nysalogs | (no subject)

Who: dutch (

motivation) & open
What: october mini-quest + fallout
When: end of october
Where: wyver, josa forest
Warning(s): werewolf-y things. mentions of torture. alcohol + sex.

I ◆ PREP

[ this isn't the first time dutch has gone off to find someone. it used to be warrants, now she's doing it - not out of the goodness of her heart, no, because she still isn't convinced there's much goodness left in there, but because she doesn't like the possibility that the same people who kidnapped and tortured her are still out there. because it's something to do. because she's good at finding people.

so she's going to go out there and she's going to find those missing and she's going to come back and have a nice drink and call it a day and know that if johnny woke back up tomorrow, she'd still be able to look him in the eyes and say that she did her best.

find her in the streets of wyver, gathering supplies, or find her on the way to josa forest. lucy the dragon is by her side because she refused to be left behind, but dorian the kinkajou is staying in wyver. ]

II ◆ CAMPING

[ dutch doesn't much like the cold. that's always been true, but even more so after her kidnapping, after being doused with cold water and left with little and then no clothes on patches of ice and snow. that's what the cold reminds her of now and the blizzard doesn't help with it.

despite the blizzard, there's a fire (lucy coughed onto some wood long enough to set it ablaze) and dutch has a bottle of something highly alcoholic in her hands because of course she brought a drink. anyone with her or anyone stumbling upon her camp will be offered a sip and she's happy to trade the bottle back and forth.

eventually, as the last of the light dies, dutch asks: ] Want to cuddle?

[ it's obviously a joke. or is it? ]

III ◆ AFTERMATH

[ back at wyver, dutch feels - off. there's an itch under her skin, leaving her restless. she does all the things she usually does to combat it: find someone or something to fight, drink, find someone to fuck.

find her throwing knives at a tree, find her with an improvised punching bag that looks like it'll give out any second, find her in one of the fight rings, or find her in a bar, clearly looking for a partner for the night, or at least for a quick round in the alley behind the bar. in all these instances, she'll give off a certain air of danger, like a wolf stalking its prey. ]

IV ◆ WILDCARD

[ feel free to write a starter about any of the clues found in the forest, about arguing whether to continue looking or to go back, about dutch finding your character lost in the forest, w/e. anything goes! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She probably can.

[ but — ] Not sure if she will, though.

[ it's worth a try, though. and so she nudges lucy toward the branch. ] Go cough up some fire, girl. [ lucy glances at the branch, then back at dutch. shakes herself. ]

Fire, Luce.

[ another glance, then a yawn —and then lucy coughs up a flame onto the branch. ]

[ While it is at least a little unnerving to be holding out a branch for an actual dragon to try and light with flames from its mouth, 76 stands his ground. He does have a thick leather jacket on that will protect him from any stray flames.

But when the dragon eventually gathers the will to breathe some fire, the expulsion of flame is pretty small, just enough to light the torch and leave 76 feeling a little toasty.

76 nods to the dragon, a quiet thanks, before he presses forward to lead the way. For now, the forest is blanketed in eerie quiet. ]

How've things been?

[ He's usually not one for small talk, but they need to cut through the tension somehow. ]

Oh, great. You know. Aside from being sick of people disappearing.

[ "smalltalk". she doesn't just mean the people who've been disappearing in the forest, either. at least that's the kind of disappearance they can (hopefully) do something about. ]

[ It seems to be a common thing lately, all this talk of people going back into the pods. 76 doesn't know if it's just that he's just happened to converse with people who've had friends go into stasis, or if it's a larger trend, but it's something to keep in mind.

Not sure that there's anything to be said to make Dutch feel better about what's happened (it's not like he can promise that whoever it is will wake up again), 76 asks a more direct question. ]

Who?

[ It's possible there'll be some names that he knows. ]

Wh hasn't?

[ she doesn't want to go down the full list. it's already depressing enough as it is. ]

The two of us, for starters.

[ Jack isn't going to push the point, though. Dutch clearly doesn't want to talk about it and it's not like he wants to dwell on the people they've lost either.

Especially when he hears some shuffling off in the distance, the sound of something moving through the woods near to them. He halts instantly, motioning for Dutch to do the same. ]

There's something out there.

Yeah.

[ sometimes she wishes she'd gone back, too. or stayed there —but that's loser talk, isn't it? giving up. she doesn't really want that and she doesn't really know how to do anything like giving up, either.

but she falls quiet, stopping and putting a hand on lucy's scruff to stop her and keep her quiet, too. what? she mouths. ]

[ It's no surprise that he caught the sound when Dutch didn't, given his souped-up hearing. It's reasons like this that he remains glad for what he underwent with SEP, even if it's brought its own challenges. He's still a soldier through and through, and there are plenty of little perks that make his job that much easier.

He shakes his head to indicate he doesn't know, but creeps slowly forward between the trees, searching in the direction the sound originally came from.

Eventually his visor picks up on a heat signature. The visibility isn't great, but this allows him to see a figure, bipedal but hunched over, hands pulled up in front of its chest. There's something predatory about the stance.

He can't mouth anything back to her when the visor is on, but he inclines his head in the right direction. Maybe she'll be able to catch a glimpse of the thing. ]

[ dutch follows, steps silent and light, half a step to his side and behind him, one hand on her gun. she can't hear anything until they're much closer, until his visor picks up the heat signature and he inclines his head. through narrowed eyes, dutch can make out a form as well, obscured by the forest.

bipedal, hunched over. humanoid, she thinks, but there's something about the hands that remind her of claws.

she shakes her head, an echo of his earlier gesture to indicate he didn't know then, lifting her gun a little. ]

[ It's difficult to know whether or not to engage, but Jack doesn't think that there's much option here. They were sent into the woods in order to investigate what happened to the missing people, and this chance sighting could be a big clue. He's not sure if they'll actually be able to sneak up on the mysterious figure, but they can try.

He nods toward Dutch, indicating that he's going to go for it, and starts to weave his way through the trees, attempting to keep them in cover as they approach the being.

Before they can really get that close, though, the creature hears them. It turns toward them, its eyes shining the way a wild animal's would. Then it howls up toward the sky, something almost anguished in the tone, and races off deeper into the woods. ]

[ dutch follows, keeping up with light steps, gun ready —and then the creature takes off. a beat, and then dutch lowers her gun. ]

Well. That was weird.

Guess we spooked it.

[ They can still try and track it, though. It's dark out, but they have the light of the torch to see by, and so 76 continues in the direction of where they first saw the beast. He spots claw marks left in some of the trees, along with clumps of fur scattered in the grass here and there, but eventually the trail runs cold.

He pauses and looks back at Dutch, not bothering to hold back his sigh. ]

Think we must have lost it, unless you're seeing something I'm not.

Nope.

[ she's not seeing anything. they've lost it. ]

The hells was that thing? You get any useful readings on that thing? [ gesturing to his visor vaguely with her gun. ]

[ With a frustrated grunt, Jack shakes his head. ]

No, just the heat signature. We didn't get close enough for me to get a lock on it.

[ Even then, all it would have done was make it easier for him to shoot the thing. His visor can only do so much. ]

We can either keep wandering around to see if we can pick up the trail, or head back for now. It's your call.

[ But the deeper they push into the woods, the better the chance that they'll get themselves lost. ]

[ dutch considers the forest around them for a moment. ]

Let's head back.

[ it feels a little like giving up, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth, but anything else would be stupid, she's pretty sure. ]

[ Sometimes the most important thing a soldier can do is know when to retreat. Too many times Jack had failed to understand that basic fact, so he isn't going to argue with Dutch's instincts here.

He turns back, beginning to follow their own footsteps back the way they came. ]

We've got something to go on, at least.

[ Even if it brings up more questions than answers at this point. ]

Yeah. Something.

[ it brings up so many questions and none of this shit makes sense. dutch figures they're going to need some nerds to make figure this out. someone with more information than she has, at any rate. ]

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we can probably wrap this soon?

y let's leave it here <3