deercountry | Luca catchall post - Fun vileblood issues!

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Luca catchall post - Fun vileblood issues!

Who: Luca Paguro and open!
What: Luca's memory flashback, as well as generally sneaking around the Disaster House/Town/getting caught in snares because he's a vileblood and there's two blood types hunting him this month
When: Throughout the month
Where: The Disaster House or anywhere in the Trench

Content Warnings: A thirteen year old boy getting hunted like an animal, both in his memory and in the 'present day' prompts

Luca's Memory – Trying to escape Ercole (OTA)

Whoever touches the Winter Mourning will find themselves witnessing a hunt. Maybe they'll see out of Luca's eyes, a passive observer forced to make the same choices he made, or maybe they'll take on the role of someone else in the setting. Alberto, perhaps, or one of the people trying to catch Luca. Maybe they'll even be able to do their own things, make their own choices.

Regardless, the memory starts with Luca and Alberto in sea monster form racing through the streets on a bike. They're terrified, desperate. Ercole has gotten in front of them, but the hill's too steep to try and turn back and go up. Besides, they need to get back to the water to be safe, and to do that, they need to pass Ercole. Luca stares in horror as he keeps pedaling forward, and Ercole lifts his spear, ready to throw.

"You should have left when I told you. Now...I'm going to kill some sea monsters!" Ercole says, and his cackles fill the alley as he balances on his bike, his spear raised in the air.

Then, just in time, Giulia, a red headed girl who had caught up on her own bike, rams her bike in to Ercole's own, sending both of them tumbling to the ground. Luca and Alberto race past on their bike, but Luca glances back. Giulia bounces roughly on the cobblestones several time, rolling down the steep and rocky pathway.

"No!" Cries Luca.

"Giulia!" Alberto calls out to her.

Not willing to just leave her like that, not knowing if she's okay, Luca stops the bike and he and Alberto race over to her, helping her up. This was a mistake. They're surrounded now. Many of the townsfolk are just standing there, watching to see what happens next. Others seem more ready to participate in this hunt. Some have harpoons. Some have nets. They whisper.

"Look at that," says one villager.

"You're not going anywhere," says another.

Ercole, however, is quick to call dibs. "Guys! I saw them first! The reward is mine!"

Luca tries to be brave. "We're not afraid of you!"

"No," responds Ercole, "But we're afraid of you. Everyone is horrified and disgusted by you, because you are monsters."

The memory may end here. Or it may continue on for a few more seconds, so the viewer sees Giulia saying that they aren't monsters, and Massimo coming out of the crowd to tell them that the boys are Luca and Alberto. Either way, the memory wraps up soon unless the viewer is an active participant and was able to make a different choice in the course of events.

The Disaster House – Open to anyone who would be at/around the Disaster House

Luca's skittish. He's been hunted before, he knows the feeling. He knows the mortal terror, the constant hiding, the fear of discovery. The worst part is, this month even people he loved and trusted seem to be turning on him. Nowhere is safe. But this house...it's still home.

He sticks to the shadows, staying out of sight, easily startled if anyone spots him. Still, there are times he lets his guard down. Enamored with all the pretty antler decorations around the house, Luca decides to make his own. He takes a couple of antlers he's found tying them up with ribbons and decorating them with little twigs and springs from the greenhouse. At one point he even starts having enough fun with his crafting to relax enough to hum a little tune, enjoying himself as he pretties up the antlers, holding them up to see how they're coming.

Other times he can be found grabbing things from the greenhouse or the kitchen to eat. He doesn't know how to cook, though, and this month...this month he's too scared to find someone around the house to help him, so he might just start eating raw ingredients as is just to avoid coming out of hiding.

Out And About – OTA

But of course, living in a household with all bloodtypes can be quite stressful to a young boy during a season where he's doomed to be hunted by two of them, so he ends up spending quite a bit of time away from the house this month. Of course, he heeds the warnings he's been given about cold weather and bundles up. A dark grey wool coat, gloves, boots, a hat...dressed up as well as he can be as he heads out into the harsh winter.

Still, as unused as he is to this sort of winter weather, Luca does stop to marvel at the snow. It really is pretty, and he never imagined it looking quite like that. He stomps it down to crunch it, squeezes it in his hands, experimenting and examining it, fascinated...until he hears anyone else coming by.

Like a prey animal, he's likely to hurry off to cower in the nearest hiding spot, before staring in horror at the obvious tracks he's left in the snow.

Trapped – OTA

Luca is trying to be careful, staying out of sight, avoiding other people and obvious traps. Not all traps are obvious, though, and there are so many this month that he's bound to get caught at some point.

He panics when he feels the snare tighten around his leg, pulling him up. He struggles, and he wants to scream, but he doesn't dare to. He's helpless now in a place filled with people who want to hunt him. If he wrong person comes...he has no hope of survival. They'll just slaughter him right there. He has to get himself down.

He can't get himself down, he soon realizes. He can't get up to his leg. He can't do anything here. Tears well up in his eyes, and he wants to cry, but he's too terrified to be anything but silent. He'll die if anyone sees him...and he'll likely die here if they don't.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It might be all of them, honestly," Luz said with no hint of joking. "We still have a lot of unresolved feelings, and now the new month is beginning. It usually means there's something new and crazy that's about to happen."

That was just their luck these days. Luz knew she'd been trying to distract herself from some of the painful stuff that had happened to her last month that she might have overlooked something new.

"Rice? I mean, sure, I can do rice. What, do you want something fishy with the rice?"

"Yeah, you're probably right."

This place always has a new 'surprise' every month, after all, and always seems to make each blood type feel weird in a new and different way. While he might not know the deal this month, he's sure it's not helping the feelings of paranoia that already want to well up inside of him after what he saw last month. He still has reoccurring nightmares whenever he tries to go to sleep.

"Yeah! Fish would be great!"

Fish goes with everything, after all.

"Really wish I wasn't."

Deerington and then this place had pretty much numbed Luz up to the idea that there was going to be some kind of new bad thing waiting for them. She wished she could pretty much put a collar on Fern and Varian especially when these kinds of things happened, but she'd have to settle for making sure that they weren't going corrupt for right now,

It was not easy to corral everyone in the house.

"Good, I still have some saved at the bottom of the fridge. Reminds me that I have to go and catch you some more anyway. You haven't been having any more corrupted symptoms, have you?"

"Great! And thanks for doing that, by the way. It feels kind of silly not being able to catch my own, but...well, it's kind of dangerous to try it right now."

Since the cold is so much different from what he's used to, and he really doesn't know how much cold he can take. Not to mention all the sea creatures in this world that don't exist in his own.

He hesitates when he realizes he'll have to answer the corruption question.

"Um...they come and go. It's not as bad as last month, but...sometimes when I'm really stressed the teeth and claws start to come back. It's worse when I let myself start being more scared of things."

"No, no, trust me, I'd rather you not just into freezing waters right now! With how cold it is out now, I can't even imagine how much worse the water is. I'll just catch the fish, ok?"

Despite how out of sorts she's been feeling the last few days, she is not about to let something bad happen to Luca. She can just put on a parka and stay on a rock for a while.

"I figured. Ok. You have incense though, right? Remember to try and just light some and meditate for a little bit. Taking at least an hour to breathe and relax is probably going to do wonders for you. If you want to stay in a few days, that might not be so bad either."

"Yeah, okay. Maybe I can help out with catching them the human way until then, so you don't have to do it alone. Fern showed me how to do it with the hook and the worm and stuff."

Sure, he might be looking forward to being able to jump in the water and really help out, but until that was feasible, at least this might be fun and give him a chance to feel useful.

"And even if I can't go in the water, I'm good at spotting places fish tend to go!"

Talking about fish, at least, is definitely more fun than talking about his fluctuating corruption.

"Um...well I have some incense. Not really a lot left. I should probably get more."

He'd been relying on it heavily since the previous month and burning through it quickly.

"That's exactly how I catch them, actually. I can't really do it any other way unless I were to try as a bird, and there's definitely not a lot I can carry that way! But if you want to join me while I'm fishing, I'd be glad for the company!"

And if he were able to spot fish easily, even better!

"Right. We'll have to go on another run then. You might want to come with me for that too. I have a feeling the other people in the house might need more incense. Even if we're starting to recover, there's no telling what they're doing."

Varian in particular Luz was worried about.

"Yeah, I'd love to! It'll be fun!"

Sure, it's not exciting in the same way as chasing down a fish might be, but it's nice to sit and chat while doing something productive.

"That's a good idea. I know we're having a rough time after last month, but Varian...well, some of the other people in the house seem to be having a really rough time."

"Great! I've been looking for a reason to get out of the house anyway!"

That is mostly true. Luz has been very house heavy thanks to the Zealots, she's just been torn about when she should eventually come out. This just gave her a reason to really leave: providing for the other people in the house.

"Yeah. I...I'm really going to have to try keeping an eye out for him. Varian sometimes ignores when he's having issues, so I'll bet he's doing that right now. Like a dummy."

"Yeah, I've noticed. But he's definitely been looking very...not okay lately. Maybe we should all get together to read books and just happen to light incense."

You know, for ambience. And to make sure Varian gets some help without actually bringing up the issue.

"Ooh, good idea! Get him innocently while being nerds at the same time! I love it!"

Incense run. She had to remember to make an incense run.

"Maybe we'll even prepare some kind of bath for him. Provided he takes it."

"Oh, do baths help? I found someone selling large crystals of salt to add to your bath, so I've been doing that so the water feels more...well, like it's supposed to feel."

Because freshwater is relatively new to him, and he tends to consider saltwater the default for both bathing and drinking. Maybe they can convince Varian to try it.

"That wouldn't by any chance be a woman who also tells fortunes, would it?"

But that would be a good way to get Varian to calm down, which was really what Luz was shooting for.

"Supposed to feel? How do you mean?"

"I think so? But I was only interested in the salt."

As for how water's supposed to feel...he's not quite sure if he can't describe it. He's not sure if humans can tell the difference. Well, they must be able to, or else why would they add it to their baths?

"I just mean how salt water tastes better and feels better when I'm in it than fresh water. I'm assuming humans are able to notice that, too?"

"I think I know who was going to give you the salt, if we're thinking of the same person. I lived with her for a little bit in the other town."

Oh, right, he was explaining the differences between salt and fresh water. Now it made sense.

"Oh yeah, they can. For one thing, salt water tends to dry your skin more if you're human. Fresh water is more for drinking anyway."

"I'm not sure if they are. I think this might have just been a native lady? She had a lot of stuff like crystals and other odds and ends, but it's just a booth in the Willful Machine."

Which he was mostly interested in because...well, he prefers saltwater.

"Oh. Why don't humans just drink salt water?"

He's noticed a lot of the water they drink (and offer him) is all fresh water, which Luca can drink, but he definitely prefers salt water.

"A native lady? Ok, maybe we're not thinking of the same person. Well, that doesn't matter anyway. As long as we get something for Varian, it'll be good."

Luz liked saltwater for sailing and catching fish, just not so much for drinking.

"Because it has salt in it, Luca. Salt is fine for food, in little bits. Too much and it can be really gross, you know?"

He probably didn't though.

"No?" He's staring at her like this is completely new to him. "I drink salt water all the time. I like it. Actually, the Ligurian Sea has even more salt than the ocean here."

Since the salinity of the Ligurian sea is higher than most oceans in general. That's part of what kept it so warm and cozy all year round.

"You're native to saltwater Luca, of course you like it. Regular human beings can't consume salt water directly because of all the salt. People's blood pressures would go through the roof. That's why we drink fresh water, it has no salt in it."

Not to say that some drinking waters on the market were necessarily sticking to that, but Luz wasn't going there right now.

"Oh, well, yeah that makes sense. I guess it just didn't occur to me that humans wouldn't be able to drink saltwater, too?"

It's a good thing he found out now, though. He could imagine if there was ever a shortage of freshwater in this place, he'd have assumed the humans would have been able to just drink the ocean water.

"See, being a vileblood is making your mouth go all out of whack. When you turn human, you try drinking JUST salt water. It's a lot. Regular humans definitely can't have something like that."

The sodium intake alone would be disastrous.

"I'm not sure if that's the vileblood or the fish boy. I also don't know if drinking saltwater in my human form would even change how it tastes. I mean, water's what makes my body turn back into my...sea folk form." Ahiru told him he should call himself whatever he wanted to call himself, and not feel like he should call himself a sea monster just because that was what he was 'officially' called, so he decided to take her advice. "And I don't really know if my human form changes my sense of taste, anyway. I could probably drink salt water no matter what form I'm in."

"It might be a combination of both. Obviously, you're going to be used to salt water no matter how you slice it, so why wouldn't you think that humans would be fine drinking salt water?"

Luz smiled. "Who knows? It's pretty interesting though, no matter how you look at it. At least you're able to do something most of us aren't able to, right?"

"Yeah," Luca agrees. "I mean, I already had stuff most people can't do. Like breathe under water, turn into a fish person, swim fast, and now all the vileblood stuff I can do, but it's an additional thing, at least!"

"And that's all OK! You should have some obvious differences between humans and fish boys! But just remember there might be some things that are going to translate different. Also, just be careful that there might be times where you might lose your Vileblood abilities, like a few months back."

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