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Post by skati on Feb 23, 2012 4:30:51 GMT
Terry followed the voice, though it wasn't the only thing to go off of. The scent made it easy to find Sarah as well. "You OK?" he asked as he came into view. "You didn't seem so hot."
"WOOF!"
Terry was actually kind of startled when he heard the bark. It was rather high pitched. Terry looked around as the barking continued, then down. Below him was a wolf pup. It was circling his legs, barking. It also went over to brush up against Sarah's legs as well.
Terry knelt down to pet the pup. It clearly enjoyed this as it leaned its head more towards the hand. "What are you doing out here?" Terry asked with a smile. "Adventure time?"
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Post by Taya on Feb 23, 2012 11:34:09 GMT
Morrigan fought her first reaction to jump away from the wolf cub. She didn't want to startle it. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion at Terry's reaction, though secretly she was grateful for the shift in focus. Not many people would pet a wolf, even if it was a cub. Terry, however, was acting like this sort of thing happened everyday.
"You shouldn't touch him" Morrigan said crouching down next to Terry. "His mother might not like your scent." She kept her arms folded, so she wouldn't be tempted to reach out a hand to the cute creature. It was really cute, but the questions it raised she knew would keep her up wondering.
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Post by skati on Feb 24, 2012 3:54:03 GMT
"Eh, it's OK," Terry said as he scratched the pup's ears. "I'm sure its mom won't mind." The cub barked again. Terry smiled at the timing. It almost seemed like the pup was agreeing with him. Shortly after that, the cub rolled onto its back. It looked at Morrigan and barked again. Terry scratched the pup's chin. "How did you do that? At the lake."
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Post by Taya on Feb 24, 2012 19:31:56 GMT
"What? Push you?" Morrigan dodged with a laugh. "It was easy enough. You were distracted by your own greatness." She smirked at him as she stood again. Looking at the cub, she frowned again.
"I would think growing up on a farm you would understand the ways of animals more. Wild creatures don't like the scent of humans, unless... well they don't like humans. Even if this little one is a bit queer." Morrigan's thoughts turned briefly to her own familiar that had perished in the fire. He had been wild cat that had found her collapsed after a particularly rough spell.
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meilstrom
One Of God's Mistakes
Posts: 23
Hogwarts House: Gryffindor
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Post by meilstrom on Feb 26, 2012 4:52:32 GMT
The forest was what it always was. Calm and pleasant to the casual observer but, to someone who looked closer, it wasn't so nice. Life in the forest was a constant struggle and at any point in time an animals life could be snatched away by the elements, starvation, disease, or predators. Some people believe that nature is some all loving force that brings life. I call them naive. Others believe that it's a cruel heartless force that takes it. I call them fools. The truth is much simpler. Nature is neutral. It gives life and takes it away equally and without bias. But, looking at the sun creating shafts of bright light wherever it managed to shine through the canopy of branches and leaves above, and listening to the cheerful chirping of the birds as they rustled around in the bushes looking for bugs or berries; The forest really was a pleasant place.
I was walking along a small dirt path that ran randomly through the forest. It's usually a bad idea to follow a game trail since they have other trails randomly branching off of them and can end abruptly, leaving anyone following them hopelessly lost. However, one of the few good, and reliable, aspects of my 'gift' is that I have a flawless sense of direction. I came across a small clearing. And by small I mean my first office was a close second when it came to size. The trees were far enough apart that their was a large open space in the branches and the sun clearly illuminated the forest below. When I stepped into the light, the warmth of the sun made the rest of the forest seem cold and inhospitable. I decided to stop and relax for a while. I was here on a job but that didn't mean I couldn't relax and enjoy the scenery.
I sat for a while and considered the events that led me here in the first place. It started when I got a call from a mysterious client who claimed to be working for someone else. That someone else wanted me to look for a missing daughter since the local police were doing nothing about it and wanted the best. A very poor lie that I saw right through. I originally thought that the man who was calling me was the one with the missing daughter but now I wasn't so sure. I asked to see the girls room but he wouldn't let me. Normally I could just take a personal item from the missing person and use that to track him or her but that was out. I then asked for a picture of the girl but he refused again, claiming it would endanger his clients privacy. That was suspicious since, if I was going to be finding the girl, I needed some way of recognizing her. Instead, I was given a brief description. So brief that I could match just about anyone to it, including department store mannequins if I really wanted to. But, the client may have been unused to dealing with PI's and might be to worried to be thinking strait. It's been a while since an interesting case has come my way and I was also offered a good amount of money to come here and look around so, even though it might have been a setup of some kind, I decided to take the case anyway.
I allowed my thoughts to drift on to my surroundings. It really was a nice spot. The kind of place where you can go to just forget all your problems and responsibilities and really be yourself. I let my head clear and enjoyed the heat of the sun. I was just starting to get comfortable when I heard the whippoorwill. It reminded me of an old story my grandmother once told me. The whippoorwill cry is an omen that a death has occurred... or is about to. I opened my eyes and saw the bird standing a few feet away and watching me with a cold stare. I chuckled. “Now what could have happened here in this pleasant place?” I asked the bird. I then felt an ice cold sensation creeping up my spine. It felt like someone had cut me open and started pumping ice water up my spinal column. Something horrible had happened here. Something I missed because I was distracted by the beauty of the scene. The ice reached my head and I collapsed like a boxer with a glass jaw after an uppercut.
I found myself running through the forest from something. I was out of breath and my legs burned like I had just ran twenty or thirty miles through knee deep mud. Behind me the forest crashed and cracked as something tore its way through bushes and undergrowth to chase me. I fell to my hands and knees. My hands weren't mine. They were small with long, slender fingers. The nails on three of my fingers were torn clean off. I sprang to my feet and started running again. I could hear the feet of my pursuer thumping on the ground as it gained on me. A few seconds later I felt a large weight slam into my back and I slammed face first into the ground. I heard a loud cracking sound and felt some of my ribs break under the pressure. I screamed in pain but the worst was yet to come. I felt the creatures teeth bite into the back of my neck and the vision thankfully ended. Sometimes when something really awful happens somewhere it can leave a memory of sorts. Some people are lucky and don't notice it. Others feel uncomfortable or a feeling of dread. My kind were able to actually see the event or just know what happened. The visions were a little unclear at times. In this one the forest around me was dark after a few feet and the pursuing animal looked like a nightmarish mangling of different creatures. It was like I was seeing the worst fears of the woman all mixed together instead of an actual living being. “Never let your guard down. EVER!” My grandma used to say. “No matter how nice and safe a place may seem, it could be hiding secrets that you don't want to see.” As I slowly got to my feet I realized that the woman was killed right where I had been sitting. It was so calm and pleasant on the surface. You would never know someone was brutally murdered here. And what the attacker did to that poor woman made Vlad the Impaler look hemophobic. I hadn't had an attack like that since I was six and didn't know how to block the visions out. I brushed some of the dirt off of my clothes and wiped a bit of drool off of my face. I must have been convulsing while I was out. I had just finished brushing the dirt off of my pants when I felt the icy feeling again. I didn't have the strength to fight it off so I took the only action I had left. I ran.
I ran blindly in the direction I was facing when I stood up. I didn't care about trying to find a path or carefully pushing through the bushes as I ran. I just crashed through everything in my way that wasn't a tree or large rock. I didn't stop running until I was out of breath and almost collapsed. When I eventually caught my breath I surveyed my surroundings. The vision had left me weakened and my usually flawless sense of direction was now shot and I had no idea where the town was. I could faintly hear water nearby and found a small stream. I splashed the water on my face. It must have been from a nearby spring because it was freezing but it made me feel a little better. The stream most likely led to the lake so I followed it. Thats what I get for letting my guard down for a minute. I should have scanned the area before I allowed myself to relax like that but I was distracted. Then again. I probably wouldn't have even had the vision if the whippoorwill hadn't reminded me of the old legend my grandma told me. It was starting to seem more like there really were a bunch of animal attacks going on in the area but I didn't have enough to be certain. However, there was one thing that was certain. If I ever saw that whippoorwill again. I was going to shoot the bastard.
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Post by skati on Feb 26, 2012 18:14:53 GMT
Terry smirked as he listened to Sarah's comments. "I didn't grow up on a farm," he stated matter-of-factly. "And my foster father here is a doctor. Still, I've got a good bit of knowledge on the ways of animals." Terry flashed a predatory smile. "Besides, you don't get much more wild than me." In a way, that was true, though Terry was sure Sarah would never quite understand.
Terry's kind had always been that blur between beast and man. They were at once the best and the worst of both sides. They could show friends and family, even if they were only human (or only animal for that matter), a kind of loyalty and love that was unmatched by their peers. On that same token, their bestial side is just as capable of showing the same people a cruelty unmatched even by the harshest environments of nature itself. The trick was to find a sense of balance between the two extremes, so that ones does not go completely over to one side. To be entirely human is to forsake what makes them what they are. To succumb entirely to the beast makes them little more than mindless killers. At least, that's what his mother had always said. His real mother anyway.
Terry turned away as the last memory he had of her, a tearful hug before charging headlong into battle, assaulted his mind. He instinctively turned away from Sarah, away from the pup. The boy's eyes closed tightly as he fought off a tear, growling in the process. He could feel his body tense up. Terry fought for control of himself. This is not the place to change. Well, OK, it was...but it wasn't the right time, not with Sarah here to see him and not with the other kids so close by.
A whimper brought him back to reality. It was soft, but mournful, almost sounding like worry. It was just enough to break Terry out of his rage. Still, it took a lot of effort for him to finally start calming down. One by one, his muscles started to relax as the boy took in slow breaths. That one was way too close. The edge was still there, but at least the danger of shifting was gone now.
Terry looked down at the source of the whimpering. Even the wolf pup's eyes seemed to hold worry...and something else. Fear. Terry smiled gently, as gentle as he could manage in his current state. "It's OK, little one," he said as he reached to pet the cub again. The wolf, however, flinched. Terry stopped just a bit and lowered his hand, palm up. "You didn't do anything wrong." That did little to deter the cub. Instead, it took to hiding behind Sarah now. Terry let out a soft sigh in response.
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Post by Taya on Feb 28, 2012 0:45:29 GMT
Morrigan quickly dropped her arm back to her side as Terry turned back around. She had been about to try and comfort him, but had been a bit scared. Her shoulders were still tense from worry. As she looked between Terry and the now cowering cub. Something about Terry's shift in mood had frightened it. It frightened her, too. The air had crackled with a hint of magick and danger. Forgetting her earlier advice to Terry, she crouched down and petted the cub to calm him. Her eyes never left Terry. Questions hung in the air between them. But instead of voicing them, Morrigan spoke to the cub using a magick that was more natural. Growing up with a forest as a backyard and more recently a home, the red headed witch knew how to speak to animals to get them to respond the way she wanted. Ones that didn't want to kill her anyway.
“Hush, little one, everything is just fine. The big silly teenage boy won't hurt you. He's just a little weird. But he wants to be your friend.” Her tone was calm and soothing, even if she was still watching Terry very carefully.
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Post by skati on Apr 9, 2012 11:43:12 GMT
Terry allowed a small smile to touch his lips. "No argument there." Something about the scene before him, however, seemed off. The pup calmed down rather quickly...almost unnaturally. Could she be...?
Terry shook his head, clearing it. He sniffed once, taking in Morrigan's scent. There's no way she could be anything but human. If she were a wolf, like him, he'd have picked up on it. Nothing about her seemed particularly off...well, other than living out here in the woods, though that was something Terry had accepted long ago. To each their own. It's not like he hadn't done that before.
Almost as soon as Terry finished his thought, something else appeared. The feeling came out of left field, but there was no mistaking it. Something was wrong. Terry's earlier smile vanished almost instantly. A frown replaced it and his eyes narrowed as he swiftly moved in front of the cub and Sarah. His body tensed as he hunched over, hands held at his sides as if they were claws as he bared his teeth in a snarl. And snarl he did, the boy's eyes darting back and forth from tree to tree in the forest. It was as if he were determined to protect the two from whatever lay out here in the woods. If one paid close enough attention, they could see that his teeth had actually sharpened, as did the nails on his fingertips. It was subtle, but enough to make the boy look more menacing. His eyes, likewise, took on a more feral look.
Terry growled again. Such a weird feeling, this wrongness. Where was it coming from? Terry sniffed the air around him, trying to get a better sense of what was to come. There was one new one that he wasn't expecting. A human, one that seemed to be heading their way. But...what is with it? How could a simple human feel so wrong?
"Come out!" Terry snarled again, loudly this time.
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Post by Taya on Apr 14, 2012 18:09:08 GMT
Morrigan scooped the cub into her arms, trusting Terry's instincts. There was something different about him. She had never met anyone who snarled or growled like that. At least no one human. That thought brought her up short. Could Terry not be human? He had crazy good senses, but that's a talent that could be developed. The way he he seemed to be in the wild, but she was comfortable out here too. But she was different. Could Terry be different too?
She didn't have the time to consider these possibilities at the present. Terry thought something presented a threat. So something must be hiding out in the trees. Morrigan started to work on a barrier spell, though she was clearly shaken a bit. That was never good. She needed to focus. Shaking her head to clear it, Morrigan began to whisper power words under her breath.
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meilstrom
One Of God's Mistakes
Posts: 23
Hogwarts House: Gryffindor
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Post by meilstrom on Apr 16, 2012 2:48:27 GMT
John moved along the stream, hopping from rock to rock and grinning like a twelve year old. The stream was almost exactly like the one he used to play in as a kid and the fond memories put him in a good mood. As he dashed along, he could feel a light pressure in the back of his mind. His abilities were starting to come back. He was in such a good mood he was tempted to simply reject them and never use them again but denying them would be denying what he was, and besides, he needed them for his job. His job, he mused, was definitely a strange one sometimes. He was once hired to find a missing woman in a similar case to the present one. It wound up there was a maniac that thought he was a vampire kidnapping women and drinking their blood. He managed to save her just before the supposed vampire killed her. The vampire managed to get away but, the odd thing was, he kept getting the impression that the guy really was a vampire. It was crazy of course. There were no vampires. But, then again, there weren't any real psychics either.
He rounded a small bend and suddenly stopped. There was something off about the scene before him. Everything looked fine and there weren't any scents or sounds that were out of place but the feeling was still there. It was like a vague sense that something was out of place. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the feeling. It was a vague uneasiness and seemed to be coming from all directions. It took him a moment to realize it was coming from him. Some negative energy from the clearing was still clinging to him. He sighed. It always annoyed him when something like this happened but he knew how to deal with it. He knelt on a large stone, dipped his hands in the water, and placed them palms down on the creek bed. He pushed the uneasy feeling through his arms and into the ground. The feeling wasn't quite gone but it would finish going away on its own now. He stood up and wiped his hands on his pants and was about to continue along the stream when he heard a voice.
“Come out!" It challenged. It was a gruff sound. Almost a growl.
“What the hell?” John thought. The voice was coming from his left but the source was nowhere to be seen. He concentrated in the direction of the sound. There were two people nearby, one male and one female. There was something else there but, other than being small and some sort of animal, he couldn't tell what it was. Oddly enough, the male seemed have a similar energy about him. He could also sense a strange energy emitting from the female. He got the feeling it was protective in nature but he never encountered anything like it. It was like a form of will made manifest but not a psychic power that he had ever heard of. He had only encountered one other person with abilities like his before, and that person had attacked him in an attempt to somehow steal is powers. Complete nonsense but, if there were others that shared the belief, encounters with the others could be dangerous. It didn't matter, he knew how to defend himself from those kinds of attacks anyway. He could have tried to sneak away but he was curious. It looked like there was more to the small town than he had originally thought.
John looked down at himself. He was covered in twigs, small patches of dirt and mud, and his clothes were ruffled and untidy from rolling on the ground and running in the forest. Not the best way to look for a first impression but that didn't really matter. They might be less inclined to talk to him if he looked like a vagrant but there were plenty of other people to talk to in the area, and talking to people wasn't the only source of information. He walked in the direction of the voice and wondered what he would find.
When he finally reached the two people he was greeted by a scene he hadn't expected. They were in their teens, probably ten to fifteen years younger than he was. The male was standing in front of the female, a protective position, and the female was holding a wolf pup. She had the pup under its front legs, leaving the lower half of its body to hang down under her arms. It peered at him inquisitively with its head cocked to the side. The male had a strange look to him, his nose and jaw seemed to be pushed out slightly farther than normal and his ears had a slightly pointed look to them. He had a wild look in his eyes that reminded John of an illustration of Mowgli from The Jungle Book. His mother used to read it to him as a child and he could remember the image well.
“Hi there. If I'm trespassing on your land or something, I'm sorry. I fell down a steep hill and seem to have gotten lost.” John said. He kept his expression friendly but didn't smile. He wanted to seem like a tourist that had gotten lost and was now embarrassed, not a greeter from Wallmart. He knew they would probably ask him for his name so he decided to introduce himself first. It also gave him a chance to over explain his situation, it would seem like he was nervous and worried about trespassing on someones land. He remembered he had just been thinking about vampires. “Why not? I was just thinking about a vampire hunt.” He thought. Deciding on a name he continued. “My name is Trevor Belmont. I'm in the area on vacation. I was thinking of doing some fishing in the lake and decided to take a look around and scout out some of the good spots before I brought my gear down.” He didn't offer his hand.
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Post by skati on Jun 26, 2012 23:14:47 GMT
Terry remained silent as the individual revealed himself. On instinct, he sniffed the air. That strange wrongness still lingered. In fact, it seemed to come from the man before him. Terry couldn't stifle the snarl that passed from his lips.
Funny. Trevor, or whatever his name was, certainly didn't seem like much; seemed to be nothing more than human. Then why does he feel so wrong? It was with great effort that Terry forced himself to calm down. Sarah was still here, as was the pup. It wouldn't do to get too worked up over this. He relaxed his posture, albeit slightly, and smiled a bit. The boy was worried that the smile didn't quite look as benign as he wanted.
"Not my land," Terry said. "Not anyone's. Is it just fishing?" Terry supposed that getting lost could explain the human's strange feel. What else could it be?
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Post by Taya on Jun 27, 2012 16:28:08 GMT
There were several things Morrigan's sense seemed to take in at once. The man, Trevor, seemed to have some sort of negative signature hanging around him, but not from him. However, it was fading. What was not fading was the man's own sense of power. Whether he knew it or not, and she was pretty sure he did, Trevor had some kind of power about him. His story of getting lost didn't seem to fit with what she knew of witches. Morrigan was very good with directions in nature. True, she hadn't met many witches, but from what her mother had taught her because of their connection to the earth or various elements, getting lost was not something that just happened.
Then there was Terry. she had always noticed he had a more animal side, but it never felt so close, so near. He actually snarled. She suddenly felt like she didn't know the boy in front of her at all. With a bit of guilt, she thought,
*But he doesn't know me, either*
With two more mumbled words, Morrigan cast the barrier charm, just in case. It was weak, but then Terry had thrown her off. But it would at least warn her of any magical attacks directed through it.
"The fish have been pretty scarce lately." Morrigan said honestly. She knew from personal experience. Though now that she thought about it, she wondered if something was scaring them off. An annoying voice in her head was wishing she could be alone to work this out.
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meilstrom
One Of God's Mistakes
Posts: 23
Hogwarts House: Gryffindor
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Post by meilstrom on Jun 28, 2012 3:22:26 GMT
John ignored the snarl from the boy in front of him. A white collar worker who spent all his time in an office wouldn't have noticed it. He seemed agitated and, for a moment, John thought he really was trespassing on someones land until the boy smiled and replied.
"Not my land. Not anyone's. Is it just fishing?"
He knew the smile was just for appearance. He had seen plenty of smiles like it, though never on anyone so young. "What have you been through that you are so mistrusting?" he wondered.
John sighed with relief. "Good. For a second there I thought I was in some sort of trouble. Yes. I came here just to fish... Well... And relax of course."
The boy seemed just as agitated as before. But why? John wasn't acting threatening in any way, and he certainly didn't seem dangerous in any way with how ragged he must have looked. "Unless he can sense the negative energy clinging to you." He thought. He didn't have a chance to consider it further, he was distracted by a sudden rush of energy from the girl. He pulled a small twig from his hair, using the motion as an excuse to turn his head and look in the girls direction. She seemed to be surrounded by a thin sphere of energy. It flickered and dimmed, almost fading away at times, as if it was too weak to fully form.
"The fish have been pretty scarce lately." She said with a sincere tone.
"No worries." He replied with a friendly smile. "I usually only catch snags anyway, so fishing is always good." He chuckled at the joke. Providing his own laugh track like an 80s TV sitcom.
He wondered what kind of power the girl had. It was mentally controlled but it wasn't a psychic power. Almost like the energy were coming from somewhere else. His grandmother had always said it was possible to take energy from other places but he always thought it was superstition. He made a note to look in his grandmothers journal when he got back to the room. She gave it to him to help on his travels but he seldom looked in it.
"I would still be interested in any good spots if you're willing to share them. Or, if you can direct me to the lake or a trail that will lead me back to town, I would be grateful."
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Post by skati on Jul 5, 2012 17:44:39 GMT
Terry said nothing at first. The nearest lake was the same one he and Sarah had just came from. Could he keep a secret? He could tell him about one of the other lakes, but that would be a good deal out of the way. He may be weird, but Terry didn't really want to force him to go out of his way to get back to town, especially in his situation.
"You're...not going to be able to get much fishing done around here. Not at the moment, but maybe later in the day."
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meilstrom
One Of God's Mistakes
Posts: 23
Hogwarts House: Gryffindor
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Post by meilstrom on Jul 16, 2012 1:07:03 GMT
John turned back to Terry with a confused look on his face. "Oh? How come? I'm not much of a fisherman but I thought you could catch something pretty much any time of the day."
It then occurred to him that the lake nearby could be the party place for the local teen population. Unlike many people his age, he could still remember what it was like being a teen. "Well. It doesn't matter anyway. I eat dinner late so I usually fish when everyone else is eating. There are usually lots of fish biting around that time as well so even I have a chance at catching something."
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