at hearing Silver's name, an unfamiliar feeling of worry filling her core. "Covent Garden? Okay, I'm not too far from there. Keep looking for her. I'll be there soon."
Worry was something Morgana rarely felt and when she did, it was usually for the Queen, Raijin, and Silver. Those three were the only ones she felt a slither of emotion towards, but even then she didn't really feel anything. It was more like adopting social cues so she didn't appear too out of place. This time was different, however. There was something painful inside of her chest and her mind was swarming with thoughts that were unfamiliar. There was even a voice she was sure wasn't her own, neither Morgana or Margo, yet it still felt like her as she sped her way through the storm.
A decent fifteen minutes had gone by before she recognized where she was. There were a few shops that looked like the ones in Covent Garden, so she could only assume she was there. By then, however, she was soaked from head to toe and the outfit she was dressed in didn't help fight the wind or growing chill. Her denim skirt was making her thighs raw and her gray blouse was becoming more see through than anything. There was even a slush in her white sneakers that brought some discomfort.
Curse Garrett, Morgan sighed as she continue to search, making note to never allow her boss to choose an outfit for her ever again.
Continuing to jog through the downpour, Morgana eventually laid eyes on a rising water level. She carefully stepped forwards and realized it rested just above her ankles. That was only the area she was in though. There couldn't been other places where it was much, much worse.
With a reluctant sigh, Morgana began maneuvering her way through. Being unable to see clearly, however, the woman accidentally tripped and scraped her knee on the rough concrete. Wincing at the pain, and wishing she was back in Aether where she couldn't feel pain, the brunette tried her best to wave the pain off and continue forwards. It'd only take a few kilometers more, however, until she fell head first against something hard. And warm. A body?
As she looked closely, her eyes widened slightly with recognition. A small, rare smile blessed her lips as she mouthed, "Tannur!" As quickly as she was able, Morgan got to her feet and unconsciously dusted herself off. "How are you? Have you found Silver?" Realizing she should've examined his company, she frowned. "I suppose not."
Location: Modeling Agency > Convent Garden
Date: Month Date, Year
Time: Too crazy to tell
Mentions: Silver
Interacting: Tannur
IG42
Date: Month Date, Year
Time: Too crazy to tell
Mentions: Silver
Interacting: Tannur
IG42
IG42
Paranoid Android
Tannur - An Entirely New and Exciting Waterlogged Street
Hearing a garbled mess of sound that he hoped was Morgana's voice Tannur assumed she had gotten the message and resolved to not be such a cheapskate if he was around long enough to need another phone. So he sloshed onward in the faint hope that having three people searching would increase the chance of finding Silver in this ridiculously big city enough to actually be possible.
Having slogged through the streets a while longer he had stopped for a moment to catch his breath when a heavy weight nearly knocked him off his feet. Barely keeping his balance he looked down he saw that it was Morgana of all people who had headbutted him, when she looked up at him Tannur was surprised to see her actually smile at him instead of her usual apathy or mild irritation. "I get that you're happy to see me but this isn't the time to hug it out." He reached down and helped her up while looking her over. "I see you're blending in with the local colour quite nicely." He smirked but averted his eyes from her translucent top and offered her the spare coat he had brought for Silver. "Here, you can hang onto this until we find Silver, I can't carry two half-dead ladies back home with me."
koala
Hearing a garbled mess of sound that he hoped was Morgana's voice Tannur assumed she had gotten the message and resolved to not be such a cheapskate if he was around long enough to need another phone. So he sloshed onward in the faint hope that having three people searching would increase the chance of finding Silver in this ridiculously big city enough to actually be possible.
Having slogged through the streets a while longer he had stopped for a moment to catch his breath when a heavy weight nearly knocked him off his feet. Barely keeping his balance he looked down he saw that it was Morgana of all people who had headbutted him, when she looked up at him Tannur was surprised to see her actually smile at him instead of her usual apathy or mild irritation. "I get that you're happy to see me but this isn't the time to hug it out." He reached down and helped her up while looking her over. "I see you're blending in with the local colour quite nicely." He smirked but averted his eyes from her translucent top and offered her the spare coat he had brought for Silver. "Here, you can hang onto this until we find Silver, I can't carry two half-dead ladies back home with me."
koala
LoneSniper87
Dirtyhands
Anastasia Kochenkov
Miller's Cafe
The young woman smiled, until she was essentially told no, but then someone else asked about her. "I understand the situation is sort of..." She glanced back at the hurricane behind her. "Dire... But could you let me in? I stayed out much to long and paid the price. Lost my umbrella to the winds." She explained.
The two women's expressions were almost comically opposite. The brown haired one with freckles was nodding along, looking sympathetic. The dark haired girl meanwhile was looking rather annoyed about the entire situation.
"Please don't tell me we're letting in strays Hannah."
The girl called Hannah forced a big smile as she promptly placed her two hands around the shoulders of her colleague and pulled her away from the window.
"We'll be right back."
The window snapped shut in front of her. She couldn't hear anything, but the shadowed forms looked like they were having a... Heated... Discussion. Hannah came forward and opened the window a crack again.
"Sorry about that. Look, I'll be honest - we're kinda looking at getting out of here ourselves. But if you need shelter for a few moments, you can come in!" She said before opening the window enough for the girl to climb through.
The interior of the cafe was a shambles. Water was trickling down from the ceiling and running down the walls - pooling onto the floor. The only source of light was from the nicer girls smartphone flashlight, which she shone in front of Ana to show her the way.
"Thank you, and, I'm fine... Just a... Tad wet. I'm Anastasia Kochenkov." She said, extending a hand to the girl closest to her. She, suddenly realizing something, pulling off her gloves and revealing a relatively drier hand. "And you two?"
Hannah beamed as she happily grabbed Ana's hand. "I'm Hannah Miller - this is my Cafe. The grumpy one is Lisa."
She gestured to her colleague, who was leaning against the bar with her arms crossed.
"...Charmed." She managed, not looking very charmed at all. "We were just getting ready to leave. So naturally you won't be able to stay."
Ana nodded, grateful. "That is fine by me, Miss. Just some temporary solace is all I ask." She stops, then remembers something.
"By the way, your back door is unlocked, I was trying to sit in the alley to get some solace from the rain, and I nearly brought it open if not for the sandbags."
Hannah frowned and glanced at Lisa. "Hey - did you not lock the door earlier? That's unlike you."
The raven haired girl narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the back door in question. "Yes. It is unlike me."
Ana nodded, not showing any sign of wrongdoing.
Lisa frowned for a moment, and then the thought seemed to dissipate as a new trickle of water splattered onto her shoulder, and she clicked her tongue in annoyance as she moved out of the downpour and she shot Hannah a look.
"We have to go."
Hannah folded her arms, hugging herself and bit her bottom lip. "Y-yeah I know..."
"If it's any consolation, I'm sure you will find a,way to fix all this, Hannah, I truly hope you do as well." Anastasia said, a kind smile as she glanced around. "You probably know this area better than I do... I'll follow you guys."
"We have picked up a stray." Lisa drawled as she passed Hannah the large duffel bag that her co-worker had been filling with objects too important to leave behind, if the flood did any more damage to the cafe.
Anastasia looked at Lisa, a bit miffed at the statement. She had been called stray... Alot in her life. "I am no stray!" She responded, accompanied by a flash of lightning and very loud thunder. The strike happened just across the street, setting the two story restaurant across from them on fire, with a shockwave that sent glass flying into the building. Ana reacted instantly, shielding her face as glass sprayed at her, cutting up her jeans and slashing into her skin as one dug into her elbow.
Hannah ducked back behind the counter, shrieking for a moment as the immediate danger passed. Lisa pulled herself off the floor, looking none the worse for ware except a small cut to her cheek where a piece of glass had flew past.
"I-is everyone alright?" Hannah gasped, poking her head up from behind the counter.
Then the screams from outside started.
Screams from the resturant.
That was now on fire.
Miller's Cafe
The young woman smiled, until she was essentially told no, but then someone else asked about her. "I understand the situation is sort of..." She glanced back at the hurricane behind her. "Dire... But could you let me in? I stayed out much to long and paid the price. Lost my umbrella to the winds." She explained.
The two women's expressions were almost comically opposite. The brown haired one with freckles was nodding along, looking sympathetic. The dark haired girl meanwhile was looking rather annoyed about the entire situation.
"Please don't tell me we're letting in strays Hannah."
The girl called Hannah forced a big smile as she promptly placed her two hands around the shoulders of her colleague and pulled her away from the window.
"We'll be right back."
The window snapped shut in front of her. She couldn't hear anything, but the shadowed forms looked like they were having a... Heated... Discussion. Hannah came forward and opened the window a crack again.
"Sorry about that. Look, I'll be honest - we're kinda looking at getting out of here ourselves. But if you need shelter for a few moments, you can come in!" She said before opening the window enough for the girl to climb through.
The interior of the cafe was a shambles. Water was trickling down from the ceiling and running down the walls - pooling onto the floor. The only source of light was from the nicer girls smartphone flashlight, which she shone in front of Ana to show her the way.
"Thank you, and, I'm fine... Just a... Tad wet. I'm Anastasia Kochenkov." She said, extending a hand to the girl closest to her. She, suddenly realizing something, pulling off her gloves and revealing a relatively drier hand. "And you two?"
Hannah beamed as she happily grabbed Ana's hand. "I'm Hannah Miller - this is my Cafe. The grumpy one is Lisa."
She gestured to her colleague, who was leaning against the bar with her arms crossed.
"...Charmed." She managed, not looking very charmed at all. "We were just getting ready to leave. So naturally you won't be able to stay."
Ana nodded, grateful. "That is fine by me, Miss. Just some temporary solace is all I ask." She stops, then remembers something.
"By the way, your back door is unlocked, I was trying to sit in the alley to get some solace from the rain, and I nearly brought it open if not for the sandbags."
Hannah frowned and glanced at Lisa. "Hey - did you not lock the door earlier? That's unlike you."
The raven haired girl narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the back door in question. "Yes. It is unlike me."
Ana nodded, not showing any sign of wrongdoing.
Lisa frowned for a moment, and then the thought seemed to dissipate as a new trickle of water splattered onto her shoulder, and she clicked her tongue in annoyance as she moved out of the downpour and she shot Hannah a look.
"We have to go."
Hannah folded her arms, hugging herself and bit her bottom lip. "Y-yeah I know..."
"If it's any consolation, I'm sure you will find a,way to fix all this, Hannah, I truly hope you do as well." Anastasia said, a kind smile as she glanced around. "You probably know this area better than I do... I'll follow you guys."
"We have picked up a stray." Lisa drawled as she passed Hannah the large duffel bag that her co-worker had been filling with objects too important to leave behind, if the flood did any more damage to the cafe.
Anastasia looked at Lisa, a bit miffed at the statement. She had been called stray... Alot in her life. "I am no stray!" She responded, accompanied by a flash of lightning and very loud thunder. The strike happened just across the street, setting the two story restaurant across from them on fire, with a shockwave that sent glass flying into the building. Ana reacted instantly, shielding her face as glass sprayed at her, cutting up her jeans and slashing into her skin as one dug into her elbow.
Hannah ducked back behind the counter, shrieking for a moment as the immediate danger passed. Lisa pulled herself off the floor, looking none the worse for ware except a small cut to her cheek where a piece of glass had flew past.
"I-is everyone alright?" Hannah gasped, poking her head up from behind the counter.
Then the screams from outside started.
Screams from the resturant.
That was now on fire.
MagicPenguin
One Thousand Club
Roland Fairchild
Streets of London
Roland focused all his energy on pushing his weary limbs forward, one step at a time. He didn't know how long he and Elena had been trudging through the flooded streets of London. He'd lost track of time at some point after they left the cafe, but it felt like it must have been quite some time ago. He let his intense study of the floor in front of him waver for just a second so he could study the buildings around him. His surroundings looked a little familiar, he thought; a left up at the next intersection, maybe? After a month of exploring the city, he thought he knew London like the back of his hand, but his normally stellar sense of navigation was severely impaired by the lack of visibility. On top of that, they'd been turned around at least three times by roadblocks, closed-off streets where emergency services were performing repairs to fallen power lines or telephone poles or disposing of fallen trees. After the first roadblock, he thought he might be able to find a different route to take, but they'd just been turned away at the third and now he was just completely lost. He scrutinized everything with intensity for even the slim hope of finding a familiar landmark, scrounging the depths of his memory to find the two of them a path out of this insanity.
"We'll take a left at the next corner," he said to Elena. "Not much farther now. We should be back in our neighborhood soon." Despite his own uncertainty, he smiled brightly and did his best to sound reassuring. It was a leader's job to provide support to his comrades in the darkest of hours; even if he was not sure exactly where they were and he was afraid they'd be stuck in the cold rain for hours more, he would act for his friend as if he were in complete control of the situation.
As they turned the corner, lightning pierced the sky and the world flashed a brilliant white, leaving bright stars to mar Roland's vision in its wake. Seconds later, a deafening crack rent the air around them, the furious boom of thunder louder than any he had ever heard. A cutting wind came barrelling down the street they were turning onto with renewed ferocity, tearing right through his soaked clothing as if it were not even there, sending a foreboding shiver up his spine that was only partly due to the cold. Unable to take a step forward with the wind beating against him so relentlessly, Roland simply braced himself, firming his grip on the umbrella in his hands as if his life depended on keeping it with him. When the wind died down again, Roland let out a relieved exhale and lifted his foot out of the ankle-deep water to take another step. Before he could bring it back down, though, he caught a wiff of something in the fading breeze--the scent of burning wood, he thought--and had a sudden feeling of unease. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the odor--along with the tempestuous gale on which it had traveled to him--was gone. He looked around him, brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to locate the source of the scent.
"Did you smell that?" he asked Elena. "It smelled like..something burning. It was only for a second, though, and now it's gone. Maybe it was just my imagination. This storm must be playing tricks on my mind..."
A woman's terrified scream sounded as if it came from somewhere down the street. The same direction in which he'd seen that humongous bolt of lightning. The same direction from which the wind carrying the scent of fire had come.
Roland's body tensed. "Did you hear that?" he asked Elena. "It sounds like someone's in trouble. If we could hear them scream over the sounds of the storm, it must not be too far. Maybe we can do something! Let's go!"
Forgetting his fatigue, he closed his umbrella and replaced it on his back so the wind would not push against it as he ran and bolted ahead as quickly as he was able. In a storm like this, there might actually be nothing he could do to help someone in trouble--not without his long-absent Fairchild light magic, anyway--but he had to at least see what was going on and try. Full of adrenaline, he made it down the street faster than he would have thought possible. He stopped to listen for the screeching sound of the woman's squeals. He followed the next sound of her that he heard halfway down another street and up to a nearby alleyway. The dark corridor was filled with the haze of smoke and the same burning scent he'd detected earlier. Through that haze, on the other side of the alley, he could just make out the flickering light of a fire. The woman's scream sounded again. Roland covered his mouth and nose with the collar of his shirt to avoid inhaling too much of the smoke and rushed forward. When he emerged, it was into an area that finally seemed to spark something in his memory. There was another cafe, a little out of the way and difficult to spot, one that he thought he might have encountered sometime before, though he could not say precisely when at the moment. He might have pondered when he'd encountered this homey little cafe a bit further, but all his attention was drawn to the towering bonfire across from it, a two-story building that blazed like the sun and seemed about ready to collapse in on itself. In front of it was a huddled group of miserable-looking, soot-covered bodies, some of whom were still stumbling clumsily out of the building's entrance to join the others. Just when Roland was wondering if one of them had been the source of the screaming, he heard it again from inside the burning inferno. He thought it was coming from a window on the second floor.
He crossed the street and as he got closer to the small group of people who'd come out of the building, he heard the sound of another woman, this one older and sobbing uncontrollably. She was large and her clothing was soaked, torn in places, and so covered in black soot that Roland could not have said what the dress she was wearing actually looked like. She had a strong, sturdy, matronly look about her and she must've been in her forties or fifties, unless he missed his guess. She did not look to him like the kind of woman who normally gave into fits of emotion, but right now she had her hands clenched around the collar of a smaller, familiar-looking haggard young woman, screaming at her fearfully though her face must only have been an inch or two from hers. The smaller girl was doing her best to comfort her hysterical elder, it appeared, but whatever words she offered were lost in the howl of the storm.
"P-please, Hannah! You have to do something," she yelled frantically through her terrified tears with a desperation that bordered on despair. "My husband and daughter are still up on the second floor! If...if something happens to them...I don't know what I'll...please, Hannah! Please!"
"P-please calm down, Martha" Hannah stammered, clearly shaken and struggling to gently pry the woman's hands from her collar.
Martha didn't seem to be listening, still frantically clinging to Hannah. Another woman practically barged through the small group, wearing the same sort of apron as the familiar-looking girl. Her black hair was plastered to her forehead from the rain. She promptly marched up to the struggling pair and placed her own hands on Martha's arms that continued to grasp at the first young woman.
"That's enough!" She snapped, pushing the older woman back and breaking her grip. Martha stumbled - the harsh winds almost knocking her off balance, but managed to stay on her feet. She started to sob uncontrollably. Hannah grimaced and reached out her hand, placing it on the Martha's shoulder.
"We n-need to get to a safe distance, alright?" Hannah managed to say as she fumbled over her words. "I'm s-sure the e-emergency services are on their w-way. They'll get Scott and Samantha out of there when they come, you'll see."
"As if, man," said a skinny youth, maybe twenty or so, kneeling on the floor beside them. "You see these streets? There's way too much water, and some places closer to the river are even worse. No fire truck's getting through that in less than twenty minutes, if that, and this little restaurant's going to come down any second. They're doomed." The black haired woman shot the kid an icy, dagger-filled glare that promised him nothing less than murder as Martha's sobs grew even louder and Hannah continued to console the weeping woman still clinging to her like a barnacle to the underside of a boat. The kid just stared right back flatly, uncaring. He didn't have the dignity to look even a little ashamed of himself for his tactlessness.
Despite Hannah's attempts to soothe her, Martha could not remain upright after hearing what the young man had just said. She crumpled bonelessly to her knees like a puppet with its strings cut. Her howling wails reverberated off the walls of the surrounding shops, drowning out the wind, the rain, even the thunder. The only thing she didn't drown out was the heart-rending sound of a teenage girl's horrified screeching, still audible from somewhere on the second floor.
Roland's legs were moving him forward, running him toward the entrance of the blazing building, before his mind had even decided what to do. Lives were on the line and he was not about to rely on firefighters who might never show up to save them. No. He could do it. He would do it. He had to do it. There was no other choice. "I'll be right back," he shouted over his shoulder to Elena, who had finally emerged, red-faced and panting, from the alley through which he'd arrived less than a minute earlier.
"Hey, dude, you can't go in there-..."
"...must be crazy!..."
"...'ll be roasted like a chicken!..."
"...someone stop him!..."
"...you stupid son of a bitch..."
He barely registered the sound of angry curses and shouted warnings to come back from the huddle of disheveled people who'd emerged from the building earlier. He would stop for no one. He pulled up his red hood and ran headfirst into the hungry flames roaring at him from just inside the building's open front door.
koala
Avari
LoneSniper87
Streets of London
Roland focused all his energy on pushing his weary limbs forward, one step at a time. He didn't know how long he and Elena had been trudging through the flooded streets of London. He'd lost track of time at some point after they left the cafe, but it felt like it must have been quite some time ago. He let his intense study of the floor in front of him waver for just a second so he could study the buildings around him. His surroundings looked a little familiar, he thought; a left up at the next intersection, maybe? After a month of exploring the city, he thought he knew London like the back of his hand, but his normally stellar sense of navigation was severely impaired by the lack of visibility. On top of that, they'd been turned around at least three times by roadblocks, closed-off streets where emergency services were performing repairs to fallen power lines or telephone poles or disposing of fallen trees. After the first roadblock, he thought he might be able to find a different route to take, but they'd just been turned away at the third and now he was just completely lost. He scrutinized everything with intensity for even the slim hope of finding a familiar landmark, scrounging the depths of his memory to find the two of them a path out of this insanity.
"We'll take a left at the next corner," he said to Elena. "Not much farther now. We should be back in our neighborhood soon." Despite his own uncertainty, he smiled brightly and did his best to sound reassuring. It was a leader's job to provide support to his comrades in the darkest of hours; even if he was not sure exactly where they were and he was afraid they'd be stuck in the cold rain for hours more, he would act for his friend as if he were in complete control of the situation.
As they turned the corner, lightning pierced the sky and the world flashed a brilliant white, leaving bright stars to mar Roland's vision in its wake. Seconds later, a deafening crack rent the air around them, the furious boom of thunder louder than any he had ever heard. A cutting wind came barrelling down the street they were turning onto with renewed ferocity, tearing right through his soaked clothing as if it were not even there, sending a foreboding shiver up his spine that was only partly due to the cold. Unable to take a step forward with the wind beating against him so relentlessly, Roland simply braced himself, firming his grip on the umbrella in his hands as if his life depended on keeping it with him. When the wind died down again, Roland let out a relieved exhale and lifted his foot out of the ankle-deep water to take another step. Before he could bring it back down, though, he caught a wiff of something in the fading breeze--the scent of burning wood, he thought--and had a sudden feeling of unease. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the odor--along with the tempestuous gale on which it had traveled to him--was gone. He looked around him, brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to locate the source of the scent.
"Did you smell that?" he asked Elena. "It smelled like..something burning. It was only for a second, though, and now it's gone. Maybe it was just my imagination. This storm must be playing tricks on my mind..."
A woman's terrified scream sounded as if it came from somewhere down the street. The same direction in which he'd seen that humongous bolt of lightning. The same direction from which the wind carrying the scent of fire had come.
Roland's body tensed. "Did you hear that?" he asked Elena. "It sounds like someone's in trouble. If we could hear them scream over the sounds of the storm, it must not be too far. Maybe we can do something! Let's go!"
Forgetting his fatigue, he closed his umbrella and replaced it on his back so the wind would not push against it as he ran and bolted ahead as quickly as he was able. In a storm like this, there might actually be nothing he could do to help someone in trouble--not without his long-absent Fairchild light magic, anyway--but he had to at least see what was going on and try. Full of adrenaline, he made it down the street faster than he would have thought possible. He stopped to listen for the screeching sound of the woman's squeals. He followed the next sound of her that he heard halfway down another street and up to a nearby alleyway. The dark corridor was filled with the haze of smoke and the same burning scent he'd detected earlier. Through that haze, on the other side of the alley, he could just make out the flickering light of a fire. The woman's scream sounded again. Roland covered his mouth and nose with the collar of his shirt to avoid inhaling too much of the smoke and rushed forward. When he emerged, it was into an area that finally seemed to spark something in his memory. There was another cafe, a little out of the way and difficult to spot, one that he thought he might have encountered sometime before, though he could not say precisely when at the moment. He might have pondered when he'd encountered this homey little cafe a bit further, but all his attention was drawn to the towering bonfire across from it, a two-story building that blazed like the sun and seemed about ready to collapse in on itself. In front of it was a huddled group of miserable-looking, soot-covered bodies, some of whom were still stumbling clumsily out of the building's entrance to join the others. Just when Roland was wondering if one of them had been the source of the screaming, he heard it again from inside the burning inferno. He thought it was coming from a window on the second floor.
He crossed the street and as he got closer to the small group of people who'd come out of the building, he heard the sound of another woman, this one older and sobbing uncontrollably. She was large and her clothing was soaked, torn in places, and so covered in black soot that Roland could not have said what the dress she was wearing actually looked like. She had a strong, sturdy, matronly look about her and she must've been in her forties or fifties, unless he missed his guess. She did not look to him like the kind of woman who normally gave into fits of emotion, but right now she had her hands clenched around the collar of a smaller, familiar-looking haggard young woman, screaming at her fearfully though her face must only have been an inch or two from hers. The smaller girl was doing her best to comfort her hysterical elder, it appeared, but whatever words she offered were lost in the howl of the storm.
"P-please, Hannah! You have to do something," she yelled frantically through her terrified tears with a desperation that bordered on despair. "My husband and daughter are still up on the second floor! If...if something happens to them...I don't know what I'll...please, Hannah! Please!"
"P-please calm down, Martha" Hannah stammered, clearly shaken and struggling to gently pry the woman's hands from her collar.
Martha didn't seem to be listening, still frantically clinging to Hannah. Another woman practically barged through the small group, wearing the same sort of apron as the familiar-looking girl. Her black hair was plastered to her forehead from the rain. She promptly marched up to the struggling pair and placed her own hands on Martha's arms that continued to grasp at the first young woman.
"That's enough!" She snapped, pushing the older woman back and breaking her grip. Martha stumbled - the harsh winds almost knocking her off balance, but managed to stay on her feet. She started to sob uncontrollably. Hannah grimaced and reached out her hand, placing it on the Martha's shoulder.
"We n-need to get to a safe distance, alright?" Hannah managed to say as she fumbled over her words. "I'm s-sure the e-emergency services are on their w-way. They'll get Scott and Samantha out of there when they come, you'll see."
"As if, man," said a skinny youth, maybe twenty or so, kneeling on the floor beside them. "You see these streets? There's way too much water, and some places closer to the river are even worse. No fire truck's getting through that in less than twenty minutes, if that, and this little restaurant's going to come down any second. They're doomed." The black haired woman shot the kid an icy, dagger-filled glare that promised him nothing less than murder as Martha's sobs grew even louder and Hannah continued to console the weeping woman still clinging to her like a barnacle to the underside of a boat. The kid just stared right back flatly, uncaring. He didn't have the dignity to look even a little ashamed of himself for his tactlessness.
Despite Hannah's attempts to soothe her, Martha could not remain upright after hearing what the young man had just said. She crumpled bonelessly to her knees like a puppet with its strings cut. Her howling wails reverberated off the walls of the surrounding shops, drowning out the wind, the rain, even the thunder. The only thing she didn't drown out was the heart-rending sound of a teenage girl's horrified screeching, still audible from somewhere on the second floor.
Roland's legs were moving him forward, running him toward the entrance of the blazing building, before his mind had even decided what to do. Lives were on the line and he was not about to rely on firefighters who might never show up to save them. No. He could do it. He would do it. He had to do it. There was no other choice. "I'll be right back," he shouted over his shoulder to Elena, who had finally emerged, red-faced and panting, from the alley through which he'd arrived less than a minute earlier.
"Hey, dude, you can't go in there-..."
"...must be crazy!..."
"...'ll be roasted like a chicken!..."
"...someone stop him!..."
"...you stupid son of a bitch..."
He barely registered the sound of angry curses and shouted warnings to come back from the huddle of disheveled people who'd emerged from the building earlier. He would stop for no one. He pulled up his red hood and ran headfirst into the hungry flames roaring at him from just inside the building's open front door.
koala
Avari
LoneSniper87
koala
™
Loading world for ELENA. . .
Never much of a leader herself, Elena was quite thankful that she was with Roland of all people. While she would have very much preferred the company of Daniel and his gentlemanly behavior, Arryn and his unnoticed charm, or even Ana and her shrewd remarks, the woman supposed the main character of a fantasy was the next best option. He seemed to be fairly confident in where they were going, even if the streetlights were mostly out and the pouring rain provided a second layer of blanketed darkness.
At least he's reassuring. Thought the woman as Roland spoke with brightly. It was hard to tell if he was truly confident though with all that was going on.
Suddenly, the loudest roar of thunder she'd ever heard in a while shook the earth beneath her. Feeling her knees buckle slightly from both shock and shakiness, she grabbed onto a post to steady herself. A cackle of bright lightening soon followed and Elena couldn't help but contort her face as her eyes shut. Shaking her head slightly, she could feel a rising sense of panic fill her chest but she tried not to show. Mild thunder and lightening were one thing, but she genuinely couldn't handle big ones. They sent her back to the past and into the little girl that was all alone, trapped in her own home for days.
Elena's only response to Roland's questions were a few mumbles and nods. Her mind was too distorted to really reply as fear was beginning to take over, her breathing awkward as she tried to calm down. Blinking a few times, she'd failed to realize Roland leaving until he was already meters away. Staggering after him like a lost pup, she tried to maintain focus and not trip on herself or the items that may have been floating in the dark water. "W-wait!" Elena called out, her breath short and choppy. "Roland!"
By the time she'd made passed the alley, her eyes only briefly met Roland's as he dashed into a building. A burning one. Eyes wide with terror, the shock from the thunder and lightening began to dissipate slowly. The woman repeatedly called after him and told him to stop, however, her voice was drowned out by the pelting rain and cries of others. One woman, in particular, was wailing like a banshee.
"A-are you okay?" Elena asked as she stooped downwards, wincing slightly as her knees hit the concrete a bit harder than expected. She checked the woman once over, not seeing any signs of injury. It wasn't like Elena could do much if that were the case anyways. She'd only taken a few classes on emergency first aid, but a burning and possible crumbling restaurant was not part of the syllabus.
Although her heart and head were still pounding with anxiety, the blonde tried her best to soothe those around her. Some people were actually injured and all she could do was offer some cloth from her soaked bag and her raincoat to a young girl. Elena felt extremely helpless at the moment and she feared for all the people trapped in the burning building. The person she feared for the most, however, was Roland's. What if he died? How would she explain it to her friends? How would they get home?
Tears began to well up in her eyes as the anxiety returned, forcing the woman to sit down. "Oh my god..." Elena choked, both her hands pulling on the hair at either side of her head.
At least he's reassuring. Thought the woman as Roland spoke with brightly. It was hard to tell if he was truly confident though with all that was going on.
Suddenly, the loudest roar of thunder she'd ever heard in a while shook the earth beneath her. Feeling her knees buckle slightly from both shock and shakiness, she grabbed onto a post to steady herself. A cackle of bright lightening soon followed and Elena couldn't help but contort her face as her eyes shut. Shaking her head slightly, she could feel a rising sense of panic fill her chest but she tried not to show. Mild thunder and lightening were one thing, but she genuinely couldn't handle big ones. They sent her back to the past and into the little girl that was all alone, trapped in her own home for days.
Elena's only response to Roland's questions were a few mumbles and nods. Her mind was too distorted to really reply as fear was beginning to take over, her breathing awkward as she tried to calm down. Blinking a few times, she'd failed to realize Roland leaving until he was already meters away. Staggering after him like a lost pup, she tried to maintain focus and not trip on herself or the items that may have been floating in the dark water. "W-wait!" Elena called out, her breath short and choppy. "Roland!"
By the time she'd made passed the alley, her eyes only briefly met Roland's as he dashed into a building. A burning one. Eyes wide with terror, the shock from the thunder and lightening began to dissipate slowly. The woman repeatedly called after him and told him to stop, however, her voice was drowned out by the pelting rain and cries of others. One woman, in particular, was wailing like a banshee.
"A-are you okay?" Elena asked as she stooped downwards, wincing slightly as her knees hit the concrete a bit harder than expected. She checked the woman once over, not seeing any signs of injury. It wasn't like Elena could do much if that were the case anyways. She'd only taken a few classes on emergency first aid, but a burning and possible crumbling restaurant was not part of the syllabus.
Although her heart and head were still pounding with anxiety, the blonde tried her best to soothe those around her. Some people were actually injured and all she could do was offer some cloth from her soaked bag and her raincoat to a young girl. Elena felt extremely helpless at the moment and she feared for all the people trapped in the burning building. The person she feared for the most, however, was Roland's. What if he died? How would she explain it to her friends? How would they get home?
Tears began to well up in her eyes as the anxiety returned, forcing the woman to sit down. "Oh my god..." Elena choked, both her hands pulling on the hair at either side of her head.
Location: Burning restaurant
Date: --
Time: Too crazy to tell
Mentions: Daniel, Arryn, Ana
Interacting: Roland
MagicPenguin
Date: --
Time: Too crazy to tell
Mentions: Daniel, Arryn, Ana
Interacting: Roland
MagicPenguin
Last edited:
koala
™
Loading world for MORGANA. . .
"'Happy' is a subjective term," Morgana said nonchalantly. "I don't even know what it's supposed to feel like." She looked herself once over to make sure everything was in place, as if she actually had anything important to begin with. Besides her purse and soaked-to-the-bone attire, everything appeared accounted for. Her knee was her only genuine concern, as it had begun to burn a little more by the minute. Having become a normal mundane without any druid runes tattooed, her body was a lot more sensitive than she'd liked. A part of her even believed that also impacted her emotions, as a slight warm grew on her face when she realized Tannur could see her translucent blouse.
"Ah, yes," responded the woman as plainly as she could, swiping the rain coat from the man's hands a bit too quickly. "I can't fathom wearing such clothing in Aether." Wearing such short and revealing clothing would not have flown with her if she were her true self. As Lucrezia's bodyguard, she was expected to hold herself high and proud, and promiscuous clothing would've only sparked unwanted eyes and attention. While her body was rather curvaceous and bustier than most, the warrior hid everything feminine about her quite well underneath layers of cloth and armor. "Enjoy the sight while you can, half-elf. I'll be sure to add your eyes to my collection once we've returned home."
Ignoring Tannur's half-dead remarks, Morgan began walking a direction neither she nor he had taken. As they continued to search for their child-like companion, the woman caught a faint whiff of burning material. The wind and water would quickly send the scent elsewhere, but she was sure something was aflame. "There is a fire over there," she stated, her long fingers pointing down a dark street. "It's faint, but I'm sure there is one. If Silver is in the area, she will likely be attracted towards it." Knowing full well that the younger was a curious soul, anything exciting would be hard to pass. Their best bet would be heading in that direction and hoping for the best.
"Ah, yes," responded the woman as plainly as she could, swiping the rain coat from the man's hands a bit too quickly. "I can't fathom wearing such clothing in Aether." Wearing such short and revealing clothing would not have flown with her if she were her true self. As Lucrezia's bodyguard, she was expected to hold herself high and proud, and promiscuous clothing would've only sparked unwanted eyes and attention. While her body was rather curvaceous and bustier than most, the warrior hid everything feminine about her quite well underneath layers of cloth and armor. "Enjoy the sight while you can, half-elf. I'll be sure to add your eyes to my collection once we've returned home."
Ignoring Tannur's half-dead remarks, Morgan began walking a direction neither she nor he had taken. As they continued to search for their child-like companion, the woman caught a faint whiff of burning material. The wind and water would quickly send the scent elsewhere, but she was sure something was aflame. "There is a fire over there," she stated, her long fingers pointing down a dark street. "It's faint, but I'm sure there is one. If Silver is in the area, she will likely be attracted towards it." Knowing full well that the younger was a curious soul, anything exciting would be hard to pass. Their best bet would be heading in that direction and hoping for the best.
Location: Streets of Covent Garden
Date: --
Time: Too crazy to tell
Mentions: Silver
Interacting: Tannur
IG42
Date: --
Time: Too crazy to tell
Mentions: Silver
Interacting: Tannur
IG42
Last edited:
Shotgunpenguin
I have become haitus, destroyer of RP's
Juniper Arc
Streets of London, soon to be riverfront property
The silver haired woman who was totally not Silver took her place besides Juniper and with a quick nod from the man she quickly counted to three before they all lifted in unison. Even with the three of them giving it everything they had the pole had only lifted a small amount off of the man, not even enough to wedge anything under to hold it. When it became quickly clear that the pole would not lift any higher than they managed to get it they slowly let it down back on top of the man. Junipers breath began to come out in strained bursts as she hunched over and rested her palms on her knees, her vision beginning to swim from the strain on her body. She clenched her eyes shut and shook her head in an attempt to restore her vision back to normal before wiping the blood from her brow again. The wound was only getting worse, at this rate she would be more liable to pass out from blood loss than be any help.
The man seemed even more desperate now as he stared at the trapped man. Dammit, she felt to powerless to do anything and it was pissing her off. "Could we roll it off of him?" Silver, no the silver haired woman questioned. Juniper quickly weighed the option before deciding against it. "I'd advise against that, if we try to roll it it could-" A voice from below cut her off before she could finish, it was the trapped man had gained consciousness "No. do not roll it over my face or legs; my ribs hurt enough as is from its weight on top of my chest." The man grimaced before he continued "You do not need to roll it. Lift it again, just as you did before. I can get out from under it myself if you can keep it up for just a few seconds." The brown haired man quickly asked the man, who's name was Daniel, if he was okay before telling the two of them to get ready to try again.
Just like the last time Juniper strained her body alongside the two as they slowly lifted the pole off of Daniel enough that he could slowly crawl his way out from underneath. And slow it was as she swore that her arms would give out before he would even get his legs out. Every second was one closer to her arms being torn out of their sockets as she gritted her teeth and clenched her eyes as tight as possible to try and hold out for long enough. As soon as he gave the all clear Juniper let the pole drop from her arms as she fell to her knees and began taking heavy gulps of air. Her arms felt like she had stuck them in magma and then let Rai convince her to try out one of his "warm ups." She wiped a mixture of sweat, rain and blood from her face as she slowly got up onto her feet.
She just barely caught the tail end of what the man was saying as he played the name off as just calling out her hair color. It would have made sense but the fact that he had called her red-head instead of just red like he had Silver still had her doubting. Unfortunately even if she did want to argue with him the fact that she had no proof otherwise and her exhausted body kept her from saying much. He quickly changed the subject to Silver, and for the first time she noticed exactly how bad she had looked. Even though she was already pale she somehow seemed ghostly at this point and was shivering enough that it seemed as if she was vibrating. Quickly shelving her previous suspicions she quickly moved to her side before trying to remove her own jacket to give to her, cursing when she remembered that she was just as soaked as the girl was. "We're going to need to move quick, none of us are in good shape." She quickly took the women's arm and put it over her shoulder, ignoring any complaints she had. Actually, she wasn't the only one looking a little ill. Surprisingly it was the brown haired man's dog that seemed just as bad. She could hear it softly whine as she spared a quick look at the area where she left her bike before painfully deciding to leave it. Her boss would understand if she explained it to him. Hopefully.
Walking as fast as she could while making sure that the injured man could keep up she began to lead them towards what she hoped was the cafe. The rain made it almost impossible to tell which way was right and with all of the turns they had to make to get back to where she could actually get on the right track made the trip a slow one. As they were a few streets down she called out to the two men "Just a little bit further, we sh-" A bright flash and the sound of a hundred explosions cut her off as she let out a startled scream at the sudden assault. She was no stranger to thunder, especially when Raijin wanted to show off, but this rivaled and even surpassed what he usually put out. "Oh god, that was by the cafe!" Disregarding any concern for the others she broke out into a run, dragging the silver-haired woman along with her as she closed the distance between the turn and practically skidded past it. She arrived at a scene that made her heart sink as smoke billowed from a building on the other side of the street from the cafe. People covered in blackened soot stood huddled together outside of a burning building, flames violently shooting out of broken windows like limbs of an octopus violently thrashing about. Fortunately the pouring rain was containing the fire somewhat, a small blessing she was grateful for as the two men caught up. As Juniper was about to rush over to see if the cafe was damaged she paused when she heard what sounded like someone hacking something up. Turning she saw Hogan the man's dog hack like it was about to throw up.
When it did hack whatever it was up it was, she blinked and shook her head to make sure she was seeing correctly, yellow butterflies. They flew out of the dog's mouth perfectly intact and somehow flew straight up into the storm as if it were clear as day. The dog's owner seemed just as confused as she was as he picked it up and held him close to his chest. For a second her mind drew a blank before deciding that she was simply hallucinating from all of the blood loss and that the dog did not actually barf up butterflies. Hearing shouting coming from behind her she turned again to the building to see a hooded individual rush into the burning building headlong. Wanting to get a closer view she practically dragged silver along with her as she got close enough to recognize the two servers from the cafe. "Lisa, Hannah are you two alright?" she asked as she stared in horror at the burning building "What the hell happened?"
WillfulWren
MagicPenguin
Avari
LoneSniper87
koala
(Maybe)
Streets of London, soon to be riverfront property
The silver haired woman who was totally not Silver took her place besides Juniper and with a quick nod from the man she quickly counted to three before they all lifted in unison. Even with the three of them giving it everything they had the pole had only lifted a small amount off of the man, not even enough to wedge anything under to hold it. When it became quickly clear that the pole would not lift any higher than they managed to get it they slowly let it down back on top of the man. Junipers breath began to come out in strained bursts as she hunched over and rested her palms on her knees, her vision beginning to swim from the strain on her body. She clenched her eyes shut and shook her head in an attempt to restore her vision back to normal before wiping the blood from her brow again. The wound was only getting worse, at this rate she would be more liable to pass out from blood loss than be any help.
The man seemed even more desperate now as he stared at the trapped man. Dammit, she felt to powerless to do anything and it was pissing her off. "Could we roll it off of him?" Silver, no the silver haired woman questioned. Juniper quickly weighed the option before deciding against it. "I'd advise against that, if we try to roll it it could-" A voice from below cut her off before she could finish, it was the trapped man had gained consciousness "No. do not roll it over my face or legs; my ribs hurt enough as is from its weight on top of my chest." The man grimaced before he continued "You do not need to roll it. Lift it again, just as you did before. I can get out from under it myself if you can keep it up for just a few seconds." The brown haired man quickly asked the man, who's name was Daniel, if he was okay before telling the two of them to get ready to try again.
Just like the last time Juniper strained her body alongside the two as they slowly lifted the pole off of Daniel enough that he could slowly crawl his way out from underneath. And slow it was as she swore that her arms would give out before he would even get his legs out. Every second was one closer to her arms being torn out of their sockets as she gritted her teeth and clenched her eyes as tight as possible to try and hold out for long enough. As soon as he gave the all clear Juniper let the pole drop from her arms as she fell to her knees and began taking heavy gulps of air. Her arms felt like she had stuck them in magma and then let Rai convince her to try out one of his "warm ups." She wiped a mixture of sweat, rain and blood from her face as she slowly got up onto her feet.
She just barely caught the tail end of what the man was saying as he played the name off as just calling out her hair color. It would have made sense but the fact that he had called her red-head instead of just red like he had Silver still had her doubting. Unfortunately even if she did want to argue with him the fact that she had no proof otherwise and her exhausted body kept her from saying much. He quickly changed the subject to Silver, and for the first time she noticed exactly how bad she had looked. Even though she was already pale she somehow seemed ghostly at this point and was shivering enough that it seemed as if she was vibrating. Quickly shelving her previous suspicions she quickly moved to her side before trying to remove her own jacket to give to her, cursing when she remembered that she was just as soaked as the girl was. "We're going to need to move quick, none of us are in good shape." She quickly took the women's arm and put it over her shoulder, ignoring any complaints she had. Actually, she wasn't the only one looking a little ill. Surprisingly it was the brown haired man's dog that seemed just as bad. She could hear it softly whine as she spared a quick look at the area where she left her bike before painfully deciding to leave it. Her boss would understand if she explained it to him. Hopefully.
Walking as fast as she could while making sure that the injured man could keep up she began to lead them towards what she hoped was the cafe. The rain made it almost impossible to tell which way was right and with all of the turns they had to make to get back to where she could actually get on the right track made the trip a slow one. As they were a few streets down she called out to the two men "Just a little bit further, we sh-" A bright flash and the sound of a hundred explosions cut her off as she let out a startled scream at the sudden assault. She was no stranger to thunder, especially when Raijin wanted to show off, but this rivaled and even surpassed what he usually put out. "Oh god, that was by the cafe!" Disregarding any concern for the others she broke out into a run, dragging the silver-haired woman along with her as she closed the distance between the turn and practically skidded past it. She arrived at a scene that made her heart sink as smoke billowed from a building on the other side of the street from the cafe. People covered in blackened soot stood huddled together outside of a burning building, flames violently shooting out of broken windows like limbs of an octopus violently thrashing about. Fortunately the pouring rain was containing the fire somewhat, a small blessing she was grateful for as the two men caught up. As Juniper was about to rush over to see if the cafe was damaged she paused when she heard what sounded like someone hacking something up. Turning she saw Hogan the man's dog hack like it was about to throw up.
When it did hack whatever it was up it was, she blinked and shook her head to make sure she was seeing correctly, yellow butterflies. They flew out of the dog's mouth perfectly intact and somehow flew straight up into the storm as if it were clear as day. The dog's owner seemed just as confused as she was as he picked it up and held him close to his chest. For a second her mind drew a blank before deciding that she was simply hallucinating from all of the blood loss and that the dog did not actually barf up butterflies. Hearing shouting coming from behind her she turned again to the building to see a hooded individual rush into the burning building headlong. Wanting to get a closer view she practically dragged silver along with her as she got close enough to recognize the two servers from the cafe. "Lisa, Hannah are you two alright?" she asked as she stared in horror at the burning building "What the hell happened?"
WillfulWren
MagicPenguin
Avari
LoneSniper87
koala
(Maybe)
IG42
Paranoid Android
Tannur - Still the same old partially submerged streets but now with fire
Having long been aware that Morgana's grasp on emotion had always been somewhat odd and having done his part to try and "educate" her through his campaign of teasing and flirting and flirty teasing Tannur wasn't surprised by Morgana's failure to properly understand her feelings or the threat to eviscerate something of his, though the slight blush she had as she took the coat did give him pause. "Well at the very least you were doing a very good impression of being happy to see me." He said as they walked though it was hard to keep a conversational tone over the howling wind and rain. "If you wanted to look into my eyes you could just ask, then again if we do find a way back and you take my eyes before that would I get them back along with my original body?"
Glad for the extra pair of eyes Tannur continued the search until Morgana sniffed the air and pointed towards a nearby glow refracting through the haze of raindrops. "Right it would be nice if her lack of self-preservation helped us out for once, or maybe she'll just huddle around it like a campfire." Heading towards the blaze alongside Morgana they came across the a group of people huddling in the street and he quickly recognised one of them. "Silver!" Dashing over to her as best he could he threw his arms around his charge. "What possessed you to run around in this storm?"
koala
WillfulWren
Having long been aware that Morgana's grasp on emotion had always been somewhat odd and having done his part to try and "educate" her through his campaign of teasing and flirting and flirty teasing Tannur wasn't surprised by Morgana's failure to properly understand her feelings or the threat to eviscerate something of his, though the slight blush she had as she took the coat did give him pause. "Well at the very least you were doing a very good impression of being happy to see me." He said as they walked though it was hard to keep a conversational tone over the howling wind and rain. "If you wanted to look into my eyes you could just ask, then again if we do find a way back and you take my eyes before that would I get them back along with my original body?"
Glad for the extra pair of eyes Tannur continued the search until Morgana sniffed the air and pointed towards a nearby glow refracting through the haze of raindrops. "Right it would be nice if her lack of self-preservation helped us out for once, or maybe she'll just huddle around it like a campfire." Heading towards the blaze alongside Morgana they came across the a group of people huddling in the street and he quickly recognised one of them. "Silver!" Dashing over to her as best he could he threw his arms around his charge. "What possessed you to run around in this storm?"
koala
WillfulWren
QizPizza
Not Quiznos
WillfulWren
Rawr XD
Silver Ferae, Convent Garden -
MagicPenguin
Shotgunpenguin
IG42
koala
The albino heaved a sigh of relief as the man was freed from under the log like object. She didn't care about him personally, but she was proud that she had helped, even after the stupid one had told her to go away. If she had left to seek shelter, his friend would have stayed stuck! She was helpful!
Silver opened her mouth to say as much, but was stopped by a wave of black spots across her vision. The effort of lifting the pole, combined with the hours she had spent wandering around in her soaked clothing were finally taking their toll, and she staggered back a few steps - only to find herself supported by the redheaded woman. " 'm fine.... " She muttered, glaring at the other, but she made no move to push her away, leaning heavily on the girl. Accepting help was somewhat annoying, and she didn't need the support (or rather, she didn't want it) but it wasn't too terrible.
Until the redhead started running. Silver almost tripped over her own feet, only barely managing to stay upright as she was dragged along. As soon as she was free to wriggle out of the other's grip, she did so, staring at the fire with wide ruby red eyes. At least it was warm, though the yelling and screaming was annoying.
But the best thing about it, aside from it being warm and bright? It had served a purpose as a beacon, drawing her idiot pet half-elf right to her! She made a small noise, rather like a purr as she snuggled into his embrace, though she pouted a little at his words.
"I just wanted to find some food cause you were mad...." She said quietly, looking ashamed of herself for just a second. She seemed slightly more awake now he was here, less likely to fade from consciousness, though there was definitely a slight slurring in her speech, like she was drunk, and her hands were visibly shaking.
"But you should have found me sooner, dummy! It was cold and wet and there was a puppy that we could have caught sooner if you had been there!"
Speaking of puppies, she dragged Tannur and Morgana over to Arryn. "I made some friends! So I'm not useless at all!"
MagicPenguin
Shotgunpenguin
IG42
koala
The albino heaved a sigh of relief as the man was freed from under the log like object. She didn't care about him personally, but she was proud that she had helped, even after the stupid one had told her to go away. If she had left to seek shelter, his friend would have stayed stuck! She was helpful!
Silver opened her mouth to say as much, but was stopped by a wave of black spots across her vision. The effort of lifting the pole, combined with the hours she had spent wandering around in her soaked clothing were finally taking their toll, and she staggered back a few steps - only to find herself supported by the redheaded woman. " 'm fine.... " She muttered, glaring at the other, but she made no move to push her away, leaning heavily on the girl. Accepting help was somewhat annoying, and she didn't need the support (or rather, she didn't want it) but it wasn't too terrible.
Until the redhead started running. Silver almost tripped over her own feet, only barely managing to stay upright as she was dragged along. As soon as she was free to wriggle out of the other's grip, she did so, staring at the fire with wide ruby red eyes. At least it was warm, though the yelling and screaming was annoying.
But the best thing about it, aside from it being warm and bright? It had served a purpose as a beacon, drawing her idiot pet half-elf right to her! She made a small noise, rather like a purr as she snuggled into his embrace, though she pouted a little at his words.
"I just wanted to find some food cause you were mad...." She said quietly, looking ashamed of herself for just a second. She seemed slightly more awake now he was here, less likely to fade from consciousness, though there was definitely a slight slurring in her speech, like she was drunk, and her hands were visibly shaking.
"But you should have found me sooner, dummy! It was cold and wet and there was a puppy that we could have caught sooner if you had been there!"
Speaking of puppies, she dragged Tannur and Morgana over to Arryn. "I made some friends! So I'm not useless at all!"
Avari
Four Thousand Club
Lisa watched with amused bafflement as one of the men from the crowd had simply ran up to the burning building - and after fully ignoring the screams of protests from the crowd - dived straight in without hesitation or any sense of fear whatsoever. A few moments later his form was consumed by the smoke pumping out of the first floor. The bravery of fools was bravery nonetheless. Shame he'd probably be dead in a few minutes.
The crowd didn't have a chance to fret or gnash their teeth on his behalf however - as the intensity of the storm was now forcing everyone to flee. The rain was beating down so hard it was like hail - and every flash of lightning caused the surrounding buildings to shake in protest. Lisa had wrapped her apron around her head to create a makeshift hood, and quickly jogged over to where Hannah was practically wrestling with Martha; who was refusing to move somewhere safer.
"We need to go! It's not safe here!" Hannah screamed over the storm, her brown hair dyed black by the rain. The older woman was refusing to move - indeed, she seemed to be incapable of even speaking anymore. Lisa grabbed onto Hannah's arm and began to pull her away.
"Leave her!" She shouted.
"I can't!" Hannah shouted back.
"Unless you intend to carry her, there's nothing you can do!" Lisa snarled, forced to squint now as the rain constantly forced her to blink as she pulled harder on Hannah's arm. "She's made her choice - It's time for us to go!"
"Lisa, Hannah are you two alright?" A voice asked from behind her. Lisa glanced around to see a familiar face - the one who had been at the cafe yesterday. She was staring up at the burning building in horror, but judging from the shock on her face, she had only just arrived - and had elected to run towards the fire, rather than away from it as others with a keener sense of self-preservation were doing. Still, Lisa was glad of an extra pair of hands.
"What the hell happened?"
""Help me with these two!" Lisa snapped at her, still practically wrestling with Hannah and Martha. Her body was beginning to burn with a terribly familiar pain. She couldn't keep pulling against the two women forever. God her head hurt. "We'll drown if we stay out here!"
She glanced around. The only other person in the area now was another woman (Had all the men decided to throw themselves into fires?) who was sitting outside the blazing inferno of the restaurant. Tearing at her own hair. Lisa clicked her tongue and wondered why she was even bothering to save all these obviously suicidal idiots. Her human body was making her sentimental no doubt.
"That goes for you to!" She called. "Get up right this instant!"
Another flash of lighting. The windows on both sides of the streets shattered, and glass began to rain down.
---
Shotgunpenguin
koala
MagicPenguin
One Thousand Club
Roland Fairchild
Inside the Burning Building
Once inside, Roland knelt to the ground, where the smoke was thinnest, and pulled the front of his wet hoodie over his nose and mouth for a barrier against inhaling too much of it before he could find his targets. On his knees, he crawled, inching his way quickly but carefully around burning tables and through smoky hallways on the ground floor. He did not bother to search it very thoroughly for people since the only human noises he heard were coming from the level above him. Ignoring the uncomfortable, searing heat all around him, eyes watering profusely, he was instead looking for a set of stairs, or some way up to the second floor where the woman's husband and daughter were stuck. The only guide he had to find it was the sound of the daughter's ear-piercing screeches. Roland reflected absently that she'd been doing that for quite a while now and she was audible for streets away, even above the sounds of the storm. That girl had one hell of a pair of lungs on her.
Luckily, this was not a very big restaurant. It was not much more than a small main room with maybe six or seven tables, a front desk, and a kitchen behind it. It did not take him long to find the stairs to the second floor next to the building's back door. With the hand not holding his shirt over his face, he wiped the growing sheen of sweat from his forehead and crawled up one step at a time. He made sure to test each step before he put his full weight on it; he could hear the burning building creaking and moaning under the strain of its own weight and he wanted to make sure the steps would not collapse when he tried to step on them. Flames licked at him every step of the way, burning to either side of him, just close enough for him to feel them slowly roasting the flesh on his face. All he could do was try to kneel down and stay as far from them as possible. The heat of them was nearly unbearable. He'd been soaking wet from rain when he entered the building, but now, he merely felt damp. Before much longer, he'd be bone dry, except for his buckets of sweat.
When he finally made it up, he found himself in a short hallway with three closed doors along its length. He was unsure of which to go in until he heard the girl scream again, leading him right to the one he needed. He stood from his crouching position and placed his shoulder against the door; he noted that it was hot to the touch, which indicated there was a huge blaze on the other side, definitely not safe to enter. He had no choice but to open it, however, if he was to save its occupants. He turned the searing hot metal knob slowly, wincing at the pain, and pushed with his shoulder at the same time, but the door did not budge; something was on the other side of it and blocking his entrance. Stepping back, he got into a ready stance and took a quick breath, then kicked at the door near the knob with everything he had. It did not move. He kicked again. It budged a bit inward, leaving a crack through which black smoke came pouring out. Once more, he launched his foot at the door, screaming, and it finally gave way with an ear-splitting crack. The door fell inward into a huge blaze right in front of the entrance; the towering flame blocked his way in. There was nothing physical in front of the door, just the fire. So why hadn't he been able to open it, then? His thoughts were cut short when he heard the girl squeal again from the other side; it was deafening. He felt like his ear-drums were going to pop, from the heat or from the screech, he did not know.
He didn't give himself time to think about it. The only way in was through. He leapt through the towering flames in the doorway to get to the other side, arms covering his head, and landed inside the small room in a roll. He felt hot pain all over; his hoodie and backpack were on fire. He threw his backpack to the floor and rolled around back and forth where he landed. Since his hoodie was still damp, it did not take long for that to go out. Before it did, though, the sleeves had burned off entirely, leaving the dragons on his arms completely bare for all the world to see. Red and gold, they sparkled brilliantly in the light of the flames, glowing as if they were alive. They were quite a sight next to the ugly third degree burns that newly marred the rest of his arms. One crisis averted, he turned to his backpack beside him and stamped that out with his foot as best he could. That eventually went out too, but the front was torn to shreds, displaying the charred remains of Roland's journals, sketches, and library book with his sturdy metal pipe sticking out from underneath them. Absurdly, despite his surroundings, Roland could not help but lament the loss of his possessions. "Damn it! Those were important!" He had no one to blame but himself, of course; he should have left his bag and umbrella with Elena before he ran in, but the thought hadn't even occurred to him.
"Ugh...No help for it." He put that from his mind and looked around the room, ignoring the blazing hot pain in his arms and shoulders, like the worst sunburn he ever had multiplied by ten. In the corner, he found his targets: cowering in the arms of her father was a small girl, perhaps six or seven, crying eyes slammed tight and body pressed closely against the father's chest, who stared at him wide-eyed and unbelieving.
"Are you Scott and Samantha? It's alright. We're going to get out of here. All of us. Alive."
The man didn't say anything. He merely continued staring at Roland with wild eyes, frozen in horror, face sickly pale with fear. No, wait...he wasn't staring at Roland. He was looking behind him.
Another ear-piercing screech forced Roland to cover his ears with his hands. It hadn't come from the girl in the man's arms. Her mouth wasn't moving at all except to sob, and she was far too young to produce a scream like that anyway. No, the scream came from behind him, from whatever the man was staring at. Roland whirled around.
The fire he had jumped through to enter the room was no longer in front of the door. It was on top of his backpack now. Again, he heard a screech and it was then he realized that that screaming, though it sounded human, was actually coming from the flames themselves.
"What...what in the name of the Light...?!"
The fire lunged at him, screeching all the while.
Roland leapt back, but not fast enough. The thing grazed his chest and, once again, he was set ablaze.
He had no time to stop, drop and roll as he did last time. The fire was still chasing him. Desperate, confused, and in an otherworldly amount of pain, Roland's hand went to the hilt of the sword-umbrella still sticking over his shoulder completely on instinct and he drew it as if it were actually a longsword. He swung it madly with no technique, no discipline, just a desperate desire to stay alive. For a wonder, when it went through the fire, the blaze jumped back from him. Roland swung again, and it jumped back further, back to where Roland's backpack still lay smoldering. It danced and flickered, but it did not approach him again. It sat outside the umbrella's range like an attack dog at bay, waiting for its chance to strike again. Consumed once more by the flame creature sitting on top of it, the metal pipe from Roland's bag began to glow red like a piece of iron in Arryn's forge. A few seconds later, it was melting into a formless, red-hot blob.
Screaming madly, Roland clawed his flaming shirt off of his body while he had the chance, leaving him bare from the chest up. Though no part of him was on fire anymore, he still fell to his knees, his whole upper body covered in horrific burns, his heart beating like a drum. Desperate for air, his body gasped weakly, but this only caused him to inhale more of the smoke that the flame creature was giving off. Black spots danced before his eyes and he suddenly felt very lightheaded. He heard the girl behind him whimper into her father's chest. Roland gripped the hilt of his umbrella with what vigor he had left and forced himself to stay conscious for their sake.
What the hell was this thing? He'd heard of fire spirits on Aether, but things like this were not supposed to happen on Earth! Supposed to or not, though, there it was, staring him right in the face. He wracked his brain for all he knew of Aetherian fire spirits. If it was anything like those, maybe it had the same weaknesses? From what he remembered, they were said to be vulnerable to magical attack--well, that was obviously out, he thought bitterly--and to any kind of cold substance; water and ice were supposed to be especially potent, predictably. But then, why was it shying back from his umbrella of all things? It made no sense. The thing was still wet from the rain outside, but his clothes and backpack had been damp as well and those hadn't bothered it at all. Well, whyever it didn't like the umbrella, it was something Roland could use.
"Listen, you two. I'm going to distract it. While it's dealing with me, you will run for the door. Head down the stairs as quickly as you can. The back door is right there. Is that understood?" Roland spoke urgently to the man behind him without taking his eyes off of the living flame waiting just outside of striking range of his umbrella.
"Uh...uh..." The man blubbered incomprehensibly.
"SCOTT!" he yelled tensely through his pain. "This is no time to panic. Your daughter is counting on you. I did not come here to see the two of you die because you were too busy wetting yourself to do anything useful. Get your shit together and get ready to run!" Not a particularly princely thing to say, but Roland was not feeling very regal right then.
"Um...Right! But what about you?"
"Don't worry about me," he said impatiently. "I'll think of something. I always do. Now get ready."
"O...Okay," he replied uncertainly. "I'm ready whenever you give the word." The man mouthed soothing words to the girl he was holding that Roland could not make out.
"On the count of three..."
"One..." Roland got back on his feet, legs quivering to hold his weight, excruciating pain scouring what felt like every inch of him.
"Two..." He held his umbrella before him in a two handed grip and placed his feet in that familiar sword-fighting stance he'd learned from Natalie as a boy. He kept his body loose and limber, yet ready to snap like a cobra in any direction.
"THREE!" Roland leapt toward the quivering flames, swinging his makeshift sword for all he was worth. The thing shied back a little further, screeching desperately. He did not aim to hit it. He merely meant to push it further from the door into the corner of the room opposite the father and daughter so that Scott had enough space to make it through the door frame. It worked. He heard the man's retreating footsteps down the stairs in the hallway, much to his relief. So he had managed to save the people he'd come to save, at least. Now he just had to figure out how to get away from this thing alive. He backed away from the cornered flame slowly, keeping his umbrella between him and it. The thing screeched and hissed and crackled and spit as it followed Roland's retreat, but it dared not get close enough to risk being hit. He was so close now. If he could back out the doorway, Roland could get away from the thing and make his own escape. He took another clumsy step back, almost tripping, and then another and then...
He was on his knees. The umbrella was on the floor. He did not know how that had happened; he couldn't remember his legs giving out beneath him. The black spots in his vision returned and grew bigger. He felt as though there were a heavy weight settled on his chest and drawing breath became a great deal harder. Seeing its chance, the flame spirit threw itself at him again. Roland saw it coming at him as if in slow motion. Oddly, he could not bring himself to care as much as he probably should. It was like he was watching it happen to someone else. A character on television, perhaps.
Distantly, he thought of his mission here. He was not supposed to die before Lucrezia. If he did, Aether would perish, or worse, under her dominion. Everyone he loved, everything he cared about, gone...And it would be all his fault. Because he couldn't do his duty, couldn't fulfill his destiny. Because the sword of light had chosen the wrong hero. He was not worthy of Verity's legacy after all. All of the people who followed him, who believed in him...all of them screaming, suffering, dead or enslaved, and for what? For a worthless fraud who never truly had any right to call himself the Hero of Light.
The spirit was on top of his unmoving body. The flames consumed every inch of him. He heard someone screaming bloody murder and wondered if there was someone else in the building that he hadn't managed to save. Belatedly, he realized that the deafening screams were his this time.
The screams went on for some time; they only ceased when Roland finally, mercifully stopped breathing.
Ophelia...I'm sorry...I couldn't keep my promise...
Everything went black.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arryn Bennett
Outside the Burning Building
The burning, two-story building and the small group of evacuees huddled outside of it currently held no part of Arryn's attention. He was too busy staring down in utter bafflement and concern at a whimpering Hogan, who was panting weakly against his chest as he held the little fellow in his arms. What kind of sickness involved vomiting up at least twelve glowing, golden, living butterflies one after another? What kind of sickness even COULD cause such a thing? When they were following Red and Silver over to this place, Hogan had done his fair share of whimpering and his eagerness from earlier was replaced by a slow lethargy. At the time, Arryn had thought he was simply tired from his game or perhaps sick from the rain like Silver almost certainly was. He felt guilty about it now, but he had even thought that it served the golden retriever right to feel a bit sick after all the trouble he had caused; maybe he'd learn a lesson from it and refrain from running around in hurricanes from now on. It wasn't until the butterflies that he had truly felt alarmed at the pup's state and guilty at that earlier thought.
Daniel was no better off. With several broken ribs, it had been all the werewolf could do to walk with him this far, even when he was leaning on Arryn the entire way. Running at full speed as Red and Silver were, the pair had lost them at some point during their walk. It was only Hogan's tracking that had kept them on the right path to where they found themselves now. Once there, the former blacksmith had given the burning building only the briefest of glances; he felt for bad for the people who stumbled out, of course, but he had an exhausted man and a sick dog to care for, and he was shivering and soaked himself. He could do nothing for them if he didn't help himself and his friends first. Instead of rushing over to see what was going on as others were doing, Arryn found a building that had an awning over its entrance and a high stoop leading up to a front door set high in the structure's front wall. He led Daniel and Hogan to the top step, under the awning, where they all sat down; it wasn't perfect, but at least they had some protection from the rain and their feet were out of the floodwaters as long as they stayed on the top step. Somewhere indoors would be better, but they could at least rest here and catch their collective breaths before going out to search for shelter. Now, some time later, he was still cradling Hogan as the poor pup recovered from whatever had overtaken him. Daniel had passed out still leaning on Arryn's shoulder. The brown-haired blacksmith was only half-watching the commotion in front of the building from a distance as he tried to give his ailing companions what little warmth and comfort he could.
The three housemates sat in relative peace for some few precious minutes more until Silver came bounding up to their resting place dragging a pair of rather pretty, if quite drenched, women behind her. "I made some friends!" she exclaimed excitedly. "So I'm not useless at all!"
"Well, you seem to be feeling better," he told her, somewhat bemused at her sudden good spirits. He glanced guardedly at the three women and considered how to handle this situation. Were they acquaintances of Silver? If so, did that also make them more of the Shadow Queen's comrades? They didn't look familiar, but there was really no way of knowing given how drastically someone's appearance could change on Earth. Worst case scenario, all three of them were enemies and he was essentially alone with two defenseless allies to protect and no weapon with which to do it.
"Hello there," he said to the two newcomers. "Is this crazy silver-haired woman your friend? She's an odd one, running around out in this dressed like that." He grimaced, looking down at his own soaked outfit. "Not that I'm one to talk, I suppose. Anyway, I owe her more than I can tell you. She helped me save my friend here. Both of them, actually. If not for her, I'm sure one would have drowned and the other would still be leading me on a wild dog chase all across London."
In truth, that was something he was still puzzled about. Why HAD Silver helped him and Daniel? The only things he knew about her from Aether were that she was a notorious serial killer who murdered and tortured people for fun and that she seemed to have no remorse about doing it. What could have possibly possessed a killer like that to act as she had? Maybe it had just been her sickness from the rain affecting her judgment. Now there was something, a cold actually making someone's judgment BETTER than usual instead of worse.
"Whatever else she is normally and whyever she chose to help," he continued thoughtfully, half in reply to his own inner monologue and half to the newcomers, "she was a true hero tonight, and no mistake about that." Arryn looked away from the women to gaze right into the shifter's eyes. "Thank you, miss. I mean it," he told her seriously, completely truthful. "Feel free to join us up here under the awning if you like," he said to all three. "No need to stay out there in that mess now that you're all together again, right?" It might put him and his friends in some danger keeping them close, but he owed Silver that much, at least, didn't he?
Arryn was distracted from the conversation by more commotion over by the burning building. Another person was coming out; someone carrying a small child it looked like, though the figure was shadowed by the brightness of the fire behind it and he could not really see any details too well from this distance. The figure of a large woman rose and rushed to meet them.
Then, not more than a minute after, he heard the horrible, blood-curdling screams erupting from the building. It sounded eerily like a man was being tortured. It put an uncomfortable grimace on Arryn's face and sent an uneasy shiver right up his spine that had nothing at all to do with the wet cold.
WillfulWren
Shotgunpenguin
koala
IG42
Avari
LoneSniper87
Inside the Burning Building
Once inside, Roland knelt to the ground, where the smoke was thinnest, and pulled the front of his wet hoodie over his nose and mouth for a barrier against inhaling too much of it before he could find his targets. On his knees, he crawled, inching his way quickly but carefully around burning tables and through smoky hallways on the ground floor. He did not bother to search it very thoroughly for people since the only human noises he heard were coming from the level above him. Ignoring the uncomfortable, searing heat all around him, eyes watering profusely, he was instead looking for a set of stairs, or some way up to the second floor where the woman's husband and daughter were stuck. The only guide he had to find it was the sound of the daughter's ear-piercing screeches. Roland reflected absently that she'd been doing that for quite a while now and she was audible for streets away, even above the sounds of the storm. That girl had one hell of a pair of lungs on her.
Luckily, this was not a very big restaurant. It was not much more than a small main room with maybe six or seven tables, a front desk, and a kitchen behind it. It did not take him long to find the stairs to the second floor next to the building's back door. With the hand not holding his shirt over his face, he wiped the growing sheen of sweat from his forehead and crawled up one step at a time. He made sure to test each step before he put his full weight on it; he could hear the burning building creaking and moaning under the strain of its own weight and he wanted to make sure the steps would not collapse when he tried to step on them. Flames licked at him every step of the way, burning to either side of him, just close enough for him to feel them slowly roasting the flesh on his face. All he could do was try to kneel down and stay as far from them as possible. The heat of them was nearly unbearable. He'd been soaking wet from rain when he entered the building, but now, he merely felt damp. Before much longer, he'd be bone dry, except for his buckets of sweat.
When he finally made it up, he found himself in a short hallway with three closed doors along its length. He was unsure of which to go in until he heard the girl scream again, leading him right to the one he needed. He stood from his crouching position and placed his shoulder against the door; he noted that it was hot to the touch, which indicated there was a huge blaze on the other side, definitely not safe to enter. He had no choice but to open it, however, if he was to save its occupants. He turned the searing hot metal knob slowly, wincing at the pain, and pushed with his shoulder at the same time, but the door did not budge; something was on the other side of it and blocking his entrance. Stepping back, he got into a ready stance and took a quick breath, then kicked at the door near the knob with everything he had. It did not move. He kicked again. It budged a bit inward, leaving a crack through which black smoke came pouring out. Once more, he launched his foot at the door, screaming, and it finally gave way with an ear-splitting crack. The door fell inward into a huge blaze right in front of the entrance; the towering flame blocked his way in. There was nothing physical in front of the door, just the fire. So why hadn't he been able to open it, then? His thoughts were cut short when he heard the girl squeal again from the other side; it was deafening. He felt like his ear-drums were going to pop, from the heat or from the screech, he did not know.
He didn't give himself time to think about it. The only way in was through. He leapt through the towering flames in the doorway to get to the other side, arms covering his head, and landed inside the small room in a roll. He felt hot pain all over; his hoodie and backpack were on fire. He threw his backpack to the floor and rolled around back and forth where he landed. Since his hoodie was still damp, it did not take long for that to go out. Before it did, though, the sleeves had burned off entirely, leaving the dragons on his arms completely bare for all the world to see. Red and gold, they sparkled brilliantly in the light of the flames, glowing as if they were alive. They were quite a sight next to the ugly third degree burns that newly marred the rest of his arms. One crisis averted, he turned to his backpack beside him and stamped that out with his foot as best he could. That eventually went out too, but the front was torn to shreds, displaying the charred remains of Roland's journals, sketches, and library book with his sturdy metal pipe sticking out from underneath them. Absurdly, despite his surroundings, Roland could not help but lament the loss of his possessions. "Damn it! Those were important!" He had no one to blame but himself, of course; he should have left his bag and umbrella with Elena before he ran in, but the thought hadn't even occurred to him.
"Ugh...No help for it." He put that from his mind and looked around the room, ignoring the blazing hot pain in his arms and shoulders, like the worst sunburn he ever had multiplied by ten. In the corner, he found his targets: cowering in the arms of her father was a small girl, perhaps six or seven, crying eyes slammed tight and body pressed closely against the father's chest, who stared at him wide-eyed and unbelieving.
"Are you Scott and Samantha? It's alright. We're going to get out of here. All of us. Alive."
The man didn't say anything. He merely continued staring at Roland with wild eyes, frozen in horror, face sickly pale with fear. No, wait...he wasn't staring at Roland. He was looking behind him.
Another ear-piercing screech forced Roland to cover his ears with his hands. It hadn't come from the girl in the man's arms. Her mouth wasn't moving at all except to sob, and she was far too young to produce a scream like that anyway. No, the scream came from behind him, from whatever the man was staring at. Roland whirled around.
The fire he had jumped through to enter the room was no longer in front of the door. It was on top of his backpack now. Again, he heard a screech and it was then he realized that that screaming, though it sounded human, was actually coming from the flames themselves.
"What...what in the name of the Light...?!"
The fire lunged at him, screeching all the while.
Roland leapt back, but not fast enough. The thing grazed his chest and, once again, he was set ablaze.
He had no time to stop, drop and roll as he did last time. The fire was still chasing him. Desperate, confused, and in an otherworldly amount of pain, Roland's hand went to the hilt of the sword-umbrella still sticking over his shoulder completely on instinct and he drew it as if it were actually a longsword. He swung it madly with no technique, no discipline, just a desperate desire to stay alive. For a wonder, when it went through the fire, the blaze jumped back from him. Roland swung again, and it jumped back further, back to where Roland's backpack still lay smoldering. It danced and flickered, but it did not approach him again. It sat outside the umbrella's range like an attack dog at bay, waiting for its chance to strike again. Consumed once more by the flame creature sitting on top of it, the metal pipe from Roland's bag began to glow red like a piece of iron in Arryn's forge. A few seconds later, it was melting into a formless, red-hot blob.
Screaming madly, Roland clawed his flaming shirt off of his body while he had the chance, leaving him bare from the chest up. Though no part of him was on fire anymore, he still fell to his knees, his whole upper body covered in horrific burns, his heart beating like a drum. Desperate for air, his body gasped weakly, but this only caused him to inhale more of the smoke that the flame creature was giving off. Black spots danced before his eyes and he suddenly felt very lightheaded. He heard the girl behind him whimper into her father's chest. Roland gripped the hilt of his umbrella with what vigor he had left and forced himself to stay conscious for their sake.
What the hell was this thing? He'd heard of fire spirits on Aether, but things like this were not supposed to happen on Earth! Supposed to or not, though, there it was, staring him right in the face. He wracked his brain for all he knew of Aetherian fire spirits. If it was anything like those, maybe it had the same weaknesses? From what he remembered, they were said to be vulnerable to magical attack--well, that was obviously out, he thought bitterly--and to any kind of cold substance; water and ice were supposed to be especially potent, predictably. But then, why was it shying back from his umbrella of all things? It made no sense. The thing was still wet from the rain outside, but his clothes and backpack had been damp as well and those hadn't bothered it at all. Well, whyever it didn't like the umbrella, it was something Roland could use.
"Listen, you two. I'm going to distract it. While it's dealing with me, you will run for the door. Head down the stairs as quickly as you can. The back door is right there. Is that understood?" Roland spoke urgently to the man behind him without taking his eyes off of the living flame waiting just outside of striking range of his umbrella.
"Uh...uh..." The man blubbered incomprehensibly.
"SCOTT!" he yelled tensely through his pain. "This is no time to panic. Your daughter is counting on you. I did not come here to see the two of you die because you were too busy wetting yourself to do anything useful. Get your shit together and get ready to run!" Not a particularly princely thing to say, but Roland was not feeling very regal right then.
"Um...Right! But what about you?"
"Don't worry about me," he said impatiently. "I'll think of something. I always do. Now get ready."
"O...Okay," he replied uncertainly. "I'm ready whenever you give the word." The man mouthed soothing words to the girl he was holding that Roland could not make out.
"On the count of three..."
"One..." Roland got back on his feet, legs quivering to hold his weight, excruciating pain scouring what felt like every inch of him.
"Two..." He held his umbrella before him in a two handed grip and placed his feet in that familiar sword-fighting stance he'd learned from Natalie as a boy. He kept his body loose and limber, yet ready to snap like a cobra in any direction.
"THREE!" Roland leapt toward the quivering flames, swinging his makeshift sword for all he was worth. The thing shied back a little further, screeching desperately. He did not aim to hit it. He merely meant to push it further from the door into the corner of the room opposite the father and daughter so that Scott had enough space to make it through the door frame. It worked. He heard the man's retreating footsteps down the stairs in the hallway, much to his relief. So he had managed to save the people he'd come to save, at least. Now he just had to figure out how to get away from this thing alive. He backed away from the cornered flame slowly, keeping his umbrella between him and it. The thing screeched and hissed and crackled and spit as it followed Roland's retreat, but it dared not get close enough to risk being hit. He was so close now. If he could back out the doorway, Roland could get away from the thing and make his own escape. He took another clumsy step back, almost tripping, and then another and then...
He was on his knees. The umbrella was on the floor. He did not know how that had happened; he couldn't remember his legs giving out beneath him. The black spots in his vision returned and grew bigger. He felt as though there were a heavy weight settled on his chest and drawing breath became a great deal harder. Seeing its chance, the flame spirit threw itself at him again. Roland saw it coming at him as if in slow motion. Oddly, he could not bring himself to care as much as he probably should. It was like he was watching it happen to someone else. A character on television, perhaps.
Distantly, he thought of his mission here. He was not supposed to die before Lucrezia. If he did, Aether would perish, or worse, under her dominion. Everyone he loved, everything he cared about, gone...And it would be all his fault. Because he couldn't do his duty, couldn't fulfill his destiny. Because the sword of light had chosen the wrong hero. He was not worthy of Verity's legacy after all. All of the people who followed him, who believed in him...all of them screaming, suffering, dead or enslaved, and for what? For a worthless fraud who never truly had any right to call himself the Hero of Light.
The spirit was on top of his unmoving body. The flames consumed every inch of him. He heard someone screaming bloody murder and wondered if there was someone else in the building that he hadn't managed to save. Belatedly, he realized that the deafening screams were his this time.
The screams went on for some time; they only ceased when Roland finally, mercifully stopped breathing.
Ophelia...I'm sorry...I couldn't keep my promise...
Everything went black.
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Arryn Bennett
Outside the Burning Building
The burning, two-story building and the small group of evacuees huddled outside of it currently held no part of Arryn's attention. He was too busy staring down in utter bafflement and concern at a whimpering Hogan, who was panting weakly against his chest as he held the little fellow in his arms. What kind of sickness involved vomiting up at least twelve glowing, golden, living butterflies one after another? What kind of sickness even COULD cause such a thing? When they were following Red and Silver over to this place, Hogan had done his fair share of whimpering and his eagerness from earlier was replaced by a slow lethargy. At the time, Arryn had thought he was simply tired from his game or perhaps sick from the rain like Silver almost certainly was. He felt guilty about it now, but he had even thought that it served the golden retriever right to feel a bit sick after all the trouble he had caused; maybe he'd learn a lesson from it and refrain from running around in hurricanes from now on. It wasn't until the butterflies that he had truly felt alarmed at the pup's state and guilty at that earlier thought.
Daniel was no better off. With several broken ribs, it had been all the werewolf could do to walk with him this far, even when he was leaning on Arryn the entire way. Running at full speed as Red and Silver were, the pair had lost them at some point during their walk. It was only Hogan's tracking that had kept them on the right path to where they found themselves now. Once there, the former blacksmith had given the burning building only the briefest of glances; he felt for bad for the people who stumbled out, of course, but he had an exhausted man and a sick dog to care for, and he was shivering and soaked himself. He could do nothing for them if he didn't help himself and his friends first. Instead of rushing over to see what was going on as others were doing, Arryn found a building that had an awning over its entrance and a high stoop leading up to a front door set high in the structure's front wall. He led Daniel and Hogan to the top step, under the awning, where they all sat down; it wasn't perfect, but at least they had some protection from the rain and their feet were out of the floodwaters as long as they stayed on the top step. Somewhere indoors would be better, but they could at least rest here and catch their collective breaths before going out to search for shelter. Now, some time later, he was still cradling Hogan as the poor pup recovered from whatever had overtaken him. Daniel had passed out still leaning on Arryn's shoulder. The brown-haired blacksmith was only half-watching the commotion in front of the building from a distance as he tried to give his ailing companions what little warmth and comfort he could.
The three housemates sat in relative peace for some few precious minutes more until Silver came bounding up to their resting place dragging a pair of rather pretty, if quite drenched, women behind her. "I made some friends!" she exclaimed excitedly. "So I'm not useless at all!"
"Well, you seem to be feeling better," he told her, somewhat bemused at her sudden good spirits. He glanced guardedly at the three women and considered how to handle this situation. Were they acquaintances of Silver? If so, did that also make them more of the Shadow Queen's comrades? They didn't look familiar, but there was really no way of knowing given how drastically someone's appearance could change on Earth. Worst case scenario, all three of them were enemies and he was essentially alone with two defenseless allies to protect and no weapon with which to do it.
"Hello there," he said to the two newcomers. "Is this crazy silver-haired woman your friend? She's an odd one, running around out in this dressed like that." He grimaced, looking down at his own soaked outfit. "Not that I'm one to talk, I suppose. Anyway, I owe her more than I can tell you. She helped me save my friend here. Both of them, actually. If not for her, I'm sure one would have drowned and the other would still be leading me on a wild dog chase all across London."
In truth, that was something he was still puzzled about. Why HAD Silver helped him and Daniel? The only things he knew about her from Aether were that she was a notorious serial killer who murdered and tortured people for fun and that she seemed to have no remorse about doing it. What could have possibly possessed a killer like that to act as she had? Maybe it had just been her sickness from the rain affecting her judgment. Now there was something, a cold actually making someone's judgment BETTER than usual instead of worse.
"Whatever else she is normally and whyever she chose to help," he continued thoughtfully, half in reply to his own inner monologue and half to the newcomers, "she was a true hero tonight, and no mistake about that." Arryn looked away from the women to gaze right into the shifter's eyes. "Thank you, miss. I mean it," he told her seriously, completely truthful. "Feel free to join us up here under the awning if you like," he said to all three. "No need to stay out there in that mess now that you're all together again, right?" It might put him and his friends in some danger keeping them close, but he owed Silver that much, at least, didn't he?
Arryn was distracted from the conversation by more commotion over by the burning building. Another person was coming out; someone carrying a small child it looked like, though the figure was shadowed by the brightness of the fire behind it and he could not really see any details too well from this distance. The figure of a large woman rose and rushed to meet them.
Then, not more than a minute after, he heard the horrible, blood-curdling screams erupting from the building. It sounded eerily like a man was being tortured. It put an uncomfortable grimace on Arryn's face and sent an uneasy shiver right up his spine that had nothing at all to do with the wet cold.
WillfulWren
Shotgunpenguin
koala
IG42
Avari
LoneSniper87
Last edited:
koala
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Loading world for ELENA. . .
With all the chaos, cries, and screaming erupting around her, it was difficult for Elena to hone in on herself. Fingers curled deeply into the wet mop on her head, she'd failed to even notice her hair had come undone during the commotion. It'd become so knotted that when she lowered her hands to face the woman that barked orders at her, she winced with pain. As she looked down at her fingers, there even a few strands interlocked with her dainty fingers, causing her to sigh with regret.
Looking around and noticing everyone had basically evacuated except her, she shakily got up and began dragging herself in the direction of the woman that called her. There was another flash of lightening and suddenly the windows on either side of the street shattered. A piece or two managed to scratch the sides of Elena's face and the force of the glass shattered led her to dropping onto the ground. Water sloshed its way into her mouth, but she continued to push forwards through the much high water levels. While following the dark silhoulettes, she realized she noticed another familiar face.
"Ana..." Elena called as she attempted to quicken her steps, although lamely. "Ana!" The blonde woman managed to grab onto her flatmates shoulders. "Roland..." She bent down in order to heave, the sense of panic returning once more. "Roland. I was with Roland. He went into the building. What if he gets stuck or inhales too much smoke?"
Looking around and noticing everyone had basically evacuated except her, she shakily got up and began dragging herself in the direction of the woman that called her. There was another flash of lightening and suddenly the windows on either side of the street shattered. A piece or two managed to scratch the sides of Elena's face and the force of the glass shattered led her to dropping onto the ground. Water sloshed its way into her mouth, but she continued to push forwards through the much high water levels. While following the dark silhoulettes, she realized she noticed another familiar face.
"Ana..." Elena called as she attempted to quicken her steps, although lamely. "Ana!" The blonde woman managed to grab onto her flatmates shoulders. "Roland..." She bent down in order to heave, the sense of panic returning once more. "Roland. I was with Roland. He went into the building. What if he gets stuck or inhales too much smoke?"
Location: Streets of Covent Garden
Date: --
Time: Too crazy to tell
Mentions: Roland
Interacting: Lisa
Avari
, Ana
LoneSniper87
Date: --
Time: Too crazy to tell
Mentions: Roland
Interacting: Lisa
Avari
, Ana
LoneSniper87
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