[Nexus] Inside 44

[Rebonack]

[Slums]

She could smell it.

That sweaty, sweet scent of desire. But this was mingled with booze and lust and contempt. Not the smell of lovers, but of something altogether more bestial and vial.

It didn't take long for Winifred to find her prey.

The greasy thug of a man had the poor woman backed into a narrow side street, threatening her with that cruel serrated knife. Threatening to harm her in ways to horrible and violating to repeat.

And it was now... now was the perfect time to strike.

"L-leave her alone!" Winifred stammers. Unlike usual the Huldra's beauty is... muted. Far more earthly than its usual near-divine quality. Still plenty enough to get the attention of this brute, though.

"Oh? And wassu gunna do about it, girlie?" the greasy troll of a man slurs as he turns to Winifred, knife raised.

She gives a small start of fear as she makes a show of backing off, terrified. Only to stumble over a loose flagstone and fall to the filthy mire-covered streets.

The thug sneers, swaggering over to the fallen woman and seizing her forcefully by the arm. "C'mere girly! Gemmi a kiss!"

He got a kiss alright.

One he wouldn't ever forget.

****

Three tails swish as Winifred crouches over the withered, almost mummified corpse of the thug, her posture now that of predator rather than prey. Her claw-like hands bloodied as she finishes off what's left of the corpse's liver. Tongue licks across fangs as she turns fox-like eyes toward the woman still sobbing and quaking and shivering in fear only a few dozen feet away.

The Huldra, in her lust to feed her appetite with another soul, had nearly forgotten all about the whole reason she was doing this in the first place. The whole reason why she had come tromping out here through the slime and the stench.

Or...

At least the reasons she had rationalized her hunt with.

The poor woman is terrified. And why shouldn't she be? Winifred had just drained that man and then devoured his organs right in front of her. The Huldra looks down at herself. At the gore. At the... monster she just let herself be. She had saved that woman, possibly from death!

But...

She could have just used her illusions to do that.

Did she really have to eat him?

Suddenly feeling naked and exposed before the woman's horrified eyes the Huldra turns and flees as fast as her feet can carry her. She runs, heedless of destination. Heedless of the eyes. Heedless of those who might be troubled at the sight of a woman covered in blood obviously not her own.

[Slii Arhem]

Slums

From a nearby roof, Essaila watches the young waif run through the streets. She was very, very new to this whole thing wasn't she? Probably couldn't live with herself after killing some poor slag for his cash.

See her Asty? What should we do about her? She leans forward a bit more off the edge of the roof, taking a deep breath of the night air. It may be a city, but she'll never get over how clean the air is on this world.

[Halae]

[Slums]

We should help her at least. If she's never needed to do something like that, she's probably going to need help. Astra says, brushing some of his blond hair out of his eyes, "Hey Lady! Wait up!"

Astra vaults over the side of the building, catching a pipe on the way down and riding it down into the bottom of the alleyway. He's seen Essy do it enough times, or something like it, that he can manage mimicking her on the way down, but not on the way up - he's not that good.

Once he lands in the alley (conveniently on a closed dumpster, so he doesn't have to fall the last seven feet to the ground), he says "Made a kill tonight huh? We can help if you like."

[Rebonack]

[Slums]

Dumpster is closed?

That would have been about 20% more hilarious if it had been open.

Winifred jumps a bit when the guy suddenly leaps down next to her, taking several steps back, eyes darting around. Eyes that don't look particularly human...

Her three tails are still plain to see. And her fingers still end in rather bloodied claws. It should be obvious that she recently ate someone or something that was breathing still only a few minutes before.

Recent mutant, maybe?

"Oh Emperor's mercy I... I killed him... why did I do that...?"

She sounds distraught. And somewhat incoherent.

"I didn't have to... I could have... could have done something else..." Winifred begins pacing now, one hand clutching her gut. "But I saved her from him. And... if he had left he might have hurt someone else. And... I..."

Her eyes fix on Astra, pleading.

"How can you help...?"

Pleading, but also despondent. Hopeless.

[Slii Arhem]

Slums

Essaila uses the fancier route after her brother makes first contact, leaping to the other side of the alley and catching her foot nimbly on a crack in the brick, pushing off in a high arc that turns into a flip.

She lands almost entirely silently on the can lid next to Astra, her controlled fall ending with her sitting directly on the edge of the dumpster.

Sure we should help her? She looks kind of feral. Then again, so do I. She sure has been playful ever since that random robot paid them amazing amounts of cash for a minor show by the fountain. Must be all the decent meals she's getting.

Taking stock of the claws and tail, Essaila makes a snap decision and shows her own obvious mutation, pulling back her lips into a massive, unbearably toothy grin. Row upon row of sharp teeth line her jaw and palate, each glinting in the low light.

[Halae]

[Slums]

Astra pulls up the back of his shirt a bit, revealing the scales that coat his lower back - they probably extend up all the way to his neck, and possibly down his legs as well, "See? we're mutants too. We know a few of the safe places to hide out in this city."

Astra lets his shirt come back down, and says, "Plus we're... well, we've had to kill to protect ourselves before. We understand needs, alright?"

As Astra does this, he'll attempt to use telepathy to take a peek into Winifred's mind. In normal individuals, this should result in a headache, though a light one, but the source should be undetectable. At the moment, he's just trying to read her surface thoughts, and maybe see what her name and homeworld are - after all, if he's dealing with someone from Imperium of Man, which calling on the emperor suggests, he wants to know just how long this girl has been here.

[Rebonack]

[Slums]

Probing surface thoughts is relatively safe. She's frightened and conflicted. Guilty about killing that thug but at the same time feeling justified in her actions.

Her name is Winifred. Her world she knows as The Empyreum. No further designation she's aware of.

As her mind is read she rubs at her temples, screwing her eyes shut as her head begins to throb. Just what she needs on top of everything else. A headache.

"I wasn't... I wasn't protecting me," Winifred stammers. "I was protecting someone else. Or... I thought I was... maybe I was just hungry and it was a good excuse. I'm not sure anymore..."

And she has no idea what a mutant is!

Apparently someone with a corrupted body?

Strange...

It isn't Discord, though. Something else. Something chaotic. Though in a very different way.

[Halae]

[Slums]

Astra nods, "We always try to go for the ones that deserve it," Astra says solemnly, hopping down from the dumpster to put a hand on Winifred's shoulder, "So you're a... what was it called again? Necrophage, right. Eat the dead. we've met people like you before," it's obvious she at the guy, after all, what with the blood dripping from mouth and claws, "So relax, you're in good hands, alright?"

He's a bit scrawny to be handsome, but Astra has a natural sort of charm that helps people like him. Just the sort of person he is.

[Rebonack]

[Slums]

They kill people too?

Though only the ones that deserve it.

Apparently.

Winifred isn't sure if that makes her feel any better, all things considered. And the term 'necrophage' sounds vaguely creepy to her. Doesn't like to have any more monstery sounding labels than she already has.

She glances away uneasily.

Wipes some blood away from her mouth with her sleeve.

They don't know what she is. That's obvious enough. If they did then there's no way they would be so friendly toward her. She eats people after all! But... they have no problem with that. Which unnerves her even more.

As for appearances Winifred looks quite attractive. If you're willing to overlook the inhuman characteristics and the fact that she's covered in someone else's blood. Not supernaturally attractive, though. Not as she normally is.

...

Maybe it would be best to just be truthful about all this?

Winifred takes a deep breath and then sighs. "I'm... sorry... I'm not what you think I am. I'm... not even human anymore. It's hard remembering now," now she just sounds worried. "I'm sure I could remember more before. But... everything is so hazy. And if I can't trust my memory then how do I know if I ever knew to begin with?"

A ripple of foxfire creeps over Winifred like a line of embers edging along a piece of paper and turning it black. Except instead of turning her to ash the ghostly blue flame removes her inhuman traits and burns away the blood.

Spooky.

"I'm not human anymore. I'm a Huldra. A d-" she seems to have trouble even saying the word. Even trying to pronounce it makes her feel ill. "A d..."

She grits her teeth. Teeth that are once again inhuman and predatory. And then with a FWOOSH there's no woman there at all. But instead-

"A demon-fox! I'm a monster of Discord!" Freddie snarls as wisps of ghostly flame dance around the monster's body. "And I devoured that man! ALL of him, do you understand? I ate his soul because the emptiness never stops gnawing at me and that's the only way to quiet it!"

The Huldra takes a menacing step forward.

Then collapses in a heap on the ground, tails wrapping around the creature's frame as Freddie begins to weep bitterly. "I don't know who I am anymore..."

[The Alexandrian]

Hotel of Dooom

Javert has no great want to even think about anything. The throbbing persists. Javert can only grit his teeth and snuggle closer to Lintha as he's carried. Normally he would notice the strange aura and leave. But right now poor Javert can barely string two words together.Gah...hurts...so....Ah! Please....stop....ah!

[Hotel Of Unusual Paranormal Activity!]

Wow! This hotel is a hotspot of paranormal activity! It seems like a conduit between this world and another exists here, somewhere, buried within the scorched ruins of the structure. The energy that gave rise to it must have been pooled from all of the anguish of those who perished here or something!

This is a bad place to be. A very, very bad place. Most people recognize that straightaway, but Lintha...

Lintha walks directly through the automatic glass doorways the hotel has labeled as their main entrance. She marches right up to the counter, inquires about a room for the night, and receives a key for a room. She'll head off to haul herself and Javert to the elevators, unless Javert disputes that course of action.

This be Javert's final chance to resort to communication to avoid being involved in this ghost tale, I warn you! After the elevator starts up, there's no turning back from the land of the unknown which lies beyond.

[Shadowcaller]

Master Dahl's Bakery

Hmm, this is still a fair amount of stuff they're eating. Kashi better pay for it before-hand.

Well, not before that donut Hekta is snacking on, but before he starts in on his own meal.

With a rippling shudder of bronze scales, the dragon strains for a moment before disgorging a massive lump of solid gold from his mouth. If Elias looks carefully, he'll see that it's made up of fused together coins, encrusted with barnacles and other tarnish that holds it all together.

Pirate gold! Slightly crusty, but very valuable. Should be more than enough to pay for a day worth of bakery goods.

Now it's time to chow down. With a light trill, Kashi grabs a rack of scones and starts eating with gusto.

Master Dahl's Bakery

"Your wings aren't big enough to carry you," Elias says to Hekta.

Master Dahl's Bakery

Seeing how Kashi manages to be even more greedy then she is, Hekta attempts to stuff three chocolate muffins and stuff them into her mouth at the same time while trying to respond to Elias.

The results are not pretty.

"Muumgh yemm thees..." She mumbles through the layers of chocolate goodness. Her wings flaps once again while the demon makes some inane gestures, apparently trying to explain something to Elias while stuffing herself full at the same time. Multitasking is fun.

[Eadin]

Spoiler

Show

[Animal Shelter]

Bobbie is also watching and trying to stay out of the way!
For the moment, at least.

She has crept a teensy bit closer to Arel, possibly to get a better look at those vines and other little...imperfections.
Clearly the woman is curious.

[Animal Shelter]

"Yes, with the plants." Reinholdt responds to Arel, but otherwise stays out of the way.

[Animal Shelter]



Each of the six vines is about five feet in length, though she has them resting near her body now. If the druid knows what she's looking at, she might be able to identify the vines as those belonging to a Yellow Musk Creeper. Arel's skin also has a somewhat yellow tinge to it and in some places where her veins are visible they look green, especially on her arms.

Arel gives Rein a puzzled look. She doesn't even know what a druid is. "Help me?" But her attention is quickly redirected to the woman. "I feel fine."

[Animal shelter]
The woman gives Arel an odd look, then turns to Rein and Bobby.
"Does she realise what happened to her?"
To Arel she says:" Would you mind if I took a look at your vines, dear?"

[Forever Curious]

[Market Street]

"A tailor? Okay, I guess," Cass says as she follows Kaalia into the shop. She didn't particularly like fancy shops, but maybe she'd be really lucky and find some jeans. That, or Kaalia at least wouldn't be long. Then again, as long as she's dreaming, maybe all the corps would stop hiring security.

Market Street
Kaalia is so excited she doesn't even notice the shop is closed, bumping into the door she expected to be open. "Huh, that's irksome," she comments, looking into the stores dark interior. "Oh well, perhaps I can come back later." She turns to look at Cass. "At least you got what you came here for," remarks the artificer with a grin.

[Hattish Thing]

Hotel of Cthulu?

Poor Javert is somewhat of a ghost himself. He is possessing his own corpse. Which is kinda creepy. But, eh. He's in way too much pain to think of anything. He doesn't notice the odd aura coming off here, or the sense he shouldn't be here. Javert was already dead though. He could come to little harm here. However, Lintha was not dead. Hopefully she wouldn't have to die for a while yet. He just groans in pain. Oblivious to anything.

[Slii Arhem]

Slums

Essaila has been patiently listening to the conversation, but when Freddy transforms her jaw unhinges in surprise before clamping shut, teeth gritting with fear. This was a daemon the entire time? Every instinct told her to bolt, or to get Astra as far away as possible, but her normally flexible limbs were locked, rigid with fear. Apparently conflicted or not, daemons were always going to be after psykers like her brother, and this one had proven able to give into its lusts for souls just recently.

Please, let's leave Astra? While it's cowering, let's run and never look back. They'd had very few partial experiences with daemons before, but this was Essaila's first time seeing one in the "flesh" and it's scaring her to her core.

[Morty]

[Red Zone Alleyway]

The Hunters will be waiting for a few hours, but eventually the noises that have been persistent will start to increase in volume. They may also start to hear a rapid pitter-patter that comes with the creatures running. And in a few minutes, they'll hear scratching against the ground and dirt being moved.

The Hunters take up positions behind cover and wait, gripping their weapons tightly.

[Halae]

[Slums]

Yeah, daemon... that was bad. Something wasn't right here, but Astra wasn't willing to wait around finding out what. Given the connection they share, Astra will be able to pick out Essy's inability to move, and will pick the girl up in his arms as he leaves the alley. Leaves it very, very quickly.

He won't stop running for a while, when he trips and falls over, completely out of breath. Essaila will be sent sprawling as well, and anyone in the area will hear a sort of psychic white noise in their minds as Astra struggles to keep his power under control despite his panicked state.

[Rebonack]

[Slums]

Yep!

Daemons are really really bad.

Though Freddie is discord, not daemon. But the two mutants were probably wise not to stick around to try to figure out what the difference is. Given that a daemon would probably kill both of them. Horribly.

As for Freddie...

The Huldra isn't in such a good spot right now.

Those people where trying to help and that transformation scared the jeeblies out of them.

"Why did I even do that...?" the demon-fox mutters to no one in particular. "Was I trying to protect them from me? Was I trying to goad them into attacking me? I just..."

Don't know.

After sitting there in a stupor for a while the Huldra climbs up the side of the wall it had slumped down next to, perching on a crumbling gargoyle. A single wisp of foxfire flickers for a moment before becoming a mirror and hanging in front of Freddie.

The demon-fox flinches at its own reflection.

"I really am a monster, aren't I?" and then with one claw the Huldra knocks the mirror away, shattering it against a nearby air-conditioning unit.

Who puts air conditioning units on top of gothic buildings? Seriously? Crazy Nexus.

With a deep sigh Freddie focuses on some random person walking in the distance and FWOOSH! becomes the greatest object of her desire. Though not that he has more control over his shape the Huldra tones down the supernatural handsomeness a few notches.

"I can be anyone..." Fredrick mutters. "But I'm no one. Hollow and empty inside..."

[Slii Arhem]

Slums

Essaila sprawls across the pavement where she's thrown from Astra's arms, limbs hanging limp. Neither the crash landing or the panicked buzz from Astra seem to cause her any added distress, although she's nearly catatonic still.

One thing's for certain, they aren't nearly far enough away yet. If Astra can't keep up, it's up to her.

She staggers to her feet and walks over to her brother, attempting to pick him up by looping an arm under his shoulder and throwing his arm across her back. It'll be slower going with the smaller of the two carrying them both, but any movement is better than standing here and waiting to get eaten.

[Halae]

[Slums]

"It... it didn't follow us," Astra says, panting, "We're fine this far away, alright? Just, relax." Astra will send a few soothing feelings over their link to Essaila, Rolling onto his back and sitting up so that he might hug his sister. He's never been that close to a daemon before, not that he hasn't dealt with them trying to get at him before.

[Slii Arhem]

Slums

Sure, fine, if you say so. Let's just get back to our hab, okay? I don't want to be out in the open anymore. The whole point of this outing was to get some fresh air, but that seems unwise after what they just encountered.

She does cling to the hug just a bit too tightly though, but after a moment she tries to break it off, wiping a tear she can't be bothered to hide from her eye.

Then she'll continue trying to haul Astra to his feet, intent on dragging him back home if he can't managed a stumble.

[Halae]

[Slums]

Astra breathes out, and nods, allowing Essy to help him up. He exhausted himself pretty hard with the running he did earlier, after all. As this happens, he'll truy to rest his head against Essaila's for a moment, the physical closeness being a comfort before walking with her forwards,

"Did you get hurt when we fell over?" The reason he asks is obvious - he'll want to repair whatever damage was done with psychic powers if she is hurt.

[Slii Arhem]

Slums -> Red Zone Motel

Essaila manages to give him a bemused look, Since when do I ever know when I'm hurt? You can check me over when we get safely inside, if you're that worried. You'd think after living with her for so long he'd remember that she couldn't feel pain, but he's probably just as shaken up as she is right now, so she doesn't chide him on it any further.

[Halae]

[Red Zone Motel]

Astra will sigh and sit down on the bed once inside, and motion for Essy to vcome over so that he might look her over. If something got scraped on the ground, it might end up infected if he didn't act fairly quickly. daemon or no, dying to infection wasn't a pleasant way to make your escape.

[Terumitsu]

[Slums]

If huldras carried wallets, then Freddie may possibly find that someone was going for his. Or hers. Both, neither, and whatever was most applicable at the moment, really. If not, then.. Well, someone was going to be at least looking for a wallet. Or really anything to carry some amount of currency in for easy transportation.

Heck, just a right out coin-purse would work.

However, successful or not, Nephea would probably be noticed in this endeavor. Not due to lack of skill, far from it. No, it appeared that the catamander was suffering from a small but rather annoying flu bug. Of course, all reason said she should be back somewhere getting rest but that was really, really boring. So maybe a quick pocket picked here or there wouldn't hurt much.

[Rebonack]

[Slums]

Male pronouns would be fitting at the moment if only because Fredrick is wearing a male form. And he doesn't use a wallet. Or really a coin-purse for that matter. His pockets just seem to be a lot deeper than they should be.

In actuality the Huldra stores odds and ends inside its hollow body. And the pockets just lead into that space. Though given the nature of the space the Catamander would probably come up with a fist full of foxfire rather than something valuable.

Said foxfire feels very warm, but not uncomfortably so.

However, it might startle the Catamander to discover that her hand is apparently on fire all of a sudden.

As for the flu bug, any sneezing would most certainly catch Freddie's attention. Otherwise he seems quite lost in thought at the moment.

[Terumitsu]

[Slums]

A handful of foxfire would be removed and then scrutinized. While Nephea was rather used to extra-dimensional pockets, this stuff was definitely new. And though she managed to surpres a sneeze, the sniffling afterwards would probably tip the huldra off in short order.

Though, not before the fox-fire apparently decided to spread and catch part of the catamander's arm on fire. At least, that's what it looked like. And if the sniffling didn't grab his attention, then the sudden shouts of surprise, a natural consequence of being on fire, would definitely do it.

Thankfully, the fire would do no actual damage but there was still the faintest odor of burning hair in the air. Not the most pleasant of smells to say the least.

[Rebonack]

[Slums]

Yeah.

Shouting and flailing are enough to get Fredrick's attention.

"Gah!"

Seems he's surprised by the sudden presence of a Catamander behind him. That's one fire. One quick mental command later and Nephea's arm ceases to burn. The flames simply lift off her and congeal into a single lantern-like wisp floating in the air!

Fredrick wrinkles his nose at the girl.

"Who are you? And what are you?" he inquires. And then ponders for a few moments. "And a better question, why were you digging through my pockets?"

[Terumitsu]

[Slums]

Well, the actual foxfire part is pulled away. The catamander's arm, however, was still quite vibrantly lit up for a good few seconds before it slowly burned itself out. Or at least it looked that way. There was a surprising lack of burnt hair, despite the smell, or other trauma that would result in such an event but that probably could be chalked up to regular Nexus strangeness... Right?

"What was that?" Nephea asked in surprise, checking to see that everything was indeed just as it felt. Looking up at the huldra, Freddie would be given a scrutinizing look before Nephea came to the conclusion that someone obviously so magical could only be one thing. Really, a person that could control fire? Obviously magical there. So, rather than answer the question, Nephea posed one of her own first. "Are you a wizard?" she asked, although having answered that in her mind. Wizards were normally bad news as far as her gut told her and she had just been caught going through one's pockets.

[Rebonack]

[Slums]

Yer a wizard Freddie!

The Huldra can't help but notice that the child didn't answer any of his questions! Not even one of them! That's really too bad. He really does want to know why the Catamander was rifling through his stuff and getting her arm set aflame.

"It's foxfire," the Huldra replies. "It's just an illusion."

An illusion made of corrupted ghosts that can set people on fire for reals!

"And no, I'm not a wizard. I'm a Huldra. It's..."

Well...

She's just a child. Maybe she'll take it a bit better?

One POOF! later and the demon-fox is sitting in front of the girl! He looks very regal and kind of scary!

"This," the Three-tails says. "I can change shape and weave glamors and so forth."

And eat people. But Freddie is trying not to think about the eating people part right now.

"And you. What are you? And why were you in my pocket?"