do you bare your fangs at us, sir? MOONLIT RIVALS LOG 2, SCENE 2

[libraryassistants]

Who: Readers and Actors
What: The werewolves who are not sneaking into the party cause a bit of mischief... and did anybody actually agree to keep the peace tonight?
When: The night of the ball itself. [ooc timeline: Feb 6th - 19th]
Where: The city of Montica.
Content warnings: Please include any warnings in headers.


Waxing Gibbous Moon

In Town

Above the city, the Umbra Mansion stands tall. Its grand doors and windows have been opened, spilling light like a beacon. Music lilts in the air, drifting so far as to be faintly heard even in the neutral centre of the city.

The streets have emptied, particularly in the vampiric half of town. Most of the vampire loyalists have joined the masquerade, leaving their homes and shops unattended. Tonight is a special night - a once in a century event, and they wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Even some werewolves and neutral citizens have been enticed to attend. Jadis the Mystic has created a lotion that will disguise the scent of a werewolf; an effect that is broken by shifting, breaking the skin, or the gradual passage of time. It is not widely distributed, but rumours travel fast. The lotion is only given to any Guildulf-aligned werewolves, but… well, there’s nothing wrong with a little trade here or there. Right?

For all of the wolves in town - with the moon so close to being full, it’s natural for them to feel a bit more excitable. Energetic. Ready to take on the world. And seeing as Montica is so empty, it’s like a playground has just been opened up. The young wolves in particular are eager to take advantage of the empty streets, the sound of not-quite-mature howls breaking through the air in their excitement. There are hardly any people around to be scared if they play too rough or run too fast, and they are taking advantage of this with great enthusiasm.

In the highly-debated 'neutral' zone, some small packs of adolescent werewolves are gathering. There's banter and roughhousing, the not-quite-adults playfully shoving each-other over the invisible line where the vampire territory begins.

Some of the bravest amongst them take the challenge to dart over and brush their fingers over silver doorhandles - their yelps spurring courage and adrenaline in the others. What starts harmlessly enough quickly escalates as they urge each-other on, teenage excitement and the thrill of the moon encouraging all sorts of bad choices. The longer they go without reprimand, the more bold they become; and somewhere along the way, bulbs of garlic start winding up in places they wouldn't normally be found. (There is at least one group who is excitedly challenging each-other to leave the garlic in more and more absurd places. If they happen to sting themselves on some silver ornamentation on the way, all the better.)

Not all homes are unoccupied, though - sooner or later someone’s going to disturb someone else’s peace, and tensions are already so high. Hopefully there are some Responsible Adults around to curtail the worst of the mischief before someone’s temper is sparked.

Comments

[fearinahandfulof]

"Yes?" That probably shouldn't have been a question.

She looks more closely at him, at his arm. "Are you all right?"

[icanhearscreams]

"Most people aren't, if they're not vampires." Maybe she is. This place takes all kinds, apparently.

He looks at his arm and looks back at her. "... No. But they've done the best they can do for now."

[fearinahandfulof]

She shrugs a little. "I'm used to it." She pauses, thinking on how he'd phrased that. "And I'm not a vampire."

But maybe that's what a vampire is expected to say; she doesn't know.

"Or a werewolf." Somebody please change the subject.

Which, thankfully, he does. "That's good, at least." He's probably not a regenerator, if the wound isn't healing more quickly on its own. Unless they reattached the limb?

[icanhearscreams]

"Yeah. ... Wish I was back at the library. I'm tired of this town already."

Which is a normal thing to say, even if he's not trying to fish for identities. He really would prefer to be reading.

[fearinahandfulof]

"It would be more peaceful. I think." She still doesn't quite trust the Library.

[icanhearscreams]

"It would be. I wonder if this place even has a public library. I don't think so..." But he's getting distracted.

"You've been out there tonight? How bad has it gotten?"

[fearinahandfulof]

"I'm not sure." Though Cassandra has admittedly not had any real motivation to look.

She thinks for a moment. "It's not good, but not the worst I've seen. But I'm not really the best judge."

[icanhearscreams]

"I guess that's not everyone's first priority..." Not everyone's a nerd, though the world would be better if more people were, in his opinion.

Hm. "... Yeah, I guess it's not the worst I've seen either, but I'd hoped to not have to see anything close to that again."

[fearinahandfulof]

"It would be useful to know, though, wouldn't it?" It sounds like something that would be useful to know...

"...So things are bad where you come from, too."

[icanhearscreams]

"You can find a lot of information there."

Ah. Well. "Things should be fine now - I mean, with fewer people in danger. But there's still a lot of dead and injured people, and a lot of destruction in the cities..." At least with the battles that took place on their own world.

[fearinahandfulof]

Cassandra will have to take his word for it. Certainly the Library they've been in hasn't been all that helpful.

"So people need to rebuild now?" Assuming she's understanding what he's telling her correctly.

[icanhearscreams]

That's a fair assessment.

"That's right. And the last battle was recorded, so people at least know what we - what the people who gave their lives were doing. That it wasn't just random destruction."

[fearinahandfulof]

Cassandra is quiet for a moment. "Does that mean you're dead too?" she finally asks.

[icanhearscreams]

"Yes." There's no point in lying about it. "We all died after our battles. It's the price we paid." Willingly or no.

[fearinahandfulof]

"So whether you survived the battles themselves didn't matter?"

[icanhearscreams]

"No, it didn't. You used your life energy to make the thing we were using to fight move. So when it was done..." No more energy, no more life.

[fearinahandfulof]

"...there was nothing left for survival."

[icanhearscreams]

"Exactly." He shrugs. He doesn't... really have anything good to say in response. "It's kind of surprising to me that I even ended up at the Library."

[fearinahandfulof]

"I wasn't expecting to wake up either. Ever again." Or at least she'd hoped not to. Surely three deaths were enough?

[icanhearscreams]

"Yeah. ... Apparently we're not the only ones though. I asked earlier..." He sighs. It shouldn't be possible, but...

[fearinahandfulof]

Cassandra, unfortunately, is painfully aware that it's possible. "I thought I was done after the last time."

[icanhearscreams]

"... Wait, what do you mean the last time?" It should only be possible once, shouldn't it?

[fearinahandfulof]

"My... creators... felt like experimenting, and chose three of the strongest Number Ones to reanimate. I'm not sure why they had our bodies on hand." Especially in Cassandra's case, since she'd had to be put back together entirely after her original death.

[icanhearscreams]

Um. The first thing he thinks of is a science fiction monster, but... huh. "So you don't have parents?" Probably rude to ask, but whatever.

[fearinahandfulof]

She sighs. "I did, but I don't remember them anymore."

Cassandra doesn't remember a lot of things anymore.