[Video]

[flickerflash]

[She'd been waiting for hours to see if they'd turn up.

Just a little after dawn on the 25th a piece of smudged notepaper gets carefully tucked into Katie's journal, and then she tosses the whole thing into the hollow log she's sitting on out in the forest.

The video clearly picks up the message. It's not very long.]



   Gone fishing.
Everyones invited
   except Raine.
  No drowning.



[There won't be any replies. She's gone.]

Comments

[flickerflash]

[It isn't until the shadows thicken that Katie finds its coiling movement familiar, and her eyes widen as she grabs reflexively over her shoulder for the hilt of a sword...which she doesn't have. Well, that's irritating. And coiling around Raine makes it complicated to get rid of.

This is recent. He attacked Raine too, did he?]

You're very rude to interrupt, Helios. Hold on. [She puts out her hands to touch the coiling shadow instead.]

[wise_maiden]

[Katie called it Helios. Did that mean --

... well, there wasn't much time to peruse that thought, despite a connection slipping into place. For now there was that pressing thought of how certain things could kill you here if you weren't careful - and she certainly knew how dangerous that shadow was. Katie was doing something though, so she tries to remain as still as possible, watching the girl take hold -]

... i-it's a demon. Or was a demon. [A God, it had called itself, but mostly she just remembers everything growing cold and numb and spinny as the mana was drained right out of her.] Be careful, please -

[flickerflash]

I'm always careful. [It's an echo. A ghost of a nightmare, and if she had her sword here she'd just fight it in the good old-fashioned way, because that would be fair. Her other option is an extremely disconcerting one, but no damage would really be done. She reaches her other hand across to Raine.] Would you take my hand, Professor Sage?

[wise_maiden]

[Mentally, Raine tries to shove those thoughts aside-the ones of growing numb and dread- though when Katie asks for her hand, almost no thought goes into the action, as she reaches a hand out to the one waiting for her. This was her world, she was better equipped to deal with the things that appeared in it, however unfair it was.]

[flickerflash]

[Katie's magic revolves around the art of wayfare-- quick travel and easy access, and if this shadow was a pure living thing she could never do this. But it's nothing but pure shadow, a trick of the light and the imagination, and she draws the fingers of her free hand down its side in a straight line-- and then thrusts them into the gap that suddenly appears, peeling the shadow back and yanking Raine through the space created.

...in effect, she basically just opened a doorway in the side of a living shadow. It's a little trippy.]

[wise_maiden]

[... Now she just needs a moment to process what just happened there, her eyes wide, but still trusting Katie's lead. And to catch her breath.] I -- goodness.

[flickerflash]

[Katie frowns at the shadow-- and flicks it away, now Raine is free of it, vanishing it into the middle of the forest somewhere. It probably looks rather comical, sailing off. But that's not what she's thinking about.] Is that going to happen often, do you think?

[wise_maiden]

I hope not. [She watches it sail off, then shakes her head and looks back at Katie, instead.] The idea of it must have been bothering me more than I thought it was.

[flickerflash]

[Yes, well. That brings up another point. Katie's eyes flick to Raine's face.] He attacked you, didn't he?

[wise_maiden]

He did. Or rather, the being that had been possessing him did. What do you know about it, Katie?

[flickerflash]

I know it's very rude to attack people when they're minding their own business.

[wise_maiden]

You weren't hurt at all, were you? [Paying close attention to her expressions, so she doesn't misjudge anything.]

[flickerflash]

[Katie looks up at her, face grave.]

Terribly. I died all over again. He was terribly merciless.

[wise_maiden]

... I understand. He's back to his normal self, so we don't have to worry about any more attacks right now. [Evidentially she had been worried in some way, hadn't she?] I apologize for dragging that thing in with us.

[flickerflash]

[She smiles at that.] I've seen much better.

[wise_maiden]

I daresay you've seen quite a lot. It does make me wonder, though... you're surrounded daily, by fears and other things that take a life of their own in your world. When something troubles you, where do you go? You face... so much on your own.

[flickerflash]

[That's sort of the question, isn't it? And Katie looks unsure, because she knows the answer to that, and told straight it would probably be reassuring. But she can't. The closest she can come...]

At home, I'm all by myself. I'm the only one of my kind, and your ghosts are everywhere. It's a wonder I haven't died horribly yet.

[wise_maiden]

[And because it's Katie, no matter how it sounds, it can't be taken at face value.]

You aren't alone here... and yet, you've died here. That just makes it worse, doesn't it? And surely that... with how you've been acting, and even losing your magic... it's taken a toll on you. Perhaps more than anyone could see.

1/2

[flickerflash]

[...

...it isn't often that Katie is rendered speechless. For a long moment, she just stares back at Raine with a look that shifts from astonished to simply lost-- she'd never expect anyone at all to come close to the heart of thinsg, let alone an adult. A human.]

...

I-- I don't--

[flickerflash]

[And then her gaze shifts and snaps suddenly to the edge of the roof behind Raine, as a slender, not-quite-human hand curls its long fingers over the edge.]

You should go.

[wise_maiden]

[Her lack of response is almost as good as a response, but the way the subject seems to be diverted by Katie's change of tone and shifting gaze - there's something off about that too, sudden and ... almost telling.]

Come with me.

[flickerflash]

[She wants to. She really does want to now, but the thing will follow her, likely drawn by the glamour she used just a few moments ago. And perhaps Raine can hear it now, the sound of something odd behind her, a soft swish and tug sound, almost like someone's dragging too much hair over concrete. Katie starts backing away.]

Later. I'll come later. You really should just go. [She cups her forehead with both hands, pushing against the sudden ache, but her eyes are still on the thing now hauling itself over the edge of the roof. Please don't see it.]

[wise_maiden]

[And she can hear something, now. Something fueling Katie's insistence and distraction, and it wasn't anything that she had inadvertently dragged there.

But they're up on a roof. The only way to get away was down, and the water was waiting there, if it hadn't climbed higher as well, and there wasn't a rooftop near enough to try and jump over to.]

Please, let me help you. I can't --

[The sound is louder, almost prompting a slight glance backward over her shoulder.]

[flickerflash]

That's right.

[You can't. Can she? For a moment, Katie doubts-- considers hiding behind Raine like a child, letting the grown ups take care of things. It only takes a moment. This is her world. She can't let someone else take responsibility for it.

Not when a touch might rip the life out of them. Something that Raine, and only Raine, is vulnerable to right now.

And here it comes over the edge of roof, all hands and mouths and rank, matted hair that might be silver under the grime, rotting teeth--

It's gotten so big.]

Don't turn around. [She's urgent. If it doesn't know Raine can see it--] Please.

[wise_maiden]

[She can't get down from there.

Her gaze moves right back to stay on Katie, remaining calm. Hearing her speak completely true was rare, but she wasn't incapable of it. And now, that she thinks of it, she never seems to look well, when she does.

And then it would all boil down to trying to determine what could help someone so used to being self-reliant that they didn't know any other way. There was a certain familiarity in that, and yet...]

You were alone when you needed someone the most, and now it is taking its toll. You're not alone now. Do you understand?