walking at night, alone (open)

[Reina D. Hawkins]

Being alone can be useful. Especially, if you're a hermit or if you suffer from a form of autism that would cause you to be socially awkward. Now, Reina does not live in a cave out in the ozarks and she didn't suffer from asperger's; but she did live a sheltered life that revolved around her newspaper job and the home she shared with an old creole lady and her cats. Other than that, loneliness was a luxury. She never regarded such a thing as bothersome or embarrassing. She still could not understand why people would pretend to have so much emphasis on such a thing.

Especially when moments that require others to be social like, holidays and family gatherings, are often regarded with so much hate and dislike. Because nothing says Merry Christmas or Happy Tenth Birthday like a drunk father with his pants down collasped on the couch and an argument-turned-fist fight during dinner.

Then again, no one is truly alone. Mrs. Dunceliar's cats and Reina's own dog are notable examples of company, even if they aren't human.

"Stay here, Lottie." the twenty-three warned into the backseat of her Ford Fiesta. Lottie, the Old English Sheepdog that was mentioned before, simply rolled on her back and exposed her belly, a gesturing a quick scratch, which was given, of course. She had left her manuscript in the park earlier today and she just realized it minutes ago. The park was not a far drive or even a walk from Mrs. Dunceliar's home, but it was the time that made it inconvient. "11:35 pm? Crap." She was in an old wife beater and a pair of jean shorts that she slipped into on the last minute, and while it was in the middle of June, she had a dark pink jacket that read, "Berkwood High School Newspaper" on the back. She was barefoot and carried a pair of limegreen sandals in her left hand.

Her cell phone rang, "Yes? Yeah, I just came here. I hope nobody decided to throw it in the trash at the last minute. Thanks for covering for me, today, though. My ass would've been-- hello? Hello?" before she was able to finish her last sentence, the connection cut off and her phone died. She flipped it closed with a sigh of annoyance. "How wonderful." She continued on her trail. It was okay, she decided she would be better off alone on this, anyway. It's a headache trying to find something when someone else is in the way.

[Kyle Aodhagán †]

The situation was growing worse with each passing day. The rips between the realms were increasing in numbers and the Council had yet to discover the whereabouts of the sorceress that Lillie had foreseen was causing them.
So far neither Kyle nor the Enforcers had been able to get a handle on the amount of otherworlders invading New Orleans and wreaking havoc with the human population. Add to that the fact that the dark fae Corbin was still out there, in all likelihood plotting retribution on he and the Prophet, and the dragon was about to blow his lid; literally.

The shifter swung a fist into the demon’s leathery chest and ducked as another leapt forward to tackle him. Catching the second by the ankle, he easily lifted it up and tossed him into another two; twirling to spew fire at the first that had now begun to pick himself up. The creature was ablaze; writhing and screeching in an ungodly pitch. The others; horrified by what they saw, turned tail and fled, but Kyle would let none escape. He went after them with the fierce stride of a bloody thirsty predator.

It didn’t take the dragon long to clean up that mess; letting out all his pent up anger on the remaining demons, who saw their end at the edge of his blade or the bright glow of his fiery breath.
The massive sword still dripped with black blood when he caught sight of another nuisance; two pitch black Pegasus romping playfully near the creek that ran through the middle of the park. Letting out an aggravated sigh, Kyle tucked his weapon back into the sling that hung beneath his full length black leather trench coat and made his way slowly to the celestial beasts.

It was obvious the scent of dragon alarmed the creatures, for at his approach, the Pegasus stilled; their nostrils flaring and glossy obsidian eyes went wide with trepidation.
“Take it easy now.” Kyle told the pair in a flat tone. “I mean you no harm.”

As soon as he was a foot from the beautiful winged equines, the smaller of the pair took flight; rising quickly above the cloud cover blanketing the city.
The shifter cursed under his breath and contemplated flying up to catch the beast, but thought better of it, for the other remained stock still; too frightened to move.
In the sky the one equine was concealed behind the dark grey haze, but this one was in plain view of any human out for a late night stroll.

As unhurriedly as the large male could manage, Kyle reached out a steady hand to lay a palm against the creature’s mane. The winged horse pulled back sharply and snorted a warning, but a gentle sweep of his hand seemed to calm it, enough to let the shifter stroke his neck and back to its immense black feathery wings.
“You are far from home, friend.” Kyle told the Pegasus, who angled his head back to nudge the male’s hand for more affection. “If you would allow me, I will take you to a place that leads back to safety. That is my greatest concern. If they catch you it would be an awful ordeal. Some humans are as curious as they are cold. They crave knowledge and will use any means necessary in order to gain understanding…even if it means killing the very creature they wish to learn about.”
As if the mighty beast comprehending his words, it bent low to allow Kyle to climb on.
The shifter moved to mount the Pegasus but before he even had a chance to throw one long limb over, his bright azure eyes caught the wide chocolate gaze of a human female.

“Hades testicles!” Kyle spat as the beast reared back, obviously catching the foreign scent on the wind.

[Reina D. Hawkins]

There was a possibility, a very strong one, that she was now slowly losing her mind. There was a millisecond of her not being surprised (this was New Orleans, after all) but after that millisecond she immediately gave off the expression of someone viewing a crime scene.

Hades' testicles, indeed.

"I-I didn't want any trouble, I just wanted to get my m-m-manuscript and leave." She had to look away from the gaze of the man before her just to say that. A part of herself wanted to slap Reina for such a comment. As if they guy on the flying horse was going to listen to her. He probably think she would try to trick him like a witch or a some other monster (because if flying horses existed, surely witches and monsters do, as well).

And like all things in a situation like this, she did not sense the dragon that loomed behind her.

[Kyle Aodhagán †]

Kyle rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Could this night get any longer?
Initially when he left to go out to parole the city he thought it would be an easy one. The threat of a late storm had kept most of the city’s partiers at home, or at least inside the bars where they were safer than alone and out in the open. Most of the monsters coming through the rips had been lower level species and pretty unintelligent; seemingly repelled by large crowds. Not to say that all of them were afraid of human groups. In fact, he’d heard from one of the enforcers that specific types of minion demon were being spotted ONLY in large assemblies of mortals; as if someone had sent them there for a purpose.
Never-the-less he’d hoped that this night would be uneventful because there was a Golden Girls marathon on television and he didn’t want to miss the first few episodes. A weary sigh escaped him. Too late for that. It was scheduled to start five minutes ago.

Making his way slowly toward the human and holding a hand out as if a white flag, the shifter tried to bridle the annoyance he felt so that it wasn’t too apparent in his voice.
“There is no trouble…” He winced and looked back at the shadowy winged horse that had begun to snort and whinny in trepidation behind them. “It won’t hurt you. It is as scared of you as you are of it.”

Of course the dragon didn’t bother to explain why a supposedly mythical being was prancing about in the city of New Orleans. What could he say? That it wasn’t real? That it was a creature saved from the traveling carnival? If he was a man that could lie, he probably would have used the latter excuse, but the man had no guile, and simply didn’t know how to tell untruths.

A rumbling of something like thunder, but from within the trees and not the clouds, drew his attention from the mocha skinned female. For a moment the dragon just watched the leafy limbs swaying with the summer night breeze, and the next, those trees came crashing down as approximately 4 massive devils came lumbering through them. Kyle’s cobalt eyes grew wide. These were not your run-of-the mill lower level imps, but the bulldogs among their kind with wide muscular bodies; skin mottled black and red, with huge clawed hands and long horns. Each stood at least seven foot tall.

“The equine wont hurt you…but they will.” The shifter said in his usual unaffected tone, and turned back toward the human. “RUN!”

Kyle pulled his sword from its sheath and took off in the direction of the monsters, trusting the girl would be a good little human and follow his demand. When the demons caught sight of the dragon they roared, exposing no less than 3 rows of jagged teeth on both top and bottom.
He caught the first beast in the side, but even as black blood spewed from the wound the thing did not fall. It growled in anger and swung a mighty fist which sent the dragon into a nearby tree, which bent from the force.

(( feel free to move the demons any way you want. In fact, please do. ))

[Lt. Kalii Duran]

Kalii was out on the prowl tonight. There was a bit of a lull in the Shadow Team missions and she just needed to get out and blow off some steam. Sitting around the base compound always got her a bit edgy and restless. Besides, there was something strange going on. A sharp increase in supernatural activity of all kinds had been going on. She wasn't sure of the why's of it, but it was significant, so she had decided to go out and see what she could find out. Or... hunt down was more likely her preference.

Walking through the park she could sense something in the area. She checked to make sure here weaponry was all secure and appropriately hidden. Kalii was dressed in her usual hunting attire, long black leather jacket over a black tank top, black leather pants, and black combat boots. Strapped to her back she had her Katana, a weapon she had acquired a while back and had developed a fondness for. It was concealed under the jacket. She also had her matching pair of Colt 1911 .45 automatic hand guns in shoulder holsters. Equipped with specially made silver bullets. She rarely used the guns, preferring the sharp edged weapons and up close hand to hand combat. But, these days firearms were becoming a more frequent necessity. Plus, she had been getting used to having them since being on the Shadow Team. Last, her favorite knife was strapped to her leg in a sheath. It was a rather large nasty looking thing, it had been her long time friend. She rarely went anywhere without that one.

Kalii's senses were on alert, she scanned everything as she walked. Her footsteps not making a sound as she moved with her preternatural stealth. She stopped when she thought she heard something up ahead. Voices. Hidden in the shadows she listened. The conversation sounded normal enough, but there was a strange feeling in the air that had the hackles on the back of her neck raised up. Then she heard the male voice yell,

"RUN!"

[/color] Shit, she knew that wasn't a good sign. Just about the same time she saw what had been tingling her senses appear. Four of the ugliest demons she had ever seen. These things were huge, with nasty looking skin, claws and horns.

Kalii could see the male that was speaking now. He had dismounted from, what was that? A unicorn? No, it had wings. A pegasus? Holy crap. Kalii shook her head, that wasn't important at the moment. But, the man instead of running away like a normal human, pulled out a sword and turned to fight. Kalii smirked a bit and drew her own Katana from it's sheath and emerged from the shadows.

As she appeared, she saw the male swipe at the monster with his sword and was rewarded with being flung into a tree. Kalii charged in, running at full speed. Pushing off with one foot she leapt at the attacking creature and sent a flying kick at it's head. She landed deftly on the other side of the thing. The kick did little more than distract the thing, but that was all she had anticipated it would do. It was enough though for her to swing her own blade, held in both hands she plunged it deep into the beast's chest, until it was buried to the hilt. A little twisting and pulling down sharply she tried to cause as much damage as possible.

The demon gave a tremendous roar and she new she had at least severely wounded him. Quickly she pulled out the blade and darted away from the creature before he could send her flying. She found herself near the man who had been engaging the monster. Keeping her eye on the three other advancing demons she spoke.

"Maybe you could use some help here? If we stick together, I think we can do more damage."

Kalii crouched into a defensive position. Ready to spring back into action. The one wounded demon was still wailing off behind the others. The other three were lumbering over, moving quite fast for things of their size. [/blockquote]

[Reina D. Hawkins]

Okay, so she wasn't hallucinating three crackheads as demons, this was the real deal. And like any normal human in this situation, she panicked. Now, mind you, it wasn't like she fainted or had a nervous breakdown, it was more like she was stunned...paralyzed by this sudden experience. She felt so, unprepared, like she was supposed to train for something like this.

"So remember kids, when you feel a dragon breathin' behind your neck and a man on top of a flying horse is telling you to run, you duck under your desk and cover your head with a jacket! Okay?"

"Okay!"

She wanted to slap her third grade gym teacher right about now.

And of course she ran! Reina wasn't an idiot, Stevie Wonder could see that. Her breathing was raggeded, one was able to graze her stomach, leaving a long, horizontal, trail of blood. It was a flesh wound, so while it hurt like hell, she would not die.

Yet.

The strange, gladiator man's body was thrashed around like a rag doll. Apparently even he was in trouble. Her attacker still pursued her. Thank God for High School gym classes.

Lo and behold, a graceful woman in black swooped in to save the day! Well, not exactly, she had decided to speak to G-M, first. Which was understandable, they were both obviously aware of more otherworldly things than she was. Birds of a feather flock together and all?

Reina screamed as her clawed stalker tried to swing at her head. She knew she would die, but not like this.

[Kyle Aodhagán †]

Kyle shook his head to clear the stars and chirping cartoon birds that circled his head thanks to hitting the tree trunk with the back of his cranium.
Damn. That was one strong ass demon.

Drawing on the surging internal fire within him the dragon shot straight up in a movement straight out of a Jackie Chan movie and palmed his sword; sapphire eyes ghosting down the form of the female warrior that stood before him.
“Help would be most appreciated.” The shifter told the soldier in a slur thick with Old World brogue. “If my presumption is correct they won’t fall into everlasting slumber until you separate head from body.”

With that he bowed his head in appreciation and took off for the leathery beast stalking the civilian.
Going low to crouch on his fingertips, the dragon sprang up with enough power to pass over the demon’s head, landing deftly in front of it, and thusly putting himself between the monster and the human.
Casting a quick glance over his shoulder he met the woman’s eyes, but fleetingly; refocusing on the clawed, swiping creature. “Stay close to me, but keep distance. It will be easier for me to kill them if I do not have to bend head to confirm you still live.”

And his fierce snarl was directed at the demon again; the human momentarily forgotten behind him.
“Your presence in this Realm is strictly forbidden. Where is the fissure that allowed you to pass through?” he demanded calmly, the point of his blade aimed at the thing’s jugular.
The demon just snarled and then muttered something that sounded like Jabba the Hut coughing up a louie. Kyle wasn’t impressed with that answer. The demon made a move to swing at him and the shifter spun on his heel, going low to sweep his rapier across the back of the creature’s knees, which sent it spiraling to the ground just as the dragon shot back up to lay a silver kiss across its throat.

Black-blue blood spewed out of the gaping wound in its neck as the skull rolled on the ground. One down but there were plenty of others, so the ancient warrior joined the graceful female in black to finish those that remained.
“Kill them all, save one. We need to find out where the portal tear is.”

Prying eyes would find the brawl between the dragon and the slayer a ballet of swivels and ducks and blades slicing through demon bodies and the wind.
When all but one had fallen, the dragon was winded, but no where near done.
“Where is it?” he hissed, holding the tip of the sword against the demon’s throat. The beast, already fatally wounded, had lost all fight left in him. It raised a chubby, snot dripping finger towards a break in the tree line, and lo and behold, a greenish illumination radiated out of the darkness.

Before any further inquiry could be made, the monster fell against the blade, running himself through like an honorable samurai. Kyle cursed and pushed the disgusting thing off his weapon and made quick work severing the head completely.
It took the dragon and the female a few minutes to drag all the lumpy, stinking bodies into a pile, and then Kyle held an arm out to the females.
“You should stay back.”

With that the shifter summoned the fires within him; pupils lengthening to reptilian slits as a scorching flame spewed from his curled lips, effectively turning the pile into nothing more than ash.
“We should find that fissure.” He announced to Kalii sans introduction or pause. Such niceties were not in the dragon’s repertoire.

He began stalking towards the source of the green glow, unaware or unconcerned whether the women followed him or not.

[Lt. Kalii Duran]

Kalii nodded to indicate she understood what he said. She couldn't help thinking that this guy was a strange one indeed. If she hadn't seen the way he had handled the blade she would have thought he was one of the crazies who ran around the park thinking they were ninja's, knights or gladiators.

Unfortunately, she knew all too well about the underworld, the things that dwell in the night. Well, mostly at night anyway. And... while this guy didn't seem to have caught up with the centuries with the way he spoke and the manner in which he carried himself at least he was one of the good guys. At least for now she had to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Kalii watched as the man sprang back into action. His flying leap over one of the monsters that was attacking the civilian female. Which was quite impress she had to admit, not that she couldn't have done the same but... no need trying to play one up with the superhero powers while there was an actual fight at hand. Still she kept it in the back of her mind. This man was no normal human, if he was even human at all.

One more quick glance and Kalii assured herself that the man had the civilian woman protected and was taking on one of the beast. Figuring her best bet would be to finish off the one she had wounded early. At least that would decrease their numbers. That was the way they would have to do it. One at a time.

Kalii spotted the still wailing demon not to far from where they were. Just before she was about to sprint across the distance and re-engage in the battle she heard the strange man's voice. Talking to the beast.

“Your presence in this Realm is strictly forbidden. Where is the fissure that allowed you to pass through?”

That caused Kalii to raise an eyebrow and wonder. Something more was going on here, she was sure of it. For now though, she needed to push that to the back of her mind and focus on the fight. She sprinted at full speed, using her preternatural gifts to help her move. It allowed her to be in front of the monster before he had a chance to react.

Before she had even stopped moving her katana was gripped tightly in both hands, taking the advice the man had given her, she plunged the sword into the neck of the demon. Using both hands she pulled across sharply, her extra strength making it easier to slice though the things neck.

When her blade came through the other side, Kalii lifted her foot and kicked the beast hard in the mid-section. She watched as his body went falling backward and as if in some surreal slow motion, the head separated from it's shoulders as the body fell to the ground. She gave a small satisfied smile, but it didn't last very long.

Looking over she saw that the strange man had dispatched the demon he was battling. Two down, more to go she thought to herself as her attention was brought back to the other beasts who were now even more thoroughly enraged. She readied herself once more to take on the approaching creature and she heard the man speak again.

“Kill them all, save one. We need to find out where the portal tear is.”

In her crouch, ready to pounce on the advancing enemy she stole a glance and looked at the man. The expression on her face was 'our you kidding me', but there seemed to be some urgency in his tone. As she had thought before, there was more going on than just a random demon attack here. With a sigh she barked back at the man.

"Sure. We can try to take one alive... But, if it comes down to them or me... Well... I think you know the choice I'll make."

[/color]

Together they fought on. Kalii the Slayer and the strange man who she had already suspected was not human. They battled, their swords flashing and glinting as they occasionally caught beams of light from the lamp posts in the park. After some time they had defeated them all, save one.

Kalli took a deep breath. Taking a step back then scanning the area for a moment looking for the civilian female. She was sure she was scared out of her mind but, at least she was safe. For now Kalii needed to stay while this other warrior dealt with the wounded demon. She listen as he questioned it.

“Where is it?”

Kalii let the tip of her sword pierce the ground and she rested her hands on the top of it while she watched. In response to the man's inquiry the defeated but not yet dead creature pointed. Kalii let her gaze shift. Following the direction of the beast's finger. She saw the strange greenish hazy light.

"Well... I'll be damned. Holy shit."

She couldn't stop herself from saying that out loud. The Slayer was pretty sure she knew what that was, a portal of some kind. Though, she had never seen one before she had heard of them. Until this moment though, she wasn't sure that they had actually existed, but if her eyes weren't deceiving her.... They sure as hell seemed to be real enough.

After a few moments of rapture staring at the eerie yet strangely beautiful light, Kalii turned back to the task at hand. Before either Kalii or the other warrior could react, the beast used the last of his strength to lean over and let gravity take over. The man couldn't pull his blade away fast enough and the creature's aim was true. He had killed himself before he could provide them with any further information.

Kalii frowned as the stranger let fly a few choice words. She continued to watch as he finished the job, the beast was of no further use to them now. When the man started to move toward the bodies Kalii knew what he was going to do. She sheathed her sword and moved to help him. Kalii had seen a lot of things in her day, but these were some of the nastiest.

"You know... Those things are disgusting, and in my line of work... That's saying something."

Kalii wiped what she could of the griminess on her hands off on the grass. Then when as least they weren't dripping with snot like goo and were pretty much dry she dusted them off on her black leather pants. That was the best she could do for now, as far as cleaning up.

Kalii eyed the man again, but did as he requested and stepped back. She watched as he seemed to be preparing to do something. Then her lower jaw dropped as fire exploded from his mouth.

"Jesus Fucking Christ. What in the fuck...?"

She continued to stare as she exclaimed in astonishment. First a mythical portal and now a fire-breathing man. A fire breathing demon, no problem... But, this guy was no demon. Still she didn't know what to make of it. On the other hand... Everything in her life, it shouldn't really have surprised her... But, it was still a bit shocking.

Kalii stared at him hard when he spoke again. Tell her they needed to find that fissure or the portal or whatever the hell it was. She let her eyes bore into the back of his head as he began to walk away.

"Yeah... for sure. We should find that thing... BUT... We are definitely gonna talk about that whole fire-breathing thing. Oh yeah we are. And for Christ sake... what the hell am I supposed to call you flame boy? My name is Kalii."

Grumbling and muttering to herself she rolled her eyes and shook her head. A deep breath, a long sigh and she started to follow him toward the strange glowing green light.[/blockquote]