1st Fight - [ action ]

[haventkilledusyet]

[Another New Feather season, another flood of confused new residents. Unfortunately, Gretel has no idea how routine this is for the village. She, actually, knows very little of anything at present. She only knows not to stop moving, to keep going. If she stops to rest now, she won't get up, and it's cold enough that she knows to fear exposure. She hasn't lived this long just to be killed by the cold.

Her body shows signs of the ordeal she's obviously been put through since her arrival. Dressed in only the New Feather gown, there is no hiding the abuse of the elements. Her skin is red from the chill she's fighting, and there are scratches on her legs and hands as well as blood on her bare feet, fresh against the well-worn scars on her body. She's walked all day, crossed the field after waking alone and barely dressed and fought her way through the branches of the forest, guided by a few tall buildings that served as the promise of civilization. Faint traces of vomit cling to her lips and the back of her hand despite an earlier attempt to clean it off. The cause is likely the patch of feathers missing from her left wing.

The fountain glitters in the light of the moon, and Gretel uses it as a focus. Walking all day is nothing new, but she's barely dressed -- especially for this weather -- and has an untreated wound. Or, at least, that's what the damage to the unwanted growth on her back feels like. She has resisted the allure of every source of water, too worried she might slump over and never be found. But the buildings all around her, even dark as they might be right now, promise traffic come morning.

Gretel's throat burns as she drops to her knees and cups her hands to bring water to her mouth. She's shouted herself hoarse as she's walked all day, and now the fatigue is setting in. She's not sure she can even get up any time soon without some help.]


(Two requests for Gretel's first Luceti encounter: please no magic users or non-humans. Either would provoke a very violent reaction, and I'd prefer to avoid that for this thread. Thanks.)

Comments

[asthehawkflies]

[He's not hiding. He might be coming back after dark again, but he's just been busy. That is absolutely it.

He's heading back to the apartment when he spots the hunched figure next to the fountain. White dress, bare feet, and in this weather that's not good. The wounds don't improve the picture any either.

He hurries over, crouching down a little way away to give her space.]

Hey, you need help?

[haventkilledusyet]

I [her voice is harsh coming out, her throat raw] need to find my brother.

[It's all Gretel can really think about. She braces her hand against the fountain's edge and tries to stand. But her arm shakes violently, and her leg buckles when she puts weight on it. She has to sink back down, breathing hard.

She's cold and exhausted and in so much pain. She feels sick, too. She never gets sick. She's shaking a little as she looks up at the man.]

[asthehawkflies]

Brother. I think we need to get you patched up first. Then we can find him, okay?

[He moves forward when she tries to stand, and stoops, offering her his hand to pull her to her feet.]

Let me help.

[haventkilledusyet]

[Gretel looks up at his hand. Carefully, her hands aching and cold, she grabs not his hand but his forearm. A more stable point of hold. And the movement is a practiced one, though the stagger after she's on her feet isn't.

She almost goes down again, so hopefully this stranger? Has a good stance and good balance. Because she just grips tighter, using him to keep her up.]

Shit.

[asthehawkflies]

[He braces himself when she grabs his arm, helping to pull her up onto her feet and balance her through the stagger when she's standing again, moving cleanly in to help her balance when she nearly falls.]

Yeah, that's a pretty common reaction to waking up here. Take it you're new?

[haventkilledusyet]

[Waking up here. Oh, there are questions to be asked.

But getting to her feet has introduced her to the lovely world of seeing stars. So, questions will wait. She leans against him, breathing hard but not letting herself sink down. Of course, that results in a very tight hold on his arm.]

Guess so.

[asthehawkflies]

[She has a strong grip. He doesn't even budge when she leans against him, but gives her time to recover.]

So, you got a name? I can do the whole introduction spiel. I'm Clint.

[haventkilledusyet]

[The urge to be sarcastic -- helped in no small part by the over-prevalence of magic here -- is strong, but she avoids it.]

I'm Gretel.

[asthehawkflies]

Gretel. Nice to meet you. Welcome to Luceti.

[And that's a fairly old fashioned name isn't it? Then again, time is pretty fluid here.]

[haventkilledusyet]

...Thanks. [She doesn't sound grateful. At all.]

Not planning on staying long, though. Going to find my brother and get out of here.

[asthehawkflies]

Yeah, that's not really gonna be that easy. You're kind of... a prisoner. Everyone here is. Even if you can get out the compound, you're not gonna be able to get back to where you were before.

[haventkilledusyet]

[Gretel looks at him, a dry, irritated look on her face.]

What's been tried before? And by who?

[asthehawkflies]

We're in another world, a completely different reality. Unless you have some pretty powerful magic, and it would have to be strong since there's already plenty of that going around, then there's not much you can do.

[haventkilledusyet]

I don't have magic.

[It's not said. It's growled. A very aggressive, bitter sound.

But she checks herself, takes a breath, and forces herself as calm as she can be.]

But I'm a witch hunter. It's my job to fight magic.

[asthehawkflies]

[He blinks at that, raising an eyebrow and then shrugging.]

Didn't say you had. But a lot of people here do, and some of them are real powerful.

...lot of call for that where you're from?

[haventkilledusyet]

[A lot of people here do, and some of them are real powerful.

Well. She's faced a Grand Witch. And helped carve through a collection of them, gathered for a dark sabbath.]

Tell me about them. About the magic here.

[asthehawkflies]

[Considering the vehement reaction, he's not sure that's necessarily a good idea. He can probably do it generally enough to not tell her who.]

That could take a while. You've got a bunch of different kinds from a hundred different worlds. Pretty helpful, a lot of it. Getting healed that way definitely quicker at least.

[haventkilledusyet]

Okay. White magic. White magic's good.

[She doesn't necessarily trust it, but... It's good to know there are some witches here who won't be out to kill her.]

I'll bet there's dark, too, isn't there?

[asthehawkflies]

I wouldn't know much about it or what you'd consider black or white magic.

Look, there's lots of people here from plenty of different places. They might not even have the same distinctions about magic as you do. For some of them it's an everyday kind of thing in their worlds. Nothing worth even mentioning.

[haventkilledusyet]

[Great. Witch sympathizer. That'll make this fun.

But she's in no mood to argue. Not with the state of her what it is.]

Okay, okay. Whatever. I'll do my own investigating, then.

[asthehawkflies]

[Clint lets out a sigh and stops in his tracks, which means she has to stop too.]

Look, you sound like you have a grudge. I can sympathise. There's a man here used magic to fuck with my head, make me try to kill my best friend.

But you can't drag that grudge out here. It will end badly. I know that from experience too.

[haventkilledusyet]

I'm a witch hunter. It's what I do.

[Though. A man with magic. That's unsettling. Unheard of. Possible? Maybe. She does have wings on her back. But her mind half rejects the idea outright.]

If I find a witch here, practicing the dark arts? I'm going to kill her. Probably by cutting off her head. After that? I'm going to burn the body. Just in case.

White magic? I don't care. They can go about their little lives. [And eventually screw everyone over anyway. But she isn't going to bother hunting down white witches.] I'm just after the dark witches.

[asthehawkflies]

And I'm an assassin. I wouldn't go around taking contracts here even if I'd stopped freelancing.

Fine. You'll kill her. And she'll be back in a week, probably mad as hell. Because that's how death works here. I've seen it happen. You kill them, they come back. It doesn't solve anything.

[haventkilledusyet]

Just because you're happy to give up your job here doesn't mean I'm the same.

[The death thing? That's interesting. And worth investigation. But she's still exhausted from walking all day, feeling sick, and with a torn wing. The morally righteous type? Are annoying on a good day. And this isn't a good day.]

Think I'll manage from here. You can go.

[asthehawkflies]

I'm not happy about it. I'm pragmatic. The compound is small enough that you take someone out, it will be noticed. And everyone has enough friends to make you some powerful enemies. You don't want enemies like that in a place as tight knit as this.

[He'd laugh at her thought that he's morally righteous. He kills who he's sent to kill. Barely cares about their crimes even now that he works for SHIELD.]

Like hell. I'm getting you someplace safe or you'll probably find out about the death penalty first hand, weather like this.