deercountry | July Catch-All

[It's quiet in the darkness of the cottage that used to belong to John Constantine. It's been abandoned for the past few months since he and Herc left Trench to return to the ocean, but in spite of the layer of dust, it's still a comfortable, familiar space.

That is not why she told Faith to bring her here to this place where there are still likely books, and magical artifacts left behind that she can pull power from. John and Herc left so quickly, she has no doubt there's still a lot left behind, and it's going to take some time to heal fully and gather her strength.

The knife slid easily between her ribs, and pierced her lung. It robbed her of her revenge against the little monster that killed Oscar, her ability to breathe freely, and nearly her life as well. Medical and mystical generally don't mix well in her experience, and between being out of practice, and the sheer amount of energy expended since killing the pirates, it's all she can do to keep herself alive. Trench is not the ideal place to draw power from to try to promote healing.]

Faith... Faith...

[It's breathed out, wet and congested sounding, and she can feel the blood rising in the back of her throat.]

Get help - someone who can do a healing spell. Luna, or someone. Use the lamps.

[She is not going to die here, not to the knife of some little eleven year old kid who got a lucky shot in. There's too much to be done.

Maybe Luna will even want to join them.]

Edited 2022-07-04 16:35 (UTC)

[There's enough time lost to recovering from her injuries that Willow is growing restless. She's still furious with Chara, but there's little she can do about that at the moment, but it's fine. She can bide her time on that one.

In the meantime, her focus has shifted to a familiar feeling of helplessness back in a cold February morning in the driving snow. She remembers now. She remembers the terror she felt when she realized he was far too close for her to escape. She remembers she tried to rip and tear at him with sharp canines, and only managing to grab his clothes before his hands found her neck.

She's going to make sure Maul experiences that same sense of fear and impending doom he caused in her. And far more if she can manage it.

The locator spell comes back to her easily. It's a bit like riding a bike once she gets started, and between the cottage and the Ritual Gig, it's not like she doesn't have access to plenty of supplies.

The park. He's at the park. It's not even far.

She calls out a 'let's go' to Faith, and heads for the door without further explanation. She doesn't want to risk him leaving, and then having to go track him down like she had to do to Warren. It was inconvenient to say the least, and only served to drive her rage.

It's only early in the evening when they get to the park, still light, but only just, and the thunderclouds looming make it seem darker than it ought to be.

Willow spots the the pair sparring in the grass, and it should hardly come as a shock that Savage is here as well, even though some small part of her wishes he wasn't. Whatever. It's fine.

She raises a hand towards the pair and a murmured spell sends a blast of energy through the air to knock the pair apart from each other. She doesn't look much like herself, with her hair and eyes both black instead of red and green, and there's none of her usual gentleness in her expression, cold and determined as she looks to Savage.]

It's not you we're here for. You run.

[The slushie stand doesn't feel like it's all that far from the park, and who isn't a little hot and thirsty after a good double murder? Willow is still a little irritated that Faith ended the game early by taking out Maul, but really, it's fine. She would have preferred it had been her hand instead, but it's not lost on her that Faith had wanted him dead months ago too, and in the end, the job is done, and that's all that matters.

There's still blood splattered on her pale face that she doesn't seem to notice as she approaches the stand. She glances to Faith, and grins widely. If she's aware of her alarming appearance - the black hair, black eyes, and black veins that stretch across her skin, she makes no comment about it.]

We'll take two, please.

[Savage and Maul are dead, and any regret she feels about Savage is pushed aside. He always thought she was weak, anyway. He had said as much himself. Had he not encouraged her to fight in the past? Encouraged her to use magic for something other than a cautious defense, afraid to go further in case she did lose control like this. Control shouldn't be mistaken for weakness. It's a mistake she doesn't think he'll ever make again. It doesn't matter much now anyway. It's better this way.

The slushies were good - cold, and refreshing in the miserable summer humidity, and it's tempting to cast a spell to try to tear open the clouds and force the rain to pour down on them for relief. She's pretty sure she could do it, too. Would it make one of the Pthumerians angry? She's not sure. Maybe. Does it matter? Probably not.

That's when she spots him.

Poor Johnny, minding his own business, not bothering anyone on the street. They've bickered a couple times, and she's can summon some minor annoyance at the way she's seen him treat others if she tries, but mostly, her reasoning is simple.

It's because he has the misfortune to be there.

She grins and pats Faith on the shoulder to get her attention before pointing at the figure heading down the road.]

Come on, this'll be fun.

[Johnny is dead. Faith is somewhere in the wind, and Willow's alone again. It's not really a great feeling. It was good to have a Slayer on her side while it lasted - they made a good team, even if Faith was a bit of a killjoy sometimes.

This whole thing is a lot less fun without her around. Stupid Johnny Lawrence. It's all his fault. Probably, anyway.

Willow is headed back for the cottage to grab a little rest, and plan her next move. She still has her sights set on Chara, but there's a lot of work to do before she's willing to take a second try at that fight.

It would have helped to a whole lot have Faith with her. Well, maybe she'll come to her senses and come back.

Once she gets back to the cottage, she settles in on the sofa to rest. And to wait.]

Edited 2022-07-07 03:09 (UTC)

[It's become clear that she can no longer expect to be undisturbed at the cottage, so it's no longer a viable place for her to stay. For a moment, she thinks, perhaps she should have killed Ford as well. Except she didn't really want to. Ford had long been a source of support before now. He might still turn that way in time.

Tara might too, for that matter, especially left unconscious out under corrupting influence of the moon's orange glow. For far too long, she's felt at odds with her love, and recently has the situation begun to improve, only to completely unravel again. She would not complain to have them back on the right track again.

Unable to return to the cottage, Willow retreats to the top of the clocktower in Gaze. It doesn't seem like a bad spot to spend some time for now. She leans against the rail and looks over the city sprawled out beneath her as she considers her next move. She's had a problem with Never Mind since his boat trip prank last year. It wasn't funny, being trapped on a tiny canoe, floating down a river composed almost entirely of dead, decomposing bodies. He's even conveniently close by.

How hard would it be, she wonders, to take down the dean of the School of Mutter? Easier than Mariana, probably, but she suspects it would still be a hell of a fight.

It is tempting.]

Edited 2022-07-04 16:41 (UTC)

[It's dark, and quiet at the hazy edge of her awareness. No chaos, no sinking ships, or murdered pirates. No friends trying to convince her to see reason she refused, determined to wreak bloody revenge on everyone she thought had ever done her, or the people she cared about wrong, no matter how slight. No Reckoning, and no Corruption urging her on, and overriding all sense.

It's peaceful, for a time.

She dreams. For the first time in nearly a year, she dreams. She dreams of an ocean shore with black sand that stretches in every direction as far the eye can see, of a large full moon that hangs low in the sky and glows a deep orange through the dark clouds that half hide it from view.

A black and red cross fox trots along close by her side, and up ahead in the distance, she can see a wolf with a warm, red coat rooting around near and overturned lifeboat that seems to have appeared out of nowhere. The waves crash against the hull with a rumble that sounds more like distant thunder than water, and she pauses, as though afraid to get too close.

It sees her, and she freezes unsure whether to run, or stand her ground. The wolf drops its head low, and gives a small wag of the tail it has tucked against its back legs to show it means no harm. It pulls an object out from under the lifeboat, and carries it to Willow, dropping it a few feet away and quickly backing off to give her space.

A few short, cautious steps forward and she crouches. The back of the round, disc-like object is polished silver with an ornate pattern etched into the surface. She turns the object over in her palm, and glances at the wolf still keeping its distance, before looking back down. Her reflection stares back at her from the mirror, black hair flowing down over her shoulders, and black empty eyes, and she nearly tumbles backwards in shock and horror. No, no, no. She doesn't want this. She doesn't even feel the burn of corruption any more.

She runs a hand through her own hair and pulls it in front of her, so she can see it's still its usual shade of red in spite of the image that had been looking back up at her.

Suddenly, Willow wakes up.]

[It feels like only moments and months ago all at the same time since the attack on the mansion Willow had called home for over a year. Faith, thankfully, came back fairly quickly, but there's no sign of Ozpin yet. She isn't surprised, nor is she particularly worried yet. It's barely been a week.

She still checks the beach regularly for him, and Oscar both. The last thing she wants is for someone to take advantage of either one of them when they first wash up on shore, and she certainly wouldn't put it past Chara to be there, waiting for one or both of her friends. Not that there's much she could do to stop them if they took that route.

The threaded cane is used as a cane these days, as opposed to being carried as a weapon. Reaper's wound is still painful, and stubbornly refusing to heal in spite of all efforts. There was a time she would have gone to John for help, but those days are long over now, even as a last ditch effort, she is still actively avoiding contact with him. Even when she changes at night, there's no relief as the damage follows her, but at least it's not so difficult to get around on three legs.

She has considered briefly asking for Tara for help as well, but that seems like a bad idea in the aftermath of their talk, and the decision that they ought to stay away from each other for now. She doesn't know what she would do if something happened to Tara because of her, and trying to figure out where to go from here is something she needs to do on her own.

The morning starts no differently from any other. The wolf curled on the floor by the bed glows gold and flows back into Willow's sleeping form like liquid poured from a glass as she wakes up, tangled in the sheets. She isn't even aware anything is amiss as she sits up and carefully moves to get out of bed to start her morning routine.]

[Willow turns up at the farm in the days after the fire at the house. It had been a relief to return to discover the animals were unharmed, but still in need of relocation. There doesn't seem to be a better option for either the horse or cow than house them here where they have plenty of space to roam until she can figure out some alternative arrangements.

The horse is tacked up with his saddle and a halter with the lead line from the cow's halter tied to the pommel so neither feels inclined to wander off. With her leg wounded in the fight with Reaper, Willow is in no condition to ride, so she limps carefully along beside Radar, leaning into his shoulder for support, trying to avoid aggravating the injury.

It's been awhile since she's seen much of Vyng, thanks to the necromancer's attempts to cure her of wolfwalking, and the chaos that the first part of July had brought, but it is, perhaps, a good time for a conversation as well.

In the wake of all the harm she's wrought, and the revenge taken against her and the people she cares about in the aftermath, she feels the need to reach out to a friend that is unconnected to all of it. Maybe even someone who can help her puzzle out some of the revelations her brush with corruption had brought out.

She worries that Tara might be right her.

Willow knocks lightly on the door to the farmhouse upon arrival, and waits for Vyng to answer.]

Um. Hey. I, uh, kind of have a favour to ask? Well. Maybe more than one.

[It takes Willow longer than usual to emerge from her room in the morning. Between the influence of her paleblood, and wolfwalking, she hasn't been much of an early riser since arriving in Trench, but Ozpin's unexpected arrival has, of course, caused further delay.

Telling Ford is a priority, for multiple reasons, including ripping the proverbial bandaid off what Ozpin has already indicated is going to be a particularly uncomfortable conversation. It seems better to get it out of the way as soon as possible. Still, it's impossible not to sound at least a little bit nervous when she speaks up.]

Hey, Ford? So. Something happened. We kind of should probably talk about it.

[It's been a bit of a strange day to say the least, but not an exceptionally difficult one, especially not in comparison to the rest of the month.

It could have been a lot worse, in spite of all the awkwardness and chaos. No one is dead or injured, which feels like a decent level to set the bar at, at least for this month, and tomorrow should signal even more of a return to normal with Ozpin's impending return from the ocean.

Still, by the time nighttime rolls around, Willow is tired enough to turn in early. So she crawls into bed, and pulls the covers up around her and murmurs a quiet goodnight to Ozpin before drifting off to sleep.

It happens as it has every night since Ange restored her, and as it did every night before she went to John to try to stop her from changing. The soft golden glow envelopes her human form and reforms separately as the typical red wolf she roams as while she sleeps. She doesn't go far these days, and instead just curls up beside the bed to relax.

As she settles in, she recognizes the familiar second presence in the back of her mind that she didn't expect to remain, and her head snaps back up.

Wait a second. Ozpin?

1 - Cottage Retreat (Closed to Faith and Luna)

2 - A Walk In The Park (Closed to Faith, Maul, and Savage)

3 - Slushies and Death (Closed to Faith, Sayo, and Ruby)

4- Here's Johnny (Closed to Faith and Johnny)

5 - Alone Again, Naturally (Closed to Tara, Ford, etc)

6 - The Final Fight (Closed to Faith and Ozpin)

I Prayed My Mind Be Good To Me

Thought I Heard You Talking Softly (for Ozpin)