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 Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 10:50 pm
This is a private roleplay between Sergeant Sodomy and X Purple--Platypus X.
Who: Maiya and her hatchet, Biel, and Lady Felicity Wickes, with her plague Claudia..
Where: The slummy part of a town in Shyregoed.
When: Late at night, while people are hurrying home for the day.
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 11:24 pm
Plumes of grayish white smog obscured the night sky as they escaped crumbling chimneys. All around her, the signs of poverty showed. Homes were clumped together - each filled to the brim with families seeking escape from the winter chill. To Maiya, however, her concerns were not placed in the locals. She'd spent far too long locked in the various mazes that to these Northerners were "towns". How could people possibly navigate so many alleyways, streets, and buildings? Hadn't she meant to find higher levels of magic? Or more information about the Plague that had left dozens of towns along the way deserted. The only thing she knew now that she hadn't before leaving home was how the Plague had, in some ways, manifested itself to resemble little humans and items; and that the "gift" from her grandfather might possibly be just that.
"Eurgh, I can't wait to get out of here. The air is so thick, I'm gonna be sick."
The Southerner, who was so used to the unpolluted air of Auvinus. However, with people burning all kinds of objects to keep warm, the skies above now glowed with pollutants and filth. How could anybody stand this smell? It would be impossible to get used to it! Maiya, who had been making her way down the narrow center street, grasped at her stomach momentarily, leaning forward as if to gag. She was nauseous - and as a result, wasn't in the mood to tolerate annoyances.
Which was why the howls of wild dogs, growing ever closer, were becoming more and more of a grievance. Maiya had heard the locals murmuring about maulings and attacks, especially on the vagrants who had not even one of the shanty homes around her to call their own. The Southerner, who was a capable hunter, had no fear of hungry dogs coming to n** at her metal-clad ankles - but those howls, and barks! She could hardly stand it anymore.
A groan finally reverberated deep within Maiya's throat as she leaned into, and finally allowed her weight to guide her into, a nearby alley. Her back met the side of one of many identical houses, and the copper-toned woman clumsily grasped the area around her ears. She held her breath, denying the heat to leave her lungs, and the pustulennce of the night air to enter through her nostrils. If she heard just one more yap, if she took another breath of that smog, she would snap!
Maiya wouldn't need to wait very long.
Something was... tugging at her leg. There was no pain, despite the aggressive pulling and violent tugging with each moment. What had taken hold of her leg, and why? Grey eyes, which too had closed as tightly as Maiya's body would allow, fluttered open, and settled in a glare at the thing which had set upon her leg.
A dog; starved and missing much of it's hair, what of it's hair remaining being mottled with clumps of filth and dried blood. Maiya could see each muscle shivering and twitching beneath the flesh, and the southerner couldn't help but ponder how such a pathetic creature could survive the extreme cold often found in Shyregoed. Initial pity turned to anger within moments, however, as Maiya realized the animal as the source of both the distant howls (well, some of them), as well as the jerks upon her leg. It was attempting to attack her, to rip her supple thighs and ankles to shreds. Metal greaves, however, blocked the assault; and instead it clamored pathetically, rotting teeth scrapping against icy steel. At the very least, the dog managed a faint enough grip to pull her leg this way and that. Maiya, however, would have none of it, and freed her foot effortlessly from the creature's grasp - only to bring it back forward and knock it back with a swift, metallic kick.
"I'm not in the mood for you! From now on, whichever dog I see, I'm... I'm breaking your face!"
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:58 pm
If anyone was going to be panicking about the recent spike in the amount of feral dog attacks it would be poor little Felicity Wickes. With nerves as highly strung as her in the slightest hint of misfortune or danger would cause ripples of worry to course through her like a stone being plopped into a pond... Her catching wind of homeless people being found in the gutter, mauled and street dogs chewing the shadows upon what looked suspiciously like fingers was like throwing a succession of bricks into the water – making waves of worry that spilled all to easily into everyday life. What if one of the beasts caught her when walking to the market?! They weren’t active at day... but what if! The woman was a wreck; if it wasn’t for her flower yapping in her ear and ordering her around the Grimm would have almost certainly have devolved into the quivering housebound wreck that she had been before her flower had blossomed into a plague.
However, the call of her newly adopted God – or rather the important members of his House that resided in the North – was not something that she could resist... They had contacted her subtly, as she was meant to be undercover, and after a brief discussion with Claudia the woman had scurried out of the house and into the night with her heart pounding. Luckily she had managed to make it to the place where the little meeting was taking place without any hiccups and had spent an hour or so within the shady venue coughing on the potent smokes that they were breathing in and intoxicating themselves upon. As it turned out all they wanted from her was a brief report on her progress and after giving that to them they had excused her... Allowing her to go straight back home.
Unfortunately for the rose and her mistress the journey back to their cold rundown residence had not been as easy. Skittering along the cobbled street, hobnailed boots clicking devilishly and her bird mask still adorning her face, Felicity had encountered a creature straight from her nightmares... When it had found itself a home it would have perhaps been a handsome dog. It was stockily built – even after months of malnutrition – and it held its held high as if proud... Yet no human emotion such as pride could be seen in the hungry eyes, just wildness and terrible bloodlust. For sure this creature was part of the growing pack preying upon unfortunate homeless... and now... Unfortunate Felicity.
Yelping she turned tail and ran and the beast gave chase. Yapping and yowling.
The dark alleyways passing by were a blur. Felicity’s legs were working harder than they ever had. Considering her frail constitution it seemed a stroke of luck that her bandy limbs didn’t snap under the exertion...
One twist down an obscure and strange street followed by another but the hound would not give up. More howls were coming from ahead. Gasping a prayer to Obscuvos Claudia, tucked inside her Grimm’s clothing, hoped that she would not feel the sharp jab of a muzzle invading her sanctuary...
Felicity could see a fellow human now – with another feral creature snapping at her heels... Fumbling with her mask she wrenched it off and yelled to the fellow woman. “R-run!” Together perhaps they might stand a better chance of fending the dogs off with sharp kicks.... But it was not a risk the cultist wanted to take... Better to have nipped ankles through fleeing than obliteration due to bravery. If worst came to worst at least she wouldn’t die alone. Another human would hear her shrieks as they tore into her. The thought caused strained tears to blur her vision... She was doomed!
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:44 pm
Where could these animals possibly have come from? For weeks they had been terrorizing those without homes; biting, gnawing, even murdering. At least, that was what Maiya had picked up from the gossip as she'd made her way through town earlier in the day. She had certainly picked the wrong town to wander through... bad air, festering people, and rabid dogs. Yeah, it wasn't your regular winter wonderland. Maiya did her best to calm down, once again leaning into the wall behind her, and glaring down at the dog. It wasn't dead, but it writhed pitifully at the force from her metallic shoe, before wobbling to it's feet, and bearing it's yellowed teeth at her. Even in the low night light, she could see what an infectious mess it's mouth was; no way she would let that thing get anywhere near her again.
That was when Maiya heard it, the quick scurrying of feet against stone and snow. The southerner's head went this way and that as she sought out the source of the frightened, "R-Run!" And when she found it, not only was she met with the sight of a woman, seemingly running for her very life - but a large hound just a few steps behind her. It looked less pathetic than the one that had attacked her. Maybe it was better fed because it had the intelligence not to chew on metal? Nipped ankles, or obliteration? Maiya was not so easily swayed into flight. Likely, her attempts at bravery at any other time would have ended in the latter.
The copper-skinned girl pushed herself off from the wall, giving the already once beaten creature before her another firm kick. With most of it's body fat gone, it was light enough so that when she hit it with just a little more force, it practically flew into the opposite wall, before yipping and whining, and scurrying off in the other direction. That one had had enough convincing, and was willing to leave. The one approaching both Maiya and the foreign Grimm would likely require more than a quick beating from her foot.
But Maiya was always prepared.
"I hate dogs."
Well, since coming to this town, she certainly had. While the woman, unbeknown to Maiya, kept her own Plague safely tucked away from the vicious street dog, the Southerner jerked her hatchet from it's place, tucked against her back. Hatchets were a versatile weapon, despite the handles being.... short. Maiya had no intention of waiting for the beast to draw close enough, and risk a nasty bite. Rather, as soon as the fleeing woman was near her, Maiya arched her arm back, over her head, and threw the hatchet forward. It spun through the air, too quick for eyes to follow, and struck the dog. With the darkness working against her, Maiya could not initially tell whether the hard wood, or the sharp blade had hit the dog.
At least it stopped it. The once pursuing animal was forced back, falling clumsily over itself whilst emitting a pained yap. Hearing a metallic clatter, Maiya realized that her hatchet had fallen away from the beast. Was it dead? If not, Maiya only had a bit of magic and heavy shoes to fend the thing off with - and something told her that the woman was not much better.
Before the frantic woman could escape, and possibly run into yet another rabid dog, Maiya reached out, attempting to clamp her hand firmly around the other's forearm.
"Calm down, calm down~ You'll just wake people up, yelling and running around."
The Southerner warned, her accent breaking through each word as she did her best to calm the woman. Then again, kicking and throwing weapons at dogs hardly fell into the category of "stealthy" or "subtle", either.
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Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 9:03 am
Skittering past the woman, Felicity only paused when a clipped authoritative voice and a firm hand held her attention to cut through the haze of panic long enough for her to realise that this stranger had apparently dealt quite efficiently with the skeletal dog that had been slavering at her feet and could potentially be an unlikely knight in shining armour in the dark streets. How had the woman stayed so calm? Felicity’s heart was still racing and that wasn’t completely down to the running; adrenaline still coursed through her and was making her itch to run. The fight or flight hormone seemed to almost always stimulate the latter in the Grimm, yet this stranger was telling her to calm down so as not to wake others! That was the last thing going through Felicity’s troubled mind.
Gasping to fill her lungs Felicity stared into the gloom into which the other had hurled her axe. “W-what- .. W-was that-t?!” Realising that the woman still had hold of her arm she flinched away before gasping her thank you-s with tearful eyes. “I th-thought-.. I was g-going to d-die! You’re s-so b-brave!” Clutching at the shape that was now squirming around her chest she mentally thanked Obscuvos for keeping the pair of them safe and setting this strong woman in their path to conveniently save them, also, it seemed a miracle that Claudia had stayed put. What with all the jostling and running it seemed as though the Glutton god must have played a hand there too – the bird headed deity was surely smiling upon them tonight... His protection freshly renewed after their meeting.
Judging by the exchanging of words and the fact that the jolting movements of Felicity’s running had ceased Claudia hypothesised that somehow the danger had passed, as a consequence the movements that Felicity were quashing with her hand were the flower trying to make her way out of her nook... Displeased with how the human was hindering her efforts the caedos grimaced before kicking furiously at the Grimm’s bosom and clawing her way upwards – forcibly breaking her way into the cold night air and no doubt leaving sore red marks and potentially bruises across Felicity’s chest.
“Oh... Hello.” Her eyes glowed from the Obscuvian’s neckline as she pushed herself out of the fabric, observing their company and saviour all the while... It was quite odd to see a woman garbed in such a way; armour was such a masculine thing and Claudia couldn’t suppress a sneer of distaste. All human women were positively ugly in comparison to the macabre beauty of plagues and yet this specimen was made even more unpleasant... Brutish and uncouth beyond words. Never the less, she had saved the pitiful Sherygoedian that claimed to be her Grimm and thus in turn Claudia supposed she owed a fraction of gratitude to her for if Felicity had fallen foul of the dogs she would have soon followed.
“Did you deal with those beasts?” Carefully extracting herself from Felicity’s clothing Claudia adjusted her organic fabrics whilst looking behind Felicity... “We owe you our sincerest thanks.” She turned back to the woman and curtseyed low. For the first time in her relatively short life seemed genuinely thankful for something a human had done for her.
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