I need new clothes, I need somewhere to stay

[salamanca]

Who: Lalo Salamanca and YOU.
What: Lalo comes back from his travels with Methuselah badly injured.
When: January 29th thru the next week or so after
Where: Around town. See individual prompts.

Content Warnings: Description of injury, blood, and infection; others tba.

See individual prompts in the starters below.

Comments

C

[meadqueen]

[It's kind of shocking to see someone so severely wounded at the hall, particularly in light of recent events.

Randvi had met this man and knows how fast and agile he is, so whatever had hurt him must have been formidable.]

What happened?

[salamanca]

Randvi! How are you, my dear?

[ Lalo looks delighted to see her. He gestures to a seat next to him. ]

Come sit down! It's a long story. How much time do you have?

[meadqueen]

As well as can be expected. [Yes terrible things have happened but for the most part she's unharmed.] It's been challenging for everyone after everything that's happened, but we can discuss that later if you wish to.

[salamanca]

No, no. Tell me. What happened? [ He's been able to piece together some of the story from eavesdropping and reading messages on the notice board, but it'd be nice to get the whole story directly from someone who was actually in town for it. ]

[meadqueen]

Did you have the nightmare out there, the one about the wolf god? It came here several days ago, incapacitated the entire town, and killed La’an Noonien-Singh. She had no injuries. It seems she died from fright. She has been laid to rest now, but everyone is still on edge. We don't know whether she was targeted or simply unlucky.

[salamanca]

[ Lalo listens to her story; it jives with the small bits and pieces he's been able to figure out from what he's gathered here and there.

Incredible, he can't help thinking. Lalo shakes his head slowly, and gives a tiny exhale through his nose. Looks like his timing for when to get the hell out of dodge is impeccable as always. ]

I didn't know her well, personally. But I'm sorry for you loss. If you did. [ He says it more out of politeness than genuine empathy. Sharp eyes focus on Randvi. ]

What was she doing right before she passed? Anything unusual? [ Lalo isn't sure if Randvi will know. He is thinking, though. About the creature. He pauses. Hesitates. Then... ]

I think there's something you might want to know. About the creature. [ He's already told Kate what Methuselah told him, but if there is anyone else he trusts besides Kate, well, it's probably Randvi. She's practical and a sucker straightforward. ]

The old man, he told me a story about it.

[meadqueen]

I've seen her around town before, but did not know her well. It was much harder on some of the others. But thank you.

She was found outside the hall. From her tracks, I do not believe she was running, and there were no signs of a struggle, though there were strange waves and a… a residue of sorts on the snow around her that later disappeared. She was facing east, which is where the waves led, but no creature was located. I heard a scream, but I could not say with certainty that it was her. [In truth until Edward had said that he’d heard it she’d thought that the scream might have been her own.]

Oh. And just before it arrived, the moon seemed to disappear. [This had disturbed her greatly as a wolf eating the moon is part of her people’s story of the end of the world.]

He told you about it? This wolf creature?

[salamanca]

Residue?

[ Lalo looks thoughtful about that. ] What, you mean like blood? [ It does not sound like blood. Lalo figures, if anyone knows what blood and corpses are supposed to look like, it's a Viking. He thinks there's something noble about her way of life that's missing from his modern age; men were honest about being at each other's throats back then. But then, he disgresses; and anyway Lalo is one of the least honest people about that, so he has no room to talk really. ]

Yeah. He did. Called it "The Darkwalker." [ If Randvi is disturbed by what she's heard already, then what Lalo is about to tell her won't make her any happier.

It doesn't make him happy either. Lalo, who is insane, still loves the world and everything in it too much to willingly allow it to be devoured. Perhaps more importantly, Lalo is in the world, which is reason enough to justify the necessity of its current existence in his opinion.

He takes a deep breath. ]

That's not all. Sickest shit I ever heard, Randvi, believe it. You know what? I trust you. I'll tell you everything he told me. Buckle up, kiddo.

[meadqueen]

No. It looked like a reflection of the aurora, but it was a substance. I saw one of the others touch it. [He’d said it 'felt like death' which she's trying not to think about.]

The Darkwalker. A fitting name. Tell me the tale.

[salamanca]

It sure is.

He says the niños here used to scare each other with stories about it. It's supposed to wake up from its sleep - and swallow the whole world. One head swallows everything in the sky, one everything in the ocean - and one everything on land.

Then, he can go back to sleep.

[meadqueen]

[She shudders. It is like Fenrir and his children.]

Was this what it is capable of even as it slumbers?

[salamanca]

Hell if I know. Everything I told you's what he told me. He told me what's to the East, too.

[meadqueen]

To the east? Has he been there?

[salamanca]

Must've. He doesn't like to give too many details. You could probably ask him yourself. When you see him.

[meadqueen]

He was not so helpful the last time I spoke with him.

[salamanca]

[ Lalo snorts. ] Yeah, that's typical. [ He shifts his position on the couch. ] That's all I got for ya, sweetheart. You know everything I do now.

[meadqueen]

Except what is to the east.

[salamanca]

Nothing gets past you, does it?

He said - ah - he said it's [ Here, Lalo imitates Methuselah, in his creaky old man voice: ] "Timberwolf Mountain and Bittermarsh Muskeg, even further lies Keeper's Pass — and then the wilds of Blackwood and the nameless places. There are wilder areas of the Northern Territories than the wilds of Milton."

[ Lalo seems very amused by himself. ]

[meadqueen]

I see. It sounds like difficult terrain in that direction.