2014.10.19:Something Precious Is On Fire 2
| Something Precious Is On Fire 2 | |
|---|---|
| Honestly, Prospect was overdue. | |
| IC Date | October 19, 2014 |
| IC Time | Evening |
| Players | Gemma Larsen, Asdis, Bjorn, Utau, Cynthia, Eloise |
| Location | Deep Forest |
Begin Log
That fire from last month? It's still going on. Maybe not /exactly/ the same fire, certainly not exactly the same location. It's an ongoing battle. A fresh set of PFD crews has just been dispatched to this area: one to hose down the uncontrolled blaze, another to go set a controlled burn and help contain the spread, and a helicopter on standby in case things get bad enough.
Gemma is patrolling the burnier bits of the woods, in case any poor mortals need saving.
Asdis is 'sailing' near the treeline in what looks to be a black boat made of some kind of black energy. Swirling tendrils surround her, an almost lightning-like flash occassionally lighting up the area around her. The ferrywoman is on patrol.
Bjorn had on some mundane clothing and when the fire was smelled, he begins to run towards the nearby pond with a bucket and begin dousing the fire to the best of his abilities. A glance about was given to see if anything needed to be taken to safety.
"Om namo Bhagavatyai Arya-Prajnaparamitayai!" intones Utau as he heads in a fairly specific direction, TOWARDS the flames, "Arya-Avalokitesvaro bodhisattvo gambhiram prajnaparamitacaryam caramano vyavalokayati sma: panca-skandhas tams ca svabhavasunyan pasyati sma." His voice is sing-song, the Sanskrit chant rote and rehearsed, almost sung. There is an eerie sound to it, a overlapping again and again.
"Iha Sariputra rupam sunyata sunyataiva rupam, rupan na prithak sunyata sunyataya na prithag rupam, yad rupam sa sunyata ya sunyata tad rupam; evam eva vedana-samjna-samskara-vijnanam.... "
Indeed Utau is heading TOWARDS the fire, as though he means to walk INTO it chanting the Heart of Infinite Wisdom in Sanskrit.
Bjorn's efforts are laughably inadequate. This is no slight against Bjorn in particular; the PFD crew has water shooting out at high speed from a hose, and their efforts are inadequate, too. Hence, the other teams.
Fortunately, this is a ways away from town, so there aren't a lot of civilians around. Just Bjorn and Utau. One of the PFD guys splits off from the back of the hose crew, waving them down with both arms flailing above his head. "Get out of here, it's not safe!"
Probably about that time, Utau comes to a halt and sighs, lowering his head. "I do not speak Spanish. Se hable englais?" Who is Utau talking to? The little guy must be off his nut. He's awfully damned close to the fire, his own fire golden eyes reflecting the flames. "Nihongo?"
Gemma drifts along behind the fire crews, watching the the two nutters with some concern. After a moment, she flits over to them.
Asdis doesn't see the fire crews. Her 'ferry' is steered along slowly by the black rod in her hands. She does see Gemma below and stops the ferry. She watches Gemma silently.
"There is too many to be rescued by so few of people." Bjorn calls to the man waving at him. As a tree falls, he notices a nest with eggs to which he grabs the nest to rescue it from the flames, wincing internally at the fire.
Frowning, Utau says again, "Can you understand me? I don't speak spanish... " He lifts his eyes from the flames he was staring at and begns to chant a shorter chant, "Om, mani padme hum, Om, mani padme hum, Om, mani padme hum... " repeated seven times.
Somewhere, from behind the wall of flames and through the already ashen soil, walks Gray. His feet are bare, and his visage is easily covered by the flames he stands behind. He simply walks in the path of the destruction, pausing for a moment to actually... Check his cell phone. Nothing. So he pushes it back into his pocket, and leans down to touch softly at the barren earth, running his fingertips across the dead soil as he looks up to observe the fire, simply thinking.
Gemma peers over at the ghostly boat approaching, something of a look of trepidation on her face. She quietly shuffles back from it, watching what's going on as she does so.
Asdis is still watching Gemma in silence. The wraith woman is clearly not a 'mistake', not something that does not belong here. Yet still the ferrywoman watches, curious as to what the wraith finds so interesting nearby.
The PFD spokesman squints at Utau, then at Bjorn, and shakes his head. "(treeboffer)," he mutters under his breath, even as he jogs back over to the truck and grabs a clipboard. "Would you two sign these forms, please? This officially acknowledges that the Prospect Fire Department has advised you to evacuate the vicinity, therefore if you choose to remain, the PFD is not liable for any resulting injury or death." Clearly he's been through this drill a number of times before.
Gemma reaches into her baggy clothing, pulling out a little brown paper bag. Reaching in, she produces the ghostly relic of a ricecake, and chows down thoughtfully, still watching the scene apprehensively.
Asdis is satisfied with Gemma's very normal appearance and behavior. No specters here! The demon starts to move off again on her boat.
Bjorn looks to the form and then looks to the man. He was asked to sign yet doesnt know what he means by sign...So he looks to the edge of the paper and puts draws a picture of a bear holding a hammer, done as if he drew that picture more then once. There, work signed.
Gemma peers after the spooky boat. After a moment, she begins to quietly shuffle after it, not entirely sure what to make of the appearance.
Asdis either doesn't notice Gemma following or she does not mind being followed. She isn't in a hurry right now and other than Gemma, there is nothing of interest going on. The Shadowlands are oddly quiet right now.
Oh, good enough. Just to make sure, the PFD spokesman takes out his cell phone (a feature phone built mainly for durability) and snaps a photo of Bjorn 'signing', then quickly pockets it and moves on to Utau.
The form of Gray remains out of view behind the wall of flames, barefoot and crouching to feel the scorched earth beneath him. He takes a moment, pulling the soot on his fingers up to sniff at it lightly, then simply scatters it to the wind as he stands and looks over the flames. He sighs, and mutters softly to himself, something along the lines of "Why do they try to fight it." He doesn't do much though, the flames seem to be doing well enough on their own, so he instead awaits any opportunities to assist it in its destruction, and watches it as it burns.
Cynthia comes skipping through the forest stopping as she sees the fireline and the work crews ahead. She slows and grins brightly watching people signing, fires burning and hmms softly looking at the dry underbrush. She pops her fingers and stretches as she plots.
Sighing, not wanting to waste valuable time, Utau takes the form next and scribbles his family name 'Arashino' on it. In Kanji. Good. Enough. "That wirr be good, yes?" he says to the firefighter, letting out the Japanese accent of his youth. He then bows as he forms the mudra of th eknowledge fist. One hand, the left, forms a cherry-picker like fist above thr right which has an extended forefinger onto which it holds at his solar plexus. It would look like just a Japanese man bowing to most westerners.
Bjorn was norse...He didnt understand the bowing. Instead he carried a bird nest with eggs in it, trying to keep it safe from the fire. He then moves to help various animals get out of the way of the blaze, it was the best he could do.
Rather like Bjorn, Utau then begins to climb one of the trees, a ways away from the fire crews. He's moving as fast as he can, though at his height it's like seeing an effeminate long-haired Yoda moving. He runs up the first couple feet of the tree, grabs onto a branch and hauls himself into its branches out of sight.
Cynthia hmms and looks watching Utau climb a tree and shakes her and calls out staying back out of the way "Utau! Utau! Come down out of that tree! I need to borrow you!"
The legal disclaimers are stashed back at the truck, and the spokesman rejoins the crew to help keep the fire hose steady. They /are/ making some progress at dousing the flames, it's just that there are a lot of them and a lot of natural fuel nearby.
Gray gazes at the fire a bit longer, then simply lets out a sigh as he tugs his cell out and takes a look. He is not appeased with something, that something being, absolutely no responses. Replacing his cell, he looks back to the fire, then shakes his head. He can 'help' another time, something else is apparently calling him away, or rather the lack of something. And so, he turns around and walks back into the ashen land, to retreat. For today.
Dropping back down out of the tree, simply dead-dropping, Utau lands in a low crouch beside Cynthia. His dscent was almost soundless. Oh. Maybe THAT's why he's wearing black. He's one of those N-words. "Cynthia," he says in a tone as calm as still air, his head down to her though she is both his friend and his technical 'superior'. "You caught me just in time. What did you need?"
Cynthia grins at Utau "What are you up to. I might need to borrow your skills to evacuate some of these nice folk." she looks back over to the fireline and the people working. "Cause.. Stuff."
"May have found the source;" he looks to see how close the next person may be, and then intones, "Cynthia-dono. I found newborn fire spirits, but the spoke spanish so i coukld not understand them. They, however, shared a Ch'i resonance with a source of Ch'i in the distance. I was about to go to it."
Cynthia tilts her head and smiles at Utau "I speak spanish, fire and conflaguration fluently. Though if the fire is related to something, then perhaps my own task can wait. Shall we have a chat?"
The fire hose crew is still focused on the task at hand. They haven't noticed Cynthia's arrival yet. Which is good for their peace of mind, because people /really/ turn into litigious bastards when there's a minor involved. Won't /someone/ please think of the children?
Off in the distance, some more smoke wafts up into the air, but in a more localized fashion. Maybe that's the other crew doing their job.
"Usually fire spirits love me, but it doesn't seem to help me understand," responds Utau with a faint smirk as he now raises to his feet. "Yes," he inclines his head, "Let's." Ahh, yes, think of the children. No one assumed the four foot ten effiminate male was a child... because Azns look 'ageless' right? He could be seventy. Stupid Gaijin. "Look... I am going to share my sense of the location for the trail with you. You speak to the spirits, and follow? It is growing fainter." He doesn't wait for affirmation, he reaches out with fingers covered in black ash from gripping branches near the burning edge of the fire and forms a pentacle with the Kanji for 'Space' on Cynthia's forehead then concentrates.
Cynthia blinks and nods with a grin. "Rightio. I've got it." then she turns and steps out of view, from both firefighters and pesky ephemera in the shadow lands.
With that, Utau turns rapidly climbs the tree again, disappearing into it's foliage with the faintest rustle. Who knows what he's doing up there? Maybe he's saving a nest of robin's eggs or something...
More animals directed away from the fire. Using his human-ness and the animal's fear of humans to drive them away from the fire, Bjorn continues shooing them about. Shoo shoo shoo
Well, /some/ of the animals go away from the fire. Some of them go toward the fire, at least until they get close enough to properly recognize what it is. They're certainly being driven away from /Bjorn/, though. The spokesman glances around again, then just shakes his head a little and gets back to the slog.
Cynthia pops into the Umbra and pauses for a moment taking a deep breath. She shrugs and begins skipping at speed sliding to a stop when she sees the spirits. "Hey! Howsit going! Great fire season eh? Who are you looking for? Maybe I can help."
Do they call it the Shinobi superhighway? Yeah. Utau comes out amidst the flames atop one of the trees. His tanktop catches fire and he almost doesn't noticebut pulls it off before a persistant burn can annoy him. His hands move with almost blinding speed through patterns he has taken a lifetime to memorize in his prescient religious training. Temborin-in, the mudr aof the wheel of Law, thumbs and forefingers hled in circles and linked something lika diagonal '8' as his other six vfingers splay. Chi-ken-in, the Knowlede fist, Finger extended at solar plexus, left hand grasping it in a fist. Ongyo-in, Mudra of hiding forms his left hand in a loose fist below the rigid knife-hand of his right. Finally, the Musofushi-in, the core of Esoteric Buddhism, the Mudra of Ubiquity and the Three Musteries of Mind, thought, and Action. Thumbs and back palms together six fingers meeting to form the six original substances, middle fingers forming a outwards steeple.
And then Utau leaps. It is like space itself warps around him, letting him leap to the next tree, shirtless now he is a blur, like a diffracted image upon the heatwaves from the fire. "I'm moving ahead after it, Cynthia!"
The fire spirits favor Cynthia with a shit-eating grin. << Race you! >> If she looks seventeen, they sound seven. (What does a seven-year-old fire spirit /look/ like? Does that even mean anything for essentially ageless and unearthly creatures? Who knows.) And then they take off with renewed vigor, one whizzing past Cynthia while the other makes a point of diving 'through' Utau's hair.
Cynthia tilts her head at the spirit and concentrates for a moment. Then she's brighter. The colors more distinct. Also she looks like a Disney character. Perfectly humanoid rat. The stuff furries dream of. She goes bounding after Utau and the spirit leaping through the air giggling madly as she goes "Wooh! A race it is!" Except she's a cheater. She whips out a paint brush from.. Somewhere? She draws a cartoonish race gokart just as brightly colored as her and roars off chasing them as she whips through the spiritual forest.
Fair enough. Utau is moving like a shinobi out of a myth, legend, or... hell, Anime. Treetop to treetop, barely alighting as he moves to thext jump, space warping around him in ways that it pushes the ideas of concensus. But hey, everyone loved Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, right? He could give their wire-work a run for its money on sheer grace as shimmers of light play through his molten earth tresses like fireflies. The goal is ahead, maybe it relaly has become a race at this point.
Cartoon physics, huh? That means cartoon comedic timing, too. The fire spirits let Cynthia pass them up and /pass their target/, while Utau more or less keeps pace. << There he is! He smells gooooooood. >>
Assuming they're talking about another hoo-man, the only 'him' in the area is a hiker somewhere in his thirties. Red and black plaid shirt, jeans, boots. Backpack. Five o'clock stubble.
Not immediately pouncing on the human, Utau alights on a branch sturdy enough to hold him. He watches the hiker as he brings his hands together in the Chiken-en, the Knowledge fist again, fire-golden eyes upon the hiker from above.
Cynthia slides to a halt stepping off the racecar which explodes for no reason. She removes the shades she's suddenly wearing and doesn't look at the kaboom behind her. Cause she's bad ass. She looks at the hiker with interest then to the spirits "Yummy smelling eh? You going to play with him or something?" she turns to her own ball of fire next to her "Hey, what do you think of that guy Mister Nibbles?"
Waiting a moment for Cynthia to catch up, Utau doesn't bother with an ambush. Dropping from the branch right in front of the guy, space warping to keep inertia from even being a bother for the distance travelled, he stands with his arms at his sides. No defensive body language, no pretense. "Did you set this fire?" he asks in a voice like gravel rattling from a coffi's lid.
The hiker stops and narrows his eyes at Utau. "Malone sent you. Idiot." Then, without further ado, he turns around and takes off at a dead run. Lap 2, go!
Cynthia watches Utau kick attack a hiker as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a bag of popcorn. She offers some to the fire spirits "So hey, do you like work for that Malone guy that whats his junk is talking about?"
There is no hesitation; the moment the guy turns to run, Utau executes a snapping kick to the leg. He's fast, incredibly so, the way he moves he breaks BONE when he connects with the guy's knee. That's probably going to need surgery to fix. Of course, as good as he is, Utau doesn't have time even for a spell to get out of the way of the volleyball-sized fireball that is launched at him.
So, it hits him square in the bared chest, a place tha bears scas from knife fights even a bullet wound or three. The fire spreads out over his chest and... goes out. As Utau raises an eyebrow at the man, advancing on him with a single arched brow, saying only, "Really?"
The remnants of the fire spell just fall away like embers around him as he responds to Cynthia while never taking his eyes off his prey, "I don't work for Malone. Now. You, my hobbled friend, are going to tell me who he is. Who you are. Or.... I will just crack your skull open with my bared hands and read your mind spattered on the tree trunks. I;ve killed far better people than you for far less than this."
He bends down and attempts to strike again, this time aiming to break the hand the man used to gesture with, hoping to slow down his method of focusing.
"Shut up Kirk!" spits the doned Hellfire Hiker as he raises his hands to cast again, weaving a complex series of motions.
Having anticipated this, Utau meets the man's right hand dead-on. The bark-like texture of knife, impact, and burn scars along Utau's hands and forearms proves to be a nasty thing to encounter when driven by his sheer alacrity and accuracy. He splits the man's hand at the carples and meta carples, the finger bones making a sound like the pop and crackle of fire as blood spatters over Utau's arm.
He wasn't expecting Lefty however.
A fireball the size of a beach ball roars into Utau's right arm, the flames wreathing around him as he narrows his eyes. Those epicanthic slits are shone fire-golden as he speaks and some of the flame actually exits his mouth from where he breathed it in, "You, cretinous, buffon. This is your last chance before we simply begin ripping secrets from your broken corpse... "
The flames die down, second degree burns ARE seen across Utau's right arm, alongside the bullet scar and other scars he bears. Oh, and a bit of a first degree. He got a bit of snburn.
"WHO is Malone. Who do you work for. Talk, or I'll just add you to the long list of my victims."
Cynthia steps out from behind a tree and wanders over looking at Utau and his new friend "Yeah, who is Malone. Curious minds want to know."
The hiker groans, in pain as well as frustration, turning his head to spit out some blood. "/Malone/," he growls, "is a fool with no vision. Work for? I work for /me/. I work for this /place/. Don't make the same mistake he did!" He might as well talk, he knows the fight has turned badly against him.
Shirtless, his musculature having deepened and toned with the steadily increasing fluidity of his tone, Utau stands with the right arm he usually wears the band Eloise gave him during his crisis with Meph still steaming from flames that are just now dying out. First and second degree burns spread over that arm, the hand of which is clenched into a fist. Blisters have already raised. His pants have burn holes, the pant legs ragged from them. His fet bare and blackened from soot and dirt. His hair shimmers in the light of the close by raging forest fire. Blood spatters in a grisley alizaring along Utau's cheek, and he is breathing smoke.
Nearby n the ground still smouldering are the remains of the band Eloise had given him to call her in times of need. The flames burned it off, snapping it in half.
At Utau's feet is a hiker, with a knee bent the wrong way and a rigth hand so ruined his fingers are pointing in five different directions. Almost six. The habd is smashed down to the metacarples in the wrist. Cynthia stands behind the hiker looking curious.
"Don't play ME for a fool," hisses Utau like fire itself, though his demeanor and manner seem as calm and placid as the stillness of air before the storm, "Why did you set the forest fire? I could FEEL the resonance of your Ch'i upon it. The fire tou shot at me was exactly the same, it was how I found you. How is Malone a fool. Why would you do this? how does setting ablaze this forest serve it? This is NOT a controlled burn. What mistake did HE make? Even the Buddha did not have ininite patience, peace be with him."
Eloise has NO clue what's going on.. only that she RAN.. and when Eloise RUNS.. something better be on fi---oh. Something IS on fire. She's briefly disoriented from the jump and it takes her a moment to settle, blinking slowly for a moment before she finally turns toward Utau and heads that way, catching the last of his words.
Cynthia pickes up a fallen twig and lightly pokes the hiker "Yeah, why set this fire? That's my.. Schtick." Cynthia bursts into giggles at her pun then suddenly stops "No really. We don't have to murderize you. We just wanna know whats up and if you set this fire on purpose."
Bjorn pants heavily as he comes running up and looks to the others. "This is the one who set the fire?" He asks as he looks to the man, glaring at the man. "Who set the fire?" He asks with a serious tone.
The hiker shuts his eyes tightly. "Oh, good, now he's got /four/ morons." He's not winning Miss Congeniality this year or any other. "That's just what he tried to do, /control/ the burn, hold it back. Don't you know fires are /natural/? This place hadn't had one for /so long/." His breathing is heavy, labored: as yours might be, if you had one foot in the grave and the other planted on slippery mud. "You're a philosopher. That's Taoism, isn't it? Do what's natural."
"Coexisting with nature is to know the nature within us," says Utau, "Your methods are no less acts of blindness than those of someone trying to control nature. Fire consumes, in its natural course. It overwhelms when it is fed more. Natural fires are not started by man to begin with. Do think you could decide that this place should burn to the ground rather than letting nature take its natural course is to be like a tiger hunting the healthy of the herd... and wondering why he is starving when the sickly die off and winter sets in."
Eloise focuses on the hiker, a frown coming to her face. "You have a point, good sir. No, no. Don't stand. Just stay right there." Her eyes roam around the place, checking out the fire here and there. "Fire is important." She strolls up, having completely gotten her bearings. "So you're saying someone has been STOPPING the natural fires?" Yeah, Eloise knew about the fires and she's been keeping an eye on them, so to speak. No one got hurt. And they ARE important, afterall. She kneels, unless she's stopped from doing so. "Give us some names. I need to re-set your leg." Her eye lift toward Bjorn. "Find me some straight sticks, would you?" She reaches down toward her skirt, tearing off some long, thin strips. She's kickin' it old school today, boys and girls. She glances up at Utau and gives him a little smile. "Sorry I'm late." Back to the hiker, she says, "You'll have to forgive my ignorance. I just got here."
"So you will not mind if I naturally beat you to a pulp." Bjorn growls as he raises a fist then Eloise asks him to get some sticks. He nods as he unclenches his fist before beginning to go look for straight sticks to use.
Cynthia holds up a hand to Utau "Yeah but it's also humanities battle against the natural forces make this fire worse. But I'll be taking care of that." she checks to make sure Eloise has things under control then grins "Yeah, you should give these fine folks a run down on who's doing what. I'm going to go do what I do best."
The hiker strains to get a better look at these newcomers. Might as well, especially now one of them is talking about fixing him up. "/Yes/, someone's been stopping them. For months now, maybe years. Who do /you/ work for, if not Malone?" Another pained breath: in, out. "I don't mean the fire department. That's natural, too. If Malone hadn't interfered, /I/ wouldn't have had to interfere."
Eloise peeers at Bjorn for a moment or two until he heads off. She reaches into her bag that she always has with her and pulls out a little knife. "Just going to cut your pantleg..." she murmurs to the hiker. She's in Doctor Mom Mode. Calm, soothing.. oh, hey, and that touch kinda tingles. "I don't know who Malone is and I don't work for anyone. Explain what's happened, okay? Take your time. You're safe, so long as you don't do anything dumb."
Cynthia straights and stretches popping and turns going skipping away to do who knows what. But she's giggling. So that's a.. Good sign? Sure. Good sign.
Suddenly smiling brightly, the cinder-singed and burned Utau looks to Eloise and exclaims, "My Lady!" He bows to her from the waist. At least he doesn't kowtow like when they first met. He then looks to his burned right arm, "Oh... the band. I'm so sorry. I... I hope I did not call you here at an inopportune time." He blinks once and nods to Cynthia, intoning, "Very well, Cynthia-dono. You know you have my support." To the hiker he remains quiet for now, taking the student role that he has been more accustomed to of late as he watches Eloise. He explains to Eloise, "When I sensed the resonance of the flames I confronted him. He tried to flee me, so I broke his leg. About ninty pounds of pressure per square inch to the side of the patella. When he continued, I smashed his hand. 80 pounds of pressure per square inch applied to the central carplesm split the bones apart. Four broken fingers, the carples and metacarples are out of alignment. But... while I knoe how to destroy I do not yet know how to heal. I apologize My Lady."
Bjorn comes back with straight sticks, one of which was a big thick branch which could be used as a club. He offers them down to Eloise but keeps the club one in his hands, patting it into an open hand as he watches the hiker intensely.
The hiker-- well, let's call him Ernie, because that's his name, not that it's occurred to him to mention it to anyone yet. "What's to explain? You work with him." 'Him' would be Utau, if Ernie's eyes can still be trusted to focus properly. "He saw what I do. Malone? He creates water, ice." He rolls his eyes as Utau starts rattling off numbers like Ivan Drago's training rig, then lolls his head backward. Is Bjorn just going to bull forward and cave his skull in? That does seem to be the way his day is going.
Eloise takes the sticks, but shakes her head at Bjorn. "Don't stand there and menace my patient. Go make sure the fire is under control." She's kinda bossy. She nods to Utau. "That's okay. That's what I'm here for, right? You did what you felt was right. Maybe it WAS right.." She looks back to the hiker. "My name is Eloise. What's yours?" SHe's perfectly calm, just trying to get the man talking, keep him talking, while she works on him a little bit, nodding to his words. "I work with a lot of people... but... .. okay.. so do you have any idea where we can find Malone?"
Bjorn is good at menacing people but when the woman issues orders, he nods as he begins to head off to try and find out if the fire was under control.
Settling down on his knees beside Eloise, Utau awaits any instructions she might have for him. He held back an aful lot in that fight, even if he used bone-to-bone lethal force, and as a result he is not at his peak but tries not to show the pain now that the adrenaline is passing.
"Ernie," the man replies. Okay, they have a name. Names are good. "Why do you want Malone? You're not just going to pat him on the head and let him /go/, are you?" Yeah, that doesn't sound ominous at all.
Eloise smiles over at Utau. "You're next, okay? Just lean on me." Cause healing... yeah. She shakes her head to Ernie. "Honestly, I don't know what I'll do with Malone. I guess it really depends on his motivations and all that. If he's a bad guy, I'll treat him like a bad guy. If he's misdirected, I'll redirect him. If he's an evil psychopath who wants to destroy the world, I'll cut him up into little pieces and feed him to my dragon." She's kidding, right?
"Yes, My Lady," says Utau with a faint smile. He doesn't quite lean against, her, he doesn't want to get in her way, but he places a hand gently on Eloise's back... and tries NOt to put too much pressure against her. He started to use his right hand, which he favors, but f course it is bloody from the cracked open second degree burns. He takes a deep, meditative, breath, and exhales slowly and softly. Eloise has beena source of comfort for him since befor ehis awakening; and in fact he may never be able to forget going eplat against her wards during his awakening, like a bug against a windshield.
"He's an idiot," Ernie replies. "Probably damaged, somehow, I could never get him to tell me. /Months/! And you're just going to 'redirect' him, just like that." He sounds distinctly skeptical.
Eloise shakes her head, giving Ernie a faint smile. "I didn't say that for sure. I said PROBABLY. If he's a problem, we have the ability to fix it. Now hold still." She hands him a stick. "Put this in your mouth. This is going to hurt really bad for a minute." She gets no joy from this
"Earnie, was it?" says Utau softly, "You might want to consider your situation and have a little faith in My Lady Eloise. I tracked you from the other side of the fire break, straight to you as the source. If we were not the kind of people who considered all angles and attempted to take right action... well. I did not wish to repeat being a killer if it was unecessary. But if it had been necessary for certain, you never would have gotten your first fireball off." She pauses a moment, eyes lidding a little when Eloise sets the man's leg and heals him. It is not precisely remorse for the pain caused, but there was no joy there either.
Oh, this is going to suck, Ernie thinks to himself. Pain bad enough to need a tree branch to bite down on? It actually isn't near that bad, but his expectations and strained vision get the best of him: he tenses up from head to toe for a second, then mercifully passes out, even as his injuries ripple away into nonexistence. At least he should be feeling a lot better when he wakes up.
End Log
