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

"No, I can guess that he's pretty huge, I don't think anyone would cross him," a hesitation- because talking about Quirin always brings a small, sad ache to his soul. "My...my dad is like that. Really big, I mean. Protective. I'm glad you have Massimo around."

That there's someone there willing to protect them against scum like Ercole. Still. Talking about Alberto is a pretty cheery topic and he manages a bigger smile.

"I sure did. He's pretty cool, huh? I can see why you...admire him so much."

"Yeah, I'm glad, too. Especially for Alberto's sake. I mean, I don't always get along with my parents, but they're around and they try to protect me."

Sometimes a bit too much, to the point where they were going to send him to the deep, but at least they mean well.

"Alberto didn't have anyone like that, but Massimo took him in."

So even though they went their separate ways (temporarily) because Luca went to school, Alberto still got something out of all of it. As for why he admires Alberto...an even bigger grin spreads across his face.

"Yeah, Alberto's great, isn't he? And he's so brave. He even tried to distract Ercole so I could get away, but I ended up grabbing him and pulling him onto my bike instead."

Luca wasn't going to leave Alberto in danger, after all. Not again.

"That's good...that. That your parents still care about you, and that he managed to get himself a family of his own."

Because that's important, family. That's something Varian has learned, and it doesn't have to be blood. Some of the strongest family ties aren't by blood at all. So he's glad these little sea monsters have something. That's...comforting.

And then Luca goes on about Alberto and Varian's smile grows a little softer. Oh. Oh, this was adorable.

"He sure looks great- it sounds like you guys really mean a lot to each other."

"Yeah."

Part of Luca wanted to say that of course his parents still cared about him, but he remembers Alberto's situation and he knows that's not always the case.

"Even when we disagree, it's because my parents wanted to keep me safe. They wanted to send me to the Deep to keep me safe from humans." And Varian's seen how dangerous it gets, so he knows now why they might be ready to take desperate measures. "But...there's no light there, and nothing to do but eat bits of floating whale carcass all day. And there's so much about the world I want to learn, and I'd never have been able to do it down there. Alberto convinced my parents to let me stay on the surface and go to school."

He smiles when Varian mentions that they mean a lot to each other.

"Yeah, we really do."

Varian sure knew that wasn't a given. He'd done pretty well for himself- he and Quirin had plenty of problems, but nothing they hadn't been working on. But for every Quirin in the world, there's a Gothel. The sort of people who just should never be parents.

"Yeah, knowing you as I do at this point? I can see why being pushed down into the deep and not being able to learn anything would have killed you."

Maybe not literally, but on the inside? absolutely. It's one of the things that draws him close to Luca in the first place, that thirst for knowledge. To learn about everything and anything. To understand the world as well as just live in it. The thought of him being ripped away from any of that is...worrying.

"I'm glad they let you live your life on the surface, and you got to go to school, that's...that's the best place for you, I think," except now he's stuck here. "I'm sorry you don't get to be with him here."

"Yeah."

Luca knows he wouldn't have been able to cope with it. Sure, physically the deep would have been safe enough for him. His body would have adapted to the different waters like his Uncle Ugos had, but to be stuck down there....

"I'm glad, too. I mean, I guess in the end I ended up here instead of school there, but...I'm glad to know I was safe from that. And I still get to go to school here, at least! And...and maybe Alberto will show up. Then I can be here with him and still have school...and maybe Massimo might show up, too."

Because he knows Alberto needs someone like Massimo, but now he suspects he's hoping for too much.

His body would have been fine but his mind? It doesn't bear thinking about.

"That is true, but hey at least you can learn here, right? The school he's really cool, and I'm always happy to teach you anything I know," he's honestly glad to have someone interested. "And yeah! I mean, Cass and Rapunzel showed up for me, it's totally possible!"

Varian is less hopeful, but he wants to be encouraging, so here he is.

"Yeah! And I've already learned so much, and I'm really enjoying everything you've been teaching me! But yeah, maybe I should just keep hoping they'll show up. But at least I have friends here even if they don't."

Although he'll still miss his friends from back home even if he has new friends here.

"That's pretty much the way to look at it, Buddy," he offers a tired smile- through the fangs. "It's totally fine to miss them and hope they come, but it's good to know you have people here who'll have your back, too."

Because if there's one thing he learned in Deerington, it's that found family is a pretty damn strong factor.

"Thanks." He looks at Varian. "And you know, we have your back, too. I know last month I was having a lot of trouble with...you know. Claw and sharp teeth stuff. After everything that was happening last month."

In other words, the sleeper farm.

"It seemed to help when I talked about stuff."

"Yeah, I know. I... I'm starting to wonder if this is something that's going to happen on the regular for all of us? Like...something we always have to be on the watch for."

That seemed to be the idea he got from the books he was reading.

"But...thanks. I'll...uh, keep that in mind."

"I think it might be. Maybe when we let ourselves get too stressed or scared, and it just...starts to happen. I'm guessing this month has been pretty rough for you, too, huh?"

Judging by how Varian looks. Luca's been stressed as well, seeing as he's been getting chased and hunted when that's exactly what happened to him back home.

"It's...not been easy, no," he admits. "A lot of stuff has happened all at once. It's been...pretty heavy."

Hard to deal with. And naturally, instead of talking about it, Varian shut down. He let his own insecurities feed one another until he's got to this point. Feeling like he's failed everyone, that the people he loves will get hurt because he's not enough to save them.

"Yeah, it's been hard for me, too. Especially with all the traps outside. It reminds me of having to avoid boats and being hunted all over again. It kind of helps when I talk about it or stick with people I trust, though. Or when I make myself a saltwater bath, but that might just be a saltwater fish person thing and I don't know if that would help you. Talking might, though."

"Yeah those...can't be helpful, sorry they're triggering bad memories. But having people you can rely on makes a big difference, and I promise you'll always have that in this house."

Varian doesn't make promises easily, but he's sure making one right now and sticking with it at that.

"Hah, you know, salt does help heal a lot of wounds and softens skin, so you might not be on the worst track. Talking is...probably the healthiest way around it though."

"Thanks. It really does mean a lot to me knowing that. And it's helped a lot having so many people see my true form, or know what I am, and so far no one here's had any issue with any of that."

Sure, back home everyone accepted them when Massimo made it clear that no one would be hunting them, but this is a whole new world with whole new people, and Luca hadn't needed anyone to intervene to make people accept him here. Sure, there were issues with the whole vileblood thing at times, but aside from this month with the weird hunting thing going on, it usually wasn't nearly as bad as how people back home reacted to sea monsters.

"Yeah. You can do both. Talk about what's bugging you, then take a bath and relax later. Maybe get some sleep."

Because he knows Varian isn't big on sleeping. Or eating. Or just acknowledging his physical needs when he's focused on a project.

"Anytime. And yeah, folks are...really tolerant here. I think because we've already seen and been through so much that very little surprises us anymore. People are just... people, y'know?"

That's how Varian sees it, anyway. And sure, when people are fresh off the metaphorical boat, they need time to adjust- but in his experience, they learned pretty damn quickly how to be decent people and not treat others differently for what they were.

"It's not a bad idea to uh...work on that."

Because Varian is really back at talking about what's bugging him too. It's going to be stark lesson for him a few weeks.

"Yeah. And I guess when there are actual giant beasts running around, a kid with scales and fins just doesn't seem that scary."

Really, anything you can reason with is probably less scary than the monsters in this place, or the beasts who have lost all reason. As for working on talking about what's bugging him...

"I mean, if you want to work on that right now, we can. We just talked about the bit of my past you saw, so it's only fair."

"Exactly! Especially when you're not actively hurting anyone."

Because he can't ever imagine Luca actually threatening anyone, much less willingly hurting them. It would be like being threatened by a puppy. A scaley, wet puppy, sure, but a puppy all the same.

He hesitates at the offer. Honestly, at this point, it's only fair that Luca knows about his past. He has every right to know who he's living with. But he's always nervous about it.

"...We can, but I have to warn you, I don't-" he shifts uneasily. "I don't have a great past. I did... a lot of bad things."

"That's okay. I mean, you don't do those things now, right?"

After all, Massimo went from wanting to hunt sea monsters to keeping Luca and Alberto safe. Besides, Varian's his friend, and if being able to talk about things is important to keep him from losing himself, Luca wants to help.

"It'll be okay. I mean, I'm pretty sure Reaper might have some dark and shady things in his past, and I still like him."

"...Not if I can help it, no. Not...on purpose."

He does have a point, and he's not as bad as Reaper, at least. But then Reaper's bar is very, very low. Okay, well. He can do this. He takes a deep breath.

"So. You know Rapunzel and I are from the same world, right? That...we know one another from there?"

Because this time, there is a familiar face to the person he hurt the most. He realises it might make the story...worse, somehow.

"Yeah, I know this place...does stuff to you."

Luca's had his own things he's done here that have completely horrified him, so he understands that Varian might not always be able to rely on his own actions being under his control.

"Yeah, I think you mentioned being from the same world. Or maybe she did. Either way, yeah, I know."

Varian's done some pretty terrible things thanks to Deerington's workings. But he's also done...really bad things of his own volition. As Luca's about to learn. Varian exhales, rubbing his arm subconsciously, telling himself it's better Luca learn this way than Trench forcing it out for him to see.

"Okay, so you've seen her hair? Obviously, you have it's...right there. It's powered by a magical artefact, called the sundrop," fun magical lesson there. "Anyway, back when we were getting to know each other, these black rocks started appearing in my village. They...reacted to her. It was like they were growing in search of her."

That's exactly what they were doing, even if he didn't know it at the time.

"I wanted to do something to help. They were destroying my home. Dad forbade me from doing it, but...hah, I think you can guess I didn't take to that all that well."

He had seen her hair. It was kind of hard to miss. There was a lot of it. He had no idea it was actually powered by anything, though, so Luca listens with rapt attention to the story.

"I mean, I definitely can't blame you for that. I've done so many things my parents didn't want me to do that I almost got sent to the Deep. Besides, you wanted to help."

But he assumes that there's more to the story, because Varian wouldn't be hesitant to share it if things didn't go very, very wrong somewhere.

"What happened?"

"Yeah, I did, at first, anyway," he'd been scared his village was dying, but he also knew he desperately wanted his father to see something worthy in him- that maybe if he managed to fix it his dad would be proud. "...It didn't stay that way."

Because Luca is right, it did go very, very wrong.

"I made a chemical compound to try and break down the rocks, Dad found out and was really mad about it. But the compound...reacted to the rock strangely. It created an ember that grew exponentially," he frowns, the memory very much burned into his mind forever. "It nearly caught me in it, but Dad pushed me out of the way just in time. He got stuck in it and it was encasing him. I...I went to Rapunzel for help, but the Kingdom was in the midst of a blizzard. She... she couldn't leave her people to help me."

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