Fantasy Humanity Stands RP Thread

[Yahhah]

Hemlock Werwit
Ma's Diner

Not much of a conversationalist was he.

She supposed she couldn't blame him. Everybody liked to keep secrets, Hemlock had never shared that sentiment. Secrets took time and energy she did not have. "Business huh? No I'm not from around here. I just travel a lot. Came around here to see if there's anything magic about cacti which so far there's not but I haven't mixed it with anything yet of more than mundane means so I guess that might explain it... Ah sorry you probably don't care about all that" Hemlock went on a bit of a mini-rant.

She glanced over her shoulder at a loud noise coming from the back. The lady talkin to the demon had apparently damaged some property and was making their way out for some reason. Was there something outside? Hemlock glanced over to outside. Nope. Hemlock shrugged and turned back towards the guy she'd been talking to. "So is this business top secret? Or is that prying too much? I can never be sure, oh wait a minute I didn't even introduce myself. The name's Hemlock. I'm a hunter too.... Kind of. You are a hunter right? I didn't guess wrong and give away my identity did I?" Hemlock rambled again with her mind sort of wandering.

Interactions: Pacificus

 

[Pacificus]

The woman's rant actually got a small but genuine smile out of Casey. If loose lips could sink ships, she'd be Admiral Yamamoto. He extended his hand. "My names Casey. And uh... ehh, no. It's not secret." He slid his phone around so she could see the screen, which showed his Bounty. Maybe she'd help a fellow hunter out? "This is my business." he told her, "I don't suppose you've seen someone like this around town have you?" In Casey's experience it wasn't uncommon for Hunter's to help each other out. Though, some were stingy. "He's wanted for several accounts of murder so he's a pretty important t-..target." In the middle of speaking, he saw something land on the hood of his truck out in the parking lot. The small dragon was conversing with someone. They didn't look shifty, but to Casey, touching his truck was akin to playing with a tigers tail. He turned back to his conversation with Hemlock, but kept his eye on two in the parking lot.

(Interaction: Yahhah kind of: Aurus 4scorelightnings )

 

[PixelSymphony]

~(Sr.) Val'sharra Nightshroud~
~ The Plan ~​

Status
Condition: Nominal
Wearing: Semi-formal outfit
Carrying: 2x pistol, 2x dagger
Location: Ma's Diner, Hartfield, AZ
Time: 2:08 PM

---

It wasn't hard to tell that the woman opposite her was becoming agitated, even without her heightened senses, the rhythmic tap tap tap reverberating up from the floorboards told her everything Val needed to know. As such, when she suddenly bit back with a salvo of questions challenging her wisdom in proposing such a deal, Val attempted to take it in stride, waiting for her to finish rather than trying to interject wildly and, more than likely, unsuccessfully. When the flannel-clad hunter made her final statement (a remark Val mentally noted down), Val began to reply. "Well... I guess to answer your first question, you might not think our rapport's that great at the moment, but just from what I've experienced in the past, you're already better than half the people I've ever tried to have a conversation with. Heck, you offered me a chair; most folks would have just pointed a gun at my face. As for trusting me?" She thought silently for a moment, before sheepishly shrugging. "Eheh... okay that one I don't have any good ammo for. I mean," she continued, missing the fact that the woman had retreated into silent thought of her own, clearly unresponsive to her words, "if you want, is there like some collateral or something I could offer? Maybe a safety deposit? I'd love to give you some degree of assurance, after all..." She was about to begin in on the third remark when there was a sharp CRACK that had her reaching for her holsters, until she identified the source of the sound as the corner of table now present in the other woman's hand, cleanly snapped off from the surface before them. Note to self. Avoid angering. Definitely avoid angering within arms reach.

As soon as the orders to pack up and move out were issued, Val nodded and tossed off a mock salute. As the waitress returned, she ordered a sandwich to go, figuring she'd better get something she could eat while in the truck. Speaking of which, as she gazed out through the window towards the parking lot, she started to plan their route out of there. It was fairly simple to make out the general location of the truck that had been referred to earlier, but the only issue was that there were two trucks, both just as likely to have been the one she needed to get to. Oddly enough, it looked like the fairy dragon and the dark-skinned woman from before were now having a conversation atop the the hood of one of the trucks, and desperately hoped they would not have to barge them off as much to get out of here.

---

Interaction: BoomersAndMash
Mention: Aurus , 4scorelightnings

 

[BoomersAndMash]

Harper SteelBite

Location: Parking lot Time: 2:12 PM

Harper wasted no time to leave the diner. She threw down some money and a few extra hundreds to pay for the damages that were caused to the table. Luckily it seemed everyone was lost in their own world that they didn't seem to notice what had happened. Glancing over her shoulder she saw the demon follow her outside, back into the blistering heat and also where a fairy dragon and a woman were talking. Again luck was on her side as they weren't near her truck so it would be an easy leave.

Going to the old Ford Harper unlocked the door to let herself in and her guest in. She started the engine and let it roar for a few moments while easing into the driver seat to calm her nerves. Of all the days it had to be today where it seemed that all the Hunters had to come to one gathering. If she was a smoker she would have had a cigarette right about now, but instead Harper reached into her glove box and pulled out some gum and took a piece.

A low growl, almost more animalistic than human rumbled from her throat. "Alright kid before we go any further I need know your name. Can't just be calling you kid all the time." Her eyes looked over to the passenger seat to her guest as she held onto the wheel. It was time to get down to business and teach the new Hunter how things work around her. It's been so long since she had a partner and Harper still wasn't sure she wanted to go through with it. Working alone has been so much easier due to not having to worry about someone else getting hurt and also just taking care of yourself. But the perks of having a partner is that someone can watch your back and that was a big perk. 'I hope this isn't a mistake I'm making taking this kid on.' was her thought.

Interaction: PixelSymphony
Mention: Aurus , 4scorelightnings​

 

[PixelSymphony]

~(Sr.) Val'sharra Nightshroud~
~ The Introduction ~​

Status
Condition: Nominal
Wearing: Semi-formal outfit
Carrying: 2x pistol, 2x dagger
Location: Ma's Diner, Hartfield, AZ
Time: 2:08 PM

---

Val scrambled into the Ford and pulled the door shut with a clunk, making sure to clear her tail as the metal latched up. She took a second to breath, tossing the wrapped sandwich up on the dashboard as she attempted to set her skirts straight; her rapid entrance had left things a bit askew and at the moment it was probably best to try to look as professional as possible. Taking a quick glance at her ad-hoc mentor, she could see her own hackles slowly lowering, though she remained just as grumbly as ever. The growl that succeeded her successful ignition of the engine was another mental note that Val jotted down, but kept to herself. "Well, all right, apologies in advance. It's Val'sharra. Val'sharra Nightshroud." She sighed, looking down dejectedly. "Sister Val'sharra Nightshroud... at least, at one time in my life. For a whole host of reasons better delved into later, probably just stick to calling me Val." The demoness kept her gaze averted for a while before eventually swiveling her eyes back up towards the older woman, asking, "Um, so what's yours? Or do I just call you Captain or Boss or Master or the like?"

---

Interaction: BoomersAndMash

 

[BoomersAndMash]

Harper SteelBite

Location: Truck Time: 2:15 PM

A mouth full of a name. All these demons seem to have that. Placing the truck in gear Harper waited to answer the question when she pulled out of the parking lot of the diner. She could see that Val, as she suggested to be called was looking at her and brought up calling her master, boss or captain. Those names didn't fit Harper, master was weird to her and boss made her sound like a villain. Captain......captain was a name she wasn't called for a long time and she didn't want to be called that anymore.

"Harper SteelBite. You can call me Harper. Member of the SteelBite pack. I'm sure you haven't heard of my pack. There's a bunch of different packs running around." Pulling down her aviators she drove onto the road and started to drive into town to find a sheriffs office. There had to be a bounty up and posted there for them to take that would be easy for a rookie. She gave out a huff shaking her head to herself.

"Look let's get this out of the way now, I haven't had a partner in a long time. In years, a decade even. I've been hunting by myself for so long that doing this is out of the norm for me. So it's gonna take me a while to warm up and not seem cold. Throwing that out there right now." Stopping at a light she turned to the demon and slipped her sunglasses down a little to show some of her eyes. "I don't want you acting like a hero or some badass either when we go on a hunt, got it? You don't do stupid stuff. Stupid stuff gets you hurt or killed. Can't tell you how man times a Hunter has lost an arm or leg because they tried to do some fancy moves." The light soon turned green and she put the truck back in gear. "I'll tell you what those damn moves do for you, get you killed. You do any flashy fancy moves in front of me I won't be impressed. I'll be annoyed. Got it?"

It might come off as cold and harsh but this was how Harper showed her way of looking out for someone. Straight to the point and no sugar coating it. Seemed to always work in the past so why change now?

Interaction: PixelSymphony​

 

[Yahhah]

Hemlock Werwit
Ma's Diner

So he was a Hunter.

Instincts weren't wrong on that one, and there was in fact a bounty in town. That was good to know, maybe all these hunters were after them. Casey showed her a picture of what to Hemlock looked to be a Vampire and she wracked her memory trying to remember if she'd seen them. "No, haven't seen them. A Vampire huh?" Hemlock said thoughtfully. She found it hard to imagine a vampire hiding out in such a sunny place but maybe that was part of its trick. Nobody expected to find a vampire in a sunny place and so they stayed hidden.

"I could help you find them though. I've gotta know some kind of spell that could find somebody..." Hemlock spoke reaching into her cloak and pulling out her spell book which had the appearance of some old dictionary. She finally took a seat at the table while she absentmindedly flipped through it for some kind of tracking magic. "Although if I do help I do want first dibs on the fangs, used my last vampire fang last week." Hemlock said in her usual nonchalant fashion, while she flipped through the book.

She glanced up from the book when she heard something outside and noticed Casey looking at the tiny little dragon which was outside on a car. She glanced down at her book. "Don't suppose you have access to any of this guy's personal belongings or like strands of hair, or like a name but if it's a name like Randy there's a fifty percent chance the spell will point out the wrong guy. Straight up tracking magic is iffy like that." Hemlock went off again rambling while she found some magicks that might be helpful.

Pacificus

 

[PansexualPanic225]

Ember
Location: Ma’s Diner.
Ember paid and left her booth, she was new to town so maybe it would be better to hunt with someone else. She went up to the witch and the other Hunter. “There must be a pretty big bounty if all of these hunters are showing up. My name’s Ember, how bout y’all?” she asked.
Interactions: Pacificus and Yahhah

 

[4scorelightnings]

Nava Arnumi
Outside Ma's Diner

The mid-afternoon sun was beginning to peak through a dusty cloud and made the dragon Selef ( Aurus ) shimmer in all his majesty, the green-blue-purple range of his scales intoxicating her vision for a second before she could recover. As he flew up on the hood of a pickup truck nearby so that she was able to meet his eyes and could feel his smile permeate the air around them with its warmth, and her shoulders relaxed a bit. For the most part, the Hunters she had met in the past were often closed off when approached by civilians, but it seemed like it would be easy to talk to this creature. As he bowed, she smiled and bowed her head slightly with a small smile.

"Nice to meet you Selef, my name is Nava," she said, and then pursed her lips in thought, wondering what she should say first.
"My parents are actually a part of Athena, though not Hunters. Lately I've been trying to do my own research and look at the institution as a whole...," she trailed off and looked far off, lost in her thoughts for a second as she thought of how wise it would be to divulge her anti-institutional opinions about it.

"Are you traveling with anyone? I was wondering... well... for research purposes... if I could shadow you for even a day. I feel like I would gain a lot of knowledge," she finished by looking up again earnestly. Her brown skin, shining in the sunlight, made her look like she was covered in gold. As she said this, the brown-haired woman and the black horned demon she was with barged out of the diner in quick succession as they passed them to get into another pickup ( BoomersAndMash PixelSymphony ). They seemed to be having an intense conversation and was about to eavesdrop for a second when she felt a prickle on the back of her neck. Looking back into the diner, she saw the man who had eaten the hamburger with the witch watching them, and stared back at him with her large doe eyes in an effort to look intimidating, though with her stature she wasn't sure if that was quite as effective as she thought it was( Pacificus Yahhah ).

 

[Pacificus]

Casey listened intently to Hemlock, who now had his undivided attention. He still glanced outside occasionally at the two in the parking lot. The female was staring at him... like some kind of intimidation tactic. As if to say, "I dare you to stare back." Casey reached down into his pocket where his keys were kept and thumbed the lock button, causing the truck to emit a single high-pitched "BEEP-BEEP!". Maybe that would scare them off? He refocused on Hemlock.

A chance encounter with a Hunter Witch was an extremely high level of luck. He had never worked with a witch before, but had heard stories of how much of a game-changer a witches magic could be in a hunt. He had no idea how much of a fight the vamp would put up. Simply knowing the Bounties location was a massive leg-up. He held up his hand to stop her rambling. It was all good information but prioritization was necessary. "Sounds like we both have much to benefit if we work together. I'm only in it for the money." He thought for a moment. "What do you say to a 60-40 split and you get to keep the fangs?" Casey proposed. He intended to withhold any information about the target until negotiations were complete. Hemlock seemed sincere, but Bounty poaching, while not common, was a concern to him. They would have to move fast aswell. Vampires would usually wait until night to travel, especially out here, but this diner was quickly becoming a hunter convention. With this much heat in town, the target would probably risk moving in daylight. The thought of losing his prey, a vampire no less, greatly concerned Casey.

(Interaction: Yahhah 4scorelightnings Aurus )

 

[PansexualPanic225]

Ember
Ember quickly left the diner and headed to her Mustang. She had received intel about a vampire bounty who has ties to the Coven. Maybe he’ll know something about the woman who appeared to be the leader of the Coven and the rest of the Coven members who had attacked and killed her family that night. She had to track this guy down. She drove around town looking for clues that might lead her to him eventually leading her to his location. She grabbed her Amethyst Dagger and Ak-47 and hid in the shadows making sure to lay low and avoid being seen.

 

[Yahhah]

Hemlock Werwit
Ma's Diner

Hemlock's big mouth quit when she heard some big noise from outside and noticed that Casey had held up their hand. Oh right negotiation. He was in it for the money, that worked out well. Hemlock was not. "60... 40. Yeah that sounds fine by me." Hemlock was satisfied so much as she got components out of the deal. Of course legal tender was useful but it couldn't cast spells or be mixed with other things to make potions.

The witch glanced slightly to the left as a woman came up and introduced herself only to walk off before Hemlock answered. The witch sort of shrugged before turning her attention back towards. "So, is word enough or do you want to shake on it?" Hemlock offered a hand and with the other tapped a sort of runic symbol inscribed within the page of her book that she held open. The woman did seem to be slightly in a hurry as she assumed that those other individuals whom she'd thought were hunters were in town for the same reason and she didn't want anyone else getting at those fangs.
Interactions: Pacificus And sort of( PansexualPanic225 )

 

[PixelSymphony]

~(Sr.) Val'sharra Nightshroud~
~ The Rules ~

Status
Condition: Nominal
Wearing: Semi-formal outfit
Carrying: 2x pistol, 2x dagger
Location: Inside of Harper's truck, Hartfield, AZ
Time: 2:15 PM

---

"All right, well it's nice to make your acquaintance Miss Steelbite... er... Harper," Val'sharra corrected herself quickly. "And uh, you're definitely correct on the 'not having heard of your pack part'. I guess that confirms the inklings I was getting off of you though. Was wondering what was up with the wolf tooth necklace," she added, smiling with just a hint of self-satisfaction. "Anyway, that's fine, I mean, we have to be on at least one or two hunts together before we start talking about the kinds of boys we like, right?" A slight snicker after this was indicative of her sincerity (or lack thereof) of said statement. "But uh, for the other part... uhh... oof. Well... all right, I'll try. I won't lie though, getting myself into sticky situations and then pulling fancy moves to get out of them was, ah, kind of what I was hoping to do, I mean, that's how I trained, you know? Action rolls, running along bannisters and diving through the air with guns blazing; the true action-packed life of a Hunter!"

She sighed. "But... if that's just gonna cause ire with you, I guess I'll try to hold off on them for now at least. Maybe some time in the future when I gain a little bit of trust?" And again, there was that hopeful smile, powering through any sort of bump in the road she might encounter. "Oh by the way, I meant to ask; so were all those other people in the diner friends of yours? Or was that just some kind of weird grand cataclysm that sucked every hunter in a 100 mile radius to a single diner in the middle of nowhere?"

---

Interaction: BoomersAndMash

 

[Aurus]

Selef
Outside Ma's diner

The small dragon listened patiently to Nava's words with a smile. "Hmm, well I finished my delivery job, but I was asked to do a couple things while I was here. There was an Aegis wizard that wanted me to see if I could sniff out some Toxic Demonweed for him, it's kind of like a magical tangleweed. The also asked me to check out some arson cases they thought might be magic or monster related. I would usually fly around to get these done quickly but I wouldn't mind going slower for some company, but only if you can handle yourself if danger arises. I know I certainly look otherwise but I'm not a fighter or anything." he said a little jokingly.

As if on cue that's when the the demon and other hunter suddenly came out, and his calm friendly attitude quickly shifted to a more tense one briefly. They felt a little more dangerous than the one in front of him, and he could smell the scent of magic on them which confirmed his theory, but he quickly got himself over it. They were probably hunters, and hunters hurt the people who did bad things, not friendly dragons like him. They seemed to ignore him anyways.

However, it did leave him tense for when the car beeped at him. It would make him jump as he quickly looked around. He landed back on the hood with a bit of a thunk, but fortunately for Casey he was far too light to do any actual damage from this, though it might be a little worrying. He was barely able to prevent himself from scratching up that hood though, which was good because the last car he had accidentally scratched up had made the owner really mad after all. "Hrmph, how rude!" he said, puffing up a little bit as if clearly this was completely unwarranted. He remained on the hood for now though.

Interactions: 4scorelightnings , sorta Pacificus

 

[BoomersAndMash]

HARPER STEELBITE

Location: Sheriff's parking lot Time: 2:25 PM

She gave out a low snort hearing how Val wanted to show off moves and seemed get into sticky situations. Great, babysitting and mentoring. Two things that were something Harper did not want to do but was now on her to do list. Seeing a sheriff building that was coming up to the left. Turning her truck into the parking lot Harper looked back at Val still not sure what to make of the demon in her vehicle.

The question about the other Hunters caught her attention and she shook her head. "Nope, just a weird fluke that they all came there. But I don't think all of em were hunters. Not every person you bump into is gonna admit or brag that they're a Hunter. Some are Athena and some are Coven." She fixed her sunglasses as her eyes narrowed mentioning the two names. Both sides she had bad blood with, Coven for obvious reasons of them trying to disrupt the balance of order and Athena for how they seem to think they're the only organization that can do whatever they want.

Glancing over to Val Harper had a skeptical look. "You trained to be showing off fancy flashy moves? That's a first I've heard someone tell me that." Harper wasn't hiding that she wasn't impressed with the training. Until she sees it for herself Val was a greenhorn who was wet behind the ears and needed to stay back when told to. Parking the truck she unbuckled herself and nodded for Val to follow her. Time to show the demon how to find bounties when other Hunters were around a small town and taking up too much space.

Walking up the steps she placed her sunglasses on top of her head and made sure Val was following her. "PD's, sheriffs, or any government buildings are good starts to find bounties. We'll get something easy since I don't want you getting killed. Probably some goblin infestation or fairy's being assholes. You're not ready for the big targets yet." She wasn't sure if Val was going to take this suggestion as an insult but it was how Hunters start. They take small targets to get warmed up and get a feel for how things work.

Interaction: PixelSymphony​

 

[PixelSymphony]

~(Sr.) Val'sharra Nightshroud~
~ Traditions of the Trade ~

Status
Condition: Nominal
Wearing: Semi-formal outfit
Carrying: 2x pistol, 2x dagger
Location: Inside of Harper's truck, Hartfield, AZ
Time: 2:15 PM

---

Val nodded along to Harper's words. "Right, right, that makes sense. It's... a little chilling then to think we may have just walked right by potential Athena allies or Coven enemies back in the parking lot without even knowing it," she trailed off. The sheriff's building in the distance caught her attention, the cement and brick building certainly impressing upon her a definite utilitarian sense of authority. As the engine shuddered to a halt, she responded to the older woman's clearly less than impressed face. "Yeah! You'd be surprised how many resources there are for turning your gunplay into a fluid, continuous series of poses and movements!" She held up a hand before Harper could get too upset. "But as I said, I'll stick to the fundamentals for now. That's the least I can do since you're mentoring me."

Hopping out of her side of the truck cabin, Val hustled to catch up to the werewolf, noting that she moved with little hesitancy or delay in her steps. "PDs, Sheriffs, and government buildings," she repeated, slowing her jog to something approaching a power-walk to keep up, "Got it. Beats trying to search a job board full of business cards." She remained wordless at the remark of her lack of experience limiting her bounty prospects, shrugging in a "if you say so" manner. "I'll do whatever you say, Miss Harper. Uh, just one quick question: are they going to let us in the building with all the iron we're strapping?"

---

Interaction: BoomersAndMash

 

[4scorelightnings]

Nava Arnumi
Outside Ma's Diner

Nava stood up straighter as Selef ( Aurus ) said that she could accompany him as long as she could handle herself. She wasn't certain she could do that on all occasions, especially in line with the work of a regular Hunter, but she wanted to make a good impression and she nodded curtly in response.

As the two women ( BoomersAndMash PixelSymphony ) had pulled out of the parking lot, and Nava was staring intensely at the man who was looking back at her ( Pacificus ), a loud beep-beep of the truck they were leaning on made Nava jump, and she froze for a second in shock before whipping herself to face the guy through the window and snapping up her hand to give him a middle finger quickly before turning back to the dragon, who was back on the hood.

"Really," she agreed with the colorful creature, and then rifled through her bag to get her ID. She let him see it, just so he knew she was who she said she was. Her ID photo was taken three years ago, but she still had the same resting face. She returned into a slight smile before replying once more.

​

"I'm looking forward to learning and helping in whatever ways I can," she told him.

 

[Aurus]

Selef
Outside Ma's Diner

The colorful dragon would take a closer look at the ID shown to him. He wasn't quite sure what to do with it, after all he had very little doubt she had been lying about her identity anyways. Perhaps it was some sort of politeness thing.

Selef would lift a claw up to his chin as he thought a moment about what Nava could do. It was more of a human gesture he picked up from seeing a lot of confused people rather than a natural looking one. "Oh! Actually if you have a phone you could help me contact people when I'm done. Dragons and phones do not mix very well, bad things always seem to happen when I have them. Aegis tried giving me one a couple times, but after an extensive investigation they said they wrote on my record to never let me touch a company phone ever again. I'm really kind of curious what else is on there by this point." he blathers on a little bit, about setting phones on fire or accidentally dropping another in to a magical portal of some sort, but by the end of it all he produces three contact numbers for his current job.

He points to one in particular. "Apparently if you do whatever a text is of this code to this number, the nice folk who asked me to do it will know this one's all set. I usually have to find a phone that i'm capable of getting to work, and then call them so this would save a lot of time.

"Anyways, we might as well get to it it. Do you have a vehicle to get outside the area with? Figured I'd go track down that plant next, and it's probably out in the wilderness. Ohh! Actually we could probably bring some extra things back with all that extra space now that I think about it!"

(Also if you text that number you'll get an automated message about the absurd amount of unclaimed reward money he has, Aegis actually has been automatically paying him for his last 20 years of odd jobs for them.)

Interactions: 4scorelightnings

 

[Pacificus]

Casey reached out and shook Hemlocks hand. His demeanor had changed slightly. Less reserved, more upbeat. "On to the 'Deet's then." He pointed to the vampires photo. "His name is Suvius. Wanted for 5 counts of murder. Local PD wants him dead. But," He held up a finger. "Athena is offering a bonus if we take him alive. Apparently, he has ties to the Coven. Personally, I don't care if we take him alive. Taking a vampire alive is risky as hell. Let's just use that spell of yours. You'll locate him. Then, we can go after him immediately." He spun his keys around in his hand and leaned forward, eager to see the spell cast. "As I said, his name... is Suvius."

(Interaction: Yahhah )

 

[Yahhah]

Hemlock Werwit
Ma's Diner

Hemlock nodded while her hand was shaken. "We'll see what happens I suppose" Hemlock said, alive wasn't ideal. It was harder to get ahold of the useful parts that way. "So, you said his name was Suvius? I don't think that's a common name but who knows..." Hemlock started talking while she flipped her book towards the rune which would allow her to locate the vampire. The Witch dug into a component pouch and produced the feather of a pigeon, she set the feather atop the rune in the book and placed a finger on it. Hemlock shut her eyes and began to chant softly in what would be gibberish to anyone who didn't understand spellcasting, the final word she said before stopping the chant was Suvius. Purplish energy swirled around her right eye and her hair stood on end for a few moments before her eyes flicked open. There was a popping sound which was louder than necessary as the feather on the book imploded into dust. Her right eye had a purple tint to it as the spell took effect. The showmanship hadn't been necessary, if the rune was practiced it wasn't required in writing, but she figured she a little showing off every now and then wasn't too in bad taste. She took a moment to look around herself, out of her right eye there was a highlighted gleam, far away but not overly so. "Alright, I should have a lead." Hemlock said after a bit. She got to her feet and grabbed her book.

Mentioned: Pacificus

 

[BoomersAndMash]

HARPER STEELBITE

Location: Outside sheriff building Time: 2:26 PM

The question caused Harper to pause as she looked back to Val. She hadn't noticed until now that the demon was armed to the teeth and it almost made the older woman chuckle a bit. Cute, but not necessary unless she was on a hunt. With a small grunt she looked back at her truck and nudged her head for Val to go back to it. "Put your stuff back there kid. Shit, you don't need to be armed to the teeth like you're a one woman army. As for me, I have a license to carry my pistol and my shotgun is in the truck. My knives are counseled so they won't notice."

It also helped that her Hunter file was clean and she had gone through the paperwork to carry on site. Some Hunters don't do the extra paperwork for one, it cost an extra few hundred dollars and two, they think it's a waste of time. Which reminded Harper that she would have to help Val to go through her registration paperwork to carry a weapon on site.

She leaned against the building crossing her arms and gave a small grunt. Today had been interesting and it was only getting more interesting. Who knew a small town in the middle of the desert could be carrying to many supernatural and Hunters. It didn't sit right with Harper and it made her keep her guard up. Harper scanned the parking lot and around them to keep an eye on those that walked by the sheriff office.

'Pick up a small bounty. Get back on the road and move away from this town. The further we're away the better. Leave less tracks.' As the steady wind picked up Harper allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment to relax.

Interaction: PixelSymphony​

 

[PixelSymphony]

~(Sr.) Val'sharra Nightshroud~
~ Leave your Guns at the Door ~​

Status
Condition: Nominal
Wearing: Semi-formal outfit
Carrying: 2x pistol, 2x dagger
Location: Exterior of Sheriff's Office, Hartfield, AZ
Time: 2:26 PM

---

Val skidded to a halt. "Wait... I have to leave my guns... behind?" An unhappy frown crossed her lips as she attempted to come up with an argument against this, but Harper's words were quite uncompromising in their intent. "But I never go anywhere unarmed..." With a final despondent look, she made her way back to the truck, hopping back into the cab before she began the process of disarming. One holster fell away from her leg, then the other, then the dual sheaths across the small of her back, crisscrossed to hold their paired blades within rapid deployment reach. Then the magazine pouches, the utility pouches, the medical pouches and her PDA - no wait, better keep that. Finally, with a small stockpile of equipment now occupying the passenger footwell of the truck, she hopped back out and began the trek back to the front doors, her arms crossing afore herself as if they could substitute for the arsenal she left behind.

"All right, I'm... ready to go in I guess," she said with a heavy sigh. "Lead the way, if you don't mind; these places tend not to like my kind I'm afraid."

---

Interaction: BoomersAndMash

 

[Silver-]

Silver Blackwood
Mentions: BoomersAndMash Pacificus Aurus 4scorelightnings PixelSymphony | Wearing: Lightweight trenchcoat, skinny pants, mock-neck sleeveless top, lace-up boots (all black).

For such a sleepy little town, there sure are plenty of Hunters. Dark brown, nearly black eyes scoured the rooftops of each building searching for the cause of the ruckus. Approximately two trucks had revved their way into town, bringing both a volley of dust and dried earth to shower the dry air with their orangish haze. Who and what exactly sat inside each of them was her target of interest. Languidly sliding into a casual sitting position from her perch, Silver could see a handful of Hunters pouring into the local diner with the Ford and Chevy trucks coming to a rumbling halt as their sparks were smothered by the single turning of a key. The scent of werewolf and human wafted into her senses, her hackles already rising in reaction to the scents and her wolf stirring from it’s slumber to invoke a guttural growl in the back of her throat. Human. Memories of her father flooded into her thoughts as she bore down on the both of them with equal amounts of distrust and abhorrence but with a swift hand she pinched the bridge of her nose, scolding herself in a way. The Coven’s ideals were deeply rooted into her whether she liked it or not. The latter, surprisingly, being the most accurate.

Humans had the tendency to destroy everything around them before being consumed by grief and regret for the atrocities they’d committed when it was far too late, but then again, it wasn’t her place to truly question the lives of individuals as interestingly enough, they had different personalities and tendencies. It was this interest alone that caused her to be unable to cling to so much aversion to them. Beautifully awful creatures full of cruelty.. yet kindness in gentlest of manners.

With a slow blink, her dark gaze flickered with a certain burden, as if she had been endowed with carrying the weight of too many. Whatever.

Silver headed down the rooftop downwind so that she wouldn’t be scented or seen by either of her current targets. She counted several supernaturals vibing around the entrance to the diner which would prove difficult to not be noticed should she decide to pursue her foes. A dragon and.. half dryad? How rare. Beneath the roof of the diner she could’ve sworn there’d been a witch as well. Focusing on the conversation, she caught a handful of names that may prove useful: Selef, Nava. Selef appeared to be a radiant purple and blue dragon of a size that could only be described as “fairy-like” which sparked interest in Silver’s heart as she felt her chest tighten a bit like when somebody saw something or someone they liked. Adorable. Nava and Selef appeared to be exchanging a traditional conversation with each other which nearly made Silver tilt her head as she now took shelter from the shade of a nearby alley between buildings for a moment to process what to do next. She’d only heard of either of their species in books and their scents only familiar due to her ability to observe information in the back of her mind only to unconsciously bring it up later. She also noted that Selef was sitting quite comfortably on the hood of the truck that the human had slipped out of, causing a troublesome thought to buzz in her mind.

A heartbeat later, the werewolf scent she’d caught before freshened as a woman dressed in red flannel stepped into the parking lot, the metal that glinted on her chest catching in the sweltering sunlight. A fang? She was a part of a pack? An annoyed sigh left Silver’s lips at the sight, followed by the slight slumping of her shoulders as another woman followed right behind her, bearing ebony horns and hair as white as her wolf’s fur. Wolves didn’t travel normally travel with demons, she noted. The manner in which the demon moved was far too casual for that of a seasoned Hunter. Part of her wanted to know more about them both, another part growled for her to do her job and take them out. Her feet moved on their own after the Ford truck roared to life with both of them in tow.

Leaving a wide berth between her and the diner, Silver clung easily to the shadows of the nearby buildings, ensuring she wouldn’t be compromised as her footfalls were masked by the windswept earth. Her dark attire would stick out like a sore thumb to the locals as she was essentially dressed from head to toe in black but the hazy waves of uncomfortably hot air would prove to be an advantage in making her image appear far more like an afterthought. She had just been passing by where the dryad and fairy dragon were when the Chevy’s alarm sounded off sharply. The werewolf halted in her tracks as she stood just out of sight of the two to stare scorchingly into the diner at the human she recognized now as the owner of said truck. Both Selef and Nava had jumped in surprise at the curt noise and Silver could feel the fascination she’d had for the tiny dragon smolder into an irritated flame. The human was casting obvious stares of concern in the direction of his car, most likely due to Selef sitting on it but there had been no reason to alarm them if they were doing no harm. Without a second thought, Silver’s trenchcoat briefly parted further to reveal a glimpse of silver-blue and as quick as it had appeared, it was gone.

Retaining the same calculative pace, Silver walked past the back of the truck in silence, continuing her way just as loud hissing erupted from the bed of the Chevy with the 4x4 physically slumping as air escaped it’s back tire. A clean line was scored across the sidewall in one purposeful stroke. Silver didn’t turn to check any reactions she may have invoked and instead followed the tracks of the Ford, seeming to melt back into the heat and shade of the Arizona day.

 

[BoomersAndMash]

HARPER STEELBITE

Location: Inside sheriffs office Time: 2:30PM

Her eyes opened slowly as she heard Val's voice chime in. The demon seemed upset that she had to part with her weapons but it went with the territory to play by human rules. Pushing off the wall Harper moved towards the door and opened it for a brief moment, allowing Val enough time to grab it as she walked in. The inside of the office was your typical small town sheriff department. It had a podium at the front where an officer was sitting behind it working on some paperwork. Behind them was a steel door that was locked and read in big black letters "CELL BLOCK". On the right side was more desk and computers with filing cabinets. It wasn't impressive but then again none of these places were, unless you were in the big city. Then those departments were where the designs were at.

Going up to the podium Harper waited for the officer to notice them before saying anything. "Just give me a minute ma'am. I'm finishing this sentence up and then I'll be with you in a minute." the officer said, in a drone tone. She bristled a little at being called ma'am. One of the few things Harper hated to be called. After a few more moments the officer placed his pen down and looked up at Harper and Val. His eyes quickly locked onto the demon but then returned to Harper.

"How can I help you today ma'am?"

There it was again. The ma'am. A low snort came out of her nose as she clicked her tongue to keep herself calm. "We're here for a bounty. I'm Harper Steelbite, My records are in the data. This is a new Hunter. She's under my charge." The officer eyebrows raised a little hearing that Val was under Harper care. He shifted in his seat a little half expecting that the demon was the target.

"You said you were looking for bounties?"

Harper nodded her head. She felt herself becoming more annoyed with each passing second as she spoke to this man. The sound of typing could be heard and it seemed like an eternity before she was spoken to again.

"Well we got an infestation up at the pig farm of camel spiders. You know what those are right?"

Her teeth clenched together feeling insulted at being questioned what a camel spider was. Of course she knew what they were! Normal camel spiders don't make it on bounties, but supernatural camel spiders, those were different. They were 1 foot in length, highly aggressive and their main diet was meat. They seemed to crop up a lot at farms due to the high constriction of animals and every year Hunters are called out to take care of the problem if the farmers can't handle it themselves.

With a low growl and a narrow of the eyes Harper snarled low "I know what they are. We'll take the bounty."

The officer gave Harper a lazy nod as he typed on the keyboard a few commands before printing off a piece of paper and handing it over to her. She ripped it out of his hands and turned on her heels quickly not wanting to be in the presence of this man any longer. The paper held the location of the bounty, information of the target and how much the reward was going to be. For a first hunt this was going to be a good start for a new Hunter, like Val.

Interaction: PixelSymphony​

 

[PixelSymphony]

~(Sr.) Val'sharra Nightshroud~
~ The First Job ~​

Status
Condition: Nominal
Wearing: Semi-formal outfit
Location: Interior of Sheriff's Office, Hartfield, AZ
Time: 2:30 PM

---

Val stepped in behind Harper, quietly bringing the door to a close before taking a look around her new environs. Well... points for utilitarianism, I guess. There was little doubting what each area of the building was for, nor was there much question of where to proceed: Harper strode directly for the podium behind which the desk sergeant appeared to be filling out some variety of form, which he tied off and then looked upwards, but not at Harper, but no, straight at Val. And there's that gaze I've seen a hundred times. Val'sharra was well aware of the near-universal distrust most other races had for demons; then again the myths and fables existed for a reason. Demons tended to be rather... passionate in their drives, and if said drive just happened to be world domination, well, look out. Thankfully for modern society, most of them had been able to divert their drives into socially acceptable channels: yes, there was indeed your stereotypical devil lawyer, and yes, they were indeed absolute hell on wheels for making iron-clad contracts, but her kind also went into other fields; demon musicians brought their fiery influence to the stage, burning up guitar strings and vocal cords alike, while you could be assured an infernal doctor would bend every loophole in the book to make sure their patient got their treatment covered by medical insurance.

Still, in a case like this, it was better to be cautious, and for Val's she remained entirely wordless, allowing the peace officer to give a long hard stare at her before eventually turning to Harper to conduct actual business. The demoness silently released a breath she didn't even realize she was holding and followed along with what was going on, lest she lose track of why she was apprenticing in the first place. It was actually somewhat nice to hear the werewolf state aloud that she was under her tutelage to the man, though she suspected it did little to allay any suspicions he had about her. For what it was worth, Val was making sure to keep her hands entirely in view the entire time, clasping them together atop her head as if she was already assuming the position.

The mission itself sounded, if something mundane, at least fairly straightforward, and it would be a chance to demonstrate her marksmanship. As for the actual targets... Camel spiders? I know they're big but... if they're an actual bounty, there's got to be something up with these. As Harper accepted the job, snatching the infosheet and turning to leave, Val gave a small, polite bow to the front desk man and quickly matched pace behind her mentor. As they made their way outside, she began to inquire about the nature of these beasts. "Sooo I take it these aren't just the kind of camel spiders you could crush with a frying pan?"

---

Interaction: BoomersAndMash