The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Pharoah Dynasty
An ancient sorceress is on a quest to bring her long-lost warrior-king to the modern era in a bid for global domination. Can the heroes of the modern world stop her before all is lost?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Apr 2, 2009 18:01:00 GMT -6
Mutant God
DodgerBlue
Straight
3,189
9
Oct 23, 2024 5:10:48 GMT -6
Jules
Colombia was hot. Not in the Paris Hilton, airhead jargon turn of the word. Colombia was just freakin hot. Tarin’s shirt had long ago been soaked through down the back, under the arms, and down the front of his chest where it was pulled tight by the straps of the backpack he wore. In fact, he mused, it would have been easier to point out to an observer which areas of his shirt weren’t soaked though. Tarin was glad he’d had his hair cut. Lee had been pissed. In fact, pissed wasn’t even a good word for it. That longer hair would have been a disaster in the jungle though. As it was, it felt like his head was encased in an oven. He knew the hat was a necessity though, just as the sun glasses were. People didn’t always like it when he went all creepy-eyed while talking to spirits. That’s what he was here for. Spirits. Colombia was awesome.
Needless to say, the past week had been interesting. The call from Slate, the preparations, the shopping, the flying. It had been so long since Tarin had been on a plane. The jeep ride through the jungle, the walking through the jungle. Apparently Slate was working on some kind of rebuilding project, in South Eastern Colombia of all places, and he had a bit of a spirit infestation. He wanted Tarin’s help. The man had saved his life. Of course Tarin had said yes. Lee had at least seemed to be on board too. The only problem was…sometimes she has this look on her face, a look that suggested she wasn’t as okay as she thought. They were here now, though, and they had their mission. They even had a team.
That had been a surprise, the team. Lee was involved, of course, she’d practically attached herself to Tarin at the him at the suggestion of the phrase, ‘paramilitary guerillas’. Sara was there too. That was interesting, the last time Tarin had seen her had been in Central Park, the same place he’d attacked her when his body had not been his own. Hopefully all of that was behind them. The final member of their group, was an incredibly mystery to Tarin. He had a horn. Tarin had been good so far, he hadn’t made a single ‘horny’ joke. He was proud of himself. Other than that, though, Tarin didn’t know much other than that his name was Sebastian, he was young…but knowing Slate had taught Tarin that age didn’t really mean anything in a world full of mutants.
Here they were, in the villiage, and the villiagers simply weren’t as happy to see them as Tarin had expected. In fact, it was almost like something out of one of those old showdown movies. Window shutters were pulled closed, kids were pulled in from the street, doors were shut.
“Oh for the love…don’t tell me that on top of spirits we’re going to have to deal with touchy locals.” Tarin said, casting a look at Lee. Well, since the welcome mat hadn’t been rolled out, there was no reason to waste time trying to get to know the people whose asses they were trying to save from the spirits that were supposedly driving them nuts. “Slate said that there were several instances in the town hall and then some more in the areas surrounding what used to be the school. Anyone have a preference on where we start?”
Tarin pushed his sunglasses, which had slid down a bit up his nose and for the first time since arriving concentrated on the area around him. No sprits to be seen, or heard, yet. Tarin knew better though, if Slate had said paranormal things had been happening, they’d been happening.
It had been...well it had been an interesting week to say the least. Slate had called them, apparently from Columbia, asking for Tarin, wanting Tarin to come down to help with a little 'spirit problem' the locals were having, as well as helping with that rebuilding project Slate was doing on the school since they'd be down there anyway.
And Tarin had been, well Tarin had been gun-ho about going from the get go. Lee, on the other hand...She did like the whole idea of what Slate was doing down there, helping people who truly needed the help, more so than she had ever needed anyone to help her, and using their powers to do it. However, there was the whole part about the fighting, and the guerrilla warfare that was taking place in the area. Tarin had commented a number of times in the past that he was not a fighter by any means when referring to simple bar fights, why the hell did he think it was a good idea to head into the middle of a war zone in Columbia?
But the fact of the matter was that Tarin was excited about the idea of going to Columbia. Really excited. And, while Lee was pretty sure that Tarin would stay home and not go to Columbia if she asked, Lee knew that he wouldn't be happy about it, not at all. And that was the whole problem in the issue; Tarin needed this. Especially after being in the coma, Tarin needed to see, to show himself, that his powers could actually be used for something good.
And that's what Columbia would be for him, as long as it turned out even remotely as planned.
Lee couldn't take that away from Tarin, he needed it. And so she couldn't ask him to not go, despite how worried she was about walking into a war-zone. Technically, she could stay home while Tarin went and did his thing, but Lee knew what would happen then, she'd simply sit there, unable to sleep, as she worried about her husband.
At least she did think that Slate's plan there was worthwhile.
Which meant that Lee was going to Columbia. And a week later, after a flurry of shopping, packing, and vaccinations, and a week of not telling Tarin her real worries of going to Columbia, they were finally on their way to Columbia. With a couple other mutants. Lee really wasn't sure whether that made her feel better or worse about the whole situation, though with what she remembered of Sara from the camp breakout, hopefully their companions would help out, and Lee tried to push her worries from her mind.
And damn was it hot in Columbia. Lee had expected heat, they were just coming into spring back in New York and Columbia was like right on the equator, but Lee had not been ready for what they came into. Her hair was tied back loosely, but was soaked with sweat and humidity under her hat, strands sticking to the back of her neck as they walked into the village, her sunglasses almost constantly sliding down her nose because of the moisture. And she was sure that her tank top under her outer, long sleeved shirt, was completely soaked. Yeah, she wasn't going to be wearing a bra after today, either.
Only to hear Tarin start complaining as he saw the locals' reactions to their arrival. "Can you really blame them, hon?" Lee asked softly as she walked at her husband's side. "After everything that's happened to them, can you blame them for being wary?"
But then Tarin asked for suggestions on where they should start, the town hall or the ruins of the school. The school being destroyed was the reason why Slate was there in the first place, but Lee really didn't want to start there. Actually, she didn't want Tarin going anywhere near there if she could help it. She knew that wouldn't be possible, knew that she was going to have to deal with child spirits at some point, but if she could put that off a bit, so much the better. Things never turned out well after Tarin sought out the spirits of children.
"How about we go start with the town hall?" Lee suggested. "If they see that we've helped there, maybe the locals will be more open."
(For those of you that do follow what I write, this is a bit of a time jump to after Sara’s ability to see has returned.)
If only Tarin’s sweat had become as noticeable as the dull buzz of electricity running through the lights in a room. Sara’s hearing was sensitive enough to pick up on electricity yet her mind had adjusted enough to ignore it and focus on other sound. Her nose on the other hand. Her nose was being insulted with ever breath she took and had been wrinkled so often during the groups’ travels in Columbia Sara wondered if her face would ever be able to straighten properly again.
The last few weeks had been more than interesting when it came to Sara’s senses. She’d been shot in the head and had woken up blind. Her eyes hadn’t been physically damaged but there was something wrong with the connection to her brain that told the pupils when to contract and when to dilate. Sara was still having difficulties with this, especially when she looked into the sun or any other bright light. Her pupils tended to want to dilate completely down to nearly nothing, again. So that they were those paper thin slits that didn’t let any light in at all, and that seemed to trigger another awareness, of sorts. Sara still couldn’t explain that one, but for that reason she had chosen to wear sun glasses, and had picked up a long sturdy stick that came up to her shoulders. It doubled as a walking stick and allowed her to still navigate the terrain if her sight did leave her again. Sara had avoided telling anyone she was traveling with, that she could become blind at any minute for no apparent reason, and so far, the subject hadn’t come up.
For the rest of her ensemble, Sara had a sports braw that was clearly visible under the spaghetti straps of her tank top. Her hair was pulled back into a French braid, that carefully wound stray strands around her ears so that nothing poked out of place too far. Cargo pants were hugged to her hips thanks to a leather belt that kept set of throwing knives at the small of her back, and a long machete at her left hip. A few packets of beef jerky, and energy bars, plus a change of cloths, had been stuffed into a black back pack.
Sara supposed the group they had was ok. From what she understood of Tarin’s powers he was the obvious choice to come along on this mission, even if she didn’t fully trust him. Apparently his powers also made him dangerous. Something Sara had experienced in three of the four times she had met up with Tarin. The camps break out, the park and Time Square where she’d played a very evil game of Tag and burn with him while waiting and praying for help to arrive. Maybe the psychic was right in telling Sara to stop him in any way she could, but Sara wasn’t a killer. At least that’s what she told herself.
Their other two companions were almost equally as interesting. Sara remembered Lee from the camps. She failed to remember Lee’s exact ability though, if Lee had ever told her. Only that it had to do with the one time Lee had actually touched Sara and the fact she couldn’t remember was more embarrassing than admitting to someone, in mid conversation, that you couldn’t remember their name.
Their last companion was someone Sara had never been introduced to before, but she decided just based on the way he looked, she liked him. He had a horn and a tail. So she wasn’t the only one going on this trip who had to watch slamming doors right behind her. More than once Sara found herself stretching her back, trying to look inconspicuous as she looked up at the horn’s tip. Some how she avoided asking rude questions about him, like if he had trouble walking through door ways, or if he’d ever tried to wear a base ball cap and ended up putting a hole in the brim. Or most importantly, did his neck ever get stiff from the extra weight on his brow, or if his body had adjusted to having a horn on it the way people adjust to the feeling of having long hair, and realize how lighter their head feels when you cut it off.
Sara was just leaning back to look at the tip of the horn again when they entered the village. Automatically Sara heard the different sounds of the doors and windows shutting and then Tarin’s comment. “Hey this is just like home for me. No complaints here.”
"How about we go start with the town hall? If they see that we've helped there, maybe the locals will be more open."
Sara nodded, drawing her attention away from the tip of the horn and over to Tarin and Lee. “I’ll follow where ever you guys want to start working, but it would be nice if there was an elevated vantage point I could check out while we start.”
Posted by Sebastian on Apr 6, 2009 22:18:53 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
It was hot and sweat poured from every pore on Sebastian's body, quickly making his most recent bath entirely irrelevant. The ground was uneven and hiking was difficult, which could make even the most surefooted hiker and the most graceful dancer stumble and trip over his or her own feet. Insects the size of baseballs thirsted for the sweet blood of unwary travelers; they waited in the shadows for the relative cool of the evening hours to swoop in on their unwary prey. Birds of every voice cawed and crowed, trilled and cackled at every hour of the day and night. In every direction, as far as the eye could see, was green in every tint, tone, shade, and hue discernible to the eye.
It was beautiful.
Despite how uncomfortable he was, Sebastian actually enjoyed the hike to the haunted village. The nearest he had come to being in a place like it, was the time he had spent in Siam. The jungle was somewhat familiar, but kept surprising him with new flora and fauna at every turn. It was similar to meeting someone's twin brother and finding out that, though they looked alike, they were not at all the same. Sebastian would have loved to stop and smell the flowers, to admire the brightly colored tree frog, or to sit gazing up at the canopy for sightings of new and unfamiliar birds, but they were currently on a mission.
Spirits of the dead, unable to rest, were tormenting a village and he and his team were going to investigate and help in any way they could. Sebastian was always curious about spirits, curious about death. It may have been a morbid hobby, to study what happens when people die, though for someone who might not ever get the chance to try it for himself, he was insatiably curious to find out what it was like.
Sebastian wasn't the only member of the team with a tail, he found out once they had assembled for their spirit soothing sojourn. Sara wore clothes like the rest of them, but she also had a healthy amount of golden fur covering her body. African lions functioned pretty well in the heat, so the unicorn man couldn't help but wonder if she could be comfortable under that extra jacket. She also wielded a machete for cutting back rough areas of foliage as well as a walking stick. She seemed very well prepared for the outing, in any case. Unfortunately for her, she seemed to have a rather sensitive sense of smell. It seemed unfortunate because she kept wrinkling her nose whenever a puff of wind hit her nose after having gently caressed the scent off of one of her other companions. Sebastian wondered if the fact that he smelled halfway like horse and half way like man made him worse smelling, better, or just a different brand of yuck. In any case, it would be interesting to find out what other lion-like abilities she might have stored up.
Lee was the type of woman that would have been gorgeous in any century in any location in the world. Even drenched in sweat and hidden under stifling long sleeves and a shady face covering hat, she was a classical beauty the type for whom men fought wars and burned down cities. Sebastian's own hometown had been sacked over a woman less beautiful than she. At least, Lee was more beautiful than the memory of Helen. Sebastian had been young at the time, though, and the memory was tainted by something that was close kin to hate and very nearly felt like resentment. Sebastian hadn't heard what her powers were, but as powers go, there was almost always a way to make them useful.
The final member of their group was probably the most useful one on the mission, or at least the one whose ability was matched most closely with the task before them. From what Sebastian could gather, he was some sort of spirit medium. The unicorn man wasn't sure whether this meant he could communicate with spirits, control them, or some other possibility. It sounded rather morbid, but he couldn't help but be curious. If given the chance, he could have asked the man a thousand questions about the nature of his power and about the nature of death. If the question of what happened after death could intrigue a race of men for thousands of years, imagine what it could do to a single immortal. Perhaps now was not the best time for such questions.
They had arrived in the village, and the skittish folk who lived there had already scurried inside and barricaded themselves into their dwellings as if they might catch whatever it is the mutants had. It was unclear whether they were afraid of a disease that would make them grow tails, or whether the mixed animal features and pale skin of the various members of their group reminded them of the spirits that were troubling them as of late. Sebastian wouldn't know, because he'd never seen a spirit. He did hear a mother hiss “diabolo” which he was fairly certain meant “demon”, but whether his rusty Spanish was accurate or not, it was inconclusive either way.
Tarin grumbled about the hospitality. Lee played the understanding empathetic role, and Sara turned it around into almost a joke. It sounded like the start of a joke anyway: a lion, a unicorn, a witch doctor, and the witch doctor's wife walk into a ghost town...
“There is the possibility of foul play, whether it be from the living or the dead. Perhaps splitting up is wise, so a second group can watch the first group's back. Though, Tarin, you are the expert at this. Who do you need with you and who do you need ready to come rushing to your aid?”
All the while they were nearing the center of town. The unicorn man scanned the surrounding area, trying to determine all the various details of their surroundings. Both the town and the buildings were small and simple. Even if half the team went inside, they couldn't really get lost inside any of the small structures. Most of them looked like they only had a few rooms.
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Apr 7, 2009 12:15:40 GMT -6
Mutant God
DodgerBlue
Straight
3,189
9
Oct 23, 2024 5:10:48 GMT -6
Jules
OOC - If nobody minds too much, I’m going to go ahead and take Lee and I into the building. I’m thinking of having a minor collapse happen in one of the rooms while they’re dealing. You guys are super strong, right? In the meantime, do whatever you please. Peek through the windows and watch their progress, intimidate some villagers to stay in their houses.
General consensus was that the locals had some right to be wary of the strangers wondering into their home. Tarin glanced around at their odd looking group and shrugged his shoulders. For once he wasn’t the outlandish looking one. The hat covered his shortened hair and most of his tattoos were covered up by the long sleeves and pants he wore. The only odd thing visible would be the earrings, but he’d seen some of the locals…he didn’t have anything on them. “Fair enough…” he said, “I guess we’ll just have to charm them into helping out.”
Tarin just nodded when Lee suggested that they go to the town hall first. It was unclear which of the spirits were more destructive and which of the spirits were more mischievous because reports of both types of activity had been reported in the village. Hopefully these were the less aggressive type, a warm-up would help. Especially if these spirits were strong enough to affect the corporeal world, Tarin was going to have his hands full. Hopefully they weren’t too far gone with rage to listen to reason; they’d be in a world of hurt if that was the case. Tarin had one idea up his sleeve if that was the case. He glanced at Lee, she’d hate it, that was for sure, but if it came down to having to force a spirit into the great beyond, Tarin only knew of one way to do it. He really hoped it didn’t come to that though, the side effects were always unpredictable and it greatly increased the chances of bodily harm.
The guy with the horn, Sebastian, Tarin corrected himself, pointed out that the villagers current state of mind hinted at a possibility of danger if all of them entered the building at once. Sara had already pointed out that she’d prefer a high vantage point and as they neared the spot that held the blown out town center, Tarin surveyed the area.
The structure of the building looked sound enough, though it had been seriously damaged at some point. It was a low building, but sprawling compared to the dwellings that covered the rest of the town. Tarin turned to face the others, still mulling over Sebastian’s question in his mind.
“I think I like that idea…” he said after a few moments, “To be completely honest, the fewer people who are in a small area with malicious spirits, the better. If we’re all crowded in there and furniture or shrapnel goes flying, there’s a much higher likelihood of someone getting hurt.” While spirits couldn’t affect the living, they sure as hell could affect the inanimate objects around them, and nothing was stopping a projectile shard of glass.
“I’d like Lee to go with me. If something goes wrong and they’re stronger than me, she’s probably the only one that can help. Sebastian, if you want to stay out here with Sara and make sure that the locals keep their distance that would be great. The last thing we need is one of them stumbling into this and getting hurt. Stay close by the building though, just in case things get rough.”
That said, Tarin grinned over at Lee, directing like that had felt pretty cool. “Ready?” he said, moving towards the building that had housed the victims of one of the grizzlier guerrilla attacks. There had been 4 of them total and they’d been viciously tortured before they were killed. That had been the price for staying instead of running. It made sense that they’d linger now to punish those who ran, leaving them to the ‘mercy’ of the paramilitary soldiers. A few steps away, Tarin frowned and turned to the two members of the group who didn’t live with him back home.
“Oh, and if I come out of there without Lee…for any reason whatsoever…take me out as quick as possible. No questions asked.”
That said he turned back and headed for the building. It was subtle at first, but as they moved the telltale rushing in his ears got louder and louder. Paydirt. “Yup…” he said, looking everywhere but at Lee, “They’re definitely here. Be ready" A few steps further into the building and something sailed about an inch in front of Tarin's face, striking the wall and sticking there. Moving to the side, eyes wide he looked at it. It was a chair leg, and it was half-embedded in the wall. "Stay behind me." he said to Lee, then concentrated, groping around...there it was.
Tarin made the mental link and the flood of images was so intense that he nearly staggered. Grizzly had been an understatement. If possible, more sweat broke out on Tarin's forehead as his eyes scanned the building looking for the source. There. Out a doorway down the hall the direction the make-shift spike had come from was a woman. "Hi." Tarin said, not moving.
"Dios Mio...Have you come to set us free?" she asked, crossing herself and stepping forward. Tarin just nodded. At least he hoped that was what he was there to do.
As the four of them came to a stop near the town hall, they began discussing their plans for action. Apparently Sara seemed to prefer the idea of her staying outside, preferably somewhere a little higher, to keep an eye out. Initially, just the thought of splitting up didn't sound so great, but as the moments passed, Lee realized that it probably would be better. Her main worry coming to Columbia had been the warfare and the fighting; just because they were going in to search for the spirits didn't mean that they wouldn't be bothered by humans.
Tarin seemed to agree with Sara's idea of having her and Sebastian outside watching, though for Tarin it had more to do with keeping them safe from what the spirits might end up being able to do. Yeah, because thoughts like that, as well as Tarin's comment that if the spirits ended up being stronger than him she was probably the only one who would be able to do anything about it, really did not help Lee feel better about not only going into the town hall, but also about the whole being in Columbia thing.
But at least spirits and merges she could deal with. It might scare her, she knew that there was always the possibility that she wouldn't be fast or strong enough one of these times when Tarin merged, knew that there was the possibility that she would die, and yet Lee at least was able to deal with that. She didn't know if she was really able to deal with this whole fighting, war zone thing.
A couple moments later Lee realized as she saw Tarin grinning over at her, not only was he eager and happy to be there actually doing something good with his powers, but Tarin was enjoying and actually good at giving instructions like that. Everything that he had said made sense, kept the most number of people out of harms way, only put him and her actually there with the spirits as he was connecting to them and so when they were the strongest, but made sure to keep Sara and Sebastian on their toes and ready in case something happened.
"I'm as ready as I'm going to be," Lee told Tarin softly as he stood there looking at her. But before they actually started moving toward the building, Lee saw Tarin turn again, directing his attention, and a very serious look, at their companions.
Those few words made Lee stop, made her look at first Sebastian, then Sara, with a very serious, penetrating look. "If that happens, incapacitate him," Lee said, her voice quiet but full of command and authority as Tarin had already started toward the doors of the building. "Do whatever it takes, don't stop until you've incapacitated him, not until he's at least unconscious and restrained. Only then come looking for me, but don't hesitate."
Hopefully they would listen to what she and Tarin had just told them, hopefully they wouldn't hesitate, because Lee well knew that if Tarin came out without her, it wouldn't actually be Tarin in control, and the truth was she was scared to think of what would have happened to her before his body would be walking out that door.
Turning, Lee jogged slightly to catch up with Tarin, reaching him just as he stepped through the door and inside the building. The interior was darker than outside, though there were a large number of small holes that let the sunlight filter in. Still, Lee reached up and pushed her hat off her head, letting it hang by the string so it was hanging down her back, then pushed her sunglasses up so they were resting on her head as Tarin was telling her to be ready.
She hadn't gone even two steps further into the building when she heard a whistling through the air and suddenly saw something hitting the wall just in front of Tarin. Lee jumped, having not expected that. She'd really only seen spirits able to actually move things a couple of times before, and those occasions had always been with an angry spirit who'd had enough power, energy, whatever you wanted to call it, to try and force a merge with Tarin.
This was really[/b] not looking good, Lee decided. But they couldn't just turn around and leave before they had at least tried what they came there to do. For one, there was no way they had travelled so far to leave without even an attempt. But, if they left without Tarin at least trying to help, Lee was sure that he would think his powers were even worse than he already thought they were, not good for anything.
And now Tarin wanted her to get behind him, to stay behind him, though he hadn't looked at her as he said it. Lee didn't normally hide, in what most people would have considered a normal situation, Lee probably wouldn't have done what Tarin had said just there. But this was different. With few exceptions, spirits did a very good job scaring Lee, and especially if it was able to throw something, have it embed into a wall, within moments of them actually getting there...Lee didn't have a clue what this spirit would be capable of once it actually started trying.
So Lee stepped behind Tarin, not fully, she still needed to be able to see the room around them just in case despite the fact that at the moment she couldn't see the spirit, but she did move behind her husband. Plus that way, she'd at least be close enough to get her hands on him if anything seriously went wrong.
"Just let me know what else you need me to do," Lee said, her voice barely a whisper, as she listened and watched Tarin.
(To answer your question, Tarin, Sara is strong enough to say she could probably lift something heavy, within reason. As long as it wasn’t a truck or something like that.)
At least Sebastian and Tarin agreed with Sara about splitting up, though taking orders was a new trick for Sara. Tarin clarified the plan taking Lee with him and based on what Sara understood about their abilities, though she knew she didn’t remember everything, she agreed with the idea. Sara had seen Tarin out of control more than once. One time he pulled a knife on her. The other he was shooting fire at her while she tried to distract him from the public.
“Oh, and if I come out of there without Lee…for any reason whatsoever…take me out as quick as possible. No questions asked.”
Sara had been scanning their surroundings as she noticed a couple of little eyes peered around the edge of a door way, only to duck behind it again, when she looked straight at them. Things like that were unnerving for her. The slightest movement or sound could be all they had for a warning of an attack and she was starting to tap into old training and scenario tests at the old lab. She shifted so she could look Tarin right in the eye. Sara gave a quick nod. “As quickly as is possible.” She padded a right pocket that rested on her thigh. The pocket bulged naturally the way it had been sewn, to her cargo pants, but Sara had altered the inside of the pocket to be a holster for her 38. as her hand patted the fabric, it moved around the handle and barrel.
Sara refused to do something about Tarin before. She tried to just tire Tarin out, and people got hurt. People got killed and adding to the spirit could here was the opposite of what they were here for.
"If that happens, incapacitate him, Do whatever it takes, don't stop until you've incapacitated him, not until he's at least unconscious and restrained. Only then come looking for me, but don't hesitate."
Sara sighed. “I’ll try to take out his legs first or something.” Sara said calmly and in her amber eyes glanced over her sun glasses into Lee’s. “However if things turn really bad.. .. I agree with Tarin.. ..” Sara didn’t like the fact that she agreed to kill someone she didn’t believe deserved to die, but if it meant worst things didn’t happen, then so be it. No matter how painful it was, sometimes not pulling the trigger was more painful.
Sara watched the couple disappeared from sight, into the building, and she sighed. “So it’s the two of us.” Sara said to Sebastian as she turned and her ears flicked back and forth to try and catch the sounds of the nature, the sounds of the people, and the sounds from inside town hall. There was a bang from the inside that made Sara jump, slightly, and crane her neck to try and listen to further commotion better. “It seems they hit Pay dirt.”
Talk inside the building continued, though Sara couldn’t make out what was being said. By the tone of voices she things hadn’t reached the stage of being out of hand. So she concerned herself with other things. She slipped her back pack off of her slender shoulders, then dropped it at her feet. “Can you climb?”
Posted by Sebastian on Apr 8, 2009 15:03:09 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
>>>“To be completely honest, the fewer people who are in a small area with malicious spirits, the better. If we’re all crowded in there and furniture or shrapnel goes flying, there’s a much higher likelihood of someone getting hurt.”
The corner of Sebastian's mouth twitched downward. He didn't like the sound of furniture shrapnel hitting his team mates. Though he'd only known them for a short time, he was already growing to like them. He couldn't stand the idea that something could happen to one of them that he wouldn't be able to fix.
>>>“I’d like Lee to go with me. If something goes wrong and they’re stronger than me, she’s probably the only one that can help. Sebastian, if you want to stay out here with Sara and make sure that the locals keep their distance that would be great. The last thing we need is one of them stumbling into this and getting hurt. Stay close by the building though, just in case things get rough.”
He liked the sound of that even less. If injuries were so likely, should the healer not be closer by than the very outskirts? And taking one's beautiful young wife into the heart of danger seemed like more of a risk than Sebastian would have been willing to take. Then again, the pair of them had been together for who knew how long, and as a result they probably had a well practiced way of dealing with the wayward spirits. They were a team who knew what they were doing. Sebastian wondered again what the young woman's ability was, that worked so well in tandem with the spirit medium.
“Just remember, if you need a healer, I won't be far away,” he wished he could do more, but the town hall was already crowded with ghouls and spirit soothers. One more person would likely be more of a hindrance than a help in the close quarters.
>>>“Oh, and if I come out of there without Lee…for any reason whatsoever…take me out as quick as possible. No questions asked.”
>>>"If that happens, incapacitate him. Do whatever it takes, don't stop until you've incapacitated him, not until he's at least unconscious and restrained. Only then come looking for me, but don't hesitate."
>>>“I’ll try to take out his legs first or something. However if things turn really bad.. .. I agree with Tarin.. ..”
And now he was being asked to take out his own team mate, should the need arise. What exactly was this expert method of dealing with spirits? Were a couple of errant ghosts really so terrible that these two young people would risk their lives to banish them to the beyond, or whatever it was they were going to do with the delinquent dead. They had lived such a short time to be so willing to throw it all away, even if it was for a noble cause.
“We shall do our best. Hopefully the need for that will not arise. Call if you need us.”
The young couple turned and walked together into the building. Hopefully they would be walking out together, too. And soon. Sebastian would be pacing like a mother hen until they were out safe and sound, unless he distracted himself with something.
From inside came a crash of something hitting a wall hard. Both he and the lioness jumped. No call for help followed the crash though. They weren't needed just yet.
Sara slipped off her backpack, then asked, “Can you climb?”
“Better than an alligator, but not as well as an orangutan,” came the horned man's response as he removed his own pack and set it next to the cougar girl's. He eyed up the sides of the buildings. The walls were far from smooth, and many of them seemed to be made from mud plastered over and between the wooden beams that made up the skeleton of the structure. The wood even stuck out in places, providing easy hand holds in many areas even for the most novice of climbers.
He grabbed one of the wooden planks that was sticking out of the wall she was eying and started to pull himself up. In all probability she would beat him to the top, even if he had a head start, but he didn't really mind. Soon enough he reached the pinnacle of the building, pulled himself up, and found a careful place to put his feet so he wouldn't go crashing down through the roof. This particular roof was made of metal- probably tin. Others were thatched and would have been even more precarious to stand on.
“Have you met those two before this trip?” He wondered how much she knew about the method they were using to deal with the spirits. She had seemed more than ready to agree to incapacitate Tarin should something go wrong.
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Apr 8, 2009 15:44:11 GMT -6
Mutant God
DodgerBlue
Straight
3,189
9
Oct 23, 2024 5:10:48 GMT -6
Jules
“One….” Tarin said, still staring at the woman down the hall from him as she approached. He didn’t move, but he shivered subconsciously as a rivulet of sweat rolled down his back. She was moving so slowly, nothing about her seemed to be violent. The rushing was as loud and strong as ever and the images from the woman’s mind were simply bone chilling. Tarin kept eye contact with her though as she came up within a few feet of where he and Lee were standing, “I’m losing myself in this place. I’ve felt lit for a long time. It’s so easy to be angry.” She said, and Tarin nodded his head again concentrating to keep a firm hold on the mental link he’d established with the woman.
“The others have already lost themselves. I’m holding on by a thread.” She added, and Tarin frowned, “Then why are you still here?” he said, looking away from the woman for the first time to peer into the sun dappled shadows of the hallway she’d come down.
“The soul left the body in this place. We escaped the pain and fear, but we were so lost and confused when they took our bodies, now we can’t leave..we can't talk to the people...we don't know where our bodies are.”
She really didn’t seem like the type to throw a projectile…Tarin thought as he looked at the woman, “If I took you to your bodies…would that help?” he said, then caught movement from the shadows behind the woman, “Lee, move!” he shouted, then shoved her hard to the side and out of the desk sailing down the hallway at them. It hit the wall and shattered with a sickening crunch sending splintered wood into the air to rain down like hail. “For the love of god…” Tarin shouted as he brushed off his shirt and returned to stare down the hall, searching for the mental connection that he knew was there. He found it, holding the one he already had with the woman.
This was a young man, and he was absolutely stunned when Tarin made the connection. He also resisted. That was new. Tarin pushed back, though and after a moment the familiar feeling sunk into him and the rush of images flowed through the link. These were even worse and Tarin swallowed convulsively as the horror and pain the man had gone through made his stomach turn over, and there were two more.
”Diablo” the man hissed as he quickly approached, this time grasping a chair. Tarin had made the link though and his eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses, milky white as he focused on pulling the energy away from the angry spirit. He was close, so was the chair, then it dropped to the floor. The spirit stopped, eyes wide, and tried to pick up the chair. He failed, then began to rage, yelling and screaming, tearing hair and clothing that weren’t really there anymore. Tarin saw movement out of the corner of his eye and remembered Lee was there.
“Lee…you’re going to fight me tooth and nail on this…” he said, not turning to look at her, concentrating on holding both links. The woman wasn’t hard, but the man was still fighting… “I need you to leave…I don’t think I can do this and worry about you at the same time. There’s two more. Even if you just go back to right outside that front door…just…you can’t see them…I can’t do that much.”
”He’s so angry…” the female spirit said, looking at the male, ”Everyone else left. They didn’t come back for us until it was all over, then they just moved our bodies. I don’t know where. You don’t have to hold me, but if you’re going to help us, you’ll have to go to the room where it happened. The other two won’t leave there. You’ll have to pull them.”
Tarin broke the link with the woman, relaxing a little as one set of images stopped playing in his head. She kept her word and stayed where she was. The other spirit, however, still raged at his lack of strength. “Knock it off!” Tarin said, pulling away even more power from the man, “Or I’ll make you wish you were as substantial as a horse fart on a January morning.” Whether it was the words or the actions, Tarin didn’t know, but the man stopped his fit.
Tarin turned back to Lee, “I have to go further in. Please just stay here...or...go find Sebastian and Sara and see if one of them will try to talk to a towns person about what they did with the bodies. I'm not going to be able to let the chair thrower go...“
Tarin was listening to a spirit, or something of the sort, as Lee just stood there behind him. He looked focused, sure, but it didn't look like he was in trouble, didn't seem like he was trying to fight off a spirit who was trying to force a merge. She'd seen those fights before, and this concentration didn't look anything like it.
Plus, on those occasions, Tarin had always asked her to siphon energy from him so there wouldn't be any energy for the merge to work.
And then it happened. Lee saw an object flying toward them at the same time as Tarin was yelling at her to get out of the way. In that split second, Lee realized that she didn't have nearly as much energy as she probably should have had for something like this, didn't have nearly enough to really be useful. In fact, her energy level was probably lower than what would have been normal for this time of day back home. She hadn't exactly been around a lot of people, hadn't exactly touched Tarin all that much because it was so hot and he needed all the energy he had for dealing with the spirits. Combine not having siphoned as much as normal with the exertion of the hike to the village, and yeah, Lee was no where near as energized as she should have been.
Even if she had had more energy, though, the chances were really slim that Lee would have had a chance to react to the object flying toward her before she felt herself being shoved backward and to the side. And hard.
As if the shove wouldn't have thrown her off balance enough, the backpack that was still slung over her shoulders made matters even worse, and a moment later, Lee felt herself crashing to the floor. And felt something hitting her left shoulder even harder.
And at that moment, as she cried out and her right hand shot up to her shoulder, the desk crashed against the wall and her voice was hidden by the shattering of the furniture.
Bitting her lip, Lee was able to make herself stop vocalizing the pain after a second, though she still wasn't entirely sure what had happened. It wasn't as bad as when her collar bone had been broken, but it still hurt a lot, and Lee's next breath was shaky.
Looking away from Tarin as he started speaking, telling her that she needed to leave, Lee looked down at her shoulder, lifting her hand slightly to see blood there. And a nail, with blood running down it and onto the board it was poking out of, actually sticking into her shoulder.
Lee's breath caught in her throat as she heard Tarin telling her that she needed to get out of there, that he couldn't deal with the spirits and worry about her at the same time because he couldn't make them visible so she could protect herself.
Normally, Tarin would have been right, and she would have fought him tooth and nail about leaving him in a situation like this. But after that fall, seeing the blood...maybe Tarin was right. She knew he wasn't going to be able to focus how he needed to if he knew she'd already gotten hurt, never mind if she stayed in there longer.
Bitting her lip and scrunching her eyes closed, Lee pulled herself up slightly, off the nail, and pressed her hand back over the wound. Then, after another deep, shaky breath, Lee opened her eyes and looked up at Tarin just a moment before he turned to look back at her, altering his last strongly worded request; since he had to go further into the building, she needed to at least stay where she was, though he'd prefer she went back outside so she could get Sara or Sebastian to check something.
And, at that moment, going to see Sebastian, since he was apparently a healer as well, seemed like a really good idea. The problem was, Lee couldn't just agree that readily, Tarin knew what she was like. Or at least she couldn't simply agree readily without raising his suspicions and making him worry about her even more.
"Fine," Lee ended up huffing. "I'll go ask them to check, but then I'm coming back in here." Waiting for Tarin to turn, Lee pushed herself up off the ground then pressed her hand back against her wound and hurried back out the way they came, then looked around for Sara and Sebastian.
“Better than an alligator, but not as well as an orangutan,”
Well that was a bit of a wide gap for specific details to be given. Sara thought as she watched Sebastian climb. He seemed less steady than she was, even though the materials of the building made things easier than a brick wall and window ledges. Sara climbed up next to him staying just below his elbow till then reached the top, incase he needed help.
Once just under the edge of the roof, Sara just hoisted herself up, and stretched across the top so she was laying on her stomach, but still had a good view of their surroundings. Her legs kicked idly in the air and she propped herself up on her elbows. “Making yourself a smaller target is a better idea in case someone does have a gun out there.” Sara told the unicorn man who apparently chose to stand up. “Plus balance.”
“Have you met those two before this trip?”
“A couple of time.” There was movement inside a tree to their right and Sara’s eyes were drawn over there, as she continued. “I met Tarin and Lee when Lee and I were escaping from the registration camps.” The thing moving the tree lib in the distance ended up being a carrot of some kind and it flew off, letting Sara’s eyes wonder again.
“I’ve had more contact with Tarin than Lee. After the camps, the next time I met Tarin, he was acting completely different. He didn’t recognize me, and he tried to kill me. He didn’t recognize me and I didn’t know what was going on that night. So I let things slide, after flooring him.” Sara still didn’t really understand why she just walked away that night. Maybe she thought that things were just her. “I ran into him again, and he didn’t even remember the experience but he was acting like he was the first time I met him, and he told me that if he ever posed a thread to me again, I should kill him.”
“I assumed Tarin was being silly in this request. So the next time I met him, I didn’t listen. I thought I could just over power him again and everything would be fine, however the next time we met, we were in time square. Tarin ended up loosing control, only this time he lost control he was covered in fire, and shooting flames every where.” Ok more information than what Sebastian had asked for, but Sara felt like she needed to make her willingness to take Tarin’s life logical. “He burned a large amount of time Square. People got hurt, and by the time I reacted, all I could do was wait for help while trying to keep him distracted.”
It had been quiet for a while compared to when the first crash reached Sara’s ears. She was just starting to wonder when another crash made the metal roof under her, hum. She stopped talking instantly, and leaned over the edge of the roof.
Someone there was movement below her and she held her breath, with her right hand hovering half way to her gun, in the air. Her lower lip slipped between her teeth and the second Sara recognized the top of Lee’s head she breathed relief. Though the blood coming from her shoulder was worrisome.
“Lee’s bleeding. Did we pack a first aid kit?” Sara asked Looking back at Sebastian as she sat up and spun her legs over the edge of the roof before dropping down so she landed into a crouch, next to Lee. “Angry reception?”
Posted by Sebastian on Apr 10, 2009 14:49:11 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
As he had suspected, Sara climbed the wall a bit more nimbly than he had himself. He made it up all on his own, no more quickly than any fairly athletic human could have done. All the while the cougar woman was right beside him, perhaps to make sure that he would have help if he needed it, but he made it to the top on his own. Sara found a spot to lay on the hot roof.
>>>“Making yourself a smaller target is a better idea in case someone does have a gun out there. Plus balance.”
That was a good idea, actually. The roof didn't feel incredibly steady, so staying flat would spread out the weight and keep the roof from collapsing. The unicorn man nodded and found his own perch. The roof itself was hot, but up here there a breeze brought a little relief from the boiling heat. Strange bird cries floated by on the breeze, and Sebastian found himself glancing through the trees watching for unfamiliar plumage as well as other more suspicious movements.
As his eyes scanned the trees and houses surrounding them, he listened to Sara's recollections of the ghost tamer and his wife. Tarin, it seemed, had a habit of switching back and forth between the amiable man Sebastian was currently getting to know and some sort of crazy out of control being, or perhaps possessed would be a more accurate term. How common an occurrence was it that Tarin lost control? Both Lee and Were seemed to indicate that something like that happening today was not entirely out of the realm of possibility. The unicorn man's lip twitched as he mulled over the information Sara presented. This whole spirit business seemed both more complicated and more dangerous than he had thought it would be.
He didn't have a chance to respond to the mountain lioness' tale, because a second crash sounded suddenly from below, making the unicorn man tense up. Were they about to meet that second Tarin that made both women so wary? No, the figure that appeared from below was Lee. She was clutching a bloody shoulder. How had that happened?
>>>“Lee’s bleeding. Did we pack a first aid kit?”
Sebastian jumped down after her, landing lightly in a crouched position before straightening up. He was more graceful at jumping than he was at climbing.
“We do have one, but I won't be needing it” Sebastian answered Sara's question. “Please continue to keep an eye on things while I take care of her.” Sebastian turned to Lee then, “Here, if you would please allow me to touch your skin near the wound, I will be able to heal you again. What is happening in there, that you have already been injured?”
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Apr 11, 2009 9:44:56 GMT -6
Mutant God
DodgerBlue
Straight
3,189
9
Oct 23, 2024 5:10:48 GMT -6
Jules
Lee left. If Tarin had been able to concentrate on anything other than the man he was holding firmly under control, he’d have realized that there was something incredibly wrong with the fact that Lee was walking away from the situation. As it was, he simply half-nodded to her conditions for leaving. She could come back once he’d found the other two spirits and knew what he was dealing with. Tarin was a little nervous, if the other spirits were anything like the man he had firmly in control now…there’d be trouble. Serious trouble. It wasn’t as hard now, though. The man seemed to have settled somewhat with the realization that Tarin really did have the control. He was still angry, but Tarin honestly couldn’t blame him.
”Do you want to go to them now?” The woman said, and Tarin jumped slightly at the sound. “Are they like him or you?” he asked, making eye contact with the man, who only kept it for a moment, then looked away.
”He’s so angry. I was too, for some time. You have to understand, they all ran and left everything. We were the only ones who stayed, and we were made an example of. Nobody came for us, not until it was far too late. The other two won’t leave the room where we died.” With that, the woman turned and walked back down the hall she’d come from. Tarin stared after her for a moment, then turned to look the way Lee had gone. She wasn’t back yet. Tarin looked at the spirit’s retreating back and realized maybe he could be done with the whole business before she even came back. He started walking.
Down the hallway Tarin went, the reluctant male spirit following in tow. ”They haven’t left that room since the day we died.” he said acidly as they walked. Tarin stopped and turned to regard the other man, “Well. They’ve never met me either.” He said simply, then entered the room.
Whatever Tarin had been expecting in the room that the four had been killed in, was not what he saw when he actually walked through the door. Apparently the cleanup that the locals had done when they’d returned hadn’t included any heavy cleaning in the room. Bloodstains coated the floor and splatters decorated the walls like a bad paint job. “For the love….” Tarin said, scanning the room for the other two spirits. It took a moment, but Tarin finally found them, huddling together in one of the corners.
The female spirit was talking to them softly, but when they didn’t move she turned and made her way back to Tarin, ”They chose to stay together. They were young and fancied themselves revolutionaries against the strangers that torment us so often. “ Tarin’s heart went out to the couple on the floor as they held one another. Slowly and gently, as opposed to the aggression he’d taken with the man in the hallway, Tarin reached out mentally to the couple, and linked his mind with theirs.
If the man and woman Tarin had already encountered had experienced horrors at the hands of the paramilitary guerillas who had attacked their village, it was nothing compared to what they’d put the young couple on the floor through. Then again, maybe it was just all that more horrifying because Tarin could put himself in their position. They’d done horrible things to the woman, and he’d had to watch them as they’d done it. Tarin didn’t want to think about, and really wished he hadn’t had to see it. That one would be cropping up again in his nightmares. They felt it, the link, and slowly they turned and looked up and the man moved in front of the woman who continued to cower in the corner. Tarin winced subconsciously at that, he was making things worse right now. “Hey…” he said softly, holding his hands up, palms out to show he wasn’t posting any kind of threat and the male spirit visibly relaxed. “I’m here to help…I..I think I can take you to where your bodies are…then maybe you guys can get out of here. Go…wherever it is you need to go.” Tarin was at a loss. Helping them move on wasn’t something Tarin really knew exactly how to do. Usually, if it happened, it just happened and everyone was happy about the situation. Actually making it work was something else entirely. All these spirits seemed fixed on their bodies being moved without them, so that was the first thing to try.
The male spirit was talking to the female one softly in the corner and Tarin was so transfixed by them that just for a moment, one quick second he took his attention away from the angry man he’d linked with earlier. That was enough.
Suddenly, that spirit was pulling energy from him, the energy he’d took to make the man harmless. Then the tables were moving, “Oh shit…” Tarin said, dodging one as it sailed across the room, but there were three…
“Stop it!” Tarin yelled, struggling with the link as one of the tables sailed into the wall, knocking pieces of the roof down into the room, “You’re going to bring the whole roof down!” he shouted again, and now the other spirits were getting involved. The other three were struggling with the fourth, effectively keeping the tables away from Tarin, but not the walls. More and more rubble was falling down, and the beams were creaking.
“No…really guys…” Tarin said looking at the doorway and wondering if he could make it…missing the table that sailed in his direction. He turned in time to watch it as it crashed into him, knocking him to the floor, just in time for roof to cave, building materials, wood, and metal crashing down on top.
Lee didn't see Sara or Sebastian at first as she made her way outside, didn't know where they had gone to. Or at least she didn't know until suddenly someone dropped down to the ground beside her, causing Lee to jump, and she looked over to see Sara there. Followed a moment later by Sebastian.
Since she had by this point found them, Lee removed her hand from her shoulder and went about trying to take first her backpack, and then her long sleeved shirt off as painlessly as possible. She wasn't extremely successful, which resulted in a fair bit of gritting her teeth.
"That's a bit of an understatement," Lee replied to Sara's comment as she crouched down in front of her bag, wiping the blood on her right hand onto her now ruined shirt before digging into her bag for the first aid supplies she had brought with her.
"They're very strong and angry, if throwing a desk against the wall is any indication," Lee continued. As she was speaking, Lee found the small bottle of antiseptic she'd packed and was unscrewing the lid carefully. "Tarin, um, wants you to ask around," she continued, her word growing slightly slower and more disinterested as her mind was distracted by what she was doing and the pain. "Figure out where they took the bodies of the people who died in there..."
That said, Lee gritted her teeth once more and looked at her shoulder a moment before pouring the antiseptic over the wound. The gritted teeth weren't enough. As she felt the liquid running over the wound, into it, Lee's eyes squeezed shut, her breath a hiss as she inhaled sharply before she held it.
Then let it out with a slightly whimpering sigh just in time to hear Sebastian saying that he could hear her.
"...You can...?" Lee asked with another slight sigh as she looked up at Sebastian from where she was crouching. Damn it. "Yeah, go ahead," Lee ended up saying to the man.
As he put his hand on her shoulder, Lee heard another crash coming from the building she had been in, the building that Tarin was still in, and her eyes shot over to it. And another crash, followed by a third.
That was not sounding good. Despite what Tarin had said about not being able deal with the spirits as well as worry about her, Lee couldn't just stay out here while whatever was happening in there was going on. Hopefully Sebastian would be fast with this.
Just as she felt him taking his hand off her shoulder, Lee heard yet another crash coming from the building, the loudest so far, as she saw a cloud of dust raising up.
Lee's eyes widened in shock and horror as she watched the roof collapse into the building.
Barely a second later, without even thinking about what she was doing, Lee was pushing away from her backpack, the still open bottle of antiseptic falling from her hand and spilling across the ground, as she took off running toward the building. Thank goodness for the holes speckling the walls, otherwise Lee would have been completely blinded as she made her way into the darkness of the building. As it was, she still had to slow down as she entered, needing to watch her step as she rushed through.
Only to reach a doorway and have to stop because of the sheer destruction inside. She'd seen the shop, and the apartment in shambles before, but those didn't hold a candle to what lay before her at that moment. Even when the apartment had been covered in blood.
Lee hadn't seen Tarin so far, and as far as she could remember, this was the way he had said he was going when he went further into the building. But she didn't see him, just rubble, ceiling tiles, pieces of metal, and bricks from a wall that had collapsed too. And on the far wall, Lee saw what looked like a large, dark stain.
"Tarin!" Lee called out, walking in slowly, toward the corner of the room that was in rubble. "Tarin! Where are you?" As she reached the pile of bricks and tiles, Lee started digging, lifting and moving things out of the way. She really should have had more energy before they started this, but it was far too late now, she was just going to have to make due.
Sara sat in the back ground for a moment as Lee started taking care of her own injury, then Sebastian did the rest. First aid was not Sara’s forte. She didn’t need it, most of the time. There was the hole bullet going in her head had caused her to need first aid but to her knowledge that was about it.
Sara nodded through the instructions to ask the people questions, but Sara really didn’t think she should be the one to do it. As diplomatic as she could be, there weren’t a lot of people that could get past the fact Sara was what Sara was. She was just about to point this out when there was more noise erupting from the inside of the town hall. Sara visibly jumped. Lee rushed inside, and Sara hesitated.
It that was Tarin, just rushing in was a completely stupid things to do. At the same time, had Ayesac been in Tarin’s position, Sara knew she’d do the same thing. In fact no one would be able to stop her. The feeling made Sara ache. The noie inside could be either Tarin, or the ghosts and Sara was straining her senses to try and hear everything she could. To smell blood. Or even feel the vibrations like she was standing next to a big drum in a parade.
She shut her eyes and something flickered in her head. Right where she had been standing at the door, a line snaked it’s way forward, then turned down where Sara knew the hall way was before her and as fast as it had happened, it was gone.
Sara was blinking. There that was again. The 3D map in her head. Sara had no idea what she could do to turn it on and off by herself but if she forced her eyes to tart to contract, she seemed to be able to turn the ability on. Yanking her sun glasses off of her face, she grabbed her walking stick and turned her head straight at the sun. Her senses were opened and she felt her eyes ache, just before the light of the sun completely disappeared.
What replaced Sara’s sight was the 3D map in her head. She had been standing where Tarin had passed, right into the door of the Town hall, and now like the branches of a tree, the path Tarin had taken grew from where she stood. Where it twined with other paths Like Lees that looped back to outside the building, instead of pressing on. The scary thought was that Sara couldn’t See Tarin’s path moving still.
So in the building, Sara went. To compensate for not being able to see the walls, Sara’s hand slid across the closest of what ever things she could reach. She staid on the line, where Tarin had walked, because that meant there was nothing in front of her, till she reached the last room, and the oddest thing happened from what she could see. She couldn’t just see Tarin’s path, she could see dozens of others. Things that started from walls, or the sides of the room, or even the ceiling, and shot straight to another part, or simply spiraled down to where Sara knew the floor was. Lee was already in the room, but she was in the wrong spot.
“He’s over here.” Sara started making her way through the mess. The pupils of her eyes had contracted so thin, they might as well of not even been there, only showing the gold iris, but Sara still kicked at things in front of her. Splintered piles of who knows what were tossed out of her way and to the side. Sara crouched and slide her hands across the floor, where she continued to move things out of her way, and shove at larger pieces of the mess. “About 10 feet in front, 8, 7. Straight in front.”