Blizz

TENEBRAE: The Rebellion of Shadows (Ladies Only)

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______________________________________	Ellie _____________________________________________________________________________________ Tenebrae City The lab ______________________________________________________________________________________

What in the Goddamn?

^{______________________________________________________________________________________}

Everything was fine, they battered everything that stepped to them, and landed in an elevator with a clump of scared-witless scientists. Ellie pressed against the wall with the heart in her hands. She took the time to catch her breath while the Elevator went up. They did it. They got the heart, and they made it to an elevator. That should be the worst of their troubles, right? Right?

Wrong.

Suddenly, everything started shaking, and the elevator stopped moving. Ellie all but lost her footing at the sudden falling sensation they all were no doubt feeling. It was like some angry god had been playing tricks on them, because the next floor was right there. If it were safe, someone could just crawl up through. Hell, the though crossed Ellie’s mind to charge up and just strong-arm the whole damn box long enough that everyone could get out in time. That notion was dashed the second the elevators start moving again, but not before everything went black.

All around her, everything stood still. Like cold, dead air when a wolf is staring at you from behind. Black smoke covered up everything beyond the door of the elevator, and what wasn’t being covered was occupied by someone. No doubt a meta. He wore black, and had a covered face. Was it someone Dream knew? Ellie didn’t have the time to react when her vision blackened as well. A feeling of cold hollowness washed over her. There was no pain, no harm, just quiet absence. It filled the elevator until nothing could be seen. But the light of the floor they plummeted away from.

They fell.

And fell.

And fell.

And then they were free again.

The elevator crashed, yet Ellie only felt like she tripped and hit the sidewalk. The doors were swung wide open, damaged and battered from some sort of impact. She stood up wearily, looking through the doors to see…the sky. Ellie stepped out and saw she was on a rooftop of all places. The sunrise peered in ever so slightly over the horizon. Day was breaking, and they were out of the lab, in the middle of the city, in a busted up elevator. They made it after all, but Ellie was confused.

”What in the…”

”Ellie, where’s the heart?”

Fuck.

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______________________________________	Rainsinger _____________________________________________________________________________________ Tenebrae City The lab ______________________________________________________________________________________

Kader.

^{______________________________________________________________________________________}

Everything was all fine and dandy up until the very moment Rainsinger laid eyes on a silver mask and a black cloak.

As they stood on the rooftop, he searched around for the heart Ellie lost. When that didn’t work, he stood there, staring out at the ocean he came from to think. That mask, the smoke. That wasn’t the first time he saw it, or the second time it ran through his mind…

"I'll admit, I'm nervous that you're here. So, I wanted to approach you directly, and ask you to not get involved in anything that'll 'sink the city', so to speak. Or I'm going to have to deal with it, and I won't want to."

"To put this in a better way, you've come at a critical time. I am days away from completing a certain project that will change the face of the world. There will be a struggle to get there. At present, I can contain it, knowing which metas will be in play."

"You though, are what is known as an alpha-class meta. Something I was not expecting, which is half the reason for our unexpected encounter."

So, it seems that guy wasn’t saving face after all.

”Kader.” He said out loud, in earshot of the other two.

”What?

”You get a good look at that guy before we got murked?”

”Yeah…Black cape, white mask-“

”Smokey scar, curls, and a bootlicking grin underneath.”

”Do you know him?”

”Not quiet, few days ago when I got here, he found me at the boardwalk. Started badgering me about what I was doing here, told me not to get involved in whatever the hell he was planning. Said he’d “deal with it” and such. I laughed him off. Guess he wasn’t fooling around.” Linus stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked over the ledge of the building they were on.

”Said his name was Soliman Kader. He runs some gang called the Shadow Knights.”

Ellie paused for a moment to think. Shadow Knights. Knights… Why did that sound familiar?

”I feel like I should know that one.”

”Yeah- me too. Ain’t the first time I’ve heard that name. Maybe Sparky said somethin’ about it once…”

At the mention of the term Sparky, Ellie’s eyes locked onto him.

”Nah, that’s not it. Damn, where do I know that from?” He started muttering to himself, that was gonna drive him nuts later.

”Well, we’re not gonna figure it out standing here all morning.” Ellie’s boots started to glow faintly as she approached the ledge of the building, not far from Dream. ”Plus, it isn’t like him to not catch up with us. Unless he just couldn’t under there.”

”I’m gonna drop by Hel’s place and see if she knows anything, I sure as hell hope you fried that thing before you lost it.”

”As much light as I shoved in it, if that didn’t work, nothing will.”

They needed to do something about all this. While the confused scientists scrabbled about behind them, they planned ahead.

And to make matters worse, Dream said Takeda wasn’t responding. That didn’t feel good, he had a habit of checking in on them, especially with Dream.”Okay, Dream, follow me, and when we find him we can take it easy at my place later. Linus, you said you’re going to the Valkyries? I’m up in the north side apartments. Ask at the desk.”

”Sure.”

”We might want to lay low once we find out where Takeda went. His phone better just be dead or someone’s getting their ass beat.”

A haze of light was left behind by Ellie, as she dropped from the rooftop with a solid thud. Anyone who looked down would see she landed on her feet, and was making her way up the streets. ”Let’s find him.” She said to Dream as she would’ve made her way down with her. ”Where would he be right now?”

Rainsinger, on the other hand, just vanished.

Later…

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Sometime later into the day, maybe half an hour later at least, a certain dead man slipped through the front doors to the Love Street Haven, where Hel caught up with him days ago. Being that Hel came around her in broad daylight, this had to be her territory, she always was fond of that type of mindset. Watching turf like a black widow watches corners of a house. The bar probably hadn’t even been open a whole hour when he arrived.

He went up to the counter and asked the person working behind it. He recognized the girl there, she must’ve worked often. You know where I can find Hel around here? Gotta get ahold of her for somethin’.” A woman of Hel’s status no doubt had little time for this sort of thing, but Rainsinger and Lady Hel went back decades. Something the bartender no doubt noticed the night he talked to her with his tone. To that end, he took a seat and looked around.

”I can wait.”

---

Meanwhile, someone living somewhere half a mile or so from the heart of Valkyrie territory woke up. An old fashioned iPhone alarm shook him from his sleep. Minutes pass, and the shadows of the early morning started dancing around him as he prepared for the days head of him. A pair of shoes floated through the air in the hands of what could only be described as pitch black, three dimensional darkness. The young man’s phone floated over his head in another shadowy hand, as a wall charger was being folded around it. These black, ethereal arms of seemingly nothingness originated from the natural shadow of Jack, who was rummaging through a closet for something to wear. When he pulled a shirt out of there, all of the shadows around him bent inwards to hand him everything they held. Meanwhile, the shadow beneath a desk chair lifted up a darkly colored jacket across the room, which rested itself around him once it made its way over.

Shadows swirled around the room in methodical ways like this for several minutes, grabbing this, that, and anything else relevant. To anyone who might’ve been watching, this light look like a dramatic way for a superhero to suit up with armor, ready to fight a bad guy.

In reality, it was just someone getting ready for school.

TENEBRAE: The Rebellion of Shadows (Ladies Only)

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______________________________________	Ellie _____________________________________________________________________________________ Tenebrae City The lab ______________________________________________________________________________________

3…2…

^{______________________________________________________________________________________}

That didn’t work.

And to make matters worse, now their plan was derailed, and one of the intruders was dangling Dream over the lava. Ellie’s heart was racing, stress was being put on them to give the heart up. They had to do something, fast. Ellie’s mind was running through through ideas. The heart wasn’t worth Dream’s life. Ellie definitely wasn’t about to sacrifice her to secure this objective. The man was pretty large, a head taller than her, and had to have a lot of strength if he could hold an adult woman over the ledge like that. Linus was behind her, face checking the man with a detonator and obviously failing. Whatever he was saying was being tuned out by Ellie, who was hyper-fixated on getting Dream out of that situation.

”Do it.” Linus said.

Ellie’s head swung back to him in surprise.

”Trust me, just give it to him.”

The tone in his voice was all she needed to hear, for all the animosity Ellie had been harboring over Linus’s return, she couldn’t deny the way they fit together in these kind of scenarios. She held the heart up to her chest in her arms, which were glowing a brilliant gold. Not enough to blind someone, but enough to warrant keeping your distance. Like glowing steel pulled from a forge. She steadily walked up to the man holding Dream from death. The casing of the heart was starting to feel a little warm to the touch.

”Pull her up.” Ellie said in a low energy, demanding voice. ”Pull her up and let her go, and I’ll give it to you.” She glared at him dead in the face, trying to conceal the stinging pain she started feeling in her arms. She was channeling sunlight, ready to flood either him or the heart with it, and it felt like she was about to start burning. That wouldn’t be good, especially underground with seemingly no easy way out. She didn’t have to tell Linus what might happen if she burned up, or even burned out in a time like this. So, she maintained a tense facade, ready for a blast-off like the days of old.

Whenever the man would pull Dream onto her feet, and, god willing, let her walk away, Ellie would slowly hold the heart out, keeping her gaze on the man in case he pulled a gun on either of them. Surely he wouldn’t expect one last trick up here sleeves in a spot like this. Once Dream was out of the way, Ellie made her move. It was as if the sun had fallen into her hands, and threw the three of them a lifeline. Everything came down to this very moment.

As the man reached for the heart, the brilliant glow encasing Ellie’s arms was slammed into the heart as violently and roughly as Ellie could handle, and the resulting strain sent out a very brief flash of light. Like a solar flare, or a bolt of lightning. In that instant, the heart had become engulfed in the glow, all of the energy built up in Ellie’s body over the last several minutes was being compressed and bottled up in the device. Ellie’s intentions were to overload it beyond it’s capacity, hoping with all her being that it would burn up. If there were ever a time for her understanding of meta sunlight to fail, this would be the worst.

And then, she did exactly what they wanted, she gave the man the heart, very profoundly. Raised it over her head and hurled it at him, with all her might, square in his chest with a bright burst of light. Her arms were starting to feel fuzzy, like a hot flash. Most, if not all of the sunlight compressed in the heart would shoot on contact, similar to thermal energy being transferred when you touch cold metal, and into the man’s body. A very, very unpleasant feeling, to be sure. She turned around and shouted directly at Rainsinger, who was about to pull off the best damn clutch of his life.

”NOW!”

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______________________________________	Rainsinger _____________________________________________________________________________________ Tenebrae City The lab ______________________________________________________________________________________

…1, Hail Mary.

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”NOW!”

”Tough break, fella.”

The spiraling shield that he’d put up had changed. It was no longer a shield, but a barricade. Linus stretched it out so that it was no more than two and a half feet tall, touching end-to-end with the wall. He then sent it forward, the water barricade slammed forward into the legs and bodies of every Triad member in front of them with the force of a ram. Including the man with the detonator. Anyone standing upright would have their legs swung out from under them and blistered from the sheer impact. Anyone possibly knelt down would have the impact directed more at their bodies, and the feeling would be like being body-slammed by a car. This would not be enough to kill anyone, none of them would break a rib badly enough to puncture a lung for example.

It would, however, knock the wind out of everyone in the hallway that stood in the way of it, as well as knocking them on their faces. Once everyone was flattened, he dove onto the Triad with the detonator, he wanted to tear it out of his hands and hit the deactivation switch. After all, surely these guys at least preferred walking away alive as opposed to nuclear detonation. He never worked on a nuclear sub, but Linus knew water, and it sucked up radiation better than anything on earth. Tenebrae would die of dehydration, radiation sickness, or both. Come to think of it, whoever they were working for would be likely be affected by that as well

Unfortunately, it just disappeared. None of them saw the blinding streak that whipped past them. Whatever it was, it was faster than a shadow, and too blurred for the naked eye to catch.

Did he call the bluff after all? It didn’t matter, it was time to make like a sack of bricks and get the fuck out of here.”Grab that thing and let’s move!” He called to Dream and Ellie, and once one of them picked the heart back up, they stormed their way out, after Ellie stole a handgun off of one of the winded men before they started moving around. The three of them rushed through the halls and corridors of the lab as fast as they could. Water swirled around Rainsinger’s shoulders as it occasionally shot out to bludgeon someone who stood in their path, lab security, Triad gunmen, and so on. If someone got to close, Ellie leapt forward and slugged them across the chin with constant ebbs and flows of golden light through her hands and feet.

”If we can get to that elevator we can get out the way we came in.”

”I’d bet they got the place locked down tighter than that.”

”Everyone down here’s evacuating, they’ve gotta be going somewhere.”

”Sure as hell hope you’re right, kid!”

Just like old times.

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What Dream witnessed with these two in front of her as they made their escape was unlike anything her impression of Rainsinger could have been when Ellie rushed out of her apartment earlier that day. Ellie made him out to be a menace to Tenebrae in the way she described him, and yet, here the two were, working in tandem in ways most people struggle to. They flowed back and forth around each other like the sun’s rays along the waves of the ocean. Rainsinger and Ellie spoke no words to each other in their mad dash to the exit. No matter how many continued to plague their advance, they simply weaved and danced around their adversaries with skill that commanded respect. Whenever someone would make an advance on Dream, one of them covered her backside so she could make a move safely.

Either Ellie sideswiped a baton-shaking guard, or a barrier of water would emerge in a snap to divide Dream from bullets. It was as if all fear, all tension and anxiousness had been detached from the two. They did not hesitate, they did not flinch. They simply raged against everything that dared to slow them down in their attempt to carry the heart to safety. Linus was not the type for big introductions, and they hadn’t had time to get properly acquainted before now, but Dream had ample evidence in front of her stating these two went back a long, long way.

In another time, circumstances such as these would be met not only with water and light, but with fire and gravity as well. This was not entirely out of Ellie’s comfort zone, she remembers a time when this was commonplace for her, when this teamwork got her companions through another day. Linus, too, never bat an eye at the forces that came to slow them down. In the old days, he and a good friend made places like this look easy. There were few things that stood in the way of people like them, back when Tenebrae knew the names Rainsinger and Sunrider. The old man would’ve been proud.

And so they ran.

And ran.

And ran.

Eventually they finally found a place where they could escape…an elevator, where everyone was evacuating by the dozens.

They caught the door and kept their heads down.

Home free.

TENEBRAE: The Rebellion of Shadows (Ladies Only)

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______________________________________	Ellie _____________________________________________________________________________________ Tenebrae City The lab ______________________________________________________________________________________

Not good…

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This was bad to say the least.

Everything fell on them all at once, the ceiling caved in, as armed attackers flooded the area. The hallway was filled with the same men, and to make matters worse, red lasers flicked on them. They were pinned. Ellie’s nerves were on edge, her eyes darted around them, trying to process everything at once. Whoever launched the smoke bombs was either hiding or in the crowd. Out of instinct, her hands lit up enough to throw a few punches, but she stayed crouch down to keep a semblance of cover being Linus’ shield. The attackers outnumbered them at least 20 to 3, there was no observable way they could get out.

"Friends, not sure where you're trying to go, but I think we might be able to help each other."

Thanks, Captain Obvious.

"Hand over the heart, and I can grant you safe passage."

That confirmed what had to be on everyone’s mind, these men weren’t high level security, they had the same goal.

Ellie’s voice dropped to a near whisper as she concealed herself somewhat behind Linus. ”Distract him.”

Linus set to work on striking a conversation with the man who emerged from all the smoke in front of the gunners behind him. He held a remote in his hand, and that needed no thought.

Meanwhile, Ellie turned her attention elsewhere.

”Dream, slowly- slowly move your hands out forward like you’re gonna surrender. When I broke those cuffs, we’re making a beeline for the nearest door we can find.”

"If the heart falls, it'll be destroyed. If you push that, they might back off and we can figure a way out of here."

”There’s no chance they’ll let us out. Look at the guns they brought. You draw, you shoot. Just get ready, when it happens, we aren’t slowing down.”

The entire time, light passively was collecting in her hands.

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______________________________________	Rainsinger _____________________________________________________________________________________ Tenebrae City The lab ______________________________________________________________________________________

Make the play.

^{______________________________________________________________________________________}

”Distract him.”

When the kid had a plan, trust her, he thought.

The man with the ink, who stood tall like he ran the place was in the middle of explaining how the reactor could be blown up when Rainsinger stopped him mid-sentence. ”Nice speech, did you write that down?” You blow that thing, you’re dead, you didn’t swoop in to steal dust. If I knew goons like you were packing, I’d have retired already. Look, you want this little toy we picked up, and we wanna get home.

But the way you’re carrying those guns, big as they are, It don’t look like you want witnesses. It’s smart, really. But you know how you get witnesses taken care of? Risk. Let me ask you something, whoever you are, what’re you getting paid for the box?” He stared the man dead in the face, no less apathetic and collected than the say the King tried to put a leash on him. His voice was raised, and carried a tone that commanded respect and demanded to be listened to.

He was well aware of the gas creeping in them, his shield wouldn’t brush it away, it would just collect it.

”I dunno if you and all these guys are big in Tenebrae, I’ve been out in the world. What’s this heart mean to you? What’s a No-Witness card gonna run you, and what’re you gonna risk for it? Then again, I don’t think you’d have all those toys if your boys weren’t disciplined.”

They raided this lab easier than him and his companions, they meant business. Anyone could see that. His words were unlikely to do anything, but it had to just be enough so Ellie could spin up. ”Do you want to make this ugly? In a lab full of security? The longer we stand here, the longer those guards’ll have to wake back up.”

And so came forth the Hail Mary.

”You went all in when you don’t know your opponent’s hand, and you want to blow up a reactor you’re standing in.

I think you’re scared this ain’t gonna work.”

If this bluff works out, the drinks are on him.

Delbrook Academy High School

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______________________________________	Nora Gales ______________________________________________________________________________________ Location: Lacrosse Field. Interacting With: Eretia Simmons (@Vicier) and Anastasia Hopkins(@MarshiestMallow). ______________________________________________________________________________________

There she is

^{______________________________________________________________________________________}

Nora found herself standing beneath a tree for a considerable amount of time, rather than socializing with people, and running around the lacrosse field during the Welcome Back stuff they had arranged for. She just didn’t feel like it. All the running around and possibly getting sweaty before noon didn’t sound terribly fun. It was the same stuff every year. She was waiting on Tria to come around, they were old friends that go back to their first days of high school, bonding over occult subjects and “satanic” practices, depending on who you asked. No doubt they both had a number of memories of being looked at like a pair of unicorns from time to time.

Nora stayed put, leaning on the tree beneath the shade like that until she spotted someone in the corner of her eye- her other eye- who happened to wave at her. There she was. Tria and Ana! Nora and Ana were somewhat decent friends as well. They bonded over Tria being a mutual friend, who introduced them to each other a couple years ago. They got along well enough, and any friend of Tria was a friend of Nora. Tria was in her cheerleading uniform, so she assumed that’s what she was doing with Ana, they were going over somewhere else, Nora would be right behind them. It had been a while since they saw each other. She could brood under shady trees later.

Nora made her way across the field behind them, slowly catching up by the time they were at the place they were going. Nora looked around at people she had met and no longer talked to, people she’d never seen before getting to know Delbrook for the first time, and more. It felt strange, being back for the last time, she didn’t know which was up around here once, now she’s seeing students who were just like her step onto the grass for the first time. By this time next year, there’d be four grades of students who didn’t know the names of the people her age. She didn’t know how she felt about that, but it was going to happen eventually.

She caught up with them.

”I was wondering when I’d find you.” Nora spoke up, with a rare, warm smile on her face. This girl didn’t smile very often. ”It’s nice to see you two again. Have you seen the others yet?” Contrary to expected belief, Nora had friends. She wasn’t as closed off as one might expect, she was just a bit hard to see through at times, but she enjoyed Tria and Ana’s company.

TENEBRAE: The Rebellion of Shadows (Ladies Only)

Just out of curiosity, would it be okay if I made a "no girls allowed" RP in the public forum? If this is "ladies only", surely the opposite type would be equally permissible. I don't mean to be confrontational, I've just never heard of the concept outside of one-on-one RPs on this forum.

@Aristocles

Delbrook Academy High School

Molly West

---

Pun dulce...conchas...honestly, Molly was hung up on every word that came out of Monse's soft, immaculate face. It had been weeks since these two girls had laid eyes on each other in person. Molly was absolutely enamored by Monse. Their hands wrapped together as they strutted down the Day One Shabam as Molly put it. "Shit, babe, you gotta eat. Did your mom give you a hard time about it? Ah, don't worry, let's get you something good. There's usually some alright funnel cake around here each year, I have some water I can run in and get. Ooh, wait, I saw something on the school's Headbook that they'd have ice cream out here- the good kind, the one with the chocolate in the middle. I fuckin' love that stuff. I got cash, I'll get it if you want babe, we can- Shit, where was it?" Molly felt visibly giddy with Monse's arm wrapped around her, she was usually chill and cool, like the usually "cool kid" attitude, but now that she's been reunited with the love of her life, her lady of the night, her queen, She struggled to contain herself.

All the while, Molly had a cute, sappy smile on her face as if they were on a date and not at school. Really, any day felt like a date to Molly when she was in the general vicinity of her girl. Enough gushing, she thought. "C'mon. Let's find something to eat, babe." She said after a long, huge slurp of her coffee. Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad after all.

---

_@Pyxis

TENEBRAE: The Rebellion of Shadows (Ladies Only)

Ellie and Rainsinger

The gate came crashing down like a stack of boxes.

Pieces of metal flew off in various directions as the warm glow of Ellie’s foot faded, the gates flew open with the loudest sound since a dead man’s rampage. As it echoed all throughout the halls, they all marched forward. They found themselves above a pit of choking heat. Rainsinger stared down into the earth, Ellie searched around them.

”That’s what’s powering this place. Geothermal.”

”Feel like I’m being boiled in here.”

”Yeah- no kidding.” Said Rainsinger, the one not wearing a leather jacket underground. ”They put down a gate that big for this? That don't square.”

”Yeah, well, we gotta move. They’re behind us, and we’re at a dead end. I think we can jump on those, and find a way at the-.”

”Shh!” Linus craned his head towards, he could hear the sound of whirring, as bits of concrete fell from the ceiling. It was quiet in comparison, but it was noticeable. Eventually, they could all hear a loud thump as the grand prize itself just fell before them all by sheer luck. A glittering cube, a matrix of unprecedented metaphysical ability, said to have the ability to store meta powers within like a battery. The one, the myth, the legend. The heart.

It was housed in a glass canister, at least it looked to be glass. Something falling that far and hard couldn’t be housed in just ordinary glass. ”Is that…?”

”It’s gotta be. Grab it an-“ They weren’t alone. Ropes began to drop, they were about to be confronted. That was before the smoke bomb fell next to it. Ellie’s eyes darted to it, and Rainsinger leaped for the heart. The smoke bomb exploded in his face, as he started coughing profusely.

”Shit…here!” Linus managed between hacking as he shoved the heart across the floor before picking himself up and stumbling out. It landed by the gate, between Ellie and Dream. ”We’re pinned.” He finished as he composed himself, dropping his knees slightly into a more defensive and ready stance.

Ellie picked up the heart, on its own, it was small, but the contained made it noticeably larger. It fit under her arm well enough, but the hard part was getting out. ”This isn’t good. Where do we go now?”

”I’m thinking’ we’ll have to bust a way out.”

Ellie backpedaled and glared down the hall they just came from. Nobody had ran this way just yet. Not one of them had noticed the ninja who tossed the smoke down at them. They didn't have long before they would be completely surrounded at all points, the only possible way out was through. A long corridor of hallways they came through, or a vertical shaft that leads to an unknown part of the facility. Rainsinger stared up the shaft through which the heart fell. The sound of drills getting louder and louder. If they were trying to drill a hole in the ceiling, did the shaft go to nowhere? Could they go up the way the enemy was coming down? Ellie could always stun the guards again, but they'd surely expect that move twice, and Linus didn't have enough water to make a platform. What would they have done if they were still here...

Ellie's face perked up after a moment as she turned back to the others, specifically Linus.

"Shinerun?"

Linus looked at her in total silence for a solid three seconds, he didn't expect that.

"Shinerush." He said confidently, as he brushed past Ellie outside the gate.

From the metal water bottles in his pocket, every drop flew out and formed a vertical wheel in front of him. The shape changed as the center of the wheel stretched forward. Ellie got right behind him as she spoke to Dream. "We're going to run out of here, if you see someone behind us, try to make a barrier out of your powers, kind of like the one he's doing. They won't be able to hit us as long as we stay in front of them." The wheel of water that Linus formed was now a hollow, foot long cone that seemed to vibrate profusely. Enough to distort what was being seen through it, but not enough to obscure their vision. Ellie reached forward as a clump of sunlight formed in her own hand. She reached into the water as it began to shimmer like the sun over the ocean. There was damn near nothing that would get to them now, as long as they stayed in front of anyone who tried to fire on them. "It's ready, let's go if we're goin'.

The water began to spin like a whirlpool, causing light to refract off the walls like rocks.

"Stay behind me, let's go!" She told Dream as she clutched the heart under her arms.

Apocalypse Not

@Cio

Apocalypse Not

Howling at The Moon

Reed Hensfield

Age

32

Gender

Male

Species

Human Werewolf

Description

A stout, tall and stony man, Reed is quiet, and observant of the world around him. His eyes always attentive of something even when it doesn’t look like it. He looks intimidating, but while he isn’t a bright and overtly friendly person, he isn't threatening either. Reed is reserved and prefers quiet areas where he can rest easy, like the mountains outside the city, or in his newfound hone where he can find solitude. He also doesn’t mind interaction with others, often listening more than he speaks, but when he does, his words aren’t empty. He speaks with meaning when it matters, and not at all when it does not. Reed gives offs an atmosphere of being closed off from everything around him, like he’s just shut down, but he isn’t, he is just reserved.

What some people first notice about Reed is his well-built stature. Living off the grid means you have to do a lot of things by hand, and Reed has put on quite a bit of muscle in the last few months. On a good day, you might see him carry a fallen tree over his shoulder, at least long enough to cut it into logs. This isn’t the kind of strength that wins fist fights, but the kind that comes from physically demanding conditions.

Personality

While most people might simply see Reed as this quiet and distant man with no place in the world, they don’t see the part of him that he leans into when he is away from the city. On his own, Reed is explorative and curious, trudging through the hills and mountains outside the city like he lives there, having high respect for everything else that he comes across, animals, forests, and people just trying to get away from the mess of the world. To anyone who gets to know him, Reed is a very trustworthy and reliable person to have on your side. When he says he’ll be there, he means he’ll be there. When you say you need help, he’ll help. In rare occasions where he looses his temper over something, Reed can be viscous and cruel against people who do him harm, almost like he’s another person entirely.

Skills

Outdoor Life

From hunting skills, to gathering firewood, to staying on the right path through the woods, Reed is an expert when it comes to living in ways where your survival comes from your ability to fend for yourself. This includes proper handling and marksmanship with a lever action 44-magnum rifle.

Moss

Everywhere Reed goes, he’s followed by a Norwegian Elkhound named Moss. Moss and Reed understand each other in ways most people don’t. While most people train their dogs to understand certain phrases and cues, these two can have entire conversations due to Reed’s werewolf blood, almost like Moss can speak English, she can only talk in the way dogs regularly do, but Reed knows what she means. This also causes most unfamiliar dogs to stare at Reed for unusually long periods of time, since they see the wolf in him.

Transformation

Reed has the power to take on the characteristics of a wolf, his body twists and contorts as his hair grows thick and thicker, and his bones rearrange until he resembles a hybrid between a man and an animal. In this form, he can run much faster, and scale buildings with enough effort. Reed’s fur protects him from some harm such as against stabbing or slashing, and it also insulated him a little from seriously cold weather. In this form, he cannot properly speak English, and he grows from 5”8’ to 6”3’, making doorways a little awkward.

A side effect of being a werewolf is that his senses of sight, hearing and smell are heightened somewhere between human and dog.

Weakness

Overload

Particularly high pitched noises bother Reed a lot, in the same way that they might drive a dog crazy. It doesn’t help that Reed can faintly hear dog whistles. If they’re bad enough, they could make him nauseous. Nails on a chalkboard, for example.

Beast Inside

The werewolf form that Reed can take on has a semblance of its own will. Having the power to transform into a beast carries with it the instincts of a beast. Every now and then, he can feel it locked up inside, pawing and scratching at a cage. In recent months he’s learned to deal with it by shifting regularly and roaming the woods at night, and sometimes sneaking around the outer reaches of the city to check on things. The problem with this is that Reed and the beast don’t entirely get along, meaning that sometimes when something makes him anxious or angry, he can feel something bubble up inside him like the beast is trying to bear its teeth. Reed has been taking steps to properly handle what he can become, and so far there hasn’t been any serious incident of someone getting eaten in the middle of the night.

Distant Life

Reed does not live in the city, he lives roughly an hour and a half away by car. He fled in the early days of the apocalypse when the changes in his form were unstable, and chose to keep distance between himself and others out of safety. While he is doing alright out there, the city is the closest place to it. In order to pay for things like gas or bullets, he saves some of the meat from his hunts to trade in some of the more ran down outskirts of the city. It isn’t much, but he gets by where he can. It’s either this, or risk shifting in the city at night.

History

Will add when I’m not lazy

Apocalypse Not

What is Dead May Never Die

Micheal Castor

Age

43…To the human eye.

Gender

Male

Species

Human until further notice

Description

A man uncharacteristically well dressed for the end times. Micheal is always seen wearing a suit and fedora, colored a pale burgundy, shoes that look blacker than the darkest pit of fire. He always speaks with measured, tactful words. Micheal appears to be a very charming, inviting person to talk to based on his demeanor alone. His clothes always seem to be dusty, covered in ash as if he just crawled out of the ground. In those dark eyes of his, all you see is nothing, just a thousand miles of vacancy, pointed right at you, and staring through all you are. It betrays the rest of his surreal demeanor coldly.

When you meet him, you’ll never forget the smell of burning pine and the sweet, smoky hint of kerosine behind it, that he always carries with him. Everything about Micheal’s appearance tells you that he isn’t from the area you’re in. Even his hair, which looks like a ashy, dirty blonde feels like it would crumble to dust at the touch of anything other than the classy hat he wears over it.

Personality

Suave, levelheaded, well-spoken, and punctual. All the characteristics of your typical classy, well dressed man from beyond the grave. Micheal has a certain level of tact and manner that most people forgo in the apocalypse. He acts like the world hasn’t just ended, though he isn’t necessarily in denial, he’s simply seen worse. He likes to treat others with a gentlemanly respect that seems to fit his atmosphere, and virtually never loses his temper, even when the situation threatens his life at first glance. Micheal isn’t particularly interested in survival, it didn’t work out last time, but he instead takes to drifting from place to place, see what he’s missed out on while he was away from all that ever was.

Skills

Fire

A corpse’s best friend. Fire just seems to kick itself into being whenever Micheal wants it to. It’s almost like magic. He can make fire whenever he wants, out of thin air, without so much as a matchstick. Strangely enough, his own body, and everything he wears are unharmed by his flames. As it turns out, being dead makes you fireproof.

Dead Man Walking

Micheal cannot die. He already did. Thanks to that, injuries aren’t his top priority. If you cut his head off, he’ll just put it back on. He doesn’t eat or drink anything, unless he simply wants to. Micheal still feels pain, but being stabbed through the chest feels more like a punch than a fatal injury. He left his heartbeat in the grave he crawled out of.

Lucky Suit

Inside Micheal’s suit, conveniently accessed by reaching into the side pocket, lies a few things any dead man can enjoy without repercussions. A bottom flask which contains a murky, viscous liquid of alcoholic origins, a seemingly inexhaustible supply of Marlboro Black cigarettes, a deck of cards that smell burnt, and a small notebook with curious contents. All of these things just appear whenever Micheal wants them, even if they’re destroyed. None of these things have a very practical use in a survival setting, unless you need to start a very hot fire very quickly, or take the edge off over a game of cards with arms strangers, but a good smoke at the end of days never hurt anyone, right?

Weaknesses

Physical Harm

While Micheal isn’t able to be truly killed, have you ever experienced pain so severe you felt weak? To incapacitate him, you would need to deal that level of hurt. It wouldn’t be easy, given how his sense of pain is somewhat filled, but if that doesn’t work, try severing a limb. He’ll just patch himself back up, but it take a while for him to do something like that. If all else fails, you could chop him up and scatter his body parts across the planet, and the worst you’d have to worry about is a few spontaneous fires here and there.

Still Human

Being dead doesn’t make your stronger, Micheal is still a human being by all accounts. He has no superhuman strength, no ability to appear anywhere instantly, if the usual human can’t do something, it’s unlikely he can. Then again, not every human being is a well-dressed zippo lighter with legs either.

History

Well, where to start…I am dead.

I haven’t had a heartbeat in my chest since I woke up in a cemetery. But I suppose what interests you more is…How I found myself on the other side to begin with. You see, any time was many decades ago, working in a factory. I assembled what the lapdogs wanted me to. Engine pieces, car parts, even weapons. That was what we all did, but during those days, money was a difficult subject for those who didn’t find themselves born into it. You would be lucky if you could afford a meal at the end of the day. There in that place were the lives of many spent, toiling over scraps until their bodies rejected them.

And so, I gathered a few…acquaintances of mine, to share an idea of mine with them. We deserved better than to waste away like that, and so we planned to take what should have been ours. The man who owned the factory, Johnathan Greene, would be the object of our little plot. It was simple, really. I spied on him as he consorted with his fellow upperclassmen. Once I learned of where he lived, it was a matter of action.

One by one, we pretended to be…insufficient, enough that he would cut us all lose, knowing he would forget our faces as he did so many others. Days after we were all gone, we snuck away from our homes, and crept miles away into the countryside. And sure enough, there stood his castle in the grass, we never imagined the money that one needed for such a home. We waited, and waited, for signs of Mr. Greene to leave for work, for a drink in a bar, or to retire for the night.

You may wonder why we would travel so far to rob a man, but Johnathan Greene was no regular man. No, he was cruel, a monster to his workers, we had not the luxury of resignation. That is why we made ourselves seem poor at work, what else is a factory owner to do than to cut away workers who do not prove useful anymore? Mr Greene deserved to lose everything he had never earned. When night came, the windows of his lavish estate were shattered. We fell on that place like dogs in the pitch black. Not a light in the house. Everything that seemed valuable, we stole.

But in the midst of our midnight greed, we had overlooked something dire, Mr. Greene and his wife, and his daughter. They had saw our faces. They knew us, and would certainly remember us come morning. It was a shame, to be honest. His wife was quite beautiful. The police did not make it to their home until after the ashes had settled. All eyes focused on the warm, golden glow in the dark, yet no one wondered who could be in the dark. When the sun rose again, we were home.

And we were rich.

We went our separate ways after that day, all of us. Enough money for us all to retire, richer than we could ever be. I suppose that now, I should mention, there were only three of us. Myself, Walter, and Danny. I did not hear anything about either of those two for many years.

In that time, I married. I was set in life, and everything ended well, until I learned of something interesting. Danny began to feel…afraid that someone would come for him. I had heard of Walter’s mysterious murder at the hands of an unknown killer. It only made sense, then. Three people can keep a secret, as long as two of them are dead. Who else would want to kill a retired old man? I began to plan for Danny’s advance on my own life, when the phone rang. I didn’t know how he found our number, but he told me to come and meet him. You can’t fool me so easily. I know that I am waving over many details in all of this, but they’re not important.

A day goes by, and I’m standing in front of Danny at the kitchen table of my home, and Walter is with him. They told me, “Walter faked his death, so no one would come after him.” But I know it was to fool me. You wanted me to come to your home full of disarmed sympathy, didn’t you, Danny? They were afraid I would rat them out like the little backstabbers they were. And so, they attempted to get rid of me later that day. We had caught up over a game of cards, and I let them help themselves to all the bourbon in my home. They couldn’t resist a good drink, and it made them sloppy.

I told them that I knew everything about their little plan. Next thing I know, Walter is bleeding like a stuck pig, my family is hiding upstairs, and Danny’s throat is caught in my hands. The table is knocked sideways, and our drinks were spilled all over the table.

“You always were a sick, cold bastard,” Danny told me, as he reached into his pocket, to pull out a lighter.

My home burned down, but they went with me. The two foolish traitors who thought they would get away with taking me to the grave were dragged down with me, like helpless animals being carried into a cave to be butchered by wolves. The last thing I ever heard were the sounds of my old partners in betterment, screaming down to hell alongside myself.

The difference between them and I? Well, I crawled back out.

Something, and mind you that I don’t know what, woke me up from whatever distant hollow I fell into. When I woke up, I was still burning like a struck tree, but the flames felt cold, like water. I crawled out of miles and miles of wet, burning mud and grime, and when I could breathe again, the only thing that I could see were ashes from a broken headstone, and my own two hands. I had come back from the great beyond, the other side, the pearly gates, what have you. And those two did not.

Now, the world I lived with has been gone for a very long time, well before the state of things became what they are today, so I can’t entirely complain. It seems that I’ve missed a lot on my little vacation from this land of ours. Somebody has decided that they weren’t all too pleased with the way the world was, and wanted to give it a beat down, yet they only stopped when they bruised its cheek. It’s a lazy job, if I may be so blunt. And yet, a dead man like me seems to fit in just right.

Even better, I have nothing left to lose, and Danny and Walter, well, they’re not so lucky.

I think I’m starting to like this new life of mine.

Playlist

Straight from Hell

Howling at The Moon

Reed Hensfield

Age

32

Gender

Male

Species

Human Werewolf

Description

A stout, tall and stony man, Reed is quiet, and observant of the world around him. His eyes always attentive of something even when it doesn’t look like it. He looks intimidating, but while he isn’t a bright and overtly friendly person, he isn't threatening either. Reed is reserved and prefers quiet areas where he can rest easy, like the mountains outside the city, or in his newfound hone where he can find solitude. He also doesn’t mind interaction with others, often listening more than he speaks, but when he does, his words aren’t empty. He speaks with meaning when it matters, and not at all when it does not. Reed gives offs an atmosphere of being closed off from everything around him, like he’s just shut down, but he isn’t, he is just reserved.

What some people first notice about Reed is his well-built stature. Living off the grid means you have to do a lot of things by hand, and Reed has put on quite a bit of muscle in the last few months. On a good day, you might see him carry a fallen tree over his shoulder, at least long enough to cut it into logs. This isn’t the kind of strength that wins fist fights, but the kind that comes from physically demanding conditions.

Personality

While most people might simply see Reed as this quiet and distant man with no place in the world, they don’t see the part of him that he leans into when he is away from the city. On his own, Reed is explorative and curious, trudging through the hills and mountains outside the city like he lives there, having high respect for everything else that he comes across, animals, forests, and people just trying to get away from the mess of the world. To anyone who gets to know him, Reed is a very trustworthy and reliable person to have on your side. When he says he’ll be there, he means he’ll be there. When you say you need help, he’ll help. In rare occasions where he looses his temper over something, Reed can be viscous and cruel against people who do him harm, almost like he’s another person entirely.

Skills

Outdoor Life

From hunting skills, to gathering firewood, to staying on the right path through the woods, Reed is an expert when it comes to living in ways where your survival comes from your ability to fend for yourself. This includes proper handling and marksmanship with a lever action 44-magnum rifle.

Moss

Everywhere Reed goes, he’s followed by a Norwegian Elkhound named Moss. Moss and Reed understand each other in ways most people don’t. While most people train their dogs to understand certain phrases and cues, these two can have entire conversations due to Reed’s werewolf blood, almost like Moss can speak English, she can only talk in the way dogs regularly do, but Reed knows what she means. This also causes most unfamiliar dogs to stare at Reed for unusually long periods of time, since they see the wolf in him.

Transformation

Reed has the power to take on the characteristics of a wolf, his body twists and contorts as his hair grows thick and thicker, and his bones rearrange until he resembles a hybrid between a man and an animal. In this form, he can run much faster, and scale buildings with enough effort. Reed’s fur protects him from some harm such as against stabbing or slashing, and it also insulated him a little from seriously cold weather. In this form, he cannot properly speak English, and he grows from 5”8’ to 6”3’, making doorways a little awkward.

A side effect of being a werewolf is that his senses of sight, hearing and smell are heightened somewhere between human and dog.

Weakness

Overload

Particularly high pitched noises bother Reed a lot, in the same way that they might drive a dog crazy. It doesn’t help that Reed can faintly hear dog whistles. If they’re bad enough, they could make him nauseous. Nails on a chalkboard, for example.

Beast Inside

The werewolf form that Reed can take on has a semblance of its own will. Having the power to transform into a beast carries with it the instincts of a beast. Every now and then, he can feel it locked up inside, pawing and scratching at a cage. In recent months he’s learned to deal with it by shifting regularly and roaming the woods at night, and sometimes sneaking around the outer reaches of the city to check on things. The problem with this is that Reed and the beast don’t entirely get along, meaning that sometimes when something makes him anxious or angry, he can feel something bubble up inside him like the beast is trying to bear its teeth. Reed has been taking steps to properly handle what he can become, and so far there hasn’t been any serious incident of someone getting eaten in the middle of the night.

Distant Life

Reed does not live in the city, he lives roughly an hour and a half away by car. He fled in the early days of the apocalypse when the changes in his form were unstable, and chose to keep distance between himself and others out of safety. While he is doing alright out there, the city is the closest place to it. In order to pay for things like gas or bullets, he saves some of the meat from his hunts to trade in some of the more ran down outskirts of the city. It isn’t much, but he gets by where he can. It’s either this, or risk shifting in the city at night.

History

Will add when I’m not lazy