|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2024 12:06 pm
Quote: The Horseman (13) : Fog is not uncommon in the latter half of the year, so it’s no surprise that Destiny City has been plagued by it. Historically, it has never brought anything good. Walls of white so dense that a deep breath feels like drowning, the rolls across the city in the late hours of the night like a herd of stampeding horses. You can hear them, too–the gallop of hooves. You can’t see it, but you hear a single horse, massive. Trotting behind you. If you speed up, it speeds up. No matter where you go, it follows. Sometimes, you can feel an icy breath on the back of your neck. It’s uncomfortable and unnerving, and there’s the distinct feeling of being followed by some sort of predator. It’s worse, if you run. It chases you. If you look behind you, you’ll see nothing but a dark, swirling mass, and sometimes the glint of a large blade. It’s terrifying. There’s no way to fight it, but if you’re lucky you can hide. If it catches you, you feel a painful sensation around your neck before the horse and its dark rider disappears into the night. Your heart feels like a bomb in your chest, and when you are somewhere safe you may find a deep, red mark on your neck, as if someone attempted to lop it off. The injury will fade after a few hours, but unfortunates may find a strange mist lingering outside of their window, accompanied by the sound of hooves and horse whinnies. The horseman cannot be interacted with; he does not speak, he does not have any form. He is simply hunting.
Shivering as the air turned icy, Nacrite tapped the little energy orb that she’d collected, sending it home ahead of her. For a moment, she thought about leaving her donor where he’d dropped. It would be easier. But some little inner voice had demanded otherwise. So, she’d wasted time and her own energy (and with a busted hand, no less!) to schlep deadweight to where the guy would be found and quickly.
Still, as the fog began to trickle in, she couldn’t say that she really regretted one little altruistic act. It let her feel good about herself for a moment and Nacrite did enjoy thinking positively of herself! Glancing up, she saw the fog getting thicker and beginning to obscure the streetlights. Probably time to go home. And fast.
As she turned to walk quickly, the lieutenant was already breathing fast, remembering another foggy night not that long ago. But she was trying to not panic for no reason. Fog was common! Thick fog was a totally normal east coast phenomenon! She totally wasn’t huffing on some Copium right now to keep from screaming!
The echo-y sound of hoofbeats put paid to any cheerful little lie that she could tell herself. Growing cold down to the bone, she stopped thinking and simply reacted. She knew what hunted in the fog and she did not want to meet it again.
Bolting down the street, she considered her options when it came to shelter. She was near the shopping district. After hours. Breaking in and building a barricade would eat precious getting away time. So, she just ran and hoped for inspiration to strike. As she ran, she could feel the hoofbeats deep in her gut. And she also felt the aura of one of Order’s fighters nearby. Grimacing at the bad timing, she considered, for the briefest of moments, leaving whoever it was to the Horseman’s mercy. It would give her an escape. But… no. No. She knew what was in the fog and as much as she loathed Order, she couldn’t do that to someone else.
Feeling the aura getting closer and closer, Nacrite veered for it. Saw a blessedly human shape appear in the fog and grabbed for it.
“Run. Just run!” she hissed.
In retrospect, probably not the best approach to trying to save someone from a fog monster, but in her defense, time was not something they had a lot of right now.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2024 9:56 am
Learadr shivered just a bit as the fog rolled in, tucking his coat just a bit tighter around him. He knew it was mostly psychological—the magic took care of that sort of thing. But that didn't stop his brain from seeing the fog and thinking it ought to be cold. He shivered again. Bleh. How silly. Hoofbeats clopped in the streets and he blinked, wondering who was crazy enough to be on a horse out here. Now that was unnerving. Sure, it was October, but... he sped up a bit, noticing the hoofbeats speeding up with ********. Okay, someones was definietly following him on purpose, and being a creep, and he did not want to deal with it. He felt the Nega aura right before they latched on to him. Run?"Yeah, right, run where?" he hissed back, jerking back from her hold. "Into an ambush?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2024 4:09 pm
Why did the knight have to pick now to be sense?!? Couldn't he hear the hoofbeats? Still, she held on and pulled, determined to do this one good thing.
"Don't be stupid," she gasped. "We have to get away before he finds us!"
She wasn't sure how to describe him, but she remembered how she felt being chased down. She remembered feeling that terrifying blow to her neck. And she remembered the livid red line across her neck that very clearly should have resulted in her having no head at all.
"Can't you hear him? We have to go! Now!" she demanded. "Worry about sides later!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2024 5:03 pm
Laeradr narrowed his eyes at her briefly, but gave up on trying to find a deeper motive. The hoofbeats clattered louder, obviously getting closer, and enough genuinely weird s**t happened around Halloween that he figured he had more to lose by getting away from this Negaverse chick than by following her into the unknown of whatever away from the horse that seemed to terrify her. "Tell me who this 'him' is!" he demanded as he sprinted alongside her, blindly following her. He risked a glance back. All he saw was a swirling mass of black in the fog, darker than the night itself. Okay, yeah, no, definitely going to continue following the Negaverse chick instead of taking his chances with whatever the ******** that thing was! He hurried faster to keep up with her. It felt like there was ice on the back of his neck, for Pete's sake. Something was definitely not okay here. "Where will we be safe?" he hissed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2024 5:10 pm
He was listening, thank Metallia, Laurelite and the General-Sovereigns! Still, they weren't safe yet. The hoofbeats were louder now, all pretense of not being after them gone now that they were both running. She caught a glimpse of the knight looking behind and knew what he was likely seeing.
She only hoped that it wouldn't be the last thing he saw.
"He is the Horseman," she said in a harsh whisper, as if naming him would call him down upon them. "We have to find a place to hide. Get inside and bar him out!"
They were too far from home and she couldn't very well bring the knight to her dang house!
"I'm open to suggestions," she added, feeling panic swirl in her belly as a horse snorted behind them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2024 5:22 pm
"The Horseman?" he echoed, brow furrowing even as they kept going. What on Earth could that mean? Unless... "Don't tell me you mean the... headless?" he asked tentatively, disbelief in every inch of his body. But he knew. He could feel it in his bones. He was definitely right about ********, why did Halloween have to be so cool and so scary all at the same time? Couldn't they just, like, have fun without worrying about a real, genuine Headless Horseman showing up to steal their heads or something? He scanned the horizon, trying to find an open shop he could duck into with this momentary friend of his, but nothing showed. "Okay, stupid idea, how about I grab you and we jump up onto a rooftop? He couldn't possibly follow us up there," he suggested, panting with exertion.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2024 5:28 pm
"You know any other horsemen?" she asked, eyes scanning for something, anything that could shelter them. She couldn't blame the knight for his disbelief. She would have been the same had she not already encountered this thing.
There was a presence now, thick as mud behind them and she knew that they were going to die. They'd made themselves known to a goddamn apex predator and they were going to die.
Her mental eulogizing was thrown off slightly by the knight's suggestion. He was right, it did sound like a stupid idea. Except... Could the Horseman follow them up there? He seemed to be part and parcel with the fog, so maybe? But they might have a better chance of throwing him off if they did the unexpected.
"Sure, why not? I've had a good life," she replied.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2024 5:46 pm
He grinned at her, then put on an extra burst of speed, just enough to get in front of the girl, sweep her into his arms, and then springboarded with the last of his momentum upward, soaring up to the nearest rootop. Up here, the fog was under them, rolling in thick waves just beneath their feet. He let go of the girl and sat down hard on the roof, breathing deeply of the fresher air. "Did it," he said with a slight wheeze. "Holy s**t."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2024 5:56 pm
Oh. Okay, he was going for a full Superman. Sure, okay, why not. Still, the Horseman's presence in the air was thick enough that she was grateful to be swept off her feet and into the air, burying her face in the knight's chest and praying that this crazy crackerass idea would work.
The first thing she noticed was that she could breathe. And when the knight set her down, she unashamedly sank to her knees and just stared down at the roiling fog below.
"Holy s**t," she whispered. "You did it. It worked..."
She could hear angry neighing and ducked back from the roof's edge. It seemed that they'd managed a clean getaway. No point in advertising where they'd gone.
Taking a moment to compose herself, Nacrite closed her eyes and spoke softly. There were... rules that needed to be followed right now.
"Once it's safe, you need to leave. Don't tell me what direction or anything really," she said. "I want complete deniability when I make my report and trust me, I have to report this thing. But the less I can say about you, the better for us both. Fair deal?"
Really, it didn't matter whether he agreed or not. This was simply how it had to be. Laying back on the roof, Nacrite kept her eyes closed. She'd go home once the knight was gone. And home would be warm and safe and welcoming. She couldn't wait.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
