middaeg | [ CATCH-ALL ] we're nocturnal creatures

[ With Iskandar so familiar with the less affluent communities further on the outskirts of Aefenglom, it didn't take long for Waver to hear as well of the search-and-rescue efforts being put together to find the missing Chimera children.

It seems a number of other Mirrorbound have heard the same and offered to help, though Waver's not too shocked by that. This kind of story tends to stir people's hearts and frighten communities; there may even be those after the money and attention. Regardless, right now, the most important thing is to make sure those chimera children return home safely.

On their way out of the city, ready to split up into smaller groups to spread out and search the Wilde beyond the wall, Waver wasn't surprised to run into Saber. One thing led to another, and now they're searching a dense wooded stretch about two miles from the Wall, where the ground is cold and a little icy, but not quite so deep into the Wilde that snow and ice reign. ]

I think I smell something... over this way. There's some sort of rock cluster.

[ He points, tail lashing back and forth anxiously. It's something that still embarrasses him and makes him a bit uncomfortable, but Waver knows when it's time to set that aside and use the newly enhanced senses he'd been given for something important. In this case, a couple of the chimera kids' families had given them articles of clothing for Waver to try to use his Turnskin senses to follow their scents. Unfortunately, it's starting to get cold enough his nose is having trouble. ]

[Iskandar recognizes the we will show them all attitude very well from his own youth but he can't say he actually approves it in this particular situation. Were wild animals and possible death from exposure the only risks the kids were taking, he'd let them test their resolve for a week before organizing rescue mission.
But those are not the only risk. In fact, those are not even the greatest risks. While fending off starvation, cold and predators is always a demanding task; doubly so when you're young and inexperienced. Adding the Shades to the equation makes the chances for survival plummet.

Any tracking spells he knows of are useless without prior contact with the person he looks for so Iskandar is incredibly grateful that Waver has other means of possibly locating the missing kids. They would be going in totally blind otherwise.]

Good. Let's check there.

[He leads their small party, sword in hand, in the direction Waver pointed.]

[ Saber is glad to be with people she already knows for this. Doubly so since it allows her a chance to see Waver and Iskander in action together again. She's met them individually, of course, but this is the first opportunity she has to see them together. Her nose isn't as keen as Waver's, but she's also doing her best, wings stretching slightly behind her as she peers out into the shrouded woodland. ]

It seems logical that they would have tried to take shelter there... it would at least provide protection from the wind, if nothing else.

[ She trails behind Iskander, shading her eyes with her hand. ]

One hopes that they decided to stay in one place instead of wandering deeper...

Yeah... I hope so.

I, er... I don't smell any blood, so...

[ Hopefully, that's a good sign. He moves to follow Iskandar, close at his heels, shoulders tight and ears forward straining to catch any sounds in the eerily quiet forest. Like the subtle rhythm of running footsteps. Maybe a distant growl. Is that what that is?

The cold and the Cwyld impair his senses, making it difficult even for his keen nose to determine direction, but he can definitely smell something else. ]

H-hold on.

[ Waver grabs Iskandar's coat. ]

Did you hear that?

[ He looks back to Saber, ears swiveling to catch the noise again. ]

A Shade...?

[Iskandar stops. He surveys the forest before them but sees no signs of activity. Nothing moves there other than tops of the trees swaying on the wind.]

Hear what?

[He heard nothing. Forest is still and quiet. Too quiet. Only the tree tops swa... How can the treetops move if there is no wind?!]

You're right. Something is there.

[Iskandar raises his sword and runs two fingers down the blade concentrating on runes carved into its surface.]

Καιαι, έμός ξίφος!

[Red flame envelopes the blade and almost immediately as if it was a response to the fire igniting they hear a snarl somewhere from behind the tree line.]

[ Saber pauses and draws Excalibur in one smooth motion, the blade glinting dangerously in the firelight that Iskander ignites from his blade. She can't hear anything herself - her senses aren't as keen - but something's wrong. Something's off. They can all feel it.

The snarl comes and a less stealthy rustle in the bushes and Saber steps forward, blade lowered to present the tip to whatever Shade might be out there. ]

Leave this one to me-

[ Yes, she's going to try and do this on her own. Yes, she's silly sometimes. She takes a few steps forward as a white shape comes out of the treeline toward her, accepting her challenge.

Battle is joined a bare moment later in a flash of steel and claws and limbs. ]

[ Waver steps back quickly when Iskandar draws his blade, releasing his coat and remembering suddenly to draw his own short sword. It's more for show than anything; he'd much prefer not to use it, so he is absolutely okay with letting the two of them step forward.

Saber takes the lead, so he keeps an eye and ear on their surroundings and their back, just in case. There's a high probability the noise and any scent of blood here will draw others if there are more creatures nearby.

In this case, the thing that flies out of the bushes at Saber is... actually not a Shade. It appears to be some sort of large, white bird, screeching loudly and flailing its wings. It doesn't seem corrupted, only extremely pissed off. Other screeches nearby suggest it's not the only one, and if nothing else its talons are no joke. ]

By the darkest depths of Tartarus, what is that?! Some species of man-eating ferocious chickens?!

[He was itching for a fight. Having Saber on his side practically guaranteed it would a good one and that they can take a swing at a lot larger enemies than Iskandar would be solely on his own. No one should blame him he got excited.

And then... a chicken shows up. How disappointing... He lowers his still flaming sword and just stares at the animal with disgust. Hoping it would drop dead under the weight of his disapproval?]

I am not going to waste a good blade on poultry.

[ Saber is a little taken aback. She was expecting a shade, not a living creature. Her own wings flare out wide and she tries to bat the bird away without necessarily killing it at first. She has the flat of her blade for that, although the bird doesn't seem too dissuaded just yet. ]

An enemy is an enemy, but-

[ She has to duck as the bird comes at her head. ]

-maybe we're simply trespassing on their territory - in any case, the children won't be here.

I guess...

[ Waver steps away from the bird, scowling at it in annoyance. He has no interest in getting closer. ]

We can try to push through and go look at the rocks over there? Unless those are the birds' nests... The scent leads that way, though. It could go beyond.

Sorry. I can't tell for sure unless we get closer.

[Iskandar has only to shake his sword to extinguish the flame. He shields the blade and moves closer.]

Well, then they are out of luck. Nest or no nest we're going through if that's where the trail leads.

[He doesn't have to do much more than simply to come closer for the aggressive bird to decide it's seriously outnumbered. Iskandar claps his hands and the noise is the last thing that finally convinces the bird to bolt.

What it leaves behind is indeed a group of three nests hidden behind the stones. Two of them thoroughly plundered. The indentations between small twigs and grass show the places were the eggs have been taken from. There's a single egg left in the last nest. A predator would have eaten the eggs on the spot. To pick clean a place like this, it takes a human.

Iskandar turns to Waver and Saber, his back to the nests and dense bushes that surround them.]

Someone was eggs hunting here. Waver, come closer. I'd hazard a guess it could have been our missing kids.

[If not for the surprise chicken before, he wouldn't have ignored the rustling in the bushes behind him.]

[ Six full moons have waxed and waned since he arrived. Six full moons, and it’s finally happened – the Arachne limbs are beginning to permanently emerge from his back. For now, Stiles only has two to contend with; they’re located just below his shoulders, in the meat of his shoulder blades. But their size makes them intensely frustrating to deal with on a day-to-day basis. And so, after some internal debate, he decides to pay a visit to a business he hasn’t been to since the battery exercises the month that he arrived in Aefenglom: Inkchanted.

Walking through the front door, it’s clear how nervous he is; a palpable restless energy rolls off him in waves as he browses the designs on display, not yet interacting with any of the employees. When eventually he gathers his nerves, he approaches the front desk timidly – extremely out of character for someone as bold and irreverent as Stiles Stilinski.

He really hates needles. ]

Uh, hi.

[ Saber follows Iskandar as the bird flees, the tip of her sword turned down. Apparently it wasn't going to be too much of a threat and instead they just had to contend with trying to pick up the trail. She listens with a slight frown. ]

So, the bird didn't drive them away. They drove it away - however temporarily.

[ Or perhaps had come upon it while the mother was elsewhere. She's about to continue when she picks up on that rustle. ]

Iskandar-

Oh. That does make sense... all right.

[ Waver nods, stepping closer when beckoned, and crouching at Iskandar's feet to examine the nest more closely. The scents are all jumbled now, and he's also lowered his guard.

It's a mistake.

This time, the creature that slams apart the foliage is much larger, and far more aggressive. It reeks of infection, practically oozing darkness, skin black and sagging on its bones as though half-rotten, half-mummified, crawling with shadows. Obsidian tusks shine in the dappled light filtering through the forest, and the Shade-boar shrieks, rearing up with its front cloven hooves flailing in the air before it, ready to come down on anything in its path. ]

Rider!

Edited 2020-07-15 07:30 (UTC)

[ The little bell on the door chimes, announcing the presence of a customer; the scent of the sea breeze outside wafts in alongside the unpleasant prickle of sharp anxiety in the air that instinctively makes his shoulders tense. Waver looks up from his paperwork. ]

Hello.

[ There's a faint pang of... familiarity? Waver can't place it yet. He glances down at his desk again, grabbing a folder and flipping it open to scan the calendar real quick before looking back up. No scheduled appointments he forgot about, as he thought. A walk-in or a browser, then. But why does he look (and smell) so nervous? ]

Are you here to make an appointment or is there something else I can help you with?

[ Waver asks politely (he's been working on his Customer Service Demeanor) as he sets down the folder, still open, in front of him on top of the ledger he'd been writing in before. ]

[ With a great, heaving inhale of air – as if he were preparing to break bad news to Waver – Stiles musters up the courage to get straight to the point. ]

I want a tattoo. [ Except his voice makes it clear he really doesn’t want one. ] Do you guys have any openings soonish? Because if I don’t get this done today, I’m totally going to chicken out and never come back and then I’ll be stuck with these stupid spider legs getting stuck in doorways or not letting me sleep on my back or –

[ Stiles pauses, taking another breath. ]

Wow. Sorry. I just…don’t like needles.

[ In fact, he fainted the one time he watched his ex-best friend get a tattoo. That was fun. Not. ]

You can call me Stiles, by the way.

[ Wow. This guy is really freaked out, huh? Waver takes in his appearance, realizing he's still going through his transformation into an Arachne, and he's truly sympathetic. That looks very frustrating, not to mention uncomfortable. So he patiently hears him out, not interrupting as he waits for him to get a hold of himself and explain what he actually wants.

What he didn't expect was...

Oh. Oh, no. It's him.

Waver's eyes widen in surprise at the name, and for some reason, he suddenly goes bright red. ]

R-right. Ah. Stiles...

I'll see what I can do about arranging it soon, but there are some things to decide first. And maybe--

[ Oh, this is going to keep distracting him. Waver looks down, realizing he's shuffling papers around on his desk nervously and actually covering up the notebook he needs instead of doing anything useful with it. Damn. What was he doing again? Appointments. Right.

Waver clears his throat. ]

I'm sorry. I have to ask. You work at Worse Dragon, right?

[ thank god there's no one else in here. ]

[ This certainly isn’t the reaction he expected when he explained himself, but at least it has the effect of making Stiles calm down as he tries to puzzle it out. Brows rising in his perplexity, he stares openly at the young man as Waver stumbles through a response. What’s up with this guy? It looks like he swallowed a cayenne pepper whole. Just before he can ask if Waver needs medical attention – maybe it’s a spontaneous aneurysm, who knows? – the Turnskin finally pops a question that leaves Stiles even more flummoxed. ]

Hey, if you’re about to tell me you won’t service me just because I work at a sex store, I’ll have you know that’s discrimination. [ A beat as he realizes that perhaps he could have worded that better. ] Uh, service me as in… Well, whatever, you know what I meant.

[ Holy shit, phrasing. Waver looks like he has now swallowed two whole cayenne peppers.

His whole form seems to wilt, ears and shoulders slumping and elbows on the table, his beet-red face sinking slowly into the palms of his hands to hide there in insurmountable shame. Oh, he was not prepared for this. He shouldn't have asked. He should have kept his stupid mouth shut.

AAAHHHHH...

Slowly, Waver shakes his head. ]

N-no. That's not-- No. It's fine. Don't worry about it.

I just--

[ It's way too late to go back and ignore it now. Stupid Waver. Stupid! ]

I didn't expect to meet you in person like this, so...

[ Tentatively, he manages to lift his head a little and peek up at Stiles, ears lifting again one after the other. ]

We spoke on the phone. The- the watch, I suppose it's called here. But that's irrelevant. Just took me by surprise.

[ Deep breath. ]

It doesn't matter. I'm happy to answer your questions.

[ He looks more ready to sink through his chair straight into the earth than 'happy' but. close enough. ]

[ Still bewildered, he watches in vague alarm as the Inkchanted employee seems to wither like a flower in the dry, desert heat. By this point, he’s confident that this guy must have seen his video post to the network and takes offense to his line of work – Stiles thought that this place was run by a bunch of Mirrorbound, but maybe the young man is a native to Aefenglom with more delicate sensibilities? But then Waver tries to dissuade him of the idea. Suddenly, things are beginning to make more sense. ]

Oh, cool.

[ A beat. Stiles – a true professional who would never make his customers uncomfortable ever (while on the job) – is beginning to look like the cat that got the cream. ]

Well, let’s start with your name. That should answer a few other questions for me.

[ H e h . ]

[ ...ah. He was afraid that might be his first question.

There's really no avoiding it, though. Especially since he actually has been intending to reach out to Stiles for those classes after discussing it with Iskandar. If only it wasn't so embarrassing.

It's so much easier dealing with this stuff with the convenient distance of just texting. He can't believe he didn't realize who this was when he came in instead of embarrassing the hell out of himself with that reaction. Waver stifles a groan.

What a mess, and it's entirely self-inflicted. ]

I'm Waver. [ he confesses finally, as though admitting to some great and shameful sin. ]

I inquired about... some demonstrations at your store.

But that's not--! That's irrelevant right now!

Waver…

[ Mouth pursed, he scans his memory for which Worse Dragon customer, or potential customer, Waver might have been; Stiles met many Mirrorbound on opening day. After a moment, he realizes that’s why he’s having difficulty remembering the young man – Waver wasn’t a day one customer. This is the – ]

Oh! [ he exclaims suddenly, voice rising in his excitement at having put two and two together. ] The rope bondage guy!

[ The silhouette of someone passing by outside the window of the store pauses, then hurriedly moves along. ]

Hey, did you and your partner still want to move forward with that? Mila taught me how to do it. I should be able to instruct you two pretty well now.

[ There’s no filter on this one, Waver. Good luck. ]

K-keep your voice down!

[ Waver yelps, shooting up out of his seat as though he might just vault over the desk and try to slap his hand over Stiles's mouth himself. He looks utterly distraught. ]

This isn't the time nor the place!

[ So the answer isn't apparently a simple 'no.' So that's telling, isn't it? In fact, another, less vocal part of him is relieved to hear that. If Waver ever gets over his embarrassment enough to actually receive instruction. Or face Stiles ever again. ]

Didn't you come here for something else? If you want to buy an enchantment, you should get on with it.

[ so much for practicing his customer service. ]

[Iskandar grabs Waver by the collar of his shirt, lifts him to his feet and drags him back behind himself. He draws the sword again. Not enough time for the flames. Barely enough for a barrier before the beast roars and charges.

The barrier springs from the ground cutting the boar's path like a wall of translucent scales. If he had to cast a full spell instead of merely activating a stored one, they would be in real trouble. But Iskandar has the runes painted on his armour that light up under his touch exactly for this kind of situations.]

If I knew we'd be hunting boar, I would have take a spear! Or three!

[The boar slams into shimmering wall with a force that makes the ground tremble. The barrier holds, for now. ]

[ Her sword is out again, her wings spread and she darts forward to join Rider, the point leveled as the infected boar rams itself into the magical barrier with a crash and a flare of light. She tends to agree with Iskandar - if she knew they'd be after boar, she would have a spear. A sword is useful, handy, but for boar you want a spear with a strong cross-bar to prevent it running down the blade or shaft and goring you. ]

Rider. On my signal, drop the barrier - I'll attack it from its flank and try to sever its spine.

[ She's already circling slightly, positioning herself for their next move. ]

Are you prepared?

[ CATCH-ALL ] we're nocturnal creatures

Quest: Runaways | for iskandar & saber.

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Inkchanted | mid-Juril

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