Not Your Average Monday
| Not Your Average Monday | |
|---|---|
| Players |
In which there is almost a cataclysmic event in Auburn Gresham, when a truck with dangerous and flammable goods is in a serious accident. There is fire! |
It is fall in Chicago, the moon is full, there's some clouds passing by the big shining disc now and then, it is chilly and there's a fairly strong breeze, making leaves and paper scraps and other debris whirl around and gather in corners in alleys. One of the main streets in Auburn Gresham still sees a lot of traffic, with evening commuters and those that always go out looking for a party or drugs or entertainment, taxis and beat-up cars mingling with expensive looking vehicles belgonging to those that can afford going out on a Monday night and buy the drugs. There's also a fair bit of heavier traffic, trucks passing through on their way of loading or off-loading in the area. It's just another late evening, and there's nothing suggesting this night will be any different than most others. Fate would have it otherwise. Carl, age 63, is driving his usual route with his truck carrying dangerous and flammable goods from a factory, heading out of Chicago. He's a little stressed cause the loading took longer than usual, but he's an experienced driver. Even so, he can't forsee the drunk driver that suddenly comes over on his side, straight on. Reacting out of pure instinct, he turns the wheel hard, knocks over a power-pole, hits a cement block, tips over and crashes straight into a house front of an apartment building. The wall buckles. Diesel leaks out almost immediately. Sparks from the power pole fly around dangerously, and it doesn't help that a rain earlier in the day has left puddles. The truck immediately catches on fire and it is spreading to the house. Carl is knocked out unmoving. To make matters worse: cars behind the truck don't have time to stop and crash into the uncoming drunk driver and spin out of control, three more vehicles crashing into each other in total chaos. And last comes a bus. The driver hits the brakes and turns the wheel, and just like the truck it tips over and skids on the asphalt - coming to a stop a good distance from the powerpole and the risk of fire, but having people inside tumble and screaming in pain.
The... pyroclasm happens, and she scatters her snacks - tiny orange parcels of salty goodness tumbling to the earth below. She curses extremely loudly - and again, and again, as more misery manifests. Her senses go into overdrife, listening for screams, watching for blood. Who knows if Five was coming or going from the area, seeing as her favorite fighting club and both her home are in the same area. However, it seems that fate has brought her here at this moment in time all the same. The mortal is mostly minding her own business, hands in the pockets of her hoodie as she strolls along through the night. Although she doesn't quite catch the initial accident itself in all it's glory, she's nearby enough to hear the first crash. Five easily turns her attention toward the loud noise, eyes wide as she not only catches sight of the fire, but the beginning of the pileup behind the truck. Quick to spring into action, the mortal is running toward the scene! As she approaches, there is a small moment of simply watching the fire as it starts it's deadly flickering and dance. But, she doesn't let it distract her for too long. She starts to move in to try and grab poor Carl from the truck, not seeming one bit concerned about the fire itself. <spend> Arnaud spends 2 (-2 points) of his Glamour pool, for flames of summer. +---------------------------+ Arnaud rolls 9 Dice +----------------------------+ Roll: Stamina +Survival +Mantle Result: Success (2) -- (5 8 1 2 6 10 6 5 5 1) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+
Griffiths curses in the first tongue, under her breath - muttering into the wind. All of the eyes are on the accident, but she cannot quite be too sure. She climbs up over the sloped roof, until she's mostly obscured from view by the way the tiles slope away to the other side. The gibbous moon is far from here, and she has to strain, just a little - but, with strained breaths and ill-chewed fingers digging into her own clothing, she shrugs off her form of the human. Her denim seems to fold in on itself, inside out, and a large blonde wolf climbs out of where her body used to be. She scampers down a drainpipe, 'till she's around halfway down - and leaps towards the apartment complex, barelling herself snout-first at the window in an attempt to leap through it like a soccer ball. <shift> Griffiths changes to her wolf (urhan) form. +----------------------------+ Five rolls 6 Dice +-----------------------------+ Roll: Dexterity +Athletics -2 Result: Success (1) -- (6 7 5 5 9 7) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+ +--------------------------+ Griffiths rolls 4 Dice +--------------------------+ Roll: Dexterity +Athletics -2 Result: Success (2) -- (5 1 9 8) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+ +----------------------------+ Five rolls 2 Dice +-----------------------------+ Roll: 2 Result: Failure -- (6 3) +-------------------------------------------------------- failure (public) ----+ +---------------------------+ Arnaud rolls 1 Dice +----------------------------+ Roll: 1 Result: Failure -- (3) +-------------------------------------------------------- failure (public) ----+
+---------------------------+ Arnaud rolls 9 Dice +----------------------------+ Roll: Strength +Athletics +2 Result: Success (2) -- (2 3 9 6 6 3 3 5 8) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+
The fire is spreading steadily but not very fast. A house doesn't catch on fire that easily from the outside, but flames are licking towards a window and there is a lot of smoke. What is more worrying is the heat that is building up, threatening to make those flammable goods go BOOM in a spectacular fashion. The trio of supernaturals are not the only ones here that start taking action. A group is already gathering to help the people in the bus, and someone is shouting that they are a nurse, a couple of others have medical training too and they're running in to help where they can. The sound of sirens is heard, so professional help is on the way. INside the apartment Griffith crashes into is an old couple who scream loudly at the sight of a WOLF in their living room. They're already preparing to leave, having hastily put some items into bags. Nobody in this house could've missed that loud crash, the whole building shook. It's a five storey place and approximately 4 apartments on each floor. If this is built according to laws, there must be another exit in the back to escape through, and of course ladders. Griffiths starts to nip at the heels of the elderly couple, harrying them and herding them along without their possessions. Anyone watching might be familiar with this routine before - it's that of a sheepdog, strategically worrying and harassing them forward. At each door that is closed, she shoulder barges it with a vicious alacrity - supernatural strength behind her whole canine bodyweight slamming into each door that remains un-evacuated. Whenever fleeing humans stop to look at her, she snarls and snaps her fangs - channelling the full mien of the Cahalith. Griff is an expert at getting humans to fear her, for good, or for ill. This time, they are simply... fleeing death, rather than embracing it. <spend> Five spends 1 point of her Willpower pool. +----------------------------+ Five rolls 11 Dice +----------------------------+ Roll: Dexterity +Athletics +3 Result: Success (3) -- (7 8 2 8 4 3 7 9 1 4 2) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+ <spend> Arnaud spends 1 point of his Willpower pool. +---------------------------+ Arnaud rolls 12 Dice +---------------------------+ Roll: Strength +Athletics +2 +3 Result: Success (3) -- (9 4 4 8 7 2 4 8 1 3 6 2) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+ Seeing Arnaud head off to help the others, Five refocuses her attention on her current task. She's able to make more progress with Carl, pulling him into her arms and starting to actually get him partially out of the truck. The young woman does her best to cover the man with her smaller body, knowing that the flames won't harm her, using herself as a shield! <Pose Order> It is your turn to pose. �Beep! Arnaud pulls the woman with surprising carefulness, maneuvering her out from the driver seat with an arm supporting her head, forcing muscles to work hard to get her out quickly without making her damage worse - something about head trauma and neck problems, remembered from some lesson sometime. "You better live, or this will be a waste of my time. I got someone in real danger over there that told me to do this. You're lucky I like her," he tells the woman with a sulking voice, as if really, this is just a lot of BOTHER. The woman just confusedly groans in reply, but she does cling on to him in the realisation she is getting help. The flashing lights and loud siren of the firefighters is heard. A couple of police cars have arrived already and they screech to an abrupt halt and rush out to start taking control of the situation and aid with injured, shouting at people that are close and only watching to get the hell away as soon as they realise the risk of everything going kabloom and turn everyone into dust. Two of them runs towards one of the other cars to start moving people from it. A group of people take their own iniative to start moving the first car that caused the accident, since it can still roll on its wheels. The man who was in that car has crawled out of it on his own - he's drunk, bleeding from wounds, but has stumbled out and to the side, perhaps in an attempt to make a run for it when realising what he has caused. People in the house are as alarmed about the strange giant and too intelligent dog as they are about the fire outside, and has no intention of sticking around - there's a steady stream of them starting to climb down the fire-escape on the side, or coming out through the back door, hastened on by Griffith. +--------------------------+ Griffiths rolls 9 Dice +--------------------------+ Roll: Strength +Brawl Result: Success (3) -- (6 5 4 2 7 9 9 1 9) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+ Griffiths repeatedly rams her wolfish shoulder into the door, hammering time and time again. Any occupants within will hear a sound as if a battering ram is trying to cave the roof in. +----------------------------+ Five rolls 8 Dice +-----------------------------+ Roll: Dexterity +Athletics Result: Success (4) -- (8 7 3 1 3 2 10 9 8) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+ +----------------------------+ Five rolls 8 Dice +-----------------------------+ Roll: Intelligence +Occult.Psychokinesis Result: Success (3) -- (7 6 3 6 8 1 9 8) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+ +---------------------------+ Arnaud rolls 9 Dice +----------------------------+ Roll: Strength +Athletics +2 Result: Success (2) -- (6 7 8 7 5 8 1 3 4) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+
Arnaud pulls the woman out and lifts her up in his arms and jogs away, off towards an ambulance that is nearby. He's being met with ambulance people and a bed which she is tranferred to immediately, to his great relief. He runs a hand through his hair and looks haughtily around as he spins to take a closer look at the situation, and for Five in particular. Seeing that she is out of the truck, he breathes a sigh of relief, but it's short-lived; the fire is now immense, melting truck tires and metal, and strange popping sounds can be heart. The firefighters are frantically starting to pull the cars out of the way so they can move the truck close enough for using their water. They start shouting at Five to get away, waving arms frantically. Arnaud puts his hands on the sides of his head and just stares in horror at first, but then starts moving towards the truck - slow steps first, then running. He isn't going to let Five stay there, no matter what, it seems. The fire is bad now. In Five's estimate and expertise about fires, she realises that the risk of an explosion is now less than a minute away. The firefighters and police also seem to understand it and they're running and pushing people out of the way, starting to clear the area. The firetruck is moved in front of the bus, in an effort to shield it from the explosion. Inside the apartment, Griffith can now hear noises, someone weakly calling for help. "Help! I can't walk! My mother is out right now!" +--------------------------+ Griffiths rolls 9 Dice +--------------------------+ Roll: Strength +Brawl Result: Success (2) -- (9 4 2 3 4 9 5 7 3) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+ +--------------------------+ Griffiths rolls 6 Dice +--------------------------+ Roll: Perception Result: Success (1) -- (7 5 7 6 7 8) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+ Griffiths hears the hinges start to splinter and creak from their seats, and takes a few pawpaces back. Leaping at it like a curling cannonball and turning the door to matchwood like similar. She raises her nose to the wind, pricking her ears - her stoic yellow eyes gleaming. Seconds are left, and while she might well weather such a blast, this small creature would not. She grunts, slipping for a brief moment into a roof where the boy can't see - and adopts her hulking Dalu form. Easily nine feet tall, and as broad as a brick outhouse - this form resembles her usual human self but on a brand new, inhuman scale. Thick tufts of blonde fur mar the back of her hands, her nails ending in knife like claws. Her teeth more resemble tusks, and her broadened face has two eyes of burning gold set behind a neanderthal brow. She charges back into the room, scooping the boy up with her arms, and dashing for the fire escape by force. <shift> Griffiths changes to her near-man (dalu) form. <spend> Five spends 1 point of her Willpower pool. +----------------------------+ Five rolls 10 Dice +----------------------------+ Roll: Resolve +Occult.Psychokinesis Result: Success (2) -- (2 5 8 3 5 3 6 4 5 9) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+ +---------------------------+ Arnaud rolls 3 Dice +----------------------------+ Roll: 3 Result: Success (2) -- (4 10 5 9) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+ Like some sort of crazy person, Five ignores the pleading shouts for her to get to safety. It's times like these that her wearing a hoodie all the time makes sense. Although something deep within her tries telling her there's nothing wrong with the fire and she shouldn't extinguish it... she manages to keep those feelings pushed down, especially knowing that not only Arnaud but others are in danger. Reaching a hand out to help concentrate, she focuses all her mental power on the growing fire. Although she doesn't manage to get it snuffed out, the flames start to shift away from the immediate threat of exploding, as well as diminishing the size some. Five steps even closer to the flames, as if herding them away. +---------------------------+ Arnaud rolls 7 Dice +----------------------------+ Roll: Perception Result: Failure -- (6 4 3 5 3 4 7) +-------------------------------------------------------- failure (public) ----+ <spend> Arnaud spends 1 (-1 points) of his Glamour pool, for Seven-League Leap. <regain> Arnaud regains 1 point of his Willpower pool, for Needle. "No no no NOOO!" Arnaud shouts and his jogging and hesitant steps turn into a sprint of world class as he instinctively uses his Fae powers to boost himself, running straight towards the fire and towards Five who is herding it; he doesn't realise she is controlling it and saving the day here, all he knows is that any second now that truck will explode and take everyone nearby with it. He literally leaps at her in an attempt to scoop her up and to flee, but at least his pre-warning shouts will alert Five to this likelihood. There's frantic activity surrounding the area, people running to get to safety, police and firefighters herding everyone or taking cover. Some are running towards the apartment house, to the back of it - making sure people are coming out. The firefighters aren't even bothering to try to put the flames out at this point, but someone HAS managed to turn off the power to taht powerpole, so there's no longer any risk of electrocution. Slowly, they start to realise that there IS no kaboom and peek around the firetruck, staring at the fire that.... has somehow mysteriously moved away from the flammable dangerous goods and is now raging out on the street, also much smaller than before. A small woman is standing nearby, and a strange tall guy is rushing at her. The apartment people are about to get the scare of their life, with Griffith rushing to get outside with the boy, who has eyes wide as saucers and seem entirely shocked as he stares up at the huge figure that holds him in his arms. Griffiths barrels through the fire escape door, her broad frame tearing at the too-small entryway and gouging out a chunk of wood with it. The boy looks conspicuously small in her arms, a terrified little football of a figure in her treetrunk arms. Her inhuman features twist in panic - her instinct-addled mind racing to keep up. The quicker she does this, the better. Dumping the boy in a crumpled heap outside near the absolute nearest human she can smell, she tears off like a sprinter at a starting pistol as soon as the innocent is free. She vaults the rear fence, nearly shallow enough for her to chest her way over, and lies in a heap in the bushes. <<Please, please, please, please...>> she chants in the first tongue, her voice an unimaginably bassy rumble in this form. She closes her eyes, and waits for the shape of the wolf to take her. <shift> Griffiths changes to her wolf (urhan) form. <spend> Five spends 1 point of her Willpower pool. +----------------------------+ Five rolls 13 Dice +----------------------------+ Roll: Resolve +Occult.Psychokinesis +3 Result: Success (1) -- (4 6 6 4 1 5 1 4 7 9 2 4 6) +-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+ Hearing a familiar voice call out to her momentarily breaks Five's concentration. Glancing over her shoulder, the mortal narrows her brows at the Changeling - not in anger, but mostly concern with a mix of frustration. "Stay BACK!" she yells with as best of a commanding voice that she can muster. The look in her eyes does her best to assure Arnaud that even if she can't get things under control, she'll be fine. Turning away from him, she refocuses on the fire once more. Stepping in even closer, she manages to hold the fire at bay from the flammable truck that threatens to potentially burn down the block. Arnaud does some near-comical maneuvering and waving of arms to avoid crashing into Five and sweeping her up as she warns him in the last second. If she was anyone else he wouldn't listen, but on the other hand, if she WAS anyone else he would also not run to save them, so it all works out. Instead he rolls on the street and comes up bouncing into a part of the truck that is, thankfully, no longer on fire - just very hot. "Ouch fuck," he curses and dances backwards, and stays behind Five. She did say stay BACK - and no way is he going to run away with her still there. He'd have to be blind and dumb to not see that she is controlling the fire, at this point, so he looks enlightened. "Oh, wow. That is awesome. Hey! HEY!" he shouts and waves to the firefighters. "GET SOME FUCKING WATER OVER HERE ALREADY! ALLEZ ALLEZ!" The back of the apartment building is chaos - people are running to get away, in case the whole house is going to collapse. That's a good thing for Griffith, but there's enough people that see her that there's screams of fright and a woman even faints into the arms of her husband. The firefighters look at each other, and up at the moon, and then start their work back again; they have seen shit before and nobody will mention this ever again and it will become some sort of strange memory of a 'giant person running out' amidst all the other crazy stories from this day. Firefighters start to emerge from behind the truck, and then, when hearing the shouts, and seeing the fire still under control, they react with efficiency and professionalism. Within seconds they are rushing forward with the hose, water turned on to take that fire out the good ole fashioned way. Griffiths picks herself up, scuffed and sore - her blonde fur streaked with mud and bracken. She shakes herself like a wet dog, before listening to the wind. That scream... was familiar. Flashes of the fight club shoot back into her mind like neural polaroids, and her paws move before she can think. She dashes towards the front, to where Five and Arnaud toil - the wolf looking for her friend, ready to pull her from the wreckage. With the fire seemingly under control and more sirens and authority figures showing up, Five is looking to get OUT OF THERE. Even though she has previously seemed fine in front of crowds, like at the fight club nearby, something about the growing crowd and more police showing up. She's about to say something to Arnaud when she spots a big fluffy thing from the corner of her eyes. Looking over, she spots that blonde wolf and raises a brow. Grabbing Arnaud's wrist just briefly enough to indicate for him to follow, she rushes in the direction of Griffiths. "Let's get somewhere more discreet," she tells them as she's passing by the werewolf, determined to get away from the scene since the immediate danger has passed. Arnaud is bouncing impatiently, he wants to get away from here RIGHT NOW - so when Five grabs his wrist he's running with her towards the wolf - whom he gives a narrow-eyed and suspicious squint, even if he recognizes this particular furred 'friend'. He tucks the lapels of his jacket up to hide some of his face, though it might be a bit late for that. He wordlessly lets Five take charge of where to go, glancing around fretfully, filled with adrenaline. Griffiths follows at the heels of the pair, keeping a gentle, trotting pace. She sticks close to Five's hip, her tail low. Every so often, she'll sniff the wind - strings of drool hanging from her black lips. Five keeps running, running, running. When she's starting to get a bit out of breath and the sounds of the sirens are in the distance, she finally starts to slow down. "You guys alright?" she questions with genuine concern, taking a glance between the two. As they pass by an alley, she gives a gesture to Griffiths. Whatever she needs to do to be human again, do it there, away from her poor little mortal eyes! Arnaud is running very easily, and is rushing ahead a few times, but jogs back and keeps the pace better after awhile. When Five stops he runs his hands over his face in a slow, calming gesture, taking a deep breath - not because he's out of breath per se, but because he's an emotional wreck. "I feel weird. But I'll be alright." Griffiths seems to do a remarkable job of rolling her eyes, even for a wolf. She effortlessly kips up against a wall, scrabbling up it with the clack of her paws - before leaping away, into a dumpster. There's some... disconcerting sounds, for a moment, before a very weary London accent wafts from the garbage. "Bloody 'ell... that was warm. Thought I was gonna sweat my fuckin' fur off, innit?" +----------------------------+ Five rolls 3 Dice +-----------------------------+ Roll: Wits +Empathy Result: Failure -- (2 2 4) +-------------------------------------------------------- failure (public) ----+ When the Changeling gives his reply, Five raises her brow slightly. Those bright green eyes of hers sweep over Arnaud, but she doesn't see anything too out of normal for him! Instead, she just gives him a light pat on the arm and a reassuring smile. "Probably just inhaled too much smoke." Shifting her attention to Griffiths as she returns, she offers the other woman a grin as well. "I don't know where you were but uh, thanks for stepping in." There's a nod to both of them individually. "Good job all around. Glad nobody got too seriously hurt. I think. At least not by the fire..." Arnaud rubs his chest as if he's having trouble breathing, so maybe Five is right. He looks at Griffith - or at the dumpster - and snorts with dark amusement. He lowers his hand, tilting his head as he listens to Five, and then instinct and emotions take over: he reaches for her to pull her into a tight and desperate hug, hand on the back of her head, arm around her back. Griffiths climbs out of the filth like the creature from the black lagoon, discarded chinese takeout and other horrible, sticky sludge coating her form. She rolls over the high metal lip with a thud, rubbing her face wearily. She says nothing, for the moment - letting the two embrace, getting her bearings. She could still smell the smoke on the wind - in her ears, the screaming of spirits. It's very clear that Five isn't used to hugs. Even if she could remember her past, it'd been awhile since she'd had one. She's caught off guard, freezing just a moment before she slender arms gently wrap around Arnaud. The mortal holds him for a few long moments, then giving one last squeeze before pulling away him. She doesn't step away completely, keeping one arm around him while she turns to better face Griffiths. There's a grin that touches her lips at the dirtied state the werewolf emerges in, amused. "We'll have to go dumpster diving another time," she tells her, the human's attempt at trying to keep things light. Arnaud isn't used to them either and hasn't given anyone a hug since... forever. He relaxes when she hugs him back and closes his eyes, just standing there quiet and emotions in turmoil, till she disentangles. He opens his eyes and looks down at her, then clears his voice and lowers his arms awkwardly. He gives Griffith a glare. Just because he can and he doesn't know what else to do and she's the only target for his confusion. "I'm hungry and I want to drink." Griffiths dismisses the glare like it's an angry rabbit headbutting her foot - curling her lip at Arnaud and looking away. She mumbers, in a guttural rendering of the First Tongue - <<stow your knife, leprechaun. I've skinned bigger.>> If she has any venom behind that threat, it's too weary to move. Really, it's more of a mumbled slur into her jacket, the large woman slumped in the gutter, miserably. Even if she doesn't understand Griffiths, Five catches the tone and the look that Arnaud is giving her that probably elicited it. The mortal gives a sharp nudge and a LOOK to the Changeling that even he can easily interpret, 'Be nice'. As if to reiterate such, she looks over at Griffiths with a smile. "I'll pay for the first uh, round?" She tests out the slang on her tongue. "You'll have to tell us where you were at! Now that we're out of the mess... I think I heard people screaming about a wild dog or something?" Five starts to move again, attempting to lead the others toward a nearby bar! "What," Arnaud says and glances at Five. He takes a deep breath and forces a smile at Griffith. "Good job," he says and thumbs-up at the werewolf, then saunters off alongside Five, the promise of a drink making his mood much better. Griffiths picks up upon being praised by Arnaud - her scowl turning into a self conscious straightness of the back. You could swear her tail was wagging. "You.. did not do awfully." | |