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

[bigbaddy]

[ That pause is so telling. It's not even like it's super long, but given what Bigby just said, and given the intentions he said it with.. He's so sure that it actually made the other man think about all of this a little. Which is exactly what Bigby wanted.

He just hopes it's a good sort of thought. It'd be nice if Konstantin could realise that he can trust Bigby when it comes to this - especially when he knows how isolating it can be to have to keep a secret. Even if he dropped his own partially out of necessity, he can't deny that it feels better to just be open with people about what he is. ]

I hope so. [ He replies, shrugging a little bit as he does so.

Bigby can't ask Vash that now anymore, after all. It sucks. ]

I also told him that I'm not going to let anyone here in town discriminate or outcast anyone else for being different. It's the last thing we need when we're also dealing with..

[ .. his voice trails off. He stares at the feathers, something a little softer - and perhaps sadder - entering his expression. ]

.. with this shit.

[sputnik]

[ Konstantin's looking back over to Bigby at that, staring at the other man. Again, all of this is so... new to him, this concept of other people having something wrong with them in the ways he does, or ways similar at all — ways that could earn discrimination, ostracization.

He's quiet for a few lingering moments, feeling that overarching, lingering weight in the air, something that the other man's softening tone is a reminder to. After a moment, Konstantin takes a little half step closer, reaching to clasp a hand against the other man's shoulder for a brief moment, giving it a soft pat. Soft, but meant as a comforting gesture. (A bold move, some might say, considering what Bigby was doing the last time he saw him — but Konstantin isn't shy to boldness, and... this man just lost a friend.)

But he doesn't push, doesn't linger, stepping back again to give him his space after a moment, moving back towards the nearest wall so he can lean against it a little, slowly folding his arms. He knows eventually he might have to divulge some things about himself to others, or either isolate himself entirely. This precarious balance he's found may only be temporary. (He heard there was a snowstorm here, not long before his arrival. What if another one happens? What if they lose supplies, or run out of them over time? What if there are no more grouse to find? What if the thing inside of his body becomes desperate? He can't stop it. He can't control it.) ]

What if.... the ways in which someone is different could be dangerous to others? If they could be a risk to the rest of the people here?

[ The questions stay easy, conversational — curious but not insistent. It's a nice idea, truly, that no one would face backlash for such a thing, but as much as he fears such a thing happening to him again, the truth is he knows he should be locked up somewhere. Monitored. At least Vasiliy's able to monitor his situation as much as possible, but... it's so unpredictable. ]

[bigbaddy]

[ Bigby really didn't expect the touch. He doesn't ever expect touch that isn't violence, really - and even more so at a moment like this. A moment where he feels a little more vulnerable than the usual. It's a good thing it's only brief, since he would know even less what to do with anything beyond that, but..

.. just the touch itself is already a little strange. He hardly seems to react to it, but Bigby's mind is very much busy with trying to register and process it.

It's another sign, right? Whatever the hell Konstantin is, whatever is going on with him that clearly is not just a medical condition - it doesn't make him a bad person if he's going out of his way to comfort people who are having a rough time.

It makes the answer to this question exceptionally easy. ]

Isn't it then only more important for people to know? [ Granted, this isn't new rhetoric to Bigby. He told Louis the same thing, even if he didn't seem to agree with Bigby on his one.

That didn't change Bigby's own mind though. This still feels like the most logical thing to him. It's what he'd do too if his own otherworldliness was actually dangerous in any way. ]

That way we can jointly figure out what to do about it, rather than anyone having to deal with it by themselves. It's much more likely that we can find a solution where no one has to get hurt if we do it collectively, rather than wait for some bomb to go off and catch us all by surprise.

[ It's definitely aimed at Konstantin. Not too obviously so, you could easily take it as just him being conversational in return, but.. Bigby definitely means for it to get through to the other.

Maybe that's why his tone seems to strengthen itself a little again with honesty. ]

There's a young girl here in town who's a vampire. I let her drink some of my blood. [ Maybe not the most normal thing ever to say, but Bigby makes it sound so normal. Like he thinks it's normal, somehow. ] That's how we solve shit.

[sputnik]

[ Yeah. Yeah. He's had that thought, more than once — that it's all the more important that he let people know. They deserve to know if something like him is walking around among them.

(Tatiana would want him to tell people, if he's going to live here and engage with them. He can hear her voice in his mind, as clearly as anything. She'd sharpen the edges of it, not holding back her frustration with him. She'd bring up the fact that a hero would never put innocents' lives at risk. She was furious enough with him for letting those horrible criminals meet a gruesome end, but these people aren't like that. They're.... civilians. Men and women and some much younger than that. It's all the more horrifying that he would let himself be around them.)

He hesitates, uneasy, stomach curling with something that feels like guilt, and as it tightens, he can feel the creature stir a little, sensitive to the movements of the tight walls that surround it.

Bigby's words make sense and they're also the right thing to do, but not for the first time in his life, Konstantin finds that "the right thing to do" could be the most threatening, to him. To his survival. To what he needs to get done, which is to survive this place long enough to escape it, and to find his child. What if someone does try to hurt him, because of what he is? Or locks him up? What if some kind of authority are called? The scientists will still be looking for him. They'll do anything to get him back.

He blinks in surprise at the mention of a vampire, still unable to wholly believe such a claim, but.... with a bit less doubt than before. Is he truly just one monster among many, here? ]

I see. [ He finally says, and it's with as much nonchalance as he can muster, and a small smile. ] It does make sense. Keep one step ahead. Stop a problem before it can ever become one.

[ ....But he can't. He can't do that, not yet. He doesn't know who he can trust. Is it selfish? To want to protect himself this way? Tatiana had accused him of all the worst things. Coward. No better than the creature inside of you. ]

If I happen across any other monsters, I'll point them your way.

[ It's not said with sarcasm. He does mean it. But he needs to shrug this off, and pretend that he's something he's not, which is someone who's safe. And he needs to leave, before this conversation turns into something he can't come back from. It wouldn't be the first time Konstantin Veshnyakov ran away. ]

In the meantime, I should probably get going, my friend. Doesn't seem like a good idea to be out after dark.

[bigbaddy]

[ Bigby quietly watches the other man for a moment.

He could tell Konstantin how obvious he's being. Maybe not to your regular person, but to someone who knows exactly where to look for the signs like Bigby? He couldn't possibly be more obvious. Just the choice of the word monsters by itself is saying so much, and it's also saying a lot about the reasons why Konstantin isn't coming clean to him about whatever specifically is going on with him.

It's because he thinks himself a monster. It's not a sentiment that's foreign to Bigby. He's been called a monster. Still called that, sometimes.

He doesn't think they're wrong.

But at least he can be open about what he is. Konstantin clearly hasn't reached that level yet. He's running away from it - quite literally, with what he's saying in the end there.

.. Bigby doesn't say any of it. Maybe it's better to let the other man live with it for now. It's not like there's many people in town who can see the signs of something other as well as Bigby can, having been surrounded by it all his life, being born from it.

Instead-- he just nods. ]

Sure.

[ He will just let Konstantin go. ]

You can go. I'll stay here for a while more. For-- [ .. he pauses, gesturing vaguely at the feathers that litter on the floor of the church. ] For him.