[ No one's seen Superman in this village yet, but with an all out attack on Chroma, there's no way that Clark can leave the defense of the town to the rest of the citizens and hide behind his tie and glasses. That's why there's a red-blue blur flying around, his primary focus on keeping the rest of the citizens safe even as he does his best to start herding the wolves towards the wolves again. Whether they're the former residents, creations of the magic of this place, or something else, he's trying to do the least amount of harm he can.]
clark: transformation
[ It's not often that Clark's been effected by things like this. Not often, perhaps, but it's happened before. That's why he'd known what was coming when he'd noticed the bite on his hand, a bite that healed as easily as he normally did but left a strange aching throughout him. When the moon rose the next night, he's actually more surprised that... well, that he's as 'normal' as he is. The tail is almost amusing, the ears are... well, more of a dead giveaway than he particularly likes. It's really the faint bloodlust that he has a problem with, but thankfully, willpowers don't just go to Green Lanterns...]
clark: finding a cure
[ Clark has things to concern himself with other than his strangely furry new appendages and the unpleasant desire to bite other people: he's got to find a cure and fast, given the number of people he's noticed came away from the fight with injuries. (Injuries he blames himself over). He's lucky, though, that a few days after this all began, he finds a slip of paper with some information.
He'll have to find the Goldenthorn and the Stickweed in the woods, no doubt. And he knows it's best not to go alone. But he's not sure how wise it is to go with anyone else if the influence of the wolfishness increases. Especially when it's clear from the notes that he'll need something else as well. But he'll start looking and put up a post on the network asking for:
I have a lead on the cure for this unfortunate werewolf problem. I found a page detailing two herbs that make up part of the cure. There's notes missing, however. If anyone's found that piece, we should talk.
Either way, I need to find the herbs, if anyone has any clues or would be willing to look with me, I'd much appreciate the assistance.
He lists his usual spots and where he'll usually be found when before heading out to start working on the problem as best he can.]
I know. However, the werewolves do not come out at daytime. And I am able to defend myself, if I must.
[He taps his fingertips lightly to one hip, the one turned away from Damian at the angle--against the hilt of a dagger. He doesn't talk about his like magic summon thing that he can do if he gotta but he's armed.]
But it's called goldenglow. I honestly do not know what it looks like, but. I must find it, wherever it is.
[Eliot steps behind her, though he isn't sure what she's going to do. They've met before, sure, but he has never asked if she as any special powers. Right as the question begins to ferment with his fears, he sees her knock the werewolves back. Already, he is trying to factor which of them is worth more. Her power can save people... What's his memory compared to that?
His own gaze sweeps the area, trying to make use of himself by watching her back. That's when he notices movement on the roof.]
[That's Eliot! When the werewolves are first beginning to appear, Eliot is quick to determine that he's helpless against them. If the fact he was starving was not already a problem, there's the fact he's usually slow anyway and has no stomach for violence. Even in self defense.
So, like the useless person he is, Eliot's first instinct is to hide. He knows he should head back to his house and lock the doors, but the problem is... you know. Getting there. You can probably find him cowering in various locations as he tries to dash back.]
B. On the hunt for SPITFIRE STICKWEED
[When the thought enters his head at the end of Day One, Eliot acts on it immediately. Not intelligently, but immediately. He leaves his house without a second thought and heads straight towards the woods. To anyone he passes along the way, he stops to question them.]
Excuse me? Can you direct me to the woods? [At least it's day time?]
C. Paranoia - Other Personality
[As time goes on, Eliot eventually determines that he cannot handle all of this stress and fear. He flips his pocketwatch and takes on his less pleasant personality. Even though he's been working towards a cure, a disgusting thought is haunting him. One he dares to mutter under his breath to a passerby.]
If it spreads from their bite, wouldn't it make the most sense to just kill them?
the okuyasu prompt aka this event is made for suffering but we find ways to make it cute
[Sneaking into someone's house in the middle of the night isn't the smartest thing to do, especially given her current state, but listen: it's way better than waiting around Bluo for one of her more motivated pursuers to catch her. All she needs to do is lay low for an hour or so, wait for the person(s) chasing her to simmer down, and then quietly slink back into the forest. Easy!
And there's also the fact that this isn't just anyone's house— this is Okuyasu's house, and you know, it's been two whole days since she's actually seen him. Maybe she's extra worried about him? That's definitely what she's telling herself as she cracks open the door to his room. She's just checking on him; she absolutely does not have the urge to bite him. No way.]
Okuyasu? Are you here?
[Let her just peek her head and take a look around. She looks very babushka-like, thanks to the makeshift headscarf covering her obviously pointy ears, and her new fangs may be poking out the tiniest bit, but... hey, Okuyasu. It's ya girlfriend.]
[What brings Summer out of her living arrangements and into the fray on a night like this isn't actually the mandate to protect the town; no, it's the somewhat more self-serving personal mandate to make sure that the community garden doesn't get destroyed in the fray, because, well. People use that to eat, herself strongly included.
The problem is, she's not exactly one for precision or, y'know, aiming when in combat, and using her usual tactics in such close proximity to the garden stands a good chance of actually destroying the thing outright herself, which somewhat limits her options of how to deal with impending wolves. Fortunately, there's always hammerspace, which when used creatively is a fairly versatile weapon in its own right —
Except that, y'know. What goes in must eventually come out. But oh, well. She'll worry about that come daylight.
Actually, no. Secondary problem. And that problem is, there's only one door between this world and her hammerspace, and once she's got one wolf inside, the prospect of opening up that same door to shove another one in just got a whole hell of a lot more dangerous.
And that's actually how you might spot her, zipping around in her cloak of shadows with her bright red hair like a beacon in the moonlight, hoping to lead a wolf away from the garden and back toward the woods while she does some very fast thinking — and a whole lot of cursing under her breath.]
II. FUCKUP
[Unfortunately, all this expenditure of magical ability is not without its costs. It's one thing to play music for a few hours at a small-town dance; it's another thing to have herself armed with flight spells and fireballs, opening and closing doors into hammerspace left and right, and to maintain that heightened state of combat awareness for hours and hours into the evening. Magical batteries, after all, only hold so much of a charge. It's only natural that something's got to give.
Unfortunately, it happens to give while she's hovering in midair. One second she's aloft, and the next second she's plummeting like a rock toward the ground.]
Shit — !
[Whoops. Someone might want to catch her, or that impact's going to be rough.]
[As the days wear on and on, Summer keeps finding herself inexorably tugged toward the woods, and she can't explain why. It's not like her to feel so compelled to hurl herself into what she knows is Wolf Country, and therefore certain peril, but there's something about it that keeps her going back — the certainty that there's something out there she needs to find, even if she doesn't know what it is.
Day after day, she winds up out there, ink-black cloak dragging along the ground behind her as she wanders in a vain attempt to alleviate the feeling that there's something she's not doing, something that she's supposed to be doing; she hates nature and she hates the woods and she'd clearly rather be anywhere else than out here where she knows the wolves are, and yet here she is.
And she's not exactly being quiet about it, either. It's almost like she's trying to keep herself company by talking aloud to herself, making noise as she trudges around on her latest search.]
Miss Red Cloak smiles, one eyelid flickers; she whips a pistol from her knickers. She aims it at the creature's head, and bang bang bang, she shoots him dead —
[...Someone's having a great time, evidently.]
IV. WILDCARD
[Wildcard! If you want to run into Summer somewhere else, hit me up and I'll write a prompt for you!]
[ It's a good thing she happens to have someone in the air, someone in a blue suit with a red cape. Someone who manages to catch her out of the air without a heavy thud, as if she's as light as air, and offer a warm, hopefully comforting smile as he starts to head away from the fighting at least for the moment.]
[He's seen the wolves on his hunts for food, but he has to agree with Keith. These things tonight can stand on two legs, if their silhouettes aren't lying to him.]
Just what I love: an intelligent enemy we've never seen before.
[The sarcasm is tired in his voice. On any other day he'd relish the chance to fight something that might give him a challenge, but with his injury aching every time he breathes he'd rather continue sleeping it off.]
If they're in there planning an attack it might actually be better to just go in after them instead. As dangerous as it would be I don't wanna know what they'll do when they're actually ready for us.
[The wise thing to do would be to back up and go elsewhere. He's seen enough of the people in the Town transformed to know that they're dangerous, just like the actual werewolves--and he hasn't gotten bitten yet, which means he should try to hold onto that.
But.
Minato's not really wise, not when it comes to his friends.
He approaches, sword in one hand but held loosely at his side, other hand up placatingly.]
Ochako-san...! Are you--
[Ears. Tail. That's--
He changes what he was going to say. She's clearly not "okay".]
Minato wasn't expecting to be brought up short for a question like that; he's got wood in his arms to help Estelle stack it in areas where it might come in handy for people, but he pauses.]
Kitagawa-san...? I've never heard of that before at all.
[ he signed it. the last time guren signed something, dextera was flattered, but now his eyes widen in stark surprise because guren just said he needed a bath?! ]
—?!
[ this is up there for the stupidest conversation they’ve ever had, but dextera curls away from him, lifting the sleeve of his coat to his face to sniff it. normally, he just purifies any dirt or debris off his skin and clothes, but it is true that he’s been a little more personal with the animals lately.
[As desperate as he is to help make a cure and be useful, Damian has resigned himself to live in the forest--mostly. Sometimes, he can be found hanging around a cottage in Flavo, but usually he's neck-deep in the woods much like he is right now.
He can hear her coming a mile away it feels like; she's loud. Carefully, he listens to her footwork to try to discern her weight, perhaps her age too based on that. Behind the trunk of a tree, he stays crouched, and she finally passes by as loudly as ever, humming, talking, muttering, stomping. Honestly, he can't believe she isn't dead.
His voice speaks up from behind her, but it's hoarse and scratchy.] Dahl. [Even if she turns around, he doesn't move into a stand. He just peers at her with tired eyes much too old for how young he looks.]
[Well, good golly, that is certainly a rescue she wasn't expecting — getting swept neatly out of the air in a swooping rescue by someone in blue and red who pulls it off with the grace and finesse of someone who does this all the damn time. And for just a second, she's hit with a pang of soft nostalgia that abruptly goes sour, remembering her boys from back in Nevermorrow, and the one in particular who was often given to similar rescues — the type who liked to spend all his time in the air, too, and who could always be counted on to save the day, right up until the time when he couldn't be.]
...Uh.
[Eloquent, as she just kind of gawks at the stranger who's carefully ferrying her away from the chaos.]
That's a...pretty apt way of putting it. Uh. Yeah.
[She says, saved from flushing with embarrassment only by virtue of the fact that she's gone pale from the overexertion instead.]
[There's a lot to be learned from the way she moves, and the sounds she makes when she does; her footsteps are heavy from the tread of boots that seem to be designed to be sturdy in their weight, but the faint swish of grass as she moves from step to step suggests that wearing them is actively altering her natural stride — she's almost certainly a lot lighter without them. He's also likely to notice that she's walking with a short, brisk stride instead of a long, loping one, and the way she's meandering coincides with the occasional faintly audible exhale of breath — not the walk of a ranger accustomed to the outdoors, or someone well-versed in extended physical activity.
She looks younger than she is, by virtue of what appears to be soft features and clear skin; when she hears the voice behind her, she turns instantly, hands coming up and at the ready — not like she's about to surrender, but poised like they're the source of some way of defending herself.]
...Not bad.
[Is that...a kid?]
What's a poetry aficionado like you doing in a place like this?
[Nyx smirks humorlessly, touched by the concern.] Not worried about being shot. I'd rather be hit than manage to turn anyone else. We don't know if a cure can even be found so the more of you that get through this uninfected the better.
[Beyond that he had no plan. He was just going to go as deep into the forest as he could before the moon took away what level of control he had left. Maybe find some tracks to distract that hungry part of him. He sighs, biting at the nail on his thumb before finally conceding.]
I don't know. As far away as I can get?
[Maybe far enough that it won't be worth it to come back. He can't put his team at risk anymore. Can't put their community at risk. This ailment has gotten worse every night and he doesn't know if one day he won't be him anymore. Better to just...get away from the people he wants to protect. Right?]
More than anyone, Minato knows the value of sleep. So he just runs back to the nearest empty house, digs out a colorless blanket and drapes it over her before he settles against the wall next to her.
He won't wake her up and he won't fall asleep--he'll just keep an eye out and keep watch.]
[Okuyasu, for his part, has been spending the night so far hiding from werewolves. Hiding here means "waiting by his door with a fireplace poker raised like a baseball bat, ready to destroy anyone who comes by," but you know, details. He's there, poker raised, ready to utterly wreck whoever it is that's sneaking around in his house—
But oh, it's Ochako, and he drops his arms to his sides automatically. The first mistake: dropping his guard!!]
Hey! You— [okay, he is trying to ask, but even in the dark he can see there's something off about her. Aw, fuck.] Uh, you good?
[If he has to dive out a window so she doesn't try to eat him, he will--]
...I mean, that's your call, but personally I'd rather not be trapped on the roof, nah.
[She scrubs a hand over her face, half-absentmindedly, but then seems to abruptly take a disliking to the idea of not having her eyes open and her awareness inhibited while she's in the air not of her own power, and drops it back down again.]
I'm down for the count, so. Not much good I'm going to be doing out here, anymore.
[If there are people in danger, Minato's going to be out there. As soon as he realizes something is happening, he hits the streets, uncaring how dark it is now.
The moon's enough light anyway. Minato hears the snarl and the grunt, and he takes off at a run, skidding along cobblestone--
He sees the werewolf's body, but not Lupin, not until he looks up.]
Lupin-san...! [... There's blood on the wolf's muzzle. Minato's had more than enough battle experience as leader to categorize that in his brain, and with how fresh it looks:]
[ Fushimi hears the growl, too. He's, honestly, glad to finally have something useful to do. He's been sitting idle too long, and even if he hasn't quite recovered from a week of nearly complete sleep deprivation, he's certainly on the mend.
The second he hears the growl, he sends an arc of fire in that direction, bright and searing hot. He doesn't flinch at the heat, but the ends of his fingers look like they're a little burnt, a little red around the nails. It doesn't seem to bother him, at least.
The wolf howls, loud and angry, but it falls back in the face of the fire, which quickly dissipates once the threat seems to have diminished. The foliage is a little worse for wear, but it seems like Fushimi managed to keep the flames fairly contained. ]
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