Malodore bowed its head as she spoke - as it expected, it had nothing of use to her. And yet, when she mentioned FEAR, it looked up again, startled. "I had meant my meager power... but. When you speak of more, what precisely do you mean?" It spoke carefully, and a little warily.
"I do not wish to literally sacrifice myself for knowledge. That would seem... inefficient."
Marushii
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 8:03 pm
Red nodded. "I understand completely. Let me... explain myself." She dropped her gaze to the table, a frown hidden beneath her face mask. "This... might be difficult to understand, but let me explain. For me, it is a constant struggle between Insanity and Fear. The more Fear I have, the more I shall be like myself. The less..." She shook her head. "As loathe as I am to consider it, it is possible that I might... lose myself."
"When... When it came to my attention that Jericho was still a fog-monster, I took it upon myself to test some theories I had. It was a risk, however even if I somehow absorbed Jericho he would not be lost completely. However..."
Red reached up and pulled down her facemask. She stared at Mal, one talon tapping an exposed tooth. The bottom half of the werewolf's face was studded with spikes and scales. She pushed back her hood to reveal a pair of very Jericho-esque horns. A tug on her cloak's collar followed by a closer inspection revealed that her skin had changed from skin to scales. "As you can see... Ah, you are not quite a doctor, yet calling you apprentice does not seem to suffice. What shall I call you?"
After hearing her answer, the professor nodded. "Ah, yes. As you can see, when I worked to cure Jericho I happened to absorb... part of him. I believe I have identified which parts of me belong to him. I wish to utilize some of your Fear in order to expel his Fear out of my system in order to not only send it back to him, but to rid myself of... this." She grimaced openly.
"In order to do that, I am requesting to take some of your Fear. It is my understanding that you will regain it again afterwards, however..." She trailed off. "However I do not know how long it will take, nor do I know if it will hurt or not hurt. The choice is up to you."
Sosiqui
Red is asking to take some of Malodore's Fear. If accepted, Malodore's permanent HP will take a temporary 50% hit, leaving Malodore at 30/30. Thanks to his chosen field of practice, however, he will regain +7 HP per day starting from the next IRL day after Red takes his Fear.
Malodore tilted its head to one side at the sight of Red's face revealed... and everything fell into place. She bore the features Jericho conspicuously lacked. Of course.
"I... you flatter me, professor, but I am an apprentice only, truly," it murmured, bobbing a quick bow before listening to her continued explanation. Still, it was internally quite pleased. When she was done, it made a soft hrm in the back of its throat, thinking.
"There is, ah... something you should perhaps know," it said, slowly, after a moment. "My kind, we work with disease a great deal; naturally, we are immune to disease ourselves, unless it be something of such great virulence swiftness that it overwhelms our immunity and destroys us before our own FEAR has a chance to fight back. I... I experienced what I now believe to have been Insanity in our ill-advised journey to the Hunter's Isle some time ago..."
It took a moment to collect its thoughts further, shifting a bit. "And then Riley was infected. I spent a great deal of time closely, ah... joined with her, mentally speaking. I believe this is when the ability adapted - suffice to say that I now possess a very high resistance to Insanity, sufficient to be a complete immunity at lower concentrations. Within the, ah... the Haunted House where you were rediscovered, I tested myself and found myself capable of breaking free of Insanity with more ease than my companions. This may be of assistance to you... or it may be inimical. I do not know."
Marushii
Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:48 pm
The apprentice's explanation prompted a look of disgust to cross Red's distorted features as she pulled back. "You wish to take my Insanity? You wish to steal what's mine from me? You do not understand. This is who I am now. You are asking permission to tear us into little bits and pieces and to keep those pieces. You do not know us; you would dare try to take everything and leave me with what you think is me, but who is to say that you'll leave nothing behind? No."
The werewolf snarled, lips pulled back to reveal pointed fangs. "No. What you wish to offer is what we refuse. We at least give them back. Do you think it pleases me to look like this? That I enjoy being a Jack-damned draconic thing that was shoved together from leftover parts? That I like this and am willing to keep it? No!" Her fist slammed down on the table, making it shudder. "Your very offer is insulting!"
Malodore drew back, startled. "Mi dispiace, Professor - I fear I have explained myself quite poorly," it managed, utterly confused by her violent reaction. "I do not wish to do anything of the kind, I assure you - I very much wish to assist you and Jericho as well. It is simply that I do not know if my FEAR would carry this resistance to Insanity along with it, and thus cause you difficulty if you take it into yourself. I do not wish to inadvertently harm you, or for anything to befall you without your knowledge or consent."
Marushii
sorry about all the edits; originally replied to this last night when I was super tired and woke up this morning, looked again and went "wow this is really badly written" XD; so I fixed it!
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 2:22 pm
Its explanation calmed the beast, her hackles lowering as it spoke. Red shook her head. "Fear is Fear," she explained quietly. "It is..." Her eyes dropped to the table, examining the scattered supplies. She reached over and grabbed a small, battered box and pushed it towards Malodore. It was a small watercolor kit, something scarelings primarily use. "Have you used these before? These are paints," she explained. "You mix the color with water to create paint. Your Fear is like a color, mine is another color. It is our own color, but in order to use it we both use Fear. Think of Fear like water. While your Fear is colored by your own, all I use is the color."
She stared at the box, then grimaced. "That is... not the best of explanations. What I mean to say, is that I am confident I can use it regardless. However, I will not... steal your essence." Red explained haltingly. "I will not take your bones or metal in such a way that you need to replace it. I seek to use Fear."
"If you understand the... colors," Red began, "Jericho's color has seeped into mine. I need to use Fear to separate it. If I was Red and Jericho was b-er, green, together it makes gray. By removing the green, I can turn my gray back to red. Do you see?"
Malodore's own ruffled feathers soothed as Red did; it had no breath with which to heave a sigh of relief, but the feeling was definitely there. It nodded at her explanation. "Si, I believe I understand." It bowed to her.
"If by doing so I can assist you and restore Jericho a bit more, it would be my honor to give you the Fear you request."
Marushii
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 5:12 pm
Red reached out, the tips of her claws resting on Malodore's hand. If it was constructed of flesh, her talons would begin to push down and draw blood. Instead they scraped against it. At first it seemed like nothing happened. Then there was the feeling of something being taken, something precious and irreplaceable --
The connection snapped as Red snatched her hand back. Her talons flew to her face where she began to grab and twist, pulling the facespikes out one by one and dropping them onto the table. There they remained before dissolving, the Fear breaking apart and blowing away as if it was composed of sand.
At last Red raised her face to Malodore. It was free from the draconic traces. "Thank you, Malodore." Red settled back in her chair, breathing out the sigh she had held when the undead student agreed to the offer. "Fear is what builds us, what binds us and tells us who we are. I wasn't... expecting traces of Jericho's Fear to linger." She openly grimaced. "It was unsettling. Fear is usually burned up and does not linger as... that did." She shook her head, lifting her hood up and placing it on her head. "I greatly hope that nothing like that occurs again."
Malodore stared down at Red's hand over its own, then wobbled a bit as she began her work. It felt... not unlike how it had felt in the past, when it had healed Brynhild at the Casa, so long ago. FEAR draining out of it, and not replaced, not attacking... but not healing either. Just being consumed. Filling, and pushing something else out.
When she was done, it shifted and leaned heavily against the table. "I, ah..." It paused to let the world stop spinning. "Y-your FEAR shouldn't have... told you you were part... Jericho," it said, carefully. "Something about... the core, si?"
Evidently, not even FEAR-removal was enough to get its mind off the subject.
Marushii
Can I get a list of the effects/duration plz C: ty!!
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 6:10 pm
Red frowned. "It... should have, shouldn't it?" She replied slowly, picking at the mess of art supplies on the table in front of her. "I don't quite understand it myself. Before Jericho, I would feel hungry and need to," she paused, searching for the right word. "I suppose feed would be one way of putting it. Considering my reputation, I heavily suspect if word got out of what I needed then there would be many absent students from Amityville."
She grinned a smile without mirth. "More than the usual, that is. I am still learning and trying to figure myself out. I suspect that with Jericho..." She took a deep breath, shaking her head. "Let me start with the beginning. As a doctor, even one in training, I am holding you to your oath of secrecy."
Red dug around in the art supplies until she found a container of red clay. The objects in front of her were swept aside in favor of the clay which was molded into the crude shape of a dragon. "Let's start at the beginning. This is Jericho, yes? Then with Insanity..." She reached over and picked up a ribbon, wrapping it around the figure until it was completely coated. "It is still your friend, however they are heavily affected with Insanity. Over time, however..." Red tried to recreate the dragon-shape, grimacing. "It doesn't look like your friend anymore. But you know he's in there, yes?"
The figure was placed on the table, whereupon Red poked it. "A weapon can absorb Fear. That... ability is something I can still perform, however I can do it in addition to both Fear and Insanity. So to save your friend..." She began to unravel the figure, laying the length of ribbon out when she was done, pointing at the chunks of red clay that clung to it. "I took it away. But there are still pieces of him remaining, see? And he isn't as whole as he was before."
"I do not know how Insanity affects Fear precisely," she continued, "However my contacts in Christmastown reported some success in adapting to it. This process was proposed to me in order to..." Her hands were waved, the gesture substituting for explanation. "If I were to go through it and it failed, considering the circumstances? I do not think either the Ballet or the Boogeymen would be able to handle it. Jericho was, in a way, a test run. An... experiment."
Red looked at Malodore, adding, "And to be honest, it was worth the chance. If he was left there for longer, I do not think there would be anything left. My Fear is burned. I do not know whether it is by the weapon-core inside me or by Insanity. But I think you and I will both agree that it is better to experiment to save a life than kill it."
Red turned her attention to the clay, poking it. "The missing pieces of Jericho's Fear were then stabilized with Joy. Unfortunately as no one stopped by to let me know how it worked, I do not know if it was successful or whether it was more detrimental to the process. While Joy and Insanity share many things in common, I think it is better to laugh with happiness than to laugh in a vain attempt to remember that it'll all be okay."
Sosiqui
I KNEW I WAS FORGETTING SOMETHING ahhh sorry! XD ;;
Malodore is now at 10/30 HP instead of 50/50 HP. Every IRL day he'll gain +5 HP (so tomorrow he'll be at 15/35 HP). His Fear regen isn't working quite right, either. If dissipated, he'll only recover 50% of his HP. Say he's KO'd later today: he'd only respawn with 15/30 HP.
This countdown starts today, so probably when this RP is over he'll be back at 50/50.
The plague doctor watched her carefully, trying not to be too distracted by the weakness that swept over it - it would simply have to be careful, that was all. It was worth it. It had been worth it for Brynhild, and it was worth it now.
"Si... I understand, I think," it said slowly as she finished her explanation. "He is... yes, I believe he is in there. Riley was, too, even if she forgot." Its voice was firm and sharp for a moment, almost defensive.
As quickly as it had come, though, the odd, targetless defiance faded. "The adaptation, yes - one of my very first experiments here at Amityville was examining JOY-based items from Christmas Town. I remember how they changed. That change.. it is happening to Jericho as well. I know it. I see it every day. He will be himself again," it said, firmly.
Though it seemed something still haunted the plague doctor. "And... you. Are you," it said, a statement, not a question. "If, ah, it is not too bold... do you remember everything?" Its claws tightened a bit against the edge of the table, making short, shallow furrows.
Marushii
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 7:40 pm
"Yes." The answer was short and simple, delivered as Red stared into what she suspected was its eyes behind the goggles. "I remember. Which is false and which is real is the real question. And should you ask, I... I do not regret my choice. I would not be the same person if things were different. It is likely that I would not be here at all."
It nodded, slowly. "I was not there when, ah... the Master-Hunter attacked you. But I assisted Infermiera Cricket in the aftermath, and heard the tales from those who saw and heard. I confess I do not entirely understand, but... I do not doubt that it was necessary."
It opened its beak in a small smile. "And were you not here, some very dear to me would not be here either. For that, you have my utmost gratitude." It wobbled a bit to the side then caught itself.
Marushii
Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 6:36 pm
The teacher bowed her head in a slow nod, her head snapping up as Malodore wobbled. She studied it, shaking her head. "I was only doing my duty. I have... let others down before when I could have easily afforded to do more. Do you not carry healing supplies with you? Pumpkin pills, bandages, anything that can give you Fear?"
"I was not expecting to need such things," the plague doctor said, wryly. "I do not generally carry my kit around the school. Perhaps I should begin. If I were suffering lacerations, now... that I could tend to, and easily."
One hand went towards its other sleeve. "I can request aid simply enough, but... I want to learn, professore. This is what I want to study, and devote myself towards..." The thought of leaving now was both extremely tempting and extremely agonizing.
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