014 ✳ day 154 ✳ video/action

[blackmagus]

[Dogs are one thing. Fortescue likes dogs. Especially dogs who play fetch, and dogs who accompany soldiers. Seeing service dogs in the war was good on the eyes, like a small slice of the familiar in the estranged hostilities of combat. But these sounds?

These aren't service dogs. Not that she knows where they are, but the noises coming from an adjoining corridor aren't from a kindly canine. She knows that much from the snarls, and clicks on a video feed. Jazz, agitated and hissing, is curled around her shoulders, ears flat against his head. Her dress doesn't offer much support for him, but then, she's used to his claws digging in. She prefers it to losing him, in tough situations. Is this going to be a tough situation, is the real q...

Wait, that snarl was awfully close. But she still doesn't see anything... It's a bad time to be walking back to her room, that's for sure. She quickens her step.]

All right. Who forgot to feed the vicious guard dogs I didn't think we had? It almost makes me miss the bears.

Comments

[ video ]

[noblexcompanion]

Do you think a nice juicy steak might settle them down? Or a vet with a great big needle? Do we have any vets and/or big needles?

[ Panicking? Who's panicking? ]

[ video ]

[blackmagus]

[Fortescue squints at Donna, trying to determine if she's in her room or elsewhere. One requires more inward flailing than the other.]

Needles, probably. Veterinarians, no idea. [Another snarl. She jumps.] ...probably not going to work.

[ video ]

[noblexcompanion]

[ She's in her room. Luckily. Or not. Depends how you see things. ]

Maybe they'll get fed up and eat each other...

[ video ]

[blackmagus]

[Today it's lucky, for Fortescue.]

That would be very convenient. They seem — [Bark! Somewhere close...] — agitated.

[ video ]

[noblexcompanion]

Might I suggest running and hiding? Running and hiding definitely seems a good option...

[ Please don't get eaten. Where is Donna going to find a new bestie? ]

[ video ]

[blackmagus]

An invisible puppy, kill me? [She puts on a brave smile. It'd fool most people.] Don't worry. I'm not too far from my room. Stay in yours, all right? Until we figure out what's going on...

[ video ]

[noblexcompanion]

[ She isn't fooled, Fort. ]

Just... be careful, okay? You and Jazz. Stay safe and unmauled. Please?

Video

[servingmichael]

[ Video but it's tucked into his pocket, sorry. ]

Run. Get behind a door. Now.

Video

[blackmagus]

Sorry?

[She stares at the dark screen. Something behind her snarls, and she quickens her pace. Room. Right.]

Do you know these things?

[Where, oh where, is a door...]

Video

[servingmichael]

I do. Get away from them. Where are you?

Video

[blackmagus]

A few hallways away from the canteen.

[Not enough to get back to her room. She still has a distance to go yet. But hey, any door with no name will do, right? Jazz stiffens on her back and hisses at something behind her, and that spurs her to lunge through the next door she finds. Something lunges back, but she manages to keep the door shut.

Mostly. It keeps slamming against it, aggravating what remains of her magic deprivation injuries. She grits her teeth.]

Do they have a name, these lovely things?

Video

[servingmichael]

[ There's sound, a flutter of wings and an echo of thunder before he answers. ]

Hellhounds. I'm not far.

Video

[blackmagus]

...Oh. Well, naturally.

[All of the dryness in the world is infused in that sentence. Of course they are. Of course they're hellhounds. What a delightful word. But beyond the obvious, she has no idea what that entails. Sometimes firmly atheist parents are a bad thing.]

And they're invisible all of the — [It slams against her door and she grits her teeth, putting her back into keeping it at bay.] — time?

[cinereoargenteus]

Dogs and bears?! [His voice breaks on the word bears, a squeak of surprise and alarm.] I am going to go hide in a very small place till next season.

[blackmagus]

[Oops. Good job, there, Fortescue. Not that the alarm is a bad thing. Better that he finds some place to hide.]

Don't worry, love, I haven't seen the bears since we came here. And good thing, too. But at least I could see them...

[cinereoargenteus]

Great. Good. Bears are bad. Dogs are bad too, but not so bad. Can smell 'em and hear 'em. [He's just babbling now, an obvious reaction to fear.]

[blackmagus]

[Fortescue's heard that tone a hundred times, at least, and smiles sympathetically. He looks like a teenager, after all. She thinks.]

Try not to worry too much. Some people around here know what they are and how to get around them. And have weapons that can work on them. Just stay smart, all right? If a situation gets hairy, call for help first and ask questions later.

[cinereoargenteus]

Smart I can do. The one man, Raphael, he offered his help. Stayin' outta trouble... [He trails off and shrugs his shoulders. Well, he does his best on that front. But sometimes it seems like he's just a magnet for everything interesting, whether he wants it around or not.]

[blackmagus]

[She chuckles.]

I'd take it, if I were you. It's handy to have someone to fall back on, around here.

[Like when things like this happen.]

[tryingitall]

[Oh. Uhoh.]

Jazz is with you? Keep him close. Don't let him get near them, all right?

[blackmagus]

He wouldn't stand for it.

[There's an angry growl from the cat wrapped around her like a scarf.]

Cats and dogs, that whole thing.

[tryingitall]

Hellhounds and souls, love. But, good. Your cat has his fair share of sense.

Do you want me to try to get to you? [Undoubtedly a challenge in this place, especially when it's playing games like this, but he'll try his damnedest.

No pun intended.]

[blackmagus]

That shouldn't be necessary. One of your relatives is evidently on his way. [Which is why she's going to find a nice door to get behind, now.] But thank you, darling. I take it you're also familiar with these... delightful creatures?

[tryingitall]

Oh? Which one? [A deceptively casual question. He might feel the need to back up Castiel at this point, given that he's never sure when his brother's at full strength any more. Otherwise, he's pretty sure she's covered.]

I'm familiar. Generally they only come for souls that are already damned, so we're not called to interfere with them. But I've killed a few.

[blackmagus]

The one with the voice like thunder claps. [Names. Names... Oh!] Raphael. [Silly hellpups, making her forget things as she closes the door quickly behind her.] So they do actually drag souls to Hell, then? You don't suppose they do that here?

[Fortescue might be a little more jumpy about souls than the average person, given the condition and location of hers.]