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Post by MP on Feb 13, 2024 2:28:58 GMT -6
Ahendra drew herself up, eyes flashing. She strode forward, stopped firm at the edge of the slope, as if to block the werewolf's path.
"This is not a negotiation. You don't need to eat."
Ahendra flung out a hand, indicating Faolan where he lay pinned. The pooka laid its ears flat, red eyes staring balefully up at her through its mouthful of skin.
"You gluttons treat this like a game. Like they're just eggs you can pull out of the nest when it suits you."
The woman raised her voice for the last few loitering hunters to hear. By now, several were looking on with varying levels of interest.
"Look again. Humans don't grow on trees. Every one is a risk. Every ounce of flesh is precious, limited supply. And today's supply is for the blood drinkers, and then for the flesh eaters who actually need the food."
While she spoke, the first screams started in the forest - raw sounds of primal terror. There were other sounds too. Whoops and laughter. A figure came stumbling out of the forest, hand clasped to a bleeding side, stumbling, changing course as pursuing figures repeatedly cut off its retreat. The man was being herded - herded, like livestock - back toward the watchers. At the sight of him, the last lingering hunters sat up and began to saunter forward.
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Post by qhostqrowls on Feb 16, 2024 1:06:17 GMT -6
Jennifer bared her bone-white teeth, her stare direct and aggressive. But when Ahendra stepped forward her confidence waned, and her tail tucked beneath her belly as the lecture began.
The wendigo scowled, casting a petulant glance towards the pooka. It was obvious neither of the young predators were truly listening, but they knew when to obey - whether they liked the decision or not.
"Whatever." The werewolf spat, and sat back on her haunches in defeat. The wendigo slunk off to sulk by the demon, and lit up a cigarette with a self-pitying sigh as the screaming began.
Faolan flinched hard at the first scream, bile rising in his throat. He felt the beginnings of a tremor in his fingers, and his hand slid from the pookas fur to brace against the grass, nails biting into the dirt. His heart raced as fast and erratic as his thoughts, each one more panicked and desperate than the last.
Any bravery he'd mustered had fled with fangs so near his throat. A red-eyed super raked her claws across the man's back, and the resounding laughter almost drowned out his thin cry of pain. The doctor squeezed his eyes shut at the spray of blood, turning his face away as they closed in, his expression crumpled and on the verge of tears.
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Post by MP on Feb 17, 2024 1:26:48 GMT -6
"Going. To waste this opportunity?" The pooka's voice purred next to Faolan's ear, spoken through dog's teeth. At least it meant they were out of his shoulder. "That will be you. You know. Running from the. Teeth in the dark."
Finally, mercifully, he stepped aside. The dog's head lowered, its hot breath whispering sweetly into Faolan's ear.
"I'm doing you a. Favor. You get a sneak peek. As they say." A low chuckle. "You won't even look?"
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Post by qhostqrowls on Feb 19, 2024 22:41:16 GMT -6
The human cringed back, wishing he'd kept his eyes closed with the dogs grinning muzzle only inches from his face. His gaze flitted nervously between his aggressor and the violence unfolding below.
Blood. Teeth. Dark. It was exactly what Crow had foreseen. Blankly, absently, Faolan pressed a shaking hand against the puncture wounds on his shoulder. The lord was gloating, but he was right. He might be the only human in the realm to watch the Hunt - to get the chance to plan.
The man was begging, backing away unsteadily, the hunters closing in like wolves to a kill. He turned in a desperate, wild circle, and found himself surrounded. Faolan had been counting the predators. Trying to guess their species. But he couldn't keep watching when he knew the man was seconds from his death.
"I can't. Please - I'm sorry," He said brokenly, knowing it was exactly what the pooka wanted from him.
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Post by MP on Mar 5, 2024 2:19:10 GMT -6
The dog parted its jaws in a horribly human laugh. The shape of its muzzle, the way its head turned, all of it was subtly wrong. Un-doglike. Inhuman even as the dark shape took on the form of a man.
"So ungrateful." A hand gripped Faolan's head by the hair, forcing his gaze ahead. The smile was audible in the pooka's voice. "Look."
The man was not the only one who had been herded back. Two others had been herded back to the starting point. One was corralled by multiple hunters, but the second was being harried by a lone winged super, and it was this hunter who earned the loudest whoops and cheers of the watchers. She turned and flared her mottled wings, showboating for the crowd and simultaneously buffeting her victim flat as he tried to scramble past her. Human screams and pleading indicated this wasn't the only group attempting to head back. And these were the lucky ones.
From the deeper woods, the screams changed. They became more guttural. More animal in their desperation. It seemed not every hunter opted to play the game. Some had begun to feed.
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Post by qhostqrowls on Mar 13, 2024 20:10:32 GMT -6
The huntress slammed a clawed foot against the man’s chest, and even from the distance Faolan heard the crack of something breaking. He cried out, clutching a hand to his ribs, and there was a resounding cheer from the crowd as she dug her talons into his skin and flared her wings to take flight.
As effortlessly as an owl with a mouse, she took to the sky. The man’s screams faded, leaves spiralling slowly downwards from where they’d broken through the canopy.
There was a momentary hush. Even the pack of hunters paused, their prey pinned and shaking, waiting.
The man plummeted down, the super swooping after him. She went to catch him by the arm, and missed, landing hard and ungainly, wings outstretched to slow her descent.
Her prey landed harder - his leg snapped at an unnatural angle, bone jutting through the skin. He wasn’t screaming anymore as he curled in on himself, and even if he had the baying of the crowd would have drowned it out.
Even the predators that had been denied the hunt were getting caught up in the excitement. The werewolf’s tail was wagging, the demons dark eyes drinking in every little detail of the suffering.
Faolan pressed a hand to his mouth, chest heaving, and bit down hard on his tongue to try and stop himself from crying. He didn’t want to give the lord the satisfaction, but as the pack converged on their prey - one at each wrist, another at their throats, he felt the burn build behind his eyes and claw up his throat.
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Post by MP on Mar 13, 2024 23:47:22 GMT -6
Ahendra tsked and turned to go.
"This doesn't happen again, pooka," she said over her shoulder. "Next time you bring him here, he goes in with the rest."
The man looked up sharply, indignation on his features.
"Ungrateful worm. This is. OUR court." he called after her.
When she didn't turn, the pooka released Faolan, jogging to catch up with the woman. For a moment, he reached out as if to seize Ahendra by the shoulder. But at the glare she turned on him, he faltered, hand dropping to his side. He kept pace with her instead, his victim forgotten in light of this new indignation.
"We host you. Shelter you. You only have. Such luxuries because of. OUR good grace."
"Don't try to count me in with the bloodhounds." Ahendra hissed at him. They were still striding away, giving Faolan precious distance from his tormentor. "I'm not your court, I'm not your hunt mate, and I sure don't get anything out of these hunts but a headache. You had me streamline this whole fool operation; you don't get to come whining back when you suddenly have to abide. Despite what you seem to think, the world doesn't blind itself for the fae."
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Post by qhostqrowls on Mar 14, 2024 23:01:48 GMT -6
Faolan turned to watch the lord leave, cringing when his voice rose. He knew better than to think anger at another would mean any kind of reprieve for himself. It only meant his foul mood would be taken out on him later.
Most of the hunters were engrossed in the unfolding carnage, but a few stares had slid away to the argument, and now settled, hungrily, on the unattended human.
The screams below reached an agonising pitch. Faolan slowly pushed himself to his feet, and took a cautious step towards the forest.
“Get back here, boy.” Drawled a voice from behind.
Long fingers dug deliberately into the bite wound, and he hissed out a breath as he was forcibly turned around.
The pale man smiled down at him, and Faolan dropped his gaze immediately. There was something rotten and entirely evil in the depths of his empty eyes, and he held his breath when the demon leant in.
Azaels gloved grip shifted to his face, pressing hard against where he’d been struck. His smile widened when the human winced, and he cast a lazy, sideways glance towards the bickering duo, a forked tongue flickering out from between his perfectly white teeth.
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Post by MP on Mar 24, 2024 22:11:13 GMT -6
It was Azael's glance that was his mistake. The pooka, checking over his shoulder in that moment, paused. Red eyes locked on Azael's and held his stare. He paused, waiting for the demon's response.
The sudden merciful silence had Ahendra's attention too. She checked over her shoulder - not at Azael, but at the pooka, eyebrow raised in a way that suggested some familiarity with his temper. She clearly hadn't expected him to run out of indignation any time soon.
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Post by qhostqrowls on Mar 27, 2024 3:19:34 GMT -6
The demon stared back flatly. His smile didn't fade, but there was a sourness behind the expression as he sized the lord up. His grip tightened painfully as the silence stretched on.
Azael drank in the malice and indignation of the predators, the fear and pain of the human, and finally dropped his hand, sated by his brief taste of suffering. Faolan drew back, shoulders hunched, when he stooped to his level.
"Run along now. I wouldn't keep him waiting if I was you."
The demon flashed a magnanimous smile at the pair as he straightened, an edge of smugness to the expression, and slunk back into the crowd to savor the finale of the massacre.
Faolan folded his arms around himself, stalling and reluctant to return to his tormentor. When he finally looked to the pooka, he felt terror claw back up his throat like vomit. In the end he stayed in place, waiting warily for a command.
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Post by MP on Apr 16, 2024 1:26:06 GMT -6
The obedient glance seemed to please the pooka. He raised a lazy hand, as if calling a dog to his side. He didn't even bother to issue a command as he began to stroll away.
Ahendra was still watching. Her eyes flickered from the pooka to Faolan to Azael and back again. As Faolan drew level, her eyes fixed on his mangled shoulder.
"Human. Come here," she said suddenly.
In the distance, the pooka stopped dead. Turned to look at them. His eyes locked on Faolan's in silent challenge. Expectant. But he said nothing to interrupt Ahendra, nor did he step back toward them.
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Post by qhostqrowls on Apr 17, 2024 23:00:59 GMT -6
Faolan stopped short, glancing nervously to the woman. He could feel the weight of the pookas stare on him and hesitated for a long moment, torn.
But the lord was not the one who could kill him with a look, and he stepped closer to Ahendra, resigned but less reluctant than he'd been when trailing after the fae.
"Yes?" He asked softly, hoarsely, not quite meeting her eyes. He remembered the man she'd killed - the way he'd spasmed and died with his face contorted in agony, and she'd done it as carelessly and calmly as she'd just called him over.
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Post by MP on Apr 18, 2024 0:56:02 GMT -6
"Follow."
The pooka's wrathful stare or the doctor's uncertainty didn't concern her in the slightest. Ahendra led them from the clearing at a languid walk. The mist curled about Faolan's feet, unveiling glimpses of paths that seemed to shift in this direction or that, threatening to draw him down unknown paths. It was only close to his guide that the ground seemed clear and certain, and so the arch that reared from the mist came upon them like some deep sea creature, yawning and hungry.
It was a simple building compared to the meandering walls and courtyards of Faolan's prison. Three walls and the yawning arch was all there was. Various shelves lined the walls, their surfaces cluttered with all manner of herbs, bottles, and powders. Inside, a thin fae turned to watch them with sharp, mistrustful eyes. Ahendra pushed Faolan in her direction.
"I need a patch job," she said. "No scars, no alterations, no faerie dust."
After a moment's appraisal, the healer stretched out long fingers. She held Faolan's arm gingerly, as if he were a mangy stray off the street, then nudged him back to Ahendra.
"I can't un-bleed them," she remarked sullenly.
Ahendra snorted.
"Take it up with the gluttons then, but fix the rest."
Muttering to itself, the creature shuffled over to its shelves. A mutter, a swirl of fingers through sludge, and several dashes of questionable liquid resulted in a tar-colored paste. The creature gathered it into a smooth wood bowl. This and a second covered bowl she carried back to Ahendra.
"If you please," she murmured. The fae held the covered bowl out expectantly, keeping the other protectively close to its chest.
With an irritated grunt, Ahendra seized the bowl, opened her mouth, and sank sharp fangs into the covering. She worked her jaw slightly, and curved canines flexed along with the motion. After several long moments, she extracted her fangs. Faolan had one unnerving glimpse of them sliding back to normal human position before they were gone. Ahendra returned the bowl, trading it for the bowl of paste, and turned to go. As she went, she thrust the bowl of paste into Faolan's hands.
"Rub it into the bites."
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Post by qhostqrowls on Apr 20, 2024 1:03:31 GMT -6
"Thank you."
Faolan cradled the bowl to his chest, trailing after the basilisk. If he used only a little, found somewhere to hide it, it could be shared among the survivors. There was no shortage of minor injuries among them. And if the pookas malicious stare had been anything to go by, he'd be needing more of it in the days to come.
He glanced over his shoulder at the healer and her hut, watching the mist swallow the structure until it faded into the gloom of the forest. Even the thought of returning to the hall made him feel sick and shaky with fear. The others would ask about Mateo. If he told them, they'd panic. If he didn't, then it had all been for nothing.
And the lord would be waiting - or not, and he didn't know which was worse, because he'd come eventually, unexpectedly, and with no shortage of anger to take out on him.
The doctor dipped his fingers into the paste and into the deep puncture wounds in his shoulder, noticing, despondently, his dirtied, bloodied, torn-up shirt. He was starting to look as faded and grimy as the humans who had been kept for months. But it had been worth it to provoke the lord, just for this slim chance of an opportunity he now found himself with.
"He'll do it again to spite you." He said softly, matter-of-factly, gathering his tattered confidence and falling into step with Ahendra. "I've heard how they talk about you."
If they had one thing in common, it was a mutual hatred for the pooka. Time away from his tormentors was precious, and in her own terrifying way the woman seemed reasonable - for a creature organizing the kidnapping and blood-sport hunting of hundreds of humans, that was, but it wasn't as if he had the option to be picky.
"Neither of them respect what you say." He continued, heart in his throat. "The lord least of all.”
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Post by MP on Apr 20, 2024 1:48:46 GMT -6
Though a long few minutes passed without effect, the pain gradually ebbed away. More than that - the bites no longer bled. And as they walked further, the wounds began to seal. Ahendra took no more notice of this than she did the living mist or the endless twilight. She didn't so much as glance Faolan's way. But it seemed that the unguent she'd given him was as potent as anything to be found in the WDSA's medical stores.
"Don't mistake necessity for kindness, agent," she said coolly. "I need you whole in case we have to dump your body back on the street. Or in case they get carried away. That's all."
Her nose wrinkled.
"I know perfectly well they flaunt the rules. The council makes sure the lords get their way, and the vampires are no better. Parasites playing royalty. Pah."
Bitterness edged the words. But Ahendra's harsh features didn't seem angry so much as tired. Faolan's words seemed to have stolen the straightness from her shoulders, and she approached their destination with as little enthusiasm as he. She shook her head with a mutter, though the words were inaudible.
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