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+---- Thread: cut our teeth and make our bones right here (/showthread.php?tid=7764)
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 12-16-2022
[say]Apologies - I'll make sure to pick up a book on yetis as soon as we get back. Maybe they'll even let us back out here to hunt it if we're lucky.[/say] In what world it's lucky to be allowed to put oneself in imminent danger is beyond Ronin, but especially for his partner, it likely beats being stuck in the science wing of the complex.
He's just leaning down to scoop some river water into a container when the does burst through the woodland and leap all around, Ronin freezing in place to make sure he's an obstacle for them to avoid rather than collide with. Only once they are gone does he cap his container, glancing up to spot Remi looking like he's about to get frostbite on his nipples or gods knew elsewhere.
The shake of his head earns a soft huff from Ronin, the Hunter nodding his understanding and adding the water to his pack. He straightens up and looks Remi up and down, before shifting the pack on his shoulder. [say]"We just need that stag,"[/say] he murmurs. [say]"Also, the next time we go out, we're bringing a duffel bag for you to keep spare clothes in."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-04-2023
Though the shift from Wendigo back to human doesn't take too long, the lingering effects of fully embracing his more murdery side are not so easily shaken. For a moment all Remi can do is stand stiffly on the riverbank, hands fixed in a claw shape and his ribcage expanded outwards like he was trying to extend phantom wings. The lingering scent of the deer is so palpable, swirling around Ronin and mixing with the hunter's own distinctive smell that the wendigo has to look away for a moment. It's lucky he does too, because just then he might not have taken too kindly to having Ronin's eyes rove up and down his body in that way.
After a moment and an intentionally slow exhale, Remi shakes his shoulders loose and scrubs his fingertips roughly through his hair. [say]"Can't your people make me...I don't know, some special clothing? Something stretchy, maybe."[/say] He suggests, though the image that comes to him is one of SuuSsssAn making him a spandex lime-green outfit with hearts and stars on it, and suddenly he thinks being mostly naked isn't so bad.
Tightening the arms of his jacket around his neck in an effort to keep the garment in place rather than to ward off the chill, Remi suddenly tilts his head to the side. All Ronin might hear, especially with his hearing the way it was these days, was the cool shhhhh of the water and the muffled way that the snow seemed to dampen the sound of his own breath. For the Wendigo though, amidst the scattered sounds of life he could hear something large lumbering in their direction. It was the mostly-not-aggressive thing he'd picked up on from before, though the flight of the deer had stirred its instincts enough that it was moving faster than the wendigo would have expected.
[say]"We're going to have company if we stick around here."[/say] He mutters, glancing over his shoulder to Ronin before raising an eyebrow.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-04-2023
[say]"Sure, I'll request one of those bodysuits people used to wear on movie sets,"[/say] Ronin says with a roll of his eyes right back at Remi, the hunter belatedly recognising the way the wendigo is intentionally keeping himself from his more base instincts. He doesn't exactly look away (and he absolutely doesn't turn his back), but his gaze does fall towards the other man's blown out shoes rather than the haunting gold-green eyes flashing through the night.
With his hearing the way it is these days it's a miracle he can even hear Remi over the rush of water and the lingering thunder of deer hooves on the ground. He does though, luckily, and it's with a frown that he tries to squint in the (wrong) direction of where the lumbering creature is coming from. [say]"That so,"[/say] he says. [say]"How'd you feel about company?"[/say] It both is and isn't an offer for an off-the-books hunt, because it might not be a stag, but if they can take it down then perhaps he'll get some other very interesting parts off it.
Or they might die, with their track record. Apples and oranges.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-04-2023
[say]"Have them make sure the colour is flattering."[/say] Remi says through a grin once he's able. [say]"I am a summer, in case they are wondering."[/say] He adds, tilting up his chin slightly as if his summery complexion might show through in this, the dead of winter.
[say]"Well...if it is an owlbear... is that the sort of thing you might need for your..."[/say] Pursing his lips together, Remi eyes his partner for a moment. [say]"..projects?"[/say] It's a catchall for whatever the fuck you do with the things you pocket during our hunts. Though there's no one around to overhear (probably), Remi isn't sure anything more direct needs to be said.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-04-2023
[say]"A summer?"[/say] Ronin repeats, raising his eyebrows at the wendigo as if his appearance might suddenly make complete sense if they were to dress him in warmer shades. [say]"I will be sure to pass it on."[/say] Maybe Remi can have a spandex bodysuit in soft navy or pink raspberry - he's sure they'll be nigh on undetectable while they're hunting with such an addition to his wardrobe.
But back to the matter at hand, the hunter tilting his head at the possibility of an owlbear stalking through the forest after the herd of deer. [say]"If it was an owlbear, hypothetically, is that something you believe you could take down? With my assistance, of course."[/say] Though he's admittedly brought gear more suited to gathering than hunting, he's sure he can still be the bait in the operation.
Whether that's at all wise is another matter entirely, but this is the situation they find themselves in.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-04-2023
[say]"Mmhmm. Blonde hair, green eyes, immaculate skin."[/say] Remi says, suddenly all Italian-fingers as he gestures to his face with a flourish. Quickly they fall over his bare chest as he sucks in a breath, intentionally letting it hiss over his teeth. [say]"That hurts."[/say] Doing his best to look wounded, once he realizes he isn't pulling it off at all, the wendigo lets his arm fall back to his side as he nods. [say]"Yes Ronin, I do in fact think I am capable of taking on an owlbear."[/say]
Then, because they're pals, he adds: [say]"With your help, of course."[/say]
The groan of the cold-weary trees echoes across the snowdrifts loud enough that even Ronin should be able to hear it. Turning his back to the river fully now and eyeing the treeline, Remi's eyes take on a pale sheen as he rolls one shoulder in preparation. [say]"They aren't terribly smart, are they? Think it'll just...attack when it sees us?"[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-04-2023
[say]"Well I do apologise. I know most of our hunts lately have been water-based, so I wasn't sure if you'd be up to something involving climbing over tree roots,"[/say] Ronin shoots back with a raise of his eyebrows. Lately, admittedly, covers a lot of time, mostly because one or both of them have been recovering from something horrific, or because Remi's been locked down like an animal.
But they're out here to not think about that, so Ronin leaves it there.
[say]"With my help, then, I would say we should absolutely take advantage of this. For your health, of course."[/say] And for his pRoJeCts, since Remi still seems incapable of believing in Fae and changelings, despite being attacked and turned into a wendigo.
Remi turns to actually start his preparation, though, and the humour dissolves from Ronin's expression; the hunter doesn't move to stand with him, exactly, because if he shifts the size alone might knock him into the river, and so he sets himself up a little off to one side. [say]"Not especially, from memory,"[/say] he agrees. [say]"If we can trick it into the river, the cold might do some of our work for us."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-04-2023
[say]'Oh, so now it's okay to let something go into the river?'[/say] Remi snarks back, and though the majority of his senses have already switched gears, he does feel a small pang of...well, perhaps not guilt, but near enough at the memory of Ronin's near-drowning. Or, almost-near-drowning. Remi always knew he'd be able to save the hunter.
Or, almost-always-knew.
Shifting, the winter-heavy silence is broken by the sound of Remi's groaning bones and the fabric-y shredding of his pants as they refuse to last through two shifts. His eyes become hollow points that seem to only reflect the light rather than holding any of their own. With his chin inclined at an angle that would indicate significant injury for a human, the Wendigo flickers an ear as he hunkers forward to lean down on his ungodly long forearms.
[say]it's coming[/say] he thinks toward Ronin, his voice taking on its characteristically nightmarish quality. [say]it's..[/say]
The owlbear appears, all feathers and fur and bastard appearance. How much Ronin is able to take in, in the seconds before it lunges Remi has no idea, but his keen eyesight is able to see all. The features are not quite right, like a puzzle where some pieces haven't been cut properly but have nevertheless been mashed together. It moves without grace which isn't perhaps surprising for a creature of this size, but the gracelessness is not of the bumbling sort, but of the how does this body work sort.
Remi means to finish his thought with it's not right, but the creature has already lunged straight for Ronin.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-04-2023
[say]"That something isn't me, so yes,"[/say] Ronin informs the wendigo in his lilting accent, making it sound even more layered with sarcasm than it already is. The owlbear can blunder into the river and they can take it out quick and simple, they can go and get some stag antlers on the way back, and maybe there'll even be time for some mindless forest wandering before it gets too cold.
Unfortunately due to Remi's nakedness they might not be able to go and sit at a bar like old times, but he's sure he can rearrange this if he needs to.
Then, of course, the wendigo is shifting (and no matter how many times it happens, Ronin is always unnerves and a little awed by it) and everything is going mainly to hell. Because fucking fuck if they can't have a regular hunt without the sprinkle of extra just one gods damned time.
The thing lunges for him and he's already scrabbling to hit the deck and get out of its way. His roll isn't elegant, made that way by tangled tree roots and some holly that digs into his back, but at least he isn't immediately taken out by it. [say]"That isn't an owlbear,"[/say] he barks out, not having seen much but having seen enough.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-04-2023
As Ronin practices his stop-drop-and-roll technique from grade school (or hunter school, but in Remi's estimation those two things are about the same), he's lunging for the ass-end of the owlbear. His claws sink into the thing's thick pelt and though everything smells and feels the way it ought to, still alarm bells are blaring in the back of his mind.
Raking his claws up the creature's spine to hold it somewhere around its waist like he meant to fuck it doggy-style, Remi was unable to see the feature of the creature that would most directly answer the question of, what the fuck?
Snarling, its beak open and clicking together in Ronin's direction as if the sound might encourage the hunter to just shove his leg inside and be done with it, it looked down at the man with eyes that, while not strictly human, were certainly not bestial either. They seemed to smile with a haunting certainty that it was precisely where it wanted to be despite the wendigo trying to flay its skin from its bones.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-04-2023
Later Ronin will ask Remi whether he really did intend to fuck the creature. It might even be funny. But right now he's more focused on not getting eaten or absolutely ruined by something that sort-of looks and sort-of acts how he expects an owlbear to behave, but clearly isn't playing the part very well.
From the hunter's perspective, he certainly does not like the look in the thing's eyes, or its eyes altogether, and he's busy scrabbling back to his feet as Remi wrestles(?) it. Now, given the situations they have been in recently, and even not so recently, what Ronin suggests might seem very logical, if not thoroughly out of character.
[say]"We don't want to be here,"[/say] he calls to Remi. [say]"I don't know what the fuck this is but we want to be away from it. Now."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-04-2023
Remi's mind is a thorny bramble. Snagged thoroughly within its branches is a rapidly beating heart, (it's Ronin's, not the owlbears, interesting, that), the warm gush of blood beneath his claws, and the near lust-inducing madness that always fuels his desire to kill. He hears Ronin's words even if he can't understand them just now; his jaws, if they can even really be called that, have unhinged that he might begin to score away the muscle and flesh on the owlbear's back as he holds it firmly in place.
Even while all of this is happening, while the creature is being goured, it takes a moment to look up at Ronin, cease the clicking of its beak, and smile. This it does mostly with its eyes and the creasing of feathers and fur therearound, but the expression is unmistakable.
[say]..go, i can hold it off un-[/say]
Suddenly the bulk of the owlbear is gone, replaced by the slender amorphous shape of what is undoubtedly a shapechanger. Only vaguely human-like, it twists in the gap its former body left between it and Remi and makes a stabbing motion upward.
And wouldn't you know it, it's holding a silver knife. Almost like it had been expecting this.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-04-2023
[say]"You can't--"[/say] Ronin half snarls in response - or he would if he were capable of snarling, and the sound is mostly lost in the rush of water and whatever horrific noise a wendigo makes when it's trying to flay flesh and muscle from bone. Either way, the hunter absolutely does catch the smile, and blue eyes fly wide as the creature morphs, changes, and is suddenly trying to gut his partner with a silver knife.
His thoughts spasm from one to the next in rapid succession, thoughts like what the fuck, how the fuck, what do I know about shapechangers and can they even carry silver, but luckily for them both, perhaps, his hands are acting of their own accord.
That last question is going to be a stickler, as it happens, because Ronin is busy taking out the silver chain he uses to leash the wendigo, but as he tosses it forward, it's with the intention of snagging it hard around the shapechanger, attempting to yank it back and subdue it.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-04-2023
Well, no one just holds a silver blade, now do they? Or maybe hunters do, but shapechangers certainly have their silver wrapped up with thick hilts of rawhide or bone. You know, for safety.
As the blade slices into Remi's stomach (which is really just a hollow and rather shadowy sort of cavity made mostly of bone), the Wendigo wails in equal parts pain and fury. It's far enough from his heart not to be fatal, but jesus fuck if it isn't shockingly more pain than he'd been expecting. With his claws now fixed upon nothing at all, the wendigo pitches forward, slamming one arm into the ground to brace himself against as the other gropes toward his stomach to cover his wound.
As for the shapechanger? Ronin lassos it like a kid at the carnival who is allowed to stand right next to the fake bull with a rope so wide he can't possibly miss. Again the creature grins, and though it's now bound and (presumably) powerless, it's aura of amusement hasn't faded.
[say]I have a message for you, hunter[/say] It spits as it locks eyes with Ronin.