The Caravan

[Kokay]

Kolin watched in amazement. "Speak of the devil, eh?" He muttered. The young man saw the shadows and watched as one was disintegrated. He had to help, but it had taken both his skills and Rollo's strength to kill the last one. Perhaps the devil would have a trick or two up her sleeve. He desperately hoped this was the case as he charged headfirst into the fray. Flips, round offs, and cartwheels were performed effortlessly as he cut off one from the group. Three were left chasing her now. He attacked the one with merciless abandon, pleased to see that this one appeared to be weaker than his previous adversary. Each blow landed seemed to be stronger than his normal strength, and seemed to do so much more damage. But, when the shadowy form landed a solid hit, he flew into the wall, loosing his breath and cutting the back of his head on a brick that had been jutting out.

[Cori]

Garrett blinked, hearing a woman screaming for help. He glanced up and saw the orange glow of fire moving. Was she being chased? If those idiots with the fire were attacking a woman...well, he knew he had to do something.

"Never mind, kid," he snapped at the boy on the bike. "I'll investigate it out on my own." He pushed off with his skateboard again, rushing towards the source of the orange glow and trying to ignore the alarm bells going off in his head...the ones that told him to stay the hell away.

What he saw as he rounded the corner shocked him. He ground to a halt, staring at the scene before him. There was a woman running, all right. A woman who was completely engulfed in flames. Garrett's breath caught in his throat and he shuddered.

 

He hesitated, and it was then that he noticed something: despite her body being completely ablaze, the woman wasn't burning. There were no shrieks of pain, no charring clothes, no smell of burning flesh and hair. Just a woman, on fire, calling for help and running down the street. What did she need help from??

Garrett got his answer when he scanned the area behind the woman and spotted maybe four or five dark, blurry figures running after her. Their forms didn't seem exactly solid...their edges faded in and out of view, as if they were made of smoke or mist. As he watched, a young man rushed to the woman's aid and singled out one of the monsters, leaving only three chasing the running bonfire.

 

He felt like a fool, but he had to do something to help...he only hoped these things could be cut with a knife. Garrett yanked out his butterfly knife and flipped it open, snapping the blade straight. He pushed forward, gaining speed and intercepting the dark...creatures. Garrett jumped off of his skateboard as he came withing range of the nearest one, using his momentum to plunge the blade right into the creature's shoulder. The silhouette made a strange, incomprehensible sound, perhaps equivalent to a scream or a hiss, and that gave Garrett some hope.

"So...you can get hurt," he mused. He twisted his knife with a sharp jerk and dragged it downwards, yanking it out just in time to avoid a furious swipe of retaliation.

 

...well, he'd gotten the three monsters away for the woman for a moment. Now they were all focusing on him. Garrett's mouth twitched and he cursed himself for trying to play the hero. The creatures jumped at him and he stumbled back, his left foot finding his skateboard and steadying on it. He pushed with his right foot, hurrying backwards away from the creatures.

[Packgoater]

Rollo was smiling along with his brother until he mentioned the girl. "No. Why would that delusional idiot know anything we don't? And she sure as hell wouldn't tell us, anyway. Least not me," he growled, all sign of him ever being in a good mood gone. But he followed his brother. "I don't like that girl at all," Rollo spat, not bothering to give Kolin the reason. In all honesty, Rollo was afraid Kolin might fall for her and the Rollo would be the third wheel, the obnoxious tag along brother who can't get a job or a family. Or even a place to stay. Sighing, he followed Kolin grudgingly, his mind drifting to what he might've been like had he been the younger brother. He would find his own thoughts right now annoying and rude. "Fine. Let's go," he responded, walking, only to practically stumble upon the same woman as before being chased by about five shadows. Making a gesture towards the shadows, Rollo put his knife in his mouth and began sprinting towards the shadows. When he was close enough he jumped into the air and bowled on over, tumbling into a second one. The original he stabbed with his knife, the second he struggled to fight for dominance against, pushing and shoving which unknowingly increased his strength. He swung a punch at it finally and downed it for awhile before he could stab it. "Sorry kid," he growled to the man who seemed to be trying to play hero.

[Cori]

Garrett's eyes narrowed dangerously as this new man spoke to him. 'Kid??' He had some nerve, addressing him like that. Garrett doubted this man was barely any older than him--maybe he was even younger!

 

"No, excuse me," Garrett replied dryly, his voice curt. "I should never have interfered with your moment of grand heroism."

 

He glanced wildly around the area, wondering if any more of those creatures would spring up. He didn't know what had become of the acrobat that had jumped into action before. Garrett wondered if he should have been worried about him...

 

He blinked and grabbed his temples with a groan as his vision suddenly swam, throwing him off-balance. He stumbled off his skateboard and braced his feet to keep from falling over. He could see that woman again, the one that had been on fire, doing...what? He couldn't say. His sight came into focus again and he shook his head, trying to clear the image from his mind.

"What are these creatures, anyway?" he asked, glancing at the specters as if he expected them to spring up again. "They look like..."

No, that was a ridiculous thing to say. There was no such thing as ghosts or ghouls.

[Packgoater]

Rollo glared at Garrett, temper quickly becoming active. He tried to slow his breathing and cam down. But all down the length of his arms his muscles were tensing, and this man was starting to irritate him more and more. Rollo slowly pocketed his own butterfly knife with shaking hands, just so that he wouldn't be tempted. One could see by the way his jaw locked and the veins in his neck were that it was taking his all not to fling himself at this man and pummel him, which he could probably do. After all, not only was Rollo fit on his own, but unknowingly he had powers of increased strength. To keep himself from trying to punch Garrett he held his hands tightly together, the fingers woven, and slowly exhaled. So Rollo had some anger issues and wasn't very good at controlling them, but at least he tried. "You also do realize you were the one playing hero, right? I just happened to have good luck," he snarled, once he was able to cool himself enough to talk.

Edited November 2, 2011 by Packgoater

[Cori]

The corners of Garrett's mouth quirked up when he saw the man becoming irritated. "Good luck, you say? That's quite a claim. I'd like to think I have rather good luck myself."

His voice was smooth, and his expression cool. He would not allow himself to respond to this man's anger.

"Now, on the subject of heroes, perhaps it would be wise to find out what became of the acrobat who arrived here before you did. Last I saw him, he was fighting one of those creatures."

Both of these men had arrived within minutes of each other. Had they been together beforehand? Garrett couldn't say for certain.

Edited November 2, 2011 by Jackal

[Packgoater]

"Yes good luck, only at the time. I normally have quite bad luck, if believe in such things. But I had a good opportunity so I took it." Rollo was suddenly alert, eyes concerned. "Kolin? Where'd he go?" he hissed, grabbing the man's collar instinctively. Was Kolin okay? He had to be. Rollo quickly looked around before he saw his brother slumped against a wall. "Kolin, are you okay?" he asked, letting go of the man's collar and coming to Kolin's side, spotting the wound on the back of his head. That could be a concussion. That would probably hurt. Rollo was tempted to beat Garrett up for not telling him sooner, but didn't. Kolin would probably be mad. "Do you have any painkillers on you?"

[Cori]

"Painkillers?" Garrett blinked, then frowned and batted Rollo's hand away. "If you'd stop touching me for a moment, I could get some." He slipped his backpack off his shoulders and unzipped one of the pouches, rummaging around for a minute. "Would Ibuprofen be all right?" He held up the bottle and shook it slightly. "It's the only medicine I have on me."

 

In retrospect, he probably should have stocked other medicines, too...Ibuprofen wasn't really a cure-all when it came to the ailments one could get when they did a lot of traveling.

[Sunwolf]

Lance nodded when Charrid explained that the device was working just fine. When Rath and Valadian both expressed the concern that the Chasms had found a way to travel unnoticed, Lance exclaimed, “What?! That’s no good! If we are unable to track them, how’re we supposed to find other gypsies? We’ve got to help them Rath! Coz there’s no one else…” Lance paused for a moment, a look of pain in his eyes. It passed swiftly and Lance looked at Rath with a serious expression, “What’s their last known location? If we hurry, maybe we can still catch them.” Lance was itching to go after the chasms. Sitting still was not one of his strong points and letting Chasms get away with hurting people was making him furious.

[Kokay]

Kolin most certainly was disoriented. He didn't know what had happened of the shadowy man until it came near to him and spoke. Of course, one can assume what he did next was not meant towards Rollo, but as confused as he was he attacked his brother. "Get away! Someone! Kill it while you can!" He growled, not being able to summon up enough energy to yell. He blinked his eyes wearily, trying to see as he kicked his legs out at what he believed to be a shadow. In his lucid dream, he had kicked with all of his strength, doing whatever he could to keep the shadow away.

 

As his vision slowly cleared, he saw a new man with a skateboard and scowled. He had always hated those things. "A-are all of them gone? The shadows?" He asked quietly, putting his hand on his head. For some reason it hurt, and he couldn't remember why. When he felt moisture at the back of his head, Kolin groaned in a mixture of pain and regret that he had not been on the top of his game while fighting. Obviously this man had saved him. "Hey, you haven't seen my brother, have you? Tall, dark, not as handsome as me? Anger problems?" He asked, glancing around. His vision was still blurred, but more now by his squinted eyes, The light hurt his eyes and he didn't waste his time trying to pry them open.

[Packgoater]

"Yes painkillers." Rollo shrugged. "Probably. If it's what you have he'll take it," he muttered, shrugging. He hoped his brother was okay. "By the way, I'm Rollo and that's Kolin, the acrobat, my brother," Rollo stated, pacing. "Ibuprofen will work fine I'm sire," the elder brother mused, scratching his the stubble on his jaw. His eyes were hard and it was easy to see he was stressed. But suddenly his brother stirred and Rollo kneeled on one knee in front of him, his eyes much softer. "Kolin, it's okay. I got rid of them. They're gone now. You'll be fine. And I'm afraid you're a bit wrong there. Tall, dark, much more handsome," Rollo said, his hands on Kolin's shoulders. "Do you remember what happened? Have you been taking any drugs recently? Don't lie, I'm going to probably take you to the hospital," Rollo said, whispering the last two sentences quietly so that the skater boy couldn't hear. "How do you feel, Kolin? Are you feeling alright?" he asked standing up and starting to pace, running a hand through his long wavy locks.

[LoveLost]

Auralia had been running when all of the sudden, the chasms behind her slowly were taken down by three other men. The amount of help was incredible and the screams of chasms filled the air as they were killed right there. But much to her dismay, the older man from earlier that day was there which didn't exactly help her be grateful. Anyways, there were still two more and she was glad that they had taken care of the large masses. These two she could handle and did with a fiery stream that cut through the both of them. With her energy spent, and her body damaged she was about to power down...but uh....three men nearby? Not good. She couldn't touch her duffel bag otherwise it would burn up with her last remaining pair of good clothes.

 

She noticed that one of them, the cute and nice one from earlier today, had hit his head. He was going to need something stronger than that to help the pain and she had some stronger painkillers that she had taken from her mothers house in her duffel bag. "Uhm...you know, he doesn't need to go to the hospital...when they take your blood to make sure that you haven't taken anything...they'll see the mutation of your blood." she said as she walked over and looked at them, her body still ablaze, but not as brightly that way it wouldn't hurt Kolin's head. "And I uh...I have some stronger pain killers that can knock him out and I....well....I have had to stitch up wounds before." she said knowing that more of these chasms would come as soon as Kolin and Rollo were in the hospital, especially with Kolin so weak.

[Kokay]

Kolin took in what he could as well as possible. He heard Rollo's voice and was considerably comforted by his brother's presence. However, when he suggested the hospital, Kolin reeled away. He struggled to his feet and shook his head. A wave of vertigo swept him by surprise and he had to lean on the wall to prevent himself from falling over. "No! I haven't been doin' any of that! Can't get my damned hands on any of it in these hick towns," He turned to look at the flaming girl, eyes wide. "Wait. I take that back. I mighta had something. But, but I don't know where I would have got it. Y'all see that? She's on fire." He muttered, no longer fearful but awed. She didn't seem to care. "Devil herself has come to visit me." He grinned.

 

A hand on the back of his head, he winced. It hurt, but he could deal with it. They had to run. He knew that much. However, he had to rest. He leaned against the wall, clenching his eyes shut and willing his mind to clear. After a moment of reprieve, he felt much better and far more collected. He looked at Rollo and shook his head. "I'll not go to the hospital. Those things are all over out here. But," He looked at the devil girl. "Why did you say I'm mutated? Are you smoking something too?"

[Cori]

Garrett turned around when he heard a woman's voice. When he recognized the walking inferno that he'd risked his neck for, he felt his breathing become shallow. She was...still on fire.

He thought over what he'd heard 'Kolin' say: "Devil herself has come to visit me."

His mouth drew thin and he took several steps backwards, away from the woman. 'Devil herself,' he mused, scowling. 'Judging by this hellish ability, that might not be too far from the truth.'

When she mentioned a mutation of sorts, Garrett blinked. How did she know Kolin had any sort of mutation? Was she just bluffing? He wasn't sure what kind of 'mutation' she was referring to, but he didn't see any physical indicators.

"Who are you?" Garrett asked the woman warily, still keeping a hefty distance away from her. "And why were those specters chasing you?"

[Packgoater]

Rollo was again angry at the woman, but this time he was able to keep his cool. "Mutations? Kolin is perfectly normal, no matter how odd he may look," he said, adding the last part all in good humor. "You're still on fire... is that healthy? Say, think you could light my cigarette?" Rollo joked, obviously in a better mood. He then turned to Kolin. "Kolin, these hick towns sometimes have the most and knowing you, you'd use that tongue of yours and find out where it is," he muttered, rolling his eyes and not referring to Kolin's actual tongue, but with the smooth way he crafted and used his words. His feet keeping beat, Rollo leaned against the wall beside his brother, humming a song he was in the process of writing. It was ironic, the somewhat gruff and completely grumpy man liked to play guitar and sing, and furthermore, could do it well.

[LoveLost]

Auralia frowned and her flames grew slightly in intensity when the three others called her the devil. With a sigh she looked up at the sky and listened as questions were directed at her as she very much so suspected they would be. However when Rollo asked her if she could light his cigarette, she smiled fiendishly and the cigarette that was in his hand was alight with a gentle smolder. After looking at the ground for a moment and at her flaming hands and body she looked back at them and decided to answer the questions in order.

 

"I'm not the devil you idiot...I'm...well, for lack of a better word, I'm a Gypsy. Not a pure one, but the descendant of one and from what I can figure, you two are as well. And what I mean by mutation is that our blood cells aren't exactly like a pure humans." she held her hand up for a moment so that she could explain who she was. She had done more research on Gypsies and what the suspicions were around them and why they were always referred to as mysterious beings.

 

"As to who I am, I'm Auralia...I have no last name thanks for my parents. But those beings, I have no idea what they are...but they have been chasing me...and from what I can figure, both you two." she said nodding at Rollo and Kolin.

 

"Now, with the whole Gypsy thing..." she said shifting slightly still embarassed that she was totally naked in front of three men, but luckily for her, her flames hid her rather well. "My parents always told me to ignore what my Granmama told me, but Gypsies..." She rubbed the temples of her head and sighed. "Look....I can't really think clearly. If I stay like this for too long I get dizzy...." she said and looked at them apologetically.

[Cori]

"Then do us all a favor and extinguish yourself," Garrett muttered sourly, looking away from Auralia. "If there are more of those creatures out looking for you, your radiant glow will attract all of them within a mile radius."

 

He was too preoccupied with the fact that she was still on fire to notice that she had no clothes on. Garrett absently raised a hand to his ear and tugged on his earring, still refusing to look at her directly.

 

'Gypsies, huh...' he thought to himself. After all of the commotion he had just witnessed, he wasn't sure what he wanted to believe. But there was a strange feeling gnawing at the back of his mind...

 

Garrett's eyes went wide as he recalled a dream that he'd had a long time ago--a dream that he thought (hoped) that he would have forgotten by now. He'd seen these people before, with tendrils of darkness closing in around them. He had been there, too.

Why had he dreamed about these people? He jerked his head slightly as he tried to clear it, frowning.

Edited November 2, 2011 by Jackal

[Packgoater]

The humming suddenly ceased. Rollo took the cigarette to his lips and smiled. "The devil you're not, for sure. If you believe in such things. A Gypsy, hm? Somehow I don't buy it. Do me or Kolin look Gypsy-like? At all? How could you tell we're part Gypsy?" he snorted, a brow raised. "You are only using the 'our' respectively, right? Not including me? Because honestly, I don't really have any mutations. I'm completely normal. Honestly, Kolin, can you think of anything about me that might be considered a mutation?" he asked, turning to Kolin for a moment. "And be serious," he added, giving him a quick glare. "Anyway, for the moment I'll humor you. Let's pretend Kolin has a mutation, okay? What would it be? Are you suggesting those things are going after us because of hi 'mutation?'"

[LoveLost]

Auralia looked at Garrett in a distressed way and crossed her arms as she looked at him. "I'm naked you idiot. Clothes aren't fireproof." she stated and then looked at Rollo as, for once, he seemed calmed while asking her questions. "The strength that you have and your brothers abnormal abilities at gymnastics. And for heavens sake, you don't have to look like one to be one." Auralia looked back at her duffel back and wondered how she would get it with three men around her. What a horridly uncomfortable situation. It didn't help that her hand was probably broken but the adrenaline still hadn't worn off from her. "And it's not because of high mutation, it's because of the fact that you are descended from gypsies...if indeed you are which I wouldn't doubt, otherwise these damn things wouldn't be chasing you and your brother."

[Cori]

Strength and gymnastics equaled being a Gypsy? That was some rather strange logic. Then again, she had specified that their ability was 'abnormal'. Maybe it was. Garrett wasn't one to say what was normal about people he didn't even know.

This was all a very crazy situation. Part of Garrett wished he'd stayed at that hotel for an extra night so he could have avoided all of this...yet, part of him was almost relieved. He had no idea what he was relieved about, but the feeling was there. Maybe that stupid dream had meant something after all.

 

As for the woman's situation with her clothes...a wry, humorless smile crept onto Garrett's face. "I promise I won't look," he replied, turning his head even further away from her.

 

[Kokay]

"Can't promise I won't..." Kolin grinned wickedly. Though in pain, he was still wry. He winked at Auralia and shrugged. He looked at Rollo, clearly less than caring about what she said. "Whatever the lady says, man. She can catch on fire and not be hurt by it. I think it's fair enough to at least hear what she has to say," Kolin's voice was smiling too. He scratched the stubble on his jaw, wondering where to go from there. "So, let's say I am this Gypsy guy. Hypothetically speaking, of course. Why would that matter at all? Don't you know anything more about these gypsies? Or are you just pulling this one out of your ass? I mean... It's all just so... Unbelievable. A shadow guy attacks us... Not the first time, mind you. Then our friendly neighborhood Devil Girl shows up running away from more of them. Then I help, get hurt, and now we say that I'm a Gypsy... I don't see the connection in anything."

[LoveLost]

"Are you freakin kidding me? You really think that I would deactivate my powers in front of THREE men? Like h*ll I will..." she stated and looked at Kolin as he spoke and nodding when he told her how unbelievable it was. "Well, what other explanation fits that holds your heritage, that holds any dreams that you have had? That feeling of knowing that you had been watched and the knowledge that somewhere, there is something different?" She said using logic there. The two brothers were talented in ways that weren't normal for their body types. Rollo should have been huge to have such force behind his shoves and Kolin should have been the size of a 12 year old Japanese girl to have the agility that he had and she stated so. "I told you that I have no idea why they are chasing us other than what I would think would be because of the gypsy blood that is more than likely flowing through our veins. You can take or it leave it." she said and walked to her duffel bag finally deciding that she didn't give a bloody d*mn if things were to incinerate or not, but luckily for her, it was still raining.

 

She carried her clothes over to a nearby alley way and was about to change when instead, she came back out cursing in an array of rainbow colors and flames spouted from her mouth and eyes as she looked at them. "Great...thanks to saving a little kids poor a** I have to walk around and find a freakin backyard that has clothes in it!" she hit the wall only to pull it back with a wince. "Idiots!" she said and then took a deep breath as she threw her bag at Kolin. "Painkillers are in the front pocket and so is alcohol." There were also a few pairs of panties too which she had forgotten about but right now she didn't care. She had to figure out a way to get more clothes.

 

"So anyways, how else can you explain those d*mn shadow things chasing you two and chasing me. You have had that feeling of being watched before I'm sure...it was those things." she said and looked from where she had come, wondering if that little boy was okay. Her hand was in her lap as she held it there, blood evaporating as soon as it left her body.

[Packgoater]

"Kolin, I'm fairly certain you'd be the only one looking here. I hold myself to some standards, you know," Rollo said, truthful. He wouldn't look, but that most certainly did not mean he thought the woman should shut off her flame. Rollo snorted at Kolin's last few comments, grinning for once. "Friendly neighborhood Devil Girl, indeed," he muttered, shaking his head. "Hey, it fits in one way: it's all really bizarre. We've got naked flaming girl here, shadow people chasing after us, and random kid just kinda there. And were told that we're Gypsies. Yup, only relates in the bizarre sense, sorry. Maybe I just have the brain-wiring of a normal person and am completely missing something here, so I really don't know...," he said, managing to weasel in an insult there. He couldn't help it, not really. It was just his nature. Even when he was happy he was still an ass. "What the hell do you know about our heritage?" Rollo asked, turning to the woman and his eyebrows. "And as far as I know, normal people dream too. Maybe you're right. I guess I was always smaller than the other football jocks, wasn't I, Kolin?" he mused, shrugging. Whatever was going on was weird... that was for sure. Though Rollo would need some proof before he believed he was a gypsy.

[LoveLost]

"Look, I can't prove it to you you a**ho**!" she said angrily at Rollo and stood up feeling fidgety. "You all can do whatever the h*ll you want." she said and decided that she had spent enough time trying to convince these idiots. In fact, what he had said about her being abnormal didn't even sting because she was so used to being called a loose cannon or someone with a mental challenge regarding gypsies.

 

"And by the way...I'M NOT A DEVIL!" she shouted as she turned back around to face them then started to walk away again her hips swinging in full fury. They could have her bloody duffel bag, she didn't care. If people were going to keep challenging what she was saying even after she had already stated that it was based on assumptions, then who was she to keep arguing?

 

Auralia didn't really know where she was going, but she had to find someplace dry and maybe a tarp that she could wrap around herself until tomorrow when people hung out their clothes tomorrow, yea, that might work...

Edited November 3, 2011 by LoveLost

[Cori]

Garrett had perked up when the woman mentioned alcohol. He stepped cautiously over to the bag, keeping his distance from the girl herself, and rummage around in the front pocket. There was a painkiller there, and rubbing alcohol. No drinking alcohol.

Garrett re-fastened the bag, looking only slightly disappointed. He turned away from the woman's retreating figure, facing the two brothers. "...well, since I know your names, Kolin and Rollo, I think it's only fair that you know mine," he said. "My name is Garrett." He nodded politely at them, the expression of cool detachment never leaving his face.

 

He suddenly grimaced and raised a hand to his face, rubbing his eyes. He remembered introducing himself to these men before--what the hell was happening with all of these stupid flashbacks?!

 

Garrett shook his head slightly and looked back in the direction the woman had gone--in quite a huff, he might add.

'Why, she was all fired up,' he thought blandly.

He couldn't help but smile at his own stupid pun, but he sobered up a second later and looked down at the girl's bag. "...She'll probably want that back," he remarked. "I wonder if someone should take it to her. Or will she come back on her own...?"