[open] if you could only see

[exsoldier]

Who: Zack & YOU, plus some closed prompts!
When: Throughout Aguril
Where: Throughout Aefenglom and the Wilde
What: August catch-all: quests, Zack going feral, red string spell stuff
Warnings: Violence due to going feral

[ prompts are in the comments below! if you want a specific starter for anything, you can pm me or hit me up over at demonology! ]

Comments

FULL MOON 🌕 for yennefer 🌕 closed

[exsoldier]

[ The fight with the wolf had been brief and violent, a clash of fangs with talons, before the two monsters had decided that they had no true quarrel with each other and were better off hunting in different parts of the expansive woods.

Zack hadn't come out of it completely unscathed, however, with some scattered scratches and bite marks which have slowed him down slightly. Chimeras are one of the more resilient monster types, so he's able to press on.

Still filled with a need to run down prey, he ends up wandering the Wilde, on the lookout for something that isn't already tainted with Cwyld. There's nothing appetizing about the black inky substance that seems to overtake anything it gets near.

When Zack comes across a cabin near the edge of the woods, his newly-grown wings twitch with interest and his golden eyes gleam in the shadows. At this point he's given up on walking on two feet, instead embracing how his lengthened spine and limbs allow him to stalk forward on all fours. His tail flicks from side to side as he follows a faint smell of something alive and unspoiled. It smells like...

Lilac and gooseberries. ]

[chaoticbeauty]

[ There's a lot she'll never openly admit, but she'd been vigilant tonight knowing Geralt was probably going to go feral. She'd half expected to find him in her garden again with far less pleasant intentions.

The golden eyes are the first thing to catch her attention in the darkness, relief quickly being replaced with caution as she studies them. Standing in the entranceway to her kitchen, her posture is relaxed even if she's on edge. Her magic was unstable at best right now, trying her best to not use anything unless absolutely necessary. Violet eyes meet the gold ones, an eyebrow arching as her hand rests on her hip. ]

If you're looking for an easy meal, you will not find it here.

[exsoldier]

[ In this state, it doesn't take Zack long to track the smell, and as he comes up on the open doorway and finds someone standing in it, that clawing need within him to hunt rears its ugly head.

He doesn't make a pretty sight at the moment. The full moon has left him as something between human and beast, an amalgamation of different parts, and it's no wonder that the chimera is one of the most hated and shunned of the Monster species.

The woman with her sweet smell speaks words. Somewhere far in the recesses of his mind, they register, but his hindbrain is what has the majority of control right now. His lips peel back, revealing elongated teeth, and he stalks forward, tail whipping. ]

[chaoticbeauty]

[ She doesn't move, doesn't run to provoke chase as it stalks forward, instead holding her ground. There's a lingering scent of Geralt as he gets closer, while that may be worse for her in this situation, Geralt had been around her home and garden recently enough.

Powers weakened by the lunar effects, so it isn't as effective, but as he stalks forward... he suddenly finds himself teleported 15 feet back. ]

I don't want to hurt you.

[exsoldier]

[ There's a hint of confusion there, as he picks up on a scent that he'd only recently broken away from, not understanding why it's also here now. This human has nothing to do with the beast that he just scuffled with, so why --?

Not that there's time to process that or anything else, as he's transported back, further away from the woman and her abode. A spike of frustration rises up in him and he gallops forward on all fours, not seeming to take her warning or threat at face value.

It will take more than that to deter him. ]

[chaoticbeauty]

[ That moment of confusion would have been easy to miss if she hadn’t been paying attention. 30 years at Court had given her plenty of time to practice picking up the nuanced shifts in demeanor and attention -- exploitation of weaknesses often following quickly after if needed. And apparently it was needed.

In the time it takes for him to be teleported backward, she grabs one of the towels she’d put in a basket by the door for washing. The one Geralt had used to dry off. As the creature charges, she tests a theory and throws it out into the garden. A concentration of the other man’s scent, ready to teleport him again if that doesn’t work. ]

[exsoldier]

[ The chimera breaks through the gate which is just ajar enough to grant him passage and into the garden, claw-like talons digging deep into the earth as he lopes forward. A leap at this new prey had been the plan, at least up until the cloth is thrown off to the side.

There, again, that smell. He skids to a stop, nose wrinkling with a scent that shouldn't be here. His head swivels this way and that, searching for the wolf but seeing no sign of that shock of white off in the woods.

He moves over to the discarded cloth and gives it a few good sniffs, then lifts his head to stare at the woman where she stands. He snarls, but has no way of asking her how this came to be. If nothing else, the confusion has briefly distracted him from his original goal of hunting her down. ]

okokok sorry for the delay - feel free to ignore

[chaoticbeauty]

[ He stops and her theory proves to be right, even if she doesn’t know that they’d already battled tonight. She watches the reaction, trying to mentally keep up and jump through some hoops she hadn’t planned on having to navigate. If only she knew what was waiting for her later.

She almost doesn’t respond, tempted to take the opportunity to slip away into the protection of her cottage, but she’s never really been one to run -- both when she’s in immediate and delayed danger. ]

I have no interest in boring you with the details. [ Not even sure the comprehension would be there, honestly. But, she was something of an expert of holding a one-sided conversation considering half the time Geralt’s responses were more a series of sounds some days than actual words. ] Just know that if something happens to me, you will probably have to deal with him. So choose your next actions carefully.

it's fine! she can teleport him one more time and then he'll run off and we should be good?

[exsoldier]

[ The words don't mean anything to the monster, save for the tone that they're spoken in. Guarded, yet carrying a hint of a warning. This woman is somehow associated with that wolf -- or maybe it simply came here before the chimera, and she'd been strong enough to drive it off.

Letting out a huff, the chimera paws at the ground, tail flicking this way and that as it decides on its next move. Giving up on prey isn't normally its way, but it's beginning to wonder if the woman is prey at all.

The moon has it in a frenzy, though, and it's so close that her smell is clogging its senses.

So, one more time -- it charges forward and leaps. ]

[chaoticbeauty]

[ Well... Apparently the scent of another predator isn't enough to stave off unwanted attacks. Or it's not strong enough around her property to do just that. Something to keep in mind for another day.

Fuck.

She pours a bit more into it this time, a dangerous game on its own considering the moon effects on her powers, teleporting him back. And this time, a little dirt from her garden goes with him, her precision beginning to fade. Yennefer watches, ready to retreat inside if he remains persistent. ]

[exsoldier]

[ It happens again.

The chimera doesn't have enough of a reference of how it's possible to know what to make of it. Concepts of magic and how it functions have fallen by the wayside as he's given in to the animal within, and higher cognition isn't really in the cards. Any frustration or anger is superceded by another about of nausea.

The beast vomits, chucking up flesh and bone from an earlier kill. Instead of tracking down more food, this encounter has only caused him to lose what he already had. Finally, he gives up the hunt, deciding it isn't worth it to keep harassing prey that turned out to be hardier than expected.

He turns tail and vanishes into the woods. ]