"Just don't get in front of me.." - Raina
Raina arrives at the base the next day to find Jack giving Grim more hand to hand combat lessons. She pipes in with her own advice and readily agrees to demonstrate certain techniques. Grim proves to be a fast learner and the group is soon joined by Rusty and Brandon. Brandon states that he wants to go out and do some good, and the rest agree.
Raina mentions a weapons deal going down that she needs help on. The issue is that it is going down in Dark Astoria. The place means little but bad for Raina as something about the magic of the area drives her cat into a killing frenzy. The group agrees to help her take care of it and Jack says he'll help keep her cat in check. During the mission, Raina is able to take out her bloodlust on the unlucky council members. At only one point does she take a swipe at a teammate, Grim, but with more council nearby, the 'attack' is half-hearted and misses.
They follow a few more leads and raid more council bases, including one that, to Jack's annoyance, is in Kings Row. John signs on with what Raina calls his "radio show", and she greets him but is ignored. After clearing out a few more hideouts, the group decides that they've had enough for one day. They break up and Raina and Jack head back to base for the night
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
...There's fire
"Prey lives!" - Raina Sylvir
Raina contacted Jack the next day and found that her love was no better for the time away from the base. He hadn't slept and was worried about all of them. She caught up with him at Crown Memorial Hospital in Kings Row where his father was being treated. Jack admits to missing her and Raina says he same. His father is doing better and Jack decides its time to go home.
The two head back and meet up with Grim and Rusty. Apologies are exchanged and friendships are reinforced. Raina is happy that things seem to have worked out again. The decision is also made to dismantle the brig and use the space for something else. However, everything is thrown for a loop once more when Jennifer comes in with a man named Darren. Raina, still mistrustful of the girl, is even more deeply disturbed that she would bring a stranger to the base with no warning or having them checked. Angered but in the minority, Raina and Jack head up to their room.
There Raina rants about the removal of their sense of security. She admits to Jack that she wants to be able to let her guard down here at "home". However, with so many newcomers, she's not sure that its going to be possible. Jack worries about the same and promises to work harder in learning magic and "ward the entire place myself". Raina says that she needs a break and leaves.
She ends up in Pocket D where she finds John meeting with some other people but does not approach him. After John leaves she finds Bladeless nearly passed out drunk. Rusty also shows up and Raina carries Nathan back to base to sleep off the alcohol. She then patrols the base out of nervousness and stress.
A little while later she finds Jack and Jennifer in the bar talking. She takes her cat form since she still doesn't trust herself to talk civilly with the other girl. Walking in half-way through the conversation, Raina quickly catches up to what's happened while she's been out. The questioning takes a more ominous turn when Jennifer states that she was not controlled when she set the fires the day before. Then, in a random move, Jennifer states, "I'll do it!" and yanks out a torch and proceeds to set Jack and Raina on fire.
Screeching with her own and Jack's pain, Raina's cat seizes control and shifts straight to her wereform and attacks Jennifer. She screams into the comm to summon the others as she tries to subdue and possibly kill Jennifer. A confused Grim and Kalius show up and Kalius immediately pulls Raina off Jennifer who takes off into the rest of the base to set fires.
Furious and aware that her prey is still alive, Raina punches and struggles with Kalius to free herself. However, Kalius's god enhanced strength make him a match for even her were strength. Only Raina's killing rage allows her to overpower him and get free. She takes off after Jennifer to attack her again. She finds that Grim has cornered Jennifer in the room she and Jack share. Raina attempts to pin and kill her but is tackled once more by Kalius and the two crash through the window to the training ring below. Indeed, the training mat does bounce. Jack, badly burned, stumbles in as Kalius and Raina grapple on the training mat. Jack orders Kalius to let Raina go and the werecat takes off for her target. She tackles Jennifer down the stairs and proceeds to sever the girl's tendons and prevent further escape. As she goes for the killing blow, Kalius tackles her off again. As Raina struggles to get free and ignores Kalius' and Jack's attempts to calm her, Grim banishes Jennifer and the girl disappears.
Kalius finally ends up headbutting Raina hard and knocks both her and Jack unconscious. They are taken to medbay to recover. Unsure if Raina or her cat will be control when she comes to, they restrain Raina to the bed. Jack comes to first and speaks of what happened as Grim completes his healing. The white mage then attempts to heal Raina, but her cat is far to agitated and attempts to attack him. Using extra power from his watch, Jack manages to get through Raina's bloodfury and pull her back to them. Raina wakes calm, but pissed.
They collect Jennifer's blood from Raina's claws for Grim to use to steal away Jennifer's memories of the base location. Raina states that she warned them that Jennifer was a threat. They talk for a while longer before deciding to head to bed. Their room burned, Raina and Jack claim the TV room couch and go to sleep.
Raina contacted Jack the next day and found that her love was no better for the time away from the base. He hadn't slept and was worried about all of them. She caught up with him at Crown Memorial Hospital in Kings Row where his father was being treated. Jack admits to missing her and Raina says he same. His father is doing better and Jack decides its time to go home.
The two head back and meet up with Grim and Rusty. Apologies are exchanged and friendships are reinforced. Raina is happy that things seem to have worked out again. The decision is also made to dismantle the brig and use the space for something else. However, everything is thrown for a loop once more when Jennifer comes in with a man named Darren. Raina, still mistrustful of the girl, is even more deeply disturbed that she would bring a stranger to the base with no warning or having them checked. Angered but in the minority, Raina and Jack head up to their room.
There Raina rants about the removal of their sense of security. She admits to Jack that she wants to be able to let her guard down here at "home". However, with so many newcomers, she's not sure that its going to be possible. Jack worries about the same and promises to work harder in learning magic and "ward the entire place myself". Raina says that she needs a break and leaves.
She ends up in Pocket D where she finds John meeting with some other people but does not approach him. After John leaves she finds Bladeless nearly passed out drunk. Rusty also shows up and Raina carries Nathan back to base to sleep off the alcohol. She then patrols the base out of nervousness and stress.
A little while later she finds Jack and Jennifer in the bar talking. She takes her cat form since she still doesn't trust herself to talk civilly with the other girl. Walking in half-way through the conversation, Raina quickly catches up to what's happened while she's been out. The questioning takes a more ominous turn when Jennifer states that she was not controlled when she set the fires the day before. Then, in a random move, Jennifer states, "I'll do it!" and yanks out a torch and proceeds to set Jack and Raina on fire.
Screeching with her own and Jack's pain, Raina's cat seizes control and shifts straight to her wereform and attacks Jennifer. She screams into the comm to summon the others as she tries to subdue and possibly kill Jennifer. A confused Grim and Kalius show up and Kalius immediately pulls Raina off Jennifer who takes off into the rest of the base to set fires.
Furious and aware that her prey is still alive, Raina punches and struggles with Kalius to free herself. However, Kalius's god enhanced strength make him a match for even her were strength. Only Raina's killing rage allows her to overpower him and get free. She takes off after Jennifer to attack her again. She finds that Grim has cornered Jennifer in the room she and Jack share. Raina attempts to pin and kill her but is tackled once more by Kalius and the two crash through the window to the training ring below. Indeed, the training mat does bounce. Jack, badly burned, stumbles in as Kalius and Raina grapple on the training mat. Jack orders Kalius to let Raina go and the werecat takes off for her target. She tackles Jennifer down the stairs and proceeds to sever the girl's tendons and prevent further escape. As she goes for the killing blow, Kalius tackles her off again. As Raina struggles to get free and ignores Kalius' and Jack's attempts to calm her, Grim banishes Jennifer and the girl disappears.
Kalius finally ends up headbutting Raina hard and knocks both her and Jack unconscious. They are taken to medbay to recover. Unsure if Raina or her cat will be control when she comes to, they restrain Raina to the bed. Jack comes to first and speaks of what happened as Grim completes his healing. The white mage then attempts to heal Raina, but her cat is far to agitated and attempts to attack him. Using extra power from his watch, Jack manages to get through Raina's bloodfury and pull her back to them. Raina wakes calm, but pissed.
They collect Jennifer's blood from Raina's claws for Grim to use to steal away Jennifer's memories of the base location. Raina states that she warned them that Jennifer was a threat. They talk for a while longer before deciding to head to bed. Their room burned, Raina and Jack claim the TV room couch and go to sleep.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Where there's smoke...
"You are not John, Jack." -Raina
The next day finds Raina running errands in Talos, glad for the normalcy of the actions. She is stopped however by Grim's sudden request over the comms for everyone to return to base. There, they find the medical bay and bar baring scorch marks. More worrisome is that the blood sample Brandon took from her the day before was destroyed. Raina readily offered to allow him to draw more. This time, Brandon draws 4 vials, promising to stash them in various places this time.
Questioning Aza, the apparent cause of the scorching, she admits to setting herself on fire to "see what it felt like". The explanation was believable to Raina since the girl had already proved herself to be a bit of a masochist. The 'emergency' taken care of and Aza warned against any further solo experiments, Raina decides to head out to check out a few leads on other things she's working on.
She is summoned back to the base by sensing troubling thoughts in Jack's mind. She arrives to find Jack and the rest in the brig.. and Jennifer is inside the cell. No one looks very happy and Raina waits to find out what happened. She is told that Jennifer was caught setting fire to Grim's room. Raina supports Jack's decision to keep Jennifer in the cell until they determine who was controlling her. Especially when Jennifer refuses to allow them to put defenses in her against it happening again or even to avoid the D where it happened. The others are not as accepting to the idea of detaining her.
Raina cites the danger presented by her and as she explains why, Jack orders Rusty to turn on the dampening fields. Rusty responds, "Yes, John." and then apologizes for the slip. Stunned, Raina can only stare for a moment as Jack leaves. She snaps to the others to go ahead and let her go, but warns against the danger she could cause. Trying to temper her own anger, Raina tries to seek out and console Jack. He asks her to give him space to think and Raina readily agrees (after punching a dent in the bricks of the TV room in anger). Not trusting herself to speak to them, Raina takes her ocelot form before rejoining the others.
She listens as they allow Jenn and Aza to leave and then as Grim, Brandon, and Rusty decide to find the restaurant in the city where Jenn claims to have woken up at. Rusty tries to speak to Raina who gives him a look that would peel paint and refuses to change her form to speak with him. After listening to them wander aimlessly, Raina leaves and easily backtrack's Jenn's scent to a restaurant. The place provides no new clues and the group returns to base. Raina takes out her fury on an unlucky group of hellions. Arriving back at base, Raina goes to join Jack in their room while Rusty and the others decide to investigate the D.
Raina tries to put Jack's fears to rest and the two eventually retreat to bed for a few hours. They emerge to find Brandon helping Kal and Grim move the burned furniture out of their room. They aide with the "remodel" by moving undamaged furniture from a spare room into Grim and Kal's room. However, things seem to collapse again when Grim tries to push the issue about Rusty's slip. Eventually Jack leaves and Raina follows him.
She finds him working out in the training ring and, without hesitating, moves to attack him. They share a fast paced training fight that ends with Jack managing to pin Raina to the floor. They get up and decide to talk again, with Raina working to assure Jack that he will never be John. They are interrupted by Grim, Kalius, and Brandon. Grim starts with telling Jack to grow up and get over it. This immediately puts Raina and Jack on the defensive and effectively destroys everything Raina's done to calm him down.
The verbal fight degenerates to a near shouting match that ends with Jack leaving in anger. Raina attempts to follow him but then recognizes that Jack needs space again. Furious at the callous words of the others and their ignorance, she returns to the base and screams in fury before stalking to the bar for a much needed drink. She mentally contacts Jack, telling him that she wants to be there with him. He responds that he wants her there too but, "You'd better stay with the nimwits.. they need someone with brains there." Resigned to being away from him for a night, she pours herself a glass of whiskey.
Brandon joins her and questions her gently on the group's history and past ties. Raina starts to explain about their past rockiness and then begins to tell him of her and Jack's link. She stops when Grim and Kalius enter but continues at their prompting. Emotionally weary and her fury spent, Raina questions Grim if he knows how badly Jack was hurt by it all. Apologetic, Grim asks her to let Jack know that he wants to apologize. Aware that Jack is too hurt and angry to listen, she responds that it would be better to wait until he was calmer. She tells them that Jack is sleeping in an apartment in Kings Row and will be back the next day.
The group then heads for the respective beds and sleep, hoping the next day will dawn brighter.
The next day finds Raina running errands in Talos, glad for the normalcy of the actions. She is stopped however by Grim's sudden request over the comms for everyone to return to base. There, they find the medical bay and bar baring scorch marks. More worrisome is that the blood sample Brandon took from her the day before was destroyed. Raina readily offered to allow him to draw more. This time, Brandon draws 4 vials, promising to stash them in various places this time.
Questioning Aza, the apparent cause of the scorching, she admits to setting herself on fire to "see what it felt like". The explanation was believable to Raina since the girl had already proved herself to be a bit of a masochist. The 'emergency' taken care of and Aza warned against any further solo experiments, Raina decides to head out to check out a few leads on other things she's working on.
She is summoned back to the base by sensing troubling thoughts in Jack's mind. She arrives to find Jack and the rest in the brig.. and Jennifer is inside the cell. No one looks very happy and Raina waits to find out what happened. She is told that Jennifer was caught setting fire to Grim's room. Raina supports Jack's decision to keep Jennifer in the cell until they determine who was controlling her. Especially when Jennifer refuses to allow them to put defenses in her against it happening again or even to avoid the D where it happened. The others are not as accepting to the idea of detaining her.
Raina cites the danger presented by her and as she explains why, Jack orders Rusty to turn on the dampening fields. Rusty responds, "Yes, John." and then apologizes for the slip. Stunned, Raina can only stare for a moment as Jack leaves. She snaps to the others to go ahead and let her go, but warns against the danger she could cause. Trying to temper her own anger, Raina tries to seek out and console Jack. He asks her to give him space to think and Raina readily agrees (after punching a dent in the bricks of the TV room in anger). Not trusting herself to speak to them, Raina takes her ocelot form before rejoining the others.
She listens as they allow Jenn and Aza to leave and then as Grim, Brandon, and Rusty decide to find the restaurant in the city where Jenn claims to have woken up at. Rusty tries to speak to Raina who gives him a look that would peel paint and refuses to change her form to speak with him. After listening to them wander aimlessly, Raina leaves and easily backtrack's Jenn's scent to a restaurant. The place provides no new clues and the group returns to base. Raina takes out her fury on an unlucky group of hellions. Arriving back at base, Raina goes to join Jack in their room while Rusty and the others decide to investigate the D.
Raina tries to put Jack's fears to rest and the two eventually retreat to bed for a few hours. They emerge to find Brandon helping Kal and Grim move the burned furniture out of their room. They aide with the "remodel" by moving undamaged furniture from a spare room into Grim and Kal's room. However, things seem to collapse again when Grim tries to push the issue about Rusty's slip. Eventually Jack leaves and Raina follows him.
She finds him working out in the training ring and, without hesitating, moves to attack him. They share a fast paced training fight that ends with Jack managing to pin Raina to the floor. They get up and decide to talk again, with Raina working to assure Jack that he will never be John. They are interrupted by Grim, Kalius, and Brandon. Grim starts with telling Jack to grow up and get over it. This immediately puts Raina and Jack on the defensive and effectively destroys everything Raina's done to calm him down.
The verbal fight degenerates to a near shouting match that ends with Jack leaving in anger. Raina attempts to follow him but then recognizes that Jack needs space again. Furious at the callous words of the others and their ignorance, she returns to the base and screams in fury before stalking to the bar for a much needed drink. She mentally contacts Jack, telling him that she wants to be there with him. He responds that he wants her there too but, "You'd better stay with the nimwits.. they need someone with brains there." Resigned to being away from him for a night, she pours herself a glass of whiskey.
Brandon joins her and questions her gently on the group's history and past ties. Raina starts to explain about their past rockiness and then begins to tell him of her and Jack's link. She stops when Grim and Kalius enter but continues at their prompting. Emotionally weary and her fury spent, Raina questions Grim if he knows how badly Jack was hurt by it all. Apologetic, Grim asks her to let Jack know that he wants to apologize. Aware that Jack is too hurt and angry to listen, she responds that it would be better to wait until he was calmer. She tells them that Jack is sleeping in an apartment in Kings Row and will be back the next day.
The group then heads for the respective beds and sleep, hoping the next day will dawn brighter.
Selfish?
"Am I the only one who's curious to see what could make the VoPC run?" - Raina Sylvir in Pocket D
The group heads to the D the next day when Aza contacts that she's found someone in need of a safe place to stay. As this is the main reason for Safe Havens existence, they agree to head to the club to check this person out. They find Aza talking to Jennifer D, but the close proximity of many VoPC and Justice Seekers members make the group uneasy and they seek out somewhere more private to talk. As they talk, Raina hears John over the broadcast of the D ordering his people to retreat. While curious to what could make them run, she manages to control the impulse to see. Parallel arrives and informs them that John started a fight by throwing a girl at a zombie girl and was outnumbered. Stunned and amused, the group brush off the incident and get about interviewed Jennifer, who proves to be DJ Zero's neglected daughter.
Eventually, the group agrees to let Jenn stay with them and Raina gives her a keycard. The group heads back to base but Raina stays a little longer to talk with Parallel. She finds out that the mother-to-be of his children is named Cubbie and is having triplets. She congratulates him on the happy event and shows him her engagement ring. They part after sharing more news on recent events and Raina heads to base to be with Jack and their friends.
Jack isn't there at first and Grim is giving Jennifer a tour of the base. After concluding the tour, Jennifer goes to claim a room for herself and Grim takes Raina aside. He tells her that his "parts" have finally grown back and that the damage John did to him is completely gone now. Raina expresses her joy and the two share a brother/sister moment. Kalius arrives and Grim takes him away to show him the good news. As she waits Jack arrives and he and Raina talk about their plans for their wedding and his father's sickness. Jack tells her of his idea for Grim to only weaken the cancer so that his father's body can fight and overcome it. That way, they can save his father without him realizing that any magic was used on him.
Raina agrees that its a good idea, but still doesn't see why they can't trick his father into accepting an instant healing. She does however respect Jack's wishes and encourages him to ask Grim if its possible. Jack also tells her that he would like to have Grim as his best man. Raina agrees and states that she'll approach Ashley as her maid of honor.. also stating that likely they'll have all their friends in the wedding party.
Grim and Kalius return and Jack proposes both questions to Grim. Grim agrees that he can probably form a spell that will weaken his father's cancer. He also happily agrees to stand as Jack's best man when he and Raina wed. Jack states that he needs to head to Steel for some things and the rest decide that they've had enough "hanging around the base for now"
The group then heads out with some of their new allies to have some fun. They take out several council and Arachnos bases. The 'fun' is cut short when Raina suddenly becomes ill after one mission to steal away an "all purpose virus" from an arachnos base. They help her back to base and get her to the medbay. The source of her illness is determined to be a large gash on her side that isn't healing and shows signs of an infection.
Grim, with Kalius's aide, attempts to heal her, but her cat, defensive against the virus' assault threatens to attack him. Hoping that Raina's natural defenses will overcome the virus, Grim calls Jack to let him know what happened. He and Kalius head off for a shower. Jack comes in and rushes to her side. Raina's growing sicker by the moment with bouts of weakness, nausea, and pain. Jack attempts to shoulder her pain and Raina tries to stop him. She pleads with the returning Grim to make Jack stop. Instead, Grim gives Jack his energy and Kalius supplies Grim. At first, Raina's cat refuses their aide, but then suddenly latches on and starts draining all three.
Her inner magic begins to produce the correct antibodies to fight the virus and her wound heals when she shifts to her ocelot form. She breaks off the magical connection, making all three men collapse. They recover quickly and Grim and Kal head over to the bar to rest. Raina has Jack tell Brandon to draw some of her blood and make a vaccine or anti-virus from it in case this happens again in the future. Brandon draws a vial of blood from her foreleg and puts it in a rack on the desk.
After sharing news and drinks, Jack claims exhaustion and he and Raina head back to their room. There, Jack admits to not being that tired but just wanting time alone with her. Raina responds that there is nothing wrong with being "a little selfish" sometimes.
The group heads to the D the next day when Aza contacts that she's found someone in need of a safe place to stay. As this is the main reason for Safe Havens existence, they agree to head to the club to check this person out. They find Aza talking to Jennifer D, but the close proximity of many VoPC and Justice Seekers members make the group uneasy and they seek out somewhere more private to talk. As they talk, Raina hears John over the broadcast of the D ordering his people to retreat. While curious to what could make them run, she manages to control the impulse to see. Parallel arrives and informs them that John started a fight by throwing a girl at a zombie girl and was outnumbered. Stunned and amused, the group brush off the incident and get about interviewed Jennifer, who proves to be DJ Zero's neglected daughter.
Eventually, the group agrees to let Jenn stay with them and Raina gives her a keycard. The group heads back to base but Raina stays a little longer to talk with Parallel. She finds out that the mother-to-be of his children is named Cubbie and is having triplets. She congratulates him on the happy event and shows him her engagement ring. They part after sharing more news on recent events and Raina heads to base to be with Jack and their friends.
Jack isn't there at first and Grim is giving Jennifer a tour of the base. After concluding the tour, Jennifer goes to claim a room for herself and Grim takes Raina aside. He tells her that his "parts" have finally grown back and that the damage John did to him is completely gone now. Raina expresses her joy and the two share a brother/sister moment. Kalius arrives and Grim takes him away to show him the good news. As she waits Jack arrives and he and Raina talk about their plans for their wedding and his father's sickness. Jack tells her of his idea for Grim to only weaken the cancer so that his father's body can fight and overcome it. That way, they can save his father without him realizing that any magic was used on him.
Raina agrees that its a good idea, but still doesn't see why they can't trick his father into accepting an instant healing. She does however respect Jack's wishes and encourages him to ask Grim if its possible. Jack also tells her that he would like to have Grim as his best man. Raina agrees and states that she'll approach Ashley as her maid of honor.. also stating that likely they'll have all their friends in the wedding party.
Grim and Kalius return and Jack proposes both questions to Grim. Grim agrees that he can probably form a spell that will weaken his father's cancer. He also happily agrees to stand as Jack's best man when he and Raina wed. Jack states that he needs to head to Steel for some things and the rest decide that they've had enough "hanging around the base for now"
The group then heads out with some of their new allies to have some fun. They take out several council and Arachnos bases. The 'fun' is cut short when Raina suddenly becomes ill after one mission to steal away an "all purpose virus" from an arachnos base. They help her back to base and get her to the medbay. The source of her illness is determined to be a large gash on her side that isn't healing and shows signs of an infection.
Grim, with Kalius's aide, attempts to heal her, but her cat, defensive against the virus' assault threatens to attack him. Hoping that Raina's natural defenses will overcome the virus, Grim calls Jack to let him know what happened. He and Kalius head off for a shower. Jack comes in and rushes to her side. Raina's growing sicker by the moment with bouts of weakness, nausea, and pain. Jack attempts to shoulder her pain and Raina tries to stop him. She pleads with the returning Grim to make Jack stop. Instead, Grim gives Jack his energy and Kalius supplies Grim. At first, Raina's cat refuses their aide, but then suddenly latches on and starts draining all three.
Her inner magic begins to produce the correct antibodies to fight the virus and her wound heals when she shifts to her ocelot form. She breaks off the magical connection, making all three men collapse. They recover quickly and Grim and Kal head over to the bar to rest. Raina has Jack tell Brandon to draw some of her blood and make a vaccine or anti-virus from it in case this happens again in the future. Brandon draws a vial of blood from her foreleg and puts it in a rack on the desk.
After sharing news and drinks, Jack claims exhaustion and he and Raina head back to their room. There, Jack admits to not being that tired but just wanting time alone with her. Raina responds that there is nothing wrong with being "a little selfish" sometimes.
Security Nightmare
"Your word means shit, John." - Raina
The next day finds Raina checking on the still comatose Ashley. Her cell gets a call, its John. He begs Raina to let him come see his little sister. Disbelieving and angry, Raina flat refuses, citing that there is no way they will allow John in their base. She tells him flat out that if he sets foot in the base, it'll be a race between all their members to kill him first. John offers to surrender, even offering to come to them alone and unarmed. While tempted by the offer, Raina states that John's word means nothing since he has no honesty. John continues to plead with her.
Eventually, Raina proposes the idea to the others who, at first, are as skeptical as she was. After a few rounds of arguments, it is agreed that the base can be fortified against anything John could try. Grim's latest set of wards will prevent John from entering if he does mean them harm. Preperations are completed just as Ashley starts to wake up. Raina, with Grim and Frost for backup, agrees to meet with John in Kings Row to take him in.. but he never shows.
The group never really thought he would do it and so head back to base. There, they start to talk about what will happen next when a set of magical tomes appear in a flash of white light and fall on Grim's head. The books are from a mage that Grim met in the D and come with a note: "Use them well." It turns out that the books will be able to teach Grim almost anything that he wants to know.
Raina and Jack then go with Frost to Founder's Falls to check on Bladeless. They learn that Bladeless was attacked by a fellow Havens member that they had not met yet. After Raina decides to go harass the doctor's for news, Timetripper arrives. She questions Jack on where "his cat" is and, hearing the babbling of nearby doctors, Jack states that she's "nearby".
Raina comes back in and Timetripper introduces herself. Raina smiles that they've already met and then shifts to her housecat form, jumping up to Jack's shoulders and proving herself to be "the cat" Timetripper had mentioned before. That mystery taken care of, Timetripper uses her gifts to wake Bladeless from his coma. It quickly becomes evident that something is wrong with his mind. Taking a look in, Jack and Raina determine that his memory has been destroyed. The damage seems to be beyond anything they can fix.
Eventually, the group leaves and outside they question Frost and deduce that there was more between him and Nathan than simple friendship. Raina encourages Frost to keep his hopes up and simply be there for Nathan and help him fill in the gaps in his memory. They head back to base for some much needed drinks. Frost proves to be a lightweight by getting drunk off only a glass of scotch.
Grim and the others arrive with several new recruits in tow. Raina and Jack quickly become uneasy with so many new and untested people. Jack checks them all out and determines them to be, at the very least, not loyal to John. Eventually, Raina goes to put the drunk Frost in bed and, remembering Frost and Nathan's relationship, keeps Aza from taking advantage of him. The group then heads out to combat the supernatural invasion.
The battles provide much needed emotional relief. To Raina's amusement, the battlelust of one battle causes Kalius to grab and kiss Grim passionately in front of all of them. They battle until exhaustion starts to take its toll. The group heads back to base to rest up for the next days trials.
The next day finds Raina checking on the still comatose Ashley. Her cell gets a call, its John. He begs Raina to let him come see his little sister. Disbelieving and angry, Raina flat refuses, citing that there is no way they will allow John in their base. She tells him flat out that if he sets foot in the base, it'll be a race between all their members to kill him first. John offers to surrender, even offering to come to them alone and unarmed. While tempted by the offer, Raina states that John's word means nothing since he has no honesty. John continues to plead with her.
Eventually, Raina proposes the idea to the others who, at first, are as skeptical as she was. After a few rounds of arguments, it is agreed that the base can be fortified against anything John could try. Grim's latest set of wards will prevent John from entering if he does mean them harm. Preperations are completed just as Ashley starts to wake up. Raina, with Grim and Frost for backup, agrees to meet with John in Kings Row to take him in.. but he never shows.
The group never really thought he would do it and so head back to base. There, they start to talk about what will happen next when a set of magical tomes appear in a flash of white light and fall on Grim's head. The books are from a mage that Grim met in the D and come with a note: "Use them well." It turns out that the books will be able to teach Grim almost anything that he wants to know.
Raina and Jack then go with Frost to Founder's Falls to check on Bladeless. They learn that Bladeless was attacked by a fellow Havens member that they had not met yet. After Raina decides to go harass the doctor's for news, Timetripper arrives. She questions Jack on where "his cat" is and, hearing the babbling of nearby doctors, Jack states that she's "nearby".
Raina comes back in and Timetripper introduces herself. Raina smiles that they've already met and then shifts to her housecat form, jumping up to Jack's shoulders and proving herself to be "the cat" Timetripper had mentioned before. That mystery taken care of, Timetripper uses her gifts to wake Bladeless from his coma. It quickly becomes evident that something is wrong with his mind. Taking a look in, Jack and Raina determine that his memory has been destroyed. The damage seems to be beyond anything they can fix.
Eventually, the group leaves and outside they question Frost and deduce that there was more between him and Nathan than simple friendship. Raina encourages Frost to keep his hopes up and simply be there for Nathan and help him fill in the gaps in his memory. They head back to base for some much needed drinks. Frost proves to be a lightweight by getting drunk off only a glass of scotch.
Grim and the others arrive with several new recruits in tow. Raina and Jack quickly become uneasy with so many new and untested people. Jack checks them all out and determines them to be, at the very least, not loyal to John. Eventually, Raina goes to put the drunk Frost in bed and, remembering Frost and Nathan's relationship, keeps Aza from taking advantage of him. The group then heads out to combat the supernatural invasion.
The battles provide much needed emotional relief. To Raina's amusement, the battlelust of one battle causes Kalius to grab and kiss Grim passionately in front of all of them. They battle until exhaustion starts to take its toll. The group heads back to base to rest up for the next days trials.
Battle
"Unlike you, John.. I care for my comrades. She'll be fine." -Raina
The group wakes and prepares for the battle they know is coming. Plans are discarded as it turns out that their allies have, for the most part, backed out of the fight. Not to be deterred, the group decides to make a stand anyway. They head out to Galaxy City to get set for the battle. The group waits for John and his to appear. As she scouts, Raina runs across Antoine, one of John's snipers. She questions him on his loyalty and eventually ends up attacking him to send him back to base to keep him out of the fight for that day.
Returning to her comrades, Raina goes inside to warn the people working in the building of the immanent attack. John's forces arrive soon afterwords and the fight begins. As most battles are, it quickly dissolves into chaos. Eventually, the Havens fighters are forced to pull back (OOCly, we'd had enough of the insanity) and retreat to their base. Watching the news shows them that John's attempt to bomb the building was unsuccessful due to the building's strong architecture.
The group begins to recover when Raina discovers over the comm that Ashley remained behind, determined to stop John. Panicking, Raina headed back out after they heard what sounded like an explosion over the comm. She quickly found and retrieved Ashley, who looked like she had been caught up in the explosion of a bomb. She got her back to base and the medbay as John called her frantically over the comm, begging Raina to save his sister. Raina responds that she cares for her comrades and will ensure Ashley's well being.
Leaving Ashley in the care of the medbay things, Raina goes to join Jack. The two share a moment together, ensuring that the other is safe. Jack presents Raina with an unset cut diamond. While delighted in the present, she senses something troubling Jack. Raina questions and presses him on it. Jack admits that he hates having to put off their happiness until John's threat is ended. Unsure what he means, Raina states that while she agrees that having children right now is a bad idea, she sees no reason for them to delay anything else. Jack responds that he does not want to give John another weakness to use against them. "We're already eachother's weakness, Jack.. and eachother's strength. In our lives.. we can't wait for happiness, we have to take it where we find it."
Agreeing, Jack proposes to her and Raina gleefully accepts. The two then go to the training room where Grim, Kalius, Shadow, and Rusty are. They walk in on an experiment taking place in the training ring. As they waited for them to finish, Raina and Jack informed Kal and Grim of their happy news. The newly engaged couple are congratulated but the happy moment is interrupted when Rusty explodes. Panic ensues and the group rushes the ring to recollect Rusty's parts. Confusion takes hold when Grim is only able to find a small part of Rusty's brain. However, it is soon discovered that Rusty himself has turned into energy and is now bound to his armor itself.
A rule is made that there will be no more explosions allowed in the training area. It is also likely that Shadow will never live down "blowing up a teammate". The group disperses to their respective beds and prepares for another day.
The group wakes and prepares for the battle they know is coming. Plans are discarded as it turns out that their allies have, for the most part, backed out of the fight. Not to be deterred, the group decides to make a stand anyway. They head out to Galaxy City to get set for the battle. The group waits for John and his to appear. As she scouts, Raina runs across Antoine, one of John's snipers. She questions him on his loyalty and eventually ends up attacking him to send him back to base to keep him out of the fight for that day.
Returning to her comrades, Raina goes inside to warn the people working in the building of the immanent attack. John's forces arrive soon afterwords and the fight begins. As most battles are, it quickly dissolves into chaos. Eventually, the Havens fighters are forced to pull back (OOCly, we'd had enough of the insanity) and retreat to their base. Watching the news shows them that John's attempt to bomb the building was unsuccessful due to the building's strong architecture.
The group begins to recover when Raina discovers over the comm that Ashley remained behind, determined to stop John. Panicking, Raina headed back out after they heard what sounded like an explosion over the comm. She quickly found and retrieved Ashley, who looked like she had been caught up in the explosion of a bomb. She got her back to base and the medbay as John called her frantically over the comm, begging Raina to save his sister. Raina responds that she cares for her comrades and will ensure Ashley's well being.
Leaving Ashley in the care of the medbay things, Raina goes to join Jack. The two share a moment together, ensuring that the other is safe. Jack presents Raina with an unset cut diamond. While delighted in the present, she senses something troubling Jack. Raina questions and presses him on it. Jack admits that he hates having to put off their happiness until John's threat is ended. Unsure what he means, Raina states that while she agrees that having children right now is a bad idea, she sees no reason for them to delay anything else. Jack responds that he does not want to give John another weakness to use against them. "We're already eachother's weakness, Jack.. and eachother's strength. In our lives.. we can't wait for happiness, we have to take it where we find it."
Agreeing, Jack proposes to her and Raina gleefully accepts. The two then go to the training room where Grim, Kalius, Shadow, and Rusty are. They walk in on an experiment taking place in the training ring. As they waited for them to finish, Raina and Jack informed Kal and Grim of their happy news. The newly engaged couple are congratulated but the happy moment is interrupted when Rusty explodes. Panic ensues and the group rushes the ring to recollect Rusty's parts. Confusion takes hold when Grim is only able to find a small part of Rusty's brain. However, it is soon discovered that Rusty himself has turned into energy and is now bound to his armor itself.
A rule is made that there will be no more explosions allowed in the training area. It is also likely that Shadow will never live down "blowing up a teammate". The group disperses to their respective beds and prepares for another day.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Forgiveness and Plans
"You really need to learn better bed time stories, Jack." - Raina
The next day, Raina's irritation at having been left out of all the latest planning and new information has not lessened. She takes off on her own to do some of her own training. The workout helps calm her nerves and enable her to sort out her emotions and feelings to bring herself back under control. It is enough that when Jack contacts her later about some new developments, she feels somewhat ready to face the others again. She heads back to base and walks into the meeting.
Raina continues to hide her hurt behind cool indifference as she listens to them talk. Sensing that Raina's anger is centered around the fact that she loathes being "behind the times" in information (a true sense of failure for a werecat), Jack brings it to the forefront in stating that they have been leaving Raina out of the loop and should try not to do so in the future. The group apologizes and Grim offers hugs to make up for it.
Talk then turns to developing plans against John's planned attack the next day. Rusty mentions that they should gather other SGs to aide them, an idea that is liked by everyone else. Jack and Raina state that they will go to Galaxy to scout the area and try to figure out how John will most likely attack it. Then another pressing matter is brought up.
Earlier that day, Project White Melody had approached Grim, stating her desire to join them. Given the bad history she has with most of the group, emotions are divided over the idea. Raina herself is aware that they likely need all the help they can get, but she is not willing to forgive Melody over being collared. The matter is put to vote and its a near deadlock, 4 no, 3 yes. Jack regales them with a tale about a woman and a snake, ending with the snake biting and killing the woman, who should have known better than to pick it up. Eventually, it is decided for Jack and Shadow to "interview" her thoroughly and vote again.
That decided, the group splits up to prepare for the next day. Raina and Jack head to Galaxy to scout. They find, disturbingly, that the giant statue of Galaxy Girl could likely be toppled over onto the Freedom Corps' building. However, there is a ray of hope in that the building itself is surrounded by large open areas and steep climbs. They will likely be able to see any attack coming. Ashley voices a concern over the comms about John possibly using the sewers. Jack responds that the traverseable sewers do not extend this far, but Raina says she'll check them tomorrow.
As they finish scouting, Raina overhears a broadcast of a supergroup recruiting "those who would stand against evil". Seizing the opportunity, Raina wastes no time in opening a comm frequency with the man, Master Thorn (memory might be failing me, I'll have to double check this), and strikes up a conversation. She apologizes for the short notice, but tells him of the planned attack on city hall. He responds that while his group is small and busy, they might be able to spare a fighter or two, "My second will most likely take the job." Raina leaves him with her comm frequency as she and Jack decide to head back to base.
On the way back, Jack questions Raina on her childhood, saying that he was curious and had never asked. Raina saddens, but answers, telling Jack about the trials and pains of growing up as a "royal" werecat of her Pride. He is shocked and horrified when she reveals that her own sister, Raisa, killed their youngest siblings when they failed to learn to control their cats. Raina goes on to tell him the werecat "way" of forever seeking perfection and strength. Jack expresses his sorrow that she had to suffer so much as a child, but says he understands now why Raina is so tough.
When asked if those beliefs were still her own, Raina responds with, "I left didn't I?" He then asks her if she wants to have children. Raina affirms that she does desire to have children of her own, but states that they are not a necessity. She goes further to say that she cannot afford to get pregnant with John hunting for them as he does, "I don't think we can afford to lose me as a fighter.. and you know John would use it against us." Jack is saddened, but agrees that they should wait until after these threats are gone. Reaffirming their love, the two head to bed to get ready for the next day's trials.
"So will you sing for our children?"
"I will." -Jack and Raina
The next day, Raina's irritation at having been left out of all the latest planning and new information has not lessened. She takes off on her own to do some of her own training. The workout helps calm her nerves and enable her to sort out her emotions and feelings to bring herself back under control. It is enough that when Jack contacts her later about some new developments, she feels somewhat ready to face the others again. She heads back to base and walks into the meeting.
Raina continues to hide her hurt behind cool indifference as she listens to them talk. Sensing that Raina's anger is centered around the fact that she loathes being "behind the times" in information (a true sense of failure for a werecat), Jack brings it to the forefront in stating that they have been leaving Raina out of the loop and should try not to do so in the future. The group apologizes and Grim offers hugs to make up for it.
Talk then turns to developing plans against John's planned attack the next day. Rusty mentions that they should gather other SGs to aide them, an idea that is liked by everyone else. Jack and Raina state that they will go to Galaxy to scout the area and try to figure out how John will most likely attack it. Then another pressing matter is brought up.
Earlier that day, Project White Melody had approached Grim, stating her desire to join them. Given the bad history she has with most of the group, emotions are divided over the idea. Raina herself is aware that they likely need all the help they can get, but she is not willing to forgive Melody over being collared. The matter is put to vote and its a near deadlock, 4 no, 3 yes. Jack regales them with a tale about a woman and a snake, ending with the snake biting and killing the woman, who should have known better than to pick it up. Eventually, it is decided for Jack and Shadow to "interview" her thoroughly and vote again.
That decided, the group splits up to prepare for the next day. Raina and Jack head to Galaxy to scout. They find, disturbingly, that the giant statue of Galaxy Girl could likely be toppled over onto the Freedom Corps' building. However, there is a ray of hope in that the building itself is surrounded by large open areas and steep climbs. They will likely be able to see any attack coming. Ashley voices a concern over the comms about John possibly using the sewers. Jack responds that the traverseable sewers do not extend this far, but Raina says she'll check them tomorrow.
As they finish scouting, Raina overhears a broadcast of a supergroup recruiting "those who would stand against evil". Seizing the opportunity, Raina wastes no time in opening a comm frequency with the man, Master Thorn (memory might be failing me, I'll have to double check this), and strikes up a conversation. She apologizes for the short notice, but tells him of the planned attack on city hall. He responds that while his group is small and busy, they might be able to spare a fighter or two, "My second will most likely take the job." Raina leaves him with her comm frequency as she and Jack decide to head back to base.
On the way back, Jack questions Raina on her childhood, saying that he was curious and had never asked. Raina saddens, but answers, telling Jack about the trials and pains of growing up as a "royal" werecat of her Pride. He is shocked and horrified when she reveals that her own sister, Raisa, killed their youngest siblings when they failed to learn to control their cats. Raina goes on to tell him the werecat "way" of forever seeking perfection and strength. Jack expresses his sorrow that she had to suffer so much as a child, but says he understands now why Raina is so tough.
When asked if those beliefs were still her own, Raina responds with, "I left didn't I?" He then asks her if she wants to have children. Raina affirms that she does desire to have children of her own, but states that they are not a necessity. She goes further to say that she cannot afford to get pregnant with John hunting for them as he does, "I don't think we can afford to lose me as a fighter.. and you know John would use it against us." Jack is saddened, but agrees that they should wait until after these threats are gone. Reaffirming their love, the two head to bed to get ready for the next day's trials.
"So will you sing for our children?"
"I will." -Jack and Raina
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