tushanshu_logs | [FORWARD DATE] Trembling, crawling across my skin

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[FORWARD DATE] Trembling, crawling across my skin

Characters: Anton Shudder, Jintou; initially CLOSED but will have an OPEN thread later.
Date: FORWARD DATED to 27 June 2015 (2016 in-game)
Location: Water Sector
Situation: Anton's made himself a target. Someone's coming to collect. (The taggening of this reward request here.)
Warnings/Rating: Violence, potentially some gore, drugging.

All things considered, and given that Anton had in recent days made a target of himself both by housing Jintou and by retrieving Malcil, things were going relatively well. That was usually when they went south, which was why Anton was especially on guard whenever Jintou wanted to go outside the Hotel.

The man was in a difficult position. Anton knew that, understood that. But just because nothing had happened didn’t mean nothing ever would. It always did. Eventually.

Jintou had some friends to visit in more than one sector, so it wasn’t an unpleasant day, wandering around the city and picking up meals from the stalls—always the stalls where food was made right in front of them. Just in case. It wasn’t unusual for Jintou, having said he was going out, to take advantage by not going back to the Hotel until evening. Babysitting duty, maybe, but Anton had never minded babysitting duty. Not too much, anyway.

Some of the visits didn’t go well. Old contacts, people affiliated with the Snakes and not, people unhappy that Jintou had been a member at all. Anton didn’t keep track of whether any were family members so much as how likely they were to be informants or potential assassins. He suspected that a number were just an excuse to avoid going back to the Hotel, in any case.

No one sprang at them from houses, shadows or other avenues, and they swung past a food market in Earth Sector to get a bite to eat before making their way back to the Hotel’s Earth Sector entrance. The crowds had thinned but Anton still kept them at the edges. It was all too easy for someone to stick a knife in their target’s ribs and walk away surrounded by people; an alley was more ominous, but made danger more overt. Whoever wanted Jintou gone was unlikely to make an obvious play.

The light wasn’t quite fading yet; in fact it seemed especially bright, and Anton had to squint to make out the shapes of some of the buildings ahead. Then they turned the corner and he realised it wasn’t the angle of light that had been casting the glare, because it was getting worse; the shades of the stone seemed brighter than they strictly should have been, and when he glanced toward Jintou the man’s clothes made Anton’s temples throb.

That wasn’t normal. Nor, Anton realised, was the tingle in his fingers. He took a breath and his heart thudded, but slow, too slow—even slower than it should have been walking through the city.

Food? No. He’d watched them prepare it. But the utensils, or anything he might have touched over the course of the day—

“This way,” he said quietly to Jintou, and gripped his arm to take him down an alley instead of the roundabout but public ways on the main streets. There were fewer people in the alleys, yes, but that just meant people would stand out if they tried to come close. The light was drilling into Anton’s eyes now, making his head swim; he was going to need the clarity. They needed to get back fast, before any ambush happened. That meant shortcuts.

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Skulduggery's never without his radio these days. When Anton's message crackles over the network, he and Ravel are the very first ones on the scene, by virtue of flying, with Skulduggery grabbing Ravel the moment they're outside of the Hotel and refusing to give him a choice in the matter.

They touch down on the edge of the Lane of Fuchsia Dyes. Skulduggery followed the line of the wreckage visible from the air once they were close enough, and now that they're on the ground it looks even worse. It looks like Anton used his gist, alien only because Skulduggery hasn't seen him use it in Keeliai. Masonry litters the alley both inside and outside of the buildings lining it. Three kedan are dead in the middle of it. Skulduggery's amazed Jintou was taken at all.

Anton sits hunched over at the very end of the wreckage. Skulduggery ignores the panicked bystanders to make a beeline for him. Anton's broadcast hopefully means other Foreigners will be arriving soon - let them deal with clean-up and crowd control. The Snakes patrolling nearby can handle it if no one else does.

"Anton." Skulduggery kneels by the gist-user. He's dangerously pale. "What happened?"

Ravel is infinitely glad that Skulduggery knows his way around Keeliai better than he does himself, because the "Lane of Fuschia Dyes" meant nothing to him when he'd first heard it over the radio. Of course, some part of that could also be attributed to the panic of hearing Shudder sounding as if he couldn't breathe. They're not at war, as far as Ravel knows. Admittedly he knows little about the kedan Anton's been sheltering in the Hotel, but hearing Anton obviously distressed was not on the agenda for today, thank you very much.

He even likes to think that he managed to handle the flying part rather well, considering that he's been using Air magic for the better part of four centuries and this isn't how Air works. And if he momentarily lost his head and gripped Skulduggery in a vise-like hug, well. He won't tell if Skulduggery doesn't.

He kneels along with Skulduggery, not because the chain is so short that he can't get around it, but because he's reaching for Anton's eyes, holding them open so he can examine his friend. Erskine may not know kedan politics but he knows poison.

Anton knows when they land. He's still lightheaded, even seated, but that doesn't mean he's not paying as much attention to his surroundings as he is to his breathing. He knows they're there, recognises Skulduggery's too-light step before he even speaks.

He inhales. Exhales. Answers. "Drugged."

Erskine's touch is gentle on his eyelids but their being lifted makes the light sear, and Anton twitches instinctively away with an objecting grunt. In the glimpse Erskine and Skulduggery get, they'll see that his pupils are dangerously dilated. "Light hurts. Heart's slow. Not enough oxygen."

It's halfway between apology and indignation. He'd failed all because his own body is betraying him. Whatever he's been dosed with, it's potent and annoying, and the flush of rage from his gist both helps to clear his head and makes his head pound with his heart failing to beat faster.

But he's not dead. Not dying. It's been long enough that surely he ought to be dead, if it was meant to kill him. "Stairs."

Edited (tense) 2015-06-28 06:51 (UTC)

Raine's on her way. She must be. If the poison Anton's dosed with was meant to kill him, it's failed, either because of the hardiness of the gist or because whoever took Jintou didn't want to risk the unrestrained ire of the Foreigners. Either way, this is as close to being properly hurt as Skulduggery has seen Anton in a long time, and something about the sight makes the world feel like it's just tilted off its axis.

Anton would be fine. Jintou would not be.

"How many?" Skulduggery asks before getting back to his feet. "And are there any unique weapons we should be aware of?"

Erskine winces in sympathy as Anton pulls away from his touch. Light sensitivity. Pupils badly dilated. Slow heart. He knows what the poison might be in his own world, or at least the family that it belongs to, but he has no basis with which to suggest an analogue for Keeliai. Knows the antidote, but couldn't begin to venture a guess as to how it would function here. Not without knowing the source, the method of absorption. Clearly he's going to have to do some catching up, once this is over.

But Anton will be fine. Shudder's been through worse. Ravel knows what it would take to drop Anton and it's a hell of a lot more than this... whatever this is.

He almost resents the indication that they're going to leave Anton here, however, no matter how sure he is that the man will be fine. But between Anton and Skulduggery, it doesn't seem like he's going to have much choice in the matter.

"Two left," Anton says. Inhale, exhale. "That I saw." Inhale. Exhale. "Could be more downstairs." His head rests back against the brick. He's still tense, but Skulduggery had been one of those to bring Jintou to the Hotel in the first place. If anyone can find him, it would be Skulduggery and Erskine.

"Manacle keys. Top pocket." He isn't about to force them to go after some unknown kidnappers while being chained together. That was just idiotic. But his eyes open barely even to slits, not even enough for him to properly see past his eyelashes. "Don't kill each other."

"Good," Skulduggery murmurs, fishing the manacle keys out of Anton's top pocket. "I was worried I'd have to fight you for them."

Under other circumstances, he would be glad to get rid of the chain. A part of him is. But the cost is too high for him to be truly grateful, and his interactions with Ravel have become too level for it to feel like a removed threat. An inconvenience, yes. But not a threat.

Skulduggery unlocks the shackle around his neck, then tosses the key to Ravel. "I won't make any promises," he tells Anton. "But I'll do my best. Try not to die before a healer gets here."

God, it's a relief to be rid of the shackles. Ravel doesn't even stop to consider the full ramifications of getting the bloody thing off his wrist beyond the obvious--a full range of motion, he's no longer connected to Skulduggery, and he no longer has both arms limited in some way.

...speaking of which.

It's been three weeks now, and though his shoulder still twinges from time to time where the glass had bit into his flesh down to the bone, three weeks is surely enough time to heal. He lays the shackles down near Anton and slips his left arm out of the sling, dropping the restraint to the ground as well. Rolls his shoulders.

He'd still rather be here with Anton, but Erskine can't even claim to know if he could keep the man alive until a healer arrives. Besides, he's not going to die. The most he'd be doing is keeping him company, and maybe he's of more use this way instead. Ravel leans down to grip Anton by the shoulder, then nods to Skulduggery.

"Let's go."

Anton feels the rifling through his jacket and grunts some kind of acknowledgement. He hadn't planned this; he hadn't really had a plan for when to unlock their chain. But this was too important to expect it to remain, and their working together without that duress might well be a boon.

"I'm not going to die," he says, but firmly and more for Erskine than anyone else. He won't die like this; poisoned, taken by surprise. He won't die the same way Hopeless did. He refuses.

He listens to them go descend the stairs behind him, and takes another breath, and lets it out, and waits for others to arrive.

Raine arrives at a dead run, which is just about the same pace at which she left the Guild. She's out of breath by the time she skids to a stop next to Anton and drops unceremoniously to her knees, but she doesn't particularly seem to care. "Blood samples," she says, without preamble, unshouldering a small bag of the supplies for just that. She reaches to check on his vital signs first, though, feeling for his pulse, looking to see if his pupils respond as they should.

Despite the lack of obvious major injury, she will not be particularly satisfied with what she finds. Still, mindful of what he said on the radio, she proceeds to the actual meat of taking a sample -- a few small ones, for redundancy's sake. "I take it you were poisoned, if that's your concern. Then will you let me heal you?" Her tone is brisk, cool, any genuine fear hidden away in favor of mild exasperation.

Valdis arrived a few moments after Raine, her eyes bright red and her large head hanging low as she growled her way through the small crowd and the Kedan quickly parted to allow the large hound through. She took a breath, tasting the scents on the air and moving among the debris, taking in the bodies, the blood and the destruction.

Anton had unleashed his gist and had still lost Jintou, but Valdis could care less about the former Snake at the moment. She moved around Raine, waiting until the woman was finished taking blood samples, before releasing a sharp, worried chuff. Then she gently pushed her way between Raine and Anton and laid down, resting her head on his lap.

Yuri didn't really know what all was going on, but he'd heard things around the Hotel and heard the radio call. Since it sounded like the guy needed some help, Yuri arrived not long after Raine and Valdis.

"Hey boss, you all right?"

He then took a moment to look around, seeing the damage to the surrounding buildings and the Kedan trying to pick things up.

"Damn... what happened here?"

"That's exactly what I want to know."

Unless you were paying attention, it would be pretty hard to notice Shay Cormac approach the scene, since he was quite adept at being stealthy. Still, he drops down into the alley from atop a pile of rubble, mask pulled over the bottom half his face.

"I can help track the ones who did this." Assuming his Sense co-operated. It's been hit-and-miss ever since he came to Keelial. He nods to Raine. "Since I'm assuming he's in the best of care."

Edited 2015-06-29 17:12 (UTC)

It was almost like being back in the war, with concerned Irishmen coming out of the woodwork, and in spite of how awful he was feeling and how badly compromised he actually was, a corner of Anton's mouth twitched up if only from nostalgia.

The wolf's head in his lap wasn't even all that much of a surprise, taking into account the time Larrikin had brought a litter of puppies into camp and forced them on each of the Dead Men. Anton had gotten used to having a rottweiler flop in his lap for those two decades.

"I did," he said in answer to Yuri, pausing to breath. "Too slow." The frustration was audible. This shouldn't have happened. "Took him down." He turned his head enough to indicate the yawning stairs behind him. "Two left that I saw." His brow furrowed and he lifted his head enough to at least indicate he was squinting at Yuri. "Who's watching the Hotel?"

Aqua was invested in Jintou. She wouldn't stay away. If Valdis and Yuri were here ... maybe Tadashi, or one of the kedanese ex-gang-members Anton trusted.

Raine did not look best pleased to be pushed away from Anton, but she had better sense than to quibble with Valdis over this particular matter. When she had what she needed she tucked the samples away into her satchel and sat back on her heels, hands folded over her staff, eyes sharp. Content -- mostly -- to watch.

He hadn't answered her question. She didn't blame him for the dodge, really, since there were urgent matters at hand, except that she considered his health also an urgent matter. "I assume you wanted to be sure whatever was used to poison you could be analyzed," she said, quiet but no less intent for it. "In twenty minutes at the most, whether I have your permission or not, I am going to heal you before I can no longer purge the poison from your system."

She didn't elaborate why, only directed a significant glance at the hound. Which Anton might well miss, exhausted as he seemed.

Shay and Yuri each received brief nods in turn, but her attitude was terse, her focus almost entirely on Anton himself, looking for the slightest sign that he was worsening. Jintou was important, but right now, a secondary concern: there were competent people who could handle it. Anton was currently her priority.

One ear flicked back as the others arrived, but she didn't lift her head to look, identifying them by scent and voice alone. Yuri, whom she knew and Shay, whom she knew nothing about but his name and that he had a ship. Neither were a threat, so she focused on Anton, closing her eyes to rely on her other senses.

He smelled wrong, not strong and healthy like usual. He felt wrong, his normally stable state out of kilter. Her ears picked up his irregular heartbeat and she felt each shiver that wracked his body. She slowed her breathing, taking deeper, longer breaths, hoping to coax his breathing into matching hers.

Anger simmered beneath her calm and concerned surface. Anger at the ones who had done this. The responsible party would regret provoking her ire and when she found them, they would die agonizing deaths. But for now, she tried to keep the anger in check, stopping a growl in her throat from rising too loudly. Anton's safety was more important than her revenge and her anger would only place stress on her other allies.

If anyone not a foreigner moved too close to Anton, they would get no warnings, only teeth. Shifting her head slightly, she opened her eyes to look at Raine, her irises a bright, blood red. The woman was the only one here she trusted to heal Anton, and probably the only one to realize what might happen should Anton die.

Edited (format) 2015-06-30 15:53 (UTC)

Yuri looked up as Shay appeared then looked back at Anton. He was about to offer to help track down those who did this too, until the boss man looked pointedly at him.

"The Hotel? ... I dunno. Shouldn't that Skull digging guy be there?"

This said as he started scratching at his arms absently. Anyone that looked would see dark blotches on his arms, chest and neck. Obviously though, the idea that the Hotel would need watching hadn't crossed his mind. Did it need watching? There should be plenty of people there right?

His eyes then focused on Valdis.

"That's a big dog."

No really, she makes Repede look tiny. He didn't recognize Valdis at all, having never seen her in her hound form. But he knew dogs and she didn't seem like a threat. To them at least.

"The hotel?"

Shay's momentum is temporarily stopped as he realises that. Anton wouldn't have asked if he knew Skulduggery or Erskine were still there.

"Uh, I can..." He looks in the general direction of the building. "If you want, I can run back and watch over it?" He looks to Yuri. "Unless you...?"

"Sent him after Jintou," said Anton in answer to Yuri. His eyes had closed again, his fingers twined in Valdis's fur; he didn't see Yuri's skin. "If you're willing, Master Cormac, I would appreciate that. Just ... throw anyone who throws a punch into the street. I'll handle anything else--when I get back."

He opened his eyes again, focussing on Raine. He'd heard her, almost forgotten to answer. "How many do you have?"

No one present were technically or medically minded, except for Raine herself. Perhaps the resources of the Guild would be enough.

"She's not a dog," Raine informed Yuri, and further gave him a curious look, noting the blotchiness and the scratching. She didn't comment on that, though, only making a note to perhaps follow the matter up later. It wasn't zhyris and he seemed fine otherwise; it could wait.

Anton was her priority for now. "Three, and the materials for more if necessary, though I'd prefer not to." He was already weak. His mystery condition was on her mind, too, though that had lain more or less dormant for centuries. Still, compounding the poison with much more seemed imprudent.

A low growl followed Yuri's comment about dogs, but she didn't raise her head to glare at him, too intent on comforting Anton and burying her worry and rage until she knew he would be alright. Only then would she hunt down who had done this and destroy them.

Oh.

Yuri lifts up his hands in apology to... the... dog. Or whatever it is. "Sorry, nothing personal."

But back to Anton. "Are you expecting an attack, or something?" Because Yuri can help out there too, especially if the bone guy has already gone on ahead.

"Will do." Shay comments. "The hotel's safe with me."

And, with a nod to the others, he's going to start heading back to the hotel.

"Thank you," Anton murmured to Shay's vanishing back. He was beginning to feel significantly ill out of this, even though he was at rest; his magic kept trying to elevate his vitals, while the drug worked to keep them slow. The difference was ... uncomfortable.

"Perhaps," he answered Yuri after a moment. "Malcil is there. It should remain guarded."

But he wouldn't tell Yuri to go back. Wasn't sure he did; his words trailed off, his ability to think slowing bit by bit. He wasn't going to die. He knew that. He just felt terribly tired and pained, and knew he was losing the ability to think coherently.

No one else seemed to be coming. When Raine healed him, he definitely wasn't going to object.

Raine waited, with ill-concealed impatience, for Anton's directives, for everyone else to do as they had been ordered; finally, as Anton's coherence ebbed and he seemed to slow, Raine made the decision. She had the samples he'd insisted on, and she didn't plan to chance that he might pass the threshold of effectiveness for her artes. "That's enough," she said, a little sharply, and she gathered her mana to cast.

The same old white circle spun only briefly, quick and steady. "Recover." The result was a pale light that settled over Anton, cool as it purged the poison from him. When she was done Raine sat back again, watching, and she did not plan to let Anton out of her sight until she was sure he was all right.

Still. He would be in good hands, wouldn't he?

Valdis continued to ignore everyone until Raine cast her spell. Only then did the hound lift her head and take another deep breath, filtering out the familiar scents and focusing on memorizing the unfamiliar ones for future reference. She would find whoever had done it and the scents were only the first step.

"All right, I'll head back too."

It didn't look like he was needed here anyway. He wasn't exactly a healer, and apparently Skullduggery had already gone after whatever had attacked Anton. He'd probably be of most use back at the hotel like he'd been asked.

So with that, Yuri takes his leave, but not without scratching at his arms again. Darn that squid ink.

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[FORWARD DATE] Trembling, crawling across my skin

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Sorry this is so late!

and then i failed too, sorry all orz

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feel free to make your tags wrap up tags, i think this is about as far as we're gonna get

o7

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