Pinconious
New Member
"Sounds interesting" Rick said as he ordered his pizza, "aren't foxes usually social?" He asked, "say arent they usually in a small group together?"
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Fantasy The Dying World Beneath (IC)
- Thread starter DergTheDergon
- Start date
Halexia
little wolf
Xander laughed "if you met my family you would understand why Im not in a... Shall we say pack, I mean I love them all dearly but... in all honesty they could have been members of the P.O.W crew that were back at the gala. Inter species breeding is not something they agree with" he sighed "I'm the black sheep of the family for not agreeing"
Pinconious
Pinconious
Pinconious
New Member
"I see," Rick said, "well there is always that one in every family" he laughed a little.
It was quiet which he wasn't sure he liked, mostly because it was boring and there was barely anything around to do. The most excitement he had so far was the huge fight at the gala, he actually got to use his powers for the first time in forever and it felt amazing, the rush of it all made him feel incredible. it was like a high he never wanted to come down from. Talking to Xander made things a little less boring but eventually they would run out of something to talk about and then he half expected that to be the end of it. Call it what you will but Rick knew eventually the fox would find someone better to talk too and run off with them leaving him on his own once more to be bored out of his mind and finding it hard not to murder someone just for entertainment.
Halexia
It was quiet which he wasn't sure he liked, mostly because it was boring and there was barely anything around to do. The most excitement he had so far was the huge fight at the gala, he actually got to use his powers for the first time in forever and it felt amazing, the rush of it all made him feel incredible. it was like a high he never wanted to come down from. Talking to Xander made things a little less boring but eventually they would run out of something to talk about and then he half expected that to be the end of it. Call it what you will but Rick knew eventually the fox would find someone better to talk too and run off with them leaving him on his own once more to be bored out of his mind and finding it hard not to murder someone just for entertainment.
Halexia
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Daniel Reaving
Thirty Thousand Club
The snow fell softly as the boat creeked and groaned as men hustled from here to there as they preped for departure. The clanking of the skeletal like armor of the men
Soon the female stood by the helmsmen and looked to the front of the ship where one of her companions stood ready for her command. Then without warning the woman sent a nod his way and he turned out to the ocean in front of the ship. Lifting up a staff he held in his left hand above his head. Holding it with both hands the sphere on top of it glowed white as he brought it down and out infront of him with a loud grunt. With that the winds seemed to pick up as the snow swirled in front of the ship, quickly condensing before they shot out as a massive portal manifested in front of the ship, a giant portal solid black at the epicenter then as the energy shot outward it turned into sharp whisps of white that swirled around the black. Quickly the shipsailed into the portal with confidence though not knowing what exactly sat on the other side. Almost immediately they came to exit on the other side. Snow and wind that had accompanied the ship through the portal blew out of the portal on to the lake that sat on earth as there ship floated through. Clouds quickly formed from the different atmospheres interacting Wich quickly made it start snowing and decrease the temps tire greatly. Frost started to lightly cover the water close to the portal as the ship sailed away from the portal which quickly closed behind them.
Silently the woman looked around the surrounding area her eyes quickly settling on a building in the distance. Immediately she held up a hand and pointed towards the gala like building. "Til! mu fen Oru golt nau fin Kol." making the helmsmen look in that direction and nod as he turned the ship in the direction of the gala as the new snow storm quickly proceeded ahead of the ship and started snowing on the Gala. It wasn't a hard snow and nowhere near a blizzard but it was enough to easily be noticed and enough to raise suspicion as well as it was just plain unnatural.
(Hope you like my post everyone!! Let me know if anything needs to be changed.)
Everyone
at the gala
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DergTheDergon
Huggles fo all :3
Whilst the pair was waiting for their food, and after Fifer tentatively explained that she’d never even kissed another man, much less gone any farther, his response hit her in the heart like a wave of heat that felt like it melted the organ instantly, in the most pleasant way possible. Him affirming that only she had ever made him feel the way he does now was especially heartwarming, since she doubted any of those other lucky girls had a zombie face. She was speechless throughout his heartfelt rejoinder, and only found herself able to say one short, sweet, shakily-spoken phrase once he had finished speaking.
“You don’t need to promise me, honey… I can already feel that I won’t regret it….” She smiled. The more time she spent with him, the more she felt like his personality was the perfect complement to hers in an uncanny, amazing way.
After Zhao came and, in Fifer’s mind, soured the mood a little, Gabe was miraculously able to immediately give Fifer a better perspective, although, in all honesty, she didn’t exactly enjoy hearing it. “You’re right…” she said, her tone exasperated, preferring to say no more. Still, her anxiety and frustration clearly lessened as per her body language, allowing her to dig in more fervently
After subsequently digging into those addictive lips of Gabe’s, she found herself being carried back to the hospital like something straight out of some corny romance flick, Gabe’s cheesy comment only affirming that thought within her mind, making her blush.
Dammit, Gabe,” she said with a shaking laugh. “I don’t know how you do this to me… I feel like I’m some giddy high school girl in one of those really old, awful romance movies… but maybe that’s really what first loves are like.” She laughed again, marveling mentally at just how much she’d laughed today… at just how much Gabe had made her laugh.
The pair said goodnight, and Fifer closed her eyes dreamily at being kissed on the forehead, settling into the covers of her hospital bed. She still found herself opening her eyes and staring after him as he left though, biting her lip. She slept better than she expected too, though; not rthrough the night, but, quite a few more hours than she’d been getting since waking from her coma. She couldn’t help but think that was Gabe’s doing as well, as she laid awake and daydreamed of him coming in tomorrow morning and giving her a long morning kiss before even saying hello. “God… I really thought love like this was a fairy tale… though, I guess most people think monsters are, too…” she said aloud without realizing it.
PanOtterPus
“You don’t need to promise me, honey… I can already feel that I won’t regret it….” She smiled. The more time she spent with him, the more she felt like his personality was the perfect complement to hers in an uncanny, amazing way.
After Zhao came and, in Fifer’s mind, soured the mood a little, Gabe was miraculously able to immediately give Fifer a better perspective, although, in all honesty, she didn’t exactly enjoy hearing it. “You’re right…” she said, her tone exasperated, preferring to say no more. Still, her anxiety and frustration clearly lessened as per her body language, allowing her to dig in more fervently
After subsequently digging into those addictive lips of Gabe’s, she found herself being carried back to the hospital like something straight out of some corny romance flick, Gabe’s cheesy comment only affirming that thought within her mind, making her blush.
Dammit, Gabe,” she said with a shaking laugh. “I don’t know how you do this to me… I feel like I’m some giddy high school girl in one of those really old, awful romance movies… but maybe that’s really what first loves are like.” She laughed again, marveling mentally at just how much she’d laughed today… at just how much Gabe had made her laugh.
The pair said goodnight, and Fifer closed her eyes dreamily at being kissed on the forehead, settling into the covers of her hospital bed. She still found herself opening her eyes and staring after him as he left though, biting her lip. She slept better than she expected too, though; not rthrough the night, but, quite a few more hours than she’d been getting since waking from her coma. She couldn’t help but think that was Gabe’s doing as well, as she laid awake and daydreamed of him coming in tomorrow morning and giving her a long morning kiss before even saying hello. “God… I really thought love like this was a fairy tale… though, I guess most people think monsters are, too…” she said aloud without realizing it.
PanOtterPus
Rustic
Drunken Bumpkin
Naomi could only smile as she finished up her explanation, letting herself take comfort in the brush of Xaira's fingers through her hair. It was soothing to have those thoughts off her chest, to hear her partner's soft but strong response. It would've been easy enough to lose herself there, to let herself and her more critical thoughts drown in the bliss that this reassurance brought. However, after a moment of rest with her eyes lidded contently, she slowly came to an alert stare once again. It felt more responsible to face this conversation with a thoughtful and evaluative eye, not just through some haze of hope and blind faith. Though... she couldn't help but melt a little more as Xaira pressed her lips to her's once again. The idea of her partner leaving to do something so dangerous again and again was alarming, but... right here, right now, she felt she could handle it. Who knew if that would be the case later, but regardless, this was clearly something her partner was dead set on being. And... she supported it. With everything in her. But she had to buckle down, she knew. After returning the kiss with similar passion, she did so by listening.
"If you had told me you could not guarantee that you'd be fine here... I'd honestly be devastated.”
She waited with as impartial an expression as she could muster, but at this admittance, her eyes shifted away. Certainty was, maybe, one of the hardest things she could ever think to try to guarantee someone. She hadn't even offered that to her, intentionally - just an assurance that she'd do her best. It felt dishonest to entertain a misunderstanding of it. But it seemed as if Xaira knew. Naomi felt that, in so many words, they were saying the same thing. 'As much certainty as one could hope to attain', right?
...It was always hard to know when a feeling of sureness came from pure probability and when it came from strong hope. But, in any case, trying to clarify what had been said any further seemed, at this moment, to be an unnecessary drag on this conversation. There was precision, something which was sometimes necessary for intellectual honesty, and there was wasting time on semantics. And while she would happily wait on precision, semantics usually proved only to be conversation poison. For that reason, probing her for a definition was something that could wait. She nodded attentively, refocusing her gaze and her thoughts.
There was something else. Naomi felt the same, generally, as Xaira talked about her fascination with the honesty that had been shared between the two of them. But something still struck her heart with fear as the conviction with which she talked about. Had she been wrong about her assumption of how Xaira viewed certainty? She didn't think so, still, but as she listened to Xaira's confidence on the subject, it made her sink down into her own chair a little. She couldn't fathom such a level of trust in one's own perception. She did really trust Xaira, but... she didn't trust herself enough to feel like she knew it was warranted. She just had faith. Could Xaira really see so keenly into her soul, to have such a firm trust? The, uh, ironic choice of romantic language in that idea is almost enough to make her break her outward composure, but still, the general idea of it stood. How did she find that trust, after what she'd seen? It was something to wonder about.
Her ending point of consideration, though, really made Naomi smile. It felt... heartening, even a little humorous, to imagine Xaira getting so riled up that she would even break out into fighting on the street. It simply delighted her to hear someone, especially her, so passionate about this. That was a feeling they shared then, obviously, even if they were going about fighting it in their own ways. She relaxed a little as that being her final point. She had been considering, all throughout, whether or not to further expound or any of their prior thoughts before continuing, but it felt more appropriate to continue this exchange, rather than to stifle it, by going forward. She held no real objections to what she heard, so it seemed right to lay everything on the table now, rather than to nitpick smaller, comparatively more inconsequential worries. She breathed in a deep sigh, extending her trust a little further in Xaira, and began to speak.
"Since you mentioned them - dishonesty and discrimination are high on my list, too." It's easy enough for her to come out with, and it's pretty obviously it took her no time to consider. She again had taken up a serious tone, but this time it almost came somewhat more distantly. This was just harder to say.
"I've been a liar among liars. I've judged, and have been judged, before I've had a chance to say anything." Her expression fell somewhat, a more mournful look taking it's place. "It's simple. It's an easy way to live."
She straightened up, her palms tightening for a brief moment into loose fists. "But I'm tired of living 'easily'."
It was a bitter statement, and it was one she thought to lighten by shedding light on it, but the thought was only just. Her mouth already felt tight. Her face threatened to twitch with emotion. If she lingered on this, she didn't know what it would turn into. So, in a way that felt uncharacteristically bold, even to herself, she chose to hurry on with it after a moment.
"Other than that..." Her posture slackened somewhat, but the direness remained. "Ignorance..." she said, slowly. She had equally sure of this one, too, but the feeling was harder to describe than she first anticipated, and it led to a sound of uncertainty. She continued.
"The purposeful kind," she said more firmly. "The kind that comes from people who'd rather not know, as if it makes them inculpable to what's going on. We have be aware of what's going on in the world. We have to look out for each other."
"and..." she finally hesitated. "Pessimists." After a second, she cracked a smile at that, knowing it sounded a bit silly after everything else. That was fine. She was starting to worry she was getting a bit too serious anyway. "It's good to be realistic," she said, "but, we're the only ones who can change our fates, you know?" She tilted her head a little, and stared toward Xaira hopefully.
"That's probably why I don't mind the idea of you leaving for so long at a time," she said. "If I'm not doing it, it's comforting to think someone will. And it's... not fair of me to be picky about who."
There's a pause, for a moment, before she couldn't help herself but to break out in a grin, shyly moving her hair away from her face before shyly adding, "It's noble!" Her face was clearly flustered, but her eyes stayed firm, in that sure look they'd had before. She meant it. She wanted Xaira to know that.
There was maybe something else to be said, something more to do once her partner had responded, but as she tried to process what it might be, she blinked. She could suddenly feel the light warmth of the sun as it started to filter through a window beside them. She turned her head for a moment to glimpse the world outside curiously.
"Oh... What time is it?"
DergTheDergon
"If you had told me you could not guarantee that you'd be fine here... I'd honestly be devastated.”
She waited with as impartial an expression as she could muster, but at this admittance, her eyes shifted away. Certainty was, maybe, one of the hardest things she could ever think to try to guarantee someone. She hadn't even offered that to her, intentionally - just an assurance that she'd do her best. It felt dishonest to entertain a misunderstanding of it. But it seemed as if Xaira knew. Naomi felt that, in so many words, they were saying the same thing. 'As much certainty as one could hope to attain', right?
...It was always hard to know when a feeling of sureness came from pure probability and when it came from strong hope. But, in any case, trying to clarify what had been said any further seemed, at this moment, to be an unnecessary drag on this conversation. There was precision, something which was sometimes necessary for intellectual honesty, and there was wasting time on semantics. And while she would happily wait on precision, semantics usually proved only to be conversation poison. For that reason, probing her for a definition was something that could wait. She nodded attentively, refocusing her gaze and her thoughts.
There was something else. Naomi felt the same, generally, as Xaira talked about her fascination with the honesty that had been shared between the two of them. But something still struck her heart with fear as the conviction with which she talked about. Had she been wrong about her assumption of how Xaira viewed certainty? She didn't think so, still, but as she listened to Xaira's confidence on the subject, it made her sink down into her own chair a little. She couldn't fathom such a level of trust in one's own perception. She did really trust Xaira, but... she didn't trust herself enough to feel like she knew it was warranted. She just had faith. Could Xaira really see so keenly into her soul, to have such a firm trust? The, uh, ironic choice of romantic language in that idea is almost enough to make her break her outward composure, but still, the general idea of it stood. How did she find that trust, after what she'd seen? It was something to wonder about.
Her ending point of consideration, though, really made Naomi smile. It felt... heartening, even a little humorous, to imagine Xaira getting so riled up that she would even break out into fighting on the street. It simply delighted her to hear someone, especially her, so passionate about this. That was a feeling they shared then, obviously, even if they were going about fighting it in their own ways. She relaxed a little as that being her final point. She had been considering, all throughout, whether or not to further expound or any of their prior thoughts before continuing, but it felt more appropriate to continue this exchange, rather than to stifle it, by going forward. She held no real objections to what she heard, so it seemed right to lay everything on the table now, rather than to nitpick smaller, comparatively more inconsequential worries. She breathed in a deep sigh, extending her trust a little further in Xaira, and began to speak.
"Since you mentioned them - dishonesty and discrimination are high on my list, too." It's easy enough for her to come out with, and it's pretty obviously it took her no time to consider. She again had taken up a serious tone, but this time it almost came somewhat more distantly. This was just harder to say.
"I've been a liar among liars. I've judged, and have been judged, before I've had a chance to say anything." Her expression fell somewhat, a more mournful look taking it's place. "It's simple. It's an easy way to live."
She straightened up, her palms tightening for a brief moment into loose fists. "But I'm tired of living 'easily'."
It was a bitter statement, and it was one she thought to lighten by shedding light on it, but the thought was only just. Her mouth already felt tight. Her face threatened to twitch with emotion. If she lingered on this, she didn't know what it would turn into. So, in a way that felt uncharacteristically bold, even to herself, she chose to hurry on with it after a moment.
"Other than that..." Her posture slackened somewhat, but the direness remained. "Ignorance..." she said, slowly. She had equally sure of this one, too, but the feeling was harder to describe than she first anticipated, and it led to a sound of uncertainty. She continued.
"The purposeful kind," she said more firmly. "The kind that comes from people who'd rather not know, as if it makes them inculpable to what's going on. We have be aware of what's going on in the world. We have to look out for each other."
"and..." she finally hesitated. "Pessimists." After a second, she cracked a smile at that, knowing it sounded a bit silly after everything else. That was fine. She was starting to worry she was getting a bit too serious anyway. "It's good to be realistic," she said, "but, we're the only ones who can change our fates, you know?" She tilted her head a little, and stared toward Xaira hopefully.
"That's probably why I don't mind the idea of you leaving for so long at a time," she said. "If I'm not doing it, it's comforting to think someone will. And it's... not fair of me to be picky about who."
There's a pause, for a moment, before she couldn't help herself but to break out in a grin, shyly moving her hair away from her face before shyly adding, "It's noble!" Her face was clearly flustered, but her eyes stayed firm, in that sure look they'd had before. She meant it. She wanted Xaira to know that.
There was maybe something else to be said, something more to do once her partner had responded, but as she tried to process what it might be, she blinked. She could suddenly feel the light warmth of the sun as it started to filter through a window beside them. She turned her head for a moment to glimpse the world outside curiously.
"Oh... What time is it?"
DergTheDergon
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PanOtterPus
Chief of Panda Division
Danto had been practically dancing around the area, relishing in the bloodshed. Of course, he was Forbidden from touching any of it, but it wouldn't stop him from being in an unusually good mood. Battles always cheered him up. All of a sudden he felt a cold speck touch his cheek and the Vampire turned his face in annoyance to the heavens... Or, you know, the roof of the cavern.
"Snow?" He stretched out a pale hand, catching a few drops. "How odd..." Not much fascinated this creature anymore (living for as long as some of the inhabitants of Deepvale have, it was bound to take the surprise out of life) however, snow in an underground cavern was certainly something to be curious about.
Danto scanned the area, not really expecting to find any particular cause in the snow. He did it more to see if everyone else was seeing it, making sure he hadn't finally lost that last cent of sanity he had left, which wasnt much. Towards the tunnels there lay a lake, part of the reason the elders had settled here in the first place - it provided easy access to much needed water supplies. Today, however, it provided a pathway for what seemed to be a ship. "Curiouser and curiouser." Danto was back to his usual frowning self. If their was one thing he hated more than other people it was other people with no manners. "Showing up to the party uninvited? The gall!"
On this note, Danto took it upon himself to lurch over to the water's edge and await the arrival of the ship. He was going to give these intruders a piece of his mind. He'd just have to be careful not to give away that sane section...
Daniel Reaving
"Snow?" He stretched out a pale hand, catching a few drops. "How odd..." Not much fascinated this creature anymore (living for as long as some of the inhabitants of Deepvale have, it was bound to take the surprise out of life) however, snow in an underground cavern was certainly something to be curious about.
Danto scanned the area, not really expecting to find any particular cause in the snow. He did it more to see if everyone else was seeing it, making sure he hadn't finally lost that last cent of sanity he had left, which wasnt much. Towards the tunnels there lay a lake, part of the reason the elders had settled here in the first place - it provided easy access to much needed water supplies. Today, however, it provided a pathway for what seemed to be a ship. "Curiouser and curiouser." Danto was back to his usual frowning self. If their was one thing he hated more than other people it was other people with no manners. "Showing up to the party uninvited? The gall!"
On this note, Danto took it upon himself to lurch over to the water's edge and await the arrival of the ship. He was going to give these intruders a piece of his mind. He'd just have to be careful not to give away that sane section...
Daniel Reaving
Daniel Reaving
Thirty Thousand Club
The ship continued to sail towards shore in silence. The closer it got the colder it seemed to get and the more snow seemed to fall. As the ignitions four gathered at the mast of the ship a being called out to them from the front making them look that way. "Koraav! Aan kos saraan mu nau golt!!" One of the men called while pointing to land which made everyone else look. After a second the woman quickly replied with a loud hollar to the men. "Siv fin key!! Siv hin zun ahrk hin ahkrin. Loost nid wahl hi mah nol un Miiraad!" She yelled which collected one response from the men. "Draug jud!!" They all hollared in unison and set swiftly to work as the ship neared land.
The skeletal like warriors now easily visible as they rushed around the ship. Quickly the ship approached shore and started to turn its starboard side towards the shore. Gently coming to a stop in front of the lone being that stood on the shore line. Quickly the satrboard side deck was lined with men who stared the being down while some others quickly lowered a plank onto shore a couple feet infront of the bing who stood on land
There ariella stood at the top of the plank. Her three generals behind her as she stared down the man on shore through the eyeholes of her skeletal helmet. She wondered what he would do, would he attack immediately or wait to see what would happen. Of course if he did attack immediately it would ultimately be his demise but many have made that mistake in the past. Gently she called out to him. "He til. Mu bo ko orem." She called out as she took a couple steps down the ramp to see how he would react. Taking another couple steps she stopped just as her feet touched the shore then she spoke once more. "Zu'u Los Ariella. Jud do fin villanelle. Wo los hin?" She said the last part in a curious tone suggesting she asked him a question
PanOtterPus
PanOtterPus
Chief of Panda Division
Orthrus stopped in his tracks momentarily. He hadn’t come across an individual that hadn’t at least had some knowledge of the gate. Though, he chuckled at her innocent answer. “Well, I’m glad ya like it well enough down here. Bit strange for me hearin’ that question though. The Gate is what separates us from the world above. I’m the Gatekeeper. It’s my job to see that no-one gets in or out unless they have express permission to do so.” He swelled with pride at the mention of his job. He didn’t see it as a career or such, he saw it as his duty, an honour.
He also forgot his own height sometimes. Upon realising his companion was struggling to keep up, Orthrus smiled a ghost of a smile in amusement and slowed his pace. Looking down at his new friend, Orthrus gave her a shrug. “No biggie. You’d have done the same, right? Put a bad taste in my mouth to think they mighta hurt ya back there.” The thought escaped his mouth before he could stop it, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to stop it. Instead, he continued their journey, nearing their destination sooner than he had realised.
“Welcome to the Gate.” He guided the pair through a narrow entranceway into a tall, naturally created chamber. Torches burning in simple iron sconces lined the walls around them, bathing the chamber in a warm glow. Tapestries also decorated these walls and, although they may once have been brilliant in hue, they now hung in greying tatters. Despite the damage of time and neglect, once-grand images of wizards' towers, magical beasts, and symbols of spellcasting were still visible.
Gold. The first thing everyone noticed. The gate could have been mistaken as brand new, its clean, twisting bars reaching towards the ceiling of the chamber, stopping centimetres short of the top, however, it was now common knowledge that these gates had been placed here by the first settlers. Orthrus stood proudly, allowing Tyra to take in the site he had become so accustomed to.
Halexia
-----------
Danto stared on in mild annoyance. The sight of these skeletal beings only fuelled his hatred for this particular day. He knew that actual skeletons could not sail a rowboat, let alone a full-blown ship, which served to suggest he was not seeing skeletons at all. Danto did not like being confused and this whole day had done nothing but confuse him. He was running low on patience.
“Oh goodie, they’re slowing down.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. Even he had to admit that the ship was a sight to see as the occupants worked to pull it to a halt at the water’s edge. Danto observed as everyone on board rushed to complete tasks, following orders yelled from someone he could not yet see. And then he noticed he was being stared at. By a lot of eyes. The vampire shifted in mild discomfort as he watched a female walk confidently to stare down at him in what he presumed was curiosity.
As she walked to meet him she began pouring out words in some incomprehensible language, provoking his annoyance further. Danto was fluent in many languages, yet this was nothing close to anything he had heard in the past. “I’m sure whatever you have to say is entirely fascinating, however, I cannot make out a word you’re saying.” The man heard the question in her voice, so – given that he seemed under no immediate threat - he offered the only information he had to offer. “Assuming you can even understand spoken English, my name is Danto. You have entered the world of Deepvale, though Gods only know how you managed to enter through anywhere other than the gate...”
Danto actually found this fact quite amusing – the thought of someone getting past Orthrus. Sure, attending uninvited was rude, but he could overlook a lack of manners any day if it meant Orthrus looking like a fool.
Daniel Reaving
He also forgot his own height sometimes. Upon realising his companion was struggling to keep up, Orthrus smiled a ghost of a smile in amusement and slowed his pace. Looking down at his new friend, Orthrus gave her a shrug. “No biggie. You’d have done the same, right? Put a bad taste in my mouth to think they mighta hurt ya back there.” The thought escaped his mouth before he could stop it, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to stop it. Instead, he continued their journey, nearing their destination sooner than he had realised.
“Welcome to the Gate.” He guided the pair through a narrow entranceway into a tall, naturally created chamber. Torches burning in simple iron sconces lined the walls around them, bathing the chamber in a warm glow. Tapestries also decorated these walls and, although they may once have been brilliant in hue, they now hung in greying tatters. Despite the damage of time and neglect, once-grand images of wizards' towers, magical beasts, and symbols of spellcasting were still visible.
Gold. The first thing everyone noticed. The gate could have been mistaken as brand new, its clean, twisting bars reaching towards the ceiling of the chamber, stopping centimetres short of the top, however, it was now common knowledge that these gates had been placed here by the first settlers. Orthrus stood proudly, allowing Tyra to take in the site he had become so accustomed to.
Halexia
-----------
Danto stared on in mild annoyance. The sight of these skeletal beings only fuelled his hatred for this particular day. He knew that actual skeletons could not sail a rowboat, let alone a full-blown ship, which served to suggest he was not seeing skeletons at all. Danto did not like being confused and this whole day had done nothing but confuse him. He was running low on patience.
“Oh goodie, they’re slowing down.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. Even he had to admit that the ship was a sight to see as the occupants worked to pull it to a halt at the water’s edge. Danto observed as everyone on board rushed to complete tasks, following orders yelled from someone he could not yet see. And then he noticed he was being stared at. By a lot of eyes. The vampire shifted in mild discomfort as he watched a female walk confidently to stare down at him in what he presumed was curiosity.
As she walked to meet him she began pouring out words in some incomprehensible language, provoking his annoyance further. Danto was fluent in many languages, yet this was nothing close to anything he had heard in the past. “I’m sure whatever you have to say is entirely fascinating, however, I cannot make out a word you’re saying.” The man heard the question in her voice, so – given that he seemed under no immediate threat - he offered the only information he had to offer. “Assuming you can even understand spoken English, my name is Danto. You have entered the world of Deepvale, though Gods only know how you managed to enter through anywhere other than the gate...”
Danto actually found this fact quite amusing – the thought of someone getting past Orthrus. Sure, attending uninvited was rude, but he could overlook a lack of manners any day if it meant Orthrus looking like a fool.
Daniel Reaving
DergTheDergon
Huggles fo all :3
The sheer comfort Naomi clearly experienced at her simple touches and reassuring words warmed her heart, lifting some of the anxiety she felt regarding discussing such heavy topics. It was clear that the two of them had built quite the rapport already, a trust that, while mayhaps was strongest on Xaira’s end due to the stars she was seeing in the fairy-tale-like early stages of her and Naomi’s relationship, was clearly mutual to quite the extent. Even if Naomi had her doubts, Xaira was confident that as they grew closer she would have none. Xaira’s integrity was her strongest trait, after all, and she prided herself on It greatly. Kissing her back in return, with all the passion she could muster (nearly knocking the Lilin out of the chair in fact, before steadying her with her arm and pulling away before this kiss progressed past the point of a kiss due to the building tension- another time, Xaira thought).
Meeting her Lilin lover’s eyes with her own deep viridian orbs, Xaira detected some distress from Naomi as her dragoness lover confessed to her insecurity, though not in such blunt terms. She became worried for a moment that sThe had worded her response very wrong indeed in that regard, and thus had perhaps given her Lilin lover the wrong idea. Such an expectation was madly unrealistic, after all. It was not Naomi’s fault, but that of the dragoness herself, in a way. She was honestly insecure, afraid that the slightest uncertainty Naomi felt could perhaps be a sin of mistrust, although thinking on it, that seemed ludicrous. When, as she continued, it seemed Naomi was not all that distressed by her words, Xaira began to relax and say the rest with the gusto she started with. Within her mind, she thought to herself that she could not feel the real, firm trust she felt in Naomi if it was not true, and knowing to read people, it was clear that that faith was reciprocated as much as the woman could manage. She could tell because there seemed to be no secrets behind those mesmerizing soul-windows (or eyes) of her lovers’. Only reactions to her words were present, some of which worked quickly to lessen the anxiety she felt at these words. Her sweet smile in response to Xaira’s closing statement made her feel all the more assured about the acceptability of her answer.
Still, Xaira was anxious for a moment about how Naomi may or may not respond; naturally so, having bared so much about her that she hid from others as much as could. These things had to be revealed sometime for their love to last however, and Xaira greatly respected Naomi’s decision to ask such a question. Her reaction to the answer, now that there was a short pause to ponder her expressions, only made her feel as though this was a very apt topic to help the couple understand each other more deeply.
There was no retort against her own comment, and to begin with, only a whole-hearted agreement to two of her three points. She found herself visibly relaxing a bit, and simply allowed the conversation to move on instead of being stuck on her own view of things. Ater all, any relationship is all about give and take: Naomi listened to Xaira’s dislikes with the respect she deserved, and Xaira was now doing the same. While, deep down, she was honestly a little curious as to what Naomi truly thought of her answer, especially her admittedly irrational fear of uncertainty. As she focused in on giving her Lilin lover her rapt attention, she felt less and less of a need every moment to have her own thoughts addressed further.
Then, the Lilin beauty continued, Xaira’s expression attentive as she sat up straight, seemingly (and truly) enraptured by every word that was said. When Naomi elaborated as to why exactly dishonesty ground her gears, Xaira frowned slightly, her gaze empathetic. She could understand if Naomi felt forced into dishonesty in many ways, including the lure of an easy life at least judging what little o her background she yet knew of. Offering more comforting strokes of her cheeks for a moment, she then nodded as if to ask her politely to continue.
When Naomi broke into an impassioned outcry against the very easy life she spoke of, Xaira found herself smirking oin response, her heart lifting high again. Perhaps this was a large portion of why the two seemed to fit together like a puzzle piece: they were not seeking an easier life at the Gala they met each other during, unlike many of the others likely were. Instead, at least in Xaira’s case, someone that supported and even challenged her in her endeavors seemed very welcome. And so far, Naomi had only supported everything, even, to an extent, the long periods of time she’d have to be away. Taking her hand and squeezing it a little to ease the clearly unpleasant feelings that particular statement had brought, she then lossed her grip as Naomi continued.
As her words pressed on, Xaira found herself inching closer to her until she was on the edge of the seat and had to stand to get any closer, gently caressing her arms, her hair and her cheeks while Naomi bared her heart so deeply, so fully. To get such a deep look into her frustrations like this, all of which she could at the very least empathize with. Some, she even shared to an extent, realizing she had been unknowingly suppressing a few old feelings in order to keep a ‘cool, professional’ air about herself. That had to have been why she hadn’t thought to address her own dislike for liars, as well as pessimism. Though, perhaps her counter-ideals for these moral dilemmas were already clear to Naomi herself. Eother way, each and every utterance of another pet peeve of hers seemed to confirm more and more that this woman was a keeper. Very different from her Draconic lover in lifestyle and background, and thus amazingly compatible with her morals. Considering that she lives her entire life by said morals, this was a very, very fortunate thing for the new couple.
Then, she moved on to explain how her penchant for optimism related to her unexpected, but very welcome contentment with staying home while Xaira risked her life. Needless to say, Naomi’s words brought a blush of similar bright red color to her lover’s cheeks (or at least, the parts of her cheeks uncovered by scales, her eyes wide as saucers and clearly broadcasting the loving appreciation she felt for her and her words. “Naomi…” All she could say was the woman’s name for a moment, but after a little while she finally found more words to say, whispering them close to her ear. “Everything you said… all your own frustrations… I identify with aall of them. Not all of them light me up the way some of them do, however,I could feel your emotion with every word and I understand… and clearly, you understand my own feelings as well, especially towards my job. The way you put it was perfect… I feel as if I’m actively trying to change our people’s fate, give us a chance at the peace we sought in coming down here millennia ago, by beating back the things who’d stand in our way of that. A-and… I suppose noble is one way to put it, yes.” She blushed, then found her lips naturally gravitating towards Naomi’s, planting one last, firm kiss upon them for the morning. After she had pulled away, naomi pulled her back into the present moment before the held the pair of them up all day. Turning to look at where the artificial sun was shining in through the window, her eyes widened. “Wow… it’s past midmorning already… I believe around 10:30 or so. You might wonder how I can guess that, but let’s just say that sun is the only clock I’ve got away from the settlements, and that’s where I do most of my work. I’d carry a watch, but, well, I had before and they keep getting broken while I just go about my busiess." She laughed. “So… got anywhere to be today, naomi? If not, maybe you’d like to go back down to where we met? I… I want to help with the clean-up as much as I can… especially if it includes cleaning up P.O.W. stragglers.”
Little did she, or any of the town’s inhabitants know, she’d end up finding quite a bit more there than what she and naomi left behind the night before. Even from this distance, she felt something… off in that general direction. “Naomi… can you feel some kind of.. magical disturbance?” She asked. “It almost feels like something… otherworldly is here… or a lot of somethings.” But that was not even the beginning, as little did they all know, the arrival of a queen, a ship and her crew were the least of their worries, as their arrival came just in time to mask something… else that would arrive soon.
Rustic
Meeting her Lilin lover’s eyes with her own deep viridian orbs, Xaira detected some distress from Naomi as her dragoness lover confessed to her insecurity, though not in such blunt terms. She became worried for a moment that sThe had worded her response very wrong indeed in that regard, and thus had perhaps given her Lilin lover the wrong idea. Such an expectation was madly unrealistic, after all. It was not Naomi’s fault, but that of the dragoness herself, in a way. She was honestly insecure, afraid that the slightest uncertainty Naomi felt could perhaps be a sin of mistrust, although thinking on it, that seemed ludicrous. When, as she continued, it seemed Naomi was not all that distressed by her words, Xaira began to relax and say the rest with the gusto she started with. Within her mind, she thought to herself that she could not feel the real, firm trust she felt in Naomi if it was not true, and knowing to read people, it was clear that that faith was reciprocated as much as the woman could manage. She could tell because there seemed to be no secrets behind those mesmerizing soul-windows (or eyes) of her lovers’. Only reactions to her words were present, some of which worked quickly to lessen the anxiety she felt at these words. Her sweet smile in response to Xaira’s closing statement made her feel all the more assured about the acceptability of her answer.
Still, Xaira was anxious for a moment about how Naomi may or may not respond; naturally so, having bared so much about her that she hid from others as much as could. These things had to be revealed sometime for their love to last however, and Xaira greatly respected Naomi’s decision to ask such a question. Her reaction to the answer, now that there was a short pause to ponder her expressions, only made her feel as though this was a very apt topic to help the couple understand each other more deeply.
There was no retort against her own comment, and to begin with, only a whole-hearted agreement to two of her three points. She found herself visibly relaxing a bit, and simply allowed the conversation to move on instead of being stuck on her own view of things. Ater all, any relationship is all about give and take: Naomi listened to Xaira’s dislikes with the respect she deserved, and Xaira was now doing the same. While, deep down, she was honestly a little curious as to what Naomi truly thought of her answer, especially her admittedly irrational fear of uncertainty. As she focused in on giving her Lilin lover her rapt attention, she felt less and less of a need every moment to have her own thoughts addressed further.
Then, the Lilin beauty continued, Xaira’s expression attentive as she sat up straight, seemingly (and truly) enraptured by every word that was said. When Naomi elaborated as to why exactly dishonesty ground her gears, Xaira frowned slightly, her gaze empathetic. She could understand if Naomi felt forced into dishonesty in many ways, including the lure of an easy life at least judging what little o her background she yet knew of. Offering more comforting strokes of her cheeks for a moment, she then nodded as if to ask her politely to continue.
When Naomi broke into an impassioned outcry against the very easy life she spoke of, Xaira found herself smirking oin response, her heart lifting high again. Perhaps this was a large portion of why the two seemed to fit together like a puzzle piece: they were not seeking an easier life at the Gala they met each other during, unlike many of the others likely were. Instead, at least in Xaira’s case, someone that supported and even challenged her in her endeavors seemed very welcome. And so far, Naomi had only supported everything, even, to an extent, the long periods of time she’d have to be away. Taking her hand and squeezing it a little to ease the clearly unpleasant feelings that particular statement had brought, she then lossed her grip as Naomi continued.
As her words pressed on, Xaira found herself inching closer to her until she was on the edge of the seat and had to stand to get any closer, gently caressing her arms, her hair and her cheeks while Naomi bared her heart so deeply, so fully. To get such a deep look into her frustrations like this, all of which she could at the very least empathize with. Some, she even shared to an extent, realizing she had been unknowingly suppressing a few old feelings in order to keep a ‘cool, professional’ air about herself. That had to have been why she hadn’t thought to address her own dislike for liars, as well as pessimism. Though, perhaps her counter-ideals for these moral dilemmas were already clear to Naomi herself. Eother way, each and every utterance of another pet peeve of hers seemed to confirm more and more that this woman was a keeper. Very different from her Draconic lover in lifestyle and background, and thus amazingly compatible with her morals. Considering that she lives her entire life by said morals, this was a very, very fortunate thing for the new couple.
Then, she moved on to explain how her penchant for optimism related to her unexpected, but very welcome contentment with staying home while Xaira risked her life. Needless to say, Naomi’s words brought a blush of similar bright red color to her lover’s cheeks (or at least, the parts of her cheeks uncovered by scales, her eyes wide as saucers and clearly broadcasting the loving appreciation she felt for her and her words. “Naomi…” All she could say was the woman’s name for a moment, but after a little while she finally found more words to say, whispering them close to her ear. “Everything you said… all your own frustrations… I identify with aall of them. Not all of them light me up the way some of them do, however,I could feel your emotion with every word and I understand… and clearly, you understand my own feelings as well, especially towards my job. The way you put it was perfect… I feel as if I’m actively trying to change our people’s fate, give us a chance at the peace we sought in coming down here millennia ago, by beating back the things who’d stand in our way of that. A-and… I suppose noble is one way to put it, yes.” She blushed, then found her lips naturally gravitating towards Naomi’s, planting one last, firm kiss upon them for the morning. After she had pulled away, naomi pulled her back into the present moment before the held the pair of them up all day. Turning to look at where the artificial sun was shining in through the window, her eyes widened. “Wow… it’s past midmorning already… I believe around 10:30 or so. You might wonder how I can guess that, but let’s just say that sun is the only clock I’ve got away from the settlements, and that’s where I do most of my work. I’d carry a watch, but, well, I had before and they keep getting broken while I just go about my busiess." She laughed. “So… got anywhere to be today, naomi? If not, maybe you’d like to go back down to where we met? I… I want to help with the clean-up as much as I can… especially if it includes cleaning up P.O.W. stragglers.”
Little did she, or any of the town’s inhabitants know, she’d end up finding quite a bit more there than what she and naomi left behind the night before. Even from this distance, she felt something… off in that general direction. “Naomi… can you feel some kind of.. magical disturbance?” She asked. “It almost feels like something… otherworldly is here… or a lot of somethings.” But that was not even the beginning, as little did they all know, the arrival of a queen, a ship and her crew were the least of their worries, as their arrival came just in time to mask something… else that would arrive soon.
Rustic
Last edited:
Halexia
little wolf
Xander looked at Rick and shrugged "yeah well, it doesn't matter now does it" he looked out of the window "hey Rick its snowing, its a bit early for snow isn't it?"
Pinconious
Pinconious
Pinconious
New Member
Rick looked out of the window and saw the cold, "uh...yeah it is a little bit." He seemed confused and decided he would investigate it.
He got up from his seat inside and made his way outside, "wanna be nosy?" Rick asked his fox friend. Finally something interesting was happening in this dull underground world.
Halexia
He got up from his seat inside and made his way outside, "wanna be nosy?" Rick asked his fox friend. Finally something interesting was happening in this dull underground world.
Halexia
DergTheDergon
Huggles fo all :3
Miles beneath Deepvale, near the edge of the earth’s mantle...
Little did most know unless they had a near death experience, but the gateway to hell was at the center of the earth. When a wicked person died, their soul was pulled down, down, down for miles, passing through the very rock of the earth, all the way down to the molten core. Then… they would end up in a pitch black place, bidden with flame, were for eternity, they would have their past sins commited to them over and over, forced to bear the pain of everyone they’d hurt for eternity. In hell, it was a demon’s job to inflict such suffering. As such, the creators made them sadistic, putting a penchant for causing suffering at the crux of their character.
At the time of the world’s inception, it seemed to be a logical choice. They wanted some way to punish the souls of those who did not work to see the world flourish, and instead to see it burn. Thus, they created immortal beings with deep red Skin, eyes of an even deeper, brighter crimson with soulless balck pupils, horns o a pitch black color, massive, muscular bodies and faces that always seemed to carry either a look of utter hatred, or a sadistic grin.
While the creators could not simply undo what they had made, do to the rift it would cause in the world they had created, they now regretted creating the demons as they were. A few of them had finally, after years of plotting, broken free from hell itself, feeling that inflicting suffering on more souls with innocence still intact was a more pleasurable prospect than torturing only those with hearts as dark as their own over and over.
Wrath Demons are able to disguise themselves as well, and little did they know, had agents among the P.O.W. Finally, their plan to create the unrest needed to manifest a portal straight into the largest Beneath settlement they knew of had c ome to fruition in the form of the P.O.W. attack on the Single’s gala the night before. They’d had their army built up to a degree that they were certain they could take Deepvale, kill all that resisted and enslave the rest. From there,, they had grand plans to spread and turn the whole world into a second hell, with help from the demons who swarmed into this subterranean base they’d made for themselves. It had taken years to finally reach this point of the plan, however, as by their nature bestowed upon them by the Creators, Wrath Demons were only allowed to tread where mass amounts of suffering had occured. Hence, they could now enter deepvale from underneath the town hall as they had planned while the scars from the P.O.W.’s raid on the gala was still fresh. Already, demons worked tirelessly in finishing the tunnel. It was now nearly complete…
Meanwhile, miles above, in the very top floor of the guild building in London…
A tall,militaristically-built woman with meticulously-groomed shoulder-length brown hair paced back and forth just in front of her desk in her penthouse CEO’s office, straightening out her bluegray suit, a fittng color for her as it match her light blue eyes well. Those, along with a long, plain grey pencil skirt and professional-looking tan pumps, fit her cold, clean-cut personality as well as her high-status job to a t. This woman was none other than the CEO of the Hunters’ Association’s London branch, Elizabeth Crowne.
Just hours ago, the moment she arrived here at her usual 5:30 AM, she sent out an order to the members of the team who’d taken down the unusual werewolf they’d found to report here at 9 AM sharp, together. It was 8:55 and none of them had shown up yet. It was likely due to the very short notice of her summons, but she still found herself impatient that her employees had not arrived yet. It was equally distressing that Agent Hauser could not make it. She had taken leave for a while for reasons that she had not fully disclosed. While worried about the strange woman, in a professional sense anyway, she knew that she hadn’t the time to wait for her and that the three of them could likely at least get the job started while they waited for Caroline to catch up with them. Elizibeth would make certain that she monitored and kept in touch with the agents as best she could so that she could direct Miss Hauser to them when she once again became available.
As for other concerns, she had heard that Agent O’hara had now recovered late last night, which was why she made a point to summon them at the earliest opportunity. She decided to allow Miss O’Hara some leeway due to just recently being able to work after more than a month of medical leave, but she doubted it’d be necessary as she’d caught word that agent Matthews had been helping her to get anywhere she wished as she recovered, and was likely doing the same this morning. She’d also heard that the two of them had become very close over the last few weeks, close enough that they were now mixing business with pleasure by all accounts. The two had been seen kissing and putting on other public displays of affection on guild property no less; and of course, the news had risen straight up to her. As much as she wanted to pull them aside and have a talk with them about that, considering what Fifer had been through she decided to allow her and Gabriel to enjoy each other’s company unfettered until it got in the way of a mission in some way or another. Regardless, the both of them were such professionals that Elizibeth had faith that such a thing wouldn't happen regardless. Thankfully, she doubted she had to worry about the eager agent Hauer being late, even if he got here barely in time himself.
Just in time, Fifer had driven her and Gabe over to the guildhall from the hospital, in a guild-sanctioned vehicle kept on the premises for the convenience of hunters allowed to leave the hospital, or officially released, in Fifer’s case. It was about damn time, as far as sHe was concerned. While she had to go slow at first, she smiled as she fell into the rhythm of controlling of vehicle once again. She had, of course, insisted to drive once again. It made her feel in control to do so, especially after having little use of her limbs for so long.
Arriving a couple minutes before they had to be there, since it was on such short notice, Fifer climbed out with gabe, and headed into the building, her arm in his, ignoring the stares and whispers she received from a few of the guildmates that they passed. By now, it was a pretty hot topic around here that two previous forever-loners were suddenly an item. As the pair entered the elevator, only themselves within it, Fifer took the moment to surprise Gabe with another quick peck on the lips, not the first of the morning by far. Ever since the day they had confessed thier feelings for each other, Fifer had spent every waking moment she could with him. He made most of her recovery time speed by, and felt so lucky to be with him.
Likely running into Chase on the way to the office, Fifer would make a point to say hello. She’d ask Chase how he was doing, and tell him she’d been fine, as was certainly the case, if helped along immensely by Gabe. With that, the three of them entered the office togeteher, Fifer only remembering that it was unprofessional to have your arm around another’s waist in such a situation when the mistress simply cleared her throat while looking at her with a raised eyebrow, she dropped her hands to the side with a blush. There would be time for such things afterwards, she reminded herself.
Once all three of her hunters were standing before her with attentive looks in their eyes and matching postures, she moved back behind her desk and sat down, gesturing to three chairs in front of her desk that she’d picked out for the three of them. “Have a seat… you’ll need it.”
Once all three of the hunters were sat squarely in thier repsective chairs, the chairmanstood once more, having grabbed a remote from her desk. Pressing a button, a cylindrical, matte-black holographic projector behind her computer minotor lit up, projecting a full-color image above itself atop a flat, girdded plane. The image it displayed was a currently paused, vividly-rendered video, seemingly taken from real life images rather than recorded. “This,” Elizibeth began to explain, slowly, “is a digitized version of maigically implanted memories within the amulet you three helped in finding, extracted with assisstance from a liscenced practicioner of magic. They are… shocking in nature, so you’d best be prepared. It is… difficult to explain what you’ll see here, but I’ll et the images themselves do the talking.”
The very first thing that was seen was the perspective of a creature staring down at its clawed hands, turning them this way and that as if to check for wounds. Its skin was deep red, black spines running down its arms. The hunters would immidiately recognize this as a Wrath-demon: a creature from deep below the earth that has only been sighted on the surface a handful of times, and each time caused large amounts of death, destruction and suffering before someone was able to put it down.
The view quickly shifted to the looking a scared woman with wollflikde ears and a tail, buirsed all over and naked, covering herself with a towel whilst facing the wall. “No scratches this time, good…. I was going to kill you for one more time, but, no need. Besides, it’ll be more useful to see if you bear my wolfchild this time.” The wrath demon’s voice was deep, his tone sadistic, laughing as he left the cell. The perspective then shifted to the woman’s giving birth to a baby boy that, once she got to hold him, noticed that he had red eyes. She began to weep,
Then, it shows the same woman, from the demon’s perspective, only this time, she seemed happy, holding her now toddler of a son. “I admit I’ve taken a liking to you… you can stay with him,” the demon said, before walking out of the room, the woman looking at him with awe and gratitude.
The scene then shifte to the child’s perspective, him staring up at the wrath demon, his mother watching with a smile nearby, He held the child a wodden sword and they practiced. It showed this happening over and over, the perspective of the boy gaining more and more height until he was an older teenager.
The next scene was alarming. Before the now-grown Demon/wolf was a castle in flames, heavily armed humans slaughtering demons this way and that. The boy found himself standing by, as if he didn’t care for hte demon’s death, but wondered what he should do. Then came a scream from nearby… it was his mother. Rushing in after her, he saw her being murdered, gruesomely. Then he heard his fathers voice. “See… this is what bloodseers are like… they blieve all non-humans don’t deserve to exist… kill him.”
The scene went red, then it seemed to skip ahead many years. It shows the same demon-wolf hanging a helmeted human head on a pike inside a dark chamber of some sort, before the vision changed to the view of hi bedchambers, a warth demoness lying in his bed,making a “come hither” gesture with her deep red hand.
For a few more moments of this strange, haunting braodcast of sorts, it shows a few more hybrids of this sort being born, being attacked by humans who seem to know thier every move, havng everything taken from them, barely surviving and siring another child. Of course, it was always a differnt palce and time for each, but it was as if this bloodline’s history repeated itself over the milennia. Then, it shifts to the final scene.
A wolf is running up through steeply inclining tunnels, shouts and distant footsteps behind him. He doesn’t slow down for even one moment, but does look down for a while. From thi sangle, the hunters all see the familliar pitch-black coat of the wolf, and the pendant hanging from his neck. The very pendant this was taken from, clearly. He liftes his gaze, adn comes bounding towards a source of faint light, then farther, farther, the scene speeding up. Finally, after clearly running hundruds of kilometors through confusing, anciet-looking tunnels… e arrives in a ruined cathredal, sunlight leaking through. He peeks through one of the windows, and clear as day, sees the iconic streets of london. With that it shut off.
Fifer was rendered speechless, having grabbed Gsbriel’s hand without knowing it, squeezing it.
Seeming to have no feelings toward the trio of hunters’ reactions, ‘We have gleaned many things in this, which in the end has led us to send you agents on a mission. We belevie action should be swift, so I will be brie.f Firstly, the wolf you slew was clearly part of a long bloodline. That amulet was likely what made him aware of that truth. Unsure how he came upon it, though. Regardless, it is clear that he likely did not know of his bloodline for centuries, until he suddenly did. The old, powerful magic in that amulet likely caused it. Secondly, it is very clear that there is soemthing hidden beneath this very city… and due to the voices that can be heard towards the end, we are dealing with far more than wrath demons there. We had no awareness of this underground dwelling before, but if it’s as large as we speculate, it would certainly explain the strange influx of creatures over the last few decades or so.”
‘So, what do you want us to do?” Fifer inurrupted, met by a glare, which a roll of the eyes countered. “I was getting there, but since you’re so impatient I suppose it can’t hurt to tell you now. We want you to do reconassaince, find out what is down there and only kill to defend yourself. If you face overwhelming opposition. Run. To help with that,” she said, pacing behind her desk faster now, “we’ve design devices, worn in the form of thin bracers that become invisible when thier affect takes over That affect, simply put, its based on the design of a magitech device we found on a different recent target. It will allow you to choose from any supernatural you know of and gain very relaistic, but kin the end illusory, aspects of them. Simply put, we want you to do undercover. Find out what is causing the influx, and report back to me.”
“Maam…” Fifer said afteer a pause. “With all due respect… why the fuck did you choose us for this? We’re the best hunters around, we;re not spies!”
“Miss O’hara,” she said calmly, clearly having expected this outburst from her, “if you recall from the memories, there were humans that oppressed that Lycan-Demon bloodline throughout the centuries, ending with you thankfully snuffing it out, unless he’s got a child somewhere we’re unawares of. Regardless, they all had something in common…. They were all among the small handful of legendary hunters to ever kill a full-blooded wratch demon… and.. They all had the ability that you posess, Fifer. This was why we felt we needed you. Clearly, there is something in you that could csave the whole team if you happen to encounter one of the horrid creautres down there. Our scientists speculate that, somehow, humans without your gift cannot kill a wrath demon. We elt we needed you and the people you are most comfortable working with for any reason.”
‘Tch, alright, I get it… I’m not anything special though.” “Perhaps not… regardless, you’re a damn fine hunter, all of you are. The sheer danger and importance of this mission made us feel that only te team who’s really been making waves around here lately could possibly pull this off and come back from it. Any questions?” She looked at everyone expectedly, clearly about to send them off down a secret passage through a ruined, ancient church the moment they were all doen speaking. Fifer had no words at the moment, looking downwards with many distressing things clearly on her mind, squeezing gabe’s hand tightly. She looked back and forth between him and Chase, wondering what, if anything, the boys had to say about all theshocking information that was just piled on them so suddenly. Clearly, the boss was very, very eager to get this show on the road, so to speak.
Minutes later, in Deepvale…
Every inhabitant of the town hall would suddenly feel that something was very, very wrong, a chill running down each and everyone’s spines, even the new arrivals from a different world. There was a subsequnt earthquake, thankfully not causing irreversable damage but certainly tossing most residents about and causing heavy damage to some of the oldest buildings, the sky darkening to comeplete the scene.
It was utter chaos… and at the center of it all? A massive, oval-shaped door-like structure made of pitch-black rock, a shimmering red abyss at its center, which had burst up from the ground and was so massive that it punch through the top of the city hall, every resident in clear view of the place now able to see the intrusive, ominous structure.
“What the helll….” xaira said, stopping in her tracks as she and Naomi made thier way there, a few hundred kilometors away from city hall now. . “Naomi… we need to figure ou what the hell’s going on… let’s fly the rest of teh way…. Ihave a bad feeling what might happen if you don’t get there now.” She took Xaira’s hand, spread her wings and took flight with her. From above, it was clear what had made her feel odd, earlier. A massive ship-like structure had suddenly appeared near where she was going. However, that seemed a moot point aside from the massive portal, thier neaar-simulteaneous appearances seeming like a mere coincidence. Xaora flew them down to the entrance, then unsuring to walk in front of Naomi as she headed inamong a crowd of many confused, shocked and highly confused supernaturals. The whole town, if they hadn’t already been here moments ago, was certainly here now.
Daniel Reaving
Halexia
PanOtterPus
Rustic
Pinconious
Verdas
Little did most know unless they had a near death experience, but the gateway to hell was at the center of the earth. When a wicked person died, their soul was pulled down, down, down for miles, passing through the very rock of the earth, all the way down to the molten core. Then… they would end up in a pitch black place, bidden with flame, were for eternity, they would have their past sins commited to them over and over, forced to bear the pain of everyone they’d hurt for eternity. In hell, it was a demon’s job to inflict such suffering. As such, the creators made them sadistic, putting a penchant for causing suffering at the crux of their character.
At the time of the world’s inception, it seemed to be a logical choice. They wanted some way to punish the souls of those who did not work to see the world flourish, and instead to see it burn. Thus, they created immortal beings with deep red Skin, eyes of an even deeper, brighter crimson with soulless balck pupils, horns o a pitch black color, massive, muscular bodies and faces that always seemed to carry either a look of utter hatred, or a sadistic grin.
While the creators could not simply undo what they had made, do to the rift it would cause in the world they had created, they now regretted creating the demons as they were. A few of them had finally, after years of plotting, broken free from hell itself, feeling that inflicting suffering on more souls with innocence still intact was a more pleasurable prospect than torturing only those with hearts as dark as their own over and over.
Wrath Demons are able to disguise themselves as well, and little did they know, had agents among the P.O.W. Finally, their plan to create the unrest needed to manifest a portal straight into the largest Beneath settlement they knew of had c ome to fruition in the form of the P.O.W. attack on the Single’s gala the night before. They’d had their army built up to a degree that they were certain they could take Deepvale, kill all that resisted and enslave the rest. From there,, they had grand plans to spread and turn the whole world into a second hell, with help from the demons who swarmed into this subterranean base they’d made for themselves. It had taken years to finally reach this point of the plan, however, as by their nature bestowed upon them by the Creators, Wrath Demons were only allowed to tread where mass amounts of suffering had occured. Hence, they could now enter deepvale from underneath the town hall as they had planned while the scars from the P.O.W.’s raid on the gala was still fresh. Already, demons worked tirelessly in finishing the tunnel. It was now nearly complete…
Meanwhile, miles above, in the very top floor of the guild building in London…
A tall,militaristically-built woman with meticulously-groomed shoulder-length brown hair paced back and forth just in front of her desk in her penthouse CEO’s office, straightening out her bluegray suit, a fittng color for her as it match her light blue eyes well. Those, along with a long, plain grey pencil skirt and professional-looking tan pumps, fit her cold, clean-cut personality as well as her high-status job to a t. This woman was none other than the CEO of the Hunters’ Association’s London branch, Elizabeth Crowne.
Just hours ago, the moment she arrived here at her usual 5:30 AM, she sent out an order to the members of the team who’d taken down the unusual werewolf they’d found to report here at 9 AM sharp, together. It was 8:55 and none of them had shown up yet. It was likely due to the very short notice of her summons, but she still found herself impatient that her employees had not arrived yet. It was equally distressing that Agent Hauser could not make it. She had taken leave for a while for reasons that she had not fully disclosed. While worried about the strange woman, in a professional sense anyway, she knew that she hadn’t the time to wait for her and that the three of them could likely at least get the job started while they waited for Caroline to catch up with them. Elizibeth would make certain that she monitored and kept in touch with the agents as best she could so that she could direct Miss Hauser to them when she once again became available.
As for other concerns, she had heard that Agent O’hara had now recovered late last night, which was why she made a point to summon them at the earliest opportunity. She decided to allow Miss O’Hara some leeway due to just recently being able to work after more than a month of medical leave, but she doubted it’d be necessary as she’d caught word that agent Matthews had been helping her to get anywhere she wished as she recovered, and was likely doing the same this morning. She’d also heard that the two of them had become very close over the last few weeks, close enough that they were now mixing business with pleasure by all accounts. The two had been seen kissing and putting on other public displays of affection on guild property no less; and of course, the news had risen straight up to her. As much as she wanted to pull them aside and have a talk with them about that, considering what Fifer had been through she decided to allow her and Gabriel to enjoy each other’s company unfettered until it got in the way of a mission in some way or another. Regardless, the both of them were such professionals that Elizibeth had faith that such a thing wouldn't happen regardless. Thankfully, she doubted she had to worry about the eager agent Hauer being late, even if he got here barely in time himself.
Just in time, Fifer had driven her and Gabe over to the guildhall from the hospital, in a guild-sanctioned vehicle kept on the premises for the convenience of hunters allowed to leave the hospital, or officially released, in Fifer’s case. It was about damn time, as far as sHe was concerned. While she had to go slow at first, she smiled as she fell into the rhythm of controlling of vehicle once again. She had, of course, insisted to drive once again. It made her feel in control to do so, especially after having little use of her limbs for so long.
Arriving a couple minutes before they had to be there, since it was on such short notice, Fifer climbed out with gabe, and headed into the building, her arm in his, ignoring the stares and whispers she received from a few of the guildmates that they passed. By now, it was a pretty hot topic around here that two previous forever-loners were suddenly an item. As the pair entered the elevator, only themselves within it, Fifer took the moment to surprise Gabe with another quick peck on the lips, not the first of the morning by far. Ever since the day they had confessed thier feelings for each other, Fifer had spent every waking moment she could with him. He made most of her recovery time speed by, and felt so lucky to be with him.
Likely running into Chase on the way to the office, Fifer would make a point to say hello. She’d ask Chase how he was doing, and tell him she’d been fine, as was certainly the case, if helped along immensely by Gabe. With that, the three of them entered the office togeteher, Fifer only remembering that it was unprofessional to have your arm around another’s waist in such a situation when the mistress simply cleared her throat while looking at her with a raised eyebrow, she dropped her hands to the side with a blush. There would be time for such things afterwards, she reminded herself.
Once all three of her hunters were standing before her with attentive looks in their eyes and matching postures, she moved back behind her desk and sat down, gesturing to three chairs in front of her desk that she’d picked out for the three of them. “Have a seat… you’ll need it.”
Once all three of the hunters were sat squarely in thier repsective chairs, the chairmanstood once more, having grabbed a remote from her desk. Pressing a button, a cylindrical, matte-black holographic projector behind her computer minotor lit up, projecting a full-color image above itself atop a flat, girdded plane. The image it displayed was a currently paused, vividly-rendered video, seemingly taken from real life images rather than recorded. “This,” Elizibeth began to explain, slowly, “is a digitized version of maigically implanted memories within the amulet you three helped in finding, extracted with assisstance from a liscenced practicioner of magic. They are… shocking in nature, so you’d best be prepared. It is… difficult to explain what you’ll see here, but I’ll et the images themselves do the talking.”
The very first thing that was seen was the perspective of a creature staring down at its clawed hands, turning them this way and that as if to check for wounds. Its skin was deep red, black spines running down its arms. The hunters would immidiately recognize this as a Wrath-demon: a creature from deep below the earth that has only been sighted on the surface a handful of times, and each time caused large amounts of death, destruction and suffering before someone was able to put it down.
The view quickly shifted to the looking a scared woman with wollflikde ears and a tail, buirsed all over and naked, covering herself with a towel whilst facing the wall. “No scratches this time, good…. I was going to kill you for one more time, but, no need. Besides, it’ll be more useful to see if you bear my wolfchild this time.” The wrath demon’s voice was deep, his tone sadistic, laughing as he left the cell. The perspective then shifted to the woman’s giving birth to a baby boy that, once she got to hold him, noticed that he had red eyes. She began to weep,
Then, it shows the same woman, from the demon’s perspective, only this time, she seemed happy, holding her now toddler of a son. “I admit I’ve taken a liking to you… you can stay with him,” the demon said, before walking out of the room, the woman looking at him with awe and gratitude.
The scene then shifte to the child’s perspective, him staring up at the wrath demon, his mother watching with a smile nearby, He held the child a wodden sword and they practiced. It showed this happening over and over, the perspective of the boy gaining more and more height until he was an older teenager.
The next scene was alarming. Before the now-grown Demon/wolf was a castle in flames, heavily armed humans slaughtering demons this way and that. The boy found himself standing by, as if he didn’t care for hte demon’s death, but wondered what he should do. Then came a scream from nearby… it was his mother. Rushing in after her, he saw her being murdered, gruesomely. Then he heard his fathers voice. “See… this is what bloodseers are like… they blieve all non-humans don’t deserve to exist… kill him.”
The scene went red, then it seemed to skip ahead many years. It shows the same demon-wolf hanging a helmeted human head on a pike inside a dark chamber of some sort, before the vision changed to the view of hi bedchambers, a warth demoness lying in his bed,making a “come hither” gesture with her deep red hand.
For a few more moments of this strange, haunting braodcast of sorts, it shows a few more hybrids of this sort being born, being attacked by humans who seem to know thier every move, havng everything taken from them, barely surviving and siring another child. Of course, it was always a differnt palce and time for each, but it was as if this bloodline’s history repeated itself over the milennia. Then, it shifts to the final scene.
A wolf is running up through steeply inclining tunnels, shouts and distant footsteps behind him. He doesn’t slow down for even one moment, but does look down for a while. From thi sangle, the hunters all see the familliar pitch-black coat of the wolf, and the pendant hanging from his neck. The very pendant this was taken from, clearly. He liftes his gaze, adn comes bounding towards a source of faint light, then farther, farther, the scene speeding up. Finally, after clearly running hundruds of kilometors through confusing, anciet-looking tunnels… e arrives in a ruined cathredal, sunlight leaking through. He peeks through one of the windows, and clear as day, sees the iconic streets of london. With that it shut off.
Fifer was rendered speechless, having grabbed Gsbriel’s hand without knowing it, squeezing it.
Seeming to have no feelings toward the trio of hunters’ reactions, ‘We have gleaned many things in this, which in the end has led us to send you agents on a mission. We belevie action should be swift, so I will be brie.f Firstly, the wolf you slew was clearly part of a long bloodline. That amulet was likely what made him aware of that truth. Unsure how he came upon it, though. Regardless, it is clear that he likely did not know of his bloodline for centuries, until he suddenly did. The old, powerful magic in that amulet likely caused it. Secondly, it is very clear that there is soemthing hidden beneath this very city… and due to the voices that can be heard towards the end, we are dealing with far more than wrath demons there. We had no awareness of this underground dwelling before, but if it’s as large as we speculate, it would certainly explain the strange influx of creatures over the last few decades or so.”
‘So, what do you want us to do?” Fifer inurrupted, met by a glare, which a roll of the eyes countered. “I was getting there, but since you’re so impatient I suppose it can’t hurt to tell you now. We want you to do reconassaince, find out what is down there and only kill to defend yourself. If you face overwhelming opposition. Run. To help with that,” she said, pacing behind her desk faster now, “we’ve design devices, worn in the form of thin bracers that become invisible when thier affect takes over That affect, simply put, its based on the design of a magitech device we found on a different recent target. It will allow you to choose from any supernatural you know of and gain very relaistic, but kin the end illusory, aspects of them. Simply put, we want you to do undercover. Find out what is causing the influx, and report back to me.”
“Maam…” Fifer said afteer a pause. “With all due respect… why the fuck did you choose us for this? We’re the best hunters around, we;re not spies!”
“Miss O’hara,” she said calmly, clearly having expected this outburst from her, “if you recall from the memories, there were humans that oppressed that Lycan-Demon bloodline throughout the centuries, ending with you thankfully snuffing it out, unless he’s got a child somewhere we’re unawares of. Regardless, they all had something in common…. They were all among the small handful of legendary hunters to ever kill a full-blooded wratch demon… and.. They all had the ability that you posess, Fifer. This was why we felt we needed you. Clearly, there is something in you that could csave the whole team if you happen to encounter one of the horrid creautres down there. Our scientists speculate that, somehow, humans without your gift cannot kill a wrath demon. We elt we needed you and the people you are most comfortable working with for any reason.”
‘Tch, alright, I get it… I’m not anything special though.” “Perhaps not… regardless, you’re a damn fine hunter, all of you are. The sheer danger and importance of this mission made us feel that only te team who’s really been making waves around here lately could possibly pull this off and come back from it. Any questions?” She looked at everyone expectedly, clearly about to send them off down a secret passage through a ruined, ancient church the moment they were all doen speaking. Fifer had no words at the moment, looking downwards with many distressing things clearly on her mind, squeezing gabe’s hand tightly. She looked back and forth between him and Chase, wondering what, if anything, the boys had to say about all theshocking information that was just piled on them so suddenly. Clearly, the boss was very, very eager to get this show on the road, so to speak.
Minutes later, in Deepvale…
Every inhabitant of the town hall would suddenly feel that something was very, very wrong, a chill running down each and everyone’s spines, even the new arrivals from a different world. There was a subsequnt earthquake, thankfully not causing irreversable damage but certainly tossing most residents about and causing heavy damage to some of the oldest buildings, the sky darkening to comeplete the scene.
It was utter chaos… and at the center of it all? A massive, oval-shaped door-like structure made of pitch-black rock, a shimmering red abyss at its center, which had burst up from the ground and was so massive that it punch through the top of the city hall, every resident in clear view of the place now able to see the intrusive, ominous structure.
“What the helll….” xaira said, stopping in her tracks as she and Naomi made thier way there, a few hundred kilometors away from city hall now. . “Naomi… we need to figure ou what the hell’s going on… let’s fly the rest of teh way…. Ihave a bad feeling what might happen if you don’t get there now.” She took Xaira’s hand, spread her wings and took flight with her. From above, it was clear what had made her feel odd, earlier. A massive ship-like structure had suddenly appeared near where she was going. However, that seemed a moot point aside from the massive portal, thier neaar-simulteaneous appearances seeming like a mere coincidence. Xaora flew them down to the entrance, then unsuring to walk in front of Naomi as she headed inamong a crowd of many confused, shocked and highly confused supernaturals. The whole town, if they hadn’t already been here moments ago, was certainly here now.
Daniel Reaving
Halexia
PanOtterPus
Rustic
Pinconious
Verdas
Daniel Reaving
Thirty Thousand Club
Ariella stared down the man as he spoke. "Zu'u krosis do dar." She said softly as she walked up to him. Getting really close before she reached up. Gently bringing a hand to her helmet which she then started to pull it off. As soon as her lips were uncovered from the helmet she leaned forward swiftly and locked her lips with the stranger as she pulled her helmet all the way off, her long white hair falling down over her armor as she stood there kissing the stranger. Her lips would feel rather warm though her breath was ice cold against his. After a small moment she gently pulled away from him and took a step back. Bringing a hand to her lips as she opened her eyes to look at him then smiled and removed her hand from her mouth. "That should help us out a lot more. Well as I was saying I am lady Ariella. Queen of the villanel." She said in perfect English. Her voice soft and gentle, one that flowed like she had been speaking English her hole life though it was quite obvious she hadn't known it till now. Watching the man after she spoke she couldn't help but wonder what was going through this mans head but did not ask him. She only awaited a response from him but quickly looked away. "Something is wrong." She said softly as she got a weird sensation in her stomach. It seemed the rest of her men did as well which wasn't a good sign.
PanOtterPus
(sorry it took so long ^-^ and sorry it isn't longer I figured it was a good last post)
Rustic
Drunken Bumpkin
Chase sighed. The time now was about 8:50am or so, but he hadn't been bothering to keep a close eye on it. He'd been parked, for awhile now, steps from the door of the conference hall he was already expected to be in. Currently, he was crouched, holding himself together as tightly as he could comfortably manage, and staring up to at his held phone. Playing some game he'd picked up in the off weeks since Fifer was injured. It was okay, he guessed, but it wasn't really a way he liked wasting time. But, if the wait before had made him bored out of his mind, the wait to now was absolutely intolerable. He been able to go see Fifer at all yet, and while he'd at least been able to ask Gabriel to take some food over to her when he went, it wasn't like Chase had spent much time with him, either. They were both busy with something, and it'd been annoying. He wouldn't have minded if he himself had been doing something all this time, but no. The last few weeks been just as droll as he had expected them to be with no missions to speak of. Some of it had been good, granted it. It had at least have moved faster than the five days he'd spent previously, with a gymnastics qualifier and the traveling that came with it falling in the middle. But by the time he'd found himself camping out here, he sincerely felt like he might be dying of boredom, or maybe even anticipation, for whatever was coming today.
Everyone who was serious about these meetings was already inside, too. In fact, he figured the only ones who weren't besides himself were the 'guests' today, Fifer and Gabriel. He couldn't guess at why they weren't here already, especially since he'd already pegged Fifer as being 'responsible', but having been to plenty of these things, he already knew why he himself wasn't. He liked to show up 'on time' to meetings. He thought they were boring, frankly, and nobody really ever cared if he understood them anyway, so he generally just fidgeted awkwardly in his seat until they were over. Which made them worthless. But his father used to insist he show up to them all the time anyway, for whatever reason. Not as much these days, with Chase having been old enough for awhile to say no, but the memories of their etiquette persisted. So he still knew he could arrive right on time and it not be a big deal. Even if this meeting had promised to be eventful, he didn't want to get there before he strictly had to and even potentially be stuck in there, trying not to embarrass anybody while it took forever to start and end. No thanks.
Anyway, there was one other reason he sitting outside. Once he heard a distant patter of footsteps from the opposite end of the hallway, he knew it'd become relevant. His perked up from his current distraction to find just what he'd been waiting for - the approaching figures of two intertwined hunters. His face brightened instantly, and his usual mirth emerged once again.
"Fifer!" he yelped. He wasted no time. As soon as he saw them, he immediately lept to his feet and rushed to greet them. For a moment it might've looked like he just intended to collide, his forward momentum not slowing by much, but once he got close, he simply ran past them and around. Like an excitable dog who wasn't sure what to do with itself. Once he landed in front of them - or more aptly, in front of Fifer - he seemed to calm down at least a little, but his elation didn't change. He wringed his hands for a moment, but in the end, he threw them joyfully out to the sides.
"You're baaaack!" he said. He took one of his hands and held it to his chest as his breathed in an exaggeratedly large breath of relief. "I'm so happy." That much was obvious, if just from the way he beamed once he'd said as much. With that said, though, his eyes reopened curiously onto her, ready to launch into the real meat of the matter.
"How was it? Bad, right? Hospitals are the worst. I've been bored, but I can't imagine how it must've been there." His head tilted, and his posture opened up to include Gabriel in on his intense questioning. "Have you guys missed hunting? Are you excited for the mee-"
Just as Chase was chattering away, without warning, the door to the conference hall 'clicked' open, and someone slipped into the hall. Chase stopped his his tracks to turn and look to see, and his face promptly fell at the sight. The man, if not instantly recognizable to Fifer and Gabriel, certainly was to Chase. His Dad was here, ugh. The sharply dressed, bespectacled man was pretty unmistakable. He had his black hair slicked back neatly, and while he was tall man, he certainly stood out for his slight physique in such a fit group of hunters. His face was troubled and his eyes somewhat glazed, as he looked down to his phone coming out, but once he looked up to spot the three of them, that immediately changed. It hardened in something more, aloof, rigid.
"Ms. O'Hara. Mr. Matthews." He tipped his hand in recognition and polite acknowledgement as he passed the two of them. The interaction appeared as though it would be uneventful... until his eyes landed on Chase. He stared for a moment, something unreadable in his expression. Chase stared back, too, but his feelings were far more obvious, looking back with an combative, challenging look. He even crossed his arms, as if daring for something more to come out of this exchange. Whatever it is, however, doesn't come to pass - after an awkward, tense moment, the man simply continued on his way out, leaving the room quiet all the way to the elevator dinging from across the hall, signaling his absence. Chase just watched as he left, and once it seemed as if he was gone, he turned back to the group.
"He doesn't like you guys," he announced flatly. Whether that had been just a casual observation of his or something he'd known from before, it was likely hard to tell, but in either case, Chase just shrugged anyway. It wasn't like it really mattered. There were plenty things his father didn't like. If they were truly one of them, than it was just another example of his bad taste. It actually kind of annoyed him that the man would be so rude in front of his friends, but it was whatever, too. He just rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. He's just in a bad mood 'cause Miss Crowne invited me when he said no." This was just a guess, as Chase and his father hadn't actually spoken much, past their last heated conversation, but it seemed like a safe guess. This wouldn't have been the first time. However, he gave a dismissive wave of his hand to the whole situation. "Don't mind him."
Plainly wanting to shift the mood away from that subject, though, he perked back up. "Anyway, are you guys ready?" he asked. He'd apparently forgotten his questions from before, but at least this time, when he asked, there was time for the two of them to answer. Whether or not they did, though, he reached down into his pocket to find his phone again for the time. "It's, hmm..." He fiddled with it for a moment before his eyes widened. "Ah!" he yelped, looking between the two of them with alarm. "Time to go!"
With that, he rushed into the room and attempted to look like he hadn't as he did so, walking in with such an overstated attempt at nonchalance that was almost comical in it's transparency. However, he didn't think Miss Crowne minded - and if she did, she apparently had much bigger concerns on her mind. Once Gabriel and Fifer were in, too, and she had asked them to take seats, he did so obediently, but curiously. What had her so stressed? Once he took his seat, he leaned forward eagerly, ready to learn.
But boy, learning was a strong word. Chase shifted in his seat as the movie went on, wearing an stiff, uncomfortable looking expression. He kinda knew what he was seeing meant. Enough. His eyes panned across the room for the variety of reactions that were going on. Fifer's expression seemed shocked, like he realized his should've probably been, but it seemed a bit too late to try and muster something like that now. He mostly just felt kinda nasty all over. Seeing those Wrath Demon guys do all that bad stuff, especially to that wolf-looking lady... that thought particularly made his stomach churn, and made him raise a hand to his mouth. If he thought too much harder about it he felt like he'd make himself sick. He didn't want that. He forcibly pried his own eyes open. The lights were coming on, so at least it was over.
He kind of wasn't sure what to do with himself, after that. He suddenly felt really conscious about everything. Like, too conscious. He ran a few fingers through his hair, and grabbed at it for grounding. He didn't feel right now, but... he propped his hands up onto the table in front of them all and steepled his fingers gently. 'If you're not sure of yourself, feigning confidence can help.' That was something his father had said to him, once. Considering he already knew that Miss Crowne didn't tolerate being interrupted as she was speaking, he instead let himself try to settle further into his seat, and hoped, in the meantime, that things would start to clear up.
At the very least, the gruesome part was over. Which sort of just left him confused. He did at least understand a little more about the demons, and why they were relevant, but there was other stuff, too. For one, he had the same question Fifer had for the Headmistress as she spoke up, too, and he was pretty happy when she had asked it for him. He was pretty satisfied with the answer she started to give, until...
"...and only kill to defend yourself." He gave a loud, drawn-out groan, indifferent now to the fact she was still speaking. No! This was a bad mission now! He slumped down defeatedly into his chair, almost unwilling to hear anything else. This was the worst case scenario. So much water, apparently, and none of it was for drinking!
"If you face overwhelming opposition. Run." Just when it seemed like his groan was done, it only started up again as the Headmistress had gone on with that, and caused him to fall even further into his seat. Not only was this a bad mission now, it was stupid. Supernaturals were dumb brutes anyway. Wasn't it irresponsible to just be leaving them down there? He felt super discouraged by the whole thing at first, but he reluctantly decided to pick himself from his slump in the seat anyway. He guessed if that was what they had to do, then that was just how this was gonna go. It was some type of work, anyway.
"It's dumb we're not killing anything." he sighed. "Buuuut whatever. I'm going. I wanna see it." Maybe they'd get lucky and something would try to kill them. It didn't matter in the scheme of things. He was going with his super cool teammates, so there was at least a silver lining. It was unfortunate, but not all jobs were great. And hey - they'd be getting to see what a bunch of supernatural guys looked like all bunched up, and what they did in their free time. Maybe they fought each other for dominance or something? That sounded cool. In the end, he still rose jovially from his seat, ready to hurry up and get to it. The sooner they finished this one, the sooner they'd eventually get to the stabbing!
PanOtterPus
DergTheDergon
Naomi had been riding high, and she'd had every reason to feel that way. Xaira's exchange with her had been not just encouraging, but enlightening. The two of them knew more about each other now, and by all appearances, were no less enamored of each other for it. That had been so relieving to realize. The two of them had a ways to go before they were 'in the clear', she felt, but that was better than she'd ever hoped. And not only had the conversation gone fine - it had been great. She actually even felt as if she felt stronger for Xaira now, knowing she was such the gallant type. She'd gotten excited, even, at the prospect of the two of them going to help clean up. It promised to be hard work, but rewarding, nonetheless, and with such a lovely partner, it even seemed like it would even be quite enjoyable! All of that had left her in the mood she had been when the two of them had left - on top of the world, and even feeling a bit mushy. Naomi was not the type to cling, as she saw the word, but she was even feeling so amorous as to - shockingly - keep a hand interlocked with Xaira's through their walk, to keep the two of their bodies as close as they could comfortably walk. Lilin were prideful of was theirs; as the two of them went on their way, she wanted this quiet arrangement to be an obvious extension of that. She wasn't just with Xaira, she was with her.
She hadn't expected the mood to stick with her, but something felt off about it's waning as the two of them steadily approached their destination. At first, it scared her - the looming sense of dread that was creeping up felt suspiciously like doubt. As if her intuition was telling her something about this relationship that maybe she'd yet to consciously become aware of. But no - intuition did seem to be the cause, her being with Xaira seemed to be unrelated. She still felt comfortable, walking with the red-haired woman; perhaps even more so than she would've. Then, she wondered, what else could it be? Her worry only followed her, rising slowly as they came closer, but once they'd almost arrived, it all hit her immediately, all at once. She squeezed Xaira's hand harder, then. She wanted to look to Xaira for reassurance, to be reminded that this likely some passing anxiety, but as Naomi's head turned to face Xaira's, she immediately knew she couldn't receive it. Xaira felt it too. The people around them, walking through the streets? So did they.
But it didn't matter. It only took seconds after Naomi had come to realize that that the point became moot. All around them, the ground began to shift. The world around them became a blur of motion as people tripped or consciously fell or ran or took cover. Naomi had immediately moved to get a better hold of Xaira, but that only helped to make her unstable. Her boots' precarious heels couldn't reconcile the additional shift in balance and nearly threw her to the ground. She managed to lift herself up with her wings before it could happen, at least, but the new view was only that much better a view to watch the chaos now unfurling around them. The shaking went almost as quickly as it came, but once it was over, the damage had been done. There wasn't much damage in their immediate vicinity, but everyone around seemed to be a little worse for it, looking around in a dazed and upset manner. But, as Naomi began to look around in much the same manner, that didn't seem to be the only reason why. A dark, enormous monolith now towered over their collective heads. That... explained the feeling from before, at least. Sort of.
All she could really manage for the situation was shock. Really, what was there to think? A massive monument had appeared, maybe breaking through the city hall to do it, and was now the biggest thing in the city. There weren't really any emotions to cover this kind of situation. Fear? Anger? Grief? There was a lot she could try to put in the empty space she was left with, but none of it came to mind. Nothing at all came to mind, actually. Not until Xaira grabbed her hand. It promptly snapped her back to reality, back to processing what was going on. The chaos had stopped for a brief moment in the ensuing silence following the quake, but once everyone had gotten over the intial disbelief, it had kicked right to high gear. The streets around them were now abuzz with a noise and clamoring she'd never would've dreamed of seeing on what had, until now, been such an uneventful morning. It occurred to her, a little late, what had been said.
"...Right," she finally replied, nodding unsurely but affirmatively. She took a moment, to steel herself for what was inevitably to come, and took her partner's hand, to fly off into the fray.
They weren't the only ones with the idea, either. She didn't want to take her eyes off of Xaira in a time like this, but she really didn't have to. As she flew behind, she could see other flying figures coming to converge on the same point they were, people likely just as curious. Naomi didn't know how many people in Deepvale had a natural ability for flight, but she felt sure the sky would only get more crowded as they all began to notice what had taken place. At that thought, she picked up her pace a little, and prompted Xaira to do the same. The two of them knew, without having to say it, that this would be the worst possible time to get caught up. They needed to arrive before everyone else in town did.
Even at a hurried pace, there's already a crowd waiting for them upon their landing. It came as no surprise, considering how frequented this part of town usually was, but the size still felt big, even for this district. Regardless, they'd made as far as their wings would take them, so it seemed like the two of them would be joining all of them. Naomi gripped Xaira's hand once again today, her heart filled with vastly emotions than the last time she had. Her love, at least, had remained the same, and that was what she chose to hold close as they tried to make their way through the gathered.
Somewhere along the way, though, something about the feeling there made her pause. It wasn't that it was a bad feeling, so to speak. The feeling all around this place was already oppressively dark, so it couldn't be that. No... As she turned her head to observe the faces around her, it was clearly something else. The exact opposite, actually. While the people near the start of the crowd had fearful, rowdy, and full of a nervous energy, there was something different to the air here. There was still a general sense of discontent, but the mood seemed calmer. Unnaturally so.
"Just a moment..." she said to Xaira slowly, gently releasing her grip on her partner's hand. She let her eyes slowly begin to track through the crowd, then, trying to piece together a potential cause. After a few seconds, they seemed to land on one man in particular. A man with rough white hair and a long flowing robe fanning out around him. She couldn't really place why, but he sort of stood out in some odd way. He didn't look especially anxious, but he didn't look very calm either, staring away from the rest of the crowd almost as if he was lost. She felt somewhat sure he was the focus of some sort of magic passing through here. But why? Her brows furrowed in thought for as small while before it suddenly came to her.
"That's... an angel," she said, nudging Xaira gently. Her voice, while only a whisper, conveyed her general attitude toward this revelation pretty well - disbelief, confusion, but perhaps most subtly, annoyance. She wasn't sure where he was supposed to be, but it didn't seem to be here. Not randomly mulling about the crowd like just another onlooker. The fact that that was where he was was almost enough to make her doubt herself, but the telltale traits didn't lie. She'd read up plenty on the supposed signs of the divine, and this guy was hitting every mark. She didn't want to worry Xaira by accusing a stranger like this out of the blue, but she was sure of it now. Without wasting any more time, she started to step toward him.
"Excuse me." The man did not move an inch, did not acknowledge her call in the least, busy talking in a quiet voice to someone around him. The non-responsiveness set her ill at ease for a moment, before she thought better of it. No, it was entirely possible he just hadn't heard her. She could try again. "Red-eyes," she clarified. This time her words even carried an unintentional authoritativeness to them. She probably would've been proud of that fact, had she even been meaning to come off so impolitely. However, it frustratingly didn't even seem to matter to him, as again, the man did not respond. It was baffling. She wondered, briefly, in the face of this, whether or not she should reconsider, but she took a breath. She had already come this far. With one swift motion, she took him by the shoulder.
"What is this?" she asked him plainly. This had, apparently, finally been enough, as he suddenly broke from whatever conversation he'd been lost in before and came to stare at her almost confusedly. The person who he'd been talking before just stepped off, making their way back from the way Xaira and Naomi had come from.
"Fate?" The reply was almost automatic, but paradoxically unsure. Now she was closer to him, it was easy to see his glazed, distant eyes, too. He seemed to very much be somewhere else, lost in his own thoughts. That seemed unsurprising to Naomi, considering it very much seemed he was casting some sort of area of effect spell. It was no wonder she couldn't get a hold of him. That really didn't excuse his answer, though.
"Fate?" she repeated incredulously. She wanted to give him a moment to clarify such an ugly thought, but just from the surprised look on his face, she could tell he had nothing to say for himself.
"I'm sorry. I'm..." he trailed off. He looked like he wanted to say something more, but he didn't seem to be able to muster anything. His hand reached up to cover his mouth meekly, before he just shook his head. He looked back up to the two women, with apparently nothing to say, before his eyes seemed to signal a change to some different approach.
"Could I...?" He stepped forward slowly a bit, and outstretched his hand to the both of them, as if he was wanting to offer something. However, before he could get much closer, Naomi stomped her foot in warning of her disapproval.
"Stay back," she demanded, her eyes narrowing. She didn't know anything about this man, but she knew she didn't want what he was offering. Not if it meant coming any closer to that sinister, manipulative magic of his. The man flinched, but reluctantly seemed to obey. He stopped in in his tracks and lowered his hand dejectedly. Naomi really wanted that to be the end of it - she even started to start walking again toward the monolith - but the man was obviously concerned upon seeing it.
"Please don't go closer," he pleaded softly. To then he had seemed maybe enigmatic, his expressions rather muted, but his face as he asked this was obviously earnestly concerned. His voice, too, was rather strained, as if on the verge of a bigger emotion. "I understand your concerns, but, being close to that is a bad idea. I'm not sure anyone should even be here."
Naomi could only blink at this. "If City Hall isn't safe, then nowhere is safe," she said plainly. It didn't matter whether they stayed or went, this thing was over the whole city now. Here, or in their home, whatever it was going to do was going to effect everyone. But the angel persisted.
"This energy -" He breathed in. "It's everywhere, it's palpable." He folded his arms in a self-comforting way. "There's... something very wrong."
"Something wrong..." she said. She could only frown at his flimsy attempt at description. What was this, anyway? Was this really all angels were? At the very least, it didn't really matter. She had no intention on wasting anymore time on his paltry business anyway. She looked expectantly to Xaira, questioning her reaction to all of this, but mostly just signaling her ready to get a move on. It didn't matter that they didn't know how; what mattered was the effort, right? Before this got out of hand. The angel behind her apparently did not agree, leaning over to give a similarly anticipative glance, but in a desperate, almost pleading way. Obviously asking the two of them to reconsider.
DergTheDergon
Everyone who was serious about these meetings was already inside, too. In fact, he figured the only ones who weren't besides himself were the 'guests' today, Fifer and Gabriel. He couldn't guess at why they weren't here already, especially since he'd already pegged Fifer as being 'responsible', but having been to plenty of these things, he already knew why he himself wasn't. He liked to show up 'on time' to meetings. He thought they were boring, frankly, and nobody really ever cared if he understood them anyway, so he generally just fidgeted awkwardly in his seat until they were over. Which made them worthless. But his father used to insist he show up to them all the time anyway, for whatever reason. Not as much these days, with Chase having been old enough for awhile to say no, but the memories of their etiquette persisted. So he still knew he could arrive right on time and it not be a big deal. Even if this meeting had promised to be eventful, he didn't want to get there before he strictly had to and even potentially be stuck in there, trying not to embarrass anybody while it took forever to start and end. No thanks.
Anyway, there was one other reason he sitting outside. Once he heard a distant patter of footsteps from the opposite end of the hallway, he knew it'd become relevant. His perked up from his current distraction to find just what he'd been waiting for - the approaching figures of two intertwined hunters. His face brightened instantly, and his usual mirth emerged once again.
"Fifer!" he yelped. He wasted no time. As soon as he saw them, he immediately lept to his feet and rushed to greet them. For a moment it might've looked like he just intended to collide, his forward momentum not slowing by much, but once he got close, he simply ran past them and around. Like an excitable dog who wasn't sure what to do with itself. Once he landed in front of them - or more aptly, in front of Fifer - he seemed to calm down at least a little, but his elation didn't change. He wringed his hands for a moment, but in the end, he threw them joyfully out to the sides.
"You're baaaack!" he said. He took one of his hands and held it to his chest as his breathed in an exaggeratedly large breath of relief. "I'm so happy." That much was obvious, if just from the way he beamed once he'd said as much. With that said, though, his eyes reopened curiously onto her, ready to launch into the real meat of the matter.
"How was it? Bad, right? Hospitals are the worst. I've been bored, but I can't imagine how it must've been there." His head tilted, and his posture opened up to include Gabriel in on his intense questioning. "Have you guys missed hunting? Are you excited for the mee-"
Just as Chase was chattering away, without warning, the door to the conference hall 'clicked' open, and someone slipped into the hall. Chase stopped his his tracks to turn and look to see, and his face promptly fell at the sight. The man, if not instantly recognizable to Fifer and Gabriel, certainly was to Chase. His Dad was here, ugh. The sharply dressed, bespectacled man was pretty unmistakable. He had his black hair slicked back neatly, and while he was tall man, he certainly stood out for his slight physique in such a fit group of hunters. His face was troubled and his eyes somewhat glazed, as he looked down to his phone coming out, but once he looked up to spot the three of them, that immediately changed. It hardened in something more, aloof, rigid.
"Ms. O'Hara. Mr. Matthews." He tipped his hand in recognition and polite acknowledgement as he passed the two of them. The interaction appeared as though it would be uneventful... until his eyes landed on Chase. He stared for a moment, something unreadable in his expression. Chase stared back, too, but his feelings were far more obvious, looking back with an combative, challenging look. He even crossed his arms, as if daring for something more to come out of this exchange. Whatever it is, however, doesn't come to pass - after an awkward, tense moment, the man simply continued on his way out, leaving the room quiet all the way to the elevator dinging from across the hall, signaling his absence. Chase just watched as he left, and once it seemed as if he was gone, he turned back to the group.
"He doesn't like you guys," he announced flatly. Whether that had been just a casual observation of his or something he'd known from before, it was likely hard to tell, but in either case, Chase just shrugged anyway. It wasn't like it really mattered. There were plenty things his father didn't like. If they were truly one of them, than it was just another example of his bad taste. It actually kind of annoyed him that the man would be so rude in front of his friends, but it was whatever, too. He just rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. He's just in a bad mood 'cause Miss Crowne invited me when he said no." This was just a guess, as Chase and his father hadn't actually spoken much, past their last heated conversation, but it seemed like a safe guess. This wouldn't have been the first time. However, he gave a dismissive wave of his hand to the whole situation. "Don't mind him."
Plainly wanting to shift the mood away from that subject, though, he perked back up. "Anyway, are you guys ready?" he asked. He'd apparently forgotten his questions from before, but at least this time, when he asked, there was time for the two of them to answer. Whether or not they did, though, he reached down into his pocket to find his phone again for the time. "It's, hmm..." He fiddled with it for a moment before his eyes widened. "Ah!" he yelped, looking between the two of them with alarm. "Time to go!"
With that, he rushed into the room and attempted to look like he hadn't as he did so, walking in with such an overstated attempt at nonchalance that was almost comical in it's transparency. However, he didn't think Miss Crowne minded - and if she did, she apparently had much bigger concerns on her mind. Once Gabriel and Fifer were in, too, and she had asked them to take seats, he did so obediently, but curiously. What had her so stressed? Once he took his seat, he leaned forward eagerly, ready to learn.
But boy, learning was a strong word. Chase shifted in his seat as the movie went on, wearing an stiff, uncomfortable looking expression. He kinda knew what he was seeing meant. Enough. His eyes panned across the room for the variety of reactions that were going on. Fifer's expression seemed shocked, like he realized his should've probably been, but it seemed a bit too late to try and muster something like that now. He mostly just felt kinda nasty all over. Seeing those Wrath Demon guys do all that bad stuff, especially to that wolf-looking lady... that thought particularly made his stomach churn, and made him raise a hand to his mouth. If he thought too much harder about it he felt like he'd make himself sick. He didn't want that. He forcibly pried his own eyes open. The lights were coming on, so at least it was over.
He kind of wasn't sure what to do with himself, after that. He suddenly felt really conscious about everything. Like, too conscious. He ran a few fingers through his hair, and grabbed at it for grounding. He didn't feel right now, but... he propped his hands up onto the table in front of them all and steepled his fingers gently. 'If you're not sure of yourself, feigning confidence can help.' That was something his father had said to him, once. Considering he already knew that Miss Crowne didn't tolerate being interrupted as she was speaking, he instead let himself try to settle further into his seat, and hoped, in the meantime, that things would start to clear up.
At the very least, the gruesome part was over. Which sort of just left him confused. He did at least understand a little more about the demons, and why they were relevant, but there was other stuff, too. For one, he had the same question Fifer had for the Headmistress as she spoke up, too, and he was pretty happy when she had asked it for him. He was pretty satisfied with the answer she started to give, until...
"...and only kill to defend yourself." He gave a loud, drawn-out groan, indifferent now to the fact she was still speaking. No! This was a bad mission now! He slumped down defeatedly into his chair, almost unwilling to hear anything else. This was the worst case scenario. So much water, apparently, and none of it was for drinking!
"If you face overwhelming opposition. Run." Just when it seemed like his groan was done, it only started up again as the Headmistress had gone on with that, and caused him to fall even further into his seat. Not only was this a bad mission now, it was stupid. Supernaturals were dumb brutes anyway. Wasn't it irresponsible to just be leaving them down there? He felt super discouraged by the whole thing at first, but he reluctantly decided to pick himself from his slump in the seat anyway. He guessed if that was what they had to do, then that was just how this was gonna go. It was some type of work, anyway.
"It's dumb we're not killing anything." he sighed. "Buuuut whatever. I'm going. I wanna see it." Maybe they'd get lucky and something would try to kill them. It didn't matter in the scheme of things. He was going with his super cool teammates, so there was at least a silver lining. It was unfortunate, but not all jobs were great. And hey - they'd be getting to see what a bunch of supernatural guys looked like all bunched up, and what they did in their free time. Maybe they fought each other for dominance or something? That sounded cool. In the end, he still rose jovially from his seat, ready to hurry up and get to it. The sooner they finished this one, the sooner they'd eventually get to the stabbing!
PanOtterPus
DergTheDergon
Naomi had been riding high, and she'd had every reason to feel that way. Xaira's exchange with her had been not just encouraging, but enlightening. The two of them knew more about each other now, and by all appearances, were no less enamored of each other for it. That had been so relieving to realize. The two of them had a ways to go before they were 'in the clear', she felt, but that was better than she'd ever hoped. And not only had the conversation gone fine - it had been great. She actually even felt as if she felt stronger for Xaira now, knowing she was such the gallant type. She'd gotten excited, even, at the prospect of the two of them going to help clean up. It promised to be hard work, but rewarding, nonetheless, and with such a lovely partner, it even seemed like it would even be quite enjoyable! All of that had left her in the mood she had been when the two of them had left - on top of the world, and even feeling a bit mushy. Naomi was not the type to cling, as she saw the word, but she was even feeling so amorous as to - shockingly - keep a hand interlocked with Xaira's through their walk, to keep the two of their bodies as close as they could comfortably walk. Lilin were prideful of was theirs; as the two of them went on their way, she wanted this quiet arrangement to be an obvious extension of that. She wasn't just with Xaira, she was with her.
She hadn't expected the mood to stick with her, but something felt off about it's waning as the two of them steadily approached their destination. At first, it scared her - the looming sense of dread that was creeping up felt suspiciously like doubt. As if her intuition was telling her something about this relationship that maybe she'd yet to consciously become aware of. But no - intuition did seem to be the cause, her being with Xaira seemed to be unrelated. She still felt comfortable, walking with the red-haired woman; perhaps even more so than she would've. Then, she wondered, what else could it be? Her worry only followed her, rising slowly as they came closer, but once they'd almost arrived, it all hit her immediately, all at once. She squeezed Xaira's hand harder, then. She wanted to look to Xaira for reassurance, to be reminded that this likely some passing anxiety, but as Naomi's head turned to face Xaira's, she immediately knew she couldn't receive it. Xaira felt it too. The people around them, walking through the streets? So did they.
But it didn't matter. It only took seconds after Naomi had come to realize that that the point became moot. All around them, the ground began to shift. The world around them became a blur of motion as people tripped or consciously fell or ran or took cover. Naomi had immediately moved to get a better hold of Xaira, but that only helped to make her unstable. Her boots' precarious heels couldn't reconcile the additional shift in balance and nearly threw her to the ground. She managed to lift herself up with her wings before it could happen, at least, but the new view was only that much better a view to watch the chaos now unfurling around them. The shaking went almost as quickly as it came, but once it was over, the damage had been done. There wasn't much damage in their immediate vicinity, but everyone around seemed to be a little worse for it, looking around in a dazed and upset manner. But, as Naomi began to look around in much the same manner, that didn't seem to be the only reason why. A dark, enormous monolith now towered over their collective heads. That... explained the feeling from before, at least. Sort of.
All she could really manage for the situation was shock. Really, what was there to think? A massive monument had appeared, maybe breaking through the city hall to do it, and was now the biggest thing in the city. There weren't really any emotions to cover this kind of situation. Fear? Anger? Grief? There was a lot she could try to put in the empty space she was left with, but none of it came to mind. Nothing at all came to mind, actually. Not until Xaira grabbed her hand. It promptly snapped her back to reality, back to processing what was going on. The chaos had stopped for a brief moment in the ensuing silence following the quake, but once everyone had gotten over the intial disbelief, it had kicked right to high gear. The streets around them were now abuzz with a noise and clamoring she'd never would've dreamed of seeing on what had, until now, been such an uneventful morning. It occurred to her, a little late, what had been said.
"...Right," she finally replied, nodding unsurely but affirmatively. She took a moment, to steel herself for what was inevitably to come, and took her partner's hand, to fly off into the fray.
They weren't the only ones with the idea, either. She didn't want to take her eyes off of Xaira in a time like this, but she really didn't have to. As she flew behind, she could see other flying figures coming to converge on the same point they were, people likely just as curious. Naomi didn't know how many people in Deepvale had a natural ability for flight, but she felt sure the sky would only get more crowded as they all began to notice what had taken place. At that thought, she picked up her pace a little, and prompted Xaira to do the same. The two of them knew, without having to say it, that this would be the worst possible time to get caught up. They needed to arrive before everyone else in town did.
Even at a hurried pace, there's already a crowd waiting for them upon their landing. It came as no surprise, considering how frequented this part of town usually was, but the size still felt big, even for this district. Regardless, they'd made as far as their wings would take them, so it seemed like the two of them would be joining all of them. Naomi gripped Xaira's hand once again today, her heart filled with vastly emotions than the last time she had. Her love, at least, had remained the same, and that was what she chose to hold close as they tried to make their way through the gathered.
Somewhere along the way, though, something about the feeling there made her pause. It wasn't that it was a bad feeling, so to speak. The feeling all around this place was already oppressively dark, so it couldn't be that. No... As she turned her head to observe the faces around her, it was clearly something else. The exact opposite, actually. While the people near the start of the crowd had fearful, rowdy, and full of a nervous energy, there was something different to the air here. There was still a general sense of discontent, but the mood seemed calmer. Unnaturally so.
"Just a moment..." she said to Xaira slowly, gently releasing her grip on her partner's hand. She let her eyes slowly begin to track through the crowd, then, trying to piece together a potential cause. After a few seconds, they seemed to land on one man in particular. A man with rough white hair and a long flowing robe fanning out around him. She couldn't really place why, but he sort of stood out in some odd way. He didn't look especially anxious, but he didn't look very calm either, staring away from the rest of the crowd almost as if he was lost. She felt somewhat sure he was the focus of some sort of magic passing through here. But why? Her brows furrowed in thought for as small while before it suddenly came to her.
"That's... an angel," she said, nudging Xaira gently. Her voice, while only a whisper, conveyed her general attitude toward this revelation pretty well - disbelief, confusion, but perhaps most subtly, annoyance. She wasn't sure where he was supposed to be, but it didn't seem to be here. Not randomly mulling about the crowd like just another onlooker. The fact that that was where he was was almost enough to make her doubt herself, but the telltale traits didn't lie. She'd read up plenty on the supposed signs of the divine, and this guy was hitting every mark. She didn't want to worry Xaira by accusing a stranger like this out of the blue, but she was sure of it now. Without wasting any more time, she started to step toward him.
"Excuse me." The man did not move an inch, did not acknowledge her call in the least, busy talking in a quiet voice to someone around him. The non-responsiveness set her ill at ease for a moment, before she thought better of it. No, it was entirely possible he just hadn't heard her. She could try again. "Red-eyes," she clarified. This time her words even carried an unintentional authoritativeness to them. She probably would've been proud of that fact, had she even been meaning to come off so impolitely. However, it frustratingly didn't even seem to matter to him, as again, the man did not respond. It was baffling. She wondered, briefly, in the face of this, whether or not she should reconsider, but she took a breath. She had already come this far. With one swift motion, she took him by the shoulder.
"What is this?" she asked him plainly. This had, apparently, finally been enough, as he suddenly broke from whatever conversation he'd been lost in before and came to stare at her almost confusedly. The person who he'd been talking before just stepped off, making their way back from the way Xaira and Naomi had come from.
"Fate?" The reply was almost automatic, but paradoxically unsure. Now she was closer to him, it was easy to see his glazed, distant eyes, too. He seemed to very much be somewhere else, lost in his own thoughts. That seemed unsurprising to Naomi, considering it very much seemed he was casting some sort of area of effect spell. It was no wonder she couldn't get a hold of him. That really didn't excuse his answer, though.
"Fate?" she repeated incredulously. She wanted to give him a moment to clarify such an ugly thought, but just from the surprised look on his face, she could tell he had nothing to say for himself.
"I'm sorry. I'm..." he trailed off. He looked like he wanted to say something more, but he didn't seem to be able to muster anything. His hand reached up to cover his mouth meekly, before he just shook his head. He looked back up to the two women, with apparently nothing to say, before his eyes seemed to signal a change to some different approach.
"Could I...?" He stepped forward slowly a bit, and outstretched his hand to the both of them, as if he was wanting to offer something. However, before he could get much closer, Naomi stomped her foot in warning of her disapproval.
"Stay back," she demanded, her eyes narrowing. She didn't know anything about this man, but she knew she didn't want what he was offering. Not if it meant coming any closer to that sinister, manipulative magic of his. The man flinched, but reluctantly seemed to obey. He stopped in in his tracks and lowered his hand dejectedly. Naomi really wanted that to be the end of it - she even started to start walking again toward the monolith - but the man was obviously concerned upon seeing it.
"Please don't go closer," he pleaded softly. To then he had seemed maybe enigmatic, his expressions rather muted, but his face as he asked this was obviously earnestly concerned. His voice, too, was rather strained, as if on the verge of a bigger emotion. "I understand your concerns, but, being close to that is a bad idea. I'm not sure anyone should even be here."
Naomi could only blink at this. "If City Hall isn't safe, then nowhere is safe," she said plainly. It didn't matter whether they stayed or went, this thing was over the whole city now. Here, or in their home, whatever it was going to do was going to effect everyone. But the angel persisted.
"This energy -" He breathed in. "It's everywhere, it's palpable." He folded his arms in a self-comforting way. "There's... something very wrong."
"Something wrong..." she said. She could only frown at his flimsy attempt at description. What was this, anyway? Was this really all angels were? At the very least, it didn't really matter. She had no intention on wasting anymore time on his paltry business anyway. She looked expectantly to Xaira, questioning her reaction to all of this, but mostly just signaling her ready to get a move on. It didn't matter that they didn't know how; what mattered was the effort, right? Before this got out of hand. The angel behind her apparently did not agree, leaning over to give a similarly anticipative glance, but in a desperate, almost pleading way. Obviously asking the two of them to reconsider.
DergTheDergon
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Halexia
little wolf
Tyras heart leapt for joy when Orthrus said he was worried about her (although not in so many words) she had little time to think about that when the ground began to shake she screamed and held tight to Orthrus both for comfort and to stop herself from being thrown around "w...what the hell is g...going on" she managed to stutter, trying and failing to hide her fear "I... I didnt expect the Earth to move quite so s..soon" she said a little flirtatiously despite her fear, she knew while he was here she was safe (or she believed she was)
PanOtterPus
Xander followed Rick out "the noisier the better if you ask me" he chuckled his joy was short lived when he felt the Earthquake, as a child he had always had nightmares about Earthquakes, being swallowed by the ground was his biggest fear and his reaction showed that fear as he suddenly froze to the spot unable to move .
Pinconious
PanOtterPus
Xander followed Rick out "the noisier the better if you ask me" he chuckled his joy was short lived when he felt the Earthquake, as a child he had always had nightmares about Earthquakes, being swallowed by the ground was his biggest fear and his reaction showed that fear as he suddenly froze to the spot unable to move .
Pinconious
Pinconious
New Member
Rick managed to keep his balance during the quake. He noticed his friend was barely able to move being stricken with fear. He was suddenly concerned for the fox, "are you okay?" He asked.
However Rick wasn't all that focused on Xander instead he was focused on the huge mast that he could see in the distance. Focusing he could see the giant ship emerge from the lake something he didn't realise was possible. He knew the higher ups would be more then a little pissed about this, especially the hound that kept unwanted guests from entering and the citizens from leaving. His eye sight was pretty good for a vampire making it easy for him to see what was happening down the hill. He saw someone he regonised to be another vampire and something he presumed was a woman emerging from the deck of the ship. He was curious but didn't want to leave his friend unattended given his sudden frozen state.
Halexia
However Rick wasn't all that focused on Xander instead he was focused on the huge mast that he could see in the distance. Focusing he could see the giant ship emerge from the lake something he didn't realise was possible. He knew the higher ups would be more then a little pissed about this, especially the hound that kept unwanted guests from entering and the citizens from leaving. His eye sight was pretty good for a vampire making it easy for him to see what was happening down the hill. He saw someone he regonised to be another vampire and something he presumed was a woman emerging from the deck of the ship. He was curious but didn't want to leave his friend unattended given his sudden frozen state.
Halexia
PanOtterPus
Chief of Panda Division
Gabriel couldn’t care less about their tardiness. In fact, he reckoned it served them right for sending out the invitation on such short notice. As soon as they had word that Fifer was better they sent out their messengers to summon the pair back to the guild. ‘This better be good,’ he grumbled internally, mildly annoyed at them jumping to throw his girl back in the field. Nevertheless, it raised his spirits to see the smile on her face when she climbed behind the wheel and started the vehicle’s engine. She was back where she belonged.
He was elated even further at the familiar face that greeted them once they arrived. The man stayed pretty silent as usual, offering a grin in greeting to Chase, laughing at the high speed recital of his weeks without them. The poor bloke must have been at his wits end, no doubt. His eagerness was infectious, until his father appeared. Gabriel recognised the stiff formality of the man before them, and the tension oozed between father and son. The announcement that this man had no happy feelings towards anyone present didn’t really surprise him. Gabriel wasn’t here to make friends - though he was happy he still managed to.
And then they made their way to hear their fate. And what a fate it was. Information poured out in abundance and Gabe could barely take it all in. The only reminders that this was all real was the feeling of Fifer’s hand tightening around his own and the swiftly whitening face of Chase across from them. Once it was over it seemed only Fifer was capable of speech, asking the only question that really mattered – what did they have to do?
Gabriel was beginning to wish they had just stayed in bed this morning. He wished, for the first time, that he was someone, somewhere else. They expected them to dive into the belly of the beast, to pose as the very creatures they live to kill, to risk their lives for this guild and the woman before them seemed to want nothing more than to have them leave this second. She asked if they had questions, but her eyes warned that they better not. Chase, typically, was unenthusiastic about the no killing rule, but was ready to go. Fifer was quiet once more. Gabe was furious, but he knew his duty. “Ma’am, you’re sending us into completely unmapped territory, with no clue how many enemies could be lurking down there, never mind the fact we don’t know exactly what we’re up against. At the risk of speaking out of turn, I think this is bat-shit crazy. Though, you’re right about one thing – we’re the only ones who can pull this off.”
With that, Gabe stopped himself from saying anything more, afraid the next words to leave his mouth would involve a resignation from this particular guild.
DergTheDergon
Rustic
------------
Danto readied himself as the female moved toward him, preparing for whatever she had in store. He was used to people jumping straight for the fight, and after the weaklings he had just dealt with at the gala, he could use a good time. However, what she did caught him completely off guard. So far off guard the vampire simply stood and blinked at her. “Uhm... Danto,” was all he could eloquently muster, repeating his name again. She kissed him. What. The. Hell. The cold hadn’t bothered him, it tingled a little, but no bother. He was always cold anyway. Why was he thinking these things? It didn’t even occur to him to realise she had just produced the English language from between her soft lips.
Danto swiftly recovered, ready to curse her seven ways to hell, and maybe once more just for good measure! However, just as he was about to tell her so – and in much more colourful language – the very ground shook. He put his weird shivers down to the kiss, but now he realised his gut was telling him something was wrong. No. It was screaming at him. Much like some of the inhabitants were now doing.
Before them a new gateway appeared. Danto had had it with intruders today, and he now had even more reason to be wary. He just hoped no more ninja snoggers would jump through that hole.
Daniel Reaving
He was elated even further at the familiar face that greeted them once they arrived. The man stayed pretty silent as usual, offering a grin in greeting to Chase, laughing at the high speed recital of his weeks without them. The poor bloke must have been at his wits end, no doubt. His eagerness was infectious, until his father appeared. Gabriel recognised the stiff formality of the man before them, and the tension oozed between father and son. The announcement that this man had no happy feelings towards anyone present didn’t really surprise him. Gabriel wasn’t here to make friends - though he was happy he still managed to.
And then they made their way to hear their fate. And what a fate it was. Information poured out in abundance and Gabe could barely take it all in. The only reminders that this was all real was the feeling of Fifer’s hand tightening around his own and the swiftly whitening face of Chase across from them. Once it was over it seemed only Fifer was capable of speech, asking the only question that really mattered – what did they have to do?
Gabriel was beginning to wish they had just stayed in bed this morning. He wished, for the first time, that he was someone, somewhere else. They expected them to dive into the belly of the beast, to pose as the very creatures they live to kill, to risk their lives for this guild and the woman before them seemed to want nothing more than to have them leave this second. She asked if they had questions, but her eyes warned that they better not. Chase, typically, was unenthusiastic about the no killing rule, but was ready to go. Fifer was quiet once more. Gabe was furious, but he knew his duty. “Ma’am, you’re sending us into completely unmapped territory, with no clue how many enemies could be lurking down there, never mind the fact we don’t know exactly what we’re up against. At the risk of speaking out of turn, I think this is bat-shit crazy. Though, you’re right about one thing – we’re the only ones who can pull this off.”
With that, Gabe stopped himself from saying anything more, afraid the next words to leave his mouth would involve a resignation from this particular guild.
DergTheDergon
Rustic
------------
Danto readied himself as the female moved toward him, preparing for whatever she had in store. He was used to people jumping straight for the fight, and after the weaklings he had just dealt with at the gala, he could use a good time. However, what she did caught him completely off guard. So far off guard the vampire simply stood and blinked at her. “Uhm... Danto,” was all he could eloquently muster, repeating his name again. She kissed him. What. The. Hell. The cold hadn’t bothered him, it tingled a little, but no bother. He was always cold anyway. Why was he thinking these things? It didn’t even occur to him to realise she had just produced the English language from between her soft lips.
Danto swiftly recovered, ready to curse her seven ways to hell, and maybe once more just for good measure! However, just as he was about to tell her so – and in much more colourful language – the very ground shook. He put his weird shivers down to the kiss, but now he realised his gut was telling him something was wrong. No. It was screaming at him. Much like some of the inhabitants were now doing.
Before them a new gateway appeared. Danto had had it with intruders today, and he now had even more reason to be wary. He just hoped no more ninja snoggers would jump through that hole.
Daniel Reaving
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PanOtterPus
Chief of Panda Division
Orthrus was waiting for the usual reaction people gave when they first encountered the gate when the ground began to shake. Normally he would've chuckled at Tyra's comment, but the imminent threat pulled his attention. The feeling he got right before the earthquake suggested this was more than simple nature. "We better get back," he stated before leading them back the way they came.
Once back at the town, Orthrus could clearly see the cause of the commotion. And he didn't like what he saw. The blackness was something he knew well. He was born from it. It came from the deepest parts of hell, and he was one of the lucky few to leave it with his good nature still intact. He needed to find someone in charge. Now.
Orthrus couldn't see any authority figures from his position, but what he could see was pretty much every inhabitant gathering around in curiosity. Not good. He climbed on top of a nearby wall and yelled out to the ever growing crowd. "Everyone needs to step back! Now!" He wasn't sure exactly what would come out of that hole, but he'd bet everything precious to him that it would not be good.
Halexia
Once back at the town, Orthrus could clearly see the cause of the commotion. And he didn't like what he saw. The blackness was something he knew well. He was born from it. It came from the deepest parts of hell, and he was one of the lucky few to leave it with his good nature still intact. He needed to find someone in charge. Now.
Orthrus couldn't see any authority figures from his position, but what he could see was pretty much every inhabitant gathering around in curiosity. Not good. He climbed on top of a nearby wall and yelled out to the ever growing crowd. "Everyone needs to step back! Now!" He wasn't sure exactly what would come out of that hole, but he'd bet everything precious to him that it would not be good.
Halexia
Last edited:
DergTheDergon
Huggles fo all :3
Seeing (and then immediately hearing) a familiar figure that she was rather glad to see, the young man sitting outside the door only to leap up like an excited young child towards her, she found herself smiling (as much as the scarred half of her face would allow, at least). She loosened her grip on Gabe’s waist just enough to be able to give her full attention to Chase. She wondered if he had any clue that the two of them were together now, but she decided in the moment that such a small detail wasn’t really worth worrying about until, if and when, he asked.
“Hey Chase! Miss me?” She asked, the question more or less a joke as the answer was very apparent indeed at that moment. Seeing another person so happy to see her wiped away a little of the dread she felt regarding the upcoming mission. As he ran straight past the pair in his excitement, she chuckled a little. She might’ve even dared to say that this interaction put her in a good mood, Gabe’s presence over the last few weeks as the pair steadily grew closer having helped her reach this point. She really hadn’t been this happy before at all, and it felt comical that she had that thought at this moment, despite the dread she felt inside at what may or may not be to come. Chase’s “answer” to her question was a simple, joyful “you’re baaaaack!” Which made her smile so wide her cheeks hurt. She was very grateful for this team of hers, that was for certain. “That I am, Chase, that I am,” she said, before continuing to smile despite the subject matter as Chase asked how she’d been doing. “Yeah, it wasn’t great, that’s for sure… when I was alone, anyway.” She draped her arm a little tighter about Gabe’s waist at that comment, winking at him a little. It was true: when he wasn’t there, it was bad… when he was, though… Fifer felt as though she was sitting atop the world, away from all its troubles; at peace.
In this moment, it almost felt like she was conversing with her son with her husband by her side, yet that would be far off in the future. She was still very self-conscious about her body, which had scars running most of the way down the side her face had also been burnt, but that was a bridge to be crossed when the couple came to it, which if fifer had her say would be a while… she just didn’t feel ready to reveal her scarred body to him at all, for fear of disgusting him. All she knew was, Gabe had made a family a possibility in her life, as before she confessed to him, she believed that no man would ever love her.
That wasn’t what was most important right now, however; Chase had brought her attention to the most pressing matters at hand. Fifer listened to his question and prepared to try and quickly give another answer before he asked more, but instead, he stopped in his tracks at the sight of his father. Fifer found herself meeting his eyes with a questioning look, silently asking ‘what the hell are you doing here, now of all times?’ Of course, instead of an answer, she received a curt acknowledgement of her presence and nothing more. “Mr. Hauer,” she returned just as bluntly, finding herself squeezing Gabe’s hand gently in order to keep her from saying something that could have some very bad repercussions considering the senior Hauer’s relationship with the guild.
The man was in and out of the conference room as quickly as he always was, and as he walked away, Fifer nodded and frowned a bit at Chase’s comment, nodding. “Don’t worry, he doesn’t bother me. ‘Sides, far as I’m concerned he’s got no right to tell you what to do, in regards to hunting at the very least. You’re over 18 and this is your job.”
Chase then made his pair of partners aware of what time it was, and Fifer responded by quickly nodding and following him, arm still around Gabe util the very moment that they were in Ms. Crowne’s field of vision and thus in danger of being called out on the “unprofessionalism” of public displays of affection. Still, Fifer sat closer to Gabe than se normally would’ve of course earning a little shake of the head from Elizabeth that didn’t bother her at all. Fifer knew that she was going to be a little more lenient due to her current situation, so she had very clear intentions before she even walked into the building to take FULL advantage of that.
The good mood that Chase and Gabe had gotten her in was then dashed by the heaviness of their mission, as well as that of the contents of the memory-recording pendent. Chase’s comments were spot-on with what Fifer had been thinking but afraid to say, in all honesty. Yet another reason she was glad to have the spunky, excitable young man around.
Elizibeth, however, simply shook her head and rubbed her temples at that remark, before she said “I am glad you’re going, Agent Hauer.” Gabe’s further comments were… apt, she admitted mentally, though they frustrated her. At the end of his rant, she sighed. “Look, Agent Matthews: we don’t really want to send you three on this mission. The only reason we are doing so is because half of the supreme council, which I only have a small, nigh-on-insignificant say in myself, is torn between a mission of this nature to learn more about this supposed den of Supernaturals, or just letting it sit there. The trouble is, there could be millions of them down there; far more than even every single guild member across the country combined could realistically handle without vital information about them. That, and that alone, is the simple reason for the no attack rule, Mr. Hauer. We are sending you three to acquire that information so that you can have a chance to truly attack. And for the record, you three, I don’t like it either.”
She ended the rant with a sigh. “Now… thee is one more important detail we must take care of before we send you down there. Your disguises.” Out of a silver briefcase in the middle of the table, Elizabeth took three devices that sort of looked like belts. “You will be wearing these instead of the standard belts hunters would normally wear for the duration of this mission. Where the buckle would be, you will see an easily nzvigatable interface. From it, you shall choose the creature you feel best able to emulate the natural behavior of, for any reason. Remember: you must pick what you feel best able to blend in as. Considering how critical this mission is, and how long it will likely take as you are to come back only when you have valuable intel that will allow highly-feasible infiltration by a large force, I already have a ride waiting for you three, the destination coded on the gps. You are to leave the moment all three of you set your disguises and make sure they look believable.” With tha,t she stood by as Fifer went through the interface, a look of deep thought on her face. Ms. Crowne, for one reason or another, seemed intent on watching her closer than the others for some reason.
Choosing her creature, she slid the belt on and pressed the “cloak” button on the screen, as per the instructions. Before everyone’s eyes, her attire seemed to change. If there was any creature she always wanted to be, it was an Elf. Their stereotypical traits were everything she wanted to be: quick, nimble, intelligent, and perhaps above all, beautiful. As such, her attire began to change from her normal, honestly shabby coat, shirt and jeans, to an ornate loose-fitting garb typical of an Elven woman from what is known of them. Not much about her already-lithe body changed, except for a lengthening of her ears. The most obvious change, however, caused Elizibeth to smirk slightly as she held her compact mirror in front of Fifer’s face. “Have a look, agent O’Hara.”
She gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth as her eyes welled with tears. Her normal facial features were mostly unchanged, except for one major thing:
Her scars were gone.
Her left eye was still permanently closed, however, but instead of being all scarred up, it was covered by an ornate cloth eyepatch. “Whilst we haven’t the medical technology to heal your burn scar, Miss O’hara… we do have the technology to make them look, and even feel, as if they were undamaged skin. We made sure not to leave any easily-identifiable aspect your true bodies in the altered form programs, after all.” Fifer quickly brought her fingers to her face, and sure enough, her Skkin felt smooth. “Oh my god… it’s like they’re… wait a minute…” Fifer looked down and lifted her shirt up, just slightly. The scars along her body looked and felt gone as well. She was openly crying at this point. “Miss O’hara… once the mission is over, we will allow you to keep the belt, and have our tech people program a setting that doesn’t alter your appearance beyond the absence of the scarring. Would you like that?" “You bet your ass I would…’ she said, still quietly weeping. “Gabe… Chase this is amazing…” clearly, she was very happy. She was sitting up straighter, too, as if she felt that since no one could see or even feel her scars, she was more of a person. “In glad you find It satisfactory, Miss O’hara. Agents Hauer and Matthews, do make haste in choosing your own disguises.”
Rustic
PanOtterPus
“Hey Chase! Miss me?” She asked, the question more or less a joke as the answer was very apparent indeed at that moment. Seeing another person so happy to see her wiped away a little of the dread she felt regarding the upcoming mission. As he ran straight past the pair in his excitement, she chuckled a little. She might’ve even dared to say that this interaction put her in a good mood, Gabe’s presence over the last few weeks as the pair steadily grew closer having helped her reach this point. She really hadn’t been this happy before at all, and it felt comical that she had that thought at this moment, despite the dread she felt inside at what may or may not be to come. Chase’s “answer” to her question was a simple, joyful “you’re baaaaack!” Which made her smile so wide her cheeks hurt. She was very grateful for this team of hers, that was for certain. “That I am, Chase, that I am,” she said, before continuing to smile despite the subject matter as Chase asked how she’d been doing. “Yeah, it wasn’t great, that’s for sure… when I was alone, anyway.” She draped her arm a little tighter about Gabe’s waist at that comment, winking at him a little. It was true: when he wasn’t there, it was bad… when he was, though… Fifer felt as though she was sitting atop the world, away from all its troubles; at peace.
In this moment, it almost felt like she was conversing with her son with her husband by her side, yet that would be far off in the future. She was still very self-conscious about her body, which had scars running most of the way down the side her face had also been burnt, but that was a bridge to be crossed when the couple came to it, which if fifer had her say would be a while… she just didn’t feel ready to reveal her scarred body to him at all, for fear of disgusting him. All she knew was, Gabe had made a family a possibility in her life, as before she confessed to him, she believed that no man would ever love her.
That wasn’t what was most important right now, however; Chase had brought her attention to the most pressing matters at hand. Fifer listened to his question and prepared to try and quickly give another answer before he asked more, but instead, he stopped in his tracks at the sight of his father. Fifer found herself meeting his eyes with a questioning look, silently asking ‘what the hell are you doing here, now of all times?’ Of course, instead of an answer, she received a curt acknowledgement of her presence and nothing more. “Mr. Hauer,” she returned just as bluntly, finding herself squeezing Gabe’s hand gently in order to keep her from saying something that could have some very bad repercussions considering the senior Hauer’s relationship with the guild.
The man was in and out of the conference room as quickly as he always was, and as he walked away, Fifer nodded and frowned a bit at Chase’s comment, nodding. “Don’t worry, he doesn’t bother me. ‘Sides, far as I’m concerned he’s got no right to tell you what to do, in regards to hunting at the very least. You’re over 18 and this is your job.”
Chase then made his pair of partners aware of what time it was, and Fifer responded by quickly nodding and following him, arm still around Gabe util the very moment that they were in Ms. Crowne’s field of vision and thus in danger of being called out on the “unprofessionalism” of public displays of affection. Still, Fifer sat closer to Gabe than se normally would’ve of course earning a little shake of the head from Elizabeth that didn’t bother her at all. Fifer knew that she was going to be a little more lenient due to her current situation, so she had very clear intentions before she even walked into the building to take FULL advantage of that.
The good mood that Chase and Gabe had gotten her in was then dashed by the heaviness of their mission, as well as that of the contents of the memory-recording pendent. Chase’s comments were spot-on with what Fifer had been thinking but afraid to say, in all honesty. Yet another reason she was glad to have the spunky, excitable young man around.
Elizibeth, however, simply shook her head and rubbed her temples at that remark, before she said “I am glad you’re going, Agent Hauer.” Gabe’s further comments were… apt, she admitted mentally, though they frustrated her. At the end of his rant, she sighed. “Look, Agent Matthews: we don’t really want to send you three on this mission. The only reason we are doing so is because half of the supreme council, which I only have a small, nigh-on-insignificant say in myself, is torn between a mission of this nature to learn more about this supposed den of Supernaturals, or just letting it sit there. The trouble is, there could be millions of them down there; far more than even every single guild member across the country combined could realistically handle without vital information about them. That, and that alone, is the simple reason for the no attack rule, Mr. Hauer. We are sending you three to acquire that information so that you can have a chance to truly attack. And for the record, you three, I don’t like it either.”
She ended the rant with a sigh. “Now… thee is one more important detail we must take care of before we send you down there. Your disguises.” Out of a silver briefcase in the middle of the table, Elizabeth took three devices that sort of looked like belts. “You will be wearing these instead of the standard belts hunters would normally wear for the duration of this mission. Where the buckle would be, you will see an easily nzvigatable interface. From it, you shall choose the creature you feel best able to emulate the natural behavior of, for any reason. Remember: you must pick what you feel best able to blend in as. Considering how critical this mission is, and how long it will likely take as you are to come back only when you have valuable intel that will allow highly-feasible infiltration by a large force, I already have a ride waiting for you three, the destination coded on the gps. You are to leave the moment all three of you set your disguises and make sure they look believable.” With tha,t she stood by as Fifer went through the interface, a look of deep thought on her face. Ms. Crowne, for one reason or another, seemed intent on watching her closer than the others for some reason.
Choosing her creature, she slid the belt on and pressed the “cloak” button on the screen, as per the instructions. Before everyone’s eyes, her attire seemed to change. If there was any creature she always wanted to be, it was an Elf. Their stereotypical traits were everything she wanted to be: quick, nimble, intelligent, and perhaps above all, beautiful. As such, her attire began to change from her normal, honestly shabby coat, shirt and jeans, to an ornate loose-fitting garb typical of an Elven woman from what is known of them. Not much about her already-lithe body changed, except for a lengthening of her ears. The most obvious change, however, caused Elizibeth to smirk slightly as she held her compact mirror in front of Fifer’s face. “Have a look, agent O’Hara.”
She gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth as her eyes welled with tears. Her normal facial features were mostly unchanged, except for one major thing:
Her scars were gone.
Her left eye was still permanently closed, however, but instead of being all scarred up, it was covered by an ornate cloth eyepatch. “Whilst we haven’t the medical technology to heal your burn scar, Miss O’hara… we do have the technology to make them look, and even feel, as if they were undamaged skin. We made sure not to leave any easily-identifiable aspect your true bodies in the altered form programs, after all.” Fifer quickly brought her fingers to her face, and sure enough, her Skkin felt smooth. “Oh my god… it’s like they’re… wait a minute…” Fifer looked down and lifted her shirt up, just slightly. The scars along her body looked and felt gone as well. She was openly crying at this point. “Miss O’hara… once the mission is over, we will allow you to keep the belt, and have our tech people program a setting that doesn’t alter your appearance beyond the absence of the scarring. Would you like that?" “You bet your ass I would…’ she said, still quietly weeping. “Gabe… Chase this is amazing…” clearly, she was very happy. She was sitting up straighter, too, as if she felt that since no one could see or even feel her scars, she was more of a person. “In glad you find It satisfactory, Miss O’hara. Agents Hauer and Matthews, do make haste in choosing your own disguises.”
Rustic
PanOtterPus
Last edited:
DergTheDergon
Huggles fo all :3
On the other side of the shimmering, blood-red gate stood an amassing army of antsy, shifty, bloodthirsty Wrath Demons, the most heavily-armed and ready-to-kill among them growling and laughing maniacally as their leaders ordered them harshly into line. They seemed to be waiting for something, not intending to strike just yet… but what they could be waiting for had Xaira in particular perplexed the longer she stared into the portal, and they didn’t attack. She of course obeyed Orthrus’ order to back away from it, but stayed watching it intently along with most of the others gathered here.
Hearing a familiar voice issuing his cautious order to the rest of Deepvale’s citizens (who, including Xaira, did indeed obey for the most part; only the most bloodthirsty and foolish, a category which Xaira herself barely didn’t fit into; stayed dangerously close. A Wrath Demon adorned in brilliant red robes stepped forward in front of his underlings, their lower status apperent to the onlooking crowd of Supernaturals gathered before the portal due to how they respectfully parted like another red sea to let him pass despite their clear lack of respect for all other life, accurately detailed in horror by witnesses of their atrocities throughout the centuries.
Looming nearly ten feet tall, the red-and-gold-robed figure was now clearly presented, staring straight into Orthrus’s eyes with deep, soulless hatred. “Othrus… we meet again, you traitorous mutt.” This man was likely among one of the chief reasons that Orthus left hell. “Fancy meeting you here among these common fodder.” He broke out into a maniacal laugh. “If you mean to protect them, you are foolish." However, the demon dseemed to forget that Orthus knew things, many things, about how they operated. Formations, commands in the Demonic language, and, for when they brought out others of his kind, being a Hound of Hell himself, he knew exactly how best to bring one down more likely than not. Being the only surce o city authority currently here, he would be expectedto take charge. If he took to the role well enough, Deepvale may have more of a chance than Xaira ever thought they could.
Xaira
Suddenly, whilst staring anxiously into the portal and preparing to fight, the dragoness’s attention was stolen by Naomi’s loss of grip on her hand, the Succubus calling attention to someone that, once looked upon, made Xiara clearly feel a calming energy wafting from. Xair’as eyes widened when Naomi hen whispered to her, in a very certain tone, that the man was an angel. As a divine being herself, Xaira had no doubt that Naomi was correct, but it raised many questions. Angels that had fallen were the only kind that would be in Deepvale, Xaira figured; those were often the types who were no better than the demons they classically opposed. The sheer mass of the energy signature the portal had been giving out had overshadowed it, but there was clearly something… special about that man. Special in a dangerous way, she could sense. Dangerous for whom, though? For all she knew, she could’ve fallen so far that the calming spell he seemed to have been chanting could’ve been ordered by the demons to make the denizens put their guard down. Either that, or her other guess (although less believable in her eyes) was that he was trying to calm everyone of his own olition. Whether for a benevolent, malevolent or perhaps even neutral purpose, Xaira couldn’t be sure. All she could be sure of was, she flet caution was necessary with this one.
Seeing Naomi heading towards the mysterious red-eyed man, inferably to answer the very question Xaira had mentally posed just moments prior, Xaira found herself watching the man with even greater intent than she had kept those deep red eyes on the threatening figures beyond the portal. “Careful, Naomi…” she whispered after her, before observing every miniscule reaction (or lack thereof) that the angel had to Naomi’s greeting. It took a few times for him to acknowledge her, which made Xaira suspiciously curious as to where his mind had been whilst his body was here. Amidst this impending chaos, the very portal sent likely even the mysterious angelic being himself’s nerves affray.
Then, as they spoke, she listened, finding herself edging closer towards the pair each moment in order to ensure nothing happened to her dear Naomi. She was barely able to follow the awkward communication, and only when he began to step towards them did Xaira openly react, with a flinch in his direction in case he tried something. Xaira nodded, not trusting him herself. Then, he began to appeal to her sense of something being very, very wrong here, and she began to listen. It was true, nothing she was seeing or feeling about this place felt right at this moment- it felt almost as if breathing was more difficult the closer she came to the shimmering, hellish construct.As Naomi looked to her, Xaira met her eyes and was about to dismiss the young man- but then, out of the corner of her eyes, she caught his pleading look. It was the kind of look only people who have genuinely meant well have ever given her before. She had heard tales of his kind’s tricks, but… a gut feeling told her that he was far harmless than whatever lied in wait beyond the Monolith, at the very least.”Naomi… I think we should listen to-“
She was not able to finish that sentence befor,e in response to anything and everything Orthus may have said or done in response to his threats, the Demon lord yelled “CHARGE!” beyond the portal, the sound s loud it hurt Xaira’s sensitive draconic ears and rang out for a square mile or so beyond the town hall. Her heart beating fast, Xaira met eyes with the angel. “You. I’ve chosen to trust you. Be warned that if I’ve made a mistake in doing so, you’re going to wish you never existed. Whatever you were going to do, it now. I need to get to fighting. And Naomi?” She said, turning towards her, “fight with me or stay behind me, your choice. But no heroics, dammit. That’s my job.” With that, she quickly leaned forward and gave Naomi a brief but very passionate peck on the lips, pulling away with love in her eyes. Then, she turned back towards the angel expectantly, holding Naomi’s hand for her comfort throughout whatever this man was planning to do regarding her and her Draconic lover.
(*Important OOC Note: I have decided, for the purpose of merging the Supernatural and Hunter groups as seamlessly as possible, that these events are occurring bit in the future of the Hunter group. Depending on how long it takes for them to arrive in deepvale as per my plans for that, we may have to pause these happenings in order for the hunters to arrive whilst this invasion is in full force. I’ll let ya’ll know if I feel waiting for a bit is necessary.)
PanOtterPus
Rustic
Halexia
Pinconious
Daniel Reaving
Hearing a familiar voice issuing his cautious order to the rest of Deepvale’s citizens (who, including Xaira, did indeed obey for the most part; only the most bloodthirsty and foolish, a category which Xaira herself barely didn’t fit into; stayed dangerously close. A Wrath Demon adorned in brilliant red robes stepped forward in front of his underlings, their lower status apperent to the onlooking crowd of Supernaturals gathered before the portal due to how they respectfully parted like another red sea to let him pass despite their clear lack of respect for all other life, accurately detailed in horror by witnesses of their atrocities throughout the centuries.
Looming nearly ten feet tall, the red-and-gold-robed figure was now clearly presented, staring straight into Orthrus’s eyes with deep, soulless hatred. “Othrus… we meet again, you traitorous mutt.” This man was likely among one of the chief reasons that Orthus left hell. “Fancy meeting you here among these common fodder.” He broke out into a maniacal laugh. “If you mean to protect them, you are foolish." However, the demon dseemed to forget that Orthus knew things, many things, about how they operated. Formations, commands in the Demonic language, and, for when they brought out others of his kind, being a Hound of Hell himself, he knew exactly how best to bring one down more likely than not. Being the only surce o city authority currently here, he would be expectedto take charge. If he took to the role well enough, Deepvale may have more of a chance than Xaira ever thought they could.
Xaira
Suddenly, whilst staring anxiously into the portal and preparing to fight, the dragoness’s attention was stolen by Naomi’s loss of grip on her hand, the Succubus calling attention to someone that, once looked upon, made Xiara clearly feel a calming energy wafting from. Xair’as eyes widened when Naomi hen whispered to her, in a very certain tone, that the man was an angel. As a divine being herself, Xaira had no doubt that Naomi was correct, but it raised many questions. Angels that had fallen were the only kind that would be in Deepvale, Xaira figured; those were often the types who were no better than the demons they classically opposed. The sheer mass of the energy signature the portal had been giving out had overshadowed it, but there was clearly something… special about that man. Special in a dangerous way, she could sense. Dangerous for whom, though? For all she knew, she could’ve fallen so far that the calming spell he seemed to have been chanting could’ve been ordered by the demons to make the denizens put their guard down. Either that, or her other guess (although less believable in her eyes) was that he was trying to calm everyone of his own olition. Whether for a benevolent, malevolent or perhaps even neutral purpose, Xaira couldn’t be sure. All she could be sure of was, she flet caution was necessary with this one.
Seeing Naomi heading towards the mysterious red-eyed man, inferably to answer the very question Xaira had mentally posed just moments prior, Xaira found herself watching the man with even greater intent than she had kept those deep red eyes on the threatening figures beyond the portal. “Careful, Naomi…” she whispered after her, before observing every miniscule reaction (or lack thereof) that the angel had to Naomi’s greeting. It took a few times for him to acknowledge her, which made Xaira suspiciously curious as to where his mind had been whilst his body was here. Amidst this impending chaos, the very portal sent likely even the mysterious angelic being himself’s nerves affray.
Then, as they spoke, she listened, finding herself edging closer towards the pair each moment in order to ensure nothing happened to her dear Naomi. She was barely able to follow the awkward communication, and only when he began to step towards them did Xaira openly react, with a flinch in his direction in case he tried something. Xaira nodded, not trusting him herself. Then, he began to appeal to her sense of something being very, very wrong here, and she began to listen. It was true, nothing she was seeing or feeling about this place felt right at this moment- it felt almost as if breathing was more difficult the closer she came to the shimmering, hellish construct.As Naomi looked to her, Xaira met her eyes and was about to dismiss the young man- but then, out of the corner of her eyes, she caught his pleading look. It was the kind of look only people who have genuinely meant well have ever given her before. She had heard tales of his kind’s tricks, but… a gut feeling told her that he was far harmless than whatever lied in wait beyond the Monolith, at the very least.”Naomi… I think we should listen to-“
She was not able to finish that sentence befor,e in response to anything and everything Orthus may have said or done in response to his threats, the Demon lord yelled “CHARGE!” beyond the portal, the sound s loud it hurt Xaira’s sensitive draconic ears and rang out for a square mile or so beyond the town hall. Her heart beating fast, Xaira met eyes with the angel. “You. I’ve chosen to trust you. Be warned that if I’ve made a mistake in doing so, you’re going to wish you never existed. Whatever you were going to do, it now. I need to get to fighting. And Naomi?” She said, turning towards her, “fight with me or stay behind me, your choice. But no heroics, dammit. That’s my job.” With that, she quickly leaned forward and gave Naomi a brief but very passionate peck on the lips, pulling away with love in her eyes. Then, she turned back towards the angel expectantly, holding Naomi’s hand for her comfort throughout whatever this man was planning to do regarding her and her Draconic lover.
(*Important OOC Note: I have decided, for the purpose of merging the Supernatural and Hunter groups as seamlessly as possible, that these events are occurring bit in the future of the Hunter group. Depending on how long it takes for them to arrive in deepvale as per my plans for that, we may have to pause these happenings in order for the hunters to arrive whilst this invasion is in full force. I’ll let ya’ll know if I feel waiting for a bit is necessary.)
PanOtterPus
Rustic
Halexia
Pinconious
Daniel Reaving
Rustic
Drunken Bumpkin
When the Headmistress pointed her clarification in his direction, Chase simply waved it off with his hand. It didn't really matter, in the end. For whatever reason they weren't doing it, he'd already moved his mind toward doing what he had been asked to do, and to that end, he ducked his head in his hands and waited for her to continue. He could feel a tipping point being reached in the meeting. And sure enough, when Miss Crowne had finished her spiel, she handed the three of them the keys to the kingdom. Or a key...? A suitcase. The belt thingies that were hidden inside the suitcase, anyway. He propped himself up on his palms to try and get a better look at them, but by the time he had done so, Miss Crowne had already taken them out anyway. So he leaned back into his seat and watched inquisitively.
He could understand the explanation, thankfully, but he chose to gloss over midway through anyway. Instead, he figured it would be best to wait for the inevitable demonstration, which also came quickly afterward. When that rolled around, Chase watched the magic activate impassively. His eyes didn't really alertly move to observe, just absently gaze. Most of the changes looked just to be to Fifer's clothing - which was fine, he guessed - 'til he noticed the ears. His heart sank a little at them. He'd heard they were going to do the transformation thing, but actually seeing the change and how real it looked made him instantly uncomfortable. It wasn't like that had any elf attacks lately, but that didn't necessarily mean that elves were good, either. They were the same as all the others: monsters. And seeing someone he liked suddenly transformed into a monster was... not great. He pursed his lips unsurely, moving his eyes slightly away from this whole mess.
“Have a look, agent O’Hara.” However, stricken with unquellable curiosity at Miss Crowne's command, he reluctantly started to look back toward her too, to see how'd she react. What she did surprised and alarmed him at first. She was quickly in tears. That made him immediately tense. It was more of a kneejerk reaction, since, it looked like everybody else thought this was a good thing, but still, it freaked him out a little. But when she spoke, it set him mostly at ease. The breathy, overjoyed disbelief would've made anyone happy to hear, he was sure. He couldn't fathom why it'd touched her so badly, but he couldn't help but crack a smile at it. And when her eyes fell on him as she gushed over it, his face even lit up almost as happily as her's was. He wanted to be supportive of her, even if he didn't understand it. He was happy for her.
His face fell, however, when the Headmistress turned her attention back on him and Gabriel again. Ah, yeah. The two of them had to do it now, too; he'd almost forgot. He rubbed the back of his neck heistantly, but made himself reach up and over the table for the device anyway. He wasn't quite sure how the thing worked, again, but he was determined to find out. He immediately moved it to his waist, ready to start messing with it. It was simple enough he realized, once he got his hand on the UI. However, as he flipped through the list, his frown only worsened. He had to choose something there, but he didn't really want to. He couldn't stand the thought of being anything nonhuman. Not to mention he didn't really know how to act like half of the stuff there. Really? A merman? What was he supposed to do? Flop around?
He grumbled something uncomplimentary under his breath at his increasing frustration and hunched over further to fiddle through it. He kept at it until finally, he accidentally managed to lean over so far that he tumbled over and onto the floor. It seemed, in the last moment, he'd managed to make his selection though, as when he disappeared from sight under the table, the belt lit up, it's glow faintly visible even from above. The fact it'd already turned on occurred to everyone but Chase himself, as when he reached up to check his head for bruising, he recoiled from a bit of unexpected sensation. He didn't want to know what it was; he knew in a loose sense what was going on, seeing as he knew what he'd chosen, but he hardly wanted to acknowledge it. He just let himself lie where he was for a moment, exasperated.
He curled up a little. He didn't want to look at Gabriel or Fifer like this, he knew. He didn't want anybody else looking at him either. And, everything considered, he kinda wanted to go home? These facts occurred to him all at once, but they all just floated around in his head uselessly. For the first time in forever, he felt paralyzed - like he couldn't move, even if he wanted to. This mission was beginning to feel like too much. He stared out from under the table. If he quietly never moved from this spot, he wouldn't have to bother with it. He could just live here, and never face newly elf-ified Fifer, or magicked-up Gabriel, or whatever he himself was going to be when he looked into the mirror. The Headmistress said this mission would take a long time. He didn't want to look like this for a long time.
...He jolted up suddenly, hitting his head on the underside of the table hard.
"Ha-" he wheezed, having to fit in a breath as the pain hit him all at once. "Ha ha! Ow." He reached up to gently and carefully run his hand through the middle of his hair. Not the sides. Everything seemed to be okay. Nothing seemed to be bleeding. He felt a really sharp, indescribable urge in his stomach as he felt his sharp nails graze his scalp, but he could deal with that. At least he'd gotten what he'd wanted; he could feel his heart beating again, could feel his breath all sped up with adrenaline. His hand shook a little as he placed it down to the floor, but it was from the unexpected pain, and like a professional, he could shake it off. So he did. He stretched himself out toward the chair he had fallen from, rolled it back toward the table, and then, slowly, climbed back up.
The first thing that pop into view were ears. A cute, fluffy, mint-colored pair of dog-like ears, to be exact, perked and at the ready. The second thing that likely stood out, as Chase was busy trying to comfortably pop himself into his chair, was the medium-length, swishing tail that seemed to have sprouted out from a point at the end of his back. Once he got himself turned around, he took awhile to readjust himself and the new tail in his seat to properly accommodate them both, but once was finally comfortable, he plopped back in, removing his legs from the ground to come and sit with him. He reached his arms around those legs to hug them close to his chest. As his eyes accidentally glanced them over, he could tell the scars from his arms were gone too. Great. He felt like he might be expected to be happy about that, too, but trying to be would take him a minute. Or two.
"I'm ready," he announced, regardless. He flattened his mouth into a line, in an obvious attempt to look neutral about the whole thing, but his canine ears instinctively flattened, showing off his discontent. He simply threw his newly blackened and sharpened nails onto the table and looked them over, trying his best to distract himself from what had become of Gabriel.
DergTheDergon
PanOtterPus
He could understand the explanation, thankfully, but he chose to gloss over midway through anyway. Instead, he figured it would be best to wait for the inevitable demonstration, which also came quickly afterward. When that rolled around, Chase watched the magic activate impassively. His eyes didn't really alertly move to observe, just absently gaze. Most of the changes looked just to be to Fifer's clothing - which was fine, he guessed - 'til he noticed the ears. His heart sank a little at them. He'd heard they were going to do the transformation thing, but actually seeing the change and how real it looked made him instantly uncomfortable. It wasn't like that had any elf attacks lately, but that didn't necessarily mean that elves were good, either. They were the same as all the others: monsters. And seeing someone he liked suddenly transformed into a monster was... not great. He pursed his lips unsurely, moving his eyes slightly away from this whole mess.
“Have a look, agent O’Hara.” However, stricken with unquellable curiosity at Miss Crowne's command, he reluctantly started to look back toward her too, to see how'd she react. What she did surprised and alarmed him at first. She was quickly in tears. That made him immediately tense. It was more of a kneejerk reaction, since, it looked like everybody else thought this was a good thing, but still, it freaked him out a little. But when she spoke, it set him mostly at ease. The breathy, overjoyed disbelief would've made anyone happy to hear, he was sure. He couldn't fathom why it'd touched her so badly, but he couldn't help but crack a smile at it. And when her eyes fell on him as she gushed over it, his face even lit up almost as happily as her's was. He wanted to be supportive of her, even if he didn't understand it. He was happy for her.
His face fell, however, when the Headmistress turned her attention back on him and Gabriel again. Ah, yeah. The two of them had to do it now, too; he'd almost forgot. He rubbed the back of his neck heistantly, but made himself reach up and over the table for the device anyway. He wasn't quite sure how the thing worked, again, but he was determined to find out. He immediately moved it to his waist, ready to start messing with it. It was simple enough he realized, once he got his hand on the UI. However, as he flipped through the list, his frown only worsened. He had to choose something there, but he didn't really want to. He couldn't stand the thought of being anything nonhuman. Not to mention he didn't really know how to act like half of the stuff there. Really? A merman? What was he supposed to do? Flop around?
He grumbled something uncomplimentary under his breath at his increasing frustration and hunched over further to fiddle through it. He kept at it until finally, he accidentally managed to lean over so far that he tumbled over and onto the floor. It seemed, in the last moment, he'd managed to make his selection though, as when he disappeared from sight under the table, the belt lit up, it's glow faintly visible even from above. The fact it'd already turned on occurred to everyone but Chase himself, as when he reached up to check his head for bruising, he recoiled from a bit of unexpected sensation. He didn't want to know what it was; he knew in a loose sense what was going on, seeing as he knew what he'd chosen, but he hardly wanted to acknowledge it. He just let himself lie where he was for a moment, exasperated.
He curled up a little. He didn't want to look at Gabriel or Fifer like this, he knew. He didn't want anybody else looking at him either. And, everything considered, he kinda wanted to go home? These facts occurred to him all at once, but they all just floated around in his head uselessly. For the first time in forever, he felt paralyzed - like he couldn't move, even if he wanted to. This mission was beginning to feel like too much. He stared out from under the table. If he quietly never moved from this spot, he wouldn't have to bother with it. He could just live here, and never face newly elf-ified Fifer, or magicked-up Gabriel, or whatever he himself was going to be when he looked into the mirror. The Headmistress said this mission would take a long time. He didn't want to look like this for a long time.
...He jolted up suddenly, hitting his head on the underside of the table hard.
"Ha-" he wheezed, having to fit in a breath as the pain hit him all at once. "Ha ha! Ow." He reached up to gently and carefully run his hand through the middle of his hair. Not the sides. Everything seemed to be okay. Nothing seemed to be bleeding. He felt a really sharp, indescribable urge in his stomach as he felt his sharp nails graze his scalp, but he could deal with that. At least he'd gotten what he'd wanted; he could feel his heart beating again, could feel his breath all sped up with adrenaline. His hand shook a little as he placed it down to the floor, but it was from the unexpected pain, and like a professional, he could shake it off. So he did. He stretched himself out toward the chair he had fallen from, rolled it back toward the table, and then, slowly, climbed back up.
The first thing that pop into view were ears. A cute, fluffy, mint-colored pair of dog-like ears, to be exact, perked and at the ready. The second thing that likely stood out, as Chase was busy trying to comfortably pop himself into his chair, was the medium-length, swishing tail that seemed to have sprouted out from a point at the end of his back. Once he got himself turned around, he took awhile to readjust himself and the new tail in his seat to properly accommodate them both, but once was finally comfortable, he plopped back in, removing his legs from the ground to come and sit with him. He reached his arms around those legs to hug them close to his chest. As his eyes accidentally glanced them over, he could tell the scars from his arms were gone too. Great. He felt like he might be expected to be happy about that, too, but trying to be would take him a minute. Or two.
"I'm ready," he announced, regardless. He flattened his mouth into a line, in an obvious attempt to look neutral about the whole thing, but his canine ears instinctively flattened, showing off his discontent. He simply threw his newly blackened and sharpened nails onto the table and looked them over, trying his best to distract himself from what had become of Gabriel.
DergTheDergon
PanOtterPus
PanOtterPus
Chief of Panda Division
Gabriel took the woman’s answer for what it was – the god’s honest, blunt truth. No-one was particularly pleased with all this, and everyone knew damned well that any one of them could potentially die on this mission. Sure they’d come up against some of the most powerful beasts they knew of, yet this was still the riskiest mission any of them were likely to ever take. He simply nodded and allowed her to move on. No point in arguing when the decision was already made – the team were going, no questions asked, but they knew what they signed up for when they signed their contracts and so they would go and they would do their job, just like they always did.
Gabe had almost forgotten about their required disguises. They couldn’t very well go waltzing into a supernatural infested area looking like regular human beings. The instructions seemed simple enough, and he watched as Fifer took her usual lead. He also watched as she .... shifted before him. “Wow.... Fifer.” He saw her swell with overwhelming shock and happiness at the change that had had overcome her. “You look.... Wow...” He couldn’t think of more to say, and the fact they were offering to keep her this way if she wanted? Brownie points. Major. Brownie points.
Gabriel waited then for Chase to make his choice. Admittedly he was stalling. Gabriel didn’t want to actually become one of these creatures, however fake it was. Monsters were know as monsters for a reason. The poor kid seemed to be having the same issue, taking his sweet time flipping through almost every creature on there before eventually taking a tumble. Very Chase-like. Just as Gabe was about to go heck on him, Chase appeared from under the table. And God did he look adorable! “Looking good Chase!” Gabe chuckled despite himself. The wagging tail and dog like ears suited him, which unsettled Gabe a little but he swallowed the feeling, realising that this could actually be the slightest bit fun.
Gabriel decided there and then that if this was to be potentially their last mission together, given the dangers, he may as well enjoy it. Choosing one of these creatures didn’t have to be all bad, and so he grabbed his own belt, switching it on. He began to flick through the many, many options. Vampire – definitely not. Wendigo – too ugly. Djinn – too genie. Banshee – too female. He was trying to find one that would suit his agility and good eyesight while fitting his quiet, recluse nature. Aha!
He made his selection and saw the bet glow slightly. Before their eyes, Gabe’s skin was replaced with a light coat of blonde fur, across which a jaguar’s spot pattern appeared. His canines elongated and he grew a good few inches. His shirt disappeared, leaving his fur covered chest bare, while his lower half was now covered in simple cloth athletic looking cut-offs, leaving his feet bare, his weight supported by deadly claws. His new feline eyes looked up at his team, a new fire burning in them to get back out on the field. “Ready when you are.” He smirked, finally looking forward to this mission.
DergTheDergon
Rustic
Gabe had almost forgotten about their required disguises. They couldn’t very well go waltzing into a supernatural infested area looking like regular human beings. The instructions seemed simple enough, and he watched as Fifer took her usual lead. He also watched as she .... shifted before him. “Wow.... Fifer.” He saw her swell with overwhelming shock and happiness at the change that had had overcome her. “You look.... Wow...” He couldn’t think of more to say, and the fact they were offering to keep her this way if she wanted? Brownie points. Major. Brownie points.
Gabriel waited then for Chase to make his choice. Admittedly he was stalling. Gabriel didn’t want to actually become one of these creatures, however fake it was. Monsters were know as monsters for a reason. The poor kid seemed to be having the same issue, taking his sweet time flipping through almost every creature on there before eventually taking a tumble. Very Chase-like. Just as Gabe was about to go heck on him, Chase appeared from under the table. And God did he look adorable! “Looking good Chase!” Gabe chuckled despite himself. The wagging tail and dog like ears suited him, which unsettled Gabe a little but he swallowed the feeling, realising that this could actually be the slightest bit fun.
Gabriel decided there and then that if this was to be potentially their last mission together, given the dangers, he may as well enjoy it. Choosing one of these creatures didn’t have to be all bad, and so he grabbed his own belt, switching it on. He began to flick through the many, many options. Vampire – definitely not. Wendigo – too ugly. Djinn – too genie. Banshee – too female. He was trying to find one that would suit his agility and good eyesight while fitting his quiet, recluse nature. Aha!
He made his selection and saw the bet glow slightly. Before their eyes, Gabe’s skin was replaced with a light coat of blonde fur, across which a jaguar’s spot pattern appeared. His canines elongated and he grew a good few inches. His shirt disappeared, leaving his fur covered chest bare, while his lower half was now covered in simple cloth athletic looking cut-offs, leaving his feet bare, his weight supported by deadly claws. His new feline eyes looked up at his team, a new fire burning in them to get back out on the field. “Ready when you are.” He smirked, finally looking forward to this mission.
DergTheDergon
Rustic
PanOtterPus
Chief of Panda Division
Orthrus had been focusing on keeping the crowd calm and away from that gate, when he heard an all too familiar voice drawling out his name in the cruellest sounding manor. He spun and saw an army of sorts making their way through the gate. And there he was. “Aeshma....” If there was one thing that drew fear from Orthrus it was this creature. The demon was the embodiment of fury and had been made a Commander during the Great War between Heaven and Hell some centuries ago. It was back then Orthrus had left. He couldn’t grasp why they would go to war at the time when they were so underprepared. He had made his doubts clear to Aeshma who had taken it upon himself to .... punish the Hound. The Bloody Mace they called the demon, and for good reason.
He was likely higher in the ranks by now. Orthrus tried his best to remain calm, snorting at the beast’s callous observation. “Fodder you say. Family I say. And you’re damn right i’ll protect them, but make no mistake, demon, they’ll put up a good fight in return.” He knew he wouldn’t be able to sway the demon. Aeshma wasn’t one for giving much of a damn about anything except rage and killing those that got in his way. The only reason Orthrus left Hell alive was because Hades demanded it. He also knew that as much as the citizens would fight, a good bunch of them – all who attended the Gala - were still worn from their previous battle. But he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to give it his all, however bleak the situation may have seemed.
“I know there’s no point in even trying to talk you out of this, so, what do you say, old friend? Shall we?” Orthrus’ stomach churned as a few of the demons gave hellishly dark chuckles. They were feeding off the fear. They were going to enjoy this. The yell that came from Aeshma was deafening, causing his minions to charge forward, rushing the crowd head on. They seemed to circle from his though, leaving him facing Aeshma. Good. At the very least he could stall him. His demons would do a lot of damage, but it would be nothing compared to the Demon Lord before him. And Orthrus was prepared to throw his own life on the line if it meant slowing down that process. He braced himself, looking at Tyra one last time before unleashing his true form, both heads trained on Aeshma. “C’mon then beastie, let’s dance a while.”
DergTheDergon
Halexia
He was likely higher in the ranks by now. Orthrus tried his best to remain calm, snorting at the beast’s callous observation. “Fodder you say. Family I say. And you’re damn right i’ll protect them, but make no mistake, demon, they’ll put up a good fight in return.” He knew he wouldn’t be able to sway the demon. Aeshma wasn’t one for giving much of a damn about anything except rage and killing those that got in his way. The only reason Orthrus left Hell alive was because Hades demanded it. He also knew that as much as the citizens would fight, a good bunch of them – all who attended the Gala - were still worn from their previous battle. But he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to give it his all, however bleak the situation may have seemed.
“I know there’s no point in even trying to talk you out of this, so, what do you say, old friend? Shall we?” Orthrus’ stomach churned as a few of the demons gave hellishly dark chuckles. They were feeding off the fear. They were going to enjoy this. The yell that came from Aeshma was deafening, causing his minions to charge forward, rushing the crowd head on. They seemed to circle from his though, leaving him facing Aeshma. Good. At the very least he could stall him. His demons would do a lot of damage, but it would be nothing compared to the Demon Lord before him. And Orthrus was prepared to throw his own life on the line if it meant slowing down that process. He braced himself, looking at Tyra one last time before unleashing his true form, both heads trained on Aeshma. “C’mon then beastie, let’s dance a while.”
DergTheDergon
Halexia
Pinconious
New Member
Aiesha stood among the crowed watching the scene before her. It was a rare spectical to see Orthrus go to work in all his glory. It had been an interesting couple of days given the attack on the gala, the arrival of what seems to be the first fleet of those from a seemingly other world and now the gates of the underworld had opened up and brought with it an army of demons. She many of those with power prepare themselves for a battle. A few stood out from the crowd such as a dragoness and a Vorux, a vampire that seemed to be more interested in the boat and the heavily armored warrior type humanoids standing up in the ship they brought with them. Upon her back she had a couple of children who wanted to see what was happening from a high perspective. Their parents either didn't mind or weren't paying enough attention to notice where their children had ended up. Aiesha didn't mind at least she knew they would be safe with her when the inevitable battle began.
