you can run but you can't escape

[singmod]

THE DARKWALKER COMES

The Darkwalker strikes again. This time, it does not come for one Interloper — but four.

WHEN: March 2nd.
WHERE: Milton.
CONTENT WARNINGS: death of playable character; supernatural death; mention of dead body; themes of death; supernatural beings; themes of terror; themes of peril.

YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T ESCAPE

The sun sets on another day in the Northern Territories. The night is calm but cold, scant clouds drifting low in the skies promising snowfall soon. A waning moon sits in the skies amongst its sea of stars, and those looking up may notice it — slowly, one by one, the stars begin to go out.

Then the moon's light is swallowed whole, and a blanket of green gloom descends upon the town of Milton. One more, the sky is dark and green and terrible. Many of those will recognise it, what this means and what will come. Others will not understand it, not know what it is that awaits them all.

They will soon find out: the Darkwalker comes.

Fear washes over you like a cold wave, a vice-tight grip that squeezes the breath from you. Interlopers will find themselves over-come, and everything in their bodies and minds tells them to run. To flee. And so you run, heading for cover indoors. Curtains will be drawn, some may hide under beds, within closets or wardrobes. Some desperate attempt to conceal themselves, make themselves small, unseen. Some Interlopers, in that fear, may rush to friends or loved ones to hide with them, others may simply cowered alone — crawling and whimpering away from the night. The fear is irrational, unable to be overcome — even by the bravest or most stoic of Interlopers.

The Darkwalker howls: indescribable, unnatural, demonic. Low moans and groans. It comes from the east, the faint booms of footsteps in the distance growing ever nearer. It is coming, once more. It's coming for one of you. And still, you are powerless, unable to do anything. And it is an agony, awaiting its arrival. You cry, you whimper, you cower. Curling up for some shred of comfort, and finding none.

The footsteps draw closer and closer, and you feel like the ground itself may be threatening splitting open beneath you. It isn't you that it hunts, but you notice its path — a straight line from the east towards Milton Church. It seems to go on forever, building into a crescendo. Your heart beats so hard you fear it may burst from your chest, as if you might die of fright.

There is an almighty sound; the Darkwalker devours and suddenly the sky is alight: streaks of pale colour shoot across the gloomy green — almost blinding for one long moment. A woman's scream fills the air and then snaps into silence.

The skies return to normal, the green is gone, the fear melts away from you. It is done.

There is no body in the street. Interlopers venturing out will need to go looking for whoever it is that's fallen victim to the Devourer. The answer will be found within Milton Church.

Towards the altar, peppered amongst faint glimmers of intangible green that will fade by morning, lie the twisted and mangled bodies of Nicholas Wolfwood, Millions Knives and both iterations of Vash the Stampede. There's no blood, no physical wounds — simply the contorted bodies that lie dropped like ragdolls. Each of their faces stare with wide eyes, frozen in horror — just as La'an Noonien-Singh was.

The Darkwalker has devoured more. There is a story, told by Methuselah: It is said that the Darkwalker will awake from its slumber and swallow the world whole. One head will swallow the stars and moon and sun. Another will swallow the seas and lakes and rivers. The third will swallow the land, and every living thing upon it — and only then will the Darkwalker be satisfied and return to sleep once more.

It feels as if the Darkwalker is making good on its story: one by one, it will devour you all whole. And now the Interlopers of Milton must grapple with more death.

FAQs

1. Essentially, a 'party post' for reactions to the Darkwalker's attack, the immediate aftermath, and any funerary preparations. Have... fun???

2. Information on the Darkwalker's attack can be found here.

3. An OOC Rundown for the original Darkwalker's attack, which includes some FAQs can be found here.

4. Notes about the characters:

Wolfwood: He doesn't leave any messages behind. Folks are welcome to go through his house, which is the cabin by the pond -- there's nothing in there of his, and the only changes he made to the house was pulling a twin bed over in front of the fireplace. The wall of the cabin is also scorched from inside, from where his Lightbringer power erupted at one point.

Vash The Stampede (Trigun Stampede): He really didn't have much belongings or anything in particular of note, so it is a free for all situation in terms of possessions.

Vash The Stampede (Trigun Maximum): He'll be leaving behind his meager belongings. all of it can be found on either his person or in the church's living quarters which is also decently stocked with foraged foods. alas he's prepared no messages because he is absolutely atrocious at saying goodbyes.

Millions Knives: He'll leave behind sharpened hunting and skinning knives (hah), some fishing equipment, and scattered feathers around the church.

Comments

[salamanca]

A lot of people would definitely say Lalo's world sucks. Lalo would disagree.

"The government?" Lalo shakes his head in condolences. "That's no good, kid. Let me tell you one thing. You can never trust the government. They're all corrupt." In Lalo's world, they are often corrupt in his favor, but the point still stands.

"Last time?" Lalo continues picking at the bodies for anything interesting. He hands Levi a small knife. "Here. Take this kid. What happened last time?"

Lalo, after all, had not been present for La'an's death or its aftermath. Too busy traveling with Methuselah and getting attacked by wolves.

[solitarysoul]

"I know," he says in the most unimpressed voice possible. He'd seen enough to know not to trust or expect fairness from the government before he was even enlisted.

He takes the knife, though he's not sure why it's being handed over. "We found her outside. Nobody could tell what happened so Dr Goodsir performed an autopsy. We didn't find anything useful, though. Just her heart stopped...and she hadn't eaten for a few days."

[salamanca]

"Smart kid." Lalo means that.

Heart stopped. Hadn't eaten for a few days. "When was the last time anybody saw her? Before she" -- Lalo mimes slashing his own throat with a hand -- "you know."

[solitarysoul]

"Um...I'm not sure. It didn't seem like she'd been missing or anything. Fraser, the mounty guy with the weird hat, lived with her or something."

[salamanca]

Lalo files that away. He'll have to ask Fraser about this later. He pats Levi on the shoulder. "Thanks, kid. You're a smart cookie, you know that?"

[solitarysoul]

Levi freezes and tenses up at the pat, but tries not to draw attention to that fact. "Thanks."

[salamanca]

Lalo, of course, can't help but feel him tense up a little, but he can also tell Levi is trying to suppress it, so he doesn't mention it. He does file the information away for later, though. But it makes sense that a child soldier would be jumpy at being unexpectedly touched.

"So what brought you down here?" For all Lalo knows, Levi came here for the same reason he did. That, too, would make sense for a child soldier.

[solitarysoul]

"I..." Why did he come here? "I wanted to see for myself. See if anything was different." If he could learn anything or do anything to protect people from this happening again.