villagelogs | 030-035 » a-hunting they will go

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030-035 » a-hunting they will go

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: Eastern/Central Mathias.
WHEN: Days 030-035
WHAT: Unexpected changes come to Mathias, followed by a Hunt.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: Plotting post over here! And shiny new CR meme too.

RECOMMENDED ♫ Marco Beltrami "It Hears You"

DAYS 030-032
A CHANGE IN CIRCUMSTANCES
The day after the earthquake dawns like any other in Mathias Township. The sky is a light winter grey, clouds obscuring even a hint of true sunlight, and snow falls off and on in dustings that rest atop the piles left from the storm a few days past. The air is bitterly cold, a gentle wind feeling like ice in the sub-freezing temperatures, and residents should be grateful that the earthquake didn't do more damage than just breaking a few household objects.

It seems like business as usual. It will not be until the second day that residents will begin to notice the difference.

The General Store's shelves have not been restocked. Items in kitchens have not replenished in the passing night. Food from the previous day has aged as normal, and as the days continue to pass, things will begin to grow stale or become moldy as they would in the outside world. Two days pass, three, four... Still, the food does not return.

Perhaps rationing should be considered.

NEW ARRIVALS
The newest arrivals to Mathias will wake on the snowy beach near the Grey Gull restaurant. They should probably hurry inside and get warmed up before hypothermia sets in or something finds them out in the cold...

DAYS 033-034
IN THE NIGHT, IN THE DARK
These days, too, seem to be simply more of the same. The days are cold and grey, the food does not replenish, and they continue to be trapped in this eerie town. But when night falls, the story changes.

An hour after sunset, it begins. Scratching sounds at walls, like something searching for a way inside. The ominous feeling of something out there in the darkness, moving through the town, stalking through the night. The inability to find any sign of something being there at all. It's enough to make anyone feel like they're going mad. To happen just one night, it could be a fluke, a trick of the mind as so many things here seem to be. But to happen a second night, with more intensity... There is something there, or they are going mad.

It's hard to know which to hope for.

DAY 035
THE HUNT
This day is not like the others. There is something in the air, a dreadful anticipation that rises inside them all as the hours pass. Every moment that brings them closer to nightfall brings it closer too — if only they knew what it was.

An hour after sunset, the Hunt begins.

Those who are outside at this time are gripped by such terror that they can do nothing but run and be chased. They are prey and the predators that stalk them with steadfast determination are creatures never meant to be seen by mortal eyes. All lights outside go out, from streetlamps to flashlights, and the world descends into deeper darkness, only the clouded moonlight and curtained glow from illuminated houses lighting their way as they flee.

Those who are inside at this time are trapped in their safe havens. No doors or windows can be opened from within, nothing can be broken or forced, and they can do nothing but wait and listen while their friends and neighbors are pursued by creatures whose very presence they can feel in their bones and whose growls echo in the night, entwined with the screams of their victims.

In the thick darkness, these creatures appear little more than shadows, large and looming, deadly and unknown, but in rare glimpses in scattered pieces of light, the Hunted are met with a sight they cannot comprehend and will never be able to properly describe or fully remember, for these creatures cannot be fathomed within the limits of the human mind.

The Hunt lasts for one hour exactly and then the creatures vanish into the darkness, leaving only fear and death in their wake.

ABOUT THE HUNT
— Players may choose to have their resident be one of the Hunted or a Witness to the Hunt. None are exempt from the the Hunt and all will be affected by it in some way.

— Those who are hunted must flee the creatures or they will die. The Hunted may move throughout the town at any speed, for the creatures may choose to move both quickly or slowly, but the creatures will always inevitably find them. The only escape is to seek shelter — the creatures will not enter a building where living people are, but they will follow the Hunted into buildings where there are no other living people.

— Those who are trapped within buildings at the start of the Hunt are unable to open doors and windows from within, but the Hunted may open them from outside in order to take shelter in these safe havens.

— Those who are hunted are unable to fight back against the creatures until the moments just before their death. This is due the creatures only having physical form in these final moments, rendering any attacks against them useless, whether they be physical, magical, or psychic in nature. Attempts may be made in those moments before death, but by then it is too late — the prey has been caught.

— When one of the Hunted is caught, there is no escaping, there is only screaming in madness as death falls painfully upon them. No one can come to their aid and their body will be found afterward, the bloody remains ripped and torn apart by something that cannot be identified. Large sprays and pools of blood stain the area around the corpse, turning the snow sickening shade of crimson that darkens as the hours pass.

— After the creatures have vanished, there are no signs of them to be found in the snow. There are no tracks or marks of any kind save for the carnage of the fresh kill.

— Those who have been sacrificed to the Hunt will revive two days later on Day 037. The conditions in which they revive will be detailed later, but there will be only minor lasting physical damage from the Hunt.

— The Hunted will lose 5 points of sanity. Those Witnesses who find the corpses will lose 2 points of sanity, or 3 points if they are not unaccustomed to this type of sight. Others who are merely Witnesses to the sounds of Hunt may choose to lose 1 point of sanity as a result of the experience.

CONDITIONS UPDATE
— THE WEATHER is fairly typical of a northern winter. The sky is almost always grey, the temperature is below freezing during the day (and colder at night), and a light snow falls intermittently. The sun sets early in the evening. Residents should bundle up when going outside and not venture too far into the dark night...

— THE FOG remains blocking the paths in the forest beginning a few dozen yards past the treeline, urging residents to stay huddled within the town proper, and it also now blocks the northern section of town, beginning just past Hill Lane, before where residents know the chasm in the earth to be between Hill and Stine Road. Venturing into the fog is ill-advised.

— DISAPPEARANCES continue. Sherlock Holmes is still missing, and Phil Coulson, John Constantine, Zed Martin, and Helen Magnus have vanished as well.

OOC NOTES
— FOOD will be restocked in some fashion in the next full log, don't worry. We aren't going full survival mode yet.

— DAY 036 The next log will cover Day 36 only and will include the locations of deaths and any corpse burials that occur the night of Day 35 or are planned for Day 36. (There will be prompts included for both the "living" and the "dead" in this single day log.) Please submit all information by Wednesday, Feb 17.

— MOD STATUS It's mostly just Amy steering this ship for now, so things will probably be pretty slow for a while. Apologies in advance, and please don't feel shy about pinging me if you're stuck waiting for something.

navigation | faq | setting | mod contact

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[ Bucky doesn't move, instead choosing to stand there as Daisy moves around, knowing an avoidance tactic when he sees one, but he can't blame her. Not when he finally hears the reason why she's been seemingly so understanding about everything and admittedly, he's caught between how to feel about that. She knew about the words. Did she know about his words?

He continues to watch, blue eyes cautious while his breathing picks up slightly. He can test her as much as he likes but he won't know for sure what she knows unless he goes along with it.

When Daisy decides to look at him again, he'll be as unreadable as he has been up to his point. ]

You were made to comply. [ He says it with an eerie casualness. ] Ten. I had ten words. And they had to be done after a cleansing and before the mission was given.

[ He won't say them. It's bad enough he still hears Vasily's voice in his head all the time repeating them over and over.

Bucky swallows thickly. ]

[ After a cleansing. Is that what they'd called it? Had they used some seemingly righteous term to mask the horrific thing they were doing over and over again to a human being? The very idea of it makes her sick. It makes her furious that HYDRA had done something like that to anyone, but to do it to a man as good as Bucky Barnes...

That anger and horror rise within her, accompanied by the sympathetic pain she feels for what he's been through, and with it all comes her power. Her control slips and the counters begin to shake, just enough for cabinet doors to rattle while any loose objects skitter from the vibrations coursing through them. Pain shoots up her arm as her grip on the fridge door tightens, and she uses that pain as a focus to tamp her power back down, control falling back into place as easily as breathing — which she does, deeply. One breath, two. And then she turns to finally look at him, leaning heavily on the island counter, bandaged and bruised hands splayed in the dust on the top. ]

I'm sorry about that. [ The shaking had lasted all of five seconds, if even that, but she doesn't have any good excuse for losing control like that. And while she might have her power under control again, her emotions are anything but, that anger practically radiating off her. ]

[ There were a lot of words they used for it, but cleanse was about the closest the word meant when translated in English. Even still, Bucky isn't much of a fan of the word either but they say if you've been exposed to something long enough, it simply becomes part of you.

The tremors do catch him off guard as it would for anyone who's experiencing them for the first time. If that's what happens when a slowly simmering anger converts into a pure supernatural ability, then he doesn't want to know what will happen when anger hits abruptly. He knows how anger fuels him, both when he was under HYDRA's control and even now. Bucky doesn't want to know what Daisy is capable of when rage hits.

His eyes flit around and when the shaking stops he shakes his head. ]

You don't have to apologize.

[ But she does. She's trained for this, she's worked so hard to have tight control over her emotions and her powers, and this place is slowly undoing all of that. Between her own disappearance and now Coulson's, those days trapped in the Gull, the earthquake the night before... Only, what if it isn't just that? She still doesn't know if she's even capable of the same control now, or if what happened to her broke something that can't be fixed.

Yet another thing she can't burden anyone here with. ]

Yes, I do. [ The words are quiet, her eyes falling to the dusty floor at his feet. She doesn't elaborate though, just circles back to the much more important topic at hand. ] It wasn't like that for me. There weren't words, my mind wasn't—

[ She can't say that word. ]

It wasn't HYDRA that did it. Not directly. It was an Inhuman, the first Inhuman, the monster HYDRA worshipped for thousands of years.

[ Somehow he knows the need to hold oneself accountable and Bucky understands that more than anyone else would in these very similar, almost specific, circumstances. There's a sympathy that doesn't get expressed as it would for normal people, but it's there regardless, hidden under a mountain of his own personal experience.

Bucky watches her silently, trying not to fix on whether that was how he had come to hear about Inhumans or if being HYDRA's asset was simply included in his programming. Somehow that small detail was unnerving him more than it should.

He takes a step closer, not worrying about what could potentially happen. There's a feeling that she hasn't told many about this and won't stop her, in fact, his move was made as a supportive gesture.

She wasn't alone. ]

[ He moves closer and it helps. He doesn't have to say anything for her to understand what it means, a single step speaking volumes. No, she hasn't told many — in fact, no one here knows, and there are some days when it kills her having to pretend she isn't having a flashback, that a memory hasn't risen to the surface, or a nightmare hasn't pulled the worst pieces of that time from the depths of her mind. ]

Hive... was a parasite. Literally. He could move from one corpse to the next, enabling him to live for thousands of years, and he—

[ There's no telling how much he knows about Hive if anything. The heads of HYDRA worshipped him, sending sacrifices through the monolith's portal to sustain him while they worked to find a way to retrieve the Inhuman from his prison on another planet. Knowing that there could be gaps in any knowledge he has means she has to keep going, which is about as easy as it sounds. ]

He infected Inhumans, swaying them to be unquestionably loyal. It was like an addiction — he attached to the nervous system so it felt good to do what he wanted. We were part of his hive mind; we felt connected and wanted and it was— [ She looks down at her hands on the counter, pain and anger in her expression that she can't hide from Bucky. She won't hide it. ] I murdered people because he wanted me to. I hurt my friends and nearly killed my partner because they got in the way. I was willing to let Hive kill me because he needed every drop of my blood to make more Inhumans for his army. And when he made us do those horrible things, he made us love him for it.

[ Anything having to do with HYDRA said a lot more than most people would understand and now, Bucky could finally understand where it all originated. Everything they made him do was mirrored by what the source did to her. That didn't sit well and his expression finally shows more than something neutral while a vibranium fist closes as his side.

Unfortunately, it is made perfectly clear that once the Hive or HYDRA got into your mind, it was there to stay. ]

You talk about it in the past tense. How did you stop it?

[ She glances up at his question, briefly taking in his expression and stance. More little signs that Bucky Barnes is still in there underneath all the trauma and pain. ]

I didn't. [ Leaning a hip against the counter, she crosses her arms, as if trying to ward off her own pain that rises at this part of the story. Her story. ] An Inhuman named Lash died saving me. He pulled that part of Hive out of me and...

[ One deep breath. Two, the air shaking in her throat. She's never said the next words to anyone, anywhere, and she can barely get them out now. ] Losing that connection to Hive... was one of the first things I've ever felt. I was empty and alone and... and I remembered everything I'd done. It hurt so much that— [ Her voice breaks but she keeps going, looking anywhere but at Bucky. ] The first chance I had, I begged him to take me back. But whatever Lash did made that impossible.

[ Those traces are still unrecognizable most days. To him, it feels like reading about a character in a story. There are similarities, but not enough to fully connect with them. He knows he's the character and no matter how hard he tries his mind simply can't connect beyond a name and basic information. It leaves him so intensely angry that they took that from him and left him in such a blind rage that he could easily say he was a danger to himself and other people. Especially if he was locked in a disassociative episode.

Daisy's description of how it felt to be free of the Hive's control felt similar to the early days after pulling Steve out of the water. Too many times he thought of going back, to have that sense of purpose and importance again; to be the Asset. He surely wasn't James Buchanan Barnes anymore and couldn't be ever again. And then he decided he didn't want to be the Winter Soldier either. That's when ending both seemed like the obvious solution.

Bucky continues to remain quiet, but he nods while he looks at her with eyes that understand better than anyone else what she's been through.

What she still goes through. ]

Edited 2021-02-18 16:42 (UTC)

[ That silence pulls her gaze back to Bucky, catching the end of that nod and that look in his eyes that... She's never had anyone truly understand what she went through back then. No one on her team was able to grasp just how much she struggled in the months that followed, none of them could comprehend why she'd had to leave and be on her own. ]

The man I loved died to stop Hive. He died for me.

[ Lincoln's death will always weigh on her heart. She's always love him. She'll always miss him. She'll always feel that it should have been her. But in the three years since, she's learned how to pick up the pieces, holding them close so she can pretend to be a little less broken. Maybe she can help hold a few of Bucky's broken pieces too until he can carry them himself.

Stepping around to the side of island counter, she rests one bandaged hand on the countertop. She's not hiding behind it anymore — her body language and expression are open, displaying her trust of him by letting go of her shield. The reports made it quite clear what the Winter Soldier is capable of; she's making it equally clear that she doesn't believe Bucky Barnes will choose to do those things. ]

What HYDRA did to you... was monstrous. But it doesn't make you a monster.

[ Steve had tried to make him understand that. "What you did all those years, that wasn't you. You didn't have a choice," he said, even though there was an unfortunate truth that neither of them could deny. When Daisy tells him again, this time in different words, he lets his gaze slip from hers long enough to hear the words he replied to Steve with. "I know. But, I did it."

Luckily, he's made some progress in how he sees himself these days and a monster isn't it. There's a new version of himself that he's becoming more and more aware of and for the first time he's interested in knowing who he can be and how he can make up for what he was forced to do. Steve wouldn't be able to figure that out and both of them knew that. They finally came to the end of the line. In a way, that sacrifice was made for him, too.

Bucky nods again and brings his eyes back to her. ]

I know. It doesn't make you one either.

[ It hurts to hear those words. For so long, she believed she was a monster and that she deserved to suffer for everything she'd done. Being made to believe she'd destroyed the Earth hadn't helped that view of herself. Even now, she's not sure she deserves good things in her life, though she's starting to finally want them again. Her time of wanting to suffer has ended, but she still wakes up every day to the pain left behind. ]

It's always easier saying that to someone else than believing it yourself. [ She offers him a tired smile and moves a few steps closer. ] But I've worked hard to make up for all the harm I caused. Someone once described it as serving penance... He was right. I can't undo what I did, I can only try to balance the scales.

[ Bucky can't help but huff out a note of amusement. She wasn't wrong there and he's even been thinking lately what he can do. it has yet to come to him but he holds out hope that it will.

He takes a deep breath, holds it and exhales slowly, obviously thinking about that. But then his brow creases and there's something in his face that can only be seen as concern and maybe even a touch of worry. ]

Do you think you've made up for it now?

[ A pause. ]

And does it let you sleep at night?

[ Is there something to look forward to? ]

Edited (wasn't finished packing on the Feels) 2021-02-18 22:10 (UTC)

[ That concern isn't what she'd expected. So many times now, she's been faced with people being concerned for her in Mathias, and every time it still confuses the hell out of her. She's an agent of SHIELD. She's Quake, the Destroyer of Worlds. She's the front line who's always expected to be strong and steady in the face of anything. Facing concern like that... she's just not used to it.

His questions are completely unexpected as well, though they're a little easier to deal with than the look on his face. Frowning, she moves the last few inches to sit on the arm of the couch, and then she sighs. ]

Honestly, I don't know that I'll ever feel like I've made up for it entirely. Everything I've done since has helped, though. [ Picking up one of the couch's throw pillows, she runs hand over it, the dust pilling and both falling away and also attaching itself to her bandages. ] But it's not what keeps me from sleeping anymore. Not usually. So there's that.

[ Daisy is the first person with actual experience that he's been able to talk to. Someone who understands. Someone who is far enough in their recovery and who might have some tools he can borrow to learn how to cope better than he has been.

Bucky watches her move again, relieved that she was feeling comfortable again. But he doesn't want to take too much more of her time given how intense things have gotten already. Hopefully, she can see how appreciative he is that she's willing to even talk. ]

And what does keep you from sleeping?

[ Another pause. ]

I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that. You've already told me more than you should have.

[ Daisy Johnson is the type of person who would help a random stranger on the street without question. Bucky isn't a stranger, not completely, and she might only know a fraction of what he's been through, but that's more than enough to make her desperately want to help him. Every second they spend together only makes that instinct stronger.

His question takes her aback, though she should have seen it coming. The relatively quick retraction helps, her suddenly racing heart calming slightly, but there's still a sudden tension in her shoulders as the answer comes to mind. ]

I know about your trauma, it's only fair you know about mine. [ A failed attempt at making the conversation a little light. She's quiet for a few moments, studying the streaks of dust still on the pillow in her hands. ] My life hasn't been easy. I'm self-aware enough to know that I should probably be in therapy [ a quiet humorless laugh ] but who could ever really understand lives like ours...

[ Her bandaged hands clench around the pillow's edges. ] The day before I woke up here, I was taken by someone connected to HYDRA. He... He drugged me, cut into me, trying to take my power for himself. I couldn't stop him and it almost killed me.

[ She tries to keep her voice flat, stating the events like she would for a post-mission briefing, but there's still something in the words that gives away just how much the event has affected her. ] No one else here knows. About that or about Hive.

[ He remembers hearing someone once say that listening to other people's problems took them away from their own and to him, that was such an awful thing to grasp. Especially with lives like theirs, not that anyone would know that if talking about it was not someone they would do with anyone. And it's a different feeling understanding someone else's pain so intimately that the mere words invoke that pain on a physical level.

Bucky swallows hard, his jaw setting at the description as blue eyes dart to the side. He's able to control his anger better than he ever has before, but there's still a deep-down desire to do to each of HYDRA what they commanded him to do against innocent people.

The admittance brings his attention back to her as abruptly as it had left seconds earlier and he looks confused at what she's just said. But then he understands. Completely.]

I feel like I should say that I'm honoured.

[ Bucky huffs out an amused note and just as quickly as it happens, the amusing irony is gone, replaced with a nod and a sympathetic stare. ]

Strength in numbers. I may not be able to offer anything in the way of comfort, but I can give you an ear whenever you need it.

[ He's not sure if the offer will fall on deaf ears but it's there. ]

Edited 2021-02-21 03:44 (UTC)

[ Honored? That's definitely not the word she'd use for it. He'd probably be much better off without having her baggage added to his, but she just has to hope that knowing he isn't the only one suffering from a traumatic past will help him somehow.

His offer is appreciated, far more than she could ever say — though she does try to express it in the nod and open look she gives him. But it's not why she'd told him. Not exactly. Not entirely. She isn't looking for comfort so much as trying to offer it herself in whatever way she can. Trust when he's had so little of it has be to comforting in its own way, right?

Giving the pillow one last firm pat, she tosses it to the other end of the couch, watching it bounce once before settling on the edge of the cushion, so close to tumbling to the floor. Funny how well she can relate. ]

I won't tell anyone about what you've been through. It should be your choice who knows your story. [ A hint of a smile grows and her expression brightens just enough to matter. ] But I can't promise I won't fangirl a little now and then.

[ He would need to work on that wry sense of humour. Bucky was far from being a shrink and really, this was the first time either of them has met; to which he's somehow come to the decision that he can trust her and he's not sure how that happened, but it did. Telling him what happened to her helped, though it wasn't all of it.

Her sharing it with him and no one else spoke volumes. She trusted him enough with her secrets, knowing who he was and that didn't stop her. And all he kept asking was why?

Her promise gets a nod, a sincere one and a small smile that really shows his gratitude. Only it doesn't stay long before it morphs back into curiosity. ]

Fangirl?

[ He is absolutely thinking the word in the most literal of terms. ]

[ That smile... She really hopes she can help give him more reasons to smile in the future. Better reasons for bigger smiles because that's the least he deserves after everything.

His question brightens her own smile, though there's a tiny bit of embarrassment in there too. ]

A fangirl is... [ How can she possibly describe this without a) using references he might not understand and b) without making herself sound like a lunatic? That seems a lot easier said than done. After a moment of visibly struggling, she goes with the simplest answer. ] It's someone who gets really excited over something they're passionate about. Or someone.

[ The lighthearted turn the conversation takes is appreciated, but his smile slips a little and he looks down, appearing to be chewing over that definition in the same way he did the word.

Literally.

Bucky nods, still not sure how to react. Words like that back in the '40s were a little too bold and improper. It wasn't anything you would hear a girl say to a guy to let them know they were interested. ]

Oh.

[ There’s something about his expression that clues her into the fact that he probably doesn't entirely get it, but that's okay. He's been through a lot, he's allowed to not be caught up with more modern phrasing. ]

I mean, I'm not exactly one of the girls who probably flailed at Captain America back in the day, [ no way is she telling him about the cosplaying, nope ] but you're a war hero. You were one of the Howling Commandos. That's huge.

[ A tiny bit of her fangirl is showing. Miniscule. ]

[ The fact that he isn't lost on him, at all, and he appreciates that Daisy isn't going to call him out on it. Now that would be awkward. Still, he gives another small smile, this one a little more modest than the last and he nods.

He can't really remember them. ]

You know, I still can't see him as anything else but the skinny Brooklyn kid that kept getting beat up. As odd as that sounds.

[ He lingers on a thought and then looks back up at Daisy. ]

Anyway, I should let you get back to doing what you need to do.

[ She would be heartbroken for him if she knew how little he remembered of his time with that magnificent group of people. They were literally the stuff of legend for SHIELD, their accomplishments mentioned in every history book. To have even that taken from him...

Sometime, she'd like to hear what he does remember, though. Especially about Steve Rogers. Even just this comment leaves her smiling. ]

Okay. [ A little nod before she stands, because that's what you do when someone leaves your house... right? ] I meant what I said before. You're always welcome here.

[ The museum exhibit had helped, at least enough to spark a few memories, one of which was a warning Dum Dum hollered at him as a fight against the Wehrmacht and HYDRA began and the second was being captured. He remembers their faces, but none of the in-between that soldiers often had with each other.

Bucky shifts slightly, turning towards the door. ]

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

[ And he will, even if he'll do his best not to abuse that invitation. ]

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