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 Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 6:02 am
Who: Kinsey Finch & Alex Falcone
Where: Barton Cliffs
When: Afternoon
Walking all the way to the Barton Cliffs was a pretty stupid idea. Kinsey had hitched a ride from the city to the Durem Cliffs, and had walked from there. Still, it was entirely too long for the youth. She had underestimated the time it would take to trudge through mostly dark caverns, bucket and fishing rod in tow. With her luck, most of her worms probably shriveled up and died, being out in the open air for so long. What exactly had possessed her to walk, anyways? Her arms were heavy, her feet were sore and-
Was that Alex's house, up there?
Kinsey blinked and her scowl disappeared, replaced by a stupid grin. She had made it! It only took the entirety of her morning, or something ridiculous like that. The boyish youth broke into a jog, suddenly forgetting just how sore she thought she was, completely mindless of the worms bouncing out of her bucket onto the meadow. The worms didn't mind too much either; falling wasn't so bad in comparison to being skewered on a hook and eaten by a fish.
Kinsey bounded to the front door and leapt up the stairs, setting her metal pail and little old rod down as she pushed her dark hair out of her eyes. The violet highlights shimmered in the afternoon sun and her rubies twinkled joyfully as she leaned forward to knock on the door. Or perhaps, abuse the door with her knuckled would be putting it more appropriately. What? She was excited!
"Alex? Alex! It's Kinsey!"
Kinsey had a brief after thought. This was Alex's house, wasn't it?
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:57 am
The door opened, and the person who answered was very likely not Alex.
It was a shirtless male, for starters, although he shared the same dark hair (albeit short) and strong jaw line as the woman; he was older, with dark eyes and an expression that made it clear he did not smile much. As such, he regarded the enthusiastic pounding at the door with blank disinterest, speaking in a rumbling voice, "She's at the beach. Come in - Kinsey, is it? - I'll call her."
Without further conversation, the tall man turned from the door, leaving it open for the other to follow if she so chose. He picked up a phone in the foyer and dialed, eyes far off over the cliff and the expanse of the sea. "Hey. You have company," he told the receiver, attention shifting beyond the open kitchen. He was listening, extending a hand in the direction of his stare. "Kinsey." More silence, broken by the soft chittering of Lorenzo as he glided into the foyer, landing in the offered hand. "Yeah," and the conversation was over.
Turning back to Kinsey, with Zoe scrambling onto his shoulder to gaze at him adoringly, he intoned, "I'm Brad. You want something to drink?" Alex's older brother remained impassive, turning again without waiting for an answer to move into the kitchen. "I give it ten more seconds." He glanced over his shoulder at Kinsey, the barest hint of what could be considered a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Any questions posed at him would go unanswered, like an indulgent parent.
Nine seconds later, the back door burst open, revealing a very wet and excitable Alex. Her hair was up in a bun, even her bangs pinned back, leaving her face clear and unadorned...except for her expression, which was somewhere between horror, excitement and surprise. "Kinsey!" she called, trotting through the kitchen and leaving wet foot prints from her boots. Her cargos were soaked to her waist, her tank top not faring much better.
"You're making a mess," the man named Brad remarked, not glancing up from the fridge.
Alex was either ignoring him or completely did not hear him. She grabbed Kinsey's hands, tugging. "Come with me! I found something but B over here is a twit and wont come and I REALLY need some help," she gushed in one breath, eyes bright.
"Love you too, sis," came the stoic reply.
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 2:59 pm
Kinsey all but gaped, choking as a half-naked man opened the door. Alex did not mention a husband, or a boyfriend. It was very shocking, expecting to see a friend and being confronted by a bar chest instead. The youth could only follow numbly, bobbing her head, affirming yes, her namy was Kinsey.
She stood just inside the door, suddenly unsure what to do with herself. She'd left the fishing rod and bucket of worms on the front steps, Alex's whatever-he-was was talking on the phone and Zoe was busy with said strange man. This was much more awkward than she'd imagined. "Oh. Uh. It's a pleasure," Kinsey replied, smiling brightly. She could deal with strangers. That's what she did ever day, jeez. "Oh, I'm fine, thanks." Didn't Alex mention a Brad?
"Zoe really likes you," she commented, breaking the silence as she watched Brad's back. Moments later, Alex sloshed inside, practically glowing with excitement. "Uh, hey," she greeted her friend, lips twisting into a sideways smile. Brad was right; she was making a complete mess! But if she didn't care, Kinsey supposed it didn't matter; it was her house.
"Oh, sure!" Kinsey bobbing, eyes gleaming as she let Alex direct her. "What is it? Is it one of your Gwee?" Already better than fishing, for sure.
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:50 pm
She was excited, but there was a certain grimness around her eyes that suggested Alex wasn't entirely pleased by whatever situation she was about to drag Kinsey into. "No, the Gwee are unsettled by this, and it..." her lips pulled into a frown, the rarest of all expressions on her face, "...is much larger than a Gwee." Her voice spoke volumes of understatement. She was not happy, but there wasn't much she could do just yet. "That's why I need help," she continued on, starting to move out of the house, still clutching Kinsey's hand.
"Be back for dinner," Brad called, tossing a bottle of water at the ebon-haired woman, a chirrup of whistles echoed by Zoe.
The bottle was caught without so much as a sideways glance, exiting the house. "I told you, that man is a pain in the a**. Did he introduce himself? That's my brother, the one Zoe is so in love with." Alex snorted, her eyes flitting around the area as if looking for something. The cliff was nearly against the house, sharp in decline. She lead Kinsey around it and down a barely-there path which meandered down a cleft in the cliff and towards the beach. The cliffside itself seemed to have a patch of dark clouds overhead, with the remnants of a storm over the ocean...which was strange, given the time of year.
As they walked, the Italian finally released the other woman's hand, pulling the cell phone out of her pocket and squinting at the time. They had to be quick, as light would not be with them in a few more hours. "Two things." Green eyes turned to the other, stopping in her tracks. "First, are you afraid to get your hands dirty? And second...do you have a boat?" She paused, before adding, "Three. Three things. The third, do you have an aversion to large critters?"
Despite the random questions, Alex looked deathly serious, her lips set in a thin no-nonsense line. If Kinsey was going to help, she had to make sure she could rely on the younger woman not to flake. "This...isn't exactly part of my job, but it's part of my field, and I'm going to need some severe help to rememdy the situation..." She frowned again, deeply troubled, her mind already moving a million miles a minute behind those calculating eyes. Alex wouldn't take Kinsey any further until she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they could do this.
She was undoubtably a far cry from the smiling and socially awkward woman that most people knew her to be.
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:51 am
Much larger than a Gwee, huh? "Well, okay?" Kinsey shrugged and dogged after Alex, stuffing her free hand into the pocket of her cameo boyshirts. "Oh, right. I, uh, was a little startled when he opened the door and all," she admitted, though she'd probably keep the thoughts of boyfriends and husbands to herself. The youth shrugged and gazed up at the sky. The dark clouds were still lurking. The storm was actually why Kinsey was here. Fish seemed to be more active after a big storm churned up the water.
"Oh, ah, what?" Kinsey frowned, mildly baffled by the seemingly random questions. "I don't mind getting dirty, hell no. I fish." That included digging up worms, wrangling fish, pulling out lodged hooks...the list of gross things went on. "...I do not own a boat. That's what docks are for, r-" She stopped when Alex continued. "Ah, no? The biggest animals I've ever, uh, worked with were horses? I've been to a ranch a few times. Horses are pretty big." The youth frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Why the serious face, sunshine?" she asked, none of the normal teasing in her voice. What could possibly be so dirty and big that Alex couldn't handle it herself? Kinsey was a waitress for Heaven's sake! She wasn't sure how useful she could even be in a situation like this. "What's going on, eh? What's-"
All the sudden, an earth-shattering roar ripped through the air.
Kinsey's eyes widened shortly before she clapped her hands over her ears, sinking where she stood as she made a face. Goddamn! Once the noise had ceased, Kinsey scowled and gave Alex a look, eyes wild and bright.
"What the hell are you keeping down there?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:17 pm
She was quiet through all the questions and answers, eyes flicking towards the cliff at the roar. Alex snorted a little at the last question, regarding Kinsey as though it was she that emitted the roar. "I assure you, I'm not keeping anything. I sincerely doubt it wants to be kept where it is." She rubbed her eyebrow, thinking, before giving a curt shake of her head. "No matter. Come on." And with that, she turned and made the rest of the way down the path, looking grimly towards her left. "I can only tell you it's a sea serpent, but I've...never seen anything of this size," she said softly, a touch of sadness on her brow.
And there, amongst the cliff, was the source of the roar.
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:09 am
Kinsey followed after Alex silently, wondering if they'd have time to fish once they were done with Alex's little chore. If she'd known they were going to go hiking down the cliffs, she would have worn heavy-duty boots, not skate sneakers. Maybe she'd be better off going barefoot, the young woman was reasoning to herself, when the Italian mentioned something about a sea serpent.
Wait. What!?
Those weren't even supposed to exist!
But sure enough, a giant snake-like creature was at the foot of the cliff, seemingly stranded among the surf and shoals. Its blue-green scales were shimmering in the sun; along its back rose ridges, Kinsey would almost call them spikes. The creature writhed just then, sending up a great spray as it thrashed and gave the woman a good view of its head. Terrifying, and beautiful, all the same. Kinsey could only think of one of those storybook dragons with the shining gold eyes and fangs nearly as large as her forearm. It was magnificent.
Kinsey finally drew her gaze away and trotted after Alex. "Why is that here? Surely it knows enough to keep out of shallow water?" she asked, trying to watch the Leviathan and keep from stumbling off the narrow path simultaneously.
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Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 10:56 am
"Careful," she warned Kinsey politely as they made their way down the path. Without pause, the older woman walked towards the great beast, using some rocks near by to clamor into a higher position. Perching on a near by rock that was about halfway up the creature's back, she pointed towards the water. "My guess is those," she answered the question, expression grim. Upon the great body of the beast that still lingered in the water were sucker fish; they were stuck to it, against what looked like massive gills. "Any creature would try to get something off of it that was blocking it's air path, and in the case of something so large..." Green eyes turned back over the creature and up the cliff, "...there's only so much you can rub against."
Alex was unphased as the creature thrashed again, sending another good deal of spray over and around her; it explained why she was so wet. Standing, she looked around, before jumping onto another near by rock. She slipped a little, but steadied herself by placing her hand on one of the massive scales. Peering over the great aquatic beast, her eyes were intelligent and prying, evaluating all she could. Despite this, her eyebrows were lofted in amazement, her lips curling every so often into a smile of wonderment.
"We have to get it back into the water," she told Kinsey firmly, looking over to the young woman. "No boat, so..." Alex eyed the leviathan, fingers tracing gently over the scale that was half the size of her own body. Her mind was a dangerous place to be, pondering every possibility and narrowing down each one with rate of success. She yanked her hand away as a small cut formed on her fingers from the sharp edge of the scale, noting the strength and possible problem they presented. There weren't many options available at this point, and they were running out of time. Her attention shifted to Kinsey. "We have to get back to the house for some equipment. You up for it?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:32 am
Kinsey snorted and shook her head. It seemed to be the way of universe; only something so very tiny and insignificant could bring down such an enormous creature. The youth ran her hands over her face, groaning softly to herself as she shook her head again. Of course she felt bad for the massive beast, but there was only so much two small-ish women could do. That didn't stop her from following Alex onto the rocks though, crouching low to her perch to keep a better sense of balance. Yep. Would definitely have been better to be barefoot.
The young woman gasped as the cold, salty sprayed crashed around them, and wiped her eyes furiously. Oh my. "He's not a happy thing," she muttered, as though this were not completely obvious. "How long has he been here?" she asked, wondering how much time he had left. This was, of course, assuming he was, in fact, a he. She brushed her hair back and watched the irritated beast silently, wonder if they had anything big enough to move him at all. A truck? Well, maybe if it was an eighteen-wheeler.
She stood when Alex addressed her and gave a firm nod. "Of course!" she exclaimed, already hoping over rocks and making her way back to the path. No sense in wasting time, not with that thing wasting away like that. "But, what do you have that could possibly move him?" she asked, scampering up the path back to Alex's house. "And by the looks of that cut, ropes not gonna cut it."
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 1:08 pm
"Most of the day," Alex replied grimly. "The tide just recently washed out enough that I could get this close. Once the sun falls, we'll lose the opportunity." At Kinsey's agreement to help, the older woman jumped off the rock with a minute splash, starting to jog up the path. Her bright eyes shifted momentarily to her partner, both surprised and impressed. "You're observant, and I mean that as a compliment," she smiled a bit, turning up the road towards the cliff top where the house was.
Next to the house was what looked like a very small guestroom, but it was actually a moderately sized shed, and it was to this that the Italian made her way. "We can't move him, he's far, far too big. I can't even fathom how much his body continues into the ocean," she chuckled, awe apparent in her voice. Fishing around in her front pocket, she produced a set of keys and started sifting through them. "Since we can't move him ourselves, we're going to move a part of him, and let him do the rest. We're going to help him move, so to speak, rather than try to haul that girth."
With a small exclamation of triumph, she grasped a small key and unlocked the shed, throwing open the double doors. There were several strange things in the shed, but all clean and meticulously placed: equipment for climbing, cutting, digging and diving; a large safe, usually used for the storage of firearms; oodles of ropes, bungies, chains and the ilk; an art canvas, potter's wheel, a busted television; wood, sheet metal, towels. More prominantly in the forefront of the shed was a quad and a jet ski. It was to the latter that Alex moved, checking a few guages and turning back to Kinsey.
"If you can grab some chains and blankets on the wall, I'll grab my truck and we'll head back to the water." She pointed to the items as she talked. "We're going to try and use the chain to wrap around his lower body and ease his tail away from the cliffside. It should give him enough momentum to use his own strength to push out, but it will be dangerous. If you just want to help me get into the water, that's cool, I'm not going to hold it against you." Alex was very business-like as she continued on, taking a clip off of the keyring and tossing the jet ski lock's key to the young woman.
This was her job, after all, and she wasn't going to expect help for such a precarious situation. There was approximately a 42% chance that one of them would get hurt; she generally liked to keep the odds lower, but she would put herself in the way before she'd allow anyone else to take the brunt of her own miscalculation. She had the scars to prove that things happened that weren't planned, and while she was loathe to ask for help at all, she knew she couldn't do this much alone.
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Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 1:24 pm
Kinsey followed Alex silently, almost missing the compliment as her mind raced. That thing was at least the size of city block, or something, so she could only imagine what it weighed. And those spikes. Those scales! And she had thought the only problem would be the thrashing head and razor fangs. Hahaha. What a joke! She should have none better; such an enormous animal wasn't born that way. He had to have the weapons to survive long enough to become that big.
...wow. Kinsey had to pause and really think about that. He was probably quite old, huh?
"Ah, yeah. Makes sense," Kinsey replied, Alex's directions invading her thoughts. She shook her head and focused on the task at hand...and the Italian's impressive collection of...stuff. There wasn't even a category for all that...all those items? It certainly didn't look like it could be called junk, it was well taken care of and organized. She ran a hand through her hair, a nervous tic, and nodded. Actually, while she was here...Kinsey pulled off her skate shoes and tosses them to the side, socks quickly following. It would be much easier to balance without flat-bottomed shoes.
She hardly had time to grab the set of keys, blinking and rebalancing before unlocking the jet ski. Huh. She'd always wanted to try one, though the youth never imagined the oppurtunity might arise like this. "Of course I'm gonna help move the thing. What do I look like, some sort of princess?" Kinsey gave a snort and tossed her head, rubies glinting in the rays of light shimmering in through the open door. "Now, let's get this show on the road!"
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:21 am
The older woman approved of the discarding of the shoes, offering a pleased grin at Kinsey's last statements. "That's what I like to hear," she chortled as she made her way around the shed. Alex reappeared a few moments later behind the wheel of her large work truck, backing it up to the shed quickly and precisely, leaping out to rejoin her partner.
Her sharp eyes gave a once-over on the items, giving a curt nod before she grabbed one side of the handle bars of the jet ski. "We'll load it, don't worry about securing it. We'll drop it into the water--" her lips quirked, turning something over in her mind for a few seconds before continuing, "--and I'll hook the chain around his tail. You'll have to be on the jet ski, and I'll stay with the truck." It sounded dangerous in theory, but really Kinsey would be safer in the water than near the creature. Alex was used to being in unsavory situations; she was the zoologist in this unlikely pair, for better or for worse.
A sudden 'tsk'ing noise escaped her as she snapped her fingers. "Just push her on up. I gotta grab the keys or she wont run," she scoffed to herself, turning and jogging back towards the house. Of all the things to over look! At least it wasn't when they were down there and water logged.
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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:00 am
Kinsey nodded slowly, just taking in everything as the human whirlwind babbled instructions. If she did anything else, the youth wasn't sure she'd be able to absorb everything Alex said! "Alright!" she managed to get in, somewhere between the train of thought and dashing off. Well then. Kinsey pushed her bangs out of her face and gave the jet ski a fierce look. "Let's get you up," she muttered, cracking her knuckles and grabbing the handlebars.
It took a good deal of effort, but the young woman managed to get the heavy piece of equipment loaded, and left it unsecured. Alex still hadn't come back with the keys yet -they must be really lost- so Kinsey looked around for anything else they might need. Oh, oh! Her fishing stuff. The rod might not be important, but the bucket could be useful, if Alex was driving the truck in the beach. Oh, and she shouldn't just be leaving her soul bottle all over the place.
Kinsey tore off around the house, hopping up to the front steps. She dumped the bucket of worms into the dirt, they'd be mighty happy there, and unclipped her soul bottle from the fishing rod. She just as quickly clicked it onto her belt and bounced back around the house and onto the jet ski. Where was Alex?
...should she tell her she's never used one of these things before?
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Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 6:18 pm
The Italian reappeared with a dark brow, murmuring something about useless brothers and needy Gwee's, her personal raincloud disappearing as soon as her eyes lighted on the loaded vehicle. "Perfect!" she cried out with delight, jogging around the vehicle and into the driver's seat. "Come on then Kinsey, let's get this over with!" Alex gave the other a cheeky grin, waiting for her partner to climb aboard before setting the truck down the path, carefully steering through the narrow ravine. She pressed lightly on the brakes near the beach, looking over with thin hope to the great beast; the sinking feeling in her stomach was right, and the serpent had not moved.
"Hold on," she said off-handedly, barely finishing her warning before tapping the gas and turning the steering wheel hard to the right, spinning a little in the sand. She hit reverse and spun the wheels backwards towards the water, the back portion of the truck narrowly above the tide before she stopped again. "That's gonna cost me," she chirped without care, jumping out of the vehicle and practically climbing over the hood into the bed. "Let's move 'er off, and get this started!"
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 8:58 am
Kinsey barely had time to slam the door shut before Alex towed the jet ski down the ravine. Heart caught somewhere in her throat, the youth gripped the side of the truck so hard her knuckles turned a pasty white as they coasted down. With no time to recover, Kinsey opted for a different route, rolling down the window and twisting her way out of the vehicle, clamoring up onto the roof. The bottle clinked by her side and she shifted, keeping the glass object out of harm's way.
"Wish me luck!" Kinsey chirped, trying to keep the mood just a little lighter as she helped Alex push the water vehicle into the salty water. She was already soaked, good thing she hasn't worn her shoes! Keys still in hand, the young woman hopped into the water, giving a small shriek as the water came all the way up to her chest. Good gods, that was cold! She hauled herself up onto the ski and pushed the keys in.
The motor purred to life and Kinsey looked to Alex. "What now, boss? You want me to go wrangle the beast, or what?" That sea beastie wasn't looking so hot.
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