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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 - Remi - 07-24-2023
Later, perhaps, Remi will be in a state of mind where he can thank Ronin for gathering up his things that he might not have to walk back to the compound naked. Really, he'll be thankful that he hasn't lost yet another trench coat. For now though it's with eerily too-fast movements that he straightens, glaring up at the wandering beam of light that tries to find and fix the pair within its circle.
Run, is not really in the wendigo's vocabulary. Stalk, absolutely is. Chase, certainly. But run? Run away?
With a snarl of impatience that Ronin will feel in the back of his mind like frost-bitten fingers scraping down a chalkboard, the wendigo ghosts after the hunter with absolutely no haste at all in his large strides. [say]let them try[/say] the wendigo suggests in an icy tone.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 07-24-2023
[say]"Oh, I'm pretty sure they're going to try,"[/say] Ronin says, and were he not currently hightailing it down the alleyway, there might even be a hint of amusement in his voice. He's not sure what has brought this on, but he can guess - the siren, the nuckelavee, the undoubted increase in attacks where both he and Remi have been out of commission for one reason or another - the topsiders can take their pick.
Evidently they've decided that whatever pact they have with Undertown isn't enough to overlook the essential fucking service they provide while they recline on high, and Ronin has a choice few things to say about that too. For now, though, the hunter takes a sharp left at the end of the alley only to have to backtrack abruptly (hopefully he doesn't jostle the giant fucking wendigo behind him).
Ahead of them, the sound of heavy footsteps indicates a patrol, but when the soldiers run past the alley, they aren't at all interested in the shadows hiding Ronin and his partner. [say]"Where are they going...?"[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 07-24-2023
Towering above the hunter, the wendigo crouches down as Ronin backtracks. It's as if he can shrink into the shadows that claim the corners of the buildings, and though he's far too large a thing to be able to disappear, it's unsettling just how still he can become when he wants to. [say]who cares[/say] comes the wendigo's immediate response, before some small rational part of his mind nudges him toward helpfulness such that he's once again tilting his head at that ungodly angle to listen.
[say] sounds like there's something ahead, near the old baseball stadium[/say]. Given the way their footsteps suddenly began to echo, that was the only thing that made sense to Remi's mind. [say]or is it just another part of whatever trap they have set up...?[/say] He wonders. [say]maybe its the banshee setting the trap after all.[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 07-24-2023
Honestly, who cares does have a certain appeal to it that Ronin can absolutely get behind, and the vaguely kombucha girl expression on his face says as much. But gods if they shouldn't at least look into it before they head back below decks to tattle on the topsiders. [say]"You know, I wouldn't be surprised,"[/say] he whispers. [say]"They can be pretty cunning when they want to be."[/say]
As if on cue, even Ronin with his ruined hearing does hear the cries that come next. But they have nothing to do with a banshee, and they are all from the throats of the soldiers who just went tromping past. Glancing sharply up at Remi, the hunter is 90% sure they're on their way to their doom, but nonetheless he does start off in pursuit of the patrol.
[say]"Pop quiz - what do we think hunts banshees, that isn't us?"[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 07-24-2023
[say]sounds like my kind of prey[/say] The wendigo agrees, already imagining the game of cat and mouse which might exist between him and such a creature.
Despite his rather hunched posture, Remi coils with a clacking of bone and a moan of sinew as the soldier's cries of panic ring out. [say]this is supposed to be your area of expertise.[/say] The wendigo snarls, haunting the hunter's footsteps as they move out of the alley. Possessing none of Remi's (questionable) wit or banter as a wendigo, Ronin will feel little more than icy silence from his partner.
Still thinking that most (or all) of this was a trap of some sort, the wendigo prowls forward undeterred. If later the pair would need to provide some sort of they shot first alibi to explain why an entire patrol of topside soldiers had been mauled to death by a wendigo, he was sure Ronin could come up with something.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 07-24-2023
It's true - being the encyclopaedia of all things supernatural is Ronin's area of expertise. As is, apparently, being able to come up with all kinds of bullshit lies to see them through to dawn. [say]"The answer is nothing, honestly,"[/say] he whispers, knowing Remi will hear him despite how quietly he speaks, and as they skid around the corner towards the baseball stadium - and the source of the cry - all becomes clear.
Evidently the topsiders have gotten a lot more than they bargained for by broadcasting a banshee's cry out across the city. Ronin can recognise in the occasional flash of silver where other pairs of hunters have been drawn into the fight, but it's mostly gore and carnage. Because no, nothing really hunts banshees (nothing apart from Remi, anyway) - but there's plenty of scavenger creatures who will hang around waiting to feast on any bodies a banshee leaves behind.
[say]"Ghouls,"[/say] Ronin hisses to Remi; he speaks, of course, of the dark, vaguely humanoid shapes tearing at the flesh of soldiers both alive and dead. [say]"They hang out in graveyards and eat the bodies. Gods, the broadcast must have pulled them from all over the fucking city..."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 07-24-2023
You're a real font of information, Remi will snark to Ronin later, but for now, the wendigo is utterly uninterested in this fun little supernatural guessing game, not least of all because there's suddenly blood in the air.
Having already felt slightly reckless because of Isla's testing, the call of copper is one that the wendigo doesn't even try and ignore. Stepping out from behind Ronin and drawing himself up to his full height, Remi races toward the group of topside hunters currently having their asses (arms, throats, and feet) handed to them by the ghouls. Parting his jaws and roaring a grotesque sound created from the vibrating of cartilage and bone rather than vocal cords, the wendigo reaches for the closest ghoul and decapitates it with a quick swipe of his talons.
That ghouls are not really that different from wendigos in the big supernatural scheme of things isn't something Remi's mind cares to consider, and though his presence isn't necessarily one that strikes calm into the hearts of the topside hunters, it should provide enough of a distraction for them to either haul ass or help.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 07-24-2023
These are topside soldiers having been expecting to catch a few unruly Undertown hunters to blame on the news; hauling ass is definitely more their ball game. (Hahaha, get it?) Given that they've gotten more than they bargained for (and more again besides), much of the baseball field empties the moment they're capable of running. Of course, they're of the opinion that the wendigo is some hyped-up-super-ghoul that isn't on their side, and honestly, Ronin isn't going to be the one to correct them.
The other hunters still present - and Remi might recognise a couple of them as having waved to him in the apartment corridor - are quick to follow the wendigo's lead, and though ghouls are sort of like wendigo in that they share a taste for blood and flesh, they're nowhere near as high on the food chain. Between the hunters and their secret weapon Remi, it doesn't take long before the ghouls are on the run as well.
And gods if it doesn't feel good not to be on the back foot for once, Ronin setting a few smudging sticks alight and yeeting them towards the dugouts and entranceways, just in case any of the creatures want to get back in.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 07-24-2023
Remi, who is interested is no one and nothing save for the ghouls, is reckless in his enthusiasm to severe heads from bodies and limbs from torsos. Later he'll tell Ronin that ghouls taste horrible, but in the moment as their warm innards coat his arms and soak into the dark fur that ruffles up his shoulders and bunches around his crown of antlers, he has utterly no complaints.
For all of his humanity and for how good it felt to be out in the world with Ronin, and how normal it had been to simply sit and stare at Isla without thinking once about tearing her throat open (with his teeth anyway, his porno plotline would happily have him think his cock was large enough to do just that), something about this also felt just as good, and normal, and right.
Raising his head, the bone-white of his skull shimmering with blood, the wendigo growls in Ronin's direction as the hunter smudges the air with what, to his nose, just smells terrible. That of course is the point he supposes, and though he has to hold his breath to do it, the wendigo stalks into one of the tunnels that lead to a locker room in the hopes that not all of the ghouls have fled.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 07-24-2023
Busy playing cleanup with the other hunters thanks to Remi taking care of the majority of the ghoul problem, the good news, at least, is that the creatures' corpses will completely burn up come sunrise, and in no time at all they're pretty much done. (The hunters are, anyway). Someone has even managed to turn off the banshee cry from the speakers, and if there was anyone controlling this stupid plan, they've also fled the area as well.
Exchanging a few pleasantries with the remaining hunters and comparing rumour and notes for any other nasties on the loose that evening, it isn't long before it's just Ronin, the smudges of sage, the baseball field full of corpses (most of them ghoul, some of them soldiers) and a missing wendigo.
[say]"Remi?"[/say] Ronin calls as he ducks into one of the locker rooms he thinks he's seen his partner go down, Remi's clothes and coat folded over one arm. [say]"I think we're done."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 07-24-2023
When Ronin finally makes his way into the locker room, at the end of a meandering trail of blood and illuminated by a single flickering lightbulb which had resolutely refused to be smashed or burn out, sits the wendigo. Seated on the broken concrete floor with his legs crossed at the ankles and his knees drawn up toward his chest, that Remi's arms and legs were covered in blood was not so surprising given his recent activities, but that his face and mouth were suggested that the wendigo had not come down here just to kill, but to feed as well.
Looking all the more pale and malnourished for the near-black coating of blood on his limbs and his sunken posture, as Remi lifts his gaze to Ronin one might have expected a flicker of carnal satisfaction in his green-gold eyes, given how eager he'd been to hunt. Only...there was nothing in Remi's eyes as he regarded Ronin through the flickering darkness; a bottomless well of nothing.
[say]"The sage smells terrible."[/say] He complains in a toneless voice.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 07-24-2023
[say]"I know, sorry,"[/say] Ronin says with an apologetic smile, letting out a soft breath of relief to know that he's found the other man and doesn't have to play guess-the-locker-room across the whole stadium. Setting down Remi's clothes on one of the benches, Ronin takes the liberty of digging around into lockers and cupboards and other storage areas. Humming a satisfied sigh as he finds what he's looking for - a towel - the hunter returns, running it under the water at one of the sinks to make it damp.
[say]"Here."[/say] He offers it out to Remi so he can clean up a little if he wants, before sinking down onto the bench and rolling his shoulders. [say]"Are you okay?"[/say] He asks, having wondered since the second he's seen the wendigo, but hedging his bets as to when to ask. [say]"The other hunters have headed out - other jobs to do."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 07-24-2023
For a moment the wendigo merely watches Ronin move about the room, before staring blankly at the offered towel as if unsure what he was meant to do with it. Sighing, only because his mouth tasted of sage, he reaches for it if only so that as he relaxed his legs down neither of them would have to play the are you looking at my penis game.
[say]'Just like that, huh?'[/say] He wonders of the hunters with a small huff of laughter. [say]"All in a day's work, I guess."[/say] Making use to keep a corner of the towel in his lap while using the wet end to wipe off his mouth and face, Remi looks at the blood-drenched rest of his body and gives up.
[say]"I probably need to talk to Isla."[/say] He says after a moment. [say]"Staying with you and trying Isla's serum...it felt like the point was to make me human again, but.."[/say] Running one of his fingers across his knee where the blood was already tacky and thick, the wendigo shakes his head a little. [say]"But being human isn't actually what anyone wants of me. Not all the time, right?"[/say] It's an honest question, and as he looks up at Ronin now, his eyes are no longer empty, but haunted. Haunted by the things he'd done and what he'd continue to do; haunted in a way that would grow with whatever humanity Isla was trying to give back to him.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 07-24-2023
[say]"Things to do, vampires to slay, you know how it goes,"[/say] Ronin says with a small smirk and a roll of his shoulders, raising his eyebrows as Remi stares so blankly at the towel. Playing the penis game is one thing, but right now Ronin is more interested in the did you know you have blood in your hair game. [say]"They said to tell you thanks, though,"[/say] he adds, about the other hunters.
Almost expecting Remi to clam up - as has been the case throughout 90% of their attempts to be friends until very recently - Ronin is both surprised and humbled as the other man speaks, leaning his elbows on his knees to hear him out. [say]"I know the point from Isla's perspective has always been to try and find a cure for you,"[/say] he murmurs - he could tell that much from the notes he's snuck a look at.
[say]"And obviously I'd be lying if I said you aren't a hell of an ace in the hole for the hunters, whatever the fuck they might think of you."[/say] But, and it's a big one, Ronin's gaze softening as he glances up at Remi. [say]"Between you and me, though, I prefer smashing-piggybanks-Remi to skeletal-antlers-Remi. I know hunting is what gets you out, but if you want to just be my eyes and ears, without the..."[/say] He gestures to the blood and ichor, as if it should be obvious. [say]"Then that's what we'll do."[/say]