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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 - 05-05-2023
[say]"Fuck,"[/say] Ronin says again, stuffing the pamphlet and the device into the inside pocket of his coat (and having no intention, evidently, of using it). He shrugs the loop of silver chain over his shoulder like one might do with a coil of rope, his feet taking them after the other hunters in no particular hurry, and the loose grip he keeps on the leash might well make it appear, to others, that Remi is completely under control.
The reality, of course, is that Ronin doesn't care to stop him if he isn't.
[say]"I said I was sorry,"[/say] he repeats, falling for the feigned deafness for no other reason than because his isn't feigned. [say]"I'll explain everything properly later. I... can you fight in these?"[/say] He furrows his brows as he gazes down at the devices on Remi's wrists and ankles, the hunter pausing only to brush off a guard trying to hassle them into speeding up.
[say]"I've not got any intel on what's up there right now, but if it needs a lot of hunters it'll be nasty. Are you good to go?"[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-05-2023
[SAY]"No need to apologize."[/say] Remi replies in a neutral tone, eyes still focused on the ground. He's had several weeks now to think things over, and it wasn't as though you'd apologize to a table for smashing a plate against it or kicking it when it was in your way. It was just a thing, there for your convenience. There when you need it, out of sight when you didn't; so it was with Remi and Ronin.
Still not looking up, the wendigo considers before shrugging. [say]"I haven't tried. You could always try and remove them?"[/say] He suggests in a voice that's perhaps just a shade too bright. Susan had warned him on several occasions (with demonstrations) that forceful removal of his shackles would result in the silver being expelled into his system. We wouldn't want that, now would we? she had asked. Except yes, yes we really did want that.
[say]'Of course.'[/say] Now Remi's tone has taken on a rather subservient tone as he continues to heel behind Ronin rather than ghosting along like his shadow as he normally did. [say]"Whatever you need."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-05-2023
There is need to apologise, evidently, because with Isla mysteriously taking time off, there's been no one around to advocate for the wendigo, and despite the whole no more treating him like a monster thing, Suuuuusan has clearly been having the time of her life. [say]"We'll see how it goes, I guess,"[/say] he mumbles of the shackles, missing the fatalistic cheer in Remi's voice only because he's got so much else to be fucked off and worried about before he even reaches the part where the wendigo doesn't want to be helped.
It makes the back of his neck itch, having Remi so obediently heeling behind him, and when they finally reach the tunnels where there are less eyes on them (they're stragglers by now, too, so there aren't any other hunters to speak of either), Ronin draws to a halt. [say]"What happened?"[/say] he asks, his voice hushed. [say]"I know we pissed each other off last time, and I get it if you're still fucked off at me, but this is like someone has put you on factory reset."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-05-2023
Whether they've fallen behind naturally or if it's simply because most of the hunters want to stay far away from Ronin and his pet, isn't something Remi is particularly worried about. But when they draw to a sudden stop, even though the wendigo can see perfectly fine in the dimly lit tunnel, he nevertheless narrows his eyes as he looks blankly up into his partner's face. Or, Ronin's face, rather.
[say]"I'm just doing my job."[/say] He replies carefully, only able to meet Ronin's gaze for just a moment before it falls down unfocused near the hunter's shoulder. If he says too much, he'll ruin it. He'll say something stupid like i ThOuGhT We WerE FriEndS, or reveal something that'll tip Ronin off to his plan.
[say]'Oy, that thing under control?'[/say] Comes a voice from somewhere higher up, echoing back down the ladder-shaft and distorting somewhat.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-05-2023
Ronin's fingers twitch as if he wants to reach out and shake Remi by the shoulders in a very human way, but of course he's far too tired and the wendigo is acting far too weird for him to risk anything beyond words right now. [say]"Fine,"[/say] he says, riding the word out on a sigh. [say]"Then I'll do mine. Once we're done up there, though, talk to me, please? As you, not as..."[/say] He gestures to this facade of Very Well Behaved Wendigo Pet.
[say]"Oh, absolutely not,"[/say] Ronin calls back to the disembodied voice, his tone dry as sandpaper. [say]"I'm in peril, can't you hear?"[/say] Shaking his head and muttering something inaudible under his breath, the hunter approaches the ladder-shaft and gestures for Remi to go first. [say]"If there are any hunters behind us they'll only wet themselves if they see you,"[/say] he reasons.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-05-2023
[say]"Sure."[/say] Remi agrees sunnily, if only because he was quite sure that there would be no after. Trying his best not to hear any of the care or concern in Ronin's voice and instead poisoning the words by imagining that Ronin was only worried insofar as he needed to use Remi on more outings, the wendigo straightens and glances towards the shaft.
[say]"Uh...So...should we send down help?"[/say] It's an almost laughable response, but given that no one but Ronin has ever successfully managed Remi, none of the hunters are taking any chances. [say]"Cause..he could be making you say that."[/say] Comes the addition of a new voice.
Doing as he's told, Remi climbs the ladder with ease, failing to emerge slowly so that the other hunts could get a proper measure of him. Maybe things would go his way and someone would just stab him right then and there on impulse.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-05-2023
[say]"We're fine and dandy, thanks,"[/say] Ronin drawls up in response, his eyeroll somehow audible in the words. [say]"Besides,"[/say] he adds, and this is quiet enough so only Remi needs to hear it, [say]"if you were making me say anything, I guarantee it would be a lot more interesting than that."[/say] Scoffing, he waits for the wendigo to start the ascent before following, and together they spill out into the streets on the surface.
Alas, no one is paying enough attention to Remi to stab him unexpectedly. There are fresh sirens up here, and a strange, ruddy haze makes the snow piled up against the alleyway walls seem an eerie pink colour. Walkie talkies from the hunters just in front of them crackle out some coordinates, and they all burst into action to reach the destination.
[say]"It's probably best for us to keep to the back line until we know what we're dealing with,"[/say] Ronin suggests, glancing across at Remi. [say]"More room for you as well, if you need to shift."[say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-05-2023
The joke has Remi clenching his teeth together slightly as Ronin's words pick at the scab that, while not actually healing anything, is at least keeping certain wounds covered.
Sadly, Remi emerges into the darkened street without so much as a hiccup of fear from anyone around him. Taking stock of his surroundings on impulse, the wendigo scents the air for a second before frowning to himself. [say]"Whatever you need."[/say] He mutters to Ronin, still sounding infuriatingly agreeable and lifeless. Still...having a death wish didn't change what he was, and even his instincts were telling him that something very strange was going on.
Looking into the sky where the moon was only just starting to be obscured by the earth, the wendigo considers for a moment, before turning his back and heeling alongside Ronin again.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-05-2023
Enough, Ronin almost wants to snap at Remi, but gods that wouldn't go down well on a regular night, let alone when every hunter in the complex is within a one mile radius of them (that's how it seems, anyway). [say]"Alright, well. Let's see what we've got,"[/say] he mutters instead, before setting off after the duo with the walkie talkies.
Given that they're somewhat late to the party - and won't that make them popular, what with Ronin strolling along with the science wing's secret weapon - he's expecting abject chaos, but as they draw closer to the heart of the coordinates, things remain eerily, suspiciously quiet.
Then Ronin spots the first bodies.
Bludgeoned, lacerated, or foaming at the mouth and still convulsing a little, it looks as though what happened to the hunters - and some bystanders - is a combination of a lot of horrific things at once, and Ronin hisses out a curse under his breath. [say]"What the fuck is this,"[/say] he begins, just as they round a corner and it all becomes nightmarishly clear.
A line of hunters have formed a barricade in a defensive position, and beyond them stands a creature both grotesque and disturbing in proportions. It looks almost like a man riding a horse, only not - fused to the creature at the waist, both equine and human are one and the same.
Oh, and they've been flayed raw, ruby muscle glistening wetly against the half-light, stretched tight over bone and sinew. With arms that are freakishly long, ending in hands too large for any human, the creature swings suddenly and wildly towards the barricade. Almost too quick to track with one's eyes, it sends one of the hunters smashing against a nearby brick wall. The force is enough to send stone crumbling, and the figure that crumples to ground afterwards is unmistakeably dead.
So that's that.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-06-2023
Ronin might have spotted the bodies first, but the wendigo had smelled them. There was so much death as to be wasteful, and not even Remi knew whether or not to be appropriately horrified or impressed by the body count the thing had already wracked up. No longer heeling behind Ronin, now the wendigo moves in jerky steps as if unable to properly sense what was ahead and manage his feet at the same time.
And then he sees it.
[say]"What the fuck is that."[/say]The facade of perfect pet and happy servitude drops away from the wendigo like a veil, and now he's standing taller, his shoulders squared toward it, and his teeth pressed together. Two minutes ago Remi had been content to die, but it's like that old meme of someone standing by a bridge where someone is about to jump, asking if they could have sex with them before they go. They say no, and the response is, "well, I'll just wait until you've jumped then", and voila. The urge to die is gone. So it is with Remi, when faced with a predator the likes of which he's never seen. Now he doesn't want to die, he wants to win.
[say]'They need to go.'[/say] He growls under his breath as one of the hunters is tossed like a ragdoll. Standing shoulder to shoulder with Ronin now, Remi glances at the hunter over his shoulder before returning his gaze to the...whatever.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-06-2023
It's testament to the horror unfolding before them that Ronin makes no mention of the suddenly Remi again nature of his partner; they stand shoulder to shoulder, even as the defensive line of hunters seems to visibly flinch in response to one of their number being swatted against stone. And for better or for worse, he can answer the wendigo's question.
[say]"That,"[/say] he says, his tone quiet and quick, the kind used to giving instructions under pressure, [say]"is a nuckelavee. A sort of horse demon - it comes from the sea. Fresh, running water is the only way to get rid of it for good."[/say] Of which they have none, naturally, because this is an island city surrounded by an ocean, and it's currently the dead of snowbound fucking winter.
[say]"I'll get them out of here. If it opens its mouth, get out of its way,"[/say] Ronin continues - and because he can't actually unshackle Remi any more, he merely drops the leash holding him, before diving off towards the line of hunters. His voice rings out a second later, which achieves two things - the hunters listen, firstly, because at least someone is giving orders.
But he also draws all of the flayed creature's attention.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-06-2023
The word sounds entirely made up, and had it been spoken in anything less than Ronin's Irish lilt Remi might have said as much. Instead, the hunter's accent makes it sound all the more credible, and it's with a hrrmphh under his breath that Remi nods. [say]"And...you've not brought any acorns full of running water, I take it?"[/say] It's both a joke as much as a serious question, and suddenly Remi's mind is awhirl with philosophical questions of the sort, does spit count as running water? piss?
[say]"R-"[/say] Is all he has time to shout before Ronin is gone, leaving the wendigo bound and unable to shift. Earlier in the day he'd have been pleased at this misstep, but just now he found himself glaring down at the leash unable to free himself, and not wanting to be an easy meal for the nuckle-vee, or whatever it was.
Dragging the leash as he jogs forward, Remi is still impressively fast even unshifted, and so it's with a blur of movement that he tries to draw the flayed creature's attention. It's the sort of thing that would catch his eye in a moment like this, and he hopes that the weird horse-man will be similarly interested.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-06-2023
[say]"I have not,"[/say] Ronin says softly, and he'd be amused about it were it not for the already massive loss of life evident all around them. As for the leash and the wendigo's un-shifty-ness, well, this is a lesson to speak to one's partner about all this bullshit instead of pretending to be a labrador at their heels, isn't it?
Anyway. Live and learn. (He hopes).
The hunters are dispersing and the nuckelavee zones in on the shackled wendigo, just as Remi assumed it would. The sound that leaves its flayed throat(s) definitely isn't laughter, but the wheezing, clicking sound makes a decent substitute anyway. With its grotesquely long arms dragging along the cold concrete it makes a beeline for Remi, hoping to turn him into a squashed bloodbag as well.
Only when Ronin is certain that the other hunters have gotten the message - fucking retreat, make a source of running fresh water, try not to shit yourselves - does he turn back to his partner, shrugging the old faithful silver chain back from his shoulder. [say]"If you can grapple it I can try and bind it,"[/say] he calls, keeping a wise distance as he circles around. [say]"Let me know if you've got a better idea."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-06-2023
If the pair had been in a world where Stranger Things had aired, they might have done the DiCaprio point at the sound uttered by the creature. In this world, Remi merely snarls and unconsciously shivers at the sound, opting to put on a burst of speed rather than dilly dally where the thing might be able to get him.
[say]"Not like this I can't."[/say] Remi barks while zigzagging back and forth so that the knuckle-dragger couldn't anticipate where he was going to go. The only idea that came to him was an absolutely absurd one, and later (if there was a later), he'd tell Ronin that if the hunter had brought some water-acorns, he wouldn't have had to do it in the first place.
[say]"You need to take the leash off. "[/say] Remi yells, banking switfly and running straight for the hunter. [say]"Just go with it."[/say] It, being the fact that the wendigo had just spread his arms and lowered his centre of gravity slightly that he might be able to pick Ronin up on the run. Strong and fast enough to carry the other man, he only hoped his partner would be able to untether him on the move.