deercountry | because i'm not who i used to be

[Faith is on her patrol route, coming back from the Sanguine Graveyard and stopping in the inn for food after a few fresh kills. It's on the route back, not far outside the inn, that she hears a sharp scream and turns immediately.

One of the blisters burst. Great. Just what the doctor ordered. She's heard by now what happens when this occurs, beasts start getting attracted like moths drawn to a flame.] Alright, all of you get the fuck back indoors.

[She draws a sword from a sheath attached to the back of her leather coat and she twirls it in her hand in preperation. This'll be good. She barks an order at one of the hunters to go get people travelling up the road and escort them to the inn, and as they move to follow suit it's just Faith and this punk looking redhead chick. She gives her an evaluating look, only vaguely checking her out.] Can you fight? I'd sure fuckin' hope so.

Edited 2022-03-11 20:14 (UTC)

[ vi is not diggin’ the ambience as of late. trench as a whole isn’t exactly what anyone would dub pleasant, but vi is used to living in ruined, corrupted places. she can deal. what has her face in a perpetual frown though? the assortment of sacks, pulsing and straining with the amount of blood sitting heavy inside them. the townsfolk have been quick to sound the alarm on them: don’t let any of the contents touch your skin and if one bursts, run.

well, one bursts and vi, at least, follows the first warning.

she’s finishing up the strap on one gauntlet when miss-in-charge tosses her a glance and a few words that have vi deepening that frown. work together, is the kind of advice she should take, but vi has yet to figure out how to play by other’s rules. she can handle herself, thanks, and so, she will. ]

Worry about yourself. [ she gets the other gauntlet on and knocks the ends together, metal dinging. ] And watch where you’re swinging that thing.

[ easing into a loose stance that has her more on the balls of her feet, she brings her fists up and looks around. monsters, the townsfolk said the blood attracts monsters, so they should be coming in at – ah, they are quick. ]

Got it. [ only one and an ugly thing at that. she thought she’d be more prepared. people corrupted by shimmer are monsters… but not like this. fear climbs up her throat even as she runs closer, which in turn only makes her mad at herself. get it together, focus, deal the blow – which she does, with a vault forward and a swing that throws her whole body into it. it knocks the beast down into a dead-weight heap… just too bad that isn’t the only one afterall. seems the other three were running late. ]

[Faith lets out a sharp laugh at Vi's tough guy routine, bringing her sword into a fighting stance. The monsters in this place are different from the ones peppered all over her world, but not by much. She still takes a lot of pleasure in killing them.] Sure, sure.

[But it looks like ginger's stolen the honor out from under her. She grins when she sees the others roaring forward. One of them's faster than the first, with too many thin almost skeletal arms and a head that seems to lack anything except a crack that splits open into rows and rows of teeth, the other is a lot bigger than either of his fighting companions, and a lot slower, an amalgamation of different sorts of animals and mythological monsters, it screeches and flame seems to burst from it's beak briefly.

The second is sprinting impossibly fast, bounding straight for Vi, and it leaps up in a pounce to get her. Fortunately for Vi, and unfortunately for the monster, Faith intervenes and dives in the way with her sword out, impaling the thing on the tip. It tries to swipe at her even as she has the thing impaled, limply swinging it's stringy arms but Faith hurls it against a tree.] Nice one, Ginger. Make sure it's dead though.

[The third lumbers toward the two of them. They still have about ten seconds before he makes it. Faith uses that time to dart toward the monster she recently impaled.]

[ the first of the three meets a similar fate to the other still in a heap on the ground. vi dances back on a one, two skip on the balls of her feet, dodging the swipe of an arm and then ducks in close, to swing her arm round, slamming the curved end of her gauntlet into the monster’s head. mouth? whatever. either way, it’s hard enough to dislodge some teeth, not that the monster is in short supply of those.

adrenaline runs high but there’s a skip in her concentration, one that has her faltering and staring. so these are the kind of creatures found in this world? vi’s seen some shit but nothing quite prepares someone for facing down quite literal monsters. she glances up late and it would have been disastrous for her, if faith hadn’t been there to intercept the attack. vi exhales unsteadily, looking to faith. so perhaps vi was hasty in her brush off. it’s not that she doesn’t want back up; she simply isn’t used to sharing her battles anymore. not after her little circle was decimated and she was left to weather the abuse of stillwater alone.

she doesn’t say thanks, but she does give the slightest beginning of a grateful smile. she’ll even let ginger slide. a nod comes next. ]

Right. [ there’s one more monster to worry about but faith runs off and vi turns back to the two heaps. check? she does so by pummeling the skulls in of both. it’s an overkill, a move that splits skin and tears orifices to splatter blood. the smell is thick in the air almost immediately. vi coughs and turns away, feeling weirdly unsteady. one more. remember one more. she urges herself to shake it off and get ready, but when she settles her gaze on the last monster, it’s not charging her way. it’s already diverted course. ]

Yo! Watch it! [ the blood spilled from faith’s blade seems to have attracted the other beast already. vi grimaces, giving her head another stubborn shake as she chokes on that pungent smell. ] Incoming your way! [ the beast is slow on the attack but it doesn’t need to be in close range to do damage. opening its beak wide, it inhales deep and then lets out an ear splitting screech, one that has vi dropping to her knees, trying to cover her ears. ]

[Faith hears Vi's warning moments after raising her sword to strike, and it's far too late to avoid an attack, let alone a scream that hits her to her core. Her grip on the sword is shaky and she's actively resisting the urge to uselessly block her eyes.

They burst anyway, vileblood spilling from her eardrums, and Faith tries to drown out the pain and overwhelming pressure by focusing on her anger, her animalistic impulses, the beast within. She shuts her eyes and lets her rage carry her forward, and before she knows it she has thrown her sword into the monster's open mouth.

It lodges itself into the upper ridge of the monsters beak, and Faith can't even get a good enough look to assess the damage, but she can hear that she's causing it's screams to turn into a panicked howl as it raises it's talon-like claws to get the sword out of it's mouth. The howl turns into whimpers that hardly have the same quality, and Faith feels her balance start to give out.

Of course, panicked and lashing out as it is, it's going to take a swipe and leave a deep cut on Faith's chest, causing her to go down like a sack of potatoes. She's still too stubborn to be out of the fight, but she clearly needs the help as she attempts to squirm her way back into a standing position.]

[Faith steps back into the house fairly late at night, or VERY early morning, depending on how you look at it. She's got a weary sluggishness to her step, as she tends to do when she comes back from a hunt.

She drops down on the old victorian leather sofa, without really looking. She tends to sleep on here more often than the bed. The bed's almost too comfortable. It's only then that she seems to notice Tara is sitting on the exact same sofa.]

Shit, didn't realize you'd be awake at uh... three o'clock in the morning.

Edited 2022-03-19 04:25 (UTC)

[Faith has no idea how long she's been in this tomb anymore, but this room in particular pretty much happens to be wall to wall with skeletons rising from the dead and clattering over with their weapons that their ancestors were shitty enough to bury them with.

She raises her axe and slams one of their skulls against the wall with a grunt, ducking out of the way of one of their swords and doing a back roll to get some range from them.

It's when the door creaks open and she realizes there's someone else that she pauses to block and glance to see who it is.]

Hey, man, can you give me a hand with these?! [She calls out to Dirk. Normally she'd stubbornly insist on doing it herself, but she knows he's pretty badass in his own right.]

Edited 2022-03-19 04:32 (UTC)

[Faith's been carrying a big sack on her shoulder, the corpse of the banshee she and Alisaie killed an hour or so ago kept intact by it's burlap protection. She rocks up to the Bone House, still feeling a bit awkward about freely coming and going from this place, and knocks on the door.

She figures she might as well shoot him a text as well.]

Just outside with the package you ordered.

Edited 2022-03-19 04:51 (UTC)

[ A skeleton opens the door for her, because of course it does. Just inside is the grand old foyer with its bone-patched marble floors. But the skeleton clatters aside, bare-boned feet clicking on marble, as John comes down the hall to meet her. ]

Oh, good, my pizza's here. [ He cracks her a smile and waves her in, banshee-bundle and all. ] Mind carrying that to the study? I have many skills, but upper body strength has never been among them.

[She lets out a huff.]

You know, somehow I think if you try to put this on a pizza, you'll put the pineapple debate to shame.

But yeah, sure thing, boss.

[She hauls the monster over her shoulder walking inside the house. She still can't help but glance around in awe when entering this truly massive house.]

[ The house is a lot. It's a crumbling old Victorian, shored up by bone and decorated in fading blacks. There are sparks of life here or there: a potted fern, some clutter in the living room. Abandoned tea mugs and notebooks which must be his.

He waves her to the study, which is only more of the same. It's sparse compared to the grandness of the house, but here the mugs and notebooks have multiplied. ]

Don't worry about the hardwood. [ As though she was. ] You can set it just there, on the ground... I've got a trick for managing the mess. No need to stick around for the disassembly, it's not pleasant by the standards of anyone who didn't grow up around bone.

[ He doesn't say it like a dismissal, though. If anything, he waves her towards the little sofa as he drops into a chair. ]

I'd love to hear about this one.

[Looking down at the floor, she internally panics at that reassurance. Was she supposed to be mindful of the hardwood (whatever that is) this whole time?? But no, he says don't worry about it, so she relaxes.

She drops the dead banshee down on the ground, wiping the beast blood off of her leather gloves. Nasty. She'll probably need to do her nightly checkup for corruption soon.]

Eh, I can stomach a lot. [It's one of her childish brags, like the way she boasted to the Mayor (why do her thoughts always drift to him around this guy) about jumping off a waterfall that everyone else was too scared shitless to give a chance. But then again It's not pleasant to cut open a living person either, so it's not like she's wrong.]

It was haunting the graveyard in Darcmouth, screaming at the dead so hard they'd raise, either as ghosts or zombies or... you know, skeletons. Me and a friend of mine swung by to kill the bitch again. [It was a bit more of a trial than Faith is making it out to be, but she's not lying. It's pretty clear what her weapon was, based on the rifle holstered on her back.] Lots of deafening screams. Probably should have brought earmuffs.

You brought me a monster that raises the dead. [ For a hanging beat it seems like he might find that offensive, somehow: then he cracks a smile. ] Custom-selected for me? I appreciate it.

[ The God of Necromancers makes a wholly unnecessary gesture, and the Beast blood on her gloves dries before her eyes. It flakes away, tarry and insubstantial, like dust to his floor. ]

Anything you can tell me about its undead? Ghost, zombies, skeletons— the last two are the same by most counts, but it's the ghosts that interest me.

[If there's one thing Faith's mastered from a long life of horrors between horrors, of the mundane kind, and of the supernatural, it's hiding her fear.

So the only sign on her face that she looks worried about his reaction is a raised eyebrow in confusion, before she just looks slightly baffled but amused. The weight in her stomach doesn't lift but there's at least a small smile on her face.] Yeah, you're welcome. Late Christmas present, I guess.

The ghosts were a lot like the zombies and skeletons, just harder to hit, 'cuz instead of being from the flesh or bone it's just the spirit. Mixing blood magic with bullets worked wonders, though. Just had to shoot 'em and they'd fade to smoke.

[ His lips twitch at late Christmas present; it's a funnier joke than she knows. ]

Sounds like you really took it in stride. I'm lucky to have an expert on hand.

[ He means it, is the thing: it's the same tone with which he'd complimented her kicking skeletons clean across the beach. ]

So, professional opinion, you think we'll find more of these still up and roaming? I'd be interested to see them work.

[She smiles more genuinely, only a bit bashful. She's felt at multiple points like being a Slayer isn't as big a deal as it was in Sunnydale, or LA, or Boston. So the praise does make her feel proud.] Yeah, well. You hired the best, you get the best.

[She almost laughs at "professional opinion", even if it's not exactly wrong. It's always the Watchers who refer to themselves that way. Maybe because they actually get paid.]

Banshees? I doubt I drove the whole population into extinction by shooting one in the face, no. They don't seem super common but it didn't seem like the monster was some never before seen kind of thing for the locals either. I'm sure there'll be more screaming women in the sea.

I can try and bring you a live one next time, if you want. [She sees no ethical problems with this.]

Edited 2022-04-08 03:11 (UTC)

[ That's useful, because John's relationship with ethical problems has been funny for a couple thousand years now. Or longer.

Or always. ]

Could you? I'd love to get a sense of what necromancy means to them... how my work differs from the thing they do. Could teach me a bit about how Trench regards this sort of power.

Yeah, sure. [She's not even sure it is necromancy, but Faith's not exactly confident in her magic nerd status.]

Seems like you're learning a lot about how Trench works. Any specific plans, or just general wizard curiosity?

[ He cracks a sharper smile at wizard, as though she's told a joke. She has no way to know it's only ever said to his people as insult, or that no one dares say it to him. ]

Anything to give us a bit of a handle on the chaos. Figuring out the hows and whys is a good start.

[He's full of weird reactions today. Unsure of what she said that was funny, Faith presses on.]

Well... if you need anything for that, you just gotta call me. Maybe there's some way to stop the specific effects.

Had to do a whole... confession to Ange last month. Sucked.

Edited 2022-04-13 03:22 (UTC)

because i'm not who i used to be | March Catch-All

BLOOD IN THE CUT (CLOSED TO VI)

no subject

no subject

no subject

sorry for the lateness, this got lost in my inbox

STRONGER THAN DIRT (CLOSED TO TARA)

SINNERS, GATHER ROUND (CLOSED TO DIRK STRIDER)

NOW I LAUGH AND MAKE A FORTUNE | (CLOSED TO THE EMPEROR)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

SHARON PLACEHOLDER