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Post by Krakenbox on Feb 14, 2022 19:51:48 GMT -8
Aster hissed as a few cyclists thundered by, ducking with Gavin as Croupier blinked at the passerby. A few tense seconds of driving in the same direction, the group split off from the street to make another road of spotting.
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Post by Gavin Graves on Feb 15, 2022 0:00:57 GMT -8
The screen of street level eyes was clearly in action. They needed to be moving in a productive fashion as soon as possible.
Adding details to Aster's description "Male, white, sharp Russian features, brownish hair, mostly clean shaven, about half a foot shorter than I am." This was a Sword Contract he was familiar enough with to know what was needed for it to begin working.
Once Miller was feeding a direction back to him, Gavin would set to finding the right places to hop the dragnet.
"Now you're going to want to take this next intersection by pulling parallel to that delivery truck there to use it as cover for the people at that corner. Make it a slow pass on the left. Those guys are there way too often to not be affiliated with someone."
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Post by Croupier on Feb 15, 2022 11:23:11 GMT -8
Dan nodded as he followed Gavin's directions; taking up position next to the truck for cover as he drove down the street. The traffic was typical for the streets of Vegas - heavy. Lots of cover to hide behind and use to block off any pursuers; but if Dan wasn't careful, that same traffic could block him in and give the hunters an easy target. Double-edged swords always sucked.
"Sounds like we have a rabbit to chase." Dan smirked as he began to pull up to a changing light that hung lazily on yellow. The descriptions the two passengers had given him were enough for him to start sculpting a mental image of his quarry, and Dan felt it was time to pull the cork on one of his contracts. When the light turned red and the car came to a stop, Dan closed his eyes, whispered the name he had been given, and concentrated on the image, letting it take shape in the darkness between eyes and lids.
The Leechfinger had no idea how accurate the portrait in his mind was to the target, but when he sniffed the air, a sweet saccharin scent caught in his nostrils, enticing him to breathe deeper. The aroma took on the smoky sweet and savory of barbeque, and it made his stomach grumble with sudden anticipation.
When his eyes opened, the black pits had become glossy and a gold-green tinge coated them. More cracks spiderwebbed across his cheeks and forehead, revealing more tendrils of gold light bursting through. Cracked lips with black ichor broke into a smile lined with sharpened, needle-like teeth.
What's more, he could see the golden wisps of enticing aroma that no doubt had to come from Tanner; inviting them to follow.
Now all that stood between them and Tanner was the possible army of hunters in their way. "So what are we supposed to do when we find him?"
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Post by Aster Blau on Feb 15, 2022 16:46:20 GMT -8
Aster ducks, aiming to hide herself from the spotting, but the extent of her inuries prevent her from ducking too much, wincing as she attempts to slump down during the pass.
Breathlessly, the Viper waits even as Miller speaks, peeking her head up as the Fairest begins to speak. Surely, he would not do so if their environs remained suspect. The danger, perhaps, had been delayed.
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Post by Krakenbox on Feb 17, 2022 23:00:45 GMT -8
Croupier seems energized as both the danger of pursuit is quite literally around the corner and he catches the scent of prey. Both Beasts rock in their seats as the vehicle punches out of the neighbourhood, causing tension as to whether the Torrent had generated a tail in his rush, but no one immediately manifested around the bend as he hit the main highway. They travelled south of Paradise, bordering Henderson as the buildings grew taller in a forest of development projects and condos. A few familiar vehicles had caught up as the Elemental pivoted several times, giving the impression of an unsteady, chaotic route or someone very adept at shaking trackers.
That's when things started to get weird.
Aster and Gavin's claws snipped the fabric of Croupier's seats as they white knuckled the edge and the door, heads swiveling in sync as their heart thundered with a chemical song baked into their synapses. The Leechfinger didn't yet register the odd behaviour as he focused on a lone college-aged student approaching a gaggle of parked motorcycles at one of the nested pubs, before going to town with a bat. As the group reacted and stormed out, the vandal darted, and Dan shouted as a gun was suddenly drawn and few bullets fired off. Dusted concrete puffed into the air as they tried to herd him into an alley, before an entire team of younger men and women emerged from the shadows to whip the gangsters in the face with bats, diving with knives, and tasers.
The Elemental would have continued to gape if his Contract didn't tug him back, head swiveling to spot the described figure taking the moment of odd chaos to cross the street in a light jog—as his eyes met with the Leechfinger he slowed a bit as if he expected the Elemental to try and hit him with the car. He looked like a regular college student, with his clothes were dirtied with more than a few flecks of blood; the vaulted ears of a hair and sharp prongs were a dead giveaway before the frost of his Mantle worked its way across the glass of the Mustang and the cold flash of a November dawn illuminated the back of Tanner.
Both Aster and Gavin lunged out of the vehicle on pure instinct as the Keeper's roots squeezed the core of their minds and spurned a hot, ecstatic rage as glowing white veins begin to spread over their mien.
Tanner bolted, nearly a blur as glamour wove through his system.
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Post by Gavin Graves on Feb 20, 2022 12:12:52 GMT -8
Everything had been such a rush once it broke free from Sage's den. Run, hide, get help, run some more. Finally they were all on Tanner's trail and moving well despite the dragnet hunting for them and the Runnerswift they were chasing.
After the earlier rebuff of his own, Aster must have felt some substantial guilt for her to apologize in the middle of being hunted. "I really hope you do. You're living some of my nightmares right now." He offered the patience he would hope for himself. A bit of empathy so strong it may as well have been sympathy.
The Beast having missed out on the Harvest he had set up at Sage's scarfed down two of the Goblin Fruit he had stowed. He also learned his lesson from the previous encounter and remembered to do his usual preparation for possible dangerous situations and positioned the down feather of an owl under his tongue.
Miller had asked a reasonable question, especially considering he'd just volunteered into a violent and risky scenario with little more than the knowledge Hunters were after the pair. Now with gun-wielding bikers and assorted others on the trail he'd been asked to find Tanner. In the spans between guiding the Croupier's route around human obstacles, Gavin tried to fill him in on the relevant details. "Sure, just a sec, gotta get our exit strategy in motion." Dialing his motley mate he started in on the answer while it rang, "He's thought to have learned a Bane for the currently invading Fae. We need to get him back to the right people alive."
Upon Nate answering Gavin quickly shifted gears and tone, "Hey mate, going to need an emergency exit real quick. Out on a bit of a rescue mission and we got a bunch of armed hunters searching for us. We're going to roll up on our objective in about ten to fifteen minutes. Tanner's thought to have learned a Bane for the current invader and is most likely a bit out of his head with alternate personalities due to how he learned it. Could use some of those fancy Spring control powers and a pilot. Might want to cover the decals for this one." Firing off an estimated landmark for intercept by text.
"Runnerswifts are notoriously difficult to catch as a baseline. He's got a lot of Steed Contracts on top of it all. I don't know about you, but we're not dripping with the right kind of situational powers, so we might have to get creative here."
When the car lurched upon encountering Tanner on his run, the world had begun to shift in his mind. Alien synapses firing their dread imperative throughout his mind sent a surge of adrenaline to aid in the grim assignment that was being projected to the forefront of his thoughts and offering an ecstatic reward for the trouble. It was simultaneously an alluring proposition and called on the part within himself that he once most feared.
Putting the adrenaline to use he reflected on his self-control during the Ashen Hunt where an outside influence had driven him to perform egregious violence. That same urge had even called on him to eviscerate his comrade Aster. He did not oblige then. He glanced over at her, and saw she was facing the same battle as he. He would not oblige now.
He had extensive practice at keeping the inner monster under control and put it to good use. From the glowing veins he was seeing on Aster and felt on himself he doubted his words would have a calming effect. "Don't chase. Corral along the viaduct!" the words came out seething with a pointed finger for direction. He could only imagine how he looked. There would be no time to clarify the strategy.
Flapping his arms down to begin a launch into the air they had become white feathered wings halfway through the motion, his body followed suit with a gleam as white feathers erupted from his shrinking frame. He needed the flight to be able to cut corners someone on foot couldn't. It was the only way he could think of to keep pace with the speedy rabbit.
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Post by Croupier on Feb 21, 2022 23:03:38 GMT -8
Whoa. Dan whistled, impressed. Gavin was not making light - the kid could move. Grace and agility were too common words to be used to describe the way Tanner moved passed the Mustang, leaving a flash of cold in his wake. Dan had barely any time to register his too companions leap out of the car and give chase in their own ways, much less regain himself and take part in the chase as well.
The kid looked hurt, scared. Gavin was right, the poor guy was probably lost in whatever reality was in his head and had no idea what was going on. What he wanted was a place to run to. He needed a place to go.
He needed someone to go to.
Dan lowered the window and began to concentrate on his Wyrd-Faced Stranger contract, thinking of the sort of face a boy like Tanner would want to see. The light along his cracks bathed his features, casting long shadows and masking Dan's visage so that the canvas would be easier for Tanner's mind to draw on. Who else would someone want to run to but their mother?
Come on, kid. Dan pleaded internally, Come on, you know you want to see me.
"Tanner!" Dan called out the window to the Runnerswift, "Tanner, I'm here! Get in the car, sweetie!"
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Post by Krakenbox on Feb 21, 2022 23:45:12 GMT -8
Dan's head swung to an empty seat, the Viper already lit up with cracking glowing veins that laced from her head and throughout her nervous system. Aster screeched a hiss, sending glowing spittle as her teeth stretched from bestial jaws.
The car surged forward as Gavin disappeared from the mind as Aster blinked to her senses.
What no one expected was for Tanner to shortly flicker into view barely down the block, frowning as he briefly took in the chaotic scene of college-aged cultists throwing down with biker gangs. He walked backwards through the skeleton threshold of a growing high-rise as a loud whistle pierced the developing city block. Several heads to snapped and locked onto the taunt. Croupier sees the light trail dissipate and fade momentarily as another Contract clashed, before the stream restored itself.
Several shots rang out, peppering the concrete around the building with bullet pits as a few people went for it to chase after him as Croupier slammed on the breaks in front of the entrance. Gavin could see a flicker of movement of someone moving up the construction stairwell installed for contractors.
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Post by Croupier on Feb 23, 2022 16:23:44 GMT -8
Shit!
Dan found a lot of good cause to be mad at the moment. First, he almost wrecked his car by slamming into the Runnerswift. Then the gambit of his contract failed to pay out. And now, their quarry was running at full speed into a construction site.
And that was before all the people were shooting in their direction.
When the Mustang came to an abrupt halt, Dan stepped out of the car with the engine still piping hot from its recent excursions. There was no time to do more than a cursory park and hope a tow truck didn't come in the next few minutes. Dan's eyes were fixated on the construction yard that Tanner had run into, and the skeleton of a high rise that stood at its center.
He had seen other people go in after Tanner, but he never got a good look at them.
"Shit." Licking his lips, Dan ran over to the corner of the chain-link fence and leaned in to take a better look and see who was inside.
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Post by Krakenbox on Feb 25, 2022 22:26:59 GMT -8
The typical shift for construction had ended a little over an hour ago, with the union avoiding the worst of the Nevada heat until the next pre-dawn shift. Croupier counted at least seven and mixed ages and physical builds immediately through the door, and more coming.
Aster skirted the immediate entrance of the bottom high rise, seeking an alternative like a fire exit.
There was a beat as a concussive explosion blew out some of the windows one of the floors, followed by one more a level above.
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Post by Gavin Graves on Feb 26, 2022 0:24:43 GMT -8
The snowy owl flapped his way over the pack of frenzied humans as they clamored and thirsted for Tanner's hot blood while bottlenecking through the site's fence gateway. Swooping through the wood-framed cladding that normally sheltered the sidewalk and pedestrians from potential falling objects, the owl dropped a greasy white payload on one of the people to focus their furnace of rage momentarily in his direction. Carefully selecting for one without a firearm to avoid a high velocity reply. This helped him to channel his own chained-rage in a more productive manner. With a smug expression the Beast serenely and swiftly climbed on the updraft nearest the building with the aid of his expansive feathering.
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Post by Croupier on Feb 26, 2022 20:16:38 GMT -8
Dan swore under his breath as he counted the people in his field of view. At least seven, but there were most likely more. There would definitely be more soon.
Now that he was out in the open, Dan wished that he had thought to bring a weapon. There was one in the trunk, but considering how bad things were going at the moment, seconds counted.
AND NOW THE BUILDING IS EXPLODING!
Hoping that the others were having better luck finding Tanner, Dan surveyed the environment, looking for another way to climb up that would keep him away from the other pursuers.
With no other route in sight, Dan stole a glance up the exposed stairs and hatched an idea. Nothing about this job had been easy. None of it had been smooth, and for most of it since Dan had been brought in, he found himself asking questions rather than finding solutions. And now he was down on the bottom floor, with that damned jack-rabbit getting away while he has an army of hunters, cultists, and who the hell knew what else between them? And his comrades had - in the case of one - literally taken wing! Just the thought of it was enough to make Dan see red. The golden light that emanated from his body turned a dirty crimson as a pit of cold, bitter resentment formed in his belly. One that began to germinate as it fed on his frustration, stealing more of his warmth.
Taking a series of visible deep breaths, Dan broke away from his perch, turned and faced the offending hunters, and felt something deep inside come up. What he needed more than anything was to stop them dead in their tracks, and freeze them in place.
What he did was take a deep breath and unleash it in a bellowing shout wreathed in a cloud of steam. The ice that had welled up inside of Dan now expelled outwards, touching every surface where his cry could be felt.
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Post by Tanner on Feb 26, 2022 23:20:08 GMT -8
Black ice spread through the work yard as the air around Leechfinger darkened and jealously sapped the warmth from the world. A few of the charging mortals immediately slipped in their frenzied rush, while others maintained their footing with focus and difficulty; the stairs would be another challenge all together. What became of the first wave on the upper levels wasn't immediately apparent, other than the showering glass from the sonic explosion.
Above, Gavin spied the Runnerswift easily maneuver through the upper floor and gun it across the metal gangplank that extended partway to the neighbouring building. He seemed to only slow for a heartbeat to take an angle — what Gavin didn't expect was Tanner to throw himself as full speed across the threshold.
The Beast spun in full control of his trajectory, shouting something that Gavin's instincts immediately locked onto as the madness of Tanner's gambit finally connected. Thoughts were faster than action, and the Hedge Diver immediately knew a few key things as seconds stretched; Tanner wasn't offing himself, and had aimed to crush open a window—whether that would count as 'opening' was about to be imminently tested—and he had just offered the Wyrd a passcode to portal.
Another blink was the impact, forcing the safety that prevented high rise windows from opening more than a few inches back on its hinges as the glass crunched on the diagonal angle. The glass seemed to ripple and flower into a petaled spiral as Tanner's blood whipped in arcs before he disappeared into the Hedge. Gavin simultaneously understood another disturbing detail as he angled his wings—this was a new building. There would be a freefall on the other side, tumbling through the canopy of brambles at high velocity.
The Autumn's mind and soul was about to be put through the ringer.
Had this been planned?
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Post by Gavin Graves on Feb 27, 2022 1:03:06 GMT -8
The Razorhand didn't hesitate, the Hedge was his domain, in throwing his avian frame into the yawning space well above the ground toward the opening Tanner had just passed through. Emerging from the Chrysalis in his human form, he had retained the white feathery wings of the owl in preparation for the expected freefall on the other side. Parroting the passphrase he heard to avoid awkwardly mimicking a bird hitting a window, he slipped into the familiar world of the Hedge. It usually rejuvenated him to chase a mystery or some piece of knowledge into another plane.
"Need help, mate?" Continuing to devour the glut of emotion that clung to him as he had blew by helped to keep a reign his own alien fury. The Grimm was ready to attempt some kind of rescue, but expected the Jackelope had leapt into some kind of additional preparation, especially given the other obvious traps he set in the path of his other chasers.
It was possible Tanner had used an Easy Access gate to a Hollow and he might need to contend with additional defenses or a suddenly cornered Beast that was not expecting to see him just then. Gavin willed his mien into as non-lethal a shape as it would allow, just in case.
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Post by Krakenbox on Feb 27, 2022 9:51:23 GMT -8
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