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Post by qhostqrowls on Apr 24, 2024 6:42:23 GMT -6
Rika paused in front of the man, tail lashing side to side. She felt the faintest stirring of pity in her chest, buried deep beneath her desire to snap his neck and put him out of his misery. He wasn't attacking and wasn't much of a threat without his weapon, but she still felt uneasy leaving him down here with Vincent and Merit. He was clearly a guard of some sort.
She backed up, keeping him in her peripherals, and turned to the humans with a distinct expression of annoyance across her animal features.
"Shoot him if you have to." She said to Vincent. "Get out of here. I'll catch up."
She leapt back up the steep rockface, her claws dragging deep furrows through the stone. She panted heavily, standing over the idol and ignoring the stabbing pain in her side.
She wondered if smashing the hideous, manipulative thing would solve their issues, and begrudgingly decided it would probably only greatly exacerbate them, and that she should also not think about destroying it when it could so easily enter her mind and sense her desires.
The creature grabbed Merits jacket with her teeth and splayed her broad paw across the bottom in case it slipped out of the makeshift sling. Awkwardly, she made her three-legged way towards the cliff face, and began her careful descent.
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Post by beastly on Apr 27, 2024 20:02:42 GMT -6
Vincent did his best to catch the falling Dr. Nasr as she fell onto him, grunting in pain but preferring it over her falling painfully and loudly. The poor woman. He'd have to look at her ankle once they were out of danger. He helped her right herself with a sigh, then turned his attention to the approaching boots and the man that was lost. The mercenaries. They really weren't too far from where they'd left the mercenaries and their magician leader. He grimaced to himself, but nodded at Agent Ashrun.
Except he had no intention of leaving her by herself. Not with the mage potentially hot on their tracks. He wasn't about to yell and tell her that, however.
He made eye contact with Dr. Nasr, tilting his head towards the cave mouth. The worn looking man readied the gun and went to see if the pacing soldier was going to put up a fight when they tried to leave. If he did... Vincent would do what he had to. If he didn't, Vincent would crouch at the cave mouth and prepare to shoot the enemies he thought he heard walking their way. Rika was strong. She was a powerful creature. Vincent did not want to leave her on her own despite all of that.
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Post by jarahamee on Apr 28, 2024 1:07:33 GMT -6
Rika carried the idol in her mouth, wrapped in Dr. Nasr’s jacket. The object was heavier than it looked, but she could not have expected less from a hunk of strangely warm stone that she now carried in her mouth. The proximity brought strange feelings. As Rika slipped down the near-vertical surface, her paws were soundless, though the wrapped parcel jiggled treacherously every time she stopped, threatening to rip through the thin cloth, and tumble out onto the cave’s floor. Flashes of familiarity as the entry cave became her river, then returned. The two blurred together but the ground remained just as solid. The stumbling, zombie-like soldier remained where he was, facing away from them. Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened, and the idol remained safely wrapped during Rika’s descent. Dr. Nasr mouthed a ‘thank you’ to the man, pressing herself off of him in a way that she hoped wasn’t overly inappropriate. Then again, judging by the pin on his coat, he had no interest in women, in the same way that she had no interest in men. Merit stifled a pained sound as she righted herself. It was sprained or broken. Damn. She limped her way to the cave’s entrance, wincing as she stepped on the debris and small rock formations. Both painful and noisy. The worst possible combinations they could be. The pacing soldier staggered away from Vincent and Merit to move towards the back of the cave, which Vincent recognized immediately as the way the group had originally entered. He stood there, as if waiting, unseeing eyes fixed on what seemed to be the ceiling, his body swaying from one side to the other, as if barely able to move. He was no threat to Vincent, Merit or Rika, who moved around him without any apparent reaction, though soon, they had a good idea of what /had/ got his attention. Louder now were the familiar sounds of the mercenary’s boots, and more distantly, the echoing voice of their leader, the Magician. The faintest halo of the far end of their flashlights were already visible from the far end of the dark cave. MOVE OUT Came the idol’s voice, callous and emotionless as ever. Attachments:
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Post by qhostqrowls on Apr 29, 2024 5:06:38 GMT -6
The second Rika’s paws hit the floor of the cave she pushed herself into a run, the idol swinging precariously side to side. With the mercenaries so close, there was no time to lose.
Vincent had positioned himself at the mouth of the cave to wait for her, and she made a bark of alarm as she neared. Despite the language barrier the message was clear - get out of here.
The creatures form shifted back to human as she drew level, and she moved the bulky idol to under her arm, the other snaking around Merit’s waist to support her with her sprained ankle. She looked more worn than before, with dark circles under her eyes and a bloodied bandage around her hip, but she still retained her monstrous strength.
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Post by beastly on Apr 30, 2024 20:42:49 GMT -6
Vincent really didn't like their chances running. Dr. Nasr had been injured, he'd been injured, Agent Ashrun had been injured, he didn't think speed was on their side. It was not his job to make the calls, though, and agent Ashrun was indicating they should run, now. The big man went to try and grab Dr. Nasr, but Ashrun was fast and already on it. Good.
So, he ran, his hip protesting and his limp slowing him, but he pushed ahead.
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Post by jarahamee on May 1, 2024 20:22:15 GMT -6
As Merit, Vincent and Rika limped their way out of the cave, they saw the flash of the Mage’s light behind them, followed by the narrow beams of the remaining mercenaries searching from the far end of the cavern. The backlit figure of the Devoted Soldier, who stood bolt upright, almost puppet-like, arms held out as if to greet his former companions.
Their pursuers stopped.
The distance between the two parties grew. Somewhere deep in the cave, the soldiers’ voices echoed, distorted, with surprise and hostility. Were they trying to argue with him? Had he spoken? Either way, the footsteps behind them stopped, replaced instead by the sounds of a scuffle, and the menacing murmur of what Rika and Merit recognized as a spellcasting chant.
There was a familiar whine. The sound of a spell hurled, then, shortly after, the lack of sound that usually preceded a magical explosion. Something distant shattered, and they felt the wave of force across their backs. It was only the beginning. Merit pressed the other two forward, away from the impending explosion and the mouth of the cave as a second shockwave hit. This one was far more powerful, sending them flying forward in a hail of dust and debris. The ground rocked and trembled with a terrifying roar as the cave behind them collapsed in on itself, burying everyone and everything remaining inside.
Small boulders, twigs and dirt rolled around their ankles, and then everything just stopped. The world was alive with the chirping of birds. The air was clear and devoid of its previous aura of dread, like a curtain that had been lifted.
Do not mourn /him/.
He chose his life in the other world.
Said the idol with some finality, before becoming silent again.
Merit stared back at the other two, then patted off her jacket, and picked up her phone, holding it out into the air. She swung it around aimlessly, expression pensive, only to smile when all the reception bars filled. They could call for help.
Within an hour, an all-terrain vehicle had come to rescue them. Merit’s heel was patched, and Rika’s wound was properly bandaged, by Vincent. The three were briefly taken to the WDSA clinic, and had a both a briefing and a quick check up before being sent home for the evening, as if nothing supernatural had happened.
That evening, deep in the darkness, within the vault at the bottom of the WDSA building, the Idol called softly, but Merit ignored it, getting into her car to drive home.
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Post by beastly on May 2, 2024 22:43:43 GMT -6
Vincent dutifully patched up Dr. Nasr and carefully adjusted the bandages on the now human Agent Ashrun. He was able to keep himself thinking about their mission, their work, the artifact. The ride back to the WDSA was spent silently, at least on Vincent's part, watching the forest zoom by. The briefing was fine too. Vincent gave his answers, explained what had happened.
And then he was shooed home.
Home.
The hunter stared at the front of his house for what must've been close to twenty minutes before he opened the door. There was no Joey to greet him. Ilea didn't come running to the door to tell him about her bugs. There were no toys on the floor. No cartoons in the background. It was too quiet. His hands began to shake, and he didn't move until Malak- Malakhi found him in the door and called him in. Inside he went.
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Post by jarahamee on May 3, 2024 0:41:43 GMT -6
Malakhi knew something was wrong the moment that he laid eyes on Vincent, even without the knowledge that he had been outside for twenty minutes. Vincent was always a shy man, and sometimes not expressive, but this was different. There was a hollowness to him, like a barrier between them, almost like he had been the night that they had been attacked by the Wendigo.
He rose immediately from his seated position, making his way to Vincent while leaning on his cane for support. He gritted his sharp teeth as he grimaced with concern, studying his partner. The man was limping again, after all that work done on his knee, and he was bandaged. What had happened?
In the dim light, under the slightly luminous glow of his halo, he looked strikingly like Malak, even with the soft dark circles under his eyes, and his bulkier garments. Something told him the differences would become smaller as Malakhi grew in power. More confusing.
“What happened, Vincent? It’s late. Are you ok?”
Malakhi reached out to take his partner’s wrist, then turned his head slightly, narrowing his eyes. He had the very distinct sense that nothing was ok, but he had to ask.
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Post by beastly on May 3, 2024 16:30:52 GMT -6
Vincent took his partner's hand in his, biting the inside of his cheek. He didn't even know what to say to him. He didn't...Want to say anything. If he spoke, it was real. He didn't want to acknowledge it. But everything was wrong, and he didn't know what to do. He'd been able to hold it together through the cave, through the WDSA, but now, who was he? Where was he? What was he supposed to do? He met Malakhi's eyes, and the fog broke.
No, he wasn't okay. It was late. What happened had been awful.
He shook his head.
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Post by jarahamee on May 3, 2024 17:18:37 GMT -6
Malakhi saw the head shake, and his eyes widened slightly, before he pulled Vincent into a gentle hug. He’d have to look over all his scrapes and scratches, but that would have to wait. Vincent’s hair was dirty, his skin still flecked with grime, blood and sweat. He was trembling with fatigue. He needed rest, food, and a shower.
His harsh voice softened a little, and he reached out to pat his partner’s arm gently.
“…Alright. It’s ok. Sit with me a while, and then you should take a shower, and I’ll warm something up for you, ok? You look like you need sleep.”
As he led Vincent gently into the bedroom, he realized that it was going to be a very long, and possibly very strange night.
FIN
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