[Open] The Catch-all log, Alucard edition

[cryptsleeper]

Who: Alucard + ???
When: The whole dang month
Where: Here, there, out beyond city walls
What: Various things
Warnings: Violence, others to be added as needed



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awroo 🐺

[niespodzianka]

[ Getting out of the city and past the Bright Wall makes Geralt less agitated. He knows what it is - the pressure of magic buildup, desperate for a release he can't quite grant without a Bond. Specifically, a Bond with a monster, a being that can devour his excess magic; a natural balance in this strange world.

But fuck that, so. He's just going to deal. ]

Hanging in there?

[ They've been quiet for most of this trek, covering up petalwolf trails, shooing lone animals closer to protected Wilder areas not offering much room for conversation. Not that Geralt's big on chatter anyway. He's not sure how much 'good' this'll do, but it feels wrong to poach creatures that are making it work in a dying world. They should be left to try and contribute to the struggling ecosystem.

It's nice to see Alucard looking less shell shocked and traumatized, if nothing else. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[Being outside of the city wall is a first. Alucard appreciates it, being outside of a city. He's grown up away from people, away from large groups. He understands the wilds like this, and it is an absolute comfort. Oh, he can't stay here like he wants, but it is a blessed break.

And it is doing good work. The petal wolves are lovely things, but they are still wolves. They can't be pets, at least not right now. Until this horrible darkness threatens them fully, they should be allowed to run wild and free.

He's pretty sure one day, he'll end up with one in his house. Or a pack. But that'll be a last minute conservation effort, not an immediate and selfish want.

Alucard has just scooped a pup up over a large log it was struggling with when Geralt asks his question, and he turns to the other man.]

I am, yes. You seem calmer yourself.

[niespodzianka]

[ Geralt gets it - or at least, he knows enough about humans to track the logic. Cute, exotic things that made charming appearances digging in gardens looking for nice dirt holes to huddle down in. And maybe they do need a haven from the Cwyld. But they've been doing alright on their own, and to just cull the wild population seems ... quite bad.

Also, they're easy as shit to catch. Not much in the way of impressive hunting, at least to someone like Geralt. (His opinion may be skewed, Mr 'best tracker on the Continent'.) ]

I'm just not used to city living. [ Gonna ignore the fact that he has a problem until the last minute, yes. He's just a normal guy going stir-crazy within Aefenglom. ] At least not without serious work to occupy me.

[cryptsleeper]

Neither am I. [There's a soft snuffle from the pup Alucard has just helped, and his attention goes back to it. A little tail waggles before disappearing into the darker areas of the forest, and that puts a smile on Alucard's face.

It's good, being back in the wild part of the land.]

I don't like it. Too many people. Far too dense.

[niespodzianka]

[ Geralt has been avoiding contact with the wolves themselves, not wanting to encourage contact with humanish creatures. And he's just not much of a pet person; his compassion for his horses, at home, is a necessity. Naming each horse the same thing is merely a way to cope with how easily the spindly creatures fall to monsters and bad weather. ]

The population is at least heartening given the plague, [ he says with a shrug. ] It'd be a bad sign for all of us if it were a ghost town.

[ Even as it is, there's enough empty houses to offer mirrorbound residences - nice ones, while the poor suffer in shitty conditions and risk infection. But that's society. No escape, no matter what world. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard's problem is that he is much, much too used to being in wolf form himself for doing something like this. It aches that he doesn't have the ability anymore, especially in this moment. That he keeps forgetting, keeps trying to shift and...nothing is an embarrassment.]

I suppose that's true enough.

[But it doesn't quite change the feeling of discomfort. Alucard breathes out, and his hands find his pockets in order to get comfy as they walk.]

We should be making plans on what to do with the adults once people realize they can't keep a full grown wolf as a house pet.

[niespodzianka]

[ Too bad he's not a turnskin, he'd be able to eventually be a wolf ... forever! Hooray? Geralt's connection to their canine friends here is much more symbolic; the wolf's head medallion on his chest hangs dully, robbed of its enchantment, and probably looking a little funny, considering their efforts. ]

Plans like digging graves?

[ Shut up, Geralt. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[That earns Geralt a disapproving glare, one that looks perhaps a little too eerie in those golden color eyes.]

Developing ways to reintroduce them to the wild, and failing that, habitats in the general area where they can roam safely.

[There's a sound up ahead of them both, but it's far too high up to be a wolf. Owl, Alucard labels the noise, and keeps moving along.]

I don't need any more morbid thoughts today, thank you.

[niespodzianka]

[ Geralt has been glared at by more things than Alucard can probably conceive of, even given his odd life. He just looks back at the younger man, his own gold eyes not relating any notice of the disapproval. ]

Wild animals eating idiots treating them like housecats isn't morbid, it's funny. [ And deserved. Natural selection, or something. ]

What'd you do at home? Save little dogs from overbearing rich ladies?

[cryptsleeper]

It's unfortunate for everyone involved.

[Alucard doesn't want to dwell any further, and frankly, that question is actually welcome. Hell, it even gets a laugh out of him, something short and brief.]

I didn't have the time to find a vocation when I was home. My situation changed quickly, and I came from the tail end of it to...[Alucard gestures towards the city behind them both.] This.

[niespodzianka]

[ No one has a sense of humor in this city, it's a rough life. What's a guy gonna do if no one else thinks getting devoured by the family pet is funny? Oh, well. ]

'Time to find a vocation'?

[ Crunch, crunch. Hard to move silently when the undergrowth is this dead and brittle, though Geralt makes a valiant, inhuman effort. ]

How old are you?

[ Because Geralt's pegged him as .. pretty old, with his seriousness and his vaguely elven stature. Mixed, he figures, though with what is anyone's guess. ]

[cryptsleeper]

Twenty.

[He adds no note about aging quickly, not based on the last time and Sypha's rudeness. But he's honest enough about the response, and well aware that he carries himself as someone older.

Or at least someone more mature than his current age.]

I grew up guarded away from most of the world.

[niespodzianka]

[ The f u c k. (Probably a good thing he doesn't mention his aging. Geralt would probably return him to the city and try to find a parent stand-in.)

Anyway. The look the witcher gives him passes quickly, more concerned with paying attention to their surroundings. ]

Oh?

[ So did Geralt, but he can guess that it wasn't for the same purpose. Find a vocation. His isolated upbringing was for the singular purpose of crafting a monster hunter. ]

Closed; For Maria

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard understands the need for the mask given the task before them all, but it would be a lie to say that he breathes a little easier with the thing off. It's suffocating after having to have a particuarily nasty fight with the damn thing on, this time against some poor thing that teetered on the edge of too far gone. (The situation was saved, but only barely.)

He's careful when he places the mask down on the makeshift desk where all potentially infected items go to be sterilized or destroyed (he isn't sure which), and with that done, his attention moves to the gloves.]

How long of a break did they say they were giving us?

[In coming down from the adrenline, Alucard had hardly heard the time limit.]

[whomthebelltolls]

[Maria didn't tend to do fights to the death in half-measures; the Scourge was irreversible and ended only in the victim becoming a bloodthirsty creature once it started. The only "cure" for something that far gone was death, so it was just as much a lucky stroke that Maria had missed her killing blow just before the infected individual had been brought down.

It also meant she had a moment more to think, though, once she was forced to step away from everything. She is careful about how she removes the gloves, looking over the splatter of blood on them with a sort of fascination, before removing the rest.]

It was thirty minutes. Until the bell of the clocktower chimes again. [She removes her hat, looking it over to make sure nothing untoward had splashed on it, and then plunks it right back down onto her head. Everything still looked good. She wasn't used to checking herself for such things - bloodsplatter was just the name of the game where she came from - but here a bit of infected blood getting to her would probably end much less favorably than how the Vileblood had affected her.]

I believe that is enough time to get some food, if you wish. I could at least use something to drink. [Fighting made her throat dry, after all.]

[cryptsleeper]

Thank you.

[Alucard looks down at his pile of used goods, and he sighs just a little. It would be so very prudent to include goggles or additional protective gear in the form of a waxed or well oiled coat, but now isn't the time or place to critique biohazard gear. All he can do is click his tongue softly and then look over to Maria.

Somehow, she looks far more at home in this place than he does. Maybe it's how she spoke of Monsters before, that they were beasts back home to be addressed. It's the hunter instinct, the kind of thing Trevor had born in him and then refined by years of Belmont training.

What was he? Just a dhampir cast in every role he shouldn't have.]

Food would probably be advisable, as would water. Lead on.

[whomthebelltolls]

Very well. [She brushes herself off one more time, and moves toward the edge of the camp where they've set up the "break" area for those out working beyond the Wall. There's a small tent to rest beneath with a table beneath it, plenty of food and water, and medical supplies in case they were injured.

For all her unfettered aggression in combat, Maria seems to also be just as good at not getting touched by enemies, and so she waves off the healer whose head perks up as they walk by. There's only two others at the camp, people she doesn't recognize, seated at one far end of the table, so Maria does a round of the food and drink and sits on the other, waiting for her companion to seat himself across from her.]

... I don't do this very often. Most of the time, when I combat the Cwyld, it is in the heart of the forest itself.

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard follows after Maria, only a half a step behind Maria and careful not to get underfoot of her or anyone else who is clearly working at the moment. This set up is a carefully calibrated machine, and Alucard is aware he is only a small part of it.

He isn't used to thinking of himself in such a way.

Alucard doesn't worry about even approaching the healer, although he can hear his mother chide him for not getting checked. After eating. Before returning to the field.

He settles across from Maria, both hands resting on either side of the soup bowl. It's a thin, tin thing, and so the heat is conducted. That much is nice.]

How successful are those trips?

[whomthebelltolls]

Hmm... the greatest success we have had thus far was the reclamation of a cave, a few miles outside the city. [She settles into her food, stirring at the soup and releasing a fresh wave of steam off the top of it, before leaning in to take a sip. It's good, hits a nice spot in her belly, even though it's very simple. She doesn't have much to say about the cold because she runs hot anymore - very hot, because of her affinity toward fire magic.]

They set up a teleportation circle and an outpost within the cave. When we arrived there, half the work had been done - the trees had been carefully scraped of infection, and the upper layers of the cave were clear of all but some... pests. Once we had cleared them out, and the ice salamanders that had taken up residence with some Cwyldtid in the depths, it was basically ready to be used for further expeditions.

[She spoons up another bite.] But they've been rather cautious since then. Not that I blame them - enemies are on all sides in that place.

[cryptsleeper]

Well, it is fighting in nature's version of a basement. I can see why they'd be cautious and not wish to enter such a place again if success wasn't a strong outcome.

[With that, Alucard takes a sip of his soup as well. The food here is...well, it's fine. Not what he's used to by any means of the imagination, and the fact that Alucard no longer requires blood in any capacity is something he still isn't used to. He's taken to buying blood sausage when he sees it, if only because it represents something so very familiar to him.

Another sip. A sigh follows as he puts it down.]

Is it easier for you, this work? You spoke briefly of Beasts back home, and how it contrasts with how this place understands....[he still hates how the words sound on his tongue.] monsters.

[whomthebelltolls]

It's cleared, now. I wasn't there for the finalization of it - they only wanted Bonded Witches and Monsters. [She shakes her head before taking the next sip of soup. That's a whole other animal all on its own right - her and her thing with Bonds.

Still, once the soup is down, she pauses, setting the spoon back into the bowl.] Fighting Cwyltid is very easy for me, if that's what you mean. They're nothing but husks of creatures that know only violence once they sense something not like them around. They're piteous things who need to be put down, no matter how you look at it. [She squints down at the soup, briefly, before continuing.] Unless you speak of the uninfected Monsters themselves.

[cryptsleeper]

Why did they demand that? [The matter can't be that life and death, can it? Alucard frowns at the mere idea that a Bond offers social leverage for something like this, and...ah. No. He and Trevor bonded because it gave Trevor a small measure of control. Very small.]

I meant the Cwyltid. Everything you remarked about earlier made it clear that the beasts of home wouldn't be very different but....

[They've come to it, it seems.]

How do you deal with uninfected Monsters here when your instinct is to hunt?

[whomthebelltolls]

Safety, I believe. A Bonded Monster is less likely to go feral. A Bonded Witch is more powerful, and less likely to suffer a magical overload. Plus, it is a convenient way to check on each other. It made some amount of sense, but for as quickly as they established their foothold, it was ultimately unnecessary, I think.

[And she was only a little salty she didn't get to go back there. She doesn't get the chance to elaborate on the Cwyldtid thing, though, before he goes into the Monster thing. She pauses, another spoon of soup partially to her lips, and instead sets it back into the cup, sitting up straighter.] Most of my... instinct for it was stripped when I arrived here. [Though it's less an instinct, she thinks, and more sinister than that - it was a lust for blood and violence and killing borne of the interplay of human nature and the special Blood.

She lowers a hand and taps on the side of the soup bowl, lightly.] The... true struggle here has been to remind myself that though they are showing what we at home would consider signs of Beasthood, the end result will not be the same. That is to say, the most difficult part is trying not to see them as an immediate threat, and want to protect people from them.

[cryptsleeper]

I still don't understand how the matter balances as neatly as it seems to. It's...

[Never mind anything. Alucard is quiet, drinking his soup as Maria talks. Then she says instinct and Alucard's own words come tumbling out before he can stop them:] Mine was too.

[Fuck. Fuck, that was maybe too fast, but the more Maria speaks, the more something inside of Alucard just aches. The struggle she speaks of, it's what Trevor's going through, but his is compounded by becoming one of the things that his family swore to destroy. Alucard's own end has been decoupling the word witch from his mother's murder.

There's a weariness when he asks:] How do you train yourself to not think that way?

[whomthebelltolls]

[She looks up at him for his outburst, but doesn't comment, perhaps wisely. Instead, she waits until he asks his question. The tapping on the side of her soup bowl becomes a brief drumming of all four fingers, while her thumb remains still, and then... she stops.]

... If I had a good answer for that, I would tell you. [A sigh. A lot... a lot has happened since she's been here.] It may help that I was among the first Mirrorbound to arrive here, so I have at least seen most of the Mirrorbound before they began their... transformations. Whether into a Monster or as the magic weaves its way into their beings from being a Witch.

[She rolls one of her hands over on the table, palm up in a sort of shrugging gesture.] It's... more difficult than it seems, with the madness of the full moon and what it can do to Unbonded Monsters especially. Time, I have found helps... becoming familiar with them... [Maybe starting to develop feelings, though she won't admit that one out loud, yet. That's still a very new and raw prospect to her. Especially since the strongest of those are toward a Monster that does not trigger her instincts to Hunt, so much as it does a condition closer to PTSD.] ... Ah, but don't threaten the Monsters on the network. There are many here who do not understand a Hunter's duty. [That. Might be a little bit of a joke to lighten the statement - she knows this from experience. Yes.]