Thread Tools

Tachigami
It's quiet, now.
76277.04
Send a message via AIM to Tachigami
Tachigami is offline
 
#1
Old 04-14-2014, 11:37 PM

Messengers
An RP by PapillonCameo and Tachigami

On the eastern side of the city, facing the sea, the environment resembled a turn of the century town. Though an offshoot of the busy, modern cityscape that it was attached to, it felt detached and unique. The roads were lined with heavy trees, the shopfronts small and close together. Narrow alleys offered shadowed hiding places for those that knew where to look. Edward Browe's black town car shifted through the shadowed street to drift to a halt at the curb underneath one of the trees, and he shut the engine down. For a while he sat there, watching people. They were just going about their lives, some crossing the street to the open air cafe nearby. It was a warm, near-noon Saturday, so most wore light colors and casual clothing, tee-shirts, jeans, shorts, sandals. When Eddie got out of his vehicle, dragging a black duffel bag with him, he stood out like a sore thumb. He wore a black suit custom fitted to his oddly, unnaturally thin body. It looked difficult to move in but when he took a step, then another, away from his vehicle, it moved fluidly with him.

He walked across the street and stood at the top of the stairs that led away from the road and down to the patio to the cafe. His target was nearby, but he'd lost it halfway down the road. The trail was somewhat cool but he'd often been thrown for a loop. The target had come this way, of course, but possibly doubled back. He sighed and ran his hand over his brown hair, pushing it back and away from his eyes. He went back across the street, discreetly sliding into the shadow of an alley nearby and holding his breath.

Eddie's body became cold, and a thick fog settled over the environment. The sky grew cloudy, the sun vanishing under a dark layer of heavy gray clouds. When he came out of the alley, Eddie was disregarded by everyone, even as he nearly brushed into them. Crossing the street again, he came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs and narrowed his eyes. The trail was stronger now. He stepped aside in case someone tried to move by, setting his bag in the bushes behind him where, when he let it go, it wouldn't be seen by anyone unless they were really looking hard. Unzipping it, Eddie pulled two small pipes out and screwed one into the other, tapping the bottom to make sure it was well attached.

PapillonCameo
(^・o・^)ノ”
2350.99
PapillonCameo is offline
 
#2
Old 04-15-2014, 12:09 AM

Dylan sat comfortably at an iron wrought table. He munched on a butter croissant, and read a newspaper. His name was under one of the articles, black print on the white page. People talked and laughed around him, dressed in cool clothes. That was why he noticed the man walking by dressed in black. No one wore anything that warm during that time of year, not unless they had to. The journalist narrowed his dark blue eyes. He was supposed to be on vacation. After his last tour out of the country to write an article about the safety of visiting Egypt. His skin was still tanned from the excursion, his muscles still a bit sore from all the walking on sand he'd had to do. The visit to Kairo had been the most exciting part of the whole trip, in more ways then one.

There was no resisting the allure of mystery. Dylan wrapped a napkin around what was left of his croissant, and slipped it into his bag. With a practiced move, the young man slipped the leather strap over his shoulder and crept towards the man he'd noticed earlier. For a few moments, he'd thought he'd lost track of him. Then the copper haired man caught sight of dark clothing in a dark alley. Slow steps brought him closer and closer, until a rush of cold swirled around him and the colors all around grayed strangely. Dylan flinched, took in a quick breath. He hated it when strange, inexplicable, things.

This sudden cold had happened before. Trouble always followed it, in some form or other. Dylan had never been able to figure out why, but this was when odd things happened. Shivering, he slid up against the wall. The journalist crouched down, and tried to disappear from sight. All he wanted to know was what the other man was doing, especially with that strange stick of his.

Tachigami
It's quiet, now.
76277.04
Send a message via AIM to Tachigami
Tachigami is offline
 
#3
Old 04-15-2014, 12:24 AM

With the item secured, Eddie twisted the bottom and a swirling blade emerged from the otherwise smooth, dark metal surface. Around him no one took any special notice---no notice at all. The bladed weapon was half his six foot three frame, and the twisting blades went almost halfway down the base of the weapon. He went up the stairs with the thing held loosely in his hand, and crossed the street easily. The target was to his left, pretty far down. Eddie could only feel its presence, and the sensation of being pulled in a specific direction.

It was small. It wasn't dangerous to life or limb, but sanity, work, focus, it could destroy. Its influence wasn't strong from a distance, but it would connect to a certain person and feed the person mentally. But it wasn't connected to anyone---it was on the run, and Eddie had to find it before it found someone.

PapillonCameo
(^・o・^)ノ”
2350.99
PapillonCameo is offline
 
#4
Old 04-15-2014, 12:35 AM

Eyes wide, he stared as silver blades swept out of the staff. Pursing his lips, the journalist pulled a camera from his bag. After a few minutes, he fell into step behind the tall stranger. Every time he thought he might be spotted, Dylan ducked behind a wall, crouched down under anything nearby. Sometimes, the camera would click, and an image appeared on the screen. He knew he should be calling the police about a bladed weapon and a mysterious man wandering around, but ... To let the story slip between his fingers was impossible.

He was a journalist first and foremost after all.

Tachigami
It's quiet, now.
76277.04
Send a message via AIM to Tachigami
Tachigami is offline
 
#5
Old 04-15-2014, 12:53 AM

Eddie did well to avoid people, though by all they knew the only sign of his passing would be no more than a slight chill to the air that barely lasted more than a moment. But he liked the practice of avoiding them, twisting the blade in his hand as if it weighed nothing, feeling a prickling sensation on the back of neck that made him turn to study where he left behind. He had his eye on his target, but he was always watchful regarding everything else. He'd heard that some humans could see him even when he transitioned, and that was kind of terrifying.

But the sensation of heat snapped his full attention forward. There was his target, streaking along in front of him. It had obviously seen him. "AH! There you are you bloody bastard!" He cackled, sprinting forward, his hand wrapped tightly around the handle of the weapon like a baseball bat.

PapillonCameo
(^・o・^)ノ”
2350.99
PapillonCameo is offline
 
#6
Old 04-15-2014, 01:04 AM

The man whirled around to look at the path behind him. Dylan huddled near a wall, and held his breath. Brick dug into his back, making the journalist wince. There was a cry, a shout, that sliced through the air. Something was finally going on! Dylan slid from his hiding spot and lifted his camera to take a quick snap shot. What he saw on the screen had his eyes widening, and his mouth falling open. But there was no time to consider it too long. There was a story running away from him.

He picked himself up from the ground and ran. Crouched low to stay out of easy sight, the journalist had to force himself to breathe. Dylan couldn't understand what he saw, but that mattered only a little when faced with the reality of a story. The papers would pay big bucks for something like this, even if he didn't say anything about the odd creature he'd captured on camera.

Tachigami
It's quiet, now.
76277.04
Send a message via AIM to Tachigami
Tachigami is offline
 
#7
Old 04-15-2014, 01:19 AM

Eddie was weaving through people as if he would actually bump into them. He just hated the feeling of having living flesh pass through him, forcing that particular bit of his body to return to a solid state like mist coming back together after someone moved through. In the fog, he crossed the street and narrowly avoided being completely dematerialized by the thing. Anything created by humanity seemed to do the exact same thing, it seemed. He slid onto the sidewalk across the street but didn't pause. The trail was stronger than it had been all day and Eddie wasn't about to let the bastard get away like it had yesterday. He'd been tracking it all week---the smaller it was, the harder it had to be to pinpoint.

His feet padded lightly on the sidewalk, lighter than should be normal. But no one would hear him. See him. Sometimes he went through whole days like this, just so he didn't have to speak with anyone alive.

PapillonCameo
(^・o・^)ノ”
2350.99
PapillonCameo is offline
 
#8
Old 04-15-2014, 01:36 AM

It was a little difficult to weave through people without getting odd looks. He wondered how the man he followed did it. Sometimes it almost seemed like the brunette actually passed through things, and people. That was impossible. And yet, when no one moved aside for him, or yelled out, it certainly seemed true. Dylan on the other hand got strange looks, which faded away when they saw the camera in his hand and the grin he sent to whoever noticed him. Cameras were wonderful excuses. People tended to accept a whole lot of things from camera wielding people that they wouldn't under normal circumstances.

Once he was on the sidewalk, Dylan slowed down. There was no way he could lose track of the dark clad, tall, man now. He towered over everyone. No one ever reacted to the sight of his bladed staff. There was no outcry, no screams. There should have been.

Tachigami
It's quiet, now.
76277.04
Send a message via AIM to Tachigami
Tachigami is offline
 
#9
Old 04-15-2014, 01:52 AM

Eddie paused to pant a bit, looking down the alley he'd seen the creature depart to. If he were quiet now, he could sneak up on it. The smaller ones were never very bright, and once the danger was out of sight, it was out of mind. He walked easily now, drifting between pairs and trios as they talked as if they were never even there. His footfalls were silent, his passing never even acknowledged when the wind changed. The mist swirled around his body but returned to its normal, thick state the moment he passed. No one alive could see the mist. Or the dark clouds.

He peered around the alley and found it empty, but the trail went down and to the right. It would be that way, his senses were reverberating with the negative sensation. Breathing out, Eddie stepped into the alley and crept quietly forward.

PapillonCameo
(^・o・^)ノ”
2350.99
PapillonCameo is offline
 
#10
Old 04-15-2014, 02:05 AM

What was this man up to? It had to involve that creature he'd seen and captured on camera earlier. But why was it taking so long for anything to happen? Dylan took a few cursory pictures of the old style homes. A slant of light was captured on film, a pair of passers by with their arms around each other were immortalized on digital film, and still the man made no move. The stranger turned into an alley again, and this time Dylan was a little less cautious. He wanted so desperately to see what was going on! The journalist ground his teeth together, camera held at the ready. Now there had to be something going on. If not, then this would be a dead end, and not just literally but figuratively as well.

Tachigami
It's quiet, now.
76277.04
Send a message via AIM to Tachigami
Tachigami is offline
 
#11
Old 04-15-2014, 02:32 AM

He was moving so slowly he was nearly merging with the shadows. Eddie's energy was reeled in to such an extent he felt ready to bound off the face of the earth. His senses were going crazy, overwhelmed with the sulfur and burning flesh scent and the almost physical trail clinging to the walls and the ground that swirled underfoot. He clung to the wall, breathing through his mouth so he was as silent as he could be, his thin chest reverberating with heart beats that were far too loud to be normal.

His hand was twisting the weapon in his hand restlessly. There was the creature. The demon. It was doing something... He wasn't sure what, but it had something in its clawed hands, furiously ripping it and growling. It looked like a nearly humanoid coyote with mange, too long a snout and a ragged, bitten-up tail. It was awful, and emanated a disgusting scent. Eddie shook his head, steadying himself to act.

PapillonCameo
(^・o・^)ノ”
2350.99
PapillonCameo is offline
 
#12
Old 04-15-2014, 02:53 AM

"Damn that thing's ugly!" Dylan's eyes widened and he snapped a quick picture of the monster. It was horrible to look at it. The smell was even worse. Sulfur and burned meat, that's what it smelled like. It was a wonder no one else noticed the scent. What was the thing eating? It looked like the remnants of a cat, dangling fur swayed obscenely from the thing's clawed hands. Strings of meat just ... hung there.

Dylan had to fight not to gag. His throat heaved, and so did his stomach. Somehow, he kept it all down and caught a shot of the thing lifting its head to stare at him. Those eyes... They narrowed to slits as the coyote hissed. It growled and gnashed its teeth. Claws tightened around its prize, before it crouched down.

Tachigami
It's quiet, now.
76277.04
Send a message via AIM to Tachigami
Tachigami is offline
 
#13
Old 04-15-2014, 03:15 AM

The silence was broken so suddenly Eddie's throat closed up and he coughed out a gasp. His hand nearly released the weapon until he realized the demon's surprise had faded and it was coming at him. He raised the weapon like a baseball bat, swinging it hard and sending it flying into the wall. It let out an awful screech, blood pouring from where it was hit and leaving burning puddles and splatters on the wall and ground before clambering the apartment wall and vanishing. "Ah, shit! Damn it!" He spun around to the stranger. How did he see the thing? And now he was looking right at Eddie. "How do you see me!?" He demanded harshly. "And what the 'ell are you doing comin' around followin' me while I'm workin'?" His tone was loose, but harsh, angry that his week's track had gotten away.

PapillonCameo
(^・o・^)ノ”
2350.99
PapillonCameo is offline
 
#14
Old 04-15-2014, 03:23 AM

Dylan watched as the man he'd been following hit the thing like it was some kind of messed up pinata. A few press of a button, and there were pictures of blood splattering and melting the cement itself. "How can I? Well can't everyone see you? " He laughed when the man who looked like he'd walked off a Men in Black set started throwing questions at him. Oh, Dylan really did love his job. It was the perfect excuse for following his curiosity wherever it took him. "Man, you've been walking around with that thing. Of course I'd follow you! I wanted to find out what the scoop was." Nothing he could sell to a reputable newspaper. No one would believe him, even with pictures.

Tachigami
It's quiet, now.
76277.04
Send a message via AIM to Tachigami
Tachigami is offline
 
#15
Old 04-15-2014, 03:43 AM

Eddie shook his head, barking out a laugh. "You mental?" He snapped. "There's no damned scoop here. I'm doin' my job and you're comin' around like some creep, and damned if you can see me!" He waved his weapon, twisting the end and letting the blades retract. "You're one'a those... those humans that can see us, aren't you? Heard rumors about your kind. You and your little camera---how many pictures you take yet? You would be best to delete those things." He stepped forward, cornering the man. He was still trapped in between the veil and decided to transition once more to spare the stranger his sanity if someone saw him talking to thin air. The air shimmered, and for a moment he grew cold again. Then the mist lifted and he blinked in the sudden outpouring of sunlight from the heavens.

PapillonCameo
(^・o・^)ノ”
2350.99
PapillonCameo is offline
 
#16
Old 04-15-2014, 03:54 AM

The journalist snorted. "Of course there's a scoop! I mean come on, look at you. Running around with that weapon, chasing that thing. If that isn't a scoop, I don't know what the heck is." Dylan backed up, and felt a wall crash against his back. He winced, and slipped his camera into his bag. The bag dropped to the floor behind his feet. His hands, he readied, and flexed his legs. There was no where to go but forward, and it felt like that would take a fight. "I don't know what the heck you're talking about. Everyone can see you, can't they?" The cold was gone, replaced by a too warm heat.

Tachigami
It's quiet, now.
76277.04
Send a message via AIM to Tachigami
Tachigami is offline
 
#17
Old 04-15-2014, 04:00 AM

Eddie laughed, shaking his head and leaning on the pole that was now better used as a blunt weapon. "Really." He snorted. "Really. You think I'm stupid enough to run about like a maniac with a mace through a heavily populated town? If you've been followin' me 'ow come you haven't seen no one else followin'? Why just you? Why isn't anyone else yellin' about a madman runnin' around like he's on the run from an asylum?" He was waving wildly now. "Think this is a movie or somethin'? Like they're all in on it?" He was annoyed now, but the anger was still there. He could sense the demon licking its wounds somewhere, and a whole week of tracking the little bastard was just flushed down the drain because this human couldn't keep his mouth shut.

PapillonCameo
(^・o・^)ノ”
2350.99
PapillonCameo is offline
 
#18
Old 04-15-2014, 04:13 AM

Dylan opened his mouth, and closed it with a frown. "I noticed, but I was too busy chasing you to think too much about it." The copper haired man straightened. It didn't seem like the other man was actually going to try and hurt him. The relaxed way the stranger stood, the way he spoke, was enough for Dylan to believe that. "So what's going on?" There was no way this odd man was going to get his hands on Dylan's camera. If he had to, he'd go straight into a brawl. But again, that seemed unlikely. Just as unlikely as the unnaturally thin man before him. He looked like a walking skeleton, with skin pasted over bones.

Tachigami
It's quiet, now.
76277.04
Send a message via AIM to Tachigami
Tachigami is offline
 
#19
Old 04-15-2014, 04:23 AM

Eddie was quiet for a moment. He didn't want to deal with this, but this human had a camera full of evidence that Eddie was definitely not human. He sighed forcefully, bringing up the blunt weapon in his hand to rest against his neck. "So... you want the truth, eh?" He laughed. "You won't believe it. Humans never do. They think I'm crazy until they see somethin' they just can't explain. Then what? They think they're crazy. Vicious circles and all that." He twisted around, looking down the alley to the street. It was bathed in sunlight and alive. "I'm dead." He shrugged as if it were a simple admission, like revealing where he worked, what he thought of a certain season, or his opinion on apples. "Technically I'm not alive, I'm between death and life, a hunter. One of a small amount of demon hunters that keep the human world free of supernatural threats. How unbelievable is that, eh?" He laughed, as if indulging a child's fairy tale.

PapillonCameo
(^・o・^)ノ”
2350.99
PapillonCameo is offline
 
#20
Old 04-15-2014, 04:29 AM

He was dead? Dylan narrowed his eyes and stared, as if he could somehow find out the truth just by looking. The other man was so nonchalant about it. Like it was a run of the mill thing for him to tell people that he wasn't even alive. If the sun hadn't been shining so brightly, Dylan might almost have thought he was dreaming. "Well after following you around for a bit, it isn't that unbelievable. Besides, I've seen some odd things in my line of work. " Egypt had been a real eye opener. Now if anypace could make you consider legends and myths to be reality, it was that place.

Tachigami
It's quiet, now.
76277.04
Send a message via AIM to Tachigami
Tachigami is offline
 
#21
Old 04-15-2014, 04:42 AM

Eddie was stunned silent for a moment, the words buzzing in his head as if they were angry bees. Then he shook his head and laughed. "What... what... So you just take it like that? You see some ugly, stinking monstrosity and me running through town after it with no one else any wiser and probably looking at you like you're a madman and you just take it as it is? Wow... I guess I've been dead too long, times are'a changin' and I can't keep up!" He rolled his green eyes, bringing his free hand up and through his hair so it would lie back on his head again. "Well if you're just about to accept it, then you're goin' to 'ave to agree to keepin' those pictures to yourself. You'll do that or you'll give it to me, either way's fine." He held out his hand.

PapillonCameo
(^・o・^)ノ”
2350.99
PapillonCameo is offline
 
#22
Old 04-15-2014, 04:46 AM

The man crossed his arms. "There's no way I'm handing my camera over. No way in hell." Dylan tilted his head and blew at stray locks of hair. His bangs were way too long, the uneven strands seriously needed to be cut. "The pictures are partially why I believe everything that going on, without them I'll just end up thinking I'm going crazy, again." The last bit he hadn't meant to say. That period in his life was one he hated to remember. It had taken years for Dylan to recover from it, and everyone he'd known then avoided him like the plague. Not that he could blame them.

Tachigami
It's quiet, now.
76277.04
Send a message via AIM to Tachigami
Tachigami is offline
 
#23
Old 04-15-2014, 04:59 AM

Eddie lowered his hand. "Ah, so you already think you're crazy." He nodded, smiled. "Yeah, that'd make sense. Make sense why you believe me like you do." He laughed again, then stepped forward. "Fine. You'll keep your pictures. But damned if I'm letting you get away with scaring off my mark. I was tracking that little bastard the past six days, and you come along and give away my position. So you know what?" He leaned forward, and pressed the blunt end of the pole to the man's shoulder. "You're gonna help. You can see demons, you can see me when I transition, so you can be my spotter. Four eyes are better than one, after all, aren't they? And I'd bet you're just so interested in seeing that ugly bastard again. Even if you're not, you're in it now. You followed me." He pressed the end of the weapon into the man's shoulder quickly, then released.

PapillonCameo
(^・o・^)ノ”
2350.99
PapillonCameo is offline
 
#24
Old 04-15-2014, 05:12 AM

Dylan shoved the staff away. "And how the heck am I supposed to actually do that?" The journalist shifted, straightened his back. "It's not like I can track that thing. I may be able to see it and smell it, but there's no way I can find it." This man could. He had an uncanny way of finding out where that demon had gone. "It took you a week to find it. It might take a week again, and my vacation ends before that." Of course, he could easily say he was already working on a different story. Then he'd have to actually find one ... Not that hard a thing to do.

Tachigami
It's quiet, now.
76277.04
Send a message via AIM to Tachigami
Tachigami is offline
 
#25
Old 04-15-2014, 05:21 AM

Eddie narrowed his eyes. "Well it's your damn fault it's gone. Your fault, your problem. You're helping me whether you want to or not, even if I've got to leash you. I have no qualms with parading you around like my pet for e'ryone to see, little human." He snapped the staff and it grew long and limp, becoming a smooth chain that ended in a circle. "I'll snap this around your neck and you'll stick with me 'till I find that damn thing and banish it, whether you want to or not, regardless of your professional status and time off." He held the black metal in both hands. "Now, stranger, what say you? Force, or consent?"

 


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools

 
Forum Jump

no new posts