Let There Be Night
july 10th, 2025 wc: 750 interacting with: @Casey Stone & @Emily Shephard
for whose sake is it shall we try to be tough?
It was Scout that had told Zyair of her worries, how she was worried about things going wrong- though she didn't say it word for word, he got the gist of what she was really trying to convey; 'Being around you makes me concerned that more dangerous or scandalous things will happen, and we won't be able to solve the problems they bring.' It didn't take a genius. He didn't 'solve' the problem with Sabrina, he just pushed Scout away so that he dealt with the consequences on his own. In his opinion, that was the closest he'd get to solving the problem, at least for Scout's peace of mind.
But clearly that whole conversation went out the window, what with her literally throwing herself at the cloaked man. Zyair probably should've known that, when things came down to it, Scout was the most likely to throw herself head-on into danger- just to keep someone else safe. He was sure that that sentiment only amplified when the person in danger was Emily. A part of him wondered if her response would be so desperate and imminent if it were him in danger, rather than just Emily.
Wishful thinking, that was all it really was.
Admittedly, he could've done more- watching the chaos unfold made his heart stammer in his chest, every loud crack of wood against dirt or skin made Zyair's eyes flash back to the Fall Ball, watching the carriage in front of him explode. His eyes instinctively found themselves to the ground, looking for something shiny, only to be brought back down to earth when he heard hissing and shouts from not only Scout, but the cloaked man. But for a moment, he swore he saw fire and light behind them, dying out once his eyes really caught up.
But he felt frozen, weirdly enough. He never thought he was the kind of person to stand down when things got bad- because he hadn't before. He was the one dragging Casey to the ruins, searching for something, pushing through with adrenaline pumping his brain. No, he never stood down when chaos unfolded, he was the only driving force of calm in his home, with his friends, with Scout.
He hadn't even realized that Scout had properly attacked the man, not until she was already stumbling backwards into Emily, blood seeping down her hands. Was there even another course of action she could've taken? No... probably not, but why on earth would she have attacked him so viciously? And he had heard what Cursa had muttered, something about werewolves, but nothing would click in his mind. Maybe he was just pushing everything aside in the hopes that it'd help him stay steady on his feet.
When Cursa put himself between the girls and the man, Zyair finally was back to his senses, pulling his wand out of his pocket and joining his red-haired companion. He wasn't going to stumble anymore, he had made a promise to Scout, even if never verbally stated. He was going to give her a reason to trust him, he was going to help her, even if that meant getting into some sort of altercation. He wasn't small or short like Scout and Emily, he was kind of intimidating, at least for a thirteen-year-old.
"I have to agree with Cursa," Zyair nodded, "a strange cloaked man in the middle of the forest, who has absolutely no problem with attacking young boys and girls? If this is what we're looking for, I'd suggest a change of course." At some point, he'd have to really put his foot down. If Casey insisted, with no real reason, then he'd be putting not only himself, but people Zyair cared about, in danger. He was entirely sure that the man was going to attack again, had he not been shoved back by the combined effort from the red-heads in the group.
Speaking of...
Werewolf? What in the world was Cursa on about? Maybe Zyair had missed something, but how on earth could Scout be some kind of werewolf? He thought back on his conversation with Ifa- werewolves turning in class- Zyair was smart enough to know that that was not how lycanthropy worked, but a part of him wondered... No, he was more than certain that it was just hearsay from the stressful situation. How in the world could Scout be anything less than human?
Well, there were more important things to worry about.
i'll come to your side right away, so you just stay there and wait, as you are.
zyair ona'je & scout fu-hai
Let There Be Night
Roleplaying as Casey Stone from Ilvermorny
July 10th 2025
Speech: Bold #257379
Thoughts: Bold Italics
@Scout Fu-Hai - @Zyair Ona'je - @Emily Shephard - @Cursa McCoire @Colin McCoire
Ol' Timely Narration
Ever since the man made that first swing, it seemed everyone else wanted a piece of the action. No one - aside from the slightly more pacifist, albeit squishy Emily - was eager to retaliate. Scout flew in with gnashing jaws while Cursa landed a few thumps to the plank-swinging crusader himself. Must be a guaranteed link in the McCoire genes if Cursa was also fighting with his bare hands. He truly was a version of Colin with red hair. Zyair went the next step and withdrew his wand. A pretty good trick... Had he'd been legally allowed to cast a damn thing. Still, intimidation was as good as a weapon as swinging limbs against the guy, who jerked back away now that he was facing the combined force of overly confident teenagers who looked like they'd been in enough school playground fights to know how to defend themselves. Except Emily, who was too much of a sweetheart to even give the stranger a mean glance.
Casey felt Cursa grab him. "What the fuck is this? Is this idiot what we're really after?"
"Lemme think. Manic guy who's chased away an entire nearby community with a voice riddled with presumed PTSD that he shouts down the face of the mountain range? Why don't you tell me, Red!" Sarcasm rolled off Casey's tongue like unravelling wrapping paper.
They watched as Scout went a few rounds with the stranger. Casey had to give credit where it was due. The girl could fight. Watching her, how her hair bounced with her every movement, how quickly she got back on her feet when she was knocked down... Casey was kicking himself internally for finding any of this a thrill to watch.
Scout's approach abruptly changed and went feral, scratching at the stranger's outfit and even attempted to bite off a finger or two when he grabbed her back. All of a sudden, Casey wasn't feeling too invested in Scout and her show of power.
"Scout. She's a fucking werewolf!"
Casey almost huffed out a laugh. "Don't be so dramatic!" he scolded. "She's only tryin' to--"
And then he saw the fangs protruding from her upper lip. Casey stilled. Rather than the face of a firecracker heroine, Casey felt like he suddenly stumbled upon hate incarnate, and he did not mean the stranger.
"Jesus Christ, Scout..."
Emily had managed to slip away from the chaos while Scout continued her assault on the man. Casey strode urgently to her. "You alright? Did he get you anywhere?"
"This man isn't well!" She said worriedly. "He's without question who we're looking for. But the rumours were true... Something's haunting this man. I mean, just look at him..."
Casey watched the man suddenly recoil when Scout tried to bite him. Once he threw her off him, he was clawing at his chest, his teeth clenching like he was in pain, his hands eventually sneaking under his hood to pull at his hair. All desire to hurt the group was seemingly gone.
"No... No... Not back there. They're gone now... Gone now... Not here!"
Casey's brow furrowed. "What's he mumblin' about...?"
The man fell backwards and curled into a ball, fear painted in his voice as he continued rambling. Despite what was happening, a pang of guilt and sympathy managed to crawl their way into Casey's expression. He found himself edging closer to the man, his approach much more gentler than earlier. A part of him could see he was hurting, as Emily said. Another part of him was screaming to stop.
I've gone soft, dammit.
"Hey... Buddy".
Casey crouched down in front of the writhing stranger, his hands outstretched in surrender. It took him a few tries to take the stranger's hand in his before he succeeded. "I ain't gonna hurt you. None of these guys will either".
The man slowly began to calm down. Casey sat on his knees, still maintaining a careful and calm demeanour. "Faye Trooperstown... You heard of her? She came up here ages ago to look for somethin'. She figured somethin' related to her daughter's death was out here".
The man stopped shaking but refused to say anything. Not that it looked like he was capable of a coherent thought at the moment. Casey continued.
"She had a daughter. Fauna. She uh... She died in an accident a couple years ago. The very few and vague details behind her death seemed to align with the weird howls and hauntings up here. At least, that was Faye's theory".
Nothing happened between them for a few silent seconds until the stranger tipped his head up, the light catching just under his hood to reveal tired blue eyes.
"I remember Fauna," he croaked.
Casey's eyes widened, sensing a flicker of hope in solving the mystery Faye couldn't. "You did? Friend of yours?"
The stranger nodded, though his voice was strangled. "Yeah. A good friend... And I watched her die".
His head tilted the whole way up to meet Casey's eyes. His hood slipped off with the movement and Casey stilled. A feather could've knocked him over as he stared wide-eyed at the stranger, his eyes roaming his every feature and detail. Shaggy blonde hair, unwashed and untamed. Dark circles under the eyes and pale skin from inadequate rest and nourishment. Altogether, he truly was a man on the edge of completely succumbing to the abyss.
But Casey could see underneath the madness. This man wasn't a stranger. He was a shadow of a man he knew. Someone he knew very well and never truly expected to see here.
"Nick".
The name, whispered like a prayer, seemed to awaken something hidden in the man's eyes. Something familiar. Something he had forgotten since who knows when, but has come back to him all crystal clear. "Casey...?"
Casey was too numb to react when the man ran a desperate hand through his brown locks, then along his shoulders, before reaching them back up to trace the curves and contours of Casey's face. A faint smile grew on his face, eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"Little brother..."
The moment Casey was pulled into his arms, tears ran like rivers down the cheeks of both boys. Nick held onto his little brother tight. Casey held onto his older brother tighter. He buried his face into Nick's shoulder. Both bombarded each other with words of love and eager questions in low whispers. Eventually, Casey's voice was robbed from him, no words left to say. Instead, he sobbed uncontrollably, holding onto Nick like a lifeline.
"I... I...!"
-- Found him. He finally found him.
Word Count: 1102
Stats: Stamina: 9 | Strength: 8 | Evasion: 7 | Wisdom: 7 | Arc Power: 7 | Accuracy: 8
Abilities: Fearless |Poison Resistance |Obnoxiously Strong
Let There Be Night
july 10th, 2025 wc: 500ish interacting with: @Emily Shephard @Casey Stone
@Cursa McCoire @Zyair Ona'je
well! a terrifying emotional drop, it's all the pa-pa-para paranoia!"Oh shut up, Cursa!" Scout hissed, feeling her teeth recede into her gums. "I just have really sharp nails, not like an icky boy like you would know anything about keeping yours clean! Is that really your concern right now?" She figured she'd keep the 'teeth' detail to herself- so long as nobody else mentioned the word, she wouldn't either. Although it was really more 'fangs' than just pearly whites.
But... given how the case scenario was playing out in front of her, she figured that nobody would bring up her little fighting maneuvers for the time being. Scout was- well, she had sort of zoned out after everything had happened, the taste of blood in her mouth feeling a little too iron-y for her to calm down. She could hear a blonde Hufflepuff's voice ringing in her ears, saying that 'I thought you would like the taste of it, because you're a dhampir,' which wasn't really helping.
"Isn't that...?" She asked aloud, although her voice was so shaky and quiet, Emily was probably the only one who could hear it. But that name, Nick, she had heard it thrown around a few times in her conversations with her friends. It was... yeah, Casey's brother? She knew Casey had one (because it was the center of his world), it only took an extra couple of months for the connection to be made in Scout's small, red brain.
But damn, they looked really similar.
A sudden realization pinged in Scout's head, and she immediately grabbed Emily's arm, snickering to her friend in between breaths. "Haha, oh my god, Emily! Do you know what this means?" The giggling suddenly erupted from her chest, breaking through the thin bubble that had formed over herself. "I've gone two-for-two on fighting Stone family members." And won, or at the very least not gotten herself beat up. With wand and without, jeez, Scout really would make a really good MMA fighter.
Somehow, the guilt didn't reach her head, adrenaline staving off her sane mind for a few minutes longer as her hands and fingertips burned, both from pain and from an itch. A message from her brain to herself, the simple 'we can keep going'. Scout figured that it was her vampire instincts or something stupid like that.
"So... we did it, right? We accomplished our mission?" She asked, finally simmering down from her little fit of giggling. "Which probably could've been done with less... you know, violence, but finding Nick was what Casey wanted to do... um... I guess this leaves me with the question of, like, what now?" She leaned against Emily's arm, holding onto her favorite Hufflebuddy. "Are we gonna bring him back to Casey's parents? But, um... like..."
Finally, Scout addressed the elephant in her brain, leaning as close to Emily as possible, whispering, "What happened to him? He looks like he's the vampire here..."
don't look at me; you can't understand, right? i'm just like a monstrous flower that bloomed too soon
scout fu-hai & zyair ona'je
Let There Be Night
ILVERMORNY
RULES!!!
Cursa McCoire
4: Stats: Sta: 7 | Eva: 10 | Str: 0 | Wis: 10 | Arc: 10 | Acc: 13
5: STAMINA: 7 | EVASION: 10 | STRENGTH: 0 | WISDOM: 12 | ARC POWER: 10 | ACCURACY: 16
Abilities: TBD
Trunk: Right Here!
Lemme think. Manic guy who's chased away an entire nearby community with a voice riddled with presumed PTSD that he shouts down the face of the mountain range? Why don't you tell me, Red!" Casey replied, his voice tinged almost with savagery. Cursa rolled his eyes. Case was really hot about this whole thing.
"Yeah, whatever Casey. Zyair's right. We're here to look for your brother, not some redneck maniac! Leave him be!" Even though he was talking to Casey and Zyair, Cursa couldn't help but observe Scout. Zyair seemed to be doubtful that she was a werewolf, and that did give Cursa some pause. Cursa shook his head. It was actually a beautiful attack --- one he would never even think of! And it clearly worked!
"Oh shut up, Cursa!" Scout scolded him. "I just have really sharp nails, not like an icky boy like you would know anything about keeping yours clean! Is that really your concern right now?"
Cursa looked at his nails. They were clean! Well, clean enough. And nibbled relatively short! Then he looked at Scout in wonder. "What's gotten into you Scout? That was a brilliant attack!" He smiled at Scout admiringly. She knew just where to hit and pulled it off perfectly! It was all Cursa could do to tear his attention away from Scout and back to Casey. His friend was talking with the lunatic attacker.
He aimed his wand at the man. He looked back at Scout and Zyair. "You know. Just in case he decides to jump on Case!" He moved a little closer to hear what the man was saying. He didn't seem to be a whole lot older than Cursa himself. He heard the familiar names. Faye. Fauna. The whole mystery thing that they were out to ---
"Wait," he whispered more to himself than to the others. He watched as Casey closed in on the young man. As if willing the answers to come out of the other's mouth. Cursa watched in utter fascination. The guy knew about Faye and Fauna. He heard Scout's question to Emily. He glanced over to the girls quickly. Was she thinking the same thing?
No, not that same thing! The other same thing!
The guy's hood slipped back. Cursa looked at the scraggly face. Yellow hair rather than brown. "Underfed. Half wild. Eyes lost to the dakness." He leaned over towards Zyair. "Reminds me of my cousin Colin. He's got that same half wild manner about him." It crossed his mind that the guy kind of looked familiar. Cursa lowered his wand as Casey spoke but one word:
"Nick."
"Nick?" Cursa echoed in surprise. Casey and Nick practically leapt at each other after they said their names. Cursa felt the relief and joy in both of them. He looked over at Scout and Emily and Zyair. His own mood shifted drastically! It was really a lot like when Colin had embraced him in his own darkest moments. He knew the feeling and his heart rejoiced for Casey and Nick!
Even Scout was jubilant!
She said something weird, though. "He looks like he's the vampire here..."
Cursa gave the girl a confused look. "Wh--- Wait. I--- How can Nick be a vampire!? If he's a vampire, then Casey would have to be one too, right? Honestly. There's no vampires, here Scout!" His gaze shifted back to the reunited brothers. "You're right about one thing, though. We did beat the shit out of him. And yeah, we do need to get him back home! He's bleeding though. We should fix him up!"
Cursa raised his wand again. "There ain't any Nomajes --- er --- Muggles around here! No one will ever know. He stepped over towards Nick, ready to fix him up proper!
@Casey Stone | @Scout Fu-Hai
Werewolves: Isn't Scout totally awesome!?
Werewolves? I know one needs to be neutered!
Colin McCoire
Let There Be Night
July 10th 2025
Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics
@Casey Stone - @Scout Fu-Hai - @Cursa McCoire@Colin McCoire - @Zyair Ona'je
"We actually did it..."
Emily had her suspicions but didn't dare want to assume it until she knew for sure. Now that she did, tears of relief and joy welled up slowly in her eyes as she watched the brothers cling to each other like there was no tomorrow. Hearing Casey sob words with words longing and impatient love breathed out in violent hiccups was a sight she not only thought she'd never expect, but something she wanted to see. Casey found his treasure and that made the Huffie proudly happy.
She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her when Scout remarked about her "encounters" with the brothers. Honestly, she was as bad with them as she was with Colin and Liam. She gave a humorous glance to Cursa, already imagining his own familiarity with the running joke between them all.
After some time, the brothers let go of each other and they approached the rest of the group. Their faces were exhausted, remnants of tears glued to their cheeks, but undeniably happy. Nick stepped forward, shoulders slumped as he defeatedly bowed forward in apology.
"I'm sorry... I just-- I never wanted to hurt any of you. Hope I didn't scare you all... Much".
Emily was first to return a soft smile. "No harm done. Everything's alright". She regarded him slowly from head to toe, noting his dishevelled appearance and the bags under his eyes. "You look like you've been sleeping rough for quite a while..." Pieces formed in Emily's head and when two of them connected, Emily asked, "You've been living out here..." Almost as if checking if she was right.
Nick nodded weakly. "Yes... For the last two years".
"You've been here for two years?" Casey echoed incredulously. "But-- The camping trip with the guys--"
Nick visibly recoiled as if Casey just branded him with a hot stick. His face looked ever so slightly sicklier than it did mere seconds ago. Emily had gotten good at reading a face and met his with sympathy. With a careful look to Casey, the younger Stone withdrew and Emily approached Nick gently.
"We've all been worried about you ever since... That. Casey never found you after it happened".
"People thought you died, bro," Casey interrupted, some of the fire left in him refusing to fizzle out completely. "Hell, even mom and dad were startin' to think you were dead--!"
"Mom and--" Nick placed both shoulders on Casey worriedly. "Where are they? They're not here with you? If you're all out here on your own--"
"They're nearby!" Emily said. "Back on the other side of the mountain. They had no idea you might be here. We only came here with Casey because... It was a last chance to find any trace of you".
"They're here too..." Nick spoke in a disbelieving whisper. He took another look at everyone, searching their faces for any hint of doubt. His features softened when all he found was sincerity among them. "You all really spent all this time looking for me...?"
"Actually, Casey did most of the heavy lifting," Emily said, giving Casey a soft pat on the back. "But yes. We all came for you". She went over and carefully soothed Nick's hand with her own. "Anyone important to Casey is important to us...!"
"Thank you all..." Nick engulfed Casey in another tight squeeze. "Especially you, little brother. You never gave up on me..." When he released him, he turned towards the other face of the mountain back outside the perimeter of the forest. "You guys better go... Casey's-- I mean, mom and dad would flip their lids if they realised all of you guys were gone much longer, being so young and all".
"But you could come with us!" Emily chirped ecstatically. "Oh I'll bet your parents would be thrilled to see you again! A family reunited...!"
Nick seemed to smile at the idea before paling even further, bouncing back from everyone. "N-No! No I can't! I mean-- They'll think it's a joke or-- They'll--!" He cut himself off and ran a trembling hand through his hair, his expression growing increasingly haunted. Suddenly, his eyes lost light and he stumbled forward into a faint. Cursa was quick on his feet and caught him before he hit the ground, steadying him with his weight. Nick panted and thanked him with a weary hand gesture.
Emily got a good look at Nick and noted the lack of colour in his face, his once pink cheeks now almost ghosted in white. Sweat ran down the side of his head and looked like he could barely hang on.
"You look ill," she said flatly. "Perhaps if we got your parents--"
"NO!"
Nick almost shook out of Cursa's grip. The yell was angry, but undeniably laced with fear. It was enough to startle anyone, and enough to tip Emily off that something was going on. She'd be damned to figure out exactly what it was though. Despite the sceptical looks everyone else in the group probably had, Emily knew better than to poke a wounded animal.
"Very well, we'll come back to that. But I must insist you let us help you. Either way, you're far too poorly to be left alone. What do you propose we do instead?"
Strict but fair. Nick understood her loud and clear and dejectedly nodded. "Alright... I have a little hideout not too far from here. Down that direction--" He gave a feeble nod behind the ways. "It's better for me to rest there than to trudge behind you guys. Might have some food left over if you need provisions too".
Emily configured glances between the others in the group. She saw Casey cling to the edge of Nick's shirt. She knew that no matter where they were, he'd want to be close to him.
With an uneasy sigh, Emily relented.
"Alright... If it's what it'll take to ensure your comfort and our safety, we'll go with you. Lead the way".
Casey's mother is going to kill me...
Word Count: 1004
Stats: Stamina: 8 | Evasion: 7 | Strength: 7 | Wisdom: 9 | Arcane Power: 8 | Accuracy: 8
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace |Calming Presence
Trust Yourself - Love Yourself - Be Yourself
iNPC = Casey Stone
Let There Be Night
july 10th, 2025 wc: 600 interacting with: @Casey Stone & @Emily Shephard
for whose sake is it shall we try to be tough?
"Well, I believe this mystery is half-solved." Zyair murmurs, pocketing his wand. While he had an air of disinterest in the whole situation, it was completely faux. What could have possibly happened to Nick to leave him in such a state? And for so long? To give him such wide and vehement reactions to small things, even the mention of his parents was making Nick have erratic eyes. It only served to make Zyair more confused- he knew an awful lot about human emotion, and he still rarely saw someone as vulnerable as Nick seemed. What on earth could've happened?
"We're already so far out, so I agree with Emily." He takes all of ten seconds to follow her lead. He weighed the pros and cons- if they left now, and left Nick alone in such a state, there was a high chance it'd be impossible to find him again... of course, while he trusted Casey, there was also some danger to be held in following his older brother. Further into the woods, further away from where Casey's parents knew they'd be. This could all be some ploy to get everyone into a more dangerous location.
That was just a chance he'd have to take- clearly they weren't in that much danger if Scout was ready to jump in, guns blazing.
Which... jeez, Cursa brought up a good point. He brought up multiple good points, actually, but the one Zyair focused on primarily was that vampire comment. He looks like he's the vampire. It was just a strange thing to say, a strange comment to make, and it was making Zyair feel so weird. It was probably just a weird quick quip, Hogwarts had a lot more half-humans than Uagadou did, maybe she was just drawing back on something that was still fresh in her mind.
"I can patch him up, if needed- er, Cursa, no magic necessary." He offered. "I'd wager I've got a bit more experience than you all with fixing someone up without it." Given that both Emily and Scout were only-children, he figured that most of their 'fixing up' came from parents. Although... with the way Scout played as a younger child, he wondered if she had stashed band aids into pockets with the hope of getting away with an unnoticed scrape. But still, he knew how to clean up and wrap up scrapes and bruised ankles with shirts and durags, courtesy of some of the older muggle kids he'd play with as kids. It wasn't hard to learn, and was helpful for when his mother was out and Chichi would get into a scrape or three.
He wondered if Casey and Nick were ever like that as kids, seeing the way his friend clung onto his older brother, he figured they were more of a gentle pair of siblings.
If Cursa- or really anyone- used magic right now, would the American magic... whatever they called it here, show up? That would not make the situation better, and if anything, would likely make it a thousand times worse. "I don't think summoning the uh..." he clicks his tongue, "Ministère des Affaires Magiques would be very helpful right now."
... Was it not just Ministry? Was it just the same word in English? This was starting to get on his nerves, so Zyair leaned in to Scout, "It's just Ministry, isn't it? In English?"
"Ministry of Magic."
"I see."
i'll come to your side right away, so you just stay there and wait, as you are.
zyair ona'je & scout fu-hai
Let There Be Night
Roleplaying as Casey Stone from Ilvermorny
July 10th 2025
Speech: Bold #257379
Thoughts: Bold Italics
@Scout Fu-Hai - @Zyair Ona'je - @Emily Shephard - @Cursa McCoire
Casey didn't dare let go of Nick the whole time they walked together, Nick still firmly clinging to Cursa for leverage as he dragged his feet further across the forest floor. Casey resisted the urge to continue crying, knowing that his brother was in his arms, and he in his. Warm flesh and beating chest were a comfort to him. Signs of life and of a conspiracy proven true.
It felt good to be this close to him again... And yet, lots had changed. Nick was bruised, pale and riddled with cuts that have been opened and healed over and over again. His blonde hair bounced behind him, outgrown and shaggy. His leather threads were missing, replaced by a wanderer's garb with twice as many holes and poorly stitched fixes.
His mannerisms lacked the usual satirical punch in his comebacks, and even they were missing. Nick was a watered down version of himself. Casey wouldn't blame him though, after what he managed to uncover.
"The attack..." He began.
Nick was quick to interrupt, panic stricken. "It wasn't... It was just a bad accident," he assured, although his face and tone betrayed whatever confidence he was trying to project.
"But like... People died, Nick. Fauna and others. And then you went missing. There was no trace of-- Well, anything. Grice and Bronks wouldn't say a damn thing. What the hell happened back there...?" Casey breathed, the unspoken question still trying to push its way to the surface... Why didn't you come home if you were alive?
As expected, Nick went quiet. Casey gritted the back of his teeth. "Dammit man, talk to me...!"
Nick exhaled reluctantly, the urge to spill the truth warring within him. His eyes were haunted and knowing. Alas, he knew too well at this point to mask and bullshit Casey any longer, especially now that he knew Casey had been on his case for two years and still giving him the desperate need to know more.
"We were sent to Asheville by the Dalnuis group. Scouting job. Reporting habitat counts, ensuring the wildlife were safe and healthy, all that stuff. Just another day as a nature volunteer, you know? We were meant to be there for just a few nights--"
Nick stopped abruptly and gestured to something straight ahead. "There. That's where I've been staying".
Casey looked ahead and saw a cabin standing out in a clearing of the forest. It was rundown, a collection of splintered, damp and fresh wood used to build it. Not too shabby handiwork but clearly unprofessional with its off-balance hinges and peeling door.
"I made it myself," Nick confessed. "Not exactly the Ritz but it's safe enough. Does its job sheltering from the four seasons. C'mon inside..."
Nick led the way inside through the spruce door, albeit with a stagger in his step. Once inside, everyone was greeted with an empty corridor, dimly lit by a few flickering candles along the walls, that led into two three different directions; on the left was a kitchenette with the are necessities, a firepit for cooking, a large cauldron over the top of it, makeshift cupboards and shelves housing a variety of herbs and dried ingredients and a cooler submerged in a vat of water in the corner. Straight ahead, the group could see the silhouette of a sofa poking into view from behind the doorframe, leading them to assume it was a living space of some sorts. On the right was a small bathroom, complete with a workable toilet and drainage system, and a mid-sized tub for washing.
Nick escorted everyone into the living room. While there were signs it looked lived in, it was no more furbished or well kept as the outside of the cabin, the walls cracked and peeling and the floorboards broken and exposing an odd jagged nail or two. Books and clothes sprawled across the floor while the sofa was frayed but otherwise clean enough, a blanket draped over it with several cushions gathered on one end. A few crooked pictures hung off the walls and a withered chest of drawers rested beside the door.
"Take a seat," Nick said, offering them the sofa. "I've got chips and sodas in the drawers there if you need to restock some supplies".
Casey paced around the room, his eyes paying particular attention to the pictures on the back wall. A lot of them were of painted landscapes while the rest were scratched and illegible.
"You made all this yourself?"
Nick perched on the arm rest of the sofa and nodded, a tremor rocking through him as he sat down. "It's not much but it's comfortable enough".
"But why build this at all when you already had a home to go back to?" Casey asked accusingly. "After having an alleged accident, don't you think it'd be worth your while to alleviate the fears of everyone who cares about? Like mom and dad?? Me?!"
Nick rubbed his face with a trembling hand. "Yes, there was an accident. An attack. A wild animal. It spared Grice and Bronks, but not the rest of us. I remember wriggling around in a pool of my own blood... Hell, Casey. I thought I was going to fricking die! That was terrifying..." A violent shiver wracked through him as if the thought of such was poison to him. "I didn't even get a good look at it when it happened... All I thought about was how it could've been my last moments alive..."
Casey frowned. In another life, it all could've gone the opposite way. Nick could be dead. Casey would never have found him. Despite the questions and the confusion, he was above all grateful he was even still here in the first place.
"Bronks and Grice patch you up?" He asked, more softly this time.
Nick shook his head. "Not them. They fled, as they should've. Wizards nearby came and took me to the nearest healer they knew. I was out for days apparently. Bandaged from head to toe after... The mauling".
Casey's stomach flipped, reminded of the photos he saw from the deceased's loved ones. He saw Nick's arms wrap around himself, both out of fear and disgust. Casey had his folded loosely across his chest. "When were you back on your feet?"
"A week after it happened," the older Stone responded. "But with the state I was in after it happened... I couldn't just go back home and pretend everything was normal again. I mean-- Christ, Casey... You saw me back there, didn't you? I came at you and your mates without even realising it was you. What happened back in Asheville messed me up... I keep seeing 'em, Casey. Fauna, Dennis, Harvey... We were all like family and they died! I feel them following me in every shadow and breath of wind up here, hearing their last words and screams when whatever that thing was ate them alive! They're probably jealous-- Angry, that I got to live and they didn't. Hell, everything from that night eats its way into my dreams, the hours of my days... Every waking thought! So I built this shack of sorts where I could just... Keep to myself without bothering anyone else".
Nick whimpered as he shrunk into himself, his chest heaving as he clawed his face and hair. Casey unravelled his arms and encased Nick in a firm grip. After a minute, he felt the tension drain from his brother and soon Nick was as limp as a wet noodle like before.
All of a sudden, Casey understood what Nick was saying... Or at least, partially. "You just didn't want everyone else to worry..."
"Not that it mattered since it seemed everyone worried about me anyway... It would have been better if I did die like the others. That way, you wouldn't have to find me like this... And I wouldn't be feeling guilty about abandoning the people I love".
Casey gripped his brother tighter, eyes stinging from hurt and longing. "It's because I thought you were dead that I spent the last two years trying to find you, dumbass...!"
Nick let out a shuddering sigh before stealing another loving look to his brother. His fingers traced the lines of Casey's cheek and the small curls of his hair. "You're definitely becoming mom..."
Casey smiled a little and leaned against Nick's shoulder as he continued to hug him. "Come home with me... Come see mom and dad. Please..."
Nick considered it, his face twisting with thoughts on the idea. "I-- I..."
His gaz drifted to the muddied window at the side of the room. The sun had all but set, the sky dark and the moon's arrival imminent. Nick suddenly stiffened with a gasp and quickly withdrew from Casey's grip, all prior sentiment from their shared moment gone.
"I can't. It's impossible--" He abruptly stood up from the sofa and hurried out of the room. Casey blinked before chasing after him.
"Nick, wait! Where are you goin'? What's wrong? What attacked you?!" He followed him down a set of stairs hidden underneath some sliding floorboards beneath the kitchen. Even fewer candles lit the way as Nick stumbled and scratched his arms feverishly the whole way down into a giant basement, under furnished with a cast iron cage and chains attached to the wall.
Nick breathed heavily as he walked over to a stack of shelves on the other side, snatching a bottle and uncorking it. Blue smoke fizzled out of the top before he downed its contents.
"What's that...?" Casey asked uneasily. "What are you doin'...?"
Nick ignored him like he was no longer there. With quivering fingers he began to undress, shedding his jacket and shirt before removing his trousers. When it came to the bare minimum he had left, Casey pulled both girls behind him until he was sure they weren't subjected to man's final form. His own jaw dropped at what he found plastered across Nick's back and limbs. Bite marks. Scars that hadn't faded too well. Stitches mapping out wounds that hadn't healed. There was a time when Nick Stone was the pretty boy of the neighbourhood. What Casey was looking at now was nothing like the Nick he knew before. Now Nick looked like he'd been chewed up and spat back out.
Nick opened the gate to the cage before shutting it tight behind him with a bolt lock. He fastened the chains on the wall to his ankles and wrists, tight enough that he could barely move more than five metres from the wall itself.
Casey battled with the bolt lock, trying to bust it back open before helplessly pressing himself against the bars of the cage, his molars gritting anxiously. "Nick, open this frickin' gate!"
Nick faced the wall, the shadows cast by the faint flicker of the candlelight hiding his face.
"I can't... I was hoping you would've understood that by now. I've gone mad, Casey. I've been mad, thinking about what happened for the last two years, and why I can never go back to who I was... Or even what I was... But maybe you'll understand it better if you see for yourself... Why I can't go back home. Why I can't go with you. Why you should never have found me. Why you should probably start running now..."
He turned to give Casey one tearful look. "Why I wish I was dead instead of harbouring something ancient and terrible..."
Nick began to shake violently, breathing erratically before collapsing to the cold harsh floor of the basement. Groans of fear became grunts of pain, his voice rising in shrieks before dying in an animal's throat. Bones cracked and swam underneath sweat-slicked skin, breaking and reforming into something big and broad. Fur engulfed him, his face stretched and his nails elongated.
Casey watched aghast as the creature devoured Nick's form. When the screams got too much, Casey recoiled from the cage bars and turned to look away, his face white as a sheet and eyes clouded by a horrifying realisation. He stepped backwards and almost knocked into Emily and Scout.
When it was all over, the screams finally fading into fatigue, Casey forced himself to look back at what he'd just witnessed. A blonde furred wolf, curled up on its belly, shivered and whined as it laid on the floor. It lifted its head, sad eyes finding Casey's.
Casey on the other hand began to grip the bars of the cage so hard his knuckles turned white. The world around him became quiet, muffled, like it was submerged under water. With his heart hammering against his ribcage, he panted heavily before startling everyone, wolf included, by kicking the gate hard with his foot and storming out of the basement. He pushed past everyone fiercely, footsteps heavy and harsh across the floor as he ascended the stairs.
That wasn't Nick. Nick wasn't a shapeshifter. He wasn't some homeless wanderer haunting the North Carolina border. He wasn't whoever Casey watched turn into some animal. He wasn't a vessel for what textbooks described as "evil".
He wasn't supposed be a beast in human form. He shouldn't even be a beast to begin with!
He felt sick, landing on his knees and coughed violently onto the ground when he got outside when he felt hot bile tickle the back of his throat. Soon they became heaves but nothing other than despairing whimpers came out.
In explosive anguish, Casey yelled into the night.
Word Count: 2253
Stats: Stamina: 9 | Strength: 8 | Evasion: 7 | Wisdom: 7 | Arc Power: 7 | Accuracy: 8
Abilities: Fearless |Poison Resistance |Obnoxiously Strong
Let There Be Night
July 10th 2025
Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics
@Casey Stone - @Scout Fu-Hai - @Cursa McCoire@Colin McCoire - @Zyair Ona'je
Emily couldn't begin to get her thoughts together over what just happened. They'd found Casey's brother, alone and disassociated from civilisation, he chained himself up in a basement he made with his bare hands and then became a wolf under the light of a full moon.
And that was just in the space of a couple hours!
Casey had rushed past her and out of the room with the most repulsed and upset look she had ever seen on his face in all the time she'd known him. Emily was in no position to judge. Not that she would. She could imagine herself being in similar hysterics if she saw someone she once thought dead turn into a werewolf. She'd go far as willing to bet she would handle it a lot worse than how Casey must've been in that moment.
But she wasn't. She was only experiencing the pain and torture of watching someone losing human shape to something deep and ancient, and another who bore the pain and torture of witnessing it happen to their own kin.
Emily's eyes stretched to her side periphery where Cursa stood. Did he know Colin was a werewolf? His own cousin? Did he hold any anguish or despair of that knowledge if he did? Or was he indifferent about it? Or maybe in a cruel twist, he took pleasure in watching Colin struggle with a monthly battle he would always end up losing.
Emily bravely looked back into the cage where Nick had retreated further to the back of the room, shrinking into the curled up ball he made of himself like he was wounded. She caught a glimpse of his eyes. She recognised a few familiar thoughts behind those lupine pupils. Exhausted and ashamed. Hopelessness. A palpable want to disappear from the moment. Emily hated that she could see those feelings in Nick's limp body language - a by-product of having those feelings herself in the past.
Emily rubbed the side of her temples. She'd been overwhelmed by things in the past but this felt too much. Flashes of memory and imagination collided in a harsh cocktail of worries. The Huffie whined and rested her forehead against the cold metal of the cage bars. The chill off the steel provided small relief to her mounting headache, though she could feel the throbbing start to bounce off the bars. A droplet of sweat travelled down the side of her head.
She forced herself upright and took a deep breath. One worry at a time. As much as the thought of Colin going through this on a monthly basis still ate at her, she couldn't spend all night worrying about him. Nick and Casey were the primary focus.
She rubbed a slow hand across her face, trying to organise her thoughts. Eventually, she stepped away from the cage and turned for the exit.
"I-- I need a second--"
She walked with urgency as she stumbled back up the stairs into the living room, practically collapsing into the sofa when she got to it. She didn't think witnessing a transformation would unsettle her as much as it did. What made her more sickly was that Casey was feeling the worst of it and she was only sitting there, feeling useless in the situation.
She had to go to him. If Casey needed help, it was right now. As soon as her shakes and sweat subsided, Emily eased back onto her feet. Just as she was about to leave the cabin, she spotted something ajar in the bathroom. Walking over to it, she spotted a gap in the wall, something poking out from the inside of it.
Hmm...
Word Count: 612
Everybody! You now get to decide:
- Follow Casey outside OR,
- Follow Emily into the bathroom
Paths will converge after a few posts in each scenario :>
Stats: Stamina: 8 | Evasion: 7 | Strength: 7 | Wisdom: 9 | Arcane Power: 8 | Accuracy: 8
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace |Calming Presence
Trust Yourself - Love Yourself - Be Yourself
iNPC = Casey Stone
Let There Be Night
july 10th, 2025 wc: 850 interacting with: @Emily Shephard @Casey Stone
@Cursa McCoire @Zyair Ona'je
well! a terrifying emotional drop, it's all the pa-pa-para paranoia!"Why on earth would you want to hide yourself away in such a dingy shack instead of just going home...?" Scout asked Nick, though her voice wavered and felt small in her throat. So, maybe it was more a question for herself. Her head was starting to hurt with the amount of information she was being given, and in such a short amount of time too! Her eyes constantly left Nick's face, and searched her companions instead, trying to scope out their thoughts on every word the older boy said.
Instead, all she saw was a mirror of (what was surely) her own face, raised eyebrows and pursed lips. She stopped herself from reaching out to Emily, instead fiddling with the hems of her short-sleeved shirt. In a moment like this, where she was listening to someone else's despair with so much viscosity, it made her feel... ill. Add to that that every time her eyes would find someone else's face, it'd make the pit in her stomach grow. The feeling was mutual, she figured.
Of course, the feeling multiplied by fifteen once she realized what was going on, she had heard enough from Emily and Tesla to know what a werewolf transformation sounded like, making the connection even without seeing the sight. Scout would rather die in a pit than say it aloud, but she was a little bit grateful for Casey (and Zyair's shaky hand) covering her gaze. That was the kind of thing you would remember seeing the rest of your life, and Scout did not need any more of those memories, thank you very much. She already had trouble sleeping at night... no more trauma for the red-headed lion, thank you very much!
"Holy shit!" Scout's voice felt, still, weak in her throat. While she might've thought she had shouted the curse out, it was more akin to a sharp whisper. Once Casey and Emily had made their exits, Scout was still trying to get her head together. She wanted to- to do something! But god, she could barely keep her head fixated on her neck, much less offer comfort to Casey or figure something out with Emily! Her gaze turned to Cursa and Zyair, mouth opening and closing rapidly, trying to force out some kind of sentiment of a sentence. What could she possibly do to help anyone in this situation?!
For just a second, she looked at Nick, feeling gross vomit burn in the back of her throat, that burned once she swallowed. She wanted to throw up, to scream, to run. Her tongue ran over the dips in her teeth, and in the chaos, she found comfort in Zyair's gentle voice.
"I'm going to go check on Emily, we'll figure something out. I believe Casey needs a moment alone." His brown eyes met Scout's own, and he was gone.
Casey probably did need a moment to himself, but Scout was foreign to the concept of patience. Every second she spent in the dingy shack was a second she wished she was literally anywhere else. Though she was missing her hat, a few moments in the dark forest probably wouldn't do her skin too bad... She looked between Cursa, the stairs, and Nick, and made a very, very swift exit. Silently, she wished out a 'sorry' to both of them, but otherwise made no final comments.
Scout ignored every sound besides the blood rushing in her ears, tuning out the wood creaking beneath her feet, the rustling of her pants, her own breathing. She was trying to separate herself from the situation she was in, at least to the best of her ability. Once she made it outside, the grass beneath her old tennis shoes, everything became a little easier.
Once she saw Casey- in the state he was- her brain stuttered once more. Trying to think like Zyair or Emily, she had to ask herself what on earth she could do to help. Well, unfortunately for Casey, Scout was not either of her smarter companions, so she decided to let her heart do a little bit of guiding.
When Scout was younger, and in a completely inconsolable state, her father had a habit of pulling her into the tightest hug she could handle, and holding her until she would stop crying or at least calm down enough to talk. Obviously she couldn't do that to Casey- he was much stronger and taller than her- but the sentiment still felt the same to Scout when she wrapped an arm around his neck. She hoped that the notion would convey her message enough; if he wanted to pull away, she wasn't forcibly holding him close, and if he wanted to stay, then he could. Hopefully her dad would be a little proud, even if she would never mention hugging a gross boy to him.
"This sucks," she mumbled, "I know this sucks, Case, but you're smart, and we'll be by your side and help you figure this all out."
don't look at me; you can't understand, right? i'm just like a monstrous flower that bloomed too soon
scout fu-hai & zyair ona'je
Let There Be Night
july 10th, 2025 wc: 700 interacting with: @Casey Stone & @Emily Shephard
for whose sake is it shall we try to be tough?
Nothing about this situation made sense in even the slightest. Zyair hung onto every word Nick said, every question Casey asked. He even wanted to ask some of his own, but he had been raised to consider talking out of turn to be unbelievably disrespectful. (Especially to someone older than you? Nick technically wasn't too much older than Cursa, but that was still a line he was not comfortable walking in this exact moment.)
He thought it was endearing, how despite the obvious differences between Nick and Casey, they were still fond of one another. His heart ached for his baby sisters, how awful he would feel if he were in either Nick or Casey's shoes, seeing someone you grew up with or even raised- seeing them in such an awful state of being. He wouldn't know how to handle himself if it were the twins or Eba, and thought Casey was doing a fine job at not losing his shit.
"Why...?" Zyair was hesitant to follow the group down into a dark, dimly-lit basement, coupled with the awful feeling that something was wrong...? Well, he didn't want to leave his friends alone in a dark and creepy basement, so he just minded his steps as Casey's voice became more and more frantic. And, as Zyair often was, the situation was, in fact, wrong, and getting worse by each second he was in that stupid place. God, why did he have to go into the creepy horror movie-esque basement? He was a smarter man than that.
As he stared on at Nick, watching the man before him contort and change into nothing short of a monstrous beast, Zyair averted his eyes. Although closing his eyes gave him respite, it was only momentary, as the sight of Nick's bones breaking and changing, the fur growing onto him, it stayed in his head long after the transformation had been completed. It was only when Scout moved his hand from her eyes, did he have half the mind to open his eyes and evaluate the situation.
Disgusting.
He would not dare utter that word aloud, but the sight in front of him couldn't be described as anything less. Nick already looked feeble, but he looked smaller in that cage. Though he was a beast of a man... Zyair did not think he resembled one, in this moment. From the rest of the groups reactions (particularly Casey's), he concluded that he was the only one with this thought process. Nick was much scarier when he was a hag in the woods, trying to fight a group of teenagers.
Well, Nick was a werewolf and that was that. There was little they could do by just sitting around stewing in emotions, so Zyair decided to take the initiative and get out of the damn creepy basement. He had, at first, considered talking to Casey, but was instead flooded with flashbacks of him unable to help his friend last year- when the chaos became too much for either to bare. To not repeat that, he figured he'd check on Emily instead. Despite what little time they had together, Zyair thought he might be more helpful to her.
Anything to avoid feeling helpless.
"I'm going to go check on Emily, we'll figure something out. I believe Casey needs a moment alone." He- admittedly- did not want to abandon Cursa or Scout, especially when he knew the latter was probably feeling more despair than himself, but he needed to do something, sitting down here wasn't aiding anyone. And he really, really did not want to be around Nick in this state. Old habits die hard, and he could hear his friends voices telling him about werewolf attacks in their area.
"Emily?" Zyair called out, peering his head around a corner, trying to find her. To his surprise, she wasn't in the open of the living room...? He turned a corner and almost bumped into her, standing in the doorway of the bathroom. He stifled his surprised 'shit!', putting a hand on the wall to stop himself from stepping on the back of her shoes.
"I apologize, I just wanted to make sure you're..." Zyair trailed off, catching what her eyes lingered on. "What is that?"
i'll come to your side right away, so you just stay there and wait, as you are.
zyair ona'je & scout fu-hai