Day 62; Video 002

[bostonhowler]

[She's walking near the rotten piers, looking at her wrist. Her wings behind her are fluttering in the slight breeze.]

I was wondering if anyone had seen any barbecues around? It's cold, but I'm from Boston, so we're used to winter barbecuing.

I was going to -

[She trips and falls forward.]

Ow, what's -

[Her wrist twists as she scrambles away screaming in that high-pitched horror movie way. There's a brief flash of legs and then a flare of fire as the wooden piers catch behind her.

She's framed in flame, staring at the half a body.]

HUNTERS!

Comments

[burnburnburn]

[He stands up with her and draws her a few paces away from the fire; as beautiful as it is, the smoke is making his eyes water]

I can't feel the heat through my gloves. Come out of the flames, I'll start coughing if I'm this near too long.

[He takes another step back, angling away from the corpse. He doesn't want to find out if she vomits fire too]

[bostonhowler]

[She nods and numbly follows him. Would she vomit fire? She's not sure. She squeezes her eyes shut and takes a deep breath. Her hair, at least, stops trying to strangle her and settles behind her. The wings calm down too.]

Are you okay? Thank you for coming to get me.

[burnburnburn]

[He inclines his head in acknowledgement of the thanks. He's not polite often, but that doesn't mean it doesn't rarely have its uses]

I know my limits when it comes to dealing with fires. You haven't injured me.

[He looks over at the body, then glances back to her.]

Stay here and I'll see what I can tell from the corpse. You can scream if you see any danger coming the other way.

[He doesn't expect to see much, but he ought to be able to tell how sharp a blade was used and if the body was cut in a stroke or hacked.]

[bostonhowler]

[She wrinkles her nose in distaste.]

Do you... have to disturb the dead? They were bifurcated, that's enough, isn't it? No need to have the indignity of people pawing their body.

[She found an horrendously severed lower half of a young woman's body lying in the grass. (Per the mods.)]

[burnburnburn]

[His eyes narrow at her choice of words]

I'm not going to paw at anything. I'm going to look so I can guess what sort of weapon the killer's holding if he comes back.

[He lets go of her hand to stalk over to the body and have a look. He makes sure he's not stepping in any bodily fluids before kneeling.

He's left a lot of dead bodies on the battlefields, but even this disgusts him. This was no swordblow, nor was it quick. Whoever did this had to take their time chopping through the meat and bone. He stands up after having enough of a look to determine it wasn't any sort of expert blow]

[bostonhowler]

[She grimaces. She doesn't think messing with the dead is a good idea. Brigid crosses herself and murmurs a prayer for the dead. They deserve better than this.

Still, she's curious. She's never seen a dead body... except for her father's. Her mother's had been too mangled and it had been a closed casket.]

Hunters are scum. There's no reason to butcher someone.

[burnburnburn]

It was a butchering too. Whoever killed her isn't trained enough to cut cleanly, but they were determined enough they didn't even stop to sharpen their blade.

[He draws his sword and moves down to the corpse's feet. He glances at Brigid before kneeling again]

This isn't pawing either, I'm looking to see how old she was.

[He pulls off on of the shoes and takes a brief look at the corpse's skin before coming back to Brigid. He doesn't like this situation one bit]

She's adult, but not an old one. Were there more women of your kind here?

[bostonhowler]

I... I don't know.

[She doesn't advertise what she normally is, and at the most, they might nod across the way to each other.]

I haven't seen others.

[burnburnburn]

So he might just be someone who likes to chop up women for the fun of it.

[He's doing his best to scan the area for threats, but the fire is incredibly distracting, as is her hair]

What's your name? Unless you'd rather prefer me to keep on calling you woman?

[bostonhowler]

No. It was a hunter. It has to be.

[She knows it in her gut. She doesn't know how to articulate.]

My name is Brigid.

[burnburnburn]

I'm Dilandau.

[A hunter. Dilandau's done enough manhunts to know what to do to counteract them, but he's also aware how much of a disadvantage he had in preparing with how little he knows about the area. As fascinating as Brigid is, he's sure she'll be useless at best]

I've been here less than a day. Is there anywhere in town you can shelter without burning it down when something jumps out at you? You're a liability out in plain view.

[bostonhowler]

[She knows when she's being dismissed so thoroughly. Her eyes fall away and the fire-hair falls forward to disguise her face. It's habit from knowing her eyes would flash. She folds her hands together.]

Once I get the fire under control, I can go back to the house. Charlie sounded worried anyway.

[Maybe after a stop in the church yard.]

[burnburnburn]

[He's unaware she noticed]

I'll walk to the door, if you're sure this friend can protect you from there.

[bostonhowler]

[She shakes her head.]

That isn't necessary. I'm going to stop by the church to pray.

[And calm herself. Murmuring the rosary always helps her calm down.]

[burnburnburn]

[Religion interests him little, but he doesn't like his suggestions dismissed. He narrows his eyes]

If you've got a way to tell where one of those hunters are you didn't mention before, you can spit it out right now.

[bostonhowler]

[She takes a step back, her hair flaring out around her face, before settling back down. Her wings flutter, scattering the bits of ash floating on the wind.]

I don't. But St. Raphael might be at the church and I find his presence comforting.

[The words are all soft, gentle, almost soothing. She doesn't want trouble, and she doesn't want to set anything else on fire.]

[burnburnburn]

[He tightens his jaw but bites back his urge to bark at her. A gentle little thing like this would probably hide from him in the future if he's harsh and she's too powerful for him to simply drag where he decides.

He inclines his head and responds more graciously than before]

Then that's your choice. Some comfort would do you good.

[At least he can enjoy the fire]

[bostonhowler]

[The wings curl around her, making her smaller, and even less of a threat than she was. She watches him, curious at the swift change in demeanor. Brigid curses her lack of senses and her inability to see or smell as well as she could.]

Thank you... for coming out here. I really do appreciate it, Mr. Dilandau.

[She turns away, before glancing back, over her smoke-wings.]

If you need anything while you're here, I'm in House 10.

[burnburnburn]

[His lips curl in a little smile of satisfaction at the manners working]

It's been a pleasure.

[He's watching her back, and will be until she moves out of his sight]

I'll hold you to that.