Archive World of Darkness: The Academy - 8d: Read the Fine Print

[Dawn OOC]

Lucia followed Yasu, who took the lead once they were in the woods. The thin being of indeterminate gender seemed to know where he or she was going, blazing down one of the riding trails. The double image was still clear to Lucia, so she stopped watching him directly and watched where she was walking.

A rustle to the side caught her attention and Lucia glanced to see a flicker of movement. She wasn’t sure it was Ahvia, but it could have been. She didn’t want to draw attention to it in case she was, but the thought cheered her more than a little.

Yasu stalked into a clearing, peering around before turning to face the two young women. “First,” he or she said in that odd voice, “we must craft the contract.” Rosa straightened up a little, facing him fully. “What is your full name, child?”

“Rosalie Maria Guerra,” Rosa replied without hesitation.

“Then, here are the terms, Rosalie Maria Guerra,” Yasu replied. “You will speak of this to no one of this world who does not already know of the secret. If you speak to others, you will be struck dumb and unable to tell another of any secrets you possess.” The strange person extended a hand and said, “Agreed?”

Rosa took it and nodded. “Agre-re-red…” Lucia frowned as her roomie stuttered and looked a little dazed. “Wow, that… what was that?”

[z022]

Lucia scowled at Yasu and put an arm around Rosa to keep her from stumbling. "Rosa, You okay? What happened?" Her lips pressed in irritation as she looked back to Yasu, "What did you do to her?"

Unbeknown to her, her strange new nature once again followed her emotions, black flecks spinning across her eyes as fear and anger took a firmer root in her. It wasn't the full black eyes of the night before, but the shadows in the forest still seemed to deepen and the sounds of the birds and the insects and wind were swallowed up by them.

"Well?" she demanded.

[Dawn OOC]

"I'm just seeing... wow, it's like he's there twice," Rosa muttered, rubbing at her eyes. She peeked at Yasu once, then went back to rubbing them again. "I can't look at him too long. It hurts."

"I know," Lucia said, putting her hand on Rosa's shoulder as some of her anger faded. It wasn't gone completely as she glared at the stranger. "We've played your games. Now tell us what is going on."

"Very well," Yasu said, drawing himself up. "Your mother was kidnapped when she was a young woman through the Doors and changed into something else, a nightlingale princess. She forgot her life here for a time, but eventually remembered and escaped. On her way out, she found a baby, also kidnapped but not yet altered, and brought her back to be her daughter. When that daughter went missing, she believed that she was stolen back by the creatures that took her as a baby." The androgynous person looked between the two of them and asked, "Questions?"

[z022]

"The Door? She knows about the Door? Is that why she didn't want me coming to Dalton?" The questions were as much to herself as to Yasu. She bit her lip, the black flecks fading and the woods lightening again to mid-morning sun. "Where did she go? Do you know the key...?"

She blinked.

"Wait......I'm adopted?"

[Autumn Keane]

It had been a really weird morning, Autumn reflected as she tromped briskly through the underbrush that led from the well-groomed academy grounds into the woods. She'd been almost certain the ritual had worked when she'd seen the cat, but then there'd been Ravi, and the investigator at breakfast, and far too many questions and awkward pauses. The morning sun was bright, though, and warm on her face even as the cool air kept her hands in the pockets of her windbreaker. Her still-damp hair swung in a thick copper braid, and her pale eyes were thoughtful as she scanned the trees. The canopy overhead was beautiful, all golds and greens, and the forest floor was dappled with patches of light.

She loved being outdoors like this, just listening to the satisfying crunch of leaves underfoot and the sound of birdsong. She hadn't gotten far before a cloud passed over the sun, though, and the shapes of the very trees themselves seemed... darker, somehow, more subtly threatening than welcoming as the shadows lengthened, their spidery fingers stretching out towards-

In the time it took her to draw in a shaky breath and blink, the illusion was dispelled, and the whispering of the leaves was once more just a soft susurration high above.

Turning around, as if to reassure herself that the school grounds lay just behind her, she let out a nervous laugh. The young redhead was blissfully unaware of Dalton's reputation and history, or she might have hesitated before forging ahead once more. Nature was an indescribable force, and in her mind, a forest was more of a collective entity than a conglomeration of individual flora and fauna. There were times, she knew, when a wood might seem to hold its breath, to pause before revealing something to anyone there to witness it. If the fleeting darkness was a warning, she thought, frowning as she proceeded deeper into the trees, she would keep her eyes and ears open.

No threat presented itself, however, either in the form of the potential bear or mountain lion or hidden ravine, and gradually she became aware of the sound of voices over the crunching of leaves beneath her hiking boots. Pausing, she oriented herself toward them, wondering who else had decided to go for a walk that morning.

"Hello?" she called, trudging through bracken and carefully avoiding a fallen limb. The last one she'd carelessly stepped on had rolled, and left her in an ankle brace for a few weeks, and it wasn't an experience she was eager to repeat given the amount of walking the campus required. "Hey, is someone out there?"

[Dawn OOC]

"Shh!" Autumn blinked and looked up at the voice to find a girl up in the tree, holding onto a branch and pressing a finger to her lips in the universal sign of 'be quiet'. When Autumn complied, she could just hear the voices drifting from the three speakers.

Yasu stiffened like a forest creature about to take flight. "Did you hear something?" he asked.

"No," Rosa quickly interjected, shooting Lucia a nervous look. "Are you hearing things, or just trying to get out of telling us what's going on?"

Yasu turned hard eyes to her before ignoring her to tell Lucia, "Of course I know the Key, child. But it is beyond foolish to go to the Other Side. Even your impressive powers would afford you no help against the Masters. They write the laws within their world. None can stand against them."

The strange being put a hand on Lucia's shoulder. "Your mother is lost, child."

As they had been talking, Autumn saw the girl drop out of the tree. Her movements were easy and confident, and the red-head recognized a fellow woodsman in the girl. She look another look at her, not recognizing her - though Autumn didn't really know anyone here yet. She had a thin, sharp face and her hair was covered in a scarf. The strange girl leaned close and murmured, "Please remain silent. They are learning about Lucia's mother."

[z022]

Lucia shrugged off the hand. "She's not lost as long as someone's looking for her. Who are these masters? Do they call themselves the Caramine, because I've already got business with them in that case." The black flitted across her eyes again but was quickly gone. "I've already gone to one world through the Door and I'm not leaving my mother on some strange planet with people you're obviously afraid of."

She swallowed and then tilted her chin up imperiously, "Besides, weird powers aren't the only way to get what you want. I didn't have them to get this far, and I'm not going to stop until I get my mother back. Even if I am adopted. Besides, if I come from some different world, I want to know. And she's still my mom."

She crossed her arms, lips thin with determination. "So what's the Key?"

[Autumn Keane]

Originally Posted By: Dawn, OOC

As they had been talking, Autumn saw the girl drop out of the tree. Her movements were easy and confident, and the red-head recognized a fellow woodsman in the girl. She look another look at her, not recognizing her - though Autumn didn't really know anyone here yet. She had a thin, sharp face and her hair was covered in a scarf. The strange girl leaned close and murmured, "Please remain silent. They are learning about Lucia's mother."

Autumn bit back a sharp retort and a torrent of questions; who the hell was Lucia, why were these people learning about her mother, why was it a secret, and why, most importantly, should Autumn care?

Something of her irritation must have been clear to her strange companion, who glanced briefly heavenward and then patiently pointed out the slim, dark-haired young woman with the defiant posture. Okay, so that was Lucia, but who were the others? Why did she need to learn about her mother? There was, she allowed, the chance she'd been adopted or something and just didn't know who her real mom was, but wasn't that something you usually talked about in an office, or over coffee or something?

The whole situation was definitely odd, and her first impulse was to brush aside the warning, but the urgency in the other girl's whispered plea gave her pause. With a petulant scowl, Autumn acquiesced, electing to lean against the tree in which the girl with the scarf had been hiding. They weren't really even making sense, she realized as she listened, and her frown only deepened. Keys? Doors? Weird powers, and different worlds?

Seriously?

[Dawn OOC]

"I am not telling..." Yasu turned his head; Autumn and the strange girl froze as he looked in their direction. "I am not telling you the Key, child, because I am not allowing you throw your unique self away on a fool's errand. And rescuing your mother is a foolish waste of time, if only because it is impossible. The world where she was taken is vast." He/she looked more closely at Lucia. "Your friends - they should join us."

"What... what did you say?" Rosa said, recovering from her surprise with admirable ease. "We don't have friends out here."

Yasu stared at her. "I sense what you are saying is technically true," the androgynous stranger said, "yet not completely. You lie like one of us, human." It looked at Lucia. "You. Call out your friends, both of them. I will bind them into silence, or they will rue it."

[z022]

Lucia blinked and arched a brow. "Well, I only knew about one other that might be out here with us, so if there's two then I've no clue if I can call them or not." She folded her arms, "And I'm certainly not inclined to help you one way or another if you're going to stonewall me on the Key. That's why I called you and why you're here, as far as I'm concerned."

Her tone and anger was so much like her mother's, but the set of her features and the haughty anger were certainly someone else's. "So, did you come all the way out here just to tell me in person that you weren't going to help me? Or are you actually going to do something useful and help my mother?"

The shadows were darkening again, Lucia's temper only barely kept in check with the rather sinister thought of 'I certainly won't get much out of him if he's dead'. Menace pulsed from the darker corners of the copse of trees they were in as their mistress waited impatiently for Yasu to speak.

[Dawn OOC]

"I can tell you much about what I suspect you are, and marvel at how your mother kept it secret from us," Yasu said. "And I am being very useful. I tell you that your mother is lost to you not because I want her to be, but because she is. Even if you find her, there will likely be little of her left.

"But I see that you insist. Very well, bring forth and let me bind your friends - for they have heard too much - and I will put forward a condition for the Key."

[Autumn Keane]

"Kiss. My. Ass," Autumn stated flatly, her clear voice carrying easily through the unnerving quiet of the forest. The redhead strode forward briskly, sea-coloured eyes fixed on the tall man who seemed to be the ringleader of this odd little sideshow. Her hands slid out of her pockets as she approached, arms swinging at her sides. The way he'd uttered the word, binding, sounded familiar in an odd sort of way, almost as if it should be mentally capitalized. The only time she'd ever heard it discussed, it referred to something like a magickal straight-jacket, preventing a person from doing particular (usually dangerous or harmful) things. It was a response to a threat, a preventive measure, but she could hardly see how a few school kids posed a danger, much less one that required ritualistic taboos.

"I don't know who the hell you are, or what kind of game you're playing out here, but nobody is binding anything." She hadn't brought any ritual effects with her, save a bit of sea salt and a small, sharp spear of quartz, but even without the trappings of her faith she felt confident enough to defy the stranger. "They'd have to be willing, or oblivious to the fact you were doing it, and since you've already said you plan to try it, and nobody's volunteering, I don't see it happening."

Inwardly, she wondered who this man was, to casually discuss magick in front of a bunch of teenagers. Immediately following on the heels of that question was another: Who the hell were these teenagers that he'd be willing to discuss it?

[Dawn OOC]

"You will be bound or I'll feed you to the Masters myself." Yasu's voice had been nasally and almost silly; not it was full of menace.

"He isn't what he appears to be," Rosa said quickly. "There's... something weird going on here. Be careful."

"The child is right," the gender-vague person added. "I am giving you a chance to volunteer and have a choice in your fate; or I can take it from you. Which would you prefer?"

[Autumn Keane]

Just who the hell did this guy think he was? Some weird cult leader trying to get the students to drink his kool-aid? She'd never backed down from a fight before, and she'd ended up on the wrong end of an ass-kicking for it more than once, but that wasn't going to stop her now. Not while this weirdo was browbeating these girls. Gripping the small spear of crystal in her palm for reassurance, she squared her shoulders and planted her feet in the leaf-strewn soil. Merlin she was not, but the feel of life all around her, whispering through the canopy, bolstered her somewhat as she stared down the strange man.

"My fate," Autumn replied through gritted teeth, "is my business. I control it. Not you, and not Great Cthulhu and the Elder Gods beyond space and time, or whoever these masters of yours are. You can't take from me anything I don't give. What I would prefer," she continued, the steel edge of her voice underscored by the tension in her stance, "is for you to stop threatening people. I came for a walk, not to measure metaphorical penises with some psycho in the woods who decided I'm such a huge threat to his great and secret works he's got to start spouting occult nonsense. I may be new to this school, and I don't know these girls, but I'm not about to just stand here and smile and nod while you go on bullying them, or me."

[Dawn OOC]

"Such pretty red hair," the strange man said. August blinked at the sudden segue. "I've seen color like that before - quite beautiful, really. And you yap like one, too."

"Excuse m-woof!" The sudden bark of noise wasn't the oddest thing that Autumn had noticed. Standing upright was suddenly a strain on her back legs and she found herself standing on both her hands and feet. She had to look up at everyone. Sounds, sights and smells were sharper, too.

"Oh my god!" Rosa shouted, her hand going to her mouth. "You... what did you do?!" Autumn tried to ask again, but the only noise that she made was a thick-throated whine.

I'm a dog! she realized as she slowly comprehended what she was feeling. That sensation was the dirt under her paws; that one was her tail curling between her legs. The pretty Irish Settler that was Autumn shivered with fear.

Yasu smiled. "Now she can't tell anyone what she's heard," the person said with grim satisfaction. "I would have preferred to leave her as she was, but she took that option from me."

Click to reveal..

Autumn, please give me an Intelligence+Animal Ken in your next post. A speciality in Dogs applies, if you have it.

[z022]

"Turn. Her. Back!" Rage snapped inside Lucia as she looked at the student-turned-canine. "Now!"

She'd ventured to other worlds to keep the students at Dalton safe from an unknown and powerful enemy; she sure as hell wasn't going to sit by while some freak her mother knew started using his own powers on another student. The black flecks that had peppered her eyes flowed into a total darkness that roiled out from the Student Council president. The cloud of void was smaller than it had been the night before and it sought it's quarry like fox-hound; Yasu quickly disappeared into the smothering cloud.

Click to reveal..

Power 9/10

Roll(4d10)+0: 8,7,7,8

4 suxx

[Autumn Keane]

The shocked young student-turned-setter stumbled backward, sitting heavily on her hindquarters with an unhappy whine. She watched in horrified awe as the tall man(?) was swallowed by the seething cloud of darkness flowing out from the cinnamon-skinned girl. Nothing she and the others had done back home could have prepared her for this. Disoriented, she managed a feeble, frightened growl at her enshrouded assailant and slowly shuffled backward through the crunching leaves. She could smell the faint, fresh scent of the earth disturbed by her movements, and the clear blue sky above mocked her with its vibrant optimism as she all but cowered, hunched in a half-defensive, half-submissive posture that spoke volumes of her confusion.

A sudden flash of movement caught her eye, and she instinctively whipped her head around to track it. As she watched an American Redstart flee for the safety of more distant trees, warbling in distress, realization dawned on her.

The bands on its wings were orange.

Slowly, she inhaled: the faint, dark scent of damp earth, hints of mustiness from the crushed, dried leaves, a whisper of the strawberry fragrance of her shampoo. That was all. If she was a dog, she wasn't a very good one. She couldn't smell much that she hadn't before, and she was still seeing in color, if somewhat more clearly.

Maybe he doesn't know how a dog's senses work? she wondered. Unless...

Unless she wasn't actually a dog. There was only one way to find out.

Muscles tensed, Autumn screwed her eyes shut tight and grimaced as she crouched in the underbrush. I'm going to count to three. When I open my eyes, I will not bark. I will speak normally. I will not be a dog. One... Two... Three.

"I am not a dog."

The sound of her own voice flooded the young redhead with relief. In retrospect, she might've spent a few moments thinking of something profound or witty to say (since they wouldn't know what she'd said anyway if she'd failed), but under the circumstances, she was just glad to have been able to talk at all.

Click to reveal.. (Dawn's requested rolls)

Intelligence + Animal Ken:

6d10.hits(7)=3

Resolve + Composure + 3 (Spent 1WP)

8d10.hits(7)=4

WP = 4/5

[Dawn OOC]

“I am not a dog.” The voice coming from the Irish Settler was unnerving; as everyone else turned to stare, they saw Autumn again, looking both unsettled and pissed. The illusion that had fooled them all was shattered.

But the darkness that coiled around Yasu remained, choking him and denying him any reply.

"What...?" Rosa choked off the stupid question as she looked at her friend. There was fear in her gaze, and Lucia wanted to turn away from the sight of her best friend fearing her.

[z022]

Lucia swallowed hard at Rosa's expression and closed her eyes; the darkness slowly receded, curling back up around the cinnamon-skinned girl and disappearing into the natural shadows. When she opened her eyes again, they were still black but the other shadows seemed mostly under control. Her eyes narrowed again on Yasu, "Don't do that again. Or I will, too."

"Um, new girl? Are you okay?" She hadn't taken her eyes off of Yasu. "What's your name?"

[Autumn Keane]

"Autumn," the girl replied somewhat nervously, lips compressing in a thin line as she attempted a taut smile of greeting. The small crystal bit into her palm, white knuckles on defensively clenched fists stilled only by the bitter taste of fear on the back of her tongue. Her mind couldn't quite process what had happened. She'd never seen anything like this outside of movies, she was perfectly sober, and the sharp, crystalline lance of pain in her hand assured her this was not a dream. "I, um... I'm new," she managed lamely.

She was beginning to wonder if she hadn't tried to defend the wrong side of the argument she'd stumbled upon as her gaze skirted away from Lucia's black, fathomless eyes.

"I really, really hope somebody can explain to me what the hell I just walked into," she murmured, warily watching the man/person who, in her mind, had started it all. Whatever he had done, it had sure as hell felt real, and if not for the fact a few tiny little details were wrong, she might have just gone on believing it. The idea of mind over matter was one thing, but turning someone into a dog, or at least convincing them (and everyone else) you had, was beyond her comprehension. Mass hallucination? The power of suggestion? Some kind of hypnosis, maybe? People couldn't really just conjure up illusions like that.

Could they?

She'd always thought of magick (with a "k") as something spiritual, just part of a faith like prayer or communion or anything else. You set your mind on something, the rituals helped you focus that intent, and your subconscious belief that it would happen made lots of tiny changes that put things in motion. Sure, she believed in spirits, (like the cat? a tiny voice wondered) but she'd always just thought of them as ideas, the essence of a thing or a place, like the forest she'd been walking in.

This... Turning people into dogs, weeping shadows that strangled someone... This was all completely outside the realm of her understanding, and, terrifying as it was, she couldn't help but feel a small, defiant spark of excitement.

What if what she'd been believing all this time was completely wrong? What if it all really was real, and she'd just been skirting the edges of what she thought was "magick" all along? The possibilities were dizzying, and she swallowed hard as she looked back at Lucia and her friend.

[z022]

"I'm Lucia, the student body president. Um, this isn't really how Dalton normally is." Her eyes were slowly regaining their whites, but she still didn't take her eyes off of the man in front of her. "As for what's going on...that's a long story at this point and you really don't want to get mixed up in it."

She finally glanced over at Autumn, then almost to Rosa, but Lucia couldn't quite meet her eyes. She sighed, "I don't suppose there's really much of a chance that you'll go back to the campus and just forget about this?"

"That is no longer an option." The man? woman? stated flatly. "She's heard too much. She must be bound, one way or another."

The threat of "another way" was pretty clear; Lucia's eyes flashed dark again, but before another fight broke out Rosa stepped into the breach and between Autumn and the others. "Um, look, I know it sounds weird and stuff, but it's really alright. It's just a promise not to talk about stuff. I..uh, I think you'll go mute or something if you do, but that's it." She glanced back behind her and added softly, "It's better than being turned into a dog or something else, right?"

[Autumn Keane]

Yeah, and we see how well that one turned out, Autumn snarked mentally, biting her tongue to keep from actually letting the words slip past her lips. She didn't actually know anything, except that there was a good chance there was some level of mental illness involved, or possibly drugs, or some weird role-playing game, or... Or, okay, magick, maybe, but did it really work that way?

"Hmh." She nodded at Rosa, then directed her attention to the one demanding she be bound. "Before I agree to anything, I want to know exactly what this binding entails, and what your part in it is."

[Dawn OOC]

Yasu stared at her for a moment before saying, "It is an oath that binds us to a mutual agreement. The terms are simple; you agree to not speak of this matter with uninitated humans, those who do not know about the Door and I agree to let you free to live as you will. If you break our agreement, you will be struck dumb. That is all."

[Autumn Keane]

"Wait a second," Autumn replied, shaking her head as her brows knit together in a frown. "I don't even know anything about a door, or whatever." She lifted a hand in an effort to stave off any arguments and threats, and continued. "Look. If my taking this oath will help this girl find this key she's looking for, and it's that important to her, I'm not saying I won't do it. I need to know what it is I'm swearing not to discuss, though, and who I'm not going to be discussing it with."

[z022]

Lucia blinked, her surprise at a stranger so willing to help her quite obvious. "Well, the Doors will take a while to explain, but basically there are interdimensional travel points. Or something like that. They take you to different worlds. As for whom not to talk to, well, there's a small group her at Dalton that knows what's going on, or at least some of it. Other than, I'd assume anyone Earth-side is probably not the people to talk to."

She ignored Yasu's glare and couple of attempts to interrupt her; she finally sighed and directed her comments to him. "She already heard enough that you want to bind her anyways. I've told her only enough to get her committed to some padded room if she tries to run to the local news show with it. Calm down."

"Once we're done here, I'll explain in more detail to both of you, and see if I can't round up the group already involved. I haven't really had a chance to talk to anyone except Ms. Dorn since I got back." She crossed her arms and looked between the three of them, ending on Yasu again. "Then I'm going after my mother."

[Dawn OOC]

"Not with my help," Yasu said. "I will not lead you to the Masters; I am not one to lead lambs to the slaughter. I will not break your mother's heart."

Lucia glared at the strange person and it glared back. "Do you think your mother loves you so little that she'd want you to be caught and taken by the creatures that hold her? Do you think she should thank me to guide you to their jaws? I care for your mother as much as I can for any creature, so I will not do such a thing. I do not sell my own to the Masters."

[Autumn Keane]

Autumn sighed, briefly pinching the bridge of her nose and grimacing, as if to ward off an impending headache. The elated surge of triumph she'd felt was fast waning, only to be replaced by the grim realization that she was seriously going to regret rolling out of bed today. At this point, she wasn't sure if it'd be worse to find out this was all part of some weird cult, or crazy drug-induced trip... or if they were actually telling the truth.

"Okay," she breathed, lifting a hand to divert Yasu's attention. "Fine. Let's get this over with, then. I'll swear your oath, and you," she glanced at Lucia, "can catch me up on the details later." The agreement surprised the defiant part of her brain, and the fearful one as well, but her curiosity and impatience outstripped them both.

"All right?" She glanced at the trio expectantly.

[Dawn OOC]

“Very well,” Yasu said. “Child, I need your full name.”

Autumn hesitated before saying, “Autumn Rae Keane.”

“Then, here are the terms, Autumn Rae Keane,” Yasu replied. “You will speak of this to no one of this world who does not already know of the secret. If you speak to others, you will be struck dumb and unable to tell another of any secrets you possess.” The strange person extended a hand and said, “Are we agreed?”

“We are,” Autumn said distrustfully, her green eyes wary as she took his hand. The moment she did, she felt a pulse jump from him. It shot up her arm and into her body, leaving tingles that quickly faded. But when it reached her eyes, she saw double – and that didn’t fade. Part of Yasu was the androgynous form in ill-fitting clothing, but the second image was him in older Victorian clothing. It was as if there were two of him, and she were seeing both at the same time.

[z022]

Lucia had been waiting, trying to swallow down her anger and the darkness that curled around it, but once the binding was done she went right back to it with the strange man. "And do you think I love my mother so little that I won't go after her? Do think I won't go running through every Door I find, every key and world until I find someone that knows who these "Masters" are until I find her?"

The eyes went full-black again as her anger edged out her willpower, "Do you think that I won't do whatever I have to to get you tell me what you know? I didn't let the others stop me from going after the Caramines while they were all still running around like children. Why do you think I'll let you keep me from my mother?" Her chin lifted in the brittle pride of a single-parent child, "I don't abandon my family."

[Autumn Keane]

Autumn grimaced as she squeezed her eyes shut, still reeling from the bizarre double-vision she was experiencing. She could still feel the phantom tingles running up her arm, and, focused as she was on the fast-fading sensation, she nearly missed the first part of Lucia's renewed assault. Clearly, there were a lot of unresolved issues between these two. Clearly, I should have kept my damned mouth shut.

For better or worse, though, this was one argument she wasn't getting involved in- she'd already butted in on craziness once, and she still hadn't decided how well that had turned out. Blinking dazedly as she leaned back against an old birch, she struggled to resolve the dual images and ignore the whispers of shadow around Lucia as she listened warily to the escalating argument.

[Dawn OOC]

"And I will not tell you where to look for her," Yasu replied, spreading his or her hands in a gesture of negation. "You can try many things, child, but I have no desire to lead you to your enslavement. You were too young to remember what they did to you. For that reason alone, I protect you. You were theirs once; now you are free. Go back and you will never be free again, and any who go with you will be the same. Slaves."

[z022]

"What who did to me? What are you talking about? Nothing was done to me until those Caramine creeps showed up at the Social and started numbering people off for some Harvest! This..!" She motioned to her face and her eyes, "Didn't start until after that!"

Lucia tried to take a deep breath, then tried again. Yelling at him wasn't getting her anywhere....then again, neither was talking to him, it seemed. Finally, her shoulders dropped. "Look," she pleaded, "She's the only family I have besides Rosa. I can't just...just give up on her." She swallowed hard, "I don't want to be alone...I don't want her to be alone. Please."

Click to reveal..

Manipulation + Persuasion roll:

Roll(4d10)+0:

8,1,3,2,+0

Total:14

1 suxx...somehow I don't that'll be enough...

[Dawn OOC]

"I sympathize, child," Yasu said, some of the haughtiness falling away. He or she still held themselves away, their stiff body language separating them from the others there. "I, too, have lost... Lost family and friends. But I will not give you the Key to walk into your death or imprisonment. I know it seems hard and cruel, but it is not. I do care, but I care for those I can care for, and your mother is beyond that.

"If you can prove to me that you can survive encountering the Masters, I will give you the Key. They are not undefeatable, should someone be strong enough or have enough allies. There are stories of them being tricked as well. If you do this, I swear you will have the Key," Yasu said, nodding a little. It was the closest to a concession she was likely to get.

[Autumn Keane]

Tentatively, Autumn opened her mouth to address Lucia, and then closed it again, shaking her head. Black cats, Masters, Slaves, Keys, Doors, a girl who leaks shadows and a... guy? who can make you- and everybody else- believe you're a dog, and half the things they're saying sound like they should be capitalized. I'm in so far over my head, I can't even see the surface. It was hard to follow their argument, discussion, or whatever-it-was, when so much of the context was lost on her.

Adding to the redhead's distraction was an unsettling queasiness that lay heavily in the pit of her stomach. Something just didn't seem quite... right. Blearily, she stared at the others, her vision swimming even when she tore her eyes away from the man in pseudo-Victorian attire. The distant birdsong, the words of the ongoing conversation, the rustle of leaves and branches in the canopy... It all sounded so far away, as if she were listening underwater. The solidity of the tree at her back was reassuring, a physical reminder of its slow, measured growth over the decades; it was everything else that seemed to be dissolving into chaos.

A creeping sense of unease slowly stirred within her, tugging at the leaden ball of nausea in her gut, and suddenly the greens and blues and earthy browns of the forest exploded in a haze of sanguine red. A feeling of rage, primal and unbridled, surged hot and bloody in her heart, so pure and potent that she gasped at the strength of it. Fists clenched and eyes wide in blind shock, Autumn went rigid, frozen and trembling with suppressed anger. Only the rapid drum of her heartbeat pounded in her ears, the sound coupled with an overwhelming desire to find those responsible and tear them limb from-

-and then, the breath she'd been holding slipped past her lips in a rush of air, and a feeling of warm, liquid contentment pooled in her abdomen where blind fury had burned only moments before. The languid susurrations of sound droned on around her in slow waves, echoing the calming sensation that drifted through her. Faint pinpricks of... annoyance? Irritation? It was so difficult to tell, to know what she was feeling when it was almost impossible to separate one from another. Why was she feeling these things? Was it something to do with the binding?

The binding...

The thought swayed Autumn on her feet. Her tense limbs went suddenly slack, like a taut rubber band being abruptly released, and she slid dazedly down the tree trunk, sitting down hard as the leaves crunched beneath her.

"Ow," she managed to contribute unhelpfully to the discussion, wincing as she pried her fists open to see faint crescents of blood welling where her nails had been. "I guess I'll sit down for a little while. Sorry," she added in an attempt to sound apologetic.

[Dawn OOC]

"Are you alright?" Rosa asked, moving to hover near Autumn. Her concern was genuine, but it also gave her something else to focus on. She knelt next to Autumn, clearly concerned.

Ahvia, on the other hand, kept her eyes on Yasu. She was tense and wary, her fingers curled at her sides in a stance ready to go on the offensive.

[z022]

Rosa fretted over Autumn, frustrated that she couldn't help more and that Lucia was crying. Lucia never cried, not that Rosa could ever remember. Even when Jeremiah Clanse had told only three weeks after she'd come to Dalton that Lucia had slept with him after the Social, she'd never cried. She and Ahvia shared a look and Rosa held out a hand to Autumn. "C'mon. Do you think you can walk? We should get back to the dorms before people start looking for us."

Ahvia stepped up to Lucia, putting a light hand on her friend's shoulder. "He has told you what he will tell you, Lucia," she said in the flute-like tones of her language. "Let him go. We'll find the Key on our own or find a way to prove to him we should have it. We're losing time with this argument."

Lucia nodded, all her passion and energy finally spent to numbness. She turned away from Yasu without a word and headed to Rosa and Autumn. She finally seemed to notice that something was up with the new student. "Are you alright, Autumn? Why don't we head back to the campus and I can try to catch you up on the way? I don't know that it'll make you feel better, but at least you'll know what's going on."

[Autumn Keane]

"Yeah," Autumn replied distantly, taking Rosa's hand as the other girl helped her get back on her feet. She couldn't remember ever feeling so disoriented... well, not while she was straight and sober, anyway. "I don't think anybody'll be looking for me, anyway, but that's still not a bad idea." She offered a diffident little shrug and a too-broad smile, as if to say, "I'm okay, really!" and shivered inadvertently as she glanced in Yasu's direction. She wasn't looking forward to encountering him(?) again. Like, ever. He'd turned her into a dog, made her see things, and bound her to some kind of oath; a faint, almost inaudible ringing in her ears and a lingering feeling of nausea were all she had to show for it. Assuming she didn't get herself committed to an asylum, though, there was always a chance she'd be around when Lucia hunted him down to get her Key. Goody.

"Thanks, really. I'll be alright, just a little sensory overload or something. I've gotta admit, this has been a hell of an introduction to the school," the redhead quipped, the attempt at humor a thin and spare cover for her visible unease. "I guess I don't have to worry about being bored, right?" Nodding at Lucia and attempting a smile slightly more genuine than her previous efforts, she shoved her hands back in her pockets, curling her fingers protectively over the tiny cuts made by her nails. "Let's go."

[Dawn OOC]

The four teen girls walked back to civilization. As they walked, Lucia filled Autumn and Rosa in on what was going on around Dalton. Ahvia supplied some of the details about Lucia's extended vacation, as well.

It was a full dose of the Dalton weirdness.

Click to reveal..

5 xp