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 Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2023 8:42 am
When she woke again, the late afternoon sun peered through the window slats and beat its way through her eyelids. Kaðlín groaned softly. Her head pounded, and for a moment, she wondered if she hit it or was just dehydrated. As she sat up and opened her eyes, she found that the sun had stained her vision blue for the moment.
The kitty clock on the wall, above the doorframe, read 4:32. Her stomach rumbled. She began to get to her feet –
Then froze as the strange happenstance from last night reached her mind. Kaðlín glanced down at herself immediately, patted herself down, but she was still in the same flowing tank top and high-waisted jean shorts that she remembered. Feeling relieved, she left the room in search of her suitcase for the first pair of ankle socks she could find.
She left the apartment in a mismatched pair of black stripes and plain white, not caring how it looked with her grey and teal walking shoes. She didn't care that she wore yesterday's clothes or that her hair looked like a tousled mess from sleeping on it. Kaðlín was starving. Her only mission was to find a place that sold cheap, easy food that would hold her over until she could go grocery shopping. With Aileen's apartment being in the center of a bustling commercial district, full of mom and pop stores alongside small chains and about a hundred different restaurants, Kaðlín felt relieved that she wouldn't have to be out for long in a city she didn't know.
Turning on her GPS, Kaðlín searched for the nearest diner, and was pleasantly surprised to find that one was within a five minute walk from her location, only a couple streets over. Google Maps instructed her to cut through an alleyway about three buildings down, then turn right and the diner would be on her right. She followed the map religiously, never tearing her eyes off of it until she reached the alley and the space around her felt much darker.
She looked up as she felt her skin crawl. At the opposite end of the alley was a bear missing half of its face. She stared at it, frozen.
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Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2023 1:22 pm
Hy-Brasil cursed at the shadow that moved within her peripheral. A long time 'friend' she thought had been banished. Recently, the effects of her 'corruption' had began to remain rest and even the bright sunny afternoon days couldn't keep them at bay anymore. "******** fantastic." She cursed again as dread roiled in her stomach. She'd only just started to get her life back again.
Not wanting to entertain the darkness of her mind, the Knight set off across the rooftops. The bright summer day meant she needed to be wary of her movements to keep her presence to those below unknown. It was difficult with any balconies or pseudo-balcony escape stairs and the people who opted to lounge out in the warmer weather. Not that Hy could blame them for it. She certainly had been doing the same as of lately by visiting a quiet little park, but it was a slight annoyance now.
A mid-day patrol wasn't a usual for her. Well...common enough that she had a route she tended to follow, but it was only a few days a month she'd bother. Night time, right now, was much more comfortable. That summer afternoon sun was a scorcher, especially when bundled up in multiple layers of fabric and leather. Still, Hy felt the need to do them here and there. It was a good change.
She paused on top of a 7 Eleven glancing around. Something felt off. She glanced around herself and below. People were milling around as normal. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but Hy knew that signature, and knew it had to be close if she was sensing it.
She bounced to the next rooftop. There!
An alleyway that worked as a through pass to the next road over was suspiciously darker than it should be on such a day. A young woman was standing stiff staring into the darkness while a hulking form stared right back at her. At least I am not too late.
Hy dropped down into the alleyway between the woman and the youma. "Oh. Well, you're a pretty one aren't you." She said, eyeing the bear-like youma. The half faced creature would have sent Hy running herself if she hadn't seen worse over the years.
"You alright?" She called to the girl behind her, giving her a quick passing glance over her shoulder. Her staff, the incense burner funneling small rivulets of smoke, was now clutched between her hands.
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Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2023 4:53 pm
She'd had a plan to back away slowly. An animal who was that grievously injured could be unpredictable, and bears' eyesight was already poor, so Kaðlín was prepared to take her chances and edge away from it. What she hadn't expected was a young woman dropping out of the sky on her, landing between herself and the bear.
This seemed to anger the creature. It bellowed at the redhead in a manner that only bears could manage — sounding massive and powerful beyond words. It was a sound that she felt reverberating in her ribcage. A sound that iced the blood in her veins. It was unique to experience that horror against the backdrop of sandalwood.
"Fine." She answered the question when her sense returned to her. Then she started digging into her tote. "Is that all you have?"
Kaðlín couldn't imagine that going toe-to-toe with a bear, in the manner that she seemed to be preparing for, would go well for her with nothing but an incense burner on a stick. If she thought that the smell would deter the bear, Kaðlín had half an idea to tell her that sandalwood wouldn't do anything to it. But with the way she held it, like a weapon more than an instrument to sage an area, she suspected the scent was more like a byproduct. But even if she used it like a staff, how could that possibly go well for her? Kaðlín didn't want to watch a massacre.
Not that she had much choice. "Here," she got out as she held her bear spray near the girl's arm. Even with that small gesture, the bear was already charging, its heavy paws pounding the pavement in resounding thuds.
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Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2023 4:55 pm
"It's all I need, I promise." She almost laughed, a wry smile gracing her face. The youma wouldn't be much of a problem. The space she was confined to might prove a bit difficult, but it also meant it was a bit easier to keep the civilian behind her. Assuming that the woman didn't do anything rash.
She eyes the bear spray. "I am good, I promise, that could just..." The bear had apparently grown tired of their chatter and charged. Hy stopped mid chatter, and pushed the girl back as she turned to face the creature. Her hands shifted on her staff closer to the top as she used the length of the staff and pushed it straight at the youma's face.
The bear was able to dodge the attack to the face by tilting it's head but it's shoulder took the brunt of it. It was enough to stop the straight on attack, but it pushed Hy back in the process. Boot heels smacked loudly on the pavement as the Knight worked to keep her balance. A youma was going to have strength when it was the literal size of a bear.
"When you get a chance to, run." Hy says, not turning her eyes from the malformed bear which recovered quick enough and was rising up onto hind legs to attack again. Hy couldn't get a full range of motion in the alley way, but the end of her staff came round to smack alongside the bears side.
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Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2023 6:05 am
Kaðlín stared at her in confusion at first. She could guess that a stick with an incense burner was a nonlethal way to discourage wildlife, but it seemed incredibly dangerous, and there was still the matter of the incense ball at the end that could double for a bludgeon. The whole affair struck her as inexplicably strange, but she could tell there was little she could say to the redhead to discourage her, or even to get her to try the bear spray.
Then Kaðlín gasped as she was being pushed back, the instructions to retreat still ringing in her ears. What was going on, exactly? None of this seemed normal. This wasn't the way people usually dealt with errant wildlife. It wasn't how errant wildlife usually acted, either.
She reminded herself that the people who lived here knew better than her. As much as she wanted to linger, watch, call 911 for the redhead so they could have animal control detain the creature, she guessed these were tactics that had already been tried and proven impotent. What worked must have been hitting the bear until it got the idea that it needed to leave, which was a massive disappointment for her.
With the bear distracted, showing the redhead as much aggression as it was getting, Kaðlín made for the exit back out to the main street. When she rounded the corner, she found it was largely empty, as if most of the people in the area knew to make themselves scarce, and it was only Kaðlín who didn't get the message.
She wanted to hang around and wait, ask if the redhead was okay, but it was a bear. She had an escape plan, right?
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Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2023 6:54 pm
The sound of retreating steps behind her was a good sign. A quick glance back as she side-stepped a charge from the youma confirmed that the civilian had actually heeded her words and made a run for it. Thank god. At least she didn't try to tell me how she could help, or worse, get involved. The girl had good sense. A good sense that would hopefully keep her out of trouble in DC. There was plenty to be found, after all.
The tussle with the bear youma hadn't taken long. With no one to protect, Hy was able to do what was needed, and soon enough she was coughing through a haze of dust as the beast met it's demise.
She waved a hand in front of her face as she stepped back and away from the cloud, turning to head towards the main street where the other girl had run too. It was quiet. As if anyone else around had known to make themselves scarce. "Seems she gone." It was fine. Honestly, for the best, because Hy hated having to try and explain anything. The girl had appeared unhurt too, so likely she was well on her way home to hole up for the night.
Going home sounded like a fabulous idea, actually. At this point, Hy could call it a successful night and do just that.
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